It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Weeelll, here's another long overdue update. I find I have more time on Tuesday nights because there's not much for TV shows when you only have peasant vision. 

Being a mom of two has been great. Of course it's not easy breezy, but it's fun. Kinnley is slowly moving away from being a "lovingly abusive" sister to just a big sister (and all that entails). Mainly she has moments of pure sweetness where she tries to stop Wren from crying by dancing for her, bringing her lots of toys or just saying, "It's okay Wren". Other times it's more like a yell, "Wren! Stop crying!", like today for example. And of course she has to sneak in a kick or jab here and there before the day is done.

Last Friday I had a true moment of bliss. I find I tend to get out of the house as much as possible through the week just to make days go by faster and to keep my own sanity. Whether it's the indoor park, pool, or running errands, I need to get out. However for the last couple days last week I decided it might be a good idea to stay home and have Kinnley realize that we don't just get to watch TV all the time when we're home. She also had a nasty cough and was hitting other kids way to much, so it was time to just be home. I find from going out all the time that when we actually are home I just want to turn on a show, put Wren down for a nap and chill (aka waste too much time on Facebook, Instagram, and Bejewelled). So I needed to improve things. Baby steps I figure. So last Thursday and Friday was more work  WONDERFUL. I was able to crack the whip a little more with discipline in that the constant nagging of "don't do that...please stop...KINNLEY!" was less often and she wasn't talking back, screaming, and demanding as much by the end. Still a working progress, but it's amazing what happens when you actually spend time at home and work on change. As well, we were able to make play dough and play with it. I got some play dough stuff at value village and Kinnley played with that for quite a while as long as I did it with her. Then there were puzzles and books and lots of at home activities we did. Nothing too fancy or crazy, but I tried hard to keep her busy without giving in to a lot of TV. Of course she watched a little, but I was able to control it to a show while I showered and a show when Wren had her afternoon nap. The first day Kinnley asked fairly often to watch a show especially any time she had a snack or something to eat; but by the next day it went down significantly. I'll be honest, the days definitely dragged a lot more, but Kinnley's behaviour was improving.

Now this moment of bliss…on Friday, there was a point where Wren was on the floor and Kinnley kindly gave her a couple toys from our nativity set to play with (in other words, didn't throw at her).  Kinnley was focused on stringing some beads from an old necklace. They both hung out side by side and it was SILENT. You could hear a pin drop, silent. I thought to myself, silence=heavenly. I sat on the couch and just watched them with pure joy. It lasted quite a while. AMAZING. Period. So that was my moment of bliss. It made me realize that I need to spend more time at home. Not everyday, but more than I have been.

So Jance has been all over the place getting in electives to put his foot in the door at a couple different schools and make his CV look good (and gain experience too). He spent a couple weeks in Halifax and a couple in Calgary (we joined for a week and got to spend some quality time at "Comfort Candy")., and a couple in Vancouver. While he did those things, I kept myself busy in the summer with my first sprint triathlon, Color Me Rad, and the Spartan Race (which Jance was able to squeeze in). I also snuck in a visit to see my new niece Erika Innis in Vernon, BC. Anyway, I'm glad Jance is with us for a while now until CaRMs interviews. Jance is in his geriatrics rotation, and he's learning lots about incontinence, delirium and dementia. He strongly dislikes loves it. Then next week he has a 1 week family medicine elective and then we're headed to HAWAII! Woohoo! Jance's parents have a condo on the Big Island and so we're going to pester them on their anniversary and give them zero privacy haha. The kids will be coming too and I'm sure they'll have a blast. I've never been, but Jance went when he was 14 to babysit his cousins for a couple months. Jance has been counting down the days for a while now, seeing that he hasn't had time off since Wren was born (if that even counts). We'll be gone for 12 days. It hasn't really even sunk in yet. So we decided to decorate early for the holidays and get the majority of Christmas shopping done. I could spoil my kids rotten, but have to constantly tell myself to slow down (and Jance is good at reminding me too haha). I told him he had to tell me a budget or else I would go overboard.

