December 1st

So, our family tradition is to put up our tree on the first day of December. Big E dug out the tree (literally) and set it up in our little living room.


And then we got down to the serious business of decorating and eating cookies....except only Little Dude and I liked the cookies so it meant I ate WAY more than I should have!


Munchkin was especially excited.


Even Sprout was excited.


Gamma Z was leaving soon and we were so glad to have had her with us.


We also had our ward Christmas party....here's what we brought to the table.



The popcorn balls were from a recipe Gamma Z brought with her. Some of them had some spice to them...chilli spice to be exact. They were delish!

Catch up

OK, so I'm a bit behind. Here's catch up. Things have been going along swimmingly, except last weekend when we ended up in the hospital with Sprout. He'd been spitting up LOTS all day Saturday and then Saturday evening started to have issues with breathing and even turned blue once! Turning blue was the straw that broke the camel's back. Of course that evening Big E was away writing an exam and so I called a friend who came and got me and left her daughter here to watch Little Dude and Munchkin. Went to the small hospital and they sent us to the pediatric ward at the city hospital. We stayed over night just to confirm the diagnosis of reflux. He's doing much better now, still has episodes of spitting up but NOTHING like it was last Saturday. He's recently starting to laugh more and it's so fun when we can get him to do it! Munchkin is cracking me up with his sayings. When I asked him to do something today he told me, "Um, I have to go play. Sorry Mom, sorry." He tells me this while shaking his head and giving me his best sad eyes...it takes all I can not to laugh. Little Dude is becoming more and more independent. Now he tries to plan the day, "How about we play tanks, and THEN we clean up?!?" We are slowly getting back into homeschooling again (no hurry since technically he wouldn't even be starting kindergarten until next fall and doesn't have to registered in anything until the fall after that) and today he did a worksheet all on his own. Happy to report he did splendidly and that he's doing great at recognizing his numbers. After Christmas we'll be starting on words....but slowly. I'm in no hurry and don't want to create any stress or pressure. Munchkin is right behind him...knows as many letter sounds as Little Dude. They are best friends most of the time and neither can wait until Sprout is old enough to share their bedroom. :) It seems even the very young are in a hurry for time to pass. In fact, when my Mother in Law was visiting she suggested Little Dude change his shirt for one that matched his pants better. His reply was, "No, this shirt makes me look younger." :) WAHAHA!!!

Speaking of my Mother in Law...while she was here she made any Spanish dish that Big E was missing. I asked her to tell me how to make some of them and wrote down her instructions. This past Sunday I tried to follow her Caldo (beef soup) recipe. She makes it every Sunday when she has the family over for dinner. I thought it went pretty well and then Big E came home, first he was impressed with how it smelled. Then he tasted it, "This tastes just like my Mom's. It's like my Mom never left. Now I don't have to worry, you know how to make it. We can have it all the time." Well...I don't know about ALL the time, but I love it too and am excited about the fact I can make it. Big E used to be in charge of making it and he did a great job, but I think my first try turned out FANTABULOUS!

I have lots of pictures to post, but that will have to wait a day or so. Also have some videos...just hang tight I'll get it all up asap. :)

Today is all about Sprout. He's been (and hopefully continues to be) a delightful little guy, quiet, smiley, and just so darn cute! His brothers are delightful in their own way....and I'm really looking forward to doing some fun things with them this coming Christmas season. But, today is all about.....
Sprout is growing and doing lots of sleeping


...although he's also awake more and more often.


He likes things quiet when he's sleeping...something that can be difficult to achieve when you're the third child! So we solve the problem by having him nap in another room.


Of course the boys want to peek in to 'check on the baby'. Here's the big, big brother popping in, Little E.


Sometimes Sprout isn't in his little car carrier, especially if grandma is in the room doing stuff, he just crashes on the bed.


Take a look closely...he's got a little baby mohawk. :)

reflective moment

Being less than 100% stinks. Good things about this trial?
1-my normal ankle now seems small and feminine, something new for me.
2-I have cuddled this baby as much as my first.
3-My Mom and Mother in Law got to do lots more things with the kids, because I couldn't.
4-My Mother in Law came to visit, something she hasn't done or even hinted at before....we've been here 4 years.
5-I have been learning more about humility.
6-I am feeling more confident about being a single parent during the winter semester....a little more confident.
All silver linings aside, being less than100% still stinks. Now back to our regularly (and happier) scheduled programming.

Quick baby shot....

It has been LOVELY here weather wise. We have had a seriously nice fall. But winter arrived yesterday. :( I totally missed the fall....darn it! Of course the boys wanted to get out in the snow and we discovered they had no snow mitts. That will have to wait for a future shopping trip.


