Lanaya

We went to the doctor this last week to check height, weight, growth and just health in general.  We have a big girl on our hands... 97th percentile height, 95th weight and 93rd head circumference.  She's also cruising along furniture at 9 months and clapping, waving and babbling like there's no tomorrow.  All of these things are advanced for her age.  As of today, she is also making specific sounds like "ba" for bottle and is actually playing peek-a-boo by covering her eyes and making a 'p' and a 'b' sound in a row afterwards when I say "peek-a-boo".

She is also just a delight to have in our house.  She is constantly moving, just can't stand to stay still.  She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth and you can see her little mind working to piece things together.  She has big, blue eyes that twinkle, she laughs all the time and she is the pride and joy of her parents and siblings alike. 


She now has 4 teeth as well... sleeps like a dream (most nights) and eats pretty much anything we offer her.  She has been such an amazing blessing in our lives and we just can't get enough of her!

St Patrick's Day and Some Randoms

Jaymeson was so excited for leprechauns and gold and many other things green.  Thankfully, his amazing teacher satisfied his dream by hosting a leprechaun in their class and having a Green Party.  I made these tasty treats, but otherwise, our St Patrick's Day was limited to green pancakes!

We did, however, end our day with a little hair cut.  As you can see, it was getting a little longer than his standard military cut...

In my defence, I was up quite late the night before making a South African recipe for Kienna's 'International Feast' at school.  Milk Tarts became an instant hit in our family!  I got to deliver them, along with the Green Rice Krispies Squares, to the school in the morning (I felt a little ill and didn't get it all packaged up in a way I would trust the kids walking them to school).  

Otherwise, things have been a little more typical around the house.  Thought I'd share a few little pictures that I quickly snapped with my phone.

This means trouble!!

I've moved all nautical theme into our den and have been working on adding some more colour in our family room.  I'm excited to see how it all works out!!

Jarett frequently does the dishes at night while listening to a show on wireless headphones.  He had left the base plugged in over night and Benson wanted to watch a show while I taught piano, so he figured it out quickly and loved this new experience!

Lanaya fell asleep in her high chair... Not the normal direction.  She has since began to climb much more and is strapped into her chair before I turn my back for a minute.

Love Lanaya's new hat!!

Benson got a new snowsuit (awesome clearance!) and wouldn't take it off - even indoors - for a couple hours. (I'll have to search a little for this picture)

 

We also started to do flyers.  Kaia and Kienna have each taken on a route and we are delivering about 200 flyers each week.  Just some of the folding that we've been doing each week. The bag is holding between 40-60 flyers.

 

Flathead Lake - 2012

We had so much fun at Flathead Lake!  All the cousins from the Cahoon side were there.  It was a little difficult to go camping with a broken foot, but I had a lot of help and was able to even get in the water a few times (on a floaty).  The kids, however, had a BLAST!  The girls all were in and out of the water constantly.  They were playing games, coloring and swimming to their hearts content.

Kaia was so excited to spot on the wave-runner.  She went on the tube, knee-boarded and swam a whole lot.  She always had a smile on her face!

Kienna loved the hammock and the games, but she too loved the water.  She was a little more nervous to do anything behind the wave runner, but she had a blast swimming out on many a flutter board to keep up with the "teenagers".

Saryn was in heaven with the 3 other girls that were her age.  They colored, played games and ran around playing with ponies.  They had so much fun making the ponies swim and playing fetch with each other.

Jaymeson LIVED in the water.  He would only come out by demand, if it was dinner time.  Otherwise, he was in a tube, or walking in the water, shooting his water gun.

Benson loved to sit on the shore and throw rocks in the lake.  He really would've been content to do that all day long.  Unfortunately, naps and eating and LOTS of dirt, got in the way.

They all loved painting rocks too!  We have a huge box FULL of painted rocks.  Some are cowboy themed to put in the boys room, but most are just multiple colors and I have NO idea what will happen with them.

Overall, though, it was so much fun.  I loved the hot chocolate every morning, the reading, the campfire, the food and the weather, but most of all, I loved the company!  We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to go camping again next year (sans the cast).

It's Greek to me

It's all Spanish to Benson.

If anyone speaks in a language that he doesn't understand, it's Spanish.  In fact, even if it's a silly word like "banana pants", it's Spanish.  This has happened ever since my Dad read him a story in Spanish.