  

                                               
As for Wren, she's 8 months now! She is awesome. Sleeps 12 hours, naps twice a day, and is still an adorable pipsqueak. She's starting to say mama (obviously without comprehension of what that means, but I like to pretend she does). She rolls everywhere she needs to be and spins in circles. But her hobbies include nattering and sitting in one spot until someone moves her to the exer-saucer or jolly jumper or brings her things to play with. Still not much of a cuddler though and gets frustrated when she's on her belly and doesn't get very far. Right now she has caught whatever Kinnley got last week so she has a constant runny nose and nasty cough. She was pretty sad today which is out of the ordinary, and still doesn't have teeth so it could be a multiple of factors affecting her mood. She had a rough night last night similar to the first night she was born. Up every hour. Poor thing. And with food, she doesn't like to be fed. Wants to feed herself (but doesn't get to very often yet) and eat what we eat. She is definitely the picky eater thus far in the family, but is slowly getting better. Did I forget to mention she LOVES baths? (she cries when I take her out and get her dressed)



 
Kinnley is potty trained for the second time, but still has her moments. I usually have to just tell her when to go, otherwise she'll usually have an accident. And just yesterday, she finished off her halloween treats and thus has no more potty treats. So we'll see how things go over the next couple weeks. Every day is a different day on how she'll be. Goes in waves of pleasing and rebelling. She loves it when she can do something on her own though. One morning she went upstairs and came down fully changed and ready to go for the day. She was pretty proud of herself (and everything was on the right way!). It's a lot of fun now going and doing things as she is getting braver. She loves swimming with her little water wings and dancing like a princess. This girl is IN LOVE with Disney Princesses (and Barbie movies). Doesn't have a specific favourite, because her answer changes every day. Also, she loves wearing dresses. As soon as church is over and we get home, Jance and I are in sweat pants. Kinnley wants to stay in her dress. Last week, she wore the same dress three days in a row (and would have continued if I didn't make her change). She is a true girl. I'm sure she'll be picking out my wardrobe when she gets older, because I'm horrible with fashion trends. As for shows, the popular ones as of late are Bubble Guppies,Team Umi Zoomie, and Super Why. I can handle that.
 
So here's some glimpses from the summer and fall. We only got to camp once and that was in September. It was a little chilly I must say, but fun. We went to Ram Falls with Jance's siblings. Wren's first camping trip. Halloween included Princess Jasmine and her pet tiger Raja. And lastly, going out to enjoy the snow.

 
 

It's Been Another Year Already?!

WELL, hello! It's only been over a year since my last entry. I did warn anyone who reads this in my first post, right? Anyway, here's the first thing I should address. Meet Wren!

The first photo was from when she was a couple weeks old and the other she's around 2.5-3 months old. I'm too lazy to find a connector thing to put more photos on the computer from my iPhone (where we are finally able to capture some grins of Wren's), so I'll get Jance to do it one of these days. Every man likes to feel important and handy right? And I know how much he loves to do it and do all those techy/computer things for me (hehe, not really but he's kind enough to do those things for me anyway). So in case you didn't catch it, we had another sweet little girl on March 19, 2013. Just four days before Kinnley's birthday. And so of course we had a little party kind of to celebrate for both girls. Probably something they'll have to get used to throughout their lives. I'll probably even have a combined cake for a couple years before they start remembering their birthdays ;). I'll at least let them blow out their own candles. So now I get to experience being a mother of 2. So much has happened in this last year that I could write a novel. I'll write a bunch, but trust me, I won't be offended if you just skip all the writing and just look at the pictures or what-not. I would do it too sometimes haha. So I'll try to be brief.

Let's start with Jance as he is the old man in the family:
Jance is now a father of two and still a student. Talk about busy guy. Pretty demanding wife, and thus a demanding life with everything he has to do. He's a pretty amazing guy I must say. He's just finishing up his third year in Med School, ending with obstetrics and gynaecology at the Grey Nun's Hospital. I was about to write an inappropriate pun, but seems more vulgar in writing so I'll just keep it to myself for now. But he seems to be enjoying the surgical part the best so far, and overall just keeping busy daily. I guess cause his day goes by faster? And since we have 2 kids now, he has more responsibility at home mainly taking one kid if I'm busy with the other and other numerous tasks that need to get done. He's been trying to get Kinnley rolling with her new bike she got for her birthday so they go for lots of little rides in the evening when he has a chance. And then studying somewhere within all the craziness. Very supportive and willing to help whenever he can.

