Because they are just so dang cute

Mothers always think their children are the cutest in the world. I am no exception. Habitually, I have this thing about always having a camera with me. They are rather tired of looking at the big black box that seems to constantly be dangling in front of their faces, and so, they quite refuse to look at it. Which I find particularily frustrating. And so, note that most of these pictures come with little eye contact, not from lack of work on my part either. But I am tired of people deciding that I am crazy based on the odd sounds and frantic motions I am making from behind the camera. I still do it, I just am kind of self conscious about it. Anyways, here are a recent few (ie today) of the rugrats. Notice Hayden is wearing pink? Yah. Real men wear pink.

Enjoy :)

Dear Rugrats,

Dear fat lips, "cappy" bums, and "dootbags" (Svea's expression for those she is annoyed with), I am taking the weekend off. Starting tomorrow. Your dad and I are headed to Banff, just the two of us, where we can ski, eat fancy dinners, and drink alcohol laden beverages with little to no guilt, and much less interruption.

Please be easy on your grandparents, who bravely assumed responsibility while your parents ran, giggling, barely looking over our shoulders, off to the the Rockies.

Now, to get specific:

Svea, please do not tell your grandmas (and Nanny's) about how your slinky "is all ___cked up". I threw it away, slapped your father, and tried to have an adult conversation about appropriate language around toddlers (yah, ME...). By the time I was done, he heard about how calling Barney a "Homo" may not actually be a swear, but remains inappropriate none-the-less. Sighhh. Please do not refer to Hayden as a "dootbag" (aka Dirtbag, compliments of mom, who thought this sounded so much better than other alternatives that your father has been teaching you).

Olivia, I know you feel emotions stronger than the average toddler, but if you could refrain from desperately begging your poor grandparents to put you to bed for the sole purpose of sucking on your silly "doo doo", that would be much appreciated. And by the way, you are not Jacob Two Two, so please refrain from repeating things with such rapid repetition that your grandparents become sure they are hearing an echo. Lastly, please, do not try to drown, smother, squash, or kill your brother on any level while we are gone.

Lastly, Hayden. Please, do not create any need for emergency hospital visits due to split lips, black eyes, broken bones, or anything of the sort due to your extreme climbing or fighting with siblings. Please realize you will one day be an adult male and give up the 24/7 need to suck on a pacifier. Love those Grandparents as they love you.

See you on Monday.

We could be slightly hung over and very sore, but we should be much better, well rested parents on our return.

Love you lots,

Mommy and Daddy
xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxo

Look Who's Walking....(well, Liv has been for awhile...)

Life has become such a busy place that I have neglected to keep my blog up to date..on any level.

Firstly, Ben is in Alberta working for a month. It has only been a week and a few days, but it already feels like a life time. Funny how a person can go from detesting the way he can leave a trail of crumbs indicating not only exactly what he ate, but what order he ate it in, to wishing the toaster had been left out along with the peanut butter and jam...and the obviousness that he has something against buttering toast on a plate, rather than the counter top. I even miss the trail of clothes. Mind you, since the dryer decided to quit a few days ago, I suppose its one of those blessings in disguise (that he isn't here, not that the dryer is broken). What is up with that anyways? How do my appliances always recognise Ben's absence as being the most perfectly appropriate time to keel over and collapse, tongue hanging out the side like an exhausted dog on a hot summer day? Arg. I suppose I really ought to be on the phone right now arranging a repair man.

This is the week I return to work full time. I am nervous about it...nervous that I am going to wish I hadn't decided to jump back in full time...nervous about how the change is going to affect the kids, nervous about little things, like waking up early in the morning and going to bed early enough to get the right amount of sleep. But mostly, I am looking forward to it. I miss my adult friends and the adult conversations and the feeling of being a professional. I miss having a reason to climb out of bed and take a shower and put on pretty clothes. I miss that early morning Tim Horton's coffee. So I am looking forward to this change in my life. I am looking forward to looking forward to getting home from work to see my children come running, screaming "MOMMY!" as I walk in the door. I look forward to looking forward to seeing them in general, because realistically, with Ben out of town and the responsibility of three toddlers (did I just say that, just because he is walking, doesn't mean he is already a toddler, does it?) I feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted. So I really honestly and truly do believe that working during the day will help me to be a better, happier parent during the night. Maybe its all just wishful thinking, but a girl has to hang onto something, doesn't she?