This includes baby language, we've discovered.  Whenever Lanaya talks, Benson says, "Mom, she's speaking Spanish again!"

He also introduces her to everyone, "This is my sister, Lanaya, she speaks Spanish."

She also is definitely crawling now - And it looks like she's climbing too.  Yikes!

Measles, Mumps and Rubella, oh my!

I have had a few things that I'd like to post over the last week, but I don't because I haven't posted about this yet.  So, here goes.

Wednesday morning, almost 2 weeks ago, Benson woke up crying.  He had snuck down to the girls room in the night and Kaia brought him upstairs looking like this (and the picture doesn't really do it justice):

He had been a little sick for a few days, but this was a whole new kettle of fish!  After a mild freak out and consoling words from a brother-in-law, we went in to see a doctor.  His verdict: he has mumps.  Say WHAT?!?

Backstory:
Over 6 pregnancies and many blood tests, I have found that I'm not responsive to the MMR.  I have no antibodies in my blood that show that I've ever had it.  Each pregnancy had a different doctor, so I was sent in over and over to get, yet another, MMR.  I have probably had 8 MMR's now (including the ones as a child).  I have officially been labelled as a "non-responder" and they've given up.  Apparently this is quite rare and is officially the third weird medical thing about me.  (I also have a Protein S Deficiency and a family history of Malignant Hyperthermia - doctors want to sit down and talk about my chart every time I come to the hospital in labour).

The first question the doctor asked me after looking at Benson was, "Is he immunized?"  Yes.  *pause*  But I don't respond to the MMR, if that's something to take into consideration.  He was almost certain that it was mumps, but sent us for a blood test to confirm it.

Benson wasn't too keen on having his blood drawn and kept on insisting, "Mommy, I don't want a blood contest!!"  He was so adorable.  He cried for just a second after he saw the blood coming out (despite my best efforts to divert his eyes) and cheered up for a spiderman and hot wheels sticker.  Plus, there's no needle that ice cream can't fix. 

Blood results came in... he has no antibodies against mumps at all.  For something completely random, it seems to run in my family.  I began to panic a little about Lanaya (as she is too young to have the MMR), but she has been fine and the mumps are long gone by now.  We put Benson under quarantine for about 5-6 days and  he was as happy and normal as can be (just with large bumps on his ears).  Apparently, this is only contagious from people who have not had the vaccine, so the kids were still good to go to school, but Benson, Lanaya and I had to stay home.

After a second blood test (10 days after the beginning of symptoms), which he didn't cry at - at all, we will get the results again to send over to a Pediatrician that specializes in abnormal responses to vaccines.  They will, more than likely, test everyone in the family and see who we need to worry about and what precautions we will have to take because of this.  Such fun! 

So very luckily, Benson didn't develop any severe symptoms of Mumps and it was very non-eventful. I did, however, have a chance to really think about vaccines over this experience.  If those people who choose not to vaccinate, would vaccinate, people wouldn't be able to spread this to Benson, or myself or anyone else who doesn't respond to vaccinations.  I felt very upset that someone else felt they could make that decision that affects so much more than just themselves.

Bishop's Ball

We had SO much fun on Friday night!  My Mom was put in charge of decorating and my sister, Kim, was in charge on putting on a 15 minute floor show.  We were easy recruits and were signed up for the Swing and Disco numbers.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but it was so much fun!

We really bonded with the other couples, got some good exercise at rehearsals and really had a blast performing!  We enjoyed each others company so much we even went and took a group shot at the photo booth!!

My sisters and I had a blast trying on all the dresses at my moms house and getting ready for the ball!  It was such a fun night!

 Jarett was asked to sing "The Way you Look Tonight" with the Big Band and he sounded amazing!  It's a song I've wanted him to sing since we were dating.  He even dedicated it to me and I got to stand in front of the stage and stare at him with a cheesy smile. 

 
Karen Baker came up to me during the number and said, "I just told Don that if he dies before me, I'm holding auditions for the new husband.  He's going to have to dance and sing."  Apparently Jarett is making the cut.  ;)  Lucky for me, he's all mine!

Of course, those of Mullen & Co. who were present had to get a shot.  What a fun place to work...