As for me there's been much going on and yet at the end of the day I think I probably should have done more work around the house, maybe not have had such a long nap or think I should have played more with the kids. Either way there's always something to be done and something I'm procrastinating with. Since my last post, I started subbing in Wild Rose School Division in Rocky Mtn House at the end of April where I spent most of my time at the junior high school and it was good. There was a particular French Immersion class that just melted my heart and the kids were so amazing (and no I don't speak french...just taught them ELA for about a month). Made me enjoy my job for the time being. Kinnley was looked after a lady from my parents ward and she loved it. Then in June 2012, Jance had a month off of school and watched Kinnley while I worked and golfed during the week and came home on weekends. I discovered I loved golfing on my own. Then I got preggers and had lots of summer fun and whatnot with family mostly. Pregnancy went well (had to take my twice daily heparin shots, but it was good). Labour was awesome as crazy as that may sound. I love drugs! Okay that sounds bad, but with Kinnley I couldn't get the epidural, so when they offered this time I took it and I was calm and relaxed and after half a day of contractions (got induced 2 weeks early because of the whole heparin thing) and 3 pushes out came little miss 6 pound 15 ounce, 18 3/4 inch, Wren McGale! So little! And such an awesome little baby. Her first couple days were a little rough as she wanted to be held and didn't like her bassinet at the hospital too much. Made me nervous as to what kind of baby she was going to be! But she figured things out and has been an absolutely AMAZING baby. Not to brag, but so far that makes for two awesome babies. Both started sleeping at about 9 weeks through the night and both pretty chill throughout the day. Eat, sleep, and poop is what they do! So that leads me to some more recent events. Since having a baby, I had to set some goals to make sure I didn't get lazy and had some motivation to exercise. After living in Rocky for a month right after we had Wren (Jance was on his rural rotation) and walking on the rare occasion, I have been needing to get my butt in gear. So I signed up for the Spartan Race which I did with most of Jance's family last week at Rabbit Hill. It's a race with lots of obstacles, lots of mud, and the roughest part? Hills! Rabbit Hill will no longer seem like a little hill anymore. It was fun, but next time I'll need to train a whole lot more. Right after the race I said I didn't want to do another, but of course now I look back and realize I would do it again, but not right after having a baby. And maybe one with not so many hills, unless I'm super ripped and in shape or something. In addition, I signed up for the Color Me Rad run in Calgary Aug. 3 at COP. Looks like fun, and I'll do that with Ashley (my sis in law) and one of her friends. Then comes the big one...the Fort Macleod Sprint Triathlon. My swimming is not the greatest so I've been swimming about twice a week and then I play soccer on Mondays. I definitely need to get running more! I ran a few times with a friend before soccer started and then I got lazy because my body hurt so much from playing soccer for the first few weeks. And now I just started hooking up our bike trailer and going on little rides with the kiddies to the park. So some training is needed but I'm less worried about that in comparison to swimming. It's been pretty good though. I've gone from doing 500m in 16 minutes to just over 13 minutes so it's coming! Just need to get used to that water and breathing properly.

First postnatal run, and me posing with our new wheels! I entered my mom in a chariot carrier draw (along with a few other family members) and she won! This isn't the one she won, we actually just sold it and bought this one a couple months ago. So it worked out well!

