A Day in Our Lives

Midnight: Micah wakes up crying. His teeth hurts. He was awake only an hour ago. Try to feed him, but I get a nasty bite instead.

12:30am: Micah settles down, and we put him in is bed, only to have him wake up again. Dose him with Advil. Falls asleep within fifteen minutes.

12:45am: Everyone is sleeping again! Yippee!

6:15am: Joel wakes up. Dan goes in to settle him and then crawls back into bed.

6:30am: Joel starts crying and wakes Micah up. Dan gets Joel, I get Micah. Half asleep, I feed Micah.

6:45am: While burping Micah, I get jolted awake when he pukes all down my shirt. Call for Dan to help!  Clean up puke. Play on the bed with the boys.

7:15am: Dan takes boys into living room, while I go back to bed so I can try and recover from this horrible cold. (Yes, I have the BEST husband in the world)

8am: I wake up to the alarm and drag myself out of bed.

8:15am: Put Micah down for his morning nap. Eat breakfast. Shower. Get ready for the day.

9:30am: Get ready to go out to the gym.

9:45am: Leave for the gym. Dan goes to work.

10am: Boys play at the gym. I get to talk with other moms!

11:30am: Joel is begging to go home. He's tired. Joel eats crackers on the way home.

12 noon: Joel goes to the bathroom, change Micah's diaper. Put Joel to bed. Feed Micah and put him to bed.

12:30pm: Boys are sleeping!  I make lunch, watch some TV, read some blogs. Rest and relax! Get some things done around the house (emails, dinner prep, fold laundry etc).

4pm: Boys wake up! (3.5 hour naps...this is unusual!!!!) Feed Joel and prep both boys for going out.

4:45pm: Walk to Canadian Tire. Buy epoxy. Walk home.

5:20pm:  Home again. Make dinner with my lovely helper Joel. Micah plays quietly by himself.

6 pm: Feed Micah (who is starving by now!)

6:30pm: Dinner time! Dan comes home.

7pm: Prep boys for bed. Feed Micah (again!)

7:30pm: Boys are in bed.

8:30 pm: Joel has finally stopped crawling in and out of bed. I have a nice LONG hot shower. (its my way of relaxing) We start watching Elementary.

9pm: Joel is finally asleep.

9:15pm: I'm asleep cuddling with Dan on the couch.

9:30pm: Dan finishes watching Elementary. We crawl into bed. Asleep in seconds.

10:30pm: Micah wakes up. Try feed Micah...get bitten instead.  Drug him with Advil. Falls asleep. I'm asleep while holding Micah. Dan takes Micah and puts him to bed. Sleep uninterrupted until 4:30am. Empty bladder. Wish I could feed Micah. Micah stirs but doesn't wake up until 6:15am. Toss and turn until boys wake us up. Feed Micah...start next day.

Joel's Birthday

Only one month late with my photos! But better late them never eh?

I can't believe my baby is two years old already. Its gone so fast! For Joel's second birthday we invited some friends over for dinner (that Joel cooked) and cake. We had the best time with friends of all ages!

I made a rainbow cake for his birthday! Food colouring isn't bad for them, is it?

My favorite part was hearing the comments when the white cake was sliced open! What a surprise for those around us!

Why I go to Church

Going to church with two young kids, without my husband every other week is A LOT of work. Sometimes I wonder why I do it.

I spend one hour in Sunday School, trying to balance two kids needs. Mostly running after my two year old, trying to keep him semi-quiet and entertained. Luckily, I attend a Sunday School that welcomes my child in all his glory. Its laid back enough that Joel can run around, talk, and play with his toys while I run him in and out to the bathroom 3 times. I can comfortably feed Micah and let Joel "be himself" all while trying to follow the conversation. I must admit that although I may not say a single word the entire hour, I enjoy listening to adult conversation. It makes it worth it to go and deal with the kids, just to hear other adults talk.

Then, we have the hour of church. This is where things get interesting. I don't think I've heard an entire sermon in over two years. I've heard tidbits, but am often spending most of the time keeping Joel quiet and entertained. I am the distraction queen, which is exhausting.

So why do I stress myself out every week and attend church? I often ask myself, "Wouldn't it just be easier to stay home?" After all, its not like I get to hear the message. I spend two hours each week on my "day of rest" doing anything but resting. I spend two hours distracting two tired children. I deal with tears, tantrums and testing all in front of a crowd of people. I feel like I'm being watched every week. Like my parenting is being paraded in front of everyone.