Well, Hayden is now laying on his belly on the floor, the smell of a freshly soiled diaper tickling my nostrils and his best pathetic whiny voice on indicating his desire to be freshly diapered. Not that I blame him...

Auntie "Pee-Anne" and me

Just wanted to share a few pics of the rug rats from the other day. Auntie got coined as "Pee-

Anne" after attempting to teach my kids to call me "Mommy Caca Bum"...might I add, unsuccessfully. They call her this with great inflexion and joy. Cheers Lee-Anne, lol.

Bake Off

Mom and I had a crazy day today. She made the most gigantic, delectable, mouth watering pot of chili while I dove into the baking supplies. We managed to turn out enough Chili to feed an army, banana bread, banana muffins, and a double batch of peanut butter cookies. Yum. I am exhausted. Thanks for a nice day, mom :)

Daddy is home

How pretty does my moms house look in this picture. I cant wait to bring the horses home to enjoy the beautiful "new" barn and fences! There is nothing quite like waking up in the morning and looking out the window to see your horses grazing right out your kitchen window. My mom and I, living next door to one another, both get to enjoy this phenomenon. If you don't have a horse, quick, go get one, they must be one of the most peaceful animals in the world to watch.

The girls are starting to get a sense of time. They say things like "I miss Daddy" and "Daddy's at work in bush now". They love when he is home. Olivia thinks daddy puts the stars in the sky at night, in fact, once daddy is home, I am just a bowl of cold oatmeal as far as she is concerned. I take that as a good sign. He has patience with them when I do not. Maybe its because I am the one worn out all week, maybe its just him, but he is the one who will dress these girls all up and take them outside to drag them around the house over and over again on their sleds while they giggle and laugh and teach them how they can slide down the snowbanks on their bottoms. Anyways, Daddy is home for an indefinite period of time again thanks to the failing forestry industry and the kids couldn't be happier. And if I am really honest, part of me is too. It sure feels different to parent children with two parents present and I am finally getting some much needed rest. Funny how the kids sleep through the night when he is home, the minute he steps out the door that seems to change lately.

My little miss prissy is always up to new tricks. Svea no longer naps. So we get a few hours daily where its just the two of us. She loves purses. The girls have these little stuffed giraffes and zebras where the legs and head can be removed, they are actually attached with little button magnets. Today she was carrying around a purse full of zebra and giraffe legs. Very serious like too. "Mommy, I have purse!". We have a bit of a routine now. If she helps me make my bed, she can hang in the big "comfy bed" and watch Treehouse while I shower. She then completely ruins the freshly made look by jumping and falling all over it while watching TV.

Hayden has learned if he is going to be the youngest boy child with two older sisters, he must fight for his place in the pecking order. He is easily as strong as the girls are, and because they consistently try to take every toy he has away from him, he understands that even if you don't want something, power means getting it away from the person who has it. So he will single mindedly attempt to steal anything he can from his sisters and screams in fury when they fight him in the age old tug a war. He is still at the bottom of the pecking order, but I am not sure for how long.

I am off to the ski hill tonight for some much needed relief from these three crazy toddlers. Need I say "What happens at the hill stays at the hill"? LOL. I know we are going to have a few extra guests this week that should be a very interesting mix.

Renaldo and Me

I wanted to share some different pictures today. Mainly of myself and my firstborn son, Renaldo. Renaldo filled the blanks while I waited to have children. I wanted to be sure I could keep a child like being alive for a year before actually having children. He bathes, he wears clothes, he sleeps in a bed, just like us. However, once the children were born, it suddenly occurred to me that I had the most high need dog in history for someone who lives in one of the coldest winter climates available. Renaldo keeps finding his way home again, lol, and here he is. In his glory. And I missed him so. I hope to dog share with my mom (since Ben hates him), that way I have company during the week when he is gone, and Ben shares his bed only with his wife when he is home. Good arrangement, no?