Sprout is loved....sometimes within an inch of his life! We keep a close eye on him and are helping the boys understand the boundaries with a little baby....they are pretty good about it all. Their favourite phrases are, "He's so cute!" and "Mom, I love the baby." :) Awwww.




AND...the star of our little show, SPROUT! He's really started to smile more now.



One of the bad things about renting a storage unit? All the things in the unit are NOT in your house. One of the good things? The toys you store seem like new when you bring them out again! HEehee...method to my madness.


Today Sprout spent a minute or two in the Bumbo for the first time.

Grandma B took the boys swimming while she was visiting. I was able to snap some pictures as this was before the blood clot hit the scene. :)


Everyone is happier after a refreshing swim! (Look at Little Dude in the back.)


Here's a close up. :) Not sure what the heel kick is all about...heehee.

While Grandma B was here she took the boys trunk-or-treating at church. She even brought the clown suit being worn by Little Dude. We borrowed one for Munchkin, I just wasn't up to creating costumes this year. They arrived excited, and ready for games.


Little Dude had his face painted when he got there and although Munchkin was asked if he wanted his face painted, he declined. :)


It turned out really well.


There were lots of games at the carnival before the trick-or-treating.


This is why I wasn't up to creating costumes. The left leg is quite a bit bigger than the right. Although it was much more evident when I was standing. Even now my left ankle is an inch bigger than the right.


We also blessed Sprout while Mom was here. Big E has been losing weight (yes I'm jealous) and here is a picture of Sprout with his proud Daddy.


And the men who were in the circle to bless him. Our Bishop on the left and a good family friend on the right. It was small, but lovely....Sprout was SO little!! Ahhh. I really like babies. :)

update

Well...it's been awhile. Recovery from baby (hereby named Sprout) was going fabulously well until 3 weeks after. Hip felt like I'd stretched a tendon, next day my thigh felt a bit heavy/swollen and the next day I just about passed in the kitchen on the way to the bathroom the pain in my leg was so horrific. A trip to the ER, an ultrasound and we knew that I had a blood clot in my leg extending from my groin to the back of my knee. Who knew blood clots came XXL? I thought they were small dots! So, I had to stay off my leg for 2 weeks, but am now up and moving around with a noticeable limp. But as I continue moving around it seems each morning that my leg feels a bit better. My mom stayed for 3 weeks and then had to return home, 2 days after she left my mother-in-law arrived for her 3 week stay. I'm hoping to get better and show her more of this province than the little town we live in...even though I think our little town is nice. :) Yesterday was the first day I didn't give Sprout a bottle and so we are back to 100% nursing (WAHOO) and he is much happier. Me too....he doesn't spit up NEARLY so much, my clothes are happier with that! He is lovely and weighed 9lbs 13 oz on Tuesday, not bad from his 6lbs 5oz start. :) Speaking of Sprout....he's starting to complain and so I'll sign off. Pictures next time, boys at halloween, and any new ones I can find. :)

The whole story

Well...for those who want all the gory details, continue reading. If you'd like to skip details, just look at the pictures and moooove on! :)



So at 6:30am I woke up feeling uncomfortable. I'd never gone into labour naturally and so wasn't entirely sure that what I was feeling was contractions, when I timed them and they were regular then I was sure. By 7:15am they were pretty darn hard and it seemed like anything I did brought on another one...so I was moving slowly trying to get as much time between those stinkin' contractions as I could get! So we didn't leave until around 8:30am. I REALLY wanted pain relief and so voted for Red Deer Hospital (forty minutes away) instead of Edmonton (an hour and a half away AND neither of us had actually been to that hospital yet). I remember trying to figure out if we called 911 and they sent an ambulance, did the ambulance give epidurals? Nope...gotta go somewhere where they could give me DRUGS! I even gave some serious thought to asking someone to just knock me out...I really wanted to be OUT OF IT. The midwives have since explained that this is part of what is called 'transition'. However, at the time I just felt like I was slightly losing it. We got ready to leave and a contraction hit in the kitchen. While Big E rubbed my back I heard a friend reassure Little Dude that we were having a baby today. I thought to myself, if this takes all day just kill me now! We got in the car and headed to Red Deer. Big E said, "You're going to kill me, but we've got to stop for gas." AHHHhh! Actually I think I kept my composure pretty well and just said to stop at a pay at the pump kind so he could still provide counter pressure on my back when a contraction hit. By the end of the drive I had my eyes closed and felt VERY open. Got into Emerg and leaned on the security guard's desk when a contraction hit (about 2 minutes apart by this time) and I think I may have asked him for an epidural! :) The nurses didn't have any of my information since we weren't planning on going to that hospital and so they were asking me questions. I answered as quickly as possible so I could get to the really important part, "And I need an epidural as soon as possible." The nurse took me to the examination room and told me I needed to be a bit quieter because I was scaring her other ladies...LOL....I thought, "SO?" Anyway, she gave me the news that I was 9 cm dialated and so couldn't have an epidural, how about I have a baby? Hahaha. Then she wanted me off the bed and into a wheel chair. The thought of getting my knees close enough together to fit into a chair was beyond the last thing I wanted to do...I told the nurse "no". She assured me that the delivery room was just around the corner and I said, "Don't these beds have wheels?!?" Long and short, I got out of the bed and perched on the edge of the chair and resisted efforts to get me to move back...the room was just around the corner, RIGHT!? Got in to the deliver room at 9:15am, they strapped monitors on me, by that time I didn't care too much. They tried to insert an IV in the left hand...tried twice with no luck and so moved over to the right hand. Broke my water, and 2 pushes later out he popped. NO drugs in spite of my insistence that drugs were exactly what I needed! :) 9:28am he arrived. It was a very different experience from the previous 2 c-sections. Both boys LOVE their new baby and seem to have an ongoing competition on who can love him to death first! :) Now we need a nick name for him for the blog....any suggestions??

