My tough guy

Poor Aidan. He's always been my clumsiest of kids. not surprising, since he's always climbing on things, and over things. Somehow the concept of Around escapes him.

Last night I walked into the living room just in time to see him climb onto a chair(one of those small Little Tykes ones) had time to shout NO! before it toppled over, sending my little boy straight into the edge of the beautiful Bench my Dad made.


(Here they are together, on said bench)

Poor kid. He rarely cries. And when he does, it's usually for a quick second, and he moves on to the next task. Not this time. He's Still touching his cheek saying "Ouch, Hurts". Check out this instant black eye!


It actually looks a lot worse in person :(

Well, I guess it's probably the first of many...but I don't have to like it :(

~Lisa~

It's been one of those days.

You know the kind, where you wake up, and shouldn't even open your eyes? Yeah, that's my day so far. I'm still laughing about it all though, so I guess it hasn't been all that bad :)

1, All 3 kids woke up at about the same time, making my morning realllly hectic! And I didn't get my tea.

2, Jenna goes to brush her teeth before school, and gets water AND toothpaste all over her shirt and pants. HOW?! I really have no idea. And of course, I have SO been slacking on laundry this week, and she has NO clothes left!

3, As Jenna is undressing, and trying to convince me to let her wear capris and a stained t-shirt on a cold and rainy day, Aidan snarfs his milk. For those not familiar with the term Snarf, it's when a beverage comes out of your nose, unintentionally. This morning it was milk. All over his face and shirt.

4, Race up to Jenna's room, and curse repeatedly(in my head) for not having enough clothes for my daughter, and for choosing THIS morning to put in an early load of laundry(how smart of me! HA!). Find her clothes. The socks don't match. that will NEVER do for my girly girl! Find Blue socks. Little does she know, she's still wearing purple hair elastics with a blue outfit!

5, We are SO out of time. 5 minutes before the bell rings. Strap the baby into his car seat...much to his protest. Pray he does not spit up. Realize i have not changed Aidan's shirt. No time, he'll have to wear it.

6, No keys. Where are the keys? I was SURE I saw the keys on the counter. CRAP Yell like a maniac because of lost keys. Not in my coat, purse or diaper bag(we're down the three minutes before the bell.) Ahhh!! Found them in Al's coat pocket. Of course!!

7, Buckle all three kids in the van. Damn those seatbelt laws! lol We made it to school. And had time to say Hello to another mom just as the bell rang.

8, Breathe a sigh of relief that Jenna made it to school. Return very late video to store.

9, Mason wakes, eats, and has some playtime on the floor. Starts to fuss. I like letting him fuss for a few minutes...it makes him sleep more deeply. Mean mommy I am. Then I realize, hmm..what's that smell? oh great, it;s Mason. ACK!!!!!! Total poo-through!!!! up his back, down his legs! Thank GOD he was wearing dark colours, and laying on the yellow part of his winnie the pooh blanket!

10, Change baby. Decide 15 wipes is too many for one diaper change. Wrap him in a blanket, and off to the bath he goes. As he's laying contentedly in my lap, waiting for his bath...he PEED ON ME!!!!!!! Of course, now all of MY clothes are in the washing machine.

11, Bath demon baby. He likes it!!

12, Aidan in constipated again, and chooses,of course, today, to get it all out. Which causes him to cry and scream and need to sit on Mommy's lap. All while I am trying to dry, moisturize and dress his brother :(

Fun morning eh?

It's now almost 11:30(oh yes ladies, all of that befor lunch!! Yay ME!) and Mason is sleeping(*knock on wood) Aidan is trying to open the unlocked closet door with my house key, and I am waiting for my tea to steep.

Yep. It's been one of those days.

~Lisa~

Pictures from the orchard :)

Here we are!!



Here's my stud and Jenna :) hehehe...


Aidan asking to eat yet another apple!

Jenna and Aidan snacking on the Apples.

Aidan having a Blast on the Pony!!

Going on an Apple Hunt!

