Another very belated post...Easter.

Good Friday was spent by travelling to Aunt Debbie's for Easter lunch. Unfortunately we did not have the happiest child that day, but were lucky enough to capture one good smile from her- thank you Nana.
Even the fun of an easter egg & goodie-hunt did not capture many smiles. She participated, but not with much spunk. The proof is in the picture.
On Sunday we tried the egg hunt again & Sydney really liked it this time. Her "treat" inside the eggs were raisans & she loved it. Wonder how many years we will be able to get away with that?
Nana was visiting for the weekend & Grandma & Grandpa ("Ga & Papa" in Sydney-speak) came to have lunch with us. Afterwards we took the third run of the Easter egg hunt outside. She still really enjoyed it, so I think Friday was just an off-day for Sydney.
Finally, the day came to a close with a bit of play & some final posing for the camera. As you can see, Sydney is still interested in the raisans hiding in the eggs.

Happy Belated Birthday Craigie!

Almost two weeks ago, my dearest brother turned the big 40. So that he didn't feel too old, Aunt Debbie made him a bunny cake. Whether you are young or old, you could not help but admire the cute cake. Although it may have been a bunny cake, Craig should be happy that Debbie made it & not me. He would have been lucky to get a cake that was level, let alone decorated, if I had been responsible!

Busy, busy day

Yesterday a gentleman from work, Milos, welcomed anyone from work who wanted to come into his home. He had chocolate eggs scattered around the property for the kids to find & animals for them to see (chickens, ducks, bunnies, pheasants, pony, and a goat). The pony & goat were on lend from his neighbour & we had to leave before the pony rides started...oh well, maybe next year.
Milos loves to cook for people & make sure that they are happy in his home. He did a good job yesterday & I think all the kids had fun. There were a few bales of hay set up for the kids to play on & it made me realize how easy it is to amuse kids sometimes. Or was it a city-kid thing? I can't imagine a kid from the country would even notice a few bales of hay sitting around & if it was haying season they probably would avoid it like the plague.

I'm sure Sydney would have loved to be jumping around on the hay, but...

her activities on the hay were more sedentary (picture taking with Ashley), or

checking out the bunnies. She also really liked the birds.

After Milos' we were off to Uncle Robb & Aunt Michele to visit with some cousins. Max was a late starter at the party because he was taking a marathon nap. The kid didn't get up until 5:30! Scott was joking saying that Max would still be up to watch SNL with Robb & I wouldn't doubt it.
Sydney started swimming lessons last week & her cousin Jack is in the class too. (I wanted to have swimming pictures to share, but Grandpa wouldn't come on the deck to take the pictures because he had to take his shoes off).

So here Sydney is fully clothed with Cousin Jack.

And her attacking Cousin Max.

Our attempt at a picture of all three of them was not very successful.

What a little ham she is...

Here are two of Sydney's common poses lately....

CHEESE!!!!
This picture was taken because I was checking the camera. I wasn't planning on taking her picture, but when someone is yelling "Cheese" at you, you must take a picture.

And the bashful look- don't let it fool you, it's mainly an act.

Tea Anyone?

This weekend we went to my Mom's so that Brad could help her with some painting. Sydney & I took off for the day & went shopping while the troops did the work. I maybe should have taken some pictures to show their hard labour, but that would have required staying around and Bradley did not want me in the house when they were painting. Protective Daddy.
So, the only pictures that were taken were of Sydney "having tea". It is really neat to see how her play is changing now. She is role playing more now & you are many times being "served" things, usually tea or soup. She loved playing at Nana's little table with the tea set. The set is porcelain (thankfully thick & not delicate) so the lesson of "gentle" needed reinforcement. Most times it appeared that the lesson was understood, but there were some lapses in memory.
Sydney knows that tea is hot, but she doesn't seem to know for sure which end she holds & from which end she pours. But that will come with time & for now she is just having fun.
Another thing that I really notice now is how much she copies what you do. The other day I was sitting with her on the couch & had my feet up on the coffee table. She couldn't reach the coffee table with her feet, so she hopped off the couch & went to get her little rocker (thanks Laurie) to pull up to the table to put her feet up. She really made me laugh- so of course I had to go get the camera.

