A Thank You

A great BIG Thank You to my Midwives, Theresa and Anne, who were the midwives that attended the birth. Also to Helen (student midwife who assisted in the delivery.) And of course Taina who was also on my 'team'. You have made this birth an incredible experience for me.

Anne

Theresa and Helen

Theresa

And of Course Melanie, my doula friend. You are awesome. Thanx so much for listening to my ranting and complaining this ENTIRE pregnancy! You have been a great support for me, and you were awesome at the birth. (sorry I didnt labor longer so I could have REALLY put you to work! haha jk)

After the birth, Evan and I went across the street to Best Western and booked a room so we could get some rest. After a couple hours it was time for Kael and Naveah to meet their new Brother. Evan went and picked them up from Nana and Papa's house and brought them to the hotel. Kael was quick on noticing that the baby wasnt in Mommy's tummy anymore. He walked over to check out Jacek then put his hand on my tummy and said "you have a little tummy? not a Big tummy? Baby came out of your tummy?". I couldnt help but giggle. How cute it was to see them with him. They were so gentle with him, kissing his head and holding his hand. It was a short lived moment as the excitement of being in the hotel was hard for them to resist running around and checking everything out, but it was still a cute moment none the less. Naveah has taken to calling him "my Baby" or "my Jacek" and is constantly smothering him in kisses. She always wants to hold his hand and is the first to go running to him when he starts crying. "Baby Okay?" she'll ask me.

Kael, I can tell, is still learning the whole 'Baby making process'. He is always reminding me that the baby isnt in my tummy anymore. We had to go meet the midwives again 24 hours after Jacek was born to do his blood work. When we pulled up to the clinic I laughed when Kael then said "Oh! we're at the midwife? They going to put baby back in your tummy?". Kids really do say the darndest things. Kael is such a big helper. He always wants to help me with Jacek and is always asking if he can hold him. Hes quick to run and get me a diaper or wipes when I need one and has a hundred and one questions to ask me about him. Hes so curious. I cant wait to see all three of them grow together.

Meeting Jacek at the Hotel

Naveah fixing his hat

Jacek

39.1

Thats when it was finally over. 39 weeks and (barely)1 day. September 4th, 2010 at 2:34am my little boy was born in the most amazing way.

Jacek Tomaz

It was so hard being Pregnant, taking care of two toddlers with Evan working out of town and us also being pretty much 'homeless'. I was more than done when I hit the 37 week mark. For me I knew it was only a matter of days before the baby came. But before baby could come I needed to relax. Yah right. Finding a calm amoungst our kaos felt like an impossible task. Stresses and emotions were strung high and not having our 'place' was a tease on comfort.

Finally I found some days to relax. Thanks to a few illnesses. Flu, followed by cold followed by flu found myself exhausted but also rested. I was finally able to come to terms with "baby will come when its ready".

September 3rd. By 8pm my body was screaming at me to go to bed. I obeyed. And at 10:30pm it starts. Evan came and sat with me in the basement while I bounced around on an excercise ball and texted my Doula friend, Melanie. 45 second long contractions, 3 minutes apart? Yup, time to call the midwife.

We all met at the Arbour Birth Center in Calgary at 11:30pm. I was told I was in Active Labor. I didnt mind. 8cm and still giggling? Ill take it! (No! I was NOT on drugs!). Melanie seemed to be in shock. "I cant believe youre 8cm and still laughing!". I assured her it would change quickly.

Time to get in the tub-

I opted for a water birth this time. I wouldnt have changed a thing. I only wish I would have had a chance to do this with all of my children. What an amazing experience. So calming. With the warm water I was able to relax to the point I really could have fallen asleep! If it weren't for those darn contractions! Despite the pain that every minute or two it was totally peaceful. I got to roll around a nice warm tub while my Husband and good Friend kept me company. I couldnt help but smerk at times a contraction would start and Evan would start asking me questions and I would quickly hear Melanie whisper "not now Evan!". (Yes Melanie I DO agree, Every man needs a Doula!) My midwives would occationally pop in the room to see how I was doing and check on babies heart rate. Everything was going perfectly.

2:30am, its go time. Baby demanded an appearance and I wasnt going to argue. 4.5 minutes later there he was. Now this is where it got amazing. You know how all your life youre led to believe that babies cry when they are born? In fact, the anticipation in the delivery room is always highest right at the time of birth just waiting for that little, yet huge, wail of a cry from Baby. And everyone else shouts 'Horray!'. Believe me, my mind is changed on the subject. What a terrible welcome. I lay there flashing back between my first 2 birth experiences and this one, I was in awe with what was happening. No one clamped the cord the moment baby was out. No one took Baby away before I even got the chance to touch them. No one rushing around the room acting as though some sort of terrible medical emergency was going on. There was no screaming baby! The only anticipation after my baby was born was....Boy? or Girl?. It was calm, quiet, peaceful and absolutely amazing.