**Going on an Apple Hunt,
Going on an Apple Hunt.

Gonna pick some Juicy ones,
Gonna pick some Juicy ones.

We're not scared,
We're not scared.

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

hehehe...**adapted without permission from the writers of Dora's Berry Hunt episode :)

We went apple picking today!! It was actually more fun than I expected. The kids had a BLAST!(No scary haunted barn) Aidan even got to go on a Pony ride!(Jenna was too scared).

I'll post some pics in a little while :)

On a sad note...My Angel fish is dying :'( She's lasted a long time...1 year and 8 months! Which is pretty good for a fish. Especially an Angel, since they are supposedly only successful in pairs, and her mate died a couple months after we got them! Al promised me 10 new fish when he saw how sad I was...LOL...we'll see :)

Happy Saturday!

~Lisa~

Feeling kinda left out :(

Here it is, Thanksgiving weekend, and we have no plans. My mom and my George are going away for the weekend. They SO deserve it after everything they've put their heart and souls into this past year. But it's going to be weird to not be with them for Thanksgiving dinner. My Dad mentioned something awhile ago, but only once, and I haven't heard anything more on it since...so I guess that option is out. We had Turkey dinner with my grandma last weekend, she's going away too. And since Al's family is 8 hours away, there's no going there either.

I suppose I should look on the bright side. Say that this is our chance to have our own dinner, and start our own traditions...but it's just not the same really.

Oh well...at least I get an extra day with my husband this weekend! I am really looking forward to that!

Sorry. Just needed a minute to whine a bit.

~Lisa~

Well, I'll tell you what I'm not...

I'm not a size 12 anymore!!

Went to Value Village today...totally scored!! I got Jenna the CUTEST outfit...for CHEAP! And I got a used Turtle costume for Aidan, for $3!! He's going to be Franklin for Halloween! I'm so excited! Aidan also got a wisked cool Spiderman shirt...for $3.99!! And I was scared it would be too hard to find anything good with all three kids with me! HA!

I also managed to look in the womens aisle for a nano-second. Long enough to grab a great looking pair of jean. In size 12. for $7.99. Oh glory be!!! THEY ARE TOO BIG!!! doin' a happy dance here!

I also got Mason a cute hat...$.49!

I am so going back for a smaller pair of jeans :)

~Lisa~

Here's Jenna's outfit! Don't mind the ramrod straightness of her...she was in between poses LOL

A coo and a smile :D

I LOVE this stage of babyhood!!! Mason looked up at me this morning gave a big coo, and an even bigger smile!!

It was almost as if he was saying "ahh, that's my mom"

Definitely one of those moments that makes your heart sing, and causes you to forget that he was up wanting to chat and play at 5AM.




Hard to believe he's already 6 weeks old!

I lub dat boy!
~Lisa~

Snow White!

Ah Man! I wanted Belle too LOL. Oh well, I guess, despite the annoying voice, Snow white isn't tht bad :)

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

~Lisa~

The worst part about a growth spurt...

is EVERYTHING!

Argh!! I feel like I have spent the past 2 days on the couch being a human milking machine.

He eats. He sleeps. I put him down, he wakes up 2 minutes later!! To eat of course.

Well, I guess I will just hope that he is like his brother, and the end is very near for this growth spurt.

These jugs are tiiiiiiiirrrred!!!!

Don't get me wrong. I am Thrilled to have made the 6 week growth spurt milestone. Especially since he has not had a DROP of formula!!!!! That really is a huge accomplishment for me. Jenna was breastfed for 2 weeks...barely. Lots of formula supplemented in between. Aidan got a little formula here and there at first, and then a bottle of formula a night once he was a month old. Not a sip for Mason. Even in the hospital. I really feel such a sense of pride over this. It's weird though...I don't often feel pride for myself...I almost feel embarrased to write about it.

Well...off to get some cleaning done before my 10 minute break is over, and the milk bar needs to open again :)

~Lisa~

Outraged!!!

ugh. I'm so mad I can't even start this damn post!!

