Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, New Years, and all that jazz! Thanks to all of our friends and family for being there for us in 2010!









Blessings for 2011!

9 & 12 Month Comparisons

Better late than never, right?

9 Months

Judith



Gideon



Ruthie



12 Months

Judith



Gideon



Ruthie



I think I make cute babies!

4 & 6 Months

Whoops, I kind of missed a couple comparison shot posts!

I managed to get family portraits done when each baby was 4 months old.

April 2006



August 2008



April 2010



Awwww, we're so cute.

Now, here are the 6 month shots of each bebe.

Judith



Gideon



Ruthie



Such sweet sweetness!

Sitting Up

Have I mentioned yet that Ruthie is sitting up on her own now? Time is going by so quickly! She starting sitting on her own just around the 7 month mark.



She's very proud of herself, and is now trying to figure out crawling. She can go from a sitting to crawling position just fine (and practices that a lot), but hasn't quite figured out the coordination yet to move forward. But soon, I suspect, I will have a crawler. The baby gates are going up!

Camping!

A few weeks ago we went camping (we hope to go a few more times before the summer is over, we love it! And by 'we' I mean all but Ruthie, but she is out-voted so too bad).

Eating in the tent the first night due to rain.



Yummy food cooked with fire!



Mmmm, breakfast!



Beach wasn't all that fun in the rain.



We had to keep the princess dry.



We gave up on the outdoors and hung out in the van for a while.



Then went into town and found some treats.



Then played some mini-golf.



Finally the rain stopped so we could make s'mores!





The next day was finally beautiful! So we got up bright and early.



And headed to the beach while Daddy and Ruthie packed up to go home (I hear Ruthie deemed herself foreman, so she just watched and then ordered him around now and then).



Gideon kept making little mounds of dirt, then calling them "Thomas!"



I'm glad that all the kids love road trips and adventures (I'm sure Ruthie will get over sleeping in a tent eventually).



So the moral of the story is: Even though sometimes trying to do stuff with kids, especially with bad weather thrown in, can be a pain in the butt, just have a good attitude and be willing to go with the flow and VOILA! Super fun family times. Honestly I think it's good when things get tough, because it's an opportunity to show our kids how to react properly, and also that in life, things don't always go our way, but we can still make the best of it and we don't have to give up. I want my kids to know that things aren't always easy, and that's ok. I can't see an easy life being a very fulfilling one.

P.S. I almost forgot to post the great video I got of Gideon telling his joke while we were camping!

Serious Business

I always thought Gideon was serious about food as a baby, but Ruthie puts him to shame! She got her first tooth at 6 months, the earliest of my kids to get one, and she has put it, now them (she has 2 now, she got her second at 7 months) to work! She has very minimal patience for being spoon-fed, she would much rather feed herself, I suppose that way she can ensure to get the job done "right". She also hasn't had as much patience for nursing lately, which makes me a little sad, although we will not be stopping any time soon, don't worry. Milk is just not as interesting at the moment I guess.

She got the pincer grasp down immediately, and had it perfected at 6 months. With both hands.





She was born with her tongue sticking out like this, and when I first gazed lovingly into her eyes, her expression very clearly and firmly said FEED ME. She latched right away, and never needed help nursing. She has loved food ever since, and when she is hungry she lets me know by sticking her tongue out. Or, if she realizes that someone else is eating something, anything, her tongue comes out and curls up. It's seriously too adorable for words.



She can even handle mushy foods all on her own.



She loves chicken, but is clearly NOT a fan of tuna.



One at a time wasn't fast enough for the strawberries...



Her favourite, by far, are Cheerios. They have taken her love for life to new heights.



She knows the box, haha. I think she was trying to will some on to her tray here.



I have a feeling she may choose to work with food some day, it seems like a life-long passion in the making.

P.S. YES! We do tend to follow baby-led weaning, thanks for asking! I've posted this before, but in case you are new, here are a couple links with some info: http://www.tribalbaby.org/babyLedEating.html and http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html

Toothie Ruthie

Ruthie got her first tooth about a week ago!