19th week update

Between yesterday and last Friday I have spent 3 1/2 hours lying on my back to take pictures of baby T2. On the 17th we went for our 19 week ultrasound where they measure all the baby's anatomy. Since the little one was not being very cooperative, they took a LONG time getting all the measurements (and I still need to go back for more). Typically it takes about 45 minutes, but this time it was an hour & 10 minutes! Brad was sitting in the waiting room all this time- for this ultrasound they don't get him until they have got all the details they are looking for. So, he waited for over an hour to get to see his developing child for 5 minutes. He never completely said it was worth the wait.
Here is a picture of Baby T2 at 18weeks, 5 days. Rather alien-like photo-since I am the mother, I am allowed to make such a comment. They couldn't get a profile picture because the the baby was constantly moving.
Yesterday I had an appointment for them to do an echo of the baby's heart to check for any congenital defects. This appointment was 2 HOURS! I must say the first hour flew by though, because I fell asleep. In my defense, the room is dark and very warm. After an hour, the technician went to review the pictures with the cardiologist who then came back in to take another look that lasted another 45 minutes. I was trying very hard not to freak out when they were very intently looking at the screen. Finally she says that there are no "major" concerns, but that she cannot see the pulmonary arteries. She assured me that this is not uncommon since they are such small structures in an already small fetus, but said that she will want to do a follow-up after the baby is born.
So, needless to say I like all mother's will be waiting with bated breath to hear that "cry" when the baby is born to be reassured that baby is breathing well!

Sleepovers

Well Sydney went to her first "sleepover" last night. Uncle Robb & Aunt Michele watched Sydney for us while we went out for dinner & to a friend's Stag & Doe. Since it was going to be a "late" night (I use that term loosely since the definition is now much different than it was a few years ago) they kept Sydney overnight. Although Sydney has stayed overnight at Grandma & Grandpa's many times, this in my mind was her first "sleepover". To me part of the definition of a sleepover includes kids talking long into the night when they should be sleeping. Well, apparently Max & Sydney fit this requirement. When the kids went to bed last night they were chirpping at one another through the walls for quite awhile before they went to sleep. Definitely fits within the "sleepover" definition, don't you think? I think both Sydney & Max survived it, but Max seemed a lot more excited when we came to pick her up this morning than he was yesterday when he awoke from his nap to find her there. See how happy he is now that he knows we are going home?
Although Sydney looked like a walking zombie this morning, we went to a play date at a friend's. Sydney fell asleep in the car on the way there & since she was snoring, I figured I better let her catch a few zzz's. The good thing about a sunroof is that you can sit inside & see her sleeping in the back, so that as soon as those pretty little eyes opened...back outside I went to get her.
Glad I stayed & waited for her to wake up, her and Evelyn had a nice play together. Although it was maybe a good thing that Sydney's words still are not very clear, or Evelyn would have had her first exposure to the "MINE!" demand. Tara and John are lucky that they are not dealing with that one yet!

Happy Birthday Regan!

Today Miss Regan turns five years old. We visited her on the weekend to bring our wishes to her in person. Regan turning 5 makes me realize how quickly the time will go with our kids. It seems like yesterday when we all rushed to Kim & Pete's to meet the perfect little baby that they had waited so long for. Our lives have never been the same since- this child has spunk! If you spend any time at all around Regan you are bound to come away from your visit with a story that will make you smile & laugh. It is hard to believe that she is in school already, but it all happened in a blink of an eye.
Regan is giving serious thought to what her wish will be...you don't want to be wasteful. She did well & didn't tell us what it was, but I would bet money it had something to do with horses!
Regan, I sure hope your wish comes true! We are looking forward to taking you riding when the weather gets nicer.
Happy Birthday Regan, love Aunt Kelly, Uncle Brad, Sydney & Logan. xoxo

Remember the rule, "No running in the house!"?

