The end is near...

Well, it's been a month and a half since my last post so don't be surprised if I let this blog fizzle and die! I'm back at work now and that seems to have robbed me of all my free time (funny how that works), all my energy, and all my desire to sit in front of a computer when I get home.

But... a last attempt to keep my family and friends updated... here's what our "baby" has been up too!

And here's what else has been going on... kind of my excuse for being so darn tired all the time!

This was taken at 10 weeks... I'm nearing 17. In two weeks we have our big ultrasound, so it should resemble a baby a little more than this one did!And, it wouldn't be a good post without a photo of my boys now, would it?

Halloween photos... a little early!

We were invited to the neighbour's birthday party on Saturday so we had fun dressing the boys up a little early for Halloween. Alex insisted on being a pumpkin again, so my little guys actually matched really well!

Alex loved the "pin the stem on the pumpkin" game and I was really proud of him... he felt his way along the wall until he found the pumpkin... pretty smart kid!

Alex thought the pinata was a blast! The kids took turns hitting it until the string broke and it fell to the floor...

Then they took turns stomping it!

Then we got home and after he showed his candy to Daddy and described in detail how they'd destroyed the pinata... he passed out on the couch.

Now he's eagerly awaiting Halloween night again. I'm not looking forward to rationing the candy, but it's a once a year thing that all kids should experience! :)

Happy Halloween!

And now some more...

We've also been busy learning how to crawl and how to stand up!

9 months old...

Okay, this is the 5th time in the last 2 weeks that I've tried to post these photos on this page. Finally, it worked. I was about ready to call it quits. I had an appointment scheduled in PG for portraits of Connor at 9 months old, but I ended up cancelling it because the poor boy was so tired he fell asleep right before the appointment... we'd been to a birthday party early and had been unsuccessful at getting him to nap in between.

So, here's my attempt to do my own "photo shoot"... the backgrounds not that pretty, but the subject matter is!

Getting better...

Here's a better one of Connor crawling. He's getting the hang of it, still pretty slow but I don't think speed is going to be to far behind!

To set the scene... Alex had a couple of friends over to play yesterday and Connor could hear the noise from the living room, so he made his way around the corner into the hallway following the sound. Emily is helping him a bit by "luring" him with Alex's toy cd player.

Well, I thought I'd give this video thing a whirl...

Connor crawled on Thursday --- 4 steps (if that's what they're called when you crawl). Of course, it happened when I was out with Alex. Cory didn't have the camera handy, so I just had to take his word for it. Yesterday we tormented the poor little guy by placing toys just far enough out of reach to compell him to crawl again. Nothing spectacular, but if this isn't exactly crawling, then I'm sure the real thing is just days away!

They (who is they, anyway?) say that the second child hits major milestones faster than the first because they're so busy trying to keep up with older siblings. This is definitely the case here. Alex crawled at 10.5 months. We thought he'd never get the hang of it, and yet... two weeks later he abandoned crawling for walking. Connor is 8.5 months and ready to motor. Although, I'm not sure why we're encouraging him... I remember seeing my house as far more hazardous once Alex wouldn't stay contained in one room! :)

Anyway, go Connor! Time to dig out the baby gates...

Growing up...

With Alex's 3rd birthday comes a whole new set of opportunities. In our small town, there's really nothing you can do with your "under 3" children except for storytime at the library --- which runs twice a year in two 6 weeks sessions. So... filling Alex's days with meaningful, stimulating activities has not been easy... and I confess he watches way more Treehouse TV than he should.

So... maybe I've gone overboard a bit, but my three-year old is now starting to have a social life that does not include me. I have signed him up for preschool Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I signed him up for parent and tot skating lessons for 6 weeks this fall (not with me, thank you very much... don't want to traumatize the boy... his Dad will be skating with him) and I have signed both boys up for their separate storytimes at the library starting in October, although Alex's will be Thursday mornings so if Preschool's too much, we'll be dropping the Thursday morning story time.

Yesterday was Alex's first day of preschool. He was sooooo excited when I told him he was starting preschool in September. We had to do a countdown (5 more sleeps, 4 more sleeps... etc) and I had to show him, every day, on the calendar which day was his first day of school. Last week we went to Field's (yup... our major department store in this town) and picked him up a new backpack and indoor shoes. For the first two days he had it he wore it around the house constantly with his shoes safely inside.


