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!

Merry New Year! (a couple weeks late)

So once again it's been a long time since I've done a blog. I'm going to start with December because we did a bunch that month (and of course it was Kinnley's first Christmas) and go from there.

December:

The first weekend of December we went to my parents house in Rocky Mountain House to get our first Christmas tree for the family. Every year Jance and I decide not to decorate because it was just the two of us and we always went to see family over the holidays and were never home. So Grandma and Grandpa Shenfield came with us as we just basically walked down the road a little ways from their house and chopped down a small tree about my height. We had Kinnley loaded up in a little dogsled that my parents used for me and my siblings when we were little. She loved it! After we cut the tree down we decided to take Kinnley on a plastic toboggan that we were going to haul the tree on. She really didn't know what to think, but had a blast either way playing in the snow. Even my parents went down with her! We also tried making a family of snow angels (I'll try to load the video), and Kinnley had fun with that. Seriously the happiest baby in the world.

Seriously love this kid!

Me when I was little and Kinnley in the same sled

And video...

On top of the tree adventure, if you didn't catch it in the photos above, Jance grew his first real Christmas beard this year. He was pretty excited that he could pull it off. He keeps saying it still needs to fill in more, but I thought he did a pretty good job. He would have a beard year-round if he could. But Christmas works just fine for me, haha. What he seemed even more excited about was all the crazy designs he could do after, especially "the daggers". Note transition. He'll probably kill me for adding the first one cause he looks creepy with his bloodshot eyes, and we brushed his beard against the grains to make it stick out and look even more beastly.

Christmas:

For Christmas I stayed with my parents while Jance finished up a few things with school/research before Christmas Day, and then we headed down to Fort Macleod to spend Christmas with the McGale's! We had a great surprise when we got there. Cheyenne and Darren and the kids came out from Ontario so that everyone was there for the holidays. It was a lot of fun and Kinnley sure enjoyed spending time with her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Kinnley got spoiled, but seemed to loved playing with the Christmas wrapping more than seeing what she got for presents. It's amazing what entertains babies. Sometimes Jance and I think we should just give her a pack of 500 "Hilroy" for her birthday.

At Grandma and Grandpa Shenfields on her new wheels

Looking in her stocking.

Opening a gift.

I just realized that I don't have a good shot of our sad looking Christmas tree at home. Put it this way, too many ornaments for such a little tree, tin foil star, and the branches couldn't really hold them up very well (and they weren't heavy ornaments). When we got home, half of the ornaments had slid off the branches as about 80% of the needles from the tree had fallen off and the whole tree was limp. I wish I took a picture. Definitely had a Charlie Brown kick to it.

New Years:

For New Years we went to my brother's place in Edson and then went snowboarding at Marmot and played games to bring in the new year. It was the first time I went boarding since I was pregnant, so I loved getting out again! I forgot how much I really missed it. For New Years Day we went to my sister's place and she made a yummy dinner with the turkey Tayva won in the Turkey Trot.

At my sister's place

Catching up with my brother James on the hill
Jance busting a 360
At the top!

On another note...

It's crazy how fast time goes! Kinnley is growing like a weed and her personality is showing more and more. This past week she started her first swimming lesson and loved it! Poor girl swallowed a lot of water thanks to her mom from practicing the "bob". I just can't seem to get the timing right after I blow in her face. She didn't cry at all (what a trooper!) but she would come up spitting out water and showing me a "shocked" face. She was a little star with everyone there because she couldn't help but wave to all the kids and their moms and of course the instructor. It's exciting that she is already waving as it didn't appear that any of the other kids could yet, and most were older, a couple younger. However the majority of the kids can crawl, and Kinnley doesn't seem too concerned about it; so I guess I shouldn't be either. She's happy just the way things are and is always smiling no matter what.

Here are some milestones she has accomplished thus far:

• Rolling over (her main source of transportation)
• Sitting up (and move to her belly from sitting up-more gracefully)
• Clapping
• Waving
• Saying "hi" while she waves
• Crawling backwards (when she gets on all fours)
• Pee/Poop on potty (obviously she can't tell me when, just when I put her there)
• Pull blanket over her head and play Peek-A-Boo

Life of the Potty!

And on further note, Kinnley got her first shiner a couple weeks back. She was trying to do a face stand in the bleachers at volleyball.