I have been (just slightly) stressing over our upcoming holiday. Trying to figure out what to pack, and trying to make it as light of a load as possible! I thought I would wait until Thursday to pack, however strongly feel I need to pack NOW. Don’t know if it’s the pregnancy, or God whispering, but I’m going to listen either way! So tomorrow, I’m going to pack most my clothes that I plan to take (other than the clothes I still need for this week), along with kids toys, movies and some of their clothes. I may have the boys for a few extra hours, or an entire extra day this week that is completely unexpected so perhaps I do need to pack now and stay on top of this just in case!
My belly is growing at a very quick rate! I can’t believe it!! Orlund took some pictures of me standing (ones that were later deleted, so I didn’t stand pretty) and WOW talk about looking pregnant already! I’m hoping Wednesday at my Doctors apt I’ll get to hear the little heart beat! (14weeks!).Well, during all this stressing, We did take some time out to have some fun! Check out Orlund’s latest blog entry for one picture. And here is another (not the best quality, but still fun to take!).

Hovering over Mommy! OH What fun!!

Well it’s 10:32pm… I usually feel so sick at 10:30pm that I crawl gagging into bed and lay there feeling ill until I finally drift into a deep sleep. But I just ate a big bowl of itchy ban noodles so I’m feeling okay (for the moment). The rest of today was wonderful. After I finished blogging Orlund and I visited while the girls played about. Then we went for a walk over to Mac Park to the BG Urban Grill to try their smoothies ~ got a 2 for 1 coupon in the newspaper. YUMMY! And I checked out the rest of the menu as well, very reasonable prices.
After our smoothies and walk we had a quick lunch and then it was nap time. After naps we jumped in the car and headed to the fabric store. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let me return some things I’d purchased, however I got the threads I needed. Olivia stayed with me. Joy went with her Daddy to Princess Auto. Orlund was shocked when Olivia and I came to find him, he thought we’d be in the fabric store all day… nope I just put my head down, ignored the adorable materials screaming my name, and got just what I needed. *Yay Me*. We then decided since we were already in that part of town to go check out the Dodge Grand Caravan’s again. We had gone once before, but the sales guy seemed a bit ‘slimy’. I know, I know, a lot of them are, but this guy we didn’t care for. Luckily when we pulled up another guy came out. We liked him. He gave us some more options and pricing, the other guy we saw as we entered the new guys office. Gave a little smile and pretended we didn’t recognize him. We know who we will be dealing with now at least….now just to meet with our financial adviser. Then we will start the actual wheeling and dealing.. LOL.
Well Orlund is shutting down and it’s now 10:41pm, I’d better hit the sack before I hit the ill…..
Good night all

Oh and I also learned today (the hard way) that just because your first child never took their diaper off during nap time, doesn’t mean your second child wont….yuck!

Good morning all you beautiful people! This morning has been a beautiful morning for me. First I got to sleep in until 8:30am, and awoke to coffee brewing (Thanks Honey). Then Orlund took Joy out for a father-daughter breakfast, so Olivia and I had a special one here too. Chocolate milk makes the 1year old happy After I was done eating, waiting for Olivia to finish I looked over my to-do list. I’ve been doing good this week and getting a bunch accomplished, however I have fallen behind some. So Olivia and I headed downstairs (she loves to play down there) I dusted the ceilings and walls while she explored the toys. After that I decided we should come back upstairs so I can get some other cleaning done. She found the swiffer to be great fun! I emptied the dishwasher and re-loaded it with our breakfast dishes. Then just as I was about to leave the kitchen a giant white casserole dish caught my eye. It was on the very top of the ‘drying’ dishes (they dried overnight). So I decided to empty the sink as well. Looks nice when all the dishes are away!

Well Orlund and Joy just returned from breakfast, time to get the rest of this day on track
(Just a side note. Orlund just told me that while he and Joy were standing in line to order Joy looked up at him and said “Daddy I happy” ~ awwww!)