His classroom is really cute, just like a Kindergarten, with many different stations and things for the children to do. I was really impressed.

And each child has their own coat/bag hook and cubby for their shoes. The children who attend in the mornings have the bumblebee nametags, the afternoon has the star name tags. I had to snap a photo of this when I saw who shares the hook with Alex... that's just too cool!

Gym time... Alex's first time in an organized setting having to hold hands with other kids... didn't phase him a bit! (He's the cute one in the middle... lol)

In Vanderhoof you either sign your child up for preschool at the Catholic Church, or at the Christian church. That's it. I know there is a lot more variety in Prince George, but it's almost nice to have such limited choices... makes the decision a snap. Alex is officially a student at a private Catholic School. There was no spot on the application asking whether or not we were a Catholic family, so I'm assuming we're okay!
Alex did really well. After meeting his teacher (who's a sweetheart) he set about to playing right away. He didn't notice me at all, until I told him I was going home, then he was ready to go too. No tears, just stated matter of factly "I'm done too". I ended up staying in the mudroom as a compromise and that was fine with him. He made it to the end of class and had a really good time. We'll see how it goes Thursday, but I don't anticipate that he'll need me around for too much longer.

So... there you go! My baby's growing up. I can't even call him a toddler anymore. We're into the next phase of his life... Alex is a preschooler.

Labour Day Weekend...

We went to Lac La Hache to attend the Sarver Family Reunion. It was the "other" Sarvers, in that it was my Mom's Aunt and Uncle and all of her cousins.

Alex loved digging in the dirt. Turns out, he also loves the lake. He kept going in (in his clothing) and it got to the point where I actually had no more clean clothes for him because we couldn't keep him dry. Hmm... who would have thought he was a water baby! We've had such a lousy, wet summer that I haven't actually taken him to the lake at all, so this was a first for him this year.
Connor is sooo close to crawling. He gets frustrated because he can't move forward on his knees, so he ends up rolling to his destination.

Aargh, I only packed him two pairs of shoes! :)
What???
Alex has been timid with his tricycle, but seeing the other boy, Xander, riding his bike seemed to motivate him and he actually started to peddle. He also found it quite funny to continue to fall off it regularly.
Going for a ride in Uncle Lyle's golf cart.
Reading a story with Grandpa.

A nice weekend, all in all!

Movies...

The movie store here is not that great... they tend to cater to the very religious crowd who only want to watch wholesome Christian movies, or to the "White Chicks" crowd who only watch... well, movies like "White Chicks". It's very hard to rent a good movie that isn't a blockbuster, or that's more than a couple of years old... and certainly no Academy Award winners, that's for sure. So, I asked Cory to pick up movies while he was in PG last weekend and hopefully we'll remember to return them this weekend (although apparently Roger's Video has done away with late fees) so we don't have to make a mid-week trip in just to go to the video store.

We just finished watching Pan's Labyrinth. I'm baffled. Ummm... okay... first off... SUBTITLES!!! I hate subtitles because I tend to multi-task while I'm watching tv, which means I miss a heck of a lot of dialogue when there are subtitles. Drives Cory nuts. But at least I have the ability to multi-task, thank you very much! But I thought, okay, I can give my full-attention to this one, and I did. I didn't even think about the dishes on the counter, or the laundry wrinkling away in the basket. And I must say... the two hours went very fast. Wow! Beautiful, crazy sets. Fantastic job with costuming. Very haunting soundtrack. Definitely deserving of the Awards it won. And yet, I'm sitting here now, thinking I should be going to bed, but I can't decide whether or not I liked this movie. It was not what I expected at all. By the end, I wasn't even aware that I was reading subtitles though, so it captivated me, that's for sure. I covered my eyes for a couple of scenes. I'm glad I did... I heard Cory say "ugh" a couple of times. It's certainly no fairy tale and NOT something my sons will see for years and years. Horrific, but so imiginative at the same time.

And on Tuesday we watched The Number 23. That's another head-scratcher. "Did I like it... did I hate it? What on earth was this director thinking?" It was entertaining, I suppose... but again... not for young eyes, and definitely not one to multi-task through. I think, also, that it requires a second viewing. Kind of like Memento... watching it once isn't enough to figure out what is going on. It was definitely not what I expected.

Maybe we should stick to renting "White Chicks" and the "Ten Commandments".