Poor Olivia has a killer cold and she looks like a wreck. If she still looks tomorrow like she has the last few days, I will post a picture. Until then, yay, I posted two days in a row!

I missed ski night due to the extreme temperatures. I am bitterly disappointed, but did however, get out to a movie with my mom (Bride Wars, since we like chick flicks). It was very cute. No brain power needed.

Saucy Svea, Octave Olivia and Hayden the Horrible....

I have been suffering from writers block lately. I have no idea what to even say....

My children are growing up. Svea has what I would call a "strong personality". She wakes in the morning with a smile on her face and tears through her day like a hurricane in Kansas. Her tastes run from fairy wings and rubber boots to Barney and winds up in a certain pair of jeans matched with a certain sweater (one that matches her sisters usually) and all this includes at least 101 shoe changes a day. She has this thing about me sitting down too. The mere sound of my ass landing softly on a chair nearby triggers an instantaneous chronic and desperate need for a new cup of juice, yogo bites, zip zips, bananas, or more milk for her cereal. The sound of a safety gate closing implements an immediate need for something on a floor she is not currently on (thankfully for her, she has four to choose from). When the daylight fades and the winter darkness settles in, she barely skips a beat. She can keep you hopping even in the twilight hours now that she has learned that frantic hollering on her part almost always results in a half naked shivering mother racing down the stairs to feed her peeled grapes if that's what it will take to stop the little she devil from waking her siblings. Bet you would never guess, just by looking at her. Sighhh.....

Olivia makes you laugh too. She is what the young people of today would refer to as being "random". Let me explain. At any time of the day, if she is waking up in her crib, she will proudly exclaim "GOOD MORNING!!" when you walk into her room. Could be supper time, no matter, when Olivia wakes, it is morning. Not that weird, no, not until she furthers her commentating with a polite "Sorry mommy" and "Nice Bum!!" comment. Each morning (and nap time), I must ask her why she is sorry, which she usually responds to with an equally random comment like "No baby! NO! Svea sleeping?! Doo Doos are for NIGHT time ONLY". She hates her brother. Hates him. I swear it. There is no words for how low she is willing to go to make him pay for making her the middle child. Soon, however, she will be smart to give this up, since he is almost as big as she is already. Thing is about Olivia, she may be beautiful and graceful and quite princess like, but she doesn't have a gentle bone in her body. Laugh, go ahead, but when the tomboy presents herself in our house, I doubt its going to be Svea like you all think. Oh no, Olivia has no fear, and combine that with long blond hair, legs that go on forever, and a motocross track in the backyard, this one is going to be miles ahead of boys for years to come. If she doesn't speed up, cut them off, and kick their bodies out of her way on the way past the finish line.

Hayden is a real, honest to goodness boy child. He grunts, he farts, he eats like his father (basically doesn't stop eating until his hatch is full to throat level), he growls, enjoys playing with potties and toilet brushes and above all else, enjoys torturing his sisters (namely Olivia, since she screams so satisfyingly). He is fast, bright, strong, and has the brightest smile I have ever seen. Parenting three two and under sucks sometimes, I am not going to lie, but this child can shoot you a 10 000 watt smile guaranteed to melt your heart instantly.

And if that doesn't work, well, I always have Thursday night ski night, don't I?

Which reminds me, I should go to bed now, so I can get enough rest to make up for what I wont get tommorow night......

Mom and I went to see Marley & Me last night. Beware if you choose to watch this movie. I had to bite my lip for about 10 minutes trying to avoid an embarrassing display of emotion in the form of howling sadly along with the others. For ten minutes that theatre became dead quiet, with the exception of heartbroken sobbing, sniffling and coughing...it was THE longest sad scene I have ever survived.

