Relay for life

Last night we went to watch Auntie Carrie give a speech for the survivors at the Cancer Relay for Life - then we all walked the survivor lap with her.

Here's Carson with his flower   
Eating cake 
Trying to escape from the ball tent
In the ball pit

Running up the skate ramp (is it wrong of me to somewhat wish that he loves skateboarding when he's older?)
Sliding down
Ethan sliding down
Daddy sliding down
Running!

I love my friend

I just got the following e-mail from one of my wonderful sweet friends who I've known for years....

So, I don't know if you've heard about the Alberta Finance Minister's
comments about dual income parents... and how raising children
"properly" means one parent should stay home. But it's been big news.

My co-worker just asked my opinion on it and I said that I struggle with
it. I think there's a line where people "need" two income vs we "want"
two incomes because we want a certain lifestyle...and then talked about
how I think the big question is into whom we trust our children's care
when we're not available.

I used you as an example of a family that has done things so well: the
research and time you spent finding your caregiver, the kind of
environment Carson is exposed to: hands-on, interactive, social with
other children and what a benefit that is to him and that you and Jeff
are conscious and intentional in making up for the time you can't be
with him by the quality of time you spend with him at home in the
evenings and on the weekends.

I thought it was important to share how impressed I am with your
parenting skills and that I brag about you being a fantastic parent.

It's funny...

You would think after being a mom to a newborn once, that I would remember exactly what I needed for a newborn the second time around. I had to go to Toys R Us to return a chair I bought for Carson (totally impulse purchase, it stayed in the car for two weeks before I returned it) and I decided to take a wander through Babies R Us. Because, you know, I've been told there's a new baby due in just 4 WEEKS.

It was honestly just as overwhelming as going in there before havign any children. The choices of soothers, bottles, blankets, bath toys, strollers, car seats... it's insane! True, I have alot of things from Carson leftover so it's not like I really have to buy that much. But I'd like to have a few soothers on hand in case baby two needs one. If I need a bottle, I'd like to have that on hand. I threw out all Carson's old washcloths, so I'll need those. Carson still LOVES his blankies (his receiving blankets) so I'll need a bunch more of those. And clothes? Carson was a winter baby so his newborn stuff is all winter stuff. I think I want a baby wrap - I've heard women tend to "wear" their second children way more, as there's a toddler running around the house to deal with. A double stroller? Sure Carson walks most places, but if we head to the mall, to a zoo, a farm - after a while he sometimes gets tired after an hour or so... so I'd like a double stroller. Which kind though? And my car seats are outdated (you can only use them up to 5 years) so now I need a new infant car seat. When I was pregnant with Carson I spent all my free time researching/reading reviews/testing... etc.... everythign for him. I haven't done a stitch of ANYTHING yet for baby two. Room has to get painted. Clothes taken out and washed. Diapers bought. The crib is back together, that's probably the only thing ready.

Sure if baby two wanted to come tomorrow we'd be OK... but I want to be better than OK, I want to be READY!

(Last doc appt everything was perfect - I'm measuring almost 3 weeks ahead so rather than 36 weeks I'm measuring 39... eek!) Baby's heart rate was 123 (normally it's been around 160 but doctor said that's ok). My blood pressure is 108/70 but my feet are the size of surfboards. Serious water retention going on there. Apparently I have my mom's genes (thanks Mom, don't pass on your creative talents but let me inherit the pregnancy weight/bloats).

Saturday

The most blog-appropriate picture I could find of the kids in the pool.

Petra giving the bear some loving
ZiaNadia playing tree or bush with Carson
Carson making his stand on not wanting to play ring around the rosie
Bouncing!
Sofia
Playing in the balls

Friday!

The week is flying by. This morning we went for breakfast at Cora's and then a shopping trip to Ikea. This afternoon it was stinking hot, so rather than head to the fair we just went out back to the waterpark.

Thursday

The kids are B-E-A-T tonight!  This morning we were off to a slow start and then made our way to the Valleyview Little Farm where Petey and Carson played until they could play no more.  It got much hotter than I was expecting and we had two red-faced overheated kids on the drive home.  Carson tried his hardest to stay awake in the car but he surrendered for the last 10 minutes in the car.  After naptime we got up and went to ZiaNadia and Uncle Sean's house so they could meet Petra.  The kids had a wonderful time playing - now both kids are fast asleep (and I'm going to assume Sofia is too).

Wednesday!

Fun fun fun!

Carson and Petra LOVE each other. The first thing Carson said to me when I went in his room this morning was "Where's Petra, I want to go see her". Apparently Petra yelled "KIDS" when she woke up this morning. She went from a deep sleep to out of the bed - out the door - down the stairs in two seconds. That girl is crazy, she's constantly on the move and never stopping and Carson is simply in awe of her.

This morning we went to Cosmic Adventures, then out to lunch. Home for a nap then out for a nice long walk and then a trip to the park. It had rained and they both got their spiderman pants (yes, they had to put on their spiderman jammies after their nap today) soaking wet. So we came home, got them out of their wet clothes and they sat under the blankie on the couch together while we made supper. I can see how having two kids is going to be awesome, they have someone to always play with (play, fight, argue... whatever the case may be).

Spidermans!

x

Excited!

Carson is quite excited for all the visitors.

Tonight his Grampie and Nana arrive from Edmonton.

Monday his Godmother Auntie Erin and his cousin Petra come in from PEI to spend the week with us while their Daddies go to Iceland.

I will admit, he's not the only one excited :)

The "problem" with summer is that we spend all day outside and my camera is bigger than a little point and shoot so it's not easy to carry around all the time so there's a noticeable decline in the amount of pictures. Must change that soon.

New bicycle

Well, when I say "new" I mean new to us, Jeff found it at a garage sale over the weekend. But Carson is in love with it. He leans forward sometimes to watch himself pedal and then he falls over, but what's a boy without scratches all over his knees?

I was having troubles getting the camera to focus, but you can get the idea of just how excited Carson was on his new bike. We also bought him a two-wheeler which he tried to get on - until the bike fell over on him. We're going to put the training wheels on this weekend and see which one is easier for him to ride. He hasn't quite got the whole pedalling thing, but he'll get it to go around a few times (our driveway being on a hill is quite helpful too).