My ever supportive Gran and Aunty Beryl came up to help and see all the decorations, the dancing and hear the music.  We love having them around SO much!

One of the highlights of the night actually happened after the ball.  We came home to this note taped to our closet.  "Mom and Dad,  I cleaned up the main floor a bit so that this Saturday can be fun.  We can spend the morning cleaning our rooms, practicing and such, then we can have fun.  -Kaia"

Sometimes I just am overwhelmed by how thoughtful our kids can be.  I came home to a perfectly clean main floor.  The kitchen sparkled, the dishes were done, the toys put away and it was wonderful!  It was the perfect end to the perfect evening!

Gross

With even more traces in the baby's hands and mouth, methinks it's time to baby proof the house!

Blonde Moment vs Senior Moment

I started cooking eggs the other day and threw some toast in the oven.  Kaia and Kienna were downstairs cleaning their room and suddenly came upstairs.  When they said it was because their room was clean, I couldn't believe my ears.... there wasn't even any fighting.

I ran downstairs to double check and it was almost completely done.  It was so close in fact, that I asked Kienna to grab the vacuum so that I could just finish it off for them.

I finished vacuuming and started to vacuum the stairs when I smelled burnt toast.  Oh no!!

I ran upstairs, saved the eggs.... not so much on the toast.  "Dang it.  What a stupid blonde moment!"

Kaia pipes up, "What do you mean by a blonde moment?"

"Well, it's just a stereotype of blondes being ditsy.  I guess it's kind of ironic that I'm mocking blondes when I am one."

"Oh mom, you're not a blonde any more... you're just grey."

Thanks smarty pants... you know how to make your mom's day.  Guess it was just a seniors moment.  Ugh.

Ironman to get Iron Man

Tonight, it was time for bed and Benson "went missing".  I decided to ignore him this time around and just focus on the baby and Jaymeson for a few minutes.  When I turned around, however, he was holding Jarett's "Iron Man" costume and was trying to put it on. 

"Benson, you need to get your Jammies on, not the costume."
"But I want to wear it"
"Not tonight buddy. Sorry."
"But it was so hard to get!"
"Sorry bud, but I don't want you to wear it... that's why I put it up high up in my closet."
"But I had to climb up your dresser to get it."
"BUDDY!  Don't climb up my dresser!!  That's dangerous!"
"But if I don't climb your dresser, how can I get the costume?"
"I don't want you to get the costume, that's why I put it up high."
"But I want to wear it, Mom."
"Okay dude, go get ready for bed and then you can wear it in the morning."

Why is it that I feel like I ran a full Iron Man after trying to reason with this boy??  And why does he try to do a full Iron Man just to get a superhero costume?  This kid just kills me - he's so funny!

A few changes

Saryn got a new duvet cover,

 I made a new Christmas decoration (only took me 3 months to finish – it is a vinyl rub-on after all… it can take a while) 

and Kienna got a new smile (well, she will by the end of it all anyway).

Kienna, very resentfully, allowed me to take these pictures.  She is not a fan of the fact that she is facing 3 years of orthodontic treatment.  6-18 months with a Herbst appliance and at least 2 years of braces.  She became a much bigger fan of the idea, however, when she found out what surgery would be involved if we didn’t go through with it.

The orthodontist commented to me that she must have a really high pain tolerance because she was so tough when they were putting the appliance in.  Her 12 year molars are about to pop through and, therefore, her gums are super swollen.  In order to put the appliance in, they had to push the gums back and wiggle the brackets into the back of her mouth around them.  He said that a lot of kids in that boat freak out and won’t let him do it.  She didn’t even flinch.  That’s my girl!!  Here’s to a very expensive 3 years (that hopefully will be worth every penny!)

Little Laya

Well, Lanaya has been shortened to Laya - like Leia.  Suits her well, as she is the little Princess of the house. 

Laya is now 8 months, has two teeth (second one popped out in California) and, as of two days ago, has started to scoot (do the worm) around the house.  She is getting places quickly!!

This little girl has such a fun, bold little personality.  I just can't wait to see how much fun she'll be as she grows.  Scratch that.... I can wait.  I want my baby to be a baby for a while still.  Slow down little Laya!

 Oh, she also had her first smoothie the other day - as you can clearly see, it was a big hit!!

