Unbelievable!!!!

See this happy girl below?

You wouldn't believe the question she asked me the other day. As I was tucking her into bed for her nap, she looks at me and asks,

"Mom, have I ever been in the hosible?"

Really?? Really???! I asked her to repeat herself, just to make sure I heard her question right the first time. I did. She was really wondering if she had ever been in the hospital. I just find that so remarkable. And a blessing too that those 3 tough months really haven't left that much of an impression on her, seeing as we will be heading back to the hospital for more surgeries come September.

And you know what else is unbelievable? See that turkey below?

 Yeah. He is 8 months old today. 8 months!!!!! I find that outlandish, yet incredible.  He will be having his 8 month check up next week. If I go by my left bicep, I am convinced I am lifting at least 22 lbs everytime I pick my boy up. Time to switch him to my right arm as that arm is looking pretty slack :o) 

Camping!!!!!

We were SO thankful that Keziah's surgery was moved from July/August to the end of June. That gave us 6 weeks of healing time before we went camping. We LOVE camping. I grew up going to a cottage, with my first camping trip when I went with my Grade 8 class. Nathan grew up camping. We have taken on that tradition every summer, starting as soon as we got married. Literally. We went camping on our honeymoon!! :o) For 12 years we camped in a tent. Last year we found a fantastic deal with a beautiful trailer and so we now camp the glorified way (yes, we have a microwave, a/c and heat in the trailer but not a TV, so that's still camping, right?.....:o).

Having two kids now, we have thoroughly enjoyed our purchase. There was at one time in our camping week that I took pictures of our site as I chuckled in how different our site looked a few years ago. My. We have gone from a tent, clothes line with two bathing suits and towels and two bikes to a campsite cluttered with a trailer, bikes, bike trailer, play yard, high chair, sand toys, play toys, crocs, a clothesline filled with clothes that are sized 3 and under, life jackets, pack and play and a little bitty lawn chair that is purple.  Ahhh, I love that type of clutter! :o)

We went to Sibbald Provincial Park from Monday to Saturday. It is a GREAT park (especially for little kids) during the week but stay away from it on the weekend! It gets incredibly busy then! It's not a park we would go to just the two of us but because we have kidlets now, how we pick our parks has changed, too.

The weather was iffy the whole week, with a LOT of rain, clouds and some days were cool (15 degrees). We had one beach day but in the end that was okay (it took me till near the end of the trip to rearrange my thinking and be okay with the weather-as if my complaints would change anything. Ah, so fickle am I). Lincoln sleeps so much still (2.5 hours in the morning and 3.5  hours in the afternoon) so we spent a lot of time on our campsite. He forced us to relax! And relax we did!!! Here are a few some pictures:

Our supervisor while we set up camp.

Once set up, we pulled out the bike trailer to check things out. This thing sure was handy! Thanks, Aunt Val!!

 
He never smiled but he never cried either. So we think he liked it.

Spending time at the amazing park Sibbald has.

Sand, sand and more sand! Lincoln LOVED the sand and it was fun watching him try to grab at the sand that was trickling out of his hand, but he just couldn't grab it!

Back at the campsite, Lincoln worked on his reading skills, the avid reader that he is :o)

My mom bought Kez the Playmobil camping set for her birthday. Once it was all put together by her dad, Keziah played with this all week long. She loved it!! Thanks, Oma!!

What? We can still be princesses while camping!! Besides, it helped us pass the time away while it rained.

Off to catch some butterflies. It was more successful to catch bubbles.

 Enjoying one of the many fun park programs. But who needs park programs when you have a dad that will do crafts with you??!

A whole bouquet, just for ME :o)

"Mom, I am GOING get this crawling thing downpat whether you like it or no!"

The first day it didn't rain (Wednesday) we headed to the beach. It wasn't sunny but that is perfect for Pale Boy. It was somewhat muggy so it wasn't too cool.

(yes, he has a neck.......)

Lincoln had no problems with sitting or standing in the water. He loved it! I, on the other hand, was tired of trying to keep every stick, sand and stone from entering his mouth. So in the bucket he went. He liked it at first but it didn't last too long!

"Anyone feel sorry for me? ANYONE??!!"

Keziah also loves the water, even when it's poured on her!

Can you not hear her laughter??! :o)

 Once dried off, I put him on the blanket to play. I am not sure why I took the blanket. He sure didn't stay on it!! I also didn't realize how much sand ended up in his mouth till a few days later :o)

The next day was sunny! We were waiting for it so we were ready!!!! Off to the beach we go!

And I took a larger tub of water for Lincoln. That worked! He played in it for quite awhile!

Driving back and forth throughout the park meant we didn't buckle her up. I know. Bad parents. Although we drove a mere 20 km/h, she still felt the need to hang on to the handle:

This is how Keziah enjoys the campfires:

Nathan read 3.5 books, and no they weren't all kids' books :o)

Oh, the life!!

Overall, it was a great holiday filled with family time. I am treasuring the memories made with these blessings.

(I know what you are thinking......she actually narrowed down her camping pictures to just just a few?! Ha!! Yes. Yes, I did. And believe me, it was hard!! Sorry for the picture overload!! :o)



Minor Mishap

At lunchtime, we had a bit of an accident that has set the healing process back a wee bit. Keziah was beside Lincoln, who was in the high chair. She was standing on the side of it when all of a sudden the high chair tipped and fell backwards. Talk about heart-stopping!!!! Thankfully Nathan was in for lunch so he could help me! We both ran and picked a kid up! For the most part, Lincoln was fine. He did hit his head on the high chair as it fell on its back, but after a cuddle or two, he was a-okay.

Keziah took the brunt of it, with the tray hitting her on the top of the head and down her face. It hit her right where an incision is, on the top in her hair and so it split open in spots, starting to bleed right away. It is also now swollen. The poor girl!!! It took her awhile to stop crying :o( 

So we are back to plastering Polysporin on the open places and no swimming again to prevent infection. It goes to show that even though it looks so good and is all healing well, the areas are still quite fragile and tender. We are so thankful either child was not hurt any worse.

Here is where she hit her head. I always take pictures to keep track of in case an infection may start. That way I can see any changes. Anyway, in the pictures, the incision spot doesn't look so bad, but there wasn't any pinkness before (since it healed up a while ago). Where you see pink, that is where the tray hit her.

But other than that, Lincoln and Keziah were no worse for wear and still all smiles a few hours later!

 Don't mind the spaghetti mouth but here she is with her crouton inukshuk :o)

Showing off his 3 teeth that he popped through while camping.

Speaking of camping - that's right. I had pictures to go through for a post.....off to sort through some 300 pictures!

Mr. Lincoln

It has been awhile again, since I've written about Lincoln. This boy keeps growing and changing overnight!!! It has been a fun few weeks as we've been watching him learn to crawl. I know a child learning to crawl is not always looked at as a big deal, but I just can't help but be amazed when I see it all coming together. It is so fun to see that after learning a new stage, the next one develops. For example, a number of weeks ago, he learned to pull his legs up and under him, which had him rocking back and forth. After a few days of that, he learned to pull his legs up and then move one leg forward at a time, which resulted in plenty of faceplants as he hadn't figured out how to move his arms. Not giving up, he would pop back up into the rocking position and then tentatively lift up his right arm, moving it 5 mm forward, and then flop down. After doing that for awhile, he has now figured out how to move his left arm and now he is everywhere!! It's so funny because he wants to move fast and get places but the harder he tries, the more "out of control" he is! And then he gets frustrated! Ahhh, lots of fun!! Life is sure to be interesting now with a 7 month old going places! Dear Keziah has no idea what's ahead for her. I do believe their relationship will go through a rough patch now that he can get into her stuff! :o) The joys of siblings!

I know, I know. Enough words already!! Let's get on with the pictures!

Someone's been watching the gymnastics during Olympics!

He will find the tag on anything and be happy for hours!

"Yes? What do you want?"

Lincoln LOVES his bed and spends many hours in it. I just love sleeping baby pictures.

Having fun in the tub! He loves water and by the time his bath is done, I've had a shower and my bathroom is clean! :o)

I could just squish this child all.day.long.

The men in my life. As you can see, Lincoln takes his role very seriously!

Having fun with mom!

"Thanks, Aunt Jenn, for my outfit! I like how it brings out the blue in my eyes." :o)

Time to dust off the play yard to keep this explorer contained somewhat.

Last week we were away camping, hence a quiet blog. Any guesses as to how many pictures I took?! Once I go through the pictures and bring the number down to a manageable one, I will post about it :o)