It was HIM that chose how he was going to come into the world. And I pretty sure -- I like his version much better.

Its a BOY!

Content

Proud Daddy

(with midwife Anne)

Welcome Home

We Bought A HOUSE!----

and its ever so cute. We can't WAIT to get in there. Possession isnt until August 30th and I dont plan on moving in until the baby is born. So im crossing my fingers baby comes before our close date!

A cute little front porch facing green space. We will never have to look at another house across the street or worry about ones being built there. Just a large open field with a few trees, perfect for picnics, tag, and soccer.

Backyard. A two tiered deck with potential for a Hot Tub! (right honey?*wink). There is also a perfect spot to make a sand/rock pit for the kids, MORE parking to suit Evans needs, lots of storage and an ugly little playhouse I cant wait to get rid of. haha.

MY KITCHEN. I cant wait to get my hands in it. Awesome stone countertops and plenty of work space. The pictures SO dont do this house justice. I am totally in love with this house.

DUPLO DEAL!

I dont know about you but I think Lego/Duplo has become outrageously overpriced. However, they ARE the BEST building blocks in the world. We've had our stash of 'Mega blocks' for a couple years now and granted they did the job....but dont touch it once its built, it will fall apart.

Kael has built some pretty amazing structures ever since he started building and we figured it might be time to start searching for some better building blocks. While we were in Red Deer this past weekend, (kids stayed with Nanny and Papa Jevne) we needed to waste some time so we headed to 'Once Upon A Child', a well known consignment store in Alberta. While I was searching for a little something for the new baby to wear, Evan came racing around the corner holding a HUGE bag of blocks. I laughed. Suddenly he looked 3 again. "BABE! check this out!!!!". Sure enough, it was a huge bag of DUPLO!!! He wanted to get it. Worried about the price tag that would come with it I shook my head NO "its probably 50 bucks!"...I was wrong...it was only $12!!! We then found another large container full for $8. Bye bye Mega Blocks, HELLO duplo!

When we got home the kids were super excited to play with the blocks. I told them we needed to clean them first because they were really dirty. Some of you might be thinking that im crazy to even attempt washing hundreds and hundreds of little blocks...but NO! This is where having a jecuzzi tub comes in handy more than once!!! A little dishwasher detergent, a tub full of hot water and jecuzzi jets and we had ourselves a toy washing machine! Kael and Naveah were right in there stirring the toys and taking the ones apart that were stuck together. Those Duplo were the best things Evan and I bought!!! Oh, the kids are happy too. :)

Making the most out of Summer

Well, activities with the kids have become a challenge. We definetly arent as active as we usually are in the summers. A lot more road trips (not the house hunting kind) and full day excursions are usually what fill our summer months. But with the combination of Rain, house hunting/selling, and a growing belly its been hard to keep the fun level up to Kael and Naveah's expectations. It doesnt help that our daily vehicle is a gigantic beast that has become hard for me to climb in and out of. Putting the kids in the carseats and loading up the bed of the truck with strollers and what-not is a challenge I hate facing alone. Plus walking any sort of distance pushing the stroller is out of the question. So! Ive had to come up with ways the kids stay happy and I can just sit and watch. Again, not an easy thing when youve got 'outdoorsy' kids.

I bought the kids some sidewalk chalk a while ago hoping we would get a chance to use it. They cant draw with it in our backyard because all the concrete is exposed making it awfully difficult to draw on. I remembered that at the park by our house there was a basketball court that was NEVER used. So I packed us a snack, the chaulk and we headed to the park. The kids had tons of fun. I think they ended up with more chaulk on their clothes then they did the sidewalk. But the trip was cut short due to... (surprise surprise) RAIN!

Air traffic control!

I had been promising the kids a trip to drumheller to visit the dinosaurs. Not being able to take them myself anymore we had to wait for a weekend where there was nothing going on so Evan could come with. FINALLY there was one. They had so much fun. Naveah has become quite infatuated with them but was still very cautious around them. We had to reassure her a few times that the giant T-Rex was just simply bones and it cant hurt her. Kael ran from window to window shouting "OH! WOW!" at each display. After the museum we checked out the new Fossil World. I was nervous about going because of the new Animatronic T-Rex they had there. I didnt want to ruin Naveahs love for Dinosaurs. But they actually did okay! At first Naveah wanted me to pick her up immediatly and shook everytime the dinosaur moved. But again, with a little reassurance that the dinosaur cant hurt her she warmed up quite quickly. Suddenly her little shrills of panic became laughter. Kael did better than expected as well, although by this time he was getting pretty cranky and it was hard keeping him happy no matter what we did. So we headed down to the water park hoping to cheer him up. Naveah once again had a blast, Kael however just didnt want to cooperate. So trying once more we headed across the street to look in the gift shop, let them pick out a couple dinosaur toys then headed for ice cream.

