4 years

Four years ago today you were born.  While most mom's remember every little detail of their child's birth I remember almost nothing of yours.  In fact, I didn't actually get to meet you or see you on the day you were born... it was a few days before my doctors would allow me to move from my bed and visit you in the NICU.  But I do remember the pictures your nurses brought me.  Pictures of you on that first day.  As soon as I saw them I knew you were a keeper :)

Caleb, there were so many things about the day you were born that I didn't expect.  I didn't expect you to be born 6 weeks early, I didn't expect to have an emergency c-section, I didn't expect to not be with you during your first days of life, I didn't expect that I would not be the first one to feed you, I didn't expect that we'd both stay in the hospital for weeks but rarely get to see each other, and I didn't expect that you would be born into a season of such sadness.

But Caleb, you have exceeded all of my expectations.  In all of my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined someone as smart, funny, silly, adorable, cool, sweet, creative, caring, and hilarious as you.  Everyday, I am so proud to be your mama.

So even though the day you were born wasn't all it should have been... today we will celebrate because you are such a special gift.  I love you.  Happy birthday.

A Breakfast to Remember

4 years ago today I stopped at Denny's for breakfast with three of my favorite people ever.  We were on a road trip and were having a fabulous morning.  As usual, we had a great time at breakfast... I ordered a Denny's grand slam because I was extra pregnant and extra hungry... and I wouldn't be too surprised if someone at the table would have ordered a piece of pumpkin pie in lieu of breakfast :)  After consuming way too much coffee we hit the road.  Just a few hours later one of those favorite people-- the person sitting right in front of me in the car-- went to be with Jesus.

This morning Doug and I woke the kids up extra early.  We put them in the car and went to Denny's for a pre-work breakfast.  While drinking way too much coffee and consuming pancakes, bacon, and eggs we told them stories of Uncle Nathan's love of pumpkin pie for breakfast, how he loved to laugh, and how great it will be to see him in heaven one day.  Today we remember.  And as we remember we have extra hugs for our kids, we say the words 'I love you' more than usual, and we take time to enjoy the little everyday moments of life-- because you never know what tomorrow might bring.

We miss you like crazy Nate.  I sure hope they serve breakfast in heaven, because we all have a lot of catching up to do...

because you asked...

What did I pick up from Anthropologie?  Well... this little bowl.  Isn't she pretty?  

I actually picked these coffee mugs up a while back when we were in Seattle but they are also from Anthropologie.  So fun.  On Saturday mornings Doug and I drink our coffee from the mugs and giggle over how cheesy we are.  We like them :)

And I also found this little glass for the kid's toothbrushes.  Sidenote... when we got home I was very excited to find that my newly planted hydrangeas had gorgeous flowers blooming!  Well... I was 6 am in the morning just drove through the night excited.  Anyhow, I couldn't wait to snip a few blooms and pretty up the house.

And.... this wasn't purchased at Anthroplogie... but it's still pretty cute.  I found this felt flower pillow at Garden Architecture in Saskatoon.  If you live in Saskatoon and need a bit of retail therapy in your life... this store is a definite stop.  So much great stuff.  And when you choose to visit the store you will likely see my mom in there.  She loves that store.  She goes there often :)

Eme really likes her new pillow.  Right sweetie?

But every girly girl with pink flower pillows in her room still needs an AC/DC shirt... right?

On the road again

Over the weekend we began our journey home.  For some strange reason, I find it easier to listen to crying, whining kids at the beginning of a vacation... rather than the end.  As we left my parents place the cries began.  "I don't want to go home... I want to stay with Papa!!"  and then (15 minutes into the drive)... "Are we almost there yet?"  which was soon followed by "I don't it to be a long drive, I want it to be a SHORT drive!!!"  Granted, Eme wasn't making these statements... only her brother... but words were not needed.  Her cries said it all.

Self portrait to document the moment.  At this point I agreed with Caleb... I wished it was a short drive too.

But we did stop.  At the best place on earth... according to this kid.