Alvin and I were watching TV tonight, and a little news blurb, update thingy came on. Apparently, there are a lot of suicide bombers, somewhere in the world...I missed where. While of course, this news is upsetting...wht really PISSES ME OFF is the fact that they showed a VIDEO of one of the bombings.

Yeah, in a restaurant...all these innocent people, having a nice meal together. I could see their faces. I had time to wonder what the video was...and then, boom. Quite literally. What person in their right MIND thinks it's okay to show that on TV!?? All those innocent people have FAMILIES! Do the TV station manager people really think those families want to see that last glimps of their loved one?!

I can take a lot of things. I know that gory gets ratings. But this is where I have to draw the line. I am sickened, and outraged that a video like this is playing over and over on the airwaves. there is NO NEED for it.

My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to the families of the people in that video.

~Lisa~

Conversation with a friend.

Let me start with a little background. I have trouble with conversation. I love to talk to people, but the conversations are often one sided. For some reason, I can start a topic, but it always seems to be taken over by the other person. Like this:

Me-"Aidan has been a monster lately"

Them-"Really? yeah, mine has been too. You should have seen them at my mom's the other day. We went there so her and I could work on some scrapbooking together, you should come see the pages I've been doing lately."

Me-"Yeah, that sounds fun"

Them -"anyway, I better get going."

And i never get to finish what I started talking about!! It's kinda frustrating, but I guess I have gotten used to it over time. Maybe that's why I like working with Kids so much...they have to listen to me! LOL

So, back to my story.

I called my good friend Jes the other day. She wanted some advice on my way of toilet training her beautiful son Billy.

She didn't just jump right into what she needed. She asked about my family, she soothed my nerves over the dentist issues, and most of all She Listened!!

The conversation flowed back and forth like nothing. We laughed so hard at times, got annoyed over the same things, and discovered we really have a lot in common.

Jes, it was the best phone conversation I have had in a very very long time. I really hope I was able to give some good advice about Billy.

Thank you so much, for a conversation with a Friend.

~Lisa~

Ahhhh...baby.

There's really nothing like a new baby.

Their teeny perfect hands. They're so small, it seems impossible that they really could be perfectly formed little hands.

Their tiny noses. Kinda turned up, and so cuuute!!!

The way their breath feels on your skin, so soft and gentle. It's almost soul cleansing.

Their squeeks and moans. Making you wonder what they're dreaming about.

Their eyes. That look up at you with such trust, and acceptance.

Their itty bitty bums. That fit in your hand so well.

Their perfect little kissy lips.

ahhhh....I love babies.

~Lisa~

Bless you Dr. Mocrae!

For a wonderful staff, for a comfortable atmosphere, for fitting us in, and for your trusted second opinion!!!

While we haven't heard a final number yet, I am confident that it is going to be MUCH lower that Dr. Morley gave us on Monday.

Jenna does NOT need to have surgery. She will NOT be getting crowns(we were told today that crown on children are often a waste of time, since they won't fit properly!). She will NOT be going back to that pediatric dentist EVER again!!!

She did so wonderfully today. I'm so proud of her. Not only was she brave, and only cry a very little bit, but she also sat calmly and bravely through not one, not two, but SIX, yes SIX x-rays!!
We paid $140 on Monday for Dr. Morley LOOK at her teeth for a couple seconds. We paid $145 today for the appointment, AND the x-rays!! Was I ever FOOLISH to take her there in the first place! lol...who knew though right.

Jenna does have some infection in her molars, which is what is causing the toothache. Dentist #1 told me that he thought infection would probably set in "shortly" and when that happened, she would need work done immediately. Well, Dentist #2 gave us a prescription for Amoxicillan to get rid of the infection that's ALREADY THERE!!! Which is going to take away her Pain! Which is what I wanted for her IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

And Dentist #2 had a much nicer staff!! they were SO healpful, and friendly. They told us that the Health Unit may even reimburse us for the appointment we had today. And they already had us fill out the form for the Health Unit so we can get the ball rolling already...instead of me having to call the HU, then them call the dentist to get the paper, to get the x-rays requested, to get the ball rolling! Good grief.