I know it's kind of hard to see in the photo, so here is a drawing by Judith to give you a better idea of what Ruthie looks like now.



Oh babies and their growing-up-fast-ness. I can't believe she turned 7 months yesterday!

Solids, Already?!?!

I can't believe Ruthie is 6 months already. It still feels like I just had her, but I guess I can't really use the "I have a newborn" excuse anymore.

She has been wanting to eat what I'm eating forever. It probably doesn't help that I usually eat with her on my lap, so she has watched me her whole life. When my Mom and Grandma came to visit back in May, my Grandma was sitting with her eating a piece of banana bread, and Ruthie swiped a handful of it, and had it in her mouth before anyone could blink! Then, another day I was at a friend's house, and she managed to grab a handful of grass and clover, and shove it in her mouth in the half a second it took me to go from squatting to sitting. She actually managed to swallow, and successfully digest it...

So I guess it's time. So far, she has tried (and LOVED!) banana, avocado, potato, blueberries, peas, chicken, and water. And of course, grass and banana bread. I know, it's kind of a random list. But I like to follow baby-led weaning, and well, I'm just not as uptight about this kind of thing as I used to be. Sometimes I help feed her, sometimes Judith helps, and sometimes Ruthie does it all on her own. Yesterday I mashed up a banana with a fork and put it on her tray, and she ate the WHOLE thing all on her own, I was amazed. This girl is SERIOUS about food! I was surprised that she didn't start sucking on the tray to get every last molecule.

She doesn't have any trouble eating either, she never pushes the food out of her mouth with her tongue like most babies do at first. And with the chicken and peas, there were good chunks. She has never choked. She just gummed them and swallowed, no problem! I can't be bothered to make purrees and sit and spoon-feed her like I did with Judith. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but if Ruthie doesn't need me to, why bother? I don't leave her alone with the food, of course, I always supervise. She hasn't had any trouble digesting anything either. I was hoping that solids would help cut down the number of poops she has, but nothing has changed so far. She still poops multiple times a day.

So anyway, that's my latest adventure in parenting Ruthie. Here are some pics:

First taste of banana.



Judith feeding her banana, can't get it in fast enough!



Avocado.



We do use a spoon sometimes to gather up the mashed mess and get it in her mouth, but Ruthie likes to assist.



She downed about 1/4 of that on her first try, then lost interest. She also is very good at drinking from a cup.



All of my kids so far have been really excited about solids. My milk must get boring after a while, haha.

A Few Things

-> We had a great visit with my mom and grandma this past week! We weren't able to do much, because of the weather, but we had fun anyway!

-> Dave finally went back to work today after being off since Feb. 9 due to his hernia, and subsequent surgery. I no longer have someone to hold the baby for me all day. Showers and housework may be things of the past. No big loss I guess! I will miss being able to run errands by myself during the day, though. And having someone to talk to.

-> The sun is finally out today after a long hiatus involving snow. I think we may plant some carrots to celebrate! I think my tomatoes and cucumbers may be dead...

-> The house is a disaster already. Le sigh.

-> Our oven is broken. Hopefully someone will come to look at it soon (we told the landlord 2 days ago). Although that makes me feel kind of bad about the point above...

-> Judith has taken up skateboarding. She's actually pretty good. Although there are a few huge dents in the kitchen walls now from it... We need to find some pavement for her. I would also love to get her into parkour. I think she would rock that too.

-> I have had to get up at 6:30 the last 3 days. My kids normally sleep until about 9, FYI. I will probably be getting up early indefinitely now, because Dave is back at work and it is kind of nice getting up and having coffee with him. And because it gets light out so early, the sun helps to convince me that wakefulness isn't, in fact, the devil.

-> Ruthie is 6 months old today! I can't believe it. We let her try some "solids" last week. So far she has had water, banana, potato, and avocado. She loves it all, and is very good at eating. She doesn't really push the food out with her tongue like the other kids did. She always eats it all up and wants more. She is still going strong with breastfeeding, of course, and hopefully will for another year and a half or so.

-> We have some caterpillars in a jar that will hopefully grow then turn to butterflies! Judith is really excited, but refuses to name them for some reason.

-> Gideon is talking so much. In complete sentences. He says new things every day. I can't believe how big he is getting! We paused potty training while our visitors were here, and I'm kind of reluctant to start again since I just shampooed the carpets...

-> Today is a beautiful day, I should probably go do something with it.

My Kids Rock!

Judith and Gideon giving Ruthie a ride on the rocking chair.



I love Judith's question towards the end of the video. Where does she come up with this stuff?

Simple Woman's Day Book - Week 9

So, I've kind of forgotten about this. Let's try it again...

Outside my window... It's beautiful! It has been rainy for the last week or so, now everything is wonderfully green!

I am thinking... That carpets were the worst idea ever.

I am thankful for... My dishwasher.

I am wearing... Pj pants and black t-shirt. OMG, exact same outfit as last time I posted this!

I am remembering... How much I love age 2. Seriously. I find 3.5+ to be much harder. 2 is just cute and fun. I loved Judith's age 2, and Gideon's is proving to be fun too! Ah, the cuteness! Even the tantrums are cute.

I am going... To enjoy visiting with my Mom and Grandma this week!

I am currently reading... A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.

I am hoping... That this week is nice so we can go and do some fun things.

On my mind... How pointless it is trying to get the house in perfect shape, and how dirty our carpets still look despite being shampooed.

Noticing that... Ruthie is growing up way too quickly. In my head she's still 2-3 months, so I'm always amazed at how good she is with her hands and stuff. Then I realize, oh yeah, she's almost 6 months. 6 MONTHS?!?!

Pondering these words... "People who live good stories are too busy to write about them." ~Donald Miller

From the kitchen... Cleanliness. Sweet, sweet, temporary cleanliness.

Around the house... A disaster waiting to un-happen.

One of my favorite things... Snuggling with Ruthie at night as she plays with my hair.

From my picture journal... How cute is this?

Ruthie's Raspberries

Judith and Ruthie were being silly before bed tonight. By the end we were all covered in spit... But FYI, I was not making any of the noises in the background, those were all Judith!



I'm so happy that my girls get along so well, I hope they always do. <3

Judith Making Ruthie Laugh

Sorry that I have been MIA yet again. SOME day I will get back on the posting-consistently bandwagon. You know, when life calms down and gets easy again, haha.

Anyway, here is a cute video we took a couple weeks ago. We took it on the iMac webcam, that's my excuse for looking like a dork staring at the camera, I was actually watching it on the screen.

Enjoy!

Lent

Ok, so I really really need to catch up on everything that happened over lent before it is gone from my brain forever. Ideas and memories don't always have that long of a lifespan in my head these days...

Now, bullets:

* The first week was really frustrating. I literally spent all day, from when I got up until when I went to bed, doing housework. And the house was only marginally cleaner. It really didn't seem worth all of the extra effort. This was compounded by the fact that Dave was on the computer all day, every day, while I worked my butt off.
* I surprisingly didn't miss the internet OR junk food though. My brain still thought in "status" and "blog" mode for the first week or so, but that eventually went away, as I learned to live in real life again. But I discovered that my "need" for sugar and junk food was related to my time spent online. As much as I love being online, and I need my friends there, it also stresses me out. I get stressed because the kids won't leave me alone while I'm trying to focus on writing something, and also because when I spend too much time away from the computer, I get "behind". But I found I wasn't as stressed when I wasn't online, so I didn't really need my other drug (sugar) to cope.
* I really missed juice though. I'm totally a juice junkie and don't like water. But I managed to survive by drinking ice water (for some reason it goes down better than room temp, even though my teeth are sensitive), and eating fresh fruit.
* After the first week, I decided to change my attitude about the computer, and I felt a lot better. I realized that I can only control myself, and what I do. I can't control what Dave decides to do, and there's no point in getting all bent out of shape about it. It was liberating for me.
* I experienced my first ever postpartum hair-fallout. After the first 2 kids were born, I had dreads, so I didn't have to deal with all of the hair. All I can say is: yuck.
* I also quit shampooing my hair. Now I just wash my scalp with baking soda, and rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar. I still use a little leave-in conditioner on the ends, but I use less and less each time. My hair is surprisingly fabulous! I can leave it down without needing mousse for the first time ever!
* Gideon's surgery, Dave's Dr appointments and Judith's dentist appointments took a lot out of me, but overall everything went well. I've hung in there.
* Dave and I have been watching movies/tv shows at night after the kids go to bed (like all of seasons 5 & 6 of The Office, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and other movies that I can't think of right now...). It has been nice. I'm not looking forward to when he has to go back to work (early June), I've enjoyed actually being able to spend time with him.
* My mom came for a week-long visit. It went by really quickly as usual, but we did lots of fun stuff. Dave and I even got to go on a date! The kids got a little bit of a break with the sugar fast, having chocolate milk a couple times, and ice cream once. We got to see how even that little bit of sugar affected their behaviour, which was good reinforcement for us to keep it up with them.
* Judith is starting to "accidentally" show off what she has learned in her dance class. It's an unparented class, so I never get to see what she has learned. But I can see it in the way she carries herself, and the little things she does sometimes. They learn a lot of actual dance stuff in the class, I can't wait to see the recital in June!
* Ruthie hit her 3-month growth spurt. Eating all the time and fussing more than usual. I'm glad that's over.
* Gideon has become SO talkative! He says new words everyday, and can repeat anything anyone says. He talks in sentences, and they are becoming more and more understandable. He is seriously so adorable, I can't get over it.
* Computer died March 10 and went in for repairs. Mac customer service = awesome. Definitely buy the Apple Care if you buy a Mac!
* DVD player also died, we got a new media player that connects the tv to our computer, so we can watch tv on the tv that is coming from the computer. No need for cable, and no commercials! And we can rip our dvd's to the external hard drive, and then watch them on tv. It's great, we don't have to mess with actual DVD's anymore!
* The engine light came on in the van. Thankfully, one of Dave's friends is a mechanic, and he took a look at it for free. We just had to replace the air filter and clean out the air intake. Hopefully that was it! The light is off now, but still turns on during long drives (Dave has had to drive 3 hours each way to his Dr's appts, really annoying but that's WCB!). I'm glad we didn't have to take it in, it would have cost so much when it wasn't necessary.
* Did some serious introspection and thinking about where we are at as a family and what we want to do. God really confirmed my doula journey (more on that later), and Dave wants to get his A+ certification for computers, since he can't be a roofer forever. So I signed up for the DONA certification/course, and Dave has been studying up so he can challenge the exam soon. We would both like to have our own businesses some day, and then maybe we can travel again while being able to support ourselves. There is a lot of other spiritual stuff we have discussed too, but that might be for another blog...
* By week 3, I was starting to really miss my friends online. And I was craving sugar (mostly juice and good quality dark chocolate) again. Although I could easily never eat candy or pop again. It sounds so disgusting now. Even bread was starting to taste overwhelmingly sweet.
* I started going to the gym again, and surprisingly had no problem doing 20 mins on the eliptical, and started right where I left off with weights. I guess having 3 kids will do that. I was surprised that I was actually in shape, I guess it's just hiding under all the baby fat.
* I didn't lose any weight over the break, despite going to the gym, not eating junk, and breastfeeding. Well, I lost 4 pounds during Ruthie's growth spurt, but then gained it all back right away. I guess I just can't set any weight loss goals until I'm done breastfeeding, it's always like that for me. Although I do need to go and get some clothes that actually fit... instead of letting my butt hang out of everything while convincing myself I will lose the fat soon.
* I had to move Judith up to size 5 clothes, Ruthie wasn't the only one with a growth spurt over the break! Judith is quite tall for her age, I think. She definitely doesn't get that from me!
* Gideon changed a lot too, although mostly in looks. He's now definitely a toddler, my little boy, with very few traces of baby left in his face.
* I really enjoyed doing a lot of reading. It was great because it was therapeutic for me, and I could still be present with the kids, unlike the computer. It's a hobby that I am definitely going to keep up! I have to figure out what to cut from my computer time in order t o make room for more reading...
* Even without the computer though, I found my mind wandering all the time. It was honestly hard to focus 100% on the kids and just play. I had to fight really hard for it. That saddens me a lot, but is something I want to work on.
* Judith got to perform infront of people for the first time! They are practicing their routine for the recital already, and they came out after class one day and performed it for the teenagers' class. I guess they will be doing that a lot, to get used to it. Judith was SO cute! The other 2 girls in the class (there are just 4 kids), were way too shy and just stood there. The little boy liked the spotlight, but often forgot to actually dance. But Judith, she danced her heart out and soaked up the attention! Half the time she did her own thing instead of what the teacher was doing, but it was SO cute! She does not lack confidence!
* I have been doing Pilates with Ruthie (the PeeWee Pilates book is good!), and Judith likes to do it alongside me, with Lambie. It's so adorable, I keep forgetting to get a photo.
* Ruthie learned to suck her fingers to self-soothe (just like Judith did as a baby), and that has made my life SO much easier! She's a lot quieter, and nurses a bit less (I still have a ton of milk though). She seems to need something in her other hand though, in order to put her fingers in her mouth, and seems drawn to blankies more than stuffies, so I got her a blanket. I hope she gets attached to it, Judith having her Lambie and Gideon having his Blankie has been a huge help in comforting them.
* The last 2 weeks were HARD. I really missed everyone! But I'm glad I stuck it out.
* My friend Jen came to visit! She is one of my best friends, and it was so good and refreshing to connect with her!
* I got to hang out with some of my local friends during lent too, which was really nice. I probably talked too much because I was lacking the interaction, I hope they didn't mind. =) I'm so thankful that I do have friends here now, they are seriously awesome.
* Ruthie laughed for the first time March 28! She laughed for Dave in the morning, and for me in the evening, it was so cute!
* Had to upsize Ruthie to her intermediate sized diapers, and thus also move her into her size 6 months clothing. She's growing up too quickly! She was 16 pounds 4 oz at her 4 month appointment.
* We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Gideon's birthday, and he loved it! Judith loved it more though, haha.

Overall, it was a really good experience. But I'm not going to do it again any time soon, haha! I just need to figure out how to spend less time online, while still being able to connect with my friends and get my thoughts out through writing. I didn't get to rest at all, as I had hoped, I think rest and relaxation are just things that's aren't going to happen while the kids are young. But that's ok, they're worth it. I'm glad that I have this time with the kids while they are little! The less I sleep, the more time I get to spend with my little loves (as long as I get enough sleep to actually function, but now that I have coffee, that amount is less, haha). I was actually way busier than usual, always on my feet, it seemed. I was either doing housework, tending to the kids, running errands, or reading. It was nice to only have to worry about my own little existence for a while, and not about what's going on with everyone else, or the world. I realized that I do totally run on empty all the time, but there isn't much I can do about it. So I carry on. I have learned the meaning of "God's mercies are new every morning." He truly does get me through every day. I'm so thankful that I'm not depressed this time around. I can actually keep up with life, and do simple things like get out of bed, and face the day with a smile. =)

Oh Yeah

Well, they weren't able to fix our iMac, so they gave us a brand new one! It's a bit bigger, and much nicer than our old one, no extra cost. So right now I am basking in the glow and new smell of awesomeness. Go Apple Care!

Anyway, now I can finally post pics! Here are a few from today of the kids.







So, what do you think? I think Gideon has grown for sure since Lent started! He went from "baby" to "little boy" I'm sure Ruthie has gotten bigger too.

And for fun, here is what I look like after a night of only getting 3.5 hours of sleep (and only 5 hours the night before that...), and 2/3 of the kids have colds. We're a happy bunch.



But all is well, because we have a computer again!