"Camping"

We weren't really camping. Cory's parents were. We thought it would be fun to drive out to the lake and spend some time with them, though. It was a great day... a little windy and chilly, but no rain at all. Alex went for his first ever boat ride (unless BC Ferries counts) and enjoyed dragging his arm in the water and splashing me. Connor just hung out and enjoyed the fresh air.
There is a mother duck and her 12 babies in this photo... you just can't see them that well.
Alex enjoyed the playground equipment, such as it was. When you're 3, climbing on anything is fun.Connor enjoying the fresh air.

And Alex learning how to play Bocce Ball with the kids in the next site. He's wearing my "too long" sweater because his got too wet in the boat ride.

Keeping busy...

Wow... I'm just about to call it quits with this blog. When I started it I felt like I had so much more time on my hands... but now I just don't feel like waiting for the pictures to upload... caption them... print them... scrapbook them... AHA! There's the problem, I spend almost every evening scrapbooking after the boys go to bed and not much hanging out at the computer. Maybe I should be blogging what I scrapbook instead...

Here's a project I made for my girlfriend whose just adopted two daughters. I can't wait to meet them! Congratulations Alison!

A double rainbow... we were fortunate enough to look out the window at just the right time, because it only lasted a few minutes and then it was gone. One benefit to all the thunderstorms we've been having.

Slimy baby... hmm... wonder if he's teething?

My belated birthday cake from Mom and Dad.... it was yummy! Alex helped me blow out the candles, since it was kind of his birthday cake too. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Phew!

Well, it's over! Yay! The last two weeks for our family are very chaotic! Cory's birthday, on the 23rd, then Alex's on the 28th, then mine, last Saturday... it's enough to make one want to swear off of birthdays altogether --- almost! We had a great time, of course, and we are absolutely loving the barbecue that Mom and Dad gave Cory (thanks again, by the way)... heehee... I have just cooked steak two days in a row! Yum... before the barbecue I couldn't cook a steak to save my life, unless it was chopped up and disguised in a stirfry. These ones, however, are fabulous! (Wonder if anyone remembers my brief stint as a vegetarian in grade 11, prompted by that nasty Slaughterhouse video Mr. Theilmann showed us in Geography).

Then was Alex's party... lots of kids and lots of adults. I almost survived the day keeping everyone outside, but towards the end, when it started to rain... we had to move the event indoors to serve the cake. That was the end of my clean house...

My birthday was a cakewalk (pardon the lousy pun) in comparison, as Cory was in charge of dinner, so of course we drove to PG to go to Kelly O'Bryans! :) We left the boys with my in-laws for a couple of hours and went to the Simpsons movie... the second time I have left Connor with a baby-sitter... the first, of course, being to go to the Harry Potter movie. The movie was hilarious and Connor apparently didn't cry too much (hopefully Judy's not minimizing the crying to spare me the guilt).

Our nephew, Brandon's, first birthday party is on Friday, but since I don't have to do anything but attend, it won't factor into my stress levels. So... officially, we're back into routines, the cake is out of the house, and we've returned to some level of order.

I had a lot of fun planning Alex's party and filling the goodie bags... I thought I had all the treats purchased until I found a 12 pack of these at the grocery store... what summer backyard party is complete without "shades"... modelled by my adorable model (who promptly pulled them off and put them in his mouth).
Here's Connor sitting up at 7 months old... actually, it's 7 months and 3 days --- my 31st birthday, but close enough to count as a 7 month photo, I hope... hey, I was busy! He sits up all the time now... and it's getting really difficult to get him to do "tummy time" cause he is constantly rolling over on to his back and squirming around... so maybe he won't be crawling any time soon.

And, also taken on my birthday... a train collision in PG. Just as we were driving into the city two trains collided and went up in flames... we saw the smoke first so we drove to Fort George Park to investigate... maybe not the smartest thing to do, but we weren't the only people checking out the source of the fire. It kind of put a damper on the day, but I'm happy to report that (according to the news, anyway) no one was injured, so we're feeling a lot better about what we saw.

Hmm... pattern developing... also on my birthday. Dad gave Alex a transformer (his very first, we're so proud... sniff!) for a late gift... he was thrilled! Just today he said "I wish I had more transformers". Here he is at Kelly O'Bryan's, just tickled with this new toy.

And, there you go... maybe I'll have some neat photos to post of Brandon's birthday party after Friday... can't believe he's already 1... and yet my own baby is over halfway there... so I guess I can!