Tuesday, 30 September 2008

4 Minutes

Chancery has been a little difficult of late in the evenings. We had attributed it to gas, caffiene consumption on my part, typical baby behavior, etc. A few nights ago I thought I'd just try to put her to bed a little earlier b/c I didn't really know what else to do (she was soooo cranky). It worked great! I nursed her for a little bit, then put her to bed & she slept 'til morning w/ only one wake-up in the night.

Last night I went to put her to bed at the regular time & she started to fuss as soon as I put her down. Normally I would run back in, see if she wanted to nurse, & basically start the whole process over. But I decided last night to let her cry a bit first to see if she was just tired..... Four minutes later she was out!

Now I just need to figure out a way to get her to go to sleep for naptime in her bed instead of the swing. I suppose it works for now, but I don't want to get too dependant on it like we did for Asher. I just wnat to get the kids on the same napping schedule so I can get things done around here. We just moved in, but the floors need cleaning, the food needs cooking......

Monday, 29 September 2008

Fun w/ Appliances!

Last night I cooked pizza for dinner & was seeing what different button on the stove are for. I find it's always interesting figuring out the "quirks" of new appliances whenever we move. For instance, the last place we were at had 2 burners that never got past warm, & the oven was always cooler than the temperature indicated. The freezer in one apartment we were in would freeze things in the back much more than things in the front for some unexplained reason, & I learned the hard way, that the oven timer didn't work at our house in Grand Rapids.....

So, I pushed the "lock" button on the stove, but it had no effect. I decided to try to figure out where the lock was, so I looked around, found it, & slid it over manually. Then I closed the door. Only to discover that I had locked the door, & couldn't open it. I thought if I ran the cleaning cycle it might unlock on it's own after it finished, so I turned it on. 2 hours later the house was cooking, the cupboards on either side of the oven were hot to the touch, & the door was still stuck shut. After about 20 minutes of Pastor Chad & his dad fiddling with it, we finally got the door open this morning, along w/ a "don't try that again" lecture!

Saturday, 27 September 2008

Cars

The other day, Pastor Chad was playing w/ cars in Asher's room. One of the cars went spinning out of control & asher piped up, "Hey, HEY!...... I LIVE in that car!" Not too sure where he got that idea from, but he can be quite imaginitive. It's been really fun to watch him develop this summer. He's talking alot more & has a really good memory. Sometimes he'll come up w/ a story about something we did 3 weeks ago out of the blue. Sometimes some of the most insignificant things leave the biggest impression.

Friday, 26 September 2008

Nope, Not Dead Yet

After a loooong hiatus, I'm back! I have a new house all the way across the country from where we were last, a new baby & a son who wants extra attention. All this leads to nit having much time to get on the computer. Today I logged on to discover I had 89 new emails & 443 blogs in my reader. Needless to say I feel very behind, but I can't foresee it getting much better for the time being. I hope to be a little more consistant than I have been lately! Don't give up on me yet!

Sunday, 14 September 2008

Our Trip So Far

I haven't been able to keep up w/ this very well, but we've been having an interesting trip. The first night we stopped in a small town in Saskatchewan & all the good hotels were full & the nearest town was 50 miles away & it was 8pm already. We checked into the only hotle w/ rooms left & lets just say that calling it "rustic" would be very generous. It was a dive. I was worried I was going to get bedbugs, & I figured that I'd stay cleaner by not having a shower than by having one!

Our second night on the road was better. WE stayed in a bigger town (there was a Caribou Coffee, so I got my morning Latte). There was a pool, plus jacuzzis in our rooms. Day 3 we stayedin a nice hotel too & had a lovely dinner at Red Lobster! We have seen so many commercials for the "Endless Shrimp" this summer, that we all were craving some seafood, so when we saw it, it was a forgone conclusion that we'd have dinner there.

Day 4 has been the best so far. WE stayed in Frankenmuth, MI, which is known for 2 things, the HUGE Christmas Store, & the hotel w/ the Water Park. WE didn't make it to the Christmas store, even though it was right across the parking lot from the hotel. WE were enjoying the waterpark too much! They have 2 waterslides for intertubes, but you are in the dark the whole time, so you don't know what's coming. It was really fun, but Pastor Chad said that when he went down by himself it wasn't nearly as fun as w/ Asher b/c it's more fun to see how he reacts. They also had a breakfast buffet in the hotel w/ Starbucks! (so I got my mornign Latte again!).