... Oh, and speaking of mileage - check out what our Sequoia did the other day.  It was super fun to see it.  Had to pull over and take a quick picture. 

Valentine's Breakfast

Jarett and I had a fabulous dinner our friends, the Felix', house on Valentine's day, so we decided that we'd make a fun brunch with the kids to celebrate as a family.  We just have the best kids!  They can be so helpful, so much fun and just way too awesome!!  So glad I get to be their mom.

Snuggles

I love snuggling.  Jarett loves snuggling.  Somehow, all of our kids love snuggling too.  Shocking, really.

It came as no surprise when our kids would ask for snuggles every night.  We always had mixed feelings, because, as so many parents know, you love to have those tender moments with your child, BUT you have SO much to do once they go to bed that it still needs to be done
.

SOOO.... we came up with a plan.  When it was going to be a busy night, we would always snuggle when asked, but simply say, okay, how long should I snuggle you?  The kids would frequently answer with 5 seconds or 10 seconds.  They would then proceed to count and then almost push us away when they were done.  This way, they felt loved, we were able to snuggle and we didn't take too much time away from preparations for tomorrow.  Perfect plan.  It has worked for YEARS.

Benson, however, has taken snuggling to a new level.  He comes in a 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning or 6 in the morning and wants Mommy snuggles.  At every night time, he wants snuggles.  He comes to our room every morning as we wake up and wants more snuggles  It's getting to the point where we have to limit the snuggles or we wouldn't get anything done during the day.  He takes out blankets to snuggle with, stuffies to snuggle with and still doesn't fill his quota.

On Valentine's morning "snuggling" on the stairs with the blanket I got at a Valentine's White Elephant Exchange

There have even been a few nights when I've given him a few minutes of snuggles at 6 in the morning, where afterwards, he sneaks out of bed and goes to the older girls room (two flights of stairs away) to get more snuggles.

He has crawled into Lanaya's car seat multiple times and put the cover on to get all "snuggly".  Sometimes to the point where he fall asleep - such as this time

The other day, I asked Benson, "Okay, how long do you want to snuggle."  "Oh, forever."  I simply answered, "Me too!!"  Fortunately, the kids didn't have school today, so we did get to snuggle a long time.

That night, I tried a different approach.  "Benson, what number do you want to count to while we snuggle?"  "Um, the one at the very end."

I love my snuggly boy.  Oh, how I'll miss all these amazing, tight, tender snuggles when he grows up.

Random

I cut Benson's hair on Saturday.  Randomly, he says to me, "Mom, Sunday is for handsome."  "Well, yes, we try to look our best for church, but church is to make us happy..."  "Yeah, because we laugh at people's funny haircuts."

His hair cut, however, was a hit.  He keeps on saying that he looks just like Daddy.

Speaking of hair, I had a blonde moment the other day.  When I told Kaia that, I said, "I suppose it's kind of ironic for a blonde to have a blonde moment".  Her response was, "don't worry mom, you're not blonde anymore, you're just grey."  Unfortunately, that's very true.

California Trip - thus far (first 4 days)

Love this picture - you can see the pent up energy, but we finally got to California!

We started at 5am (after a lot of long packing and unpacking) and headed down south in the 15 passenger van.  We had almost reached High River (25 minutes into the trip) and we hear a little voice pipe up, "Mom and Dad.... it's taking a long time to drive to California..."  Jarett and I laughed out loud.  25 minutes down out of 25 hours.

The trip, however, went very smoothly.  The kids were amazing!!  Lanaya took to traveling extremely well and the other kids set the perfect example for her.  Two days straight in traveling is hard on anyone... but the kids handled it like champs!  Slight problem at the end of the trip... a person started yelling at us that something was going on, so we pulled over.  We couldn't find anything wrong, so we kept going, but when we got to the resort, we saw a red/brown liquid coming from the van.  According to the mechanic, the next morning, our transmission housing and a seal need to be replaced.

We spent all day Monday getting the mechanic/car rental/condo all set up.  We got it all figured out and were all ready to go for Tuesday at DISNEYLAND!