Just a random shot of my messy girl

Today I was continuing on with my ‘fall’ cleaning when Joy called me into her room. I went in to see her sitting reading her storybook bible (has about 5 OT stories). She flipped through it quickly and said “Mommy,  No Jesus. Where Jesus?” “Oh, Jesus isn’t in there?” “No mommy. No Jesus, why Jesus not in Bible? No whale too”. “oh, No Jesus and No whale?” “Yeah, no Jesus or whale”………I tried explaining that they were just a few Old Testament stories but that’s hard to explain to a 3 year old. I told her that Jesus was in her other Bibles and this one just has a few stories, but not about Jesus or the whale (Jonah). She sure melted my heart though. At 3 asking why Jesus wasn’t in this Bible. SO CUTE!!!

The other night while I sat at the table waiting for Joy and Olivia to finish dinner this conversation took place~

Joy had said something that hurt my feelings. So I pretended to be sad and sat there pouting (like she does) and mentioned to her that she hurt my feelings. “Mommy no happy? Mommy be happy”
“But you hurt my feelings”
“Mommy say sorry to Joy”
“I’m not going to say sorry, your hurt MY feelings, you should say sorry to me”
“Mommy say sorry.. Say sorry to Joy or big owies on bum. Say Sorry” She pats her bum making sure I understand
“Oh really? no Joy you say sorry”
“No, Mommy say sorry or big owie on bum! I 3 and them big owies” she holds up 3 fingers. Folds them down then one at a time raises them “One, two three” she counts as fast as she can, Climbs off her chair comes over to me and gives me a smack on the bum. Then climbs back into her chair and continues eating….
Well I couldn’t contain it. Here I should have been explaining to her why she can’t do that, and all the other things that needed to be explained, but I just burst out laughing! What a goof ball!! Can’t tell what I do with her! Orlund then asked about the 1,2,3 thing as we had agreed long ago not to count, but that she should do it when we first ask her too. I use the counting only when it’s not to harsh of an issue and I know she needs time to process the information.
So yes, that was my enjoyment the other evening! I couldn’t get over how well she mimicked me from the words I use to the body language~ they sure do watch everything we do!!!

Olivia just wandered over to me showing me her soil covered fingers. The look on her face said it all “please mom, clean this off I don’t like it”. The soil around her mouth told me she didn’t like the taste. Told her to stay out of my plants. Perhaps now that she’s tasted it she might listen. Joy was a child who wouldn’t push the limits, at least not often. Olivia is a child who lives to push the limits. We have fun.

I have a list, rather simple list, but none the less a list. The list is of everything I need to do this week. With the exception of keeping on top of the chores once done ~ example; I have Clean kitchen on list, well I will have to do this about 3/4 times a day, but it’s just written on the list once. I could get the entire list done today. TODAY. Will I? Probably not. My mind is ready to do the list, my body is not. I’m going to have to push through and get at least some  more of the list done. It’s nap time. Nap time slows me down. If I could put the girls down and come out to work on things it would be fine. But I lay on the floor, getting Joy to lay still enough to fall asleep. I usually fall asleep. I wake when she’s asleep, but then I usually have a hard time getting motivated again.

Hard day's work.

Well it’s time to get Joy on the potty and Olivia drinking her bottle. Just felt like sharing my day today. I have the boys every day this week (other than today) from 8-4. Please pray for my sanity….. On a more serious note, but about praying ~ Please pray for Charlotte. She’s going back up to Calgary Children’s for some scheduled tests, but she’s been having a rough few days, please pray it passes quickly and she’s healed!

Happy Father’s day to all you dad’s out there!! I hope you were spoiled rotten.. Orlund was. Before I get to what all we did this past weekend, I wanted to share a little ‘questionnaire’ that I did with Joy. She was SO cute when answering my questions and I hope you get as much of a kick out of it as I did~~

What is Daddy’s Name? Daddy
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Eat eggs
What is Dad’s favorite thing to do? Go for walks with me
What is Dad’s favorite food? Cake
What does daddy always say? Daddy like baby, Daddy like Nemo (Nemo is our goldfish)
What is something special daddy does just with you? Go to Church
What is something you want to do with Daddy? Go for a walk to the park
How old is Daddy? 3
Why did Daddy marry Mommy? Want to so Mommy doesn’t cry
Why did Daddy name you Joy? Because I’m a girl

Isn’t she cute?