Last night we stopped in Strathroy, but the hotle was full b/c of a wedding, so we went on to London & stayed at the Motel 6. They warned us when we checked in that the jets in the hot tub weren't working, but it was still hot. At night, Pastor Chad's parents went to take Asher too the pool only to discover that the pool was freezing, & the hot tub was tepid. Come to find out that an alarm for the hot tub had gotten stuck on, so they turned off the breaker, not considering that that might shut off more than the alarm! We had planned to stay all 3 nights, but since we have to find ways of keeping Asher busy, we have moved to the Ramada. Hopefully we have a better stay here.

Tomorrow is basically a relaxing day. The guys are going to get all our stuff moved over from the storage to the U-Haul, & PC's Mum will watch Asher so I can go get Chancery signed up for Health Insurance before we leave. Hopefully that won't take too long. Maybe Chancery will cry & people will have pity on me & let me got first!

Friday, 5 September 2008

Bye-Bye Brownies

Since having Chancery, I've had a HUGE craving for brownies & ice cream. This has lead to Chad & I going out late at night for dessert at local restaurants a few times. I realize that it's not the most economical way to have brownies & ice cream, so I have also purchased a few boxes of brownies & a few pints of vanilla ice cream. Let's just say I have had brownies & ice cream for dessert every night for the last 2 weeks.... until last night.

Chancery has been having a bit of difficulty getting to sleep & since I'm nursing, there have been accusations that it's b/c of something I'm eating. Somehow it was decided (not by myself) that the brownies are to blame b/c of the chocolate content & resultant caffeine content. So, last night I was told that I'm not to have anymore chocolate. Then my loving family proceeded to eat MY brownies & MY ice cream right in front of me whilst telling me how delicious they were! And the hard part is that I'm STILL craving brownies & ice cream..... Isn't there some validity to the argument that you crave things that your body needs?

Tuesday, 2 September 2008

Pronunciation Guide

There has been some confusion over the last few weeks on how to pronounce our little girl's name, so I thought I'd give a short explanation. When we lived in London I worked downtown & took the Tube into the city. The stop I got off at everyday was Chancery Lane. We thought about names afterwards that would remind us of our time in London, & that stood out as a good one.

One thing we learned during our time there is that words are pronounced quite differently than how an American/Canadian might pronounce it. Chancery Lane was a prime example of that. Chancery was not pronouncedˈchan(t)-sə-rē, with a long "a" sound & 3 syllables, but ˈchon(t)s-rē, with a short "o" sound & only 2 syllables. We thought that might sound a bit too pretentious, so we chose a happy medium b/w the two. We pronouce it ˈchan(t)s-rē. I know there's always the risk that some may try to shorten her name to "Chance", but we're hoping that she likes her name enough to maintain it...... isn't that every parent's hope?

Friday, 29 August 2008

A Little Over A Week

In a little over a week, we'll be off to PEI. It's gonna be an interesting road trip. We're taking just under a week to go from here to Ontario. Coming this way took 4.5 days of driving, but now we'll be having to stop every 3 hours at least to feed Chancery.

Then, we're taking just under a week to go from Ontario to PEI. I don't think that will be too difficult since that part of the trip is shorter. I'm excited to do the ON to PEI jaunt b/c I've never been through those provinces. I'm also pretty excited about seeing everyone in Ontario again one last time on our way through.

Mostly I think I'm excited to get into our new house. I know it won't be easy to get everything all sorted & put away w/ 2 kids underfoot, but Chad's parents will be there too, so we'll have some help & I'm really glad for that b/c I think that otherwise it could be months before we would feel settled.

So, I'm wandering around the house looking for things of ours that have been unpacked & left lying around to make sure we don't forget anything. Oh, I'll be glad to be in our own house! Less than a month until we move in!

