Four Months

I can hardly believe four months has come and gone. So cliche, but seriously, where has the time gone?
Jace is like this missing link that we never knew was missing. He fits so perfectly in our little family.
I had forgotten how fast the changes are at this age, it seems like every day he is noticing more and more, he is taking it all in and learning so quickly.



He now grabs at anything you hold in front of him, and upon contact, immediately puts it in his slobbery, toothless mouth.
We have replaced the swing and bouncy chair with the jolly jumper and soon to be the excersaucer.
Little man LOVES him some jumping time.



He goes to bed at 7:30 wide awake and goes to sleep. There was talk for weeks and weeks about when to start sleep training but every night we would rock him and lay him on the couch and he would wake up and we would rock him again and so on until we were ready for bed and then he would put him in his bed gently, holding our breath so as not to wake him. Until one night we stopped talking about "training" him to self-soothe and cry it out until he fell asleep, so we just put him in his bed and walked away, expecting to be back every five minutes for the rest of the night. Instead, he went right to sleep and slept almost all night. He hasn't looked back since. I think most of the time its the anticipation that makes it worse.
He is up usually only once per night to eat and then right back to sleep. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself!!!) Which is much nicer than a month or so ago, when it was at least an hour to get him back to sleep. Grrr. 



He hates when we try to leave him out of meal time. He has to be on the table, in his bumbo, not missing a thing.
He found his toes a few weeks ago and loves holding them. I'm waiting for the sucking on them to start.



He is SO close to rolling over - we try to get him to reach for things to help him out... it's coming, I just know it! That being said, he won't stay on his belly - ever - he immediately flips to his back. So I guess he's rolling one way!
At his four month well baby visit, he weighed a whopping 14lbs 6ounces!!!!!! Its still shocking to me - Maizey was 11lbs 4 ounces at this age. It kills me - the chub!! Then again, even though he seems huge to us, he isn't even in the 50th percentile!! Just scraping by underneath, so he certainly isn't breaking any records!!
His favorite place to nap is in his carseat. If he won't go to sleep, we put him and voila. Sometimes I trick him into thinking we are actually leaving, by putting his toque and seat belt on. He loves it in there, all snuggled up with his blanket.
He HATES the bath. Hates. I know it's because he has only had a handful of baths in his whole life. Now before you go judging me, it's because he comes in the shower instead. Some days it's me with both him and Maizey (real fun, I know!!!). He just hasn't had the chance to get used to it. We have started working on it though, I really want to take him swimming!!!



He smiles and laughs all the time and so easily and still has huge dimples. He loves watching us talk and sing. He stares at Maizey as she "plays with him". He couldn't love her more at this point. When he sits beside her while she watches t.v he won't take his eyes off her. She loves him just as much and doesn't miss any opportunity to tell him.
He has his moments, but for the most part he is a really good baby that is super easy to read -  change diaper, eat or sleep - thats all it ever is.
Four months and I love him more every day.

Snow Fun

I came home on Monday to close to three feet of fresh snow. You may think I am exaggerating, but believe me when I say (sadly) that I am not.



Our town doesn't shut down with that much snow... it actually seems to, well, thrive. The livelihood of Revy is determined by how much of the white stuff we get, the skiers and sledders flock here thanks to it. If stores didn't open and schools closed every time we got a big dump *heh*, kids wouldn't learn much in the winter months and businesses would make substantially less money.





Some people even live here specifically FOR the snow. I know, I don't get it either.
But seriously, we need to make the best of it, because if we don't - Imma be crazy in no time.





Brian built a kick ass snow slide in our yard. It's so much fun that we played on it until well after dark last night and then again the better part of the morning and into the afternoon today.
And now that the path is packed nice and hard to the top Maizey doesn't need any help to get up, sit down, turn around, get her feet in front of her, and wheeee!! All I need is a lawn chair and a beer a cup of coffee.



We had one tired little girl tonight. So if anyone needs to wear their kids out, come on over! Good times at Case de McGiven!

Weekend Away

I am home from a weekend away, just Jace and I.
I'm not normally in the business of leaving my kids for any length of time. First of all, I don't have many places to go, and second of all, it's just not how I roll. A night here and there where Maizey has a sleep over at her Nana and Papas is good. But now that I say that I'm thinking back and aside from the night Jace was born and we were in the hospital, she has only been gone one night in well over a year.
Some nights I don't get a lot of sleep and some mornings I curse the numbers on the clock that say 6:15, but really I'm happy to be home and with my little family.
This weekend away came about at the last minute. We had plans to head to Calgary for my high school bestie, Hummel's, wedding reception. A timing and location conflict meant we couldn't be there for the actual big day - I had a six week old baby, the wedding was in Mexico, so the reception in Calgary was obvious. We would be there. But then winter blew in over night and the roads got icy and the temperature plummeted to somewhere around minus 150 thousand and suddenly my husband was all it's too dangerous and I'm a sissy about winter driving and I need to get my nails done blah blah blah.
I may or may not have had a small hissy fit about it's SO unfair wahh wahh wahh when Brian agreed that sometimes you have to be spontaneous and just do what you feel is the right thing to do. So at 11am on Thursday I was booking a flight for Jace and me and at 5:30 that night we were in the air on our way. So what that it's a two hour drive for 35 minutes in the air, right?! Jace was a total superstar on his first flight. Then again on our return. Thankfully!
We spent four whole days relaxing with my parents, lunching with friends, spending nights in fancy downtown hotels ordering room service and locking ourselves out of rooms where little baby boys are laying awake. Okay that part may have only been my Mom. It sure was a nice break and I think my parents were excited to have a little one on one time with Jace, although we all were missing Maizey and her energy.
I got to get dressed up and go to the fancy reception without diaper bag and baby in tow. But more about the party and my little Hummel later this week.
It was a fantastic four days and I was ready to come home, although it's never easy saying goodbye.
These two missed each other.



I came home to an obscene amount of snow, a happy little girl and an equally as happy husband.

Changes

In my career as a mother I have learned a lot. Lessons in patience, humility, honesty, stress. Lessons in time management and when to just let it go. It's a never ending lesson, and I am on a constant journey to keep learning. I truly believe that it will be a life long process and as a person and mother and wife I will continue to grow and get better as I strive to be better and more aware.
Some of the best words of wisdom I was given in the early weeks of Maizeys life were something along the lines of it will always change so don't worry or stress to much about whats happening right at this moment because it will be different as soon as you start to get comfortable.
The transition phases seem to be the hardest. When the what works stops working. When the happily kicking on the floor stops being enough and they want to sit up or crawl, but those skills haven't been mastered quite yet. From two naps to one to none. From nursing to sippy cup.
I write this now because over the last few months we have noticed a really big change in Maizey. Things that she use to do that I'm sure she only did to make me crazy, have subsided and been replaced with total awesomeness. I am really loving this stage she is at right now. I seriously never thought I would see the day that she would sit at the table and eat her dinner without being distracted by every little thing and therefore be trying to get up and down from the table and not eating and making a mess and it ending in someone crying and going to bed *not always the child in this case* . I thought she would be that kid that was in a high chair until she was 7. When we made the switch from the crib to bed it made bedtime a nightmare. It would take hours for her to go sleep, she'd make a huge mess in her room every night, she would come out and up the stairs repeatedly, she almost always fell asleep with the light on because she just couldn't leave it alone. I won't even get into nap time. It was enough to make me drink. For real. Recently though, something magical happened and while I am normally one to question why and how, this time I am just going to let the universe or whatever made this happen, do it's thing, because I am loving it. She can drink with no sippy cup lid, sit at the table and eat, she goes to bed and goes to sleep, she gets Jace things he needs like a clean diaper or his soother. She sits and plays quietly rather than just making a mess and demanding I play with her. There hasn't been a coloring on something she isn't supposed to incident in forever (I really hope I didn't just jinx us) but there are many pages in her coloring books nicely scribbled on! We went out for dinner tonight, the four of us, to a restaurant. A REAL restaurant (hello Emos!) and sat down and ordered and ate without any fighting and crying and messes and leaving with boxed up meals rather than enjoying a hot dinner. This hasn't happened in a really long time. Long before we became a four actually.
I am loving this newly transitioned phase where at the end of the day (usually) we are all happy. Shes back to napping every day and is much happier because of it. Which obviously means I get in my nap and am much happier because of it.

No Sleep And Sick Day

Since December 27th there has been exactly one night that I have gotten more than 2 hours straight of sleep. I am running on fumes.
I think my kids get together every afternoon for a tiny little team meeting where they map out their game plan for the night. They decide whether they should tag team us - one tags the other in as they're falling asleep, and this goes on for the entire night. Or will they both get up at the same time and then stay awake for hours on end? Or, my personal favorite, Maizey says to Jace why don't you just sleep, I'll take the night shift tonight. So Jace gets up around midnight to eat, goes back to sleep at 1 and at 2:30ish Maizey gets up and stays up till 4:30ish, then Jace gets up at 6 or so to eat again.
I hope they don't wonder why I get all yell-y and crazy by the time the afternoon comes around. Lack of sleep makes sane people crazy, it's a fact. I am living proof.
I'm not asking for a lot really. Just for my two year old to sleep through the night and my 3 month old to get up only once for a late night light snack and then back to sleep until no earlier than 7. That's all.

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I wrote that last night before I fell asleep on the couch and then stumbled to my bed at 9:15.

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I got two blessed solid hours of sleep before Maizey climbed in with me. She felt warm and was restless. I dozed until 1:00a.m when I was awoken to her throwing up in my bed. It was a frantic few minutes. She clearly has the flu. She hasn't stopped throwing up since.
We stayed in today, watching movies and countless episodes of Backyardigans. My Ang brought us some ginger ale this afternoon and she's been sipping on that.
I'm never really sure how to handle these days, but am trying to trust my instincts and do what feels right - which today was build a fort and nap on the living room floor. Oh, and call my Mom to ask what to do. Heh.
Maizey seems to be keeping some crackers down now... so hopefully we are past the worst of it.
I have been washing my hands like a mad woman and keeping her little hands out of Jaces face too, so heres to hoping no one else gets it.

Soon, it will be my night for sleep. For now, I have a sick little girl that needs me. 

Hide And Go Seek

Maizey is just starting to really get into playing hide and seek. She asks multiple times a day to play, most times with Brian and he usually obliges. Like any newcomer to the game (or a two year old), she's not so great at hiding.



You know, like half under a blanket, or facing the wall hiding her eyes as in - I can't see you so you can't see me. We always make a big deal about looking for her - Is Maizey under the couch? Nope, not there. Is Maizey under the coffee table? Nope, not there either. Hmmm, I wonder if she is in the closet? Nope. Why can't I find her? I wonder if she could be behind the chair? Yesss, there you are!! She giggles the whole time and often answers the questions - No, I not in the closet. I over here. We thought the being dramatic was adding to the fun. Plus then it makes the round a minute or two longer, rather than thirty seconds. She's always a good sport about being found and taking her turn counting.



This morning she wanted to play, so I counted and she hid. I heard her grunting and furniture moving, so I counted very slowly to allow her time to get into position. I called ready or not here I come and she squealed with excitement. I did the usual, looking and calling out every other possible place before finding her behind the chair in the living room. She climbed out and instructed me to hide in the same spot while she went to count. I, of course didn't listen. My eyes darted around the room and decided to climb under the computer desk. Sister was counting fast and I had to move quick. I had just sat down and started to scooch when she decided to skip numbers 4-7... great, I frantically slid the chair back into place, but it wasn't really fast enough... just as I let go to quickly hide my arms, she came around the corner from the kitchen and looked RIGHT AT ME - our eyes locked and we both smiled. I didn't say anything and she kept about the business of looking for me as though it had never happened - hmmm is Mom under the couch? Nope, not there. I wonder if she's under the table? Nope, not there. I think behind the chair? No, not there. Hmmm, I wonder if shes under the computer? Yesss, there you are Mom.  


Turns out we weren't fooling anyone. She loves it and so do we, but from now on I will be finding real hiding places. 

The Best of 2011

I've been sorting through our hundreds of photos from the last year, trying to decide which to add to this post. I had this big idea that I would choose one photo from each month, my favorite, that would prefectly depict exactly where and how and what we were each month, and intersperse them between a poignant and eloquent poem of words (haha) pieced together about how wonderful and fulfilling and heart-bursting and perfect this last year as been. About how my heart grew in ways I never knew were possible and about how our family feels perfectly in synch and runs like a well oiled machine (except, of course when it isn't in synch and it runs as rough as a truck bumping along on an old dirt road). So for the last three nights after the kids were in bed (or at least quiet) I have painstakingly poured over the photos. I have deleted somewhere around a billion of them - turns out I have never done that before and there were some definite non-keepers in there. ha. I have laughed and watched every single video I have ever taken. I have awwwed over how little Maizey actually was when I thought she was so big. I wiped tears and smiled. Then I realized there is no way in hell I could narrow it down to twelve photos. Nope, not gonna happen. I came up with 90. For real. I'll do my best at picking less...



























2011 brought a soul shattering, amazing moment.







The entrance of our son into the world and our hearts. He was, by all terms of the definition, a surprise, and the moment he arrived he wiggled his tiny little way into my heart and has sat perched atop it since that day. It almost seems crazy that he hasn't been in our lives forever.

 









That same moment made Maizey a big sister, a role she has taken seriously and done amazingly well with. She loves her little brother and any worries I had were dissolved immediately. She could not be happier with him and him with her.














The arrival of Jace meant the disappearance of our spare bed. Our home is now at capacity... we are bursting at the seems. This year brought us closer to final completion of this seven year project and we will one day (soon?) be looking for a new place to call home. For now we are snuggled in here, sometimes literally.









We saw great visitors and a few road trips. We worked a lot and traveled much less. I saw some of my best friends and brothers having baby's, getting married and buying houses.

 






































I was reading back through what I wrote last year and I can say with complete certainly that I lived exactly as I had planned to live. Content, happy, loved, aware and awake. We saw many days in our p.j's and saw many days not. My little family certainly makes it easy to appreciate all this life has to offer. I will once again focus on those same things and can only hope that 20dozen will offer as equally of amazing year.
Cheers to 2012