And we were not alone.  Somehow we managed to convince my siblings to join us for a quick trip to West Edmonton Mall.  It was a tough sell.  not really.

We all drove up to Edmonton after dinner on Friday night, checked into a hotel, and the next morning we hit the mall bright and early.  The boys went to the waterpark while the girls shopped, and shopped, and shopped some more.

Eme came with the ladies.  While she looked like this on occasion...

For the majority of the day she looked like this.  Angry, distrusting stares.  Followed by cries.  She was tired and unfortunately doesn't nap well in a stroller.  

Or maybe she just wished she was at the water park too.

So it was Auntie Angie to the rescue.  She kept that stroller rocking.  Good practice... I think :)

Favorite stop of the day.  Athropologie.  I could have spent hours in that store.  There is so much beautiful stuff to look at.  And the way it's all displayed... oh my goodness.  I, of course, couldn't help but snap a few pictures.

Aren't those hand towels glorious?  They come in every color.

I spy...

decorpad

But for $22.00 each?  No thanks.  Not in my budget.  Home Sense has a lookalike for a much friendly price tag.  My mom has them.  They're amazing.

Trish, you're pretty cute... but so is that mirror.

They displayed lots of their stuff in these rough rustic wooden boxes.  Doug... guess what your next project is :)

This cabinet was FULL of the cutest bowls, dishes, and glasses.  I couldn't help but make one little purchase.

And finally, the piece de resistance... this little number.

So the ladies shopped till they dropped.  And after over 5 hours of swimming-- we soon found Caleb, head resting on the table beside his chocolate milk... fast asleep.  He ended up sleeping through most of dinner.

So then what did we do?  Well... Doug and I had planned to throw the kids into the car and drive to Hinton after dinner so the drive on Sunday wouldn't be as long.  But... the kids were just SO tired and we were feeling a little too energetic in the moment... so we decided to just keep going.  All the way home.  Through the night.

On our way out of town we made a quick pit stop for gas... I ran in to grab the essentials for a through-the-night drive.  Lots of coke, chips, candy, chocolate... you know... those essentials.  The cashiers looked at me funny when I went to pay for my snacks.  In an effort to rationalize my purchases I told them our plans for the night.  Those funny looks kept coming and soon began to say... "you're crazy."

But we did it.  And the kids did awesome.  They slept the entire night... waking only momentarily when we stopped for gas.  This picture was taken at our midnight stop,

 In the moment the kids didn't say much.  They just looked at me with these dazed and confused expressions on their face.

And sometimes they looked at me like this.

We rolled into town at 6 am.  Everyone went straight to bed... except for Caleb-- he said he wasn't tired--  so we turned on Treehouse and hit the hay.  5 hours later... Doug walks in to the living room to find him on the floor... a puddle of drool on the carpet, crazy sleep marks on his cheek, a confused look on his face.  Apparently he was quick awestruck over the fact that he had fallen asleep on the floor.  I was more awestruck over the fact that Emerson slept until 2:30 in the afternoon.

And now we're home.  While it was fun to be on the road, on vacation... it feels nice to be back in our house... and sleeping in our own beds :)

Breaking it Down...

So much to say... so much fun was had by all.  Instead of boring you with all the details of our time with family, here are the highlights!

1.  The Gator

As I mentioned before there was a new toy on the farm for Caleb to play with... a child sized gator.  His first attempts at driving left much to be desired-- backing out of the garage was a little tricky for a rookie.  He also gave himself whiplash every time he stepped on the gas.  So cute :)  But by day 2 he was cruising.... like two point turns parallel parking drive with no hands while standing up cruising.  Seriously.  This kid knows how to drive.  He's already bemoaning the fact that he has to wait until he's 16 to drive a car.  Soon we gave him jobs moving stuff around the yard.  Here he was moving all the lawn chairs to the fire pit.  Caleb took his work on the gator pretty seriously :)

And of course other kids who came to visit had some fun on the gator with Caleb.

