We're at it again.

Potty training for Christian is serious business. When I first told him he was going to wear underwear and that he couldn't pee or poop in it he cried for a good 10 minutes.
I had to sneak this pics. of him - the day b/f I asked him if I could take his picture and he said no- he's pretty private about his pottying - don't let the potty in the living room fool ya!

Ahh, toilet training for the third time - well first time for Christian but third time for us. I have to say that I HATE toilet training. I decided on Thursday that I would begin down this road with Christian since we had nothing to do (rare thing it seems) except take Ethan to school and pick him up again. Training the first kid isn't so bad since you can lock yourself in your house for a week and let them pee on the pot all they want - only draw back is that you don't know what you're doing and you're stressing out. The second kid isn't so easy b/c you can no longer lock yourself away b/c you have preschool or school for the first one as well as other events for the older sib but hey you're slightly more relaxed b/c you know they're going to get it. Well, I'm not quite sure when one is suppose to find time for the third kid (I don't even want to think about the next one) since there is not one day that we don't have to leave the house for something. However - you're quite relaxed b/c you for sure know that they'll get it and hey what's a bit of pee on the floor? So, that's why I picked this past Thurs. - we were basically at home all day. Christian did awesome - he only peed on the floor once (and he tried to tell me it was juice) but the rest of the time he peed in the pot. However, we had to go to school to pick up Ethan - I brought along a little pack of wipes, new undies, diaper etc. and we ended up needing them b/c he POOPED in his pants. We survived it - down one pair of undies -but we survived and then on our walk home he peed his pants. Of course the poor kid was away from a potty for 1 1/2 hours - I tried to get him to pee in a bush but that does take a bit of work to learn how to pee standing up, on demand. Anways, we'll see how it goes. Unlike the other two - I'm not going to use pullups for short jaunts out or else he'll be in them all the time. Today he told me twice he had to pee - yahoo - we're on the way to potty success ( I hope). We have six weeks until the new bambino arrives - I think by then I only have to worry about changing little newborn poops - phew!

Soccer comes to an end

Just as it's starting to warm up a bit outside and the promise of sunnier Saturdays is just around the corner soccer season ends for Ethan. He has had an awesome year. It's amazing that last year he was more busy twirling his sleeves than scoring goals and that last year he thought he scored every Sat. (but didn't) but this year he actually is scoring every game. Rich coached his team and they had a lot of fun. Next year Aiden is going to be joining - I think our lives are bound to be full of a lot soccer - potentially, if all our kids like it, we'll be having four practices a week and four games on a Saturday.

Valentines Day!

Holidays like Valentines can be a lot of fun b/c they aren't "big" deals like Christmas or Easter so you can do your own thing - make your own memories. Ever since we've had kids we haven't gone out for dinner on Valentine's day and even b/f kids we didn't make a big deal out of it. We always went out to eat (any excuse will do) but we didn't do presents/flowers. So - anyways, since kids we've had dinner at home - candlelight, special food and treats. The most romantic Valentine's day was when Rich made the dinner - he made an appy, main course and dessert from our favourite restaurants- he even made a menu up. It was very sweet and delicious! As the kids get older we've continued to make it a special meal. This year we brought out the china, table cloth and candles and had a fantastic meal. We had ribs, fries (not fancy or romantic but it was something Rich made for that special meal since we love fries with hot sauce), and a seven layer hot mexican dip. For dessert we took the boys out for a Dairy Queen treat. Oh - at dinner each of us had to say what we love about each other. It was a great evening and the boys loved it too.

A GIRL!!!!

Rich and I always said that if we became pregnant for a fourth time that we would find out the sex of the baby. I was all for it until the time came. I was nervous that I would be disappointed to find out we were having another boy. Anyways, I went for my ultrasound at the beg. of Dec. but the technician said he couldn't tell us - I was okay with that. He would let my doctor know and then he could tell me. My appointment was for Dec. 27th. I asked the doctor to write the info. down - I wanted to hear it with Rich and plus I didn't know if I would break down crying if it was a boy. Rich wanted me to read it in the car - I said nope - he came rushing down to the garage when I got home -but I said nope let's go up to our room. We got there - I opened up the paper and on it was "It's a girl! Congratulations!" I was stunned - I think I cried just as much with this information. I won't fully believe it until I have her snuggled in my arms. I'm a little nervous since all I know are boys but so excited too!! Ethan is totally pumped! Aiden either wants a brother or three sisters and Christian is oblivious. Aiden did tell his sunday school teacher today that his mommy is having a "lady baby". It's amazing to me that for the first time in my pregnancies I wasn't praying for a girl - just for a healthy baby of either sex. OF course nothing is for sure - we could still end up with a baby with some extra tackle!

Where did all the money go?