So on with our weekend. Saturday Morning I got up put coffee on and then made breakfast. A special breakfast, waffles with Strawberries, blackberries and whipping cream. I have to say, they were yummy! Then I got the girls ready and we went to Solomon’s 2nd Birthday party. Unfortunately it wasn’t the most beautiful day and I had figured it would be inside, oops nope. It was outside. And just as I was leaving the house I forgot to grab their jackets… So they both ended up wearing a sweater of Solomon’s. It was fun, but tiring. We came home for their naps. Once they woke up we headed out for dinner ( all you can eat Sushi!!!). Very yummy, very filling. Headed home for bedtime.
Sunday Morning we got up early and got ready for Church. 9am we got there for the Pancake breakfast~ yummy!! Had Church then headed to Orlund’s parents place for lunch ~ yummy!! Had a good visit and headed home a bit later than planned. We tidied the house and got ready for dinner while the girls napped. My dad arrived for dinner and we had a wonderful visit with him and again, yummy food

Well I guess I should get on with my day now… The boys are coming in 1hour and I’ve got lots to do before they arrive.. God Bless you and I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

As I sit here typing I am taking my second listen to a beautiful song that is on my friends blog…I don’t know how to do that fancy tagging but her blog is ~ dankasworld.wordpress.com Check it out

So Today I dropped Olivia off with Grandma Norstrom. It was her first time being left alone without at least one of us (as in Joy, Daddy or myself). She did great. I dropped her off as I had to take Joy to her hearing test. Babies have their hearing tested when they are first born before leaving the hospital. Joy’s test came back fine, however my Dad is deaf in one ear, so they like to retest later on. (9months and 3years ~ although that’s since changed and now it’s just at 3years old). I was so surprised at how grown up my ‘little’ girl is!! She did awesome during the check up. she knew what all the pictures were (they said the name she just pointed them out ~ didn’t know she knew what some of those things were!). Her hearing is awesome and she doesn’t need to go for another check up (Yippee!). Although I am going to take her in to meet with a speech therapist just to make sure she’s on track.

Then we went out for ice cream… which at 9:30am is harder than it sounds! DQ was closed. McDonald’s was cleaning their machines…. Joy wasn’t very happy at that, luckily Shell had some. We even had time to hit up the dollar store. Then Joy had a regular doctors apt (just to check on a funny toe nail she has). Then we went up to Grandma’s house. I still wanted to get some shopping done, so Grandma watched both the girls so I could run out and do the grocery shopping. Thanks Grandma!

Orlund is in Vancouver tonight. hence why I’m still up at 11pm! *Gasp* I find I have a hard time going to bed when he’s not home. I decided to tackle our office/craft room while he’s away (hope he doesn’t read this before coming home, although he rarely reads my blog). I put up a painting I got from my mom’s mom (she was the most talented woman I’ve ever met!). And a crafting shelf thingy (on the wall). I’m pretty proud of myself for doing that. Over the past few weeks I’ve slowly (very slowly) gone through my book shelf and boxed up the books I just really don’t need out. Tonight I took everything that doesn’t belong in that room out and organized in piles (garbage, to go into crawl space etc). I have about an hour of work left before the craft room will be done (on my side, I’m not touching Orlund’s stuff). I think Orlund will be happy to see the progress I’ve made. And of course I want the house all clean for when he gets home… but my time is going to be cut short tomorrow ~ hockey night! And I plan to go to my Dad’s house and watch the game with him and my brother.