Kinnley is now two and full of personality. She started walking at about 14 months and talking quite well at 17ish months. She figured out all her colors before she was even in nursery and is just a little smartie in her moms eyes. Now she has lots to say and loves to call Grandma and Grandpa on her play phones. She loves to play pretend from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed. We've been working with her on riding her strider bike and she's slowly improving. We just need to learn to let her do it at her own pace and she'll eventually get there. She also loves going to the pool and the park on a regular basis. On rainy days we try to hit the gymnastics drop in as it's pretty cheap and keeps her entertained for an hour and a half or go to the library. We also took her skating a couple times on bob skates in the winter which was fun. Right now she loves her rides on Grandpa's quad and even got to ride in "Uncle" Rick's big tractor this weekend! When Wren came and with the move to Rocky for the month I think it may have been a tough transition for her. She was potty trained for about a month before Wren came and then regressed to the point that I had to put her back in diapers after about a month of constant accidents (approx. 5 a day!). So we'll get back on that when both of us are ready to tackle it. I'm learning more about what the "terrible two's" are all about, and constantly trying to figure out good discipline tactics in hopes that she'll grow up to be the wonderful child that every mother wishes her kids will be. Of course there is no correct answer to everything, so we'll take it one day at a time. Either way, as soon as she goes down for her nap or hops into bed at the end of the day, you can't help but think how it's possible to love someone so much (to the point you just want to squeeze/hug her SO TIGHT!). Love her to pieces. I especially love the times when I leave to go somewhere and she says, "Love you too!" when I walk out the door. And of course her hugs and kisses (on the lips! as she would say). And on side note...she's got the craziest curly hair! And her mullet is starting to go away too.

She let me straighten her hair once!

Lastly there's little Wren. She's now 3.5 months and is trying to talk as much as her sister (mostly in the evenings when she gets a little more attention when her sister goes to sleep). Full of coos and smiles, but tries to be humble and hides all that when the camera is on her. She's so patient while we run around throughout the day with errands and various activities to keep us busy. The poor girl came into the world with her family all sick with colds and stuffy noses so she had to fight through a few of those illnesses in her first month or so of life. She has a sister that loves her (maybe a little smothering at times), and parents that adore her. We just put her in the jolly jumper this last week and she's slowly getting the hang of it. A little bit of riverdance so far. She's a little petite thing where she was in the 15th percentile for height and 50th for weight and head. We'll see where's she's at in a week when she goes for her 4 month immunizations. She had her baby blessing at the beginning of June so we were able to have some family out for that which was good. She cried a little during it but overall did well. Things she can do:

-roll over front to back (only a couple times so far)

-grab and hit toys

-coo

-smile

-hold her head pretty steady (has the occasional bobble head moment)

-watch and listen to things going on around her

-backflips (just kidding ;))

Anyways, that was long. And it's almost midnight. So until next time...keep fit and have fun!

Fun at the Park

Today was a blast! Kinnley got a new jacket at Superstore and seriously wants to wear it 24/7. AND of course she wants to be outside as much a possible since the weather has been nice. Thus I decided to take her to the park yesterday and this time she could actually play at the park and she had a lot of fun (took her before when she was still pretty young and couldn't sit up-we didn't do much then). Then we chose to take her there again today with her Dad and she was smiling like crazy! Thank goodness for the park! I think we'll be spending a lot of time there.

This was from yesterday (thanks to Krista's filming skills)

And this was from today:

How Old Is Kinnley? 1 YEAR!

Well, it's official. Kinnley is a year old. My mom taught her a couple days before her birthday how to stick up her index finger when asked, "How old is Kinnley?" She's so smart what can I say ;) Needless to say, when I woke up yesterday I just couldn't believe that I have a 1 year old! So I spent the day prepping for her party (a few friends and family over). We had mini fruit pizzas that I got the idea from Pinterest (I made my own kind of icing for them instead of what was on Pinterest and it was so yummy! I just combined instant lemon pudding powder and whipping cream). As well we had chips, liquorice, baby treats for her friends and lastly The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake (mint chocolate style). I was a little nervous about the cake because it was my first time ever making a cake (crazy I know) and of course first time for a child! But I think I did a good job. Again, so grateful for Pinterest and a Mom who I can get advice from in the cooking department.

ANYWAY, let me just say that Kinnley DESTROYED her cupcake and didn't waste any time. As soon as she saw a cupcake in view, it's like she knew it was destined for her. Overall, it was fun just visiting and being social for a change. Kinnley got spoiled with gifts (won't be needing anything for a WHILE). She also had a  rematch race (they raced at Greyson's birthday party) with Greyson Comfort, Bode Steed, and Sophie Innis (my niece). Greyson was so close, and then Bode ran through the finish line just in time to claim his victory (he's the only one who can walk). Kinnley adopted the Tortoise and the Hare philosophy, where she was the tortoise, only she didn't win the race. Instead she decided to mosey her way over making sure to wave and say "Hi" to everyone she passed by. At least she crossed the finish line unlike her last attempt. And Sophie, well, she ended up being more of an observer. My brother Steve was kind enough to be the photographer of the evening making sure to catch many highlights as you can see.