It's funny how you will let "little" kids get away with things that you won't let "big" kids do. Last weekend we had Max for the weekend & during that time Max & Sydney "ran" around the living room & kitchen quite a few times. We let them too. Why? Because their "run" really is not that fast & it was cute to listen to them giggling away while they were having fun.
Well, the same thing happened yesterday. We went to visit Regan to wish her a happy birthday which is tomorrow. Regan had some balloons & her and Sydney had a grand olde time running around the kitchen-dining-living room. Again, we let them because it was fun for us to watch them having fun.Sometime soon I am sure the day will come that we say, "NO RUNNING IN THE HOUSE!". And because we let them do it before they will look at us, get mad, and try to do it anyway. Who can blame them, right? We let them do it before, surely we must be joking this time. Well, I guess that's why there's the phrase, "start as you mean to go". I have heard this a thousand times from my mother-in-law. Advice that I have also seen her preach & not practice.I am not going to share the "birthday girl picture" until tomorrow, so you will have to wait. But I will share the picture of Sydney's first piece of real cake that she got to eat all on her own- minus cake & icing. Of course, she loved it. It gave her the extra steam to complete her short run track race around the kitchen-dining room-living room.

For you, Miriam & Jack

I was going back through the pictures from the "Gold Medal Party" to see if I had a better picture of Jack. Originally the only one I thought I had was this one, & since you were in it I didn't think you would appreciate it. Jack was so much on the go practicing his new "walking" skill (with the intent of getting his hands all the way down to his sides) he was hard to catch at a good angle. But, he finally did stop for a minute & I got a shot of him & Sydney. Jack truthfully should have been the star shot, since he was the only one to be see with a Team Canada jersey that morning.

Gold Medal Party

A couple of weeks ago friends of ours sent out an email inviting us to a "Gold Medal Party". Of course at that time there was the assumption that the men's team would make it to not only the medal round, but the Gold medal game. What a disappointment that was! Looks like the party should have been set up to watch the women's game. The women ROCKED the Olympics!
Well, being the good sports that Wendy & Jason are- they still welcomed us into their home at 8am on Sunday morning- why not? We are all up at that time anyways.
Well, it was a good game even though it did not include Canada. The company was great & the hosts were fantastic! Although, next time you have a breakfast party- remind me to bring my coffee maker (ha ha)!
Hayden didn't like all the ref's calls. Sydney doesn't know the game that well, she has no idea what Hayden is talking about.






But she sure remembers how to say "CHEEESE!!!". Evelyn chooses to ignore her when she is showboating.
I think Ellie enjoyed having the kids around to play, but she mostly sat back and watched all the action. The kids will have to watch out for this one! She has so many words, she can put them to shame.

Mr. Max

Last night we babysat Max while Robb & Michele when to some African drumming thing in Toronto. We had a great time with Max & I had to take the picture that him & Sydney will be cursing me for when they get older....the tub picture!!! And Max taught Sydney how to say "CHEEEESE!!!"

Places to go, friends to see...

The past week was busy going here & going there. The bad thing about so many of your friends living in other towns is that it is often a challenge to coordinate schedules to allow for a good visit. The good thing about it is that you have many opportunities to get away from home for a bit.
Last weekend we went to visit Kim & Pete to go out for Brad & Pete's "birthday dinner & a movie". It was an overnight visit that gave Nana the perfect opportunity to babysit. I am sure that Regan & Sydney were perfect angels for her. Prior to us going out they were playing in Regan's room & their faces were the picture of innocence, even though they were just caught jumping on the bed.
The next day was a visit to see Monica. This is one of my friends who is MOST difficult to coordinate with- the woman keeps herself much too busy. We had a great visit & enjoyed meeting their little guy, Max (6 months). Jim had Max stylishly dressed in a Ramones t-shirt & I had to admit that was the neatest shirt I had seen on a little baby. For Monica & I's mutual friends...here are some pictures of Max and his proud parents.

