Build a Bear

the pictures are out of order - here Ethan is "cleaning" the extra fluff off the baby's dog
Rich and Christian working on the birth certificate
the boys and their animals - Ethan chose a monkey, Aiden a dog and Christian a polar bear

stuffing the animals
all of us stuffing the baby's
the ladies do fun things with the kids b/f they put the hearts into their pets
putting the heart into his doggy

On Sunday we drove to Coquitlam Centre to take the boys to build a bear. When I was pregnant with Christian we were down in White Rock and there was a stand set up where Ethan was able to make the baby a bear - so I thought it would be neat to do that again. However, there are no little stands in White Rock right now so off we went to Build a Bear. The boys each picked out their own animal and then picked out a dog (typical of our house) for their new baby. The boys had fun stuffing the animals and washing them up. When the baby is born they'll bring the doggy, in its home, to the hospital and give it to the baby. It was a fun experience and Rich and I figured our boys will probably never be invited to a Build a Bear party.

All we need is the baby

These two b/w pictures will go into the picture frames.

On the top part of the armoire elephants and bunnies are carved into it.

This weekend Rich finished puting up the shelves and picture frames in Christian/babys' room. Last weekend Rich's dad brought over the armoire that he built for their room. It is beautiful and it is so awesome to be able to easily get clothes in and out instead of a fight like with Christian's old dresser. Rich's dad has ordered in some special door knobs for it but they're not in yet - can't wait to see what they are like. Rich's mom made the bedding too for Christian and the baby - what a challenge to find something to coordinate for a boy and a girl. I like Christian's bedding but I LOVE the girls probably b/c pink is something we don't have in this house. (if the ultrasound was wrong and the baby's a boy he may still be using a floral quilt!). We also need to add the pictures to the frames and the baby's name up on the wall. Ahh, so everything is ready to go - the babies bag (not mine), the soother (that we never use) is boiled, starting last night Rich wants to make sure the cameras are charged - oh I have to write out instructions for the other three. Better get on that right now!

Choo Choo!

Last night my inlaws gave us a birthday cake pan with 9 little train cars on it - fantastic except for Christian's obsession with it! As soon as he saw it he was carrying it around and kept saying my choo choo birthday cake. I would tell him not tonite and he'ld say "two days". I finally said tomorrow. So my mother-in law gave me a cake mix and today we made his choo choo birthday cake. In fact this morning when I walked into his room he said to me "my choo, choo bday cake at my house?" I assured him it was and after he asked a dozen times I asked him to stop and said we would make it after lunch. We did - it turned out great - the kids had fun decorating and eating it!

In his Element.

Don't know who has been waiting longer to play Lord of the Rings (a strategic game) Ethan or Rich. I guess Rich b/c he's older and I've shown no interest in learning it. Though, Ethan on the other hand has been chomping at the bit to learn -probably since he was three. Well, today was the day. Rich taught him the basic skills of the game - they played three games in an hour and Ethan won all three. I can see many Sat. afternoons, especially when it's rainy out, being spent with father and son(s) (and maybe daughter) playing these battle games. What's an afternoon without a bit of killing. Hmmm, what's mom to do - relax, shop, read....endless possibilities.

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.