The Cake (with fruit pizzas in background)

 Taking a few bites

 Victory!

 Cruisin'

Opening her gifts (this one is from Aunty Cherum)

 Kinnley's bffs (and future prospects?)

Mexico and such

MEXICO
At the end of February, Jance and I went to Mexico for 9 days! It was so much fun! We stayed at Grand Riviera Princess in the Maya Riviera. The hardest part was leaving Kinnley behind, but she was in good hands in Fort Macleod with Jance's parents. One highlight to the trip was we got upgraded for free as soon as we got there to an "Adults Only" area that had free wifi! This made it great to Skype Kinnley on our iPhones. So we made sure to do that and it made things better for when we returned so that she didn't make strange too much.

Here's some photos from our trip.

 Snorkelling in a Cenote (underground water cave)

 Zipline!

 Chillin on the Beach

 We took a Mexican "Collectivo" to the Tulum Ruins. It POURED on us but that was refreshing and not a big deal seeing that we weren't at the beach. (Check out Speedo next to us...maybe I should have cropped this haha)

Sunset the morning of our last day

I couldn't believe how much progress she made while we were gone! Grandma and Grandpa McGale sure know how to get kids going! When we got home she was crawling on hands and knees, moving from her stomach to a sitting position, and becoming a little more stable with her walking (while holding Gramma's hands of course). Also, she says Mom and Dad much better, and she only did it once for us over Skype but she could say "WOOF" when asked what a puppy-dog said. Crazy! We're still working on "Ball", but she says "Ba" on occasion when she's trying to point it out. I'm a little biased, but she's such a little smartie! 

Jance also taught her last week when she wants something she points to it and says "THIS". It's kind of funny because it almost sounds like she has a little lisp and says "THISTH". Love it! 

Kinnley absolutely loves books. One of my favorite things she does is opens a book and starts babbling like she's reading it herself. So cute. 

Number One!
Well, it's been a couple months and time is flying by! Next week Kinnley will be 1 year old! I can't believe how quickly time flies. She wasn't feeling well with the runs and had no appetite for the last couple days, which made me paranoid that she was losing weight. Luckily whatever she lost is coming back as her appetite is back and one again is a bottomless pit. This girl seriously loves food, especially TREATS (who doesn't?)!

Today we were at my sister's and she made these super yummy chocolate cookies with mint M&M's. Kinnley wasn't impressed that I wouldn't share. Luckily her aunt is easily convinced to share. haha. I guess this is prep time to watch her get CHOCOLATE WASTED on a cupcake next week for her birthday. I must say thinking of what to do for a 1st birthday is a toughie! I could not think of what to do, especially since I'm not the craftiest, and my own personal interests involve sports or the outdoors, which seems to suite little boys at this point in Kinnley's life. Kinnley loves books so I tried to find some connection and I couldn't get myself to go super girly yet (I'm sure that will be next year when Kinnley wants a Barbie or princess party), and seeing that I'm not the greatest with color arrangements, we're going with The Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday cake (using cupcakes). Thank you Pinterest! I seriously don't know what I would do without Pinterest to help me in the crafty/creative department. Probably leave it to my sister to create. She's a crafty one that girl. I'm kind of nervous/excited to do it; but I've never made cupcakes (sad I'm sure) before. I'll let you know how it goes. Here's some photos that have highlighted some things in the new year so far.

 Jance studying...or attempting to haha

 Kinnley tobogganing with her besties Blakely and Greyson. They look thrilled (but she really does like it!)

Playing in the snow

Greyson's birthday party and the contestants (or competition?)

 Posing with their numbers

 Kinnley's laundry basket fort (or prison whatever you think)

 Kinnley in her Mexico soccer uniform we got from our trip

 LOVES wearing glasses (thanks Grampa McGale!)

Luc pulling Kinnley in the sled. We're slave-driving him early to get ready for that future farm work!