Highlights of the day in Disneyland:

1. Jaymeson was selected to do Jedi Training.  He now has a certificate that makes him an official Padawan.  He fought Darth Vader, followed the instruction and listened intently without cracking a smile.  This is very serious business... After, I asked, "Jay, did you fight Darth Vader?!?"  With complete sincerity he answered, "Yes, and I almost killed him!"  If only he had more time...

2. Benson loved the Peter Pan ride and seeing Goofy, Mickey and Frozen characters in the parade (Saryn loved the Frozen parade as well).  For Pirates and Haunted Mansion, he had his hands over his ears the entire time (his scared position).  He said he loved them afterwards, but had no interest in going again.  "They was just a little too scary, Mom".  He also was too nervous with Mr Toad's Wild Ride and enjoyed moving the Dumbo ride up and down.His favorite ride (he was pushing me back to it to do it again and again) was Buzz Lightyear.

One ride that he really did not love, however, was Space Mountain.  He clenched my hand through the whole thing and had all his strength going into it.  Afterwards, he was almost in tears and told me he liked it, but it was just a little too scary.  This was almost the exact same reaction that Kaia had 6 years ago.  Jaymeson, however, LOVED it.  It would be the one ride that he'd go on again if he could.

3. Fantasmic was definitely one of the most favorite things by everyone (unfortunately, Benson fell asleep just before it started and slept through the fireworks, music and everything).

4. The kids have enjoyed seeing the pictures after the rides.  Saryn is making it a resolution to do an Egyptian dance or something next time through.

5. The Indiana Jones ride was a huge hit - Jaymeson held my hand to make sure that I didn't get too scared all 3 times that we went.  He would reassure me that it wasn't real - it was just pretend, each time.  Kienna loved trying it from different seats and seeing what things became more or less scary with where you were seated.  (She may have been thinking too much about that when she left her hat on the ride... luckily they have an awesome Lost and Found).

6. Jarett put "Skipper Dan" by Weird Al on his iPhone while we were in line for the Jungle Cruise ride.  This was right after there was announcement for a missing person, "She is approx. 5'7", has dark hair, enjoys basketball, snuggling and the occasional romantic stroll down the beach.  If anyone has seen her, please bring her right to me as I have been looking for her my entire life."

Benson - scared on the Jungle Cruise.  This was his position for almost every ride.

7. Kaia loved Thunder Mountain, and Indiana Jones the best.  Space Mountain definitely went up in her books from last time, but isn't a FAVORITE favorite.  She loved pirates and is disappointed (as we all are) that Splash Mountain is closed.  They also have the castle closed which has been super sad.


8.While Jay was doing his Jedi training, Darth Mal came and kept scaring Benson.  Benson would just look down and ignore him no matter what happened.  Darth Mal kicked his shoes and did everything he could to get Benson to look up, but to no avail.  Kaia, on the other hand totally missed Darth Mal standing right behind her until people were laughing and she turned to see what they were laughing at.  She was NOT expecting that!

Our list of activities/rides went along these lines.
Magic Morning - Peter Pan, Mr Toad, Dumbo,Teacups, Storybook Land (we decided we should have skipped this one as the line was too long - but we did get a chance to snack while in it, so that worked out okay).  We then headed over to Tomorrowland and saw a little bit of Jedi Training.  We left so we could get to Autopia.  We then breaked for lunch and while we did, noticed that they were starting Jedi Training again.  We decided to do it if they picked one of the boys.  They picked Jay (Benson bowed out).  Then we took pictures with some stormtroopers, his Buzz Lightyear, got a couple fastpasses and headed over to do Indiana Jones.  Once we finished that, the parade was starting, so we booked it back.  Mom had reserved us some seats and it was super fun.  After the parade, we did Star Tours, and Space Mountain - twice (along with a mini-dinner).  We then headed over to Indiana Jones, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion.  My mom then saved us seats for Fantasmic while we hit Indiana Jones one more time and Thunder Mountain.  We got back just in time for Fantasmic to start and then the park closed.  We just stopped in at a Glass Blowers/Crystal Shop on Main Street.  My mom remembered seeing the Glass Blowers working when she was a little girl.  They no longer do that, but she asked a worker at the shop if she remembered correctly.  He responded, "Yes, they were across the street and my father was one of the blowers".  After we walked to the tram, my mom walked to the car and we headed home.  By the time we got home - all 6 kids had fallen asleep.  What a day!!