2.  Pre-Birthday Party

While we were here, we decided to have a little early birthday celebration for Caleb so that he could celebrate with the Sask family!  The only problem is that Caleb figures that he turned 4 last weekend at the pre-birthday party and now he logically should turn 5 next week on his actual birthday.  This is still under discussion.  But we had a fun evening sitting around a fire with family-- until the torrential downpour made us run for the house.

Poor Auntie Angie... waiting for food.

Emerson enjoyed the great outdoors with her Auntie Trish.

And finally... birthday cake.  My mom made my childhood favorite ice cream cake.  Too bad I couldn't eat any of it!  Next year...

3.  Shopping with the Girls

Best deal ever... $5 bras at Le Senza.  TMI?  Too late now.  The ladies of the household went shopping.  Our shopping itinerary included Garden Architecture, Midtown, Home Sense, Superstore... all those good places.  Meanwhile, the boys did some shopping.  Their day looked a bit different... looking at farm machinery, lunch at Costco, Mini golfing, Ruckers.  Nice.

Emerson also enjoyed getting some style advice from her Aunties over the past two weeks.

4.  Scooter fun

We spent some time downtown so that Caleb could try out the scooter he got from his Aunties and Uncles for his birthday.  He was a natural.

Apparently his mama is too :)

Mom... that's embarrassing.  Get your own scooter!!

5.  And of course...

Caleb had a fantastic time with his aunties.

6.  Time to relax...

It's not often that I have a day of nothing.  But last Monday I did nothing.  I slept in (thanks to Mom and Dad who fed the kids breakfast) took the non-shower approach and found some sweatpants.  I actually may have spent the entire day wearing sweats with "RAIDERS" printed across the butt and a T shirt that said "killing made legal" (volleyball talk).  Oh the things you find in the closets of the upstairs bedrooms... it's a trip down high school memory lane.

7.  Then there was the really long day...

We left for the city at 8 am and didn't get home until after 11 pm... kids included.

Caleb was pretty certain that he didn't need a nap.  But at some point during the afternoon we found him fast asleep in this awkward position on Auntie's living room floor.

Re-enactments soon followed.

We finished off the day with Cirque du Soleil's Dralion.  Amazing.

We've had fun.  We're a bit sad to head home.  But don't you worry... we'll be back in a few months.  I am quite excited to meet my new niece or nephew the next time we visit!

An Experiment

So while I was assisting my Mom with her fabric shopping we found a little pink striped goodness.  We just couldn't resist.  Can anyone say granny glam?  Yup... Emerson... pink stripes are coming soon to a room near you...

Fabric.com

But then I got a wild and crazy idea.  What if I could turn the stripes into something kinda like this?

etsy

Well... I've been measuring, and cutting, and sewing, and re-measuring, and re-cutting, and re-sewing.  And somewhere along the way I think I figured out how to do this...

And by the way... I somehow managed to take this picture with one arm while physically restraining my almost 4 year old with the other.  Couldn't handle having that light switched on and off one more time.  Gotta love mommy multi-tasking.

Now I've just gotta make something out of it.  Throw pillow maybe?  They seem to be my specialty :)

All of my Mom's projects...

My Mom likes to do projects too.  She usually has several on the go.  Sometimes she rips something apart or starts painting something before she even knows where it's going to go in the house.  Sound familiar?  Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree sometimes.

Well my Mom's been working hard to finish up a few things around here before she gets too involved in the next projects (the chair-- for example).  And when my sisters and I come home it's usually our job to figure out where to put everything and to make it look pretty.

Today we found this newly painted dresser a home.  We made it look pretty.

My Mom found this dresser on Kijiji... it was a blond wood in not very nice condition.

She slapped a few coats of light blue paint on the dresser and put some pretty sparkly crystal knobs on the drawers (courtesy of Lee Valley-- she chose the chrome base) and it's now looking pretty great.

You can really see the color in this picture below.

I'm loving the way it contrasts the charcoal grey walls.

Every project needs a home.

This project found it's home in one of the upstairs bedrooms. 

Nice work Mama!