This past week Ethan wanted to buy himself some Star Wars cards so we told him that he had to use his money from his piggy bank - he was fine with that. Aiden wanted to join in and took all of his money out - they had 15 and 14 dollars respectively. Rich took them out Thurs. night to look for cards for Ethan and something for Aiden but they came home without anything. They were discouraged but we told them that we would take them out this weekend to Toy Traders. Rich took them there today - once they arrived he phoned me to ask how much money Aiden should have - I said about 14 or 15 dollars - Rich said - Oh - he has about 2. I said oops he forgot his five dollar bill at home but we couldn't figure out what he did with the rest of his money. You see Aiden is very particular about money - if anything is left out anywhere he will find it and claim it for himself. Once claimed he will put it into his piggy bank for safe keeping b/c he wants to be rich - so b/c he is pretty careful with each penny we couldn't figure out where it went. We could have taught him a lesson and said sorry you can't buy your toy b/c you lost your money but we quickly decided on the phone that he could still buy something and we'ld just find the money. We found it alright. When Rich came home I asked him if Aiden knew where the rest of his money went - he sure did. The little guy, who wants to be rich, gave the missing money to Christian a couple of days ago and put it into Christian's piggy bank. What a big brother!!

He then came up to me tonite and asked if he could buy a new webkinz tomorrow. I said nope b/c he had bought a train today. He looked at me and said "oh, so if I spend my money on something I can't buy anything else". I said yep. Instead of being disappointed he declared that he was going to look for money all night so that tomorrow he could buy a webkinz. If he does find 16 dollars lying around his room tonite I'm going to raid it tomorrow!

It's the Most Wonderful time of the YEAR!

Nope not Christmas Eve, or Day or Boxing Day but the days between those days and New Years Eve - I just LOVE them. Rich is always home, we don't usually schedule anything for the first couple days after boxing day and we just hang out. We are busy finding homes for all the new stuff, eating leftovers and the boys are exploring all of their new things. It's sooo cozy. We did have a great Christmas. My parents, uncle, brother and neice came over on Christmas Eve and we had a very yummy turkey dinner. We opened presents - Rich spent two hours puting together playmobile - played a game and watched a Christmas movie. It was fun. On Christmas day we got up - Ethan and Aiden not until 8:30 - opened up gifts had an English breakfast and then headed off the Rich's parents for a few hours. There we hung out, played a game and opened up some more presents. We were able to come home for an hour or so - could not believe it but Christian fell asleep on the way home from Maple ridge and slept for two hours. We went to my uncle and aunts' house and ate some delicious appys, opened even more presents and played some games. On Boxing day we went to Rich's sister's house for the late afternoon. I am so ripped that we forgot our camera b/c there were some priceless shots of people playing the Wii and of the boys doing karaoke. Christian would not let go of the mic -thankfully they had too - and would sing right into it if he liked the song - he liked them all but one. The funniest thing was two of Rich's aunts were singing and he sat there with his hands over his ears! Those were good days but nothing beats the relaxing that comes after them. I think the kids would agree with us!

New Traditions

Traditions - what a word. It can bring comfort and joy at the expectation of something that always happens, or it can do just the opposite. I've always loved traditions - the Easter egg hunt at Easter, dressing up for Halloween, roasting marshmallows while camping, going to the beach and eating fish and chips, turkey at Thanksgiving, and buying a beautiful scented Christmas tree every year. As our kids get older new traditions are evolving, especially at this time of year- lighting candles for advent to remind them and us that Christmas is about Christ's birth, buying them each a new decoration every year and a new one for this year - each night each of our kids opens up an advent box filled with either just a candy or a candy and something to do with advent. Some traditions carry on from childhood -each child receiving English chocolate in their stocking, opening presents Christmas morning, going on the Stanley park train. We started going on the train when we started dating, and have carried it on since. Of course now we're married and have three kids to bring along, which makes it a lot more fun. We've also added friends to the equation. For the last four years we've had a great time going with our friends the Janssens. We go to the Spaghetti factory for dinner and then head to the train. This year was fantastic - with 5 kids (one was missing at dinner) we were actually able to visit at dinner time and then we went to the train. All the kids were so great waiting for the ride (not that we ever seem to have to wait long) and had a great time on the train. Christian wasn't that fascinated by the lights -he was more fascinated by the engine. Once I got in his way and he told me off once I had moved back into my seat. The other two loved the lights. They all loved the petting zoo. We finished the night off with some yummy popcorn. Yep, traditions are good as long as they are guidelines and not the "rule". A few years ago I didn't see the need for traditions to change but as my family grows they have to - our trip to the train wouldn't be as much fun or doable if we did it the exact same way as when we were dating. Thanks Janssens for being a part of this tradition for this year and the previous three -we'll see what next year holds - you may want to venture out on your own once number four comes along!:) When blogger lets me I'll post the pics.