Anyway, Jenny made reference to something that I can relate to very very well. She was telling her husband of how life is with children and said "I didn't know it would be this hard, no one tells you.". And obviously, I wanted to shout out YES. There are no words to describe how your life will change when you become a parent. There is no way to accurately describe how much you will sacrifice of yourself to become the new person your children require you to be in order to meet their needs. No one tells you about how frustration can tear at your throat until you want to scream, how the loneliness can echo loudly in your heart as you wish desperately for an adult to talk to. How the phone can evoke a hatred you didn't know existed when it wakes your baby from the nap you spent hours preparing for. How impossibly tired you can be. How no matter how you feel you must plug through the motions and try to remember why your life is everything you dreamed it would be. And it is. No one can describe how much you can love you children either. Right now I am not talking so much about that, as I am saying that I didn't know how hard this was going to be. Would I change it? Do I regret it? No. But it is very hard sometimes to keep the good stuff in the front of the brain load and the tough stuff in the back. I suppose it will be a life long process. All while the time spins out of control and my babies turn into moody teenagers. Right now I long for age 6. The fairytale years. Bring it on.

Anyways...most of you probably saw these photos on facebook already, but I want to share again. Thank you to Shelley and Bert for filling up the trunk, Shelley and Candi for donating it, and Uncle Merrit for painting it. Its beautiful and we will treasure it for years to come. Thank you :)

Thankyou...donut...thankyou

I was in the line up at Tim's drive through and all I could hear was the girls in the back seat, like broken records, repeating "Thank you, donut, thank you" in their tinker bell voices, so serious. Apparently they have it figured that a trip through the drive through at Tim's usually results in a donut. I actually had forgot to order them a donut and had to ask the lady at the window if it was too late, lol. It wasn't.

Once I ingested the givememytimscoffeeordie fix, we headed to the mall for some last minute Christmas shopping. Olivia ("Via psycho") began with a huge fit in LeSenza, and I noticed several glares pointed in my direction. Olivia came out screaming in this painful high pitched piercing way, and she has never outgrown the voice that is absolutely impossible to ignore. But if you think I am about to abort mission after all the work it is to get me and these three kids packed and bundled and off to town only to turn around and come home, you are sadly mistaken. So she screamed hysterically while I shopped and made my first purchase.

There must be something about a mom who is ready to abandon her children and run far far away, dropping the "F bomb" frequently along her way that makes people want to stop and talk to her. Not that this isn't a common phenomenon when pushing a triplet stroller full of offspring that greatly resembles triplets, but it sends of pheromones, attracting each and every curious woman in the mall, I swear it. I then stand there with a forced smile answering all the same old questions "No, they are not triplets", "Yes the girls are twins" "Yes my hands are full" "Yup, super happy I got a boy" "yes, we are all done" and the list drones on and on. And forgive me if I sound resentful, because I am not, generally, resentful about this at all. Its just that today I wanted to SELL my kids, give them away, abandon them, or even possibly pay someone to take them. I did NOT want to gush over their angelic blue eyes and so on and so forth. So I stared off on a spot in the distance and began the speed walk getoutofmyway and Ididntnoticeyoulooking walk only to have people GRAB the stroller or cut me off, forcing me into another of these awful conversations. My cheeks hurt from all that fake smiling. I could never be a politician.

Ben drained all the fuel out of our hot water tank in favour of go figure...winter fuel. So we are hoping our hot water issues are a thing of the past.

Until next time..

There are moments in parenthood where you just know you werentcutoutforthis. And today, I experienced one of these profound moments.

While I dug through an entire drawer of socks with no matches looking for three teeny sized pairs, Olivia decided she had a craving for crackers and margerine. Conrad, who became tense and irritable at the mere sight of toast crumbs in his margerine, will never know which of my many margerine containers was the victim...

I turned around and both girls were feeding the dog their yogurts...right off their spoons.

Svea unrolled the entire roll of papertowel.

Hayden put his foot down about naps once and for all, and screamed frantically for 45 minutes before I gave in. Before you call me a bad mom for making him wait, I was in my time machine, back in the 1800s, boiling water to add to cold so I could wash my hair and do the dishes. Its been over 10 days since I had heat blowing from heat ducts in my home. I have both fire places raging at all times, and have taken to washing at my moms house. And the kids stink. And I am totally sick of talking about it. Just know, that I have no hot water or heat and its been hitting -30 or colder with great regularity at nightime here.