Here are some photos of Samuel Elijah Zea. Born on Sept 30^th at 9:28am, he weighed 6 lbs and 5oz and was 19 inches long. I’ll do a short version of the story and fill more in later as we’re posting this on the fly.  I woke up at 6:30 thinking that maybe I was feeling contractions. In about half an hour there was no doubt and the contractions were STRONG. So we made the executive decision to go to a closer hospital as opposed to the one that we had planned to attend with our midwife. We arrived at the hospital at 9am and they told us I was 9 cm (which meant a baby was coming soon…but there would be no epidural), I was in the delivery room at 9:15 and he was born at 9:28am so things were fast and furious and devoid of pain killers! I’ll fill in the funny and interesting details on a later post….like the fact I told everyone I met at the hospital that I needed an epidural as soon as possible…lol.  Have a good day, I’m off to feed this cute little one!

Catch up #4

We made one trip to Big E's favourite restaurant...The Mandarin Gardens, affectionately known as "The Mandarin". It's a HUGE chinese buffet place that serves way more than just chinese food. This one is in Toronto and is extra big. Each room had a theme and we got to sit in the parrot room. One wall was glass and between our room and the next (that was having a wedding reception) there were about 6 beautiful parrots. The boys were captivated. There was another room that we passed on the way to ours that had a GINORMOUS fish tank on one wall. Very cool. The best thing about buffets is that when you've got kids with you, there's no waiting for your order. When out with adults a regular restaurant isn't a problem, but with children I've found a buffet is the way to go!


The last adventure we had before leaving was a night at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls.


I have NO pictures of Munchkin here because he always seemed to be asleep when I was taking pictures. The boys really slept WELL there. Here is what we saw right away in the front lobby. Little Dude is looking up because there were different things that would move and 'speak'...including the tree. This is one time when Munchkin wasn't asleep, but was too afraid of the moving/talking tree to go and sit with Little Dude and his cousin. :)


Once we got checked in we went up to our room and when we got to the elevators there were big glass windows showing us what fun we were in for!!!


I have to say...one cool thing about this place is that there were no room cards. Everyone got a computerized wrist band and they would just wave their wrist over the lock to their room and to door would unlock! This meant no searching the waterpark for the person with the card key and even the 6 year old could open his room! THE best idea ever.

Here is one of those smoosh a penny machines.


We managed to have fun in the gift shop, but not buy anything!! Whew.


On a side note: We are canceling our internet here at home. This means future updates will have to happen at the library. Hopefully once we move this winter we'll be able to bundle services to make the internet affordable. But we've come to the end of our contract (that we begun so Big E could access school stuff he needed...2 years back) and we are terminating! This will be hardest on me...the blogging, addicted to Facebook mommy. I'll learn to live with it, and more over my budget is going to appreciate the sacrifice! The only thing I'm worried about is whether the library has the photo editor that I've become fond of....oh well, one challenge at a time! :)

Catch up #3

Here are some memories from the farm and some shots while walking around Toronto Temple.
Little Dude explored to his heart's content on the farm and found 'snail friends'. He found friends a couple of times!


Munchkin and Little Dude both reminisce about the swings at the farm.


Smelling flowers is something of a favourite activity for Munchkin.



We also had the opportunity to see my Uncle twice in one summer! He rode his motorbike to our home before we left and then made a second trip and went across country and visited out east....and by then we were there too! Here he is with 2 of his sister's...one sister lives too far away to get east very often.


We drove to the Toronto Temple with Big E's parents. While they were inside we toured the outside. There were water fountains, stairs and a kabillion flowers. (Yes, I'm sure that's how you spell kabillion...just like it sounds.) Here are some shots: