Its Been A Good Week.

We have had a really wonderful week. Wednesday was my birthday and Ryan took me out for dinner. Then he surprised me with a get together at the Tavern with some friends. It was a great night out while Ryan parents babysat for us. Then the following night Ryan;s mom had us over for dinner and she cooked my favorite food. Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli salad...It was so yummy. I really enjoyed my birthday.

~These flowers arrived for me from Dustin, Meredith & Owyn~

Friday was a Pro-D day for Rawley. I took him and Everett to an indoor play place in town to kill some time. Rawley was able to run around for almost 2 hours and get his energy out. It also gave Everett a change of scenery. Rawley was sure to make time to come play with Everett too in the toddler section. Everett was more than happy about this.

I love the way Everett admires Rawley. He thinks everything about Rawley is awesome. Here they are playing in 'the market'.

"Hey Mom, look Rawley is here."

Everett is standing so good now when he has something to lean on. He stood here at the window for at least 10 minutes. I have a feeling he will be walking before he ever crawls.



Saturday we went out to Rivers to hang out with Ryan's sister and her boyfriend and their house. Crystal and Al have snow mobiles so we went out to go snow mobiling. We were also suppose to have a fire outside but it was a little chilly so we only used the fire to cook hotdogs then we hung out inside most the day.



This is Ryan and I getting ready to go snow mobiling. It was -18 (-23 with wind chill) we wanted to make sure we were really good and warm.

Al took us to Lake Wahtopanah on the snowmobiles. We rode them all the way to the end of the lake and back. Along the way we saw a bunch of ice fishing huts. Lots of them were not being used that day but there were a few ice fishers out there. That is something I would really like to do one day is try ice fishing.

This is a picture of the frozen lake. It was a beautiful sunny day, cold but beautiful.

It was Rawley's turn next. He chose to ride with Uncle Al. He was pretty scared at first so he had strict rules for Uncle Al. He wanted to go slow, no faster than 10km and if there were any bumps they had to slow down or try to miss them all together. It was pretty cute.

I had a lot of fun. Snowmobiling is definitely something I could get used to.

8 Months Old

Yes, can you believe it my baby is 8 months old. That 1 year birthday is sneaking up really quickly. I actually remembered to do his photo shoot with the bear on his birthday too, not the day after. I did however forget until it was bedtime so this photo shoot was done in his jammies as opposed to some really cute big boy clothes.
Oh well.

Everett is sitting up on his own now. He still has the occasional fall but he can resist it enough that he doesn't hit his head very hard when he falls down. This has been really nice because he can be a little more independent now. He likes to sit on the floor and play with his bucket of toys and doesn't need me there to hold him all the time. I am loving this. One of his favorite things to play with at HotWheels cars. He mostly chews them or bangs them on the floor/table. I have noticed though that he does try to drive them too. He holds them down and moves them back and forth like when I drive them for him. Watching kids learn little things like that is my absolute favorite part of being a mom. Their brains are just so amazing.

Everett is also kissing us now. It is very clear that it is a kiss and he chooses when he wants to or not. They are generally big huge open mouthed kisses that are accompanied by a lot of drool but I love them. This is him giving bear a kiss. Too Cute!


2 weeks ago Everett was at his doctors for a follow up and we talked about how things with his tummy really were not getting better. He still was only drinking 3-4 oz at a time and waking up frequently at night. Everett has only gained a few ounces in 2 months. I explained about the constant crying and gas that he has. I also explained to him that we could no longer afford to buy the formula especially since we didn't think it was working. He offered to switch us to another brand that is pretty much the same then he could give us samples from the office. Then he said if that doesn't work Goats Milk would be his next suggestion. He said he has a handful of babies that have had to go on goats milk. I took the samples of the formula home with me and thought about it for a bit. I was not sure if I wanted to waste 10 days trying out a formula that was exactly the same as the one we were currently using and seeing no change in or if I wanted to try something completely new.

I decided to try the goats milk instead and am I sure glad that I did. It was a rough start. The goats milk made him constipated and he still had long screaming fits at first. The screaming was so bad. Last Saturday night he started at 11pm and the screaming went until 1am. Ryan and I had been taking turns but I finally just lost it. I told him, "take your baby to your mom's house and leave him there". So that is what Ryan did.(Just so you know Ryan's parents have told us that if we ever needed to we could do this. It had just never come down to that before though.)

Now 2 weeks later, Everett is eating like a horse. We can almost not keep him full. He is having 6-8oz bottles at a time. He is eating prunes with every meal and loving them. He is burping better and sleeping better. The last few nights he has only woke once or twice through the night to eat. There has been no screaming!!!! Everett and mommy & daddy are so much happier now.
Next we have to work on erasing all the bad habits Everett has from being such a sick little guy. Like not falling asleep on his own, being picked up every time he cries, being swaddled (still)..... but those are peanuts compared to the problems that have been fixed by the goats milk.

I love this picture of Everett and bear so much. It looks like they are sitting having a conversation and Everett is contemplating something that was just said. My little thinker.

Anyway, That is Everett's news in a nutshell.

A Month Gone By

Well it was brought to my attention yesterday That I am coming up on a month with out posting anything on my blog. I knew it had been a few weeks but wow that month flew by. It has been a busy month.
I have to start my blog with this beautiful photo. Everyday I am just taken aback by the beauty that surrounds me here. Everything is white and peaceful. When hoarfrost covers everything it honestly takes my breath away. Then you go out and see all the deer and you just can't doubt that God exists. I love it here.

Christmas was wonderful and chaotic all at the same time. I loved having all the time with Ryan's parents and knowing that the next day neither one of us were getting on a plane to go home. We had three full days of visiting, pigging out and having drinks. It was great. Unfortunately it was all a little too much for our littlest boy. He was completely overwhelmed by it all. On top of being sick he had a rough time. I am happy to announce that having him around and encouraged others to hold off on having any (or anymore) babies. Glad to know Everett is doing his part at stopping the world from becoming over populated.

~Rawley and Everett playing at Grandma's~

~Everett opening his stocking~

~Everett's book and toy from Great Grandma Jenkins~

~Rawley playing Santa on boxing day~

It has been pretty cold here so not many kids are playing outside. Oddly enough it doesn't seem to bother Rawley and he is sad that no one wants to play outside. So a few times we have gone out to play with him in the snow.

During Christmas break Rawley go t the chance to go to Pony Camp. Some people who had paid could not make it so Rawley got to go for free. It was really awesome for him to spend the time outside and learn all about how to take care of a horse. They also learned survival skills. Unfortunately one of the days was like -30 outside and the kids were freezing and miserable.

~Rawley's pony; Peanut~

Rawley is usually a big help with Everett. Sometimes I just need a few minutes peace to do dishes or make dinner and Rawley will usually step in and help entertain Everett. This is him playing hockey in the kitchen for Everett. Everett loves to watch Rawley do almost anything.

A few pictures of my boys just being cute.

The first full week on January Ryan was working out of town. This always makes my job extra hard because dealing with Everett for that long alone is beyond exhausting. While Rawley was still on holidays I took the opportunity to go into Winnipeg and visit with my friend Janie. We decided to stay the night there. It was nice to have someone else to hang out with. Janie has a 5 year old and a 4 month old baby. We were able to share baby stories and keep each other company through feedings, naps and meal time. It was really nice.

Everett and Annika are pretty close to the same size. Everett might have a pound or two on her but she is the same length as him for sure.

Rawley and Corrina are also about the same size even though there is almost 4 years between them. Rawley is an inch or 2 taller for now. Janie took us to the Manitoba Museum and the kids had a blast. This is Rawley and Corrina building their cars to race on the track.

Everett is growing up so much he is a pro at sitting up by himself now. He rarely falls over anymore. This is him watching Rawley race his care.

Rawley and Corrina were so excited to board an old sail boat. They went down into the cabin and out all over the deck. It was actually pretty cool. Everett was more than miserable and would not nap. I was however able to get this one happy shot of him and the cannons.

Life has been a little crazy here lately. With Everett being on his very expensive formula and us not having medical to cover Rawley's medication anymore we are trying to find way of saving and making money. I am currently looking for a part time job to bring in a little extra cash. As well I have been making tag blankets for babies. Everett and Annika both love theirs and I am hoping the idea catches on quick.

So far I have been trying to sell them on facebook and a local classified website. It is not going quite as well as I had hoped. Later today I am going to go to a local baby store in town and see if they will sell them there for me. I will also be on the look out for any craft sales around that I can set up a booth. Hopefully the part time job or the tag blankets brings in some more cash for us. Children sure can be expensive.

Everett is my advertising model. Pretty cute eh?

Ryan's job is still going very well. He had a week off at Christmas but has been working a lot of overtime since then. It seems they are pretty booked up for the next couple months at least so that is a good sign.

Cute baby bathing in the sink.

Cute baby sitting on the floor.

Again

Rawley has started his morning group and I have started my Positive Parenting Program. Both are going well and I plan to have a separate blog all about that. For now I think I see some improvement if anything Rawley is feeling good about himself which is a start.

Now, this bog has gone on forever and has had no flow to it what so ever. But I Hope it gives you a small idea of what we have been up to lately.

Got to go!