"do not climb". Perhaps they should have thought this out better and not made them so welcoming.

taking a break to figure out the puzzle

Looking for their wishes in the wishing well!

Trying to pet the dinosaur.


At Fossil City, a giant Shark Jaw! Naveah thought it was pretty cool.

The Animatronic T-Rex, Naveah getting friendly.

Cranky Kael wanting a better look with Daddy. (they didnt think out how T-Rex would photograph from straight on!)

The next day Evan thought up another adventure and on the road once again we were. This time to Gull Lake. They had lots of fun playing in the sand and Kael couldnt get enough of his new water wings! It was a fun but exhausting weekend! And im glad we got some fun adventures in with the kids before summer ends.

Catching up....

Well, I guess it HAS been quite a while since I blogged. I figured it was about time for me to catch up. The blogs seem few and far between lately.

Lets back track.....a little.

FATHERS DAY

We started fathers day the Friday night before. The kids and I (well mostly me), made Daddy some comfy shorts for the summer. Kael was SO proud of them. He jumped at the chance to announce to Daddy when he got home that "I made a present for you!!!". When he showed them to him he confidently spelt out the letters "D-A-D, see it says DAD!!!". Later on we went out for Daddy's favorite, Chinese Food!!!

Later that night the kids colored pictures for the insides of some mugs so they would have something to give to Papa and 'Big' Papa.

Playing outside on Fathers Day

MAKE A BAD DAY A HAPPY DAY!

I remember this day being pretty dreadful. How do you suppose I could turn a day like that around? Go get ice cream and cones, make some up and go play in the back yard. Good call Mommy *pat on back*

Miss Naveah here showing off her most gorgeous ice cream smile!

My Handsome Kael

Our Happy Moment!!!

Thank Goodness for Bubble Gum Ice cream and Pink Ice Cream Cones! haha





WATER PARK!!!

I promised Kael one day that we could go to 'Tractor Beach" (what Kael calls any place with sand and water). We got a call one morning for a viewing on the house so we cleaned the house and packed our bags and headed down to Sikome Lake. Every other year at this time it was OPEN!!! I drove up only to see that it was CLOSED! Kael was very understanding. His response? "The man over there is fixing it? Tractor Beach is broken?". With a glimmer of hope that this may not end in Tantrum I say "Thats right! Those men over there are fixing the Lake cause it's broken. Im sorry we can't go today Hunny." I then got the reply "It's okay Mommy". We did however sit in the parking lot for another 20 minutes till I could figure out something else to do. We ended up heading to South Glenmore Park where they have a water park that WAS open.

Taking a break and enjoying some fruit.


A couple days later we went back. Here is Kael showing off his new swimming suit, matching sandles and sunglasses.

WHO NEEDS EXPENSIVE TOYS!?

Well, its true what they say, you can buy your kids the most expensive toys and eventually they just sit in the back of the cupboard and get dusty under the couch. BUT! Hand the kids a recycling box and its a whole new world full of endless fun!!! Here they are making their 'space suits' getting ready to go to the moon!

CANADA DAY

The day turned out to be less exciting than anticipated but still fun none the less! Here they are enjoying their Eggo breakfast and then showing off their Canada Day outfits!!!

Kisses for Sister

It would have been so much fun to take them to the Parade. But Evan was working out of town that day and I wasnt going to dare tackle that task by myself. So instead our friend Rodger and his 3 littles came and met us at Fort Calgary. Too bad it turned out to be stupid busy and COLD!!! So we decided to take them to Chinook Centre for lunch and wander around. At least they got to see the Lego Exibit!

Later on when we got home, then sun finally decided to show itself so we just hung out in the back yard, ate freezies, looked for bugs, and waited for Daddy to get home!

Enjoying some freezies in their fort.

Kael found a BUG!

TRACTOR BEACH!....FINALLY!

Well its been open for a while now but this is the first chance we've had to make it back there. Looking for some fun we headed down to the lake to play in the sand and splash in some water...though it was the kids doing the splashing. Mommy just enjoyed sitting back and 'observing'.

Kael and Naveah acting like Crabs.

And a trip to the beach can never be without ICE CREAM!