So, all in all, today was a good day. It's been a very expensive week, but today was a good day.

~Lisa~

Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighteen Dollars.

Yep. $3818.00 is the price of a 4 year olds teeth these days. Seems incredibly ridiculous to me. And utterly impossible. He wants to do work on almost every one of her teeth.

Fillings, crowns, cleanings, goodness knows what else.

The only good thing is that our local Health Unit may cover the majority of the work.

We are getting a second opinion tomorrow though. This guy didn't even take an x-ray!! For $140.00, I would have thought that would include a little more than him looking in her mouth for two minutes, rhyming off a bunch of dentist speak to his assistant(who looked strangely like Barbie) and then a bunch of papers for her procedure on December 14th.

My poor girl. I just can not help but feel like I failed her. Aidan has Perfect teeth. Shiny and White. We didn't have a good tooth brushing routine for her until after she was two, and the damage was already starting. We let her have all the juice she wanted. But, thinking that they were 'just' her baby teeth, I didn't know the scale of the damage until yesterday.

damn damn damn. All I can hope for now is the new dentist to give us a lower number, and a clearer answer of what REALLY needs to be done to get her through.

Wish us luck. I am going to try to really talk Al into coming with us tomorrow. I might be good at the hand holding, and soothing, and story reading and cuddles...but when it comes to dentists and doctors, Al is far superior to me. he knows the questions to ask, and the buttons to push. Man, I really hope he'll come with me.

~Lisa~

Feeling like a terrible mom.

Well, anyone that has even met Jenna, or looked close enough at a picture of her probably has noticed that her teeth are in rough shape. They haven't been getting any worse in the past year, but also aren't getting better, of course.

Al talked to our Dentist, who I can't stand, and refuse to take her to. And he said that she needs to be looked at, but they probably wouldn't do much about her baby teeth anyway...so we just left it, and maintained a healthy teeth brushing routine, like always.

Until today. This morning Jenna woke up with her first toothache. I knew this day would come. I tried to pretend is wouldn't. But I cant hide from it any longer.

I gave her some tylenol for the pain, and managed to put some Anbesol on her bottom molars, and she's stopped grabbing her face and crying, so hopefully something worked.

I am so afraid to take her to the dentist(Which I have to do on my own today, at 11:45.). I am sooo bad at hearing my failings. I am sure I will be reprimanded up one side and down the other for not having her in there as soon as we noticed the problem. And I only have two reasons for not taking her. 1. We've never had a dental plan to cover the insane prices...nor the extra money to do it out of pocket. and 2. I can't handle being told I'm a bad mom.

How pathetic is that? How incredibly pathetic? And now, today of all days, when I am sick as a DOG, I have to go on my own...and try to keep the tears at bay.

I'm so afraid. And I feel SO terrible that I have failed my daughter like this.

~Lisa~

Lucky

I feel so lucky to have such wonderful online friends. Whose hearts are as big as this web we surf. And who help me know that I can be a successful mother, just as each and every one of them is.

Thank you my friends. For your hearts, for your willingness to share, for your friendship.

~Lisa~

What we've been up to...

Nothing particularly blog-worthy really.

Monday, the kids and I hung out at home. Ran out to the grocery store for a couple things...that's about it. Mason was a bit of a terror, awake ALL afternoon! I mean, 3-8!! How crazy is that!?

Tuesday, Jenna had school. And! It was Henry's 5th Birthday. So, me and the boys headed off to Wal-Mart and picked up a t-ball set for him. And then went out of a quick visit. It was so nice to see Jenny, Scott and Henry again!! I really miss working there. Aidan and Henry played T-ball for about an Hour! lol It was great. BIG NEWS, Aidan peed on the toilet!!! he told me he needed to go, and then went pee!! He's never done that at home before!! Only ever had one success, at Julie's in the summer, when he was wearing a little swimmer, and I am guessing, could feel the difference when he started to pee. He has been getting better at telling me when he needs to do a BM. However, since he only ever goes a small amount on the toilet, I find it's backing him up a bit...so we're not pushing the issue until he's two. I'm really hoping he's easy to train!! I HATE potty training!!!!