Sunday, 24 August 2008

FlySwatter

Today we went to visit the church in Burdett where Chad did his internship 3 summers ago. We really enjoyed getting to see everyone again, as we had only seen 3 couples in the time b/w when we were there & now. One of the families invited us over for lunch & we had an enjoyable afternoon catching up w/ them.

One of the activities that Asher really enjoyed today was being given full reign of the flyswatter. We don't have too many flies at home, so we usually just get them ourselves when he spots one, but today he was given his very own to use as he pleased. I'm not too sure how many he actually killed, there were many that were lying pretty still before he got them, but since he didn't seem to know the difference, we though it better to not spoil his fun.

After lunch he took the flyswatter into the living room w/ him & then we spotted a fly near the table, so we asked him to bring the flyswatter back to us. Seems the boy has no clue what a flyswatter is..... He looked around & around for it when it was sitting in the middle of the floor right in front of him. I gave him clear directions until he was basically standing on topp of it, then told him to pick it up off the floor in front of him. He took a step back, hunched down & started closely inspecting the carpet. I think he must have been looking for a FLY at that point, b/c he was clearly looking for something quite small.

Asher then went back to the window & picked up a fly to bring to us. We said, "Not a FLY, the flySWATTER." To which he replied, "This looks like an airplane." He then held it aloft & demonstrated how an airplane would fly whilst making "vrooming" sounds. He did eventually bring us the flyswatter, still not too sure he knows what one is though.....

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Sleep & Soreness

Last night was a GREAT night. Chancery went to sleep at 10:30 & didn't wake up until 4am! This morning we had to wake her up at 7:30 b/c we were going to a pancake breakfast b/c it's Whoop-Up days in Lethbridge, so there's a pancake breakfast every morning. Sure, I was a bit sore b/c I'm making a bit more milk than she was using last night, but I'll trade that for getting a good sleep any day!

So this morning we went to the pancake breakfast, which was ok. The food wasn't hot, but it's not like we went for great food. We go for the fun & adventure of it all & Asher got his face painted! He only got a small bumble bee, but he did pretty well sitting still for the lady.

We came back home for awhile & then went out to see the parade. This was the 3rd parade we have seen this summer, so Asher knew what to expect. We told him we were going to a parade & he said, "They throw candy!" Yes, they usually do, but this was definitely the MOST BORING PARADE EVER! Most the entries were just cars, maybe decorated w/ pom-poms. There was not really any interaction b/w the people in the parade & the people watching, & we got 2 lollipops. Now, I understand if there's a rule saying they can't THROW candy, but that doesn't mean they can't walk along the crowd & hand it out! We sat for 2 hours & mocked the parade in order to keep our sanity. We probably would have left, but we would have had to cut across the parade to get to our vehicle. Chancery had the right idea, she slept through the whole thing & Asher almost succumbed as well.

Thursday, 14 August 2008

Check It Out!

I might still look slightly pregnant, but I'm NOT! Less than 24 hours after my Dr told me I'd be pregnant for the duration of FOREVER, my water broke! (And I managed to keep the sheets clean).


At 2am my water broke & off we went to the hospital. I was put into a triage room where they evaluate to see if you'll be staying or going home. The person in the next bed kept me entertained b/c apparently she was not enjoying her pregnancy. She was about 28 weeks & had come in b/c she was having some contractions. The nurses verified they were braxton-hicks, but the woman was determined. She asked what her chances were of having the baby that day & was told "not likely." She then asked if they could call the doctor b/c she wanted to have the baby out (though I could relate, I wasn't that eager at 28 weeks yet). The nurses assured her that if she were to go into labour, the Drs would do all they could to STOP it & that no Dr would induce labour at 28 weeks. The lady also mentioned at one point that she wanted to take the baby home & not keep it in the hospital for any length of time...... I was entertained!

So, they decided to keep me around & moved me into a birthing room, where I read my book, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, & slept until around 9 when they gave me some oxytocin to get some action started. At 10:30 I decided I knew enough about pain & got some morphine. And at 11:07 our daughter Chancery Lane was born!