So why do I go to Church?

Its for the 12. Or the 20. Or the 30.

Its for those 12 people who help me every Sunday. Its for the 20 reassuring smiles I receive. Its for the 30 people I interact with during those two hours.

Its for the four self proclaimed "incompete men" who watched Micah for me today during Sunday School while I trudged Joel to the bathroom for the third time.

Its for those in Sunday school who play ball and interact with my toddler all while holding an intelligent conversation.

Its for the ones who direct me in the direction that Joel has run off in, saving me the extra time it would take me to find him.

Its for the ones who hold my baby for a few minutes so I can use the restroom.

Its for the bench behind me who oogle over my children and comment every week on how much they have grown up.

Its for the gentleman who tells me every week, "You're a good mommy!" and shares stories of his grandchildren.

Its for those who hold Micah during the service so my hands are free to distract Joel.

Its for the girls who play with Joel after the service every Sunday, keeping him out of trouble, and busy enough that I can get my stuff together so we can go home.

Its for those who are thrilled by the smiles they get from the boys.

Its for those who don't say anything to me about how distracting my kids are during Church and keep quiet about it.

Its for those who have realized that Joel loves fans and turn them on every Sunday.

Its for those who gently guide Joel back to the front during the children's feature.

Its for those who let him run around the sanctuary during the children's feature.

Its for those who take the time to say hello to my boys. To give them hugs and kisses. To give them high fives or a pound it.

Its for those who have gone before me. Who know what its like to raise young children and give me that reassuring smile. That "I've been there" nod. That, "You can do it " look.

Its for those who give me the encouragement to continue. The understanding that it will get better. And the forgiveness when I make mistakes.

Its for those who allow my children to be who God created them to be. Who are there during the good times and the bad. Its for those who accept my children when they sit quietly during church and when they are loud and distracting.

Its for the 12. Or the 20. Or the 200. Its for each member of the church. For each of those I interact with and for those who interact with my kids. You guys are the reason I go to church. You are why I keep coming. You are why I deal with unruly children. Why I exhaust myself trying to keep my kids quiet for 2 hours. You are the reason I go to church. And why I LOVE it.

The Greatest Gifts

As per usual, the baby LOVED playing with the paper. Thanks to Darnell and Christina (well, Darnell's dad) for the good quality paper which stood up to Micah's drool! Thanks for the puzzle for Joel. What a great gift from around the world.

Playing with their new toys (thanks MCC for the airplane!)

Dan was super surprised by his new shirt!

Can you tell that we LOVE The Big Bang Theory?

Joel really got into ripping the paper.

Micah, not so much.

There were a bit of tears and lots of love!

A cute handmade sweater for Micah---thanks to my Sister in Law, Sarah for her hard work!

A lovely hat (one for Joel and one for Micah). Thanks cousin Karen!

A lovely handmade wooden penguin from my brother Jon. Thanks James for putting it together! We were certainly blessed by our family's handmade gifts this year.

A surprise from our friends in Korea (thanks Greg and Karmen!)

My fav. gift from Korea: Sporks!!!!! (I've secretly always wanted one...and now I have a family pack!)

The Great Christmas Tree Caper of 2012 (now with pictures!)

Every year, for the last 6 years, Dan and I have gone to the local supermarket, literally picked up our Christmas tree and WALKED it home. I have done it with my roommate (and Dan). I have done it 9 months pregnant. I have done it 3 months pregnant, sick as a dog with a 1 year old in tow. And now, I have done it with a screaming toddler and a baby.

As per tradition, we make a stop at the local Starbucks for a beverage (and a bit of a break). It makes for a great photo op as well....we sorta.

Joel wasn't the happiest camper the entire time. In fact, he cried most of the way home. We realized later that he had to pee and that he refused to go in the public washroom or in the diaper we forced him to wear (he just started potty training at this point and we didn't want any accidents).

Anyway, we stopped at City Hall fountains to let Joel run around.

Dan had a bit of fun dressing up the tree!

And once we got home, we took almost a hundred shots (yippee burst mode!) to get this one, with all of looking at the camera, semi smiling! Our annual tradition is complete and we were exhausted!
But it was worth it!

Joel's Kitchen

Joel's big gift this Christmas was his own toy kitchen from Ikea. The idea behind it, was to reclaim our own kitchen from a two year old (which worked for about 2 days, but then became an epic fail). But he certainly loves playing with it.

The great unveiling! He pulled down the sheet...

...gave us the "woah" look....

...and proceeded to play for the next hour...

...without a single word or response to us.

Finally, an hour or so later, we got a "thank-you!"
I think the kitchen was a good choice!

Setting up the Tree

Joel took his job of putting the star on the top of the tree rather seriously.

In fact, he wanted to repeat this procedure numerous times, he loved it so much.

But luckily, he moved on to putting the other decorations on the tree.

We often had disagreements about where to place the objects. Joel wanted things low, so that he could touch them again. I preferred them high to keep his little hands away from breakable items.

But Joel finally agreed that the temptation of having little balls low would be too much, and decided to place them higher up.

 

But don't get me started about the nutcrackers.....

 

....he'll have nothing to do with 'em.

Joel and the Onion

The other night, I was making dinner with my handy dandy sidekick Joel.  He sits on the counter next to my cutting board every night while I make dinner. Last night, I grabbed an onion for our sweet potato curry and began slicing it. Joel randomly burst into tears. I asked myself what the heck just happened? So, I went to the source and I asked Joel what was wrong. He looked at me between sobs and said, "Onion, eyes, owie!" Yep. He was crying because onions make you cry. Brilliant!! Side note: this onion was not strong enough to necessitate tears. In fact, it didn't hurt at all. But in that little brain of his, all onions equal tears.

Our Special Visitors

As much as all the illness during Christmas was terrible, we actually had one of our best Christmases on record.  Dan's dad came out from Alberta to visit, bring Dan's youngest brother Eli and their dog Mack.

Really, the kids could care less about the presents (sorry guys), but they sure LOVED Mack. Micah spent the better part of a week trying to get his hands on that dog. Joel followed it around incessantly saying, "Puppy! Puppy!" By the end of the week, Joel finally associated the puppy with Papa!

As a family, we decided to go to Stanley Park and ride the Bright Nights Train. Joel was fairly silent through it all, but he did sit on Papa's lap the whole trip. (We realized later that he wasn't feeling well, and yes, he did puke on the car ride home. Note to self: car seats with machine washable covers are a must...hand washing pukey seats isn't fun).

He did comment on the lights and the train for days afterwards though.

The other wonderful visitor we got to see was Dan's middle brother, Kris. It has been a few years (minus an unexpected Easter visit) since we've seen him. It was a super huge blessing to our family to see him.

 Dad (Papa) got the most surprising gift: a chance to go out with his three boys, two grand babies and his daughter in law together for dinner. We all spent most of the vacation in shock. Shocked that Kris had called, shocked that Kris came out for dinner with us. Shocked that he came to extended family Christmas and shocked that he came for New Years Day fritters. It was the best Christmas gift ever.

It was our Christmas miracle.

Oddly enough, when we wrote our Christmas card blessing days before Christmas, we didn't realize how true it would be.

"May your Christmas be as messy as the manger,
as agonizing as a woman in labour,
as uncomfortable as an expectant mother riding a donkey,
as surprising as the Angels appearing to the Shepherds,
as hopeful as the wise men seeking out their Saviour,
as treacherous as a family fleeing from Herod,
as joyful as the birth of a new baby
and as peaceful as all those cards make it out to be."
 

We have to admit, it was messy and uncomfortable (sickness tends to be that way). But it was also surprising. And hopeful. Peaceful. Joyous. Good and Bad. But we really couldn't have predicted how awful it was going to be. Nor could we have expected it to be so incredibly surprising and amazing.
We're just thankful that God orchestrated it that way.

Our Holiday (in carols)

After Dan's lovely, "T'was the Night" rendition, we decided to keep up the theme and let you know about our holidays with some lovely jovely Christmas carols.

Amanda:
On the 1st day of Christmas, my husband gave to me,
The 24 hour flu.
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my husband gave to me,
a not so lovely cold
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my husband gave to me,
Three trips to the bathroom
On the 4th....oh who cares? You get the gross picture.

Micah:
All I want for Christmas is my 4 front teeth....he's not greedy or anything!

Joel:
Deck the car, with bouts of vomit
Fa la la la laaaa la la la la
Tis the season to throw up
Fa la la la laaaa la la la la

Basically, every two days someone was struck with the 24 hour flu. It was gross. Really gross. On top of that Micah was teething and was up every two hour in pain. We didn't really sleep for a week. (hence, the lack of blogging). We are trying to recover, get back on schedule and get our strength up. Plus, we had some awesome possum visitors that kept us busy....but more about that later (if the boys go to bed, we'll get some posts up!)