On our own...

So my nanny Julie quit! Why? Who knows...Maybe it was the 4 hour daily commute, maybe it was her doing mostly housework, maybe it was because I was home all day to watch her every move, maybe she was a bit lazy..In the end I don't really care!

I've enjoyed the past week at home with the munchkins all to myself...Some days I feel like the picture above, but I've been given a renewed sense of  I CAN DO THIS MYSELF and have actually been enjoying the challenge of keeping up with things on my own...I think I am almost brave enough to have an outing with the 3 kids myselfs too..whats the worse that could happen? All 3 melt down at the same time? Well bring it on! It happens at home ona daily basis so its certainly nothing new..the hardest part would be getting out of the house in timely fashion...The babies are doing a really great job of breastfeeding lately so I would nurse them if I needed too, anyways I think I'll try it soon! I think for now I'll hire a cleaning lady and maybe just some part time/occasional help through the week so I can go get groceries or take Alyssa somewhere fun.

Everyone is doing really great, babies are growing like crazy..they haven't been weighed for a few weeks but I'm thinking Leah has to be 11-12 pounds and Blake around 11 maybe?! Funny thing I went back and went through Alyssa's blog the other day (Christine you are right, it IS fun to go back and re-read it!) and Alyssa at 12 weeks was 12 pounds 4 oz and 22" long...The twins corrected age is about 3 months so they are almost exactly where Alyssa was at this age!! That means we are on track for 2 more chunky babies!! Woohoo!

Easter was great we had a lot of fun...We had dinner at Auntie Ronda's on the Saturday and Dinner at Momma Leanna's on Sunday...Aunt Wendy finally got to meet the twins! Sadly we forgot our camera so I don't have any pictures...Aunt Wendy did email me some I'll have to save and upload..but for now I don't have the pictures handy...

The Easter buuny hid eggs all over our house and Alyssa was so exciting to collect them as she went around the house...There was about 45 eggs and she will remember which colored egg was where...

Checking out what the Easter bunny left her and the babies

Carrying her stash

Here are just some new randoms of my pipsqueaks

Leah in her morning garb...she sleeps with socks on her hands, otherwise they get too cold!

Little Blake has been such a little sweetpea lately..he is just so smiley and as long as he's being snuggled he's just a happy little guy

Mommy and baby boy...he gets to eat dinner with me everynight...he always seems to need extra snuggles at that time of day

Alyssa scrubbing clean! Bet she'll hate this picture later on!

Leah out cold after dinner

The little buddies hanging out together watching their aquarium...

Blake has started sucking his thumb...so cute!

Just some cute ones from today...They are almost moving onto 3-6 months stuff from the newborn and 0-3 months stuff..sniff sniff...Always makes me sad to see how fast they are growing up. They are giggling now too, Alyssa was making Blake laugh yesterday just by talking to him..I love it!

Click on this picture here, you can really see here how different they actually look...Skin tone, eye color everything really!

Alyssa and Leah...aww they love each other!

Cutest Baby in Calgary Contest!!

**Edited to Add** I think maybe you CAN vote more than once so VOTE as much as you can!!

"Why must you wear that silly hat?"


Since I think my babies are the cutest babies in Calgary, I have entered them into The cutest baby in Calgary contest put on by local radio station...I have submitted this photo and need your help for them to win!!

The Grand prize is worth $45,000 and I want to WIN!!!

The grand prize is a trip for 4 to Disneyland (we're 5 but i'll let it slide!)
A brand new 2010 RV Trailer,
$5000 RESP Education fund,
A custom built play structure
$5000 of food at M&M's, a
$5000 photo package,
$2500 shopping spree at a toy store
Family pass to Calway park...

To vote for our little beauties, go to this link:
http://cutestkid.vibemorningshow.com/showcase/View.aspx?ID=141983

And rate them a 10...I'll give some props out to the other kids since there are some cuties on there but I really think mine are the cutest ;)

SO GO VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!! Contest ends April 22 but DO IT NOW so you don't forget....Send this to your friends and family so they can vote too!! Since its a local contest there is a real shot at winning...

Happy 5 months!!

Just a quickie to say Happy 5 months to my twinkies!!! I just can't believe they are 5 months old, its crazy...and they are still so New baby like its really felt like I've had tiny babies forever...they are both right around the 10 pound mark now, almost 4 times their birth weight which is really hard to believe...

I have some great pictures from Easter I'll share soon...Hope everyone had a great long weekend!

Woah...

...What a day, what a busy few weeks....Alyssa has been an absolute terror...My patience is probably part of the problem but EVERYTHING is a fight with her...She literally says opposite of everything I say...

I woke up at 5 to feed the babies back to bed until 8:30am...Got up and tried to wake up Alyssa...she argued getting up, she wanted 4 more hours..ha! I opened her blinds she jumps out of bed and shuts them then jumps back into her bed...She rolls around in her bed complaining she is too tired to get up...I leave her for a few minutes and try and get my self ready and I had to pump before we try and make it out of the house at 10:30 for preschool...