Wednesday, Nothing much yesterday. Trip to Wal-Mart for cat food and diapers. Read Jenna her Library book...The Dragon and the Unicorn It was a good story, but way over her head LOL...Illustrations were fantastic though! I GOT A NAP!! Woohoo! I realllllly needed it!!

Today, Nothing at all planned for today, except some much needed cleaning. I have a sore throat :( So we're just laying low. Praying for another nap today :)

Baby's awake. Gotta run.

~Lisa~

More useless information about me :)

Not that anyone asked, but I thought it might be fun :) And without the pressure of making it to 100, might be easier.

so...

I can stare at the moon all friggin' night, and still not see a face on there.

I do however see a shadowy spot that looks like Africa.

I never get out of bed without putting on my glasses.

I can't pee unless I turn on the light in the bathroom...even in the middle of the day.

I bite my fingernails. Not so much from nervousness, it's more about evening them out.

I pick at my skin if there's a pimple, or a sign of loose skin at all.

I really like green grapes with peanut butter on them.

I almost fell asleep driving home on Saturday night.

I sang along to kids' songs really loudly to keep myself awake.

I used to collect rocks.

But my collection never seemed to get any bigger.

I suspect my mother was the culprit.

I miss being single.

I miss having only one child.

I miss having only two children.

It really is easier to have three though...and I am Very happy about that.

I really dislike my breasts...but not the actual breast so much as the areola.

I often wonder if there's a surgery to reduce the size of the areola.

I probably would never have it done even if there was.

I long to find the perfect perfume for me. So that my kids can smell it when they're older, and think of their childhoods.

I'm starting to get tired of Kraft Dinner.

But I still Really like McDonald's.

I'm not annoyed by Barney.

But I wouldn't trust myself to meet Loonette the Clown in a back alley.

I miss doing homework.

I wonder what new things I will learn from helping Jenna with her Homework.

I'm really good at lending people things.

I'm terrible at asking for them back.

I'm done :) For now :)

~Lisa~

Sigh of Relief

I met my nephew this weekend. He's Perfect! I cried so hard. I guess I really needed to see him with my own eyes to know that all my fears were for naught. Everyone kept telling me that he was fine, healthy, perfect in every way...only small...really, really small. At 5lbs 4oz...yeah, I guess so! lol...but it never really occured to me just how small that is...until I saw this...



Damion is on the left, Mason on the right. Damion weighs about 5 1/2 pounds, and Mason is probably pushing 9! lol Too bad Mason's legs are pulled up, it really takes away from the full effect.



Just look at the size difference of thier HEADS!! LOL

I KNOW that my son is completely average, and perfect (And totally the cuter of the two LOL :)) but next to Damion, he looks like Andre the Giant! It's so strange :)

I'm so grateful to whoever was watching over my nephew to make him so perfect, despite all the odds he had against him.

~Lisa~

Dr.Jekyl and Mr.Hyde...

That's my son. The first picture is of him at about 12:30, drawing contentedly while I fed the baby. The second is about 10 minutes ago, with him shouting "No mommy No!!" Because I moved his chair from in front of the tv.

I don't understand it at all!!! The entire time Jenna was at school today, he was SUCH a good boy. Listened well, went for his nap without Too much fussing, was even excited about picking Jenna up from school.

And then we walked through the door at 3:45...and he totally changed! Mason hasn't been able to nap all afternoon, because of the screaming and shouting going on between these two heathens!! I am going out of my mind!!!

What happened to the boy who was so content to draw pictures, and read stories?? Who brought home this torturer!?

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

~Lisa~