I have also taken on a new task. I’m excited about it. Orlund thinks I’m crazy as it’s just something else to add to my to-do list. However it is only once in a while job. At our Church whenever someone has a new baby the mom’s get together and bring them meals for an entire week. It’s a HUGE blessing when you are on the receiving end. The two ladies that have been doing it aren’t wanting to anymore and they have been looking for someone to take it over for a while. I didn’t want to, however then I decided that it’s not that hard of a job, and I like the organizing possibilities. I now have a binder with papers all ready to be filled out~ Who’s baby, allergies, time for meal drop off, etc etc. I love lists and this just falls beautifully into my ‘addiction’ to having to write things out. (I find that if in the evening I don’t write anything down on paper, I feel like I’m missing something. I think it soothes me… weird I know). There are 4 babies I already know of coming to our Church in this year (okay one is at the start of January). I’m excited to give this a go!

Well my kitchen is messy, my laundry is still hanging in the living room, I’m surrounded by all my ‘organizational’ stuff, and I’m headed to bed! lol.Good night!

When I was younger, on the day of my Birthday everything seemed to be magical and special. My mom would always wake me up at the time I was born (around 7:15am), and the magic would begin. Now that I’m a mom, I realize it’s the Mom’s who make the day special and magical for the kids.
I still wake waiting for my mom’s call (she’s in Thailand so it’s not so doable, but I hope anyway). Then I rise and get the girls going with breakfast and getting dressed. There are so many chores always that even on my birthday I can’t stop. I watched the boys on my Birthday. It felt like there should be something special happening just around the corner. Nothing did. At one point I was laying on the floor and told Gabe I wanted to take a nap too
“No you can’t!” he exclaimed
“Why not?” I asked
“Because you have to put the girls down for their naps and do the dishes” guess he’s learned my routines
“But why do I have to? It’s my Birthday”
“Because you are the grown up”
Sigh. Remind me again why kids want to grow up? I mean really, you have to DO DISHES on your birthday!
Solomon had the runniest nose I’ve ever seen. By the time I’d wipe it, throw the tissue out, wash my hands and return to the kids it would be about ready to drip off his chin!! SO GROSS! One thing I hate is boogers and runny noses!! So yippee just another fun thing to do on my grown up birthday. My birthday’s over the years have just become ‘sadder and sadder’, this year I came to the realization that it’s probably due to the fact that I’m expecting the same Childhood magic I used to receive. I’m still young, only 27years old, however it’s time for me to move on from birthday magic to providing it to my kids.
I did get to chat with my mom in the afternoon, that always brightens my day.
Orlund came home, I made the girls dinner and got myself ready. Orlund was upset at me for not getting ready fast enough (as in me and the girls ready), and I was upset at him for not helping me get us ready…. good way to start the evening eh? It was very nice that our friends volunteered to take the girls, Joy is in love with their daughter so it worked out perfect that Joy got her ‘KyKy” fix.
We went to Storms restaurant, it was their crab and Lobster fest.. Yummy food and we had a good time.
We went and picked the kids up, Joy screamed the entire pick up and drive home… we finally got her calmed down in time for bed.
The rest of the evening…. well… it’s not worth typing about.
Sunday’s party was awesome and a lot of fun. I was spoiled as was Olivia.
Next year I think I’ll, just think of my birthday as the day before Olivia’s magical birthday. The preparation day.

It’s been a couple of crazy days, and I hope tomorrow to fill you in some on them…
However today something happened and I just wanted to share it ~ if you are in need of a laugh…

I was laying on the floor with Olivia giving her tickles and looking at how big she’s gotten. “Wow, where did the time go? I swear you were just in my belly, weren’t you?” I was talking to her, but mostly just thinking out loud to myself. “Did you know” I asked ” that this time last year Mommy had a big tummy, because you were in it?” I motioned the big tummy with my hands. Gabe then jumping into the conversation stated “Well, it looks like you are getting another big tummy”… GASP… kids say the silliest things. I tried to explain to him that that isn’t a good thing since there isn’t a baby in there, he told me it was a good thing because there will be a baby in there.
Due to a previous conversation Gabe is now praying that God puts a baby in my tummy. A baby boy. So that I’ll buy boy toys for him to play with….. LOL… don’t really know what other boy toys I could buy (as we wouldn’t buy guns etc). And we already have trains and cars etc. But it’s cute.