Chad, in all his kindness, said I make a good cow..... I have easy labours. I was just glad that my child was a bit smaller than a bovine. And she was on the small end, at 6lbs 4oz & 20.5 inches. Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

The Cruelest Words

I had another DR appointment today. I was eager to find out if this baby is any closer to coming out. Not b/c I really want to meet it, not b/c I'm uncomfortable, but b/c we have a moving deadline & the older the baby is, the easier the trip will be.

So, off I went. I saw the Dr. I haven't grown at all in the last week. He listened to the heartbeat, measured the tummy & checked that the head is still down. Then he said..... "ok, see you next week!"

How cruel! I got home & Chad asked, "Well, what's the news?" ..... I don't think this baby wants to be born in Alberta. I think it wants to be born on our road trip. He simply said see you next week. Chad asked if he checked to see how far I'm dilated. No, he did not. "Well, you need to tell him to check that!" But I don't want to be one of "those" patients who thinks they know more than the Dr. He's the one who's gone to school for it & delivered countless babies. I suppose when "Baby X" is good & ready it'll come out & until then I just have to find a way to try to hurry it along a little!

Monday, 11 August 2008

An Ill Wind Was Blowing......

Today was one of those weird days. Asher was in a bad mood all day. Well, I suppose that isn't ENTIRELY true. He was ok until lunchtime & then things started getting hairy. After he barely ate any lunch, he was super grumpy. We attributed it to being tired since he went to bed about 2 hours later than normal last night due to church (followed by Dairy Queen). So Chad went to put him down for a nap amongst much protestation.

He didn't wake up in any better of a mood. I heard "No Thank You, NO THANK YOU!" As he first woke up. I went in & asked if he wanted to get up or to keep sleeping since sometimes he is still tired & will sleep longer. He said he wanted to sleep some more, so I covered him w/ the blanket & left, but that apparently was NOT what he wanted. He started yunking so I told him he could get up if he wanted to, so he got up & started whinging that he wanted to see Daddy & Grandma, so we went to find them.


The afternoon was a mixture of him going outside, coming to the door & crying that he wanted to come back in, but slamming it back closed everytime I opened it for him b/c he wanted "Daddy to do it!" Ah, the fun we had for that 1/2 an hour! I think it will be a bit difficult, but a good thing, to get back into a normal routine once we make it to PEI. Sometimes I think that by having so many adults around he's beginning to think he calls the shots. But it's difficult to keep him entertained all the time b/c we're in a new place & I don't really know where to take him or what to do w/ him either.


Oh, his world will be rocked whenever this baby decides to come out!

Friday, 8 August 2008

Big Boy Bed

Asher has made the transition to the big boy bed. It was quite easy, which we were quite suprised about, but it may have been b/c he has been sleeping in a pac n play for the last month & I don't think they can be very comfortable. He's only gotten out of bed a few times that we've had to give him a time out for. But the other night we had a bigger problem.....

I put him to bed & then Chad stayed outside the door afterwards to make sure he was staying in bed & going to sleep. All went well & we went downstairs for awhile. When Chad went to check that he had covers on just before we went to bed, he was suprised to find himself looking at Asher's bare bottom. Apparently Asher had decided to remove his PJ bottoms & diaper. Chad thought he could just sneak it back on while Asher slept, but then discovered he was too late..... The bed was soaked!

We had to move Asher back into the pac n play for awhile (which he was none too pleased about) & take all the bedding off & try to clean it up as best we could. We have no idea what possessed him to take his diaper off, we haven't had any issues w/ him trying to do that. Maybe we'll have to duct tape his daiper on at night from now on!

Saturday, 2 August 2008

Hot Tubbin'

The other night Chad was getting Asher ready to go into the hot tub. I don't participate in these activities due to my pregnant state, & also the fact that I am usually too hot anyways & don't really want to get all hot & bothered just before I go to bed.

Anyways, I went upstairs to see if I could help get Asher ready so Chad could get his own swimsuit on. I walked into Asher's room to find him in a state of undress which we like to refer to as "Johnny No-Pants". I started saying that Asher was Johnny No-Pants, to which he replied, "Johnny No-Pants go in the hot tub!"

We got a kick out of the statement, but told him that Grandma & Grandpa would probably not appreciate him skinny dipping in their hot tub seeing as he's not potty trained yet.