Tonight, I get to go skiing with my sister in law, Lee-Anne. Ben just phoned and told me to behave. I always behave, so I really am not sure what he is worried about.........

From ours to yours, Happy Holidays

I attempted my own Sears Studio and was met with bad lighting, a lack of cooperation and plenty of frustration. If I couldnt get two to look at the picture, why would I think I could get all three?

LOL. Merry Christmas everyone!

"Via Psycho"

I posted this on the "due date club" I have been posting on since my pregnancy with the girls and wanted to share my evening with you without having to retype the entire thing. So for any of you ladies on JM, sorry for the repetitive nature of this story.

I use bad language. When I get mad, it takes all my energy not to blurt out the F word, oblivious to who may hear, or not. And really, if I am mad enough to start letting it fly, usually I, in the moment, dont care. I am not bragging, just letting you in on one of my baddest habits. I do, however, exercise my ability, daily, to use other words to describe things that drive me nuts. Unfortunately, these words are not always appropriate either. Case in point.....when Olivia has one of her crazed and hysterical meltdowns that involve high pitched at the top of her lungs break the sound barrier screaming, throwing of her body, punching the air with her little fists balled up so tight her knuckles have turned a dangerous shade of white, I commonly refer to her as "Psycho". And apparently, Svea has been taking note of this.

I dont know what provokes these attacks in Olivia. I rarely see the triggering event, so I am left to assume it was some very small thing that must have been the icing on the cake that sent her flying unceremoniously off the edge, but she had one of these very attacks this evening. I am by myself, completely for at least 15 days until Ben gets home. My moms evening help has been a thing of the past for months, as she has joined bi-weekly aquabics classes and usually has some sort of plans for the other nights with Christmas shopping and whatnot. Needless to say, my nerves are standing at attention, quivering on the brink of joining Britney Spears in an embarassingly public meltdown, but I have been bravely hanging on by one very shrayed thread. So as Olivia shreaked violently, shook the bars of her crib (yah, she was not IN her crib, by the way) angrily, threw herself down and shook her head like she was at an ACDC concert, Svea looked up at me wide eyed, humour twinkling in them, and because Olivia had attacked Hayden and he was now screaming in the background as well, proclaimed loudly, "Via psycho".

All in a days work. I laughed, snorted, gave Olivia her wish and "let" her go to bed early, picked up Svea, and walked out of Olivias room with a smile on my face, because at least I know one person in this house hold understands. Svea then asked to be let down, told me she was going to "choose a book" (where did she learn the word "choose" from anyways?), asked for her water, grabbed her "baby" and politely informed me that "Vaya" wanted to go "night night" too. Just wanted to share my evening laugh.

Christmas is on its way

And I am going nuts shopping. I have managed to get most of it done, but still need to get stocking stuffers and buy for my sister in law and step Dad, Conrad (whom I have started, and have a good plan for the rest). Ben will be spoiled this year, as usual. But the kids, wow. I am managing to behave fairly well, but I know at least one grandparent who has gone nuts with Christmas gifts already. I am so excited about Christmas this year with the girls being old enough to be excited about gifts!

I actually made a gingerbread house with the girls a few days ago, but have already started to eat it, lol. I figure if its all gone in the next week or two, we can always make another. Olivia really loved helping make it. She sat on my lap, smooshing as much candy between her lips as she could get, but she genuinely enjoyed sticking it on the house as well. Svea enjoyed it for a few moments, but she isnt so much into candy, so it wasnt nearly as interesting to her.

Next is home decoration. I need to dig through the disaster of boxes in our freshly painted, but carpetless (due to the flood) basement. I am hope hope hoping it will be finished by Christmas, the playstation always gets its most use during that Christmas season, and I know (honestly aquired, I swear) that we got an electric fireplace for the basement as a gift. We use wood heat all winter, so the furnace doesnt kick on, leaving the basement chilly. This should help tremedously :)

Anyways, go check out this blog, she always has lots of cool crafts and baking ideas and regular give aways :) http://patrizziagundich.blogspot.com/2008/12/friday-giveaway.html

Will post pics of the home decorations once completed. Hopefully the girls will enjoy it!