She complains about getting dressed and argues what she is going to wear, she doesn't want her hair combed, then she pulls out the pony tails I just put in...She doesn't want breakfast, to put her coat on,to put her shoes on and now doesn't want to go to school....She doesn't want help with her car seat and even hit me as I tried...We get to school and the parking lot was empty..No school..bahhhhh I guess I missed that memo that school was closed for Easter break...

I stopped at Starbucks for an Americano with 4 shots of Espresso, looks like I'm going to need it....We went to Superstore to return clothes I bought for her since she declared she hated them and refused to wear them...I let her pick out some new stuff for summer in hopes she will actually behave getting dressed in the morning, she will only wear short sleeved shirts or Tank tops...Not all that ideal for our cold climate, but I swear the kid is cold blooded as she is NEVER cold...She pouted when I wouldn't let her stand up in the cart...

We left there and went to "Gunkle" Kris's house to play with Sophie and Gabe...Surely she'd be in a better mood then...Nope she didn't want to share Sophies bike, she wanted the Pink spoon for her macaroni and refused to eat it on her yellow spoon, Sophie was sweet enough to trade...then she still spit out her noodles after I tried to force a bite into her mouth...On and on the battle to eat, she had a time out and I really should have taken her home...She insisted that Gunkle feed her, so a few airplane mouthfuls later she'd at least had something...

We left a short time later and arrived home, I pumped and OHMYGOD Leah had the hugest poop blowout I've ever seen EVER, out of all 3 kids...She hadn't pooped in 2 days which is fine with breastfed babies but holy smokes I've never seen that much poop ever...It exploded up her front out the top of her shirt
into her ears, her hair everywhere...I had to get the scissors out and cut off her undershirt, there is no way I could have taken it off without her getting a mouthful of poop...Of she went for a bath...Might as well bath Blakey too since I have all the stuff out...Then it was time for feeding, thankfully Julie was still here to help out with that one...I put the babies down after that for what I hoped to be a 2 hour nap...Nope they were up after 1/2 hour and cranky since they really didn't nap long enough, they both cried off and on the rest of the night...Alyssa was bratty pretty much all afternoon and evening as well...

Made dinner really quick, a gourmet meal of Hotdogs and Kraft dinner..Kirk came home and left to go to the Flames game...Alyssa argued about eating dinner and pouted like crazy when Kirk left...I ate in about 2 mintues then it was feeding time again for the babies which took an HOUR, then I had to pump again...

Papa Murray came over to help me and thank goodness he did...Leah was super fussy because she didn't nap long enough today and needed to be held...Alyssa played with papa for a bit and I cleaned up dinner dishes and made her bedtime snack....She was being a monkey again running around not wanting have her snack then she was making a huge crummy mess, Oh wait feeding time again...me and Papa were feeding the babies while she was eating her snack...she took forever to pee and wash her hands which only papa could help with as he held Leah who was crying, teeth brushed and a quick book and she's off to sleep, well off to bed anyways, she ran out of her room a few times and beckoned me for water and to cover her up..sleep came about 1/2 hour later...hallelujah!! Leah's done and ready for bed, Blake needs a little snuggle and off he goes....I'm taking a few minutes to type this then I have to pump and make bottles and hopefully I'll make it to bed by 12...

This had pretty much how it has been around here the last few weeks, and its mostly Alyssa causing me all the work...The babies do need more attention these days but compared to the 3 year old monster they are a cake walk! My mom had Alyssa yesterday for dinner and the evening and it was so peaceful here..I made Kirk a nice Rib dinner and we enjoyed a lovely dinner and chatted for a long time in peace! Funny thing is I wore Blake the whole time in my baby Bjorn as he squeeked on and off so I guess peaceful isn't the right word, but at least the madness of Alyssa's demands and complaining wasn't there...

Anyways, I just wanted to document this for later so I can show her down the road why my hair turned grey (it hasn't yet but I'm sure its just around the corner!)

Truly things have been going quite well with the exception of Alyssa's behavior some days...I don't feel too stressed or worn out yet...a little frazzled by bedtime somedays but still not horrendous...I guess compared to my even crazier and WAY harder 2009 this seems pretty doable (is that a word?)

The babies are great! Leah is 9 pounds 11oz and Blake is 9pounds 6 oz...They have been doing so awesome at sleeping which really helps things..They usually stay in their cribs for a 12 hour period, sometimes waking up after about 9 or 10 hours, Blake that is, never Leah although I wake her to eat just to be fair...I am soley breastfeeding them now at this feed and it works out great since it eliminates time to heat the bottles downstaits and then I don't have to pump and can get back to bed in about 40 minutes...They have even gone the full 12 hours, but I think they are still a bit to small to go that long so I sometimes wake them up after 10 if they haven't woke on their own...I know that sounds crazy but maybe a few more pounds I'll feel better letting them go the full 12...