I never seemed to capture just the right shot of him, but he is definitely a happy, smiley baby. Although, I am not sure what pose he is striking here with Sydney.
Our last jaunt out of town was on Friday to go meet Laura, Morgan, and Marley. Probably the 2nd hardest person to tie down for a visit. Although I realized that if we leave Patrick & Brad out of the equation, it is much easier to coordinate- sorry guys. Morgan is 2 1/2 years old & Marley is 3 months old. I think Morgan was really excited to play with Sydney & then was quite disappointed when Sydney was happiest playing alone in Morgan's kitchen- sorry Brad, but one of these things is going to be coming to our house sometime in the future. Sydney loved it!
Next was "snack time" and although Morgan's little table is perfect for her, Sydney has too many ants in her pants to be sitting at these little tables yet. She nearly flipped herself too many times.
And of course the other people that we were there to see...Laura & Marley. Again, Sydney picked up a little dolly anytime that I was holding the baby. I can live with that- at least she lets me hold one!

Jealousy may be setting in...

Yesterday we had a couple of visitors, Noreen & her little guy Will. I think I have said before that Sydney is quite facinated with babies right now. Well, she was quite interested in Will yesterday & was showing Noreen where his belly is, his nose, and his eyes. The problem is that her little finger is not always gentle when she wants to point these features out. Hence the frown (which is a common expression of hers these days) when she is directed away from his face.
Will was happy enough for her to be playing with his belly, but a little curious about why she is so interested in this game. When she couldn't play with Will's nose, she had to show us where Logan's nose is- who is becoming increasingly tolerant of her. Good girl Logan.As is typically the case when around a toddler for any length of time, things did not go well for the whole visit. Noreen stayed to have supper with us & I held Will so that she could get her food. Well, although it was OK for me to hold Will earlier- it was not OK to be holding him while Sydney was being put in her highchair by her daddy. Although you don't want to give in to them & their demands, I have to admit that once Noreen had her food I did hand Will back to her hoping that Little Miss would sit down in her chair and have her supper. It was the first time that we experienced "jealousy" & hope not to see too much of it in the future.
Well I am not sure if it is related to yesterday, but this morning I was not allowed to sleep in. Brad got Sydney out of bed & thought they were going downstairs for breakfast, but someone pushed open the door & came over to get into bed with me. Then wanted nothing to do with Daddy. She expected Mommy to get out of bed & come for breakfast. So when you have been jumped on & pulled on, who's going to get more sleep? So, what did I do? Got out of bed & went downstairs. So that now makes 2 wins for Sydney.

Special Delivery Expected....

Well it looks like Sydney is going to become a big sister this summer. She of course doesn't know this yet, but hopefully in the months to come she will start to understand & be happy about the concept. My prediction is that Sydney will adjust to another baby in the house much better than Logan will.
The official due date is August 14th, but I personally will be aiming for the first week of August- especially if it is a hot summer! For those of you who like to make fun of my obsessive planning nature- I am on track to fulfill one of my "life plans". I wanted to have all my children before turning 35 & if things go well I will acheive that goal- although I am cutting it close.
Here is a picture of our ultrasound done today. It did not scan as clear as I hoped, but I think you can see enough to know it is a baby. Currently she (just a guess) is 67mm long and has a heartbeat of around 140 bpm.

Husband Swap?

Michele & I truly love our respective husbands and love that they are the father of our children. As we are each very different from one another we have chosen the right brother to spend our lives with. However, it is a little eerie that each of our children have a striking resemblance to their uncles. More so than to their own mother or father. You be the judge.

It was only recently that we identified Sydney's resemblance to her Uncle Robb. After pulling out Robb's baby picture, it could not be denied.
No offense intended to Robb, but I sure hope the next one looks like me.