Ok I must go...I'm hoping to have a better day tomorrow since my last 2 were like today...Just wait until I get to have 2, 3 year olds at the same time :) Katie, you get 3!!!

4am

Just a quick video of the cuties in the middle of the night...Boring I'm sure to anyone besides their mommy...

Change of heart/Massive update!

First, thank you all for your thoughtful words of encouragement. It means a lot to know that you have all been interested in our little family...My technical difficulties have been resolved, infact there were no technical difficulties just some Mommy mush brain trying to figure things out, and the new way of uploading pictures is even easier than it was before...it was just me not knowing what the heck I was doing...

The truth is I really do enjoy blogging. I find that the days, months and years just all meld together and its nice to be able to go back and reflect and see what it was that was filling in the time. Things you think you'll always remember but actually forget pretty easily. You have all given me some great insights and you are right, it will be a nice way to remember our young family down the road. I often find that I write things here that I wouldn't even bother speaking aloud...So for now I will continue blogging the best I can, and I'll do it for me and my family and blog when I can...it will be a bonus to have others follow us along the way...So that is that, onto our HUGE update!! I even have some spare time, the babies are both napping and Alyssa is on right beside me watching Backyardigans...

Last week we took a trip out to Roblin Manitoba, for those who don't know here that is, it is a 3 hour drive North East of Regina Saskatchewan...if you don't know where that is...well forget it! Roblin is a tiny tiny town in the middle of nowhere (in my mind!) with a population of about 3000 people. All of Kirks family is from Roblin, his parents Erv and Joyce are from there and moved here to Calgary before they had kids...

Kirks Grandmother Rose had planned on coming out here to see us and our kids that she has never met, sadly she hasn't been feeling too well as wasn't able to make it. She has had a several year battle with colon cancer and has had a rough go the past few months...We decided to go see her instead since it has been several years since we were out there....This was a scary daunting thing to consider with the 2 small babies and a 3 year old. We had to fly to Regina, then we rented a car and drove the 3 hours to Roblin. It was definitely the right decision, we all had a great time and Rose was so thrilled to meet her Great Grandchildren and hold the twins. The trip ended up being WAY easier than I would have anticipated, all 3 kids were perfect angels and it literally went off without a hitch...It was exhausting and non stop work but certainly worth the smile on Rose's face when she held those babies...

This was when we first arrived...Grandma was so excited to hold the babies and really wanted to keep Leah!

 4 generations

Sooooo happy!!

This is Auntie Jane, Jane and Wayne (erv's brother) live in Roblin and were kind enough to have all 5 of us invade their house...Jane was always helping us out with the babies...

The timing was great because Auntie Gwen (Ervs sister) was in from Winnipeg so we also got a visit in with her, Alyssa LOVED Gwen and Gwen was so patient and sweet with Alyssa

This is Auntie Gaylene (Ervs sister) and Uncle Anthony in form Dauphin MB

Here is Uncle Wayne and Auntie Liz, who also live nearby..Auntie Liz could've held those babies all day...arm of steel!

Aww look how happy she is!

Our crew with a very tired aweful looking mommy!

On our way home we drove past Regina to MooseJaw where Kirks other Grandmother lives. We stayed in a hotel and made a quick stop at Walmart for family swimwear...Alyssa was SOOO excited to go swimming in her newly purchased too small bathing suit

Joyce's mother Vera holding the babies...Joyce has a twin sister Jane, so this was neat for Grandma to hold her twin great grandchildren...Vera lost her sight a few years ago but was just as excited to hold the babies

Daddy and his girls on the plane...Holy could Blake look anymore like his daddy!

Mommy and her tiny little guy...

Here is Alyssa and her baby sister....She just can't get enough of helping out with her sister...Not her brother so much, although she will add in she does love him so his feelings don't get hurt...haha

If you notice the poor kid is always in her pjs these days and never has her hair combed!

It was such a nice day a few weeks ago, we took the babies on their first walk around the neighbourhood. They slept the whole way but it was nice to be outside! I can't wait for summer...I feel like I missed all of last summer on bed rest and taking it easy being pregnant so I really wasn't able to do much or go for many walks...this summer should be great!

Even room for Oscar in our new stroller!

Our little glamour girl!

A busy momma, all 3 needing me!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!

Here are some random pictures of the cuties

This is how Kirk determines if the babies are really done eating...

My brother Kris with Leah..

Kirks parents Erv and Joyce are celebrating their 35th Anniversary in April so we decided to celebrate before they went home. We had a photographer come to the house and do some group pictures and then we had some cupcakes and champagne and sent them on their way in a limo for a nice dinner at Teatro's..They were pretty surprised but I think they had a good time...Happy Anniversary guys!!

The little people all dressed up...could they be any cuter!

Well thats it for now, thank again for all the support we have been given...its really special to be connected and "in touch" even though everyone is so busy these days