Happy First Birthday, Kevin!

On this special day, my heart is too full to put into words just how much I love my baby boy. So, I decided to make a photo/music montage to share with everyone. Please click on the link below his picture, and join in the celebration of Kevin's first year!

Kevin's 1st Year 7/25/08

"My Wish"

(Rascal Flatts lyrics)

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

(repeat)

This is my wish

I hope you know somebody loves you

May all your dreams stay big

Happy 3rd Birthday, Andrea!

***

Grandma and Grandpa G. came over last night to give Andrea an early birthday present. She got her water table before her birthday party, so we can have it ready for the kids to use that day. Of course, she wanted Daddy to take it outside and fill it up right away, so she could play with it.

***

Today was a busy day for us. I felt kind of bad for Andrea, because Rod had a golf tournament (he's still not home), and I had to go to an asthma education class (for Andrea) this morning. But Andrea didn't seem to mind. She got to open her presents first thing in the morning; then she got to play with Uncle Chuck; then she had her usual Wednesday play-date with Grandpa G. Plus, she's got all her new toys to play with at home!

***

We got Andrea a new, big girl bike for her birthday. She has figured out how to get on and off by herself, but is still finding it a bit tough to pedal. It would probably be easier if it wasn't on the carpet! But she loves it anyway.

***

Here, Andrea is mesmerized by her new Dora book, with a digital music player. The book has a Dora adventure with matching songs for the music player. The music player comes off like an mp3 player, too. She learned and sang all the new songs right away!

***

Andrea also got some clothes (boring!), and a big girl piano and microphone for her birthday. She immediately started singing, and trying to play, songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb. The only thing I had to remind her about is that the microphone has to go close to your mouth, and not right on it!

***

Andrea had such a tough time deciding which new toy to play with, that she sometimes played with two at the same time! This was my favourite combo--trying to play the piano, while perched on her bicycle!

Photos for 1st and 3rd Birthday

Ah, it was another eventful trip to the portrait studio for us. Once more, Mommy leaves without a good photograph of the two kids together. The blunt/naive photographer asks: "Don't they like each other?" Ugh. At least their individual portraits turned out cute, as usual.

The stunned look:

I splurged on the photo collage, because at least the picture of them looking nervous together is balanced out by pictures of them smiling individually:

We always manage to get some cute photos of them individually. I think these turned out really sweet.




[And now, of course, my printer has decided to turn their faces dark pink for some reason. They look fine on screen, but the tint isn't right when they print--I could cry. So, my friends and family, you may get a copy of these pictures, but I can't speak for the quality. Ugh again.]

Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick's Visit

Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick arrived safely from Montana on July 5. They drove their truck and fifth wheel across the States and parked at Grandpa Seguin's in Essex, for their yearly two-week stay. Of course, also as usual, we all ended up spending most of our time congregated at Aunt Claire's house (also in Essex), sitting by the pool and relaxing together.

I seems like I spent more time in the pool with the kids than visiting with my mom! Oh, well. The kids had lots of fun swimming in Aunt Claire's pool. Since she has grandbabies ranging in age from 5 months to 10 years old, she has a good variety of pool toys for them. Kevin thought the water was a little cold, but he liked to splash around, anyway. Andrea is a fish: she liked to ride on the water toys, but we also spent a lot of time practicing her swimming.


Like all little kids, Andrea would get mad when it was time to get out of the pool. Once we finally wrestled her out, she would be shivering and saying, "I'm freezing!" Grandma Marty was always quick to wrap and cuddle the babies (despite our protests over the strain on her four broken ribs!--long story).

***

The next time we got together, it was just the moms and kids (the daddies were at work). Grandma Marty was feeling a bit better, so she wanted to take Kevin for a refreshing dip in the pool (the heat was making him cranky). He loved it!

He was splashing Grandma Marty, and getting very excited. We were all laughing because he kept imitating our sounds, like, "Woohoo!" and "Weeeeeee!"

I think Kevin liked swimming right in the water most, but he also had fun when someone gave him a ride on one of the baby floaties. He was even trying to splash while he was in the floaty!

***

Oh, yes: that's Kevin's first cheesie! It's funny, because Andrea had her first cheesie when we visited Montana with her, two years ago. Kevin has been trying lots of new foods this week. He finally seems more interested in big people food. This week he has eaten cheesies, Kraft dinner, lasagna, cookies, bread, chicken, french fries, rice cakes, etc. He is also starting to drink some whole milk. So far, he seems willing to try everything, and he likes almost all of it!

***

Kevin has always liked music, but it seems like he's been trying to develop his musical skills these past few weeks. He enjoyed banging away on Morgan's little piano at Aunt Claire's. When we got home, I set up his music and lights toy so he can use it in a sitting position. He was bobbing up and down to the music, and then wiggling all over when he got really excited!

***

During our frequent visits to see Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick, Aunt Claire's house truly became "Baby Central"! Pauline's little Addie is 5 months old; Joanna's baby, Morgan, is 7 months old; and Kevin is 11 months old. On this particular evening, Addie, Morgan, and Kevin were relaxing indoors, watching Baby Einstein videos. (Morgan's in her high chair, and Addie and Kevin are stretched out on the floor.)

Andrea (surprisingly) was helping me keep an eye on the babies. She decided her special job was to replace Morgan's soother every time Morgan dropped it!

***

Kevin hit it off right away with Grandpa Rick. Grandpa is a big, friendly teddy bear, so Kevin was comfortable with him. Grandpa rocked him to sleep for us a few times, when we couldn't get him to settle down at Aunt Claire's. They also discovered that they speak the same language! When Grandpa Rick said, "Aaaaaaaaaa . . ." Kevin immediately responded, "Aaaaaaaaaaa.....ooo!"

***

On their last Friday in Canada, Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick came over to our house for supper, and to give the kids their birthday presents (since they would be leaving before the actual birthdays). Aunt Claire, Uncle Chuck, and Brigitte joined us, too. Grandma Marty made us lasagna for supper. Andrea wanted to help! So, first she helped Aunt Claire wash the romaine lettuce leaves for the salad, and rip them up, and put them in the salad bowl. Then, she helped Grandma Marty by sprinkling the cheese on top of the layers of meat and noodles. Andrea was a great helper!

Kevin wanted to help out too, but he's too little! So, we gave him some yummy rice cakes and let him watch the preparations from his high chair.

After dinner, Grandma Marty and Aunt Claire were trying to get Kevin to walk. He stands up with help, but he locks his legs, and doesn't bend them to walk! So, Aunt Claire helped Kevin stand up, and Grandma Marty went through her legs, grabbed Kevin's legs, and moved them up and down for him. I have never seen anything so ridiculous in my life--even Kevin was laughing!

Next, Grandma Marty gave Kevin his birthday present to open. He got so many nice clothes, and fun little toys to play with!

Andrea came in to admire Kevin's gifts, and see what she could play with.

Then, it was Andrea's turn to open her gifts.

The gift that quickly became Andrea's favourite is a "Dora's Dance Adventure" DVD. It comes with a Dora outfit she can wear, a little map she can dance on, maracas to shake, and the DVD. She insisted on wearing her Dora outfit to bed, and we have to do the DVD adventure at least 7 times a day (no exaggeration!).

***

Yesterday, we went to Aunt Claire's to have our last visit with Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick for this year. As usual, I ended up spending half the time in the pool with Andrea! At least she was making me laugh. She suddenly discovered that a stream of water comes down between your legs when you get out of the pool. This was absolutely mesmerizing to her. I explained that it's just dripping water, that comes off everyone when they get out of the pool. Oh, Andrea. She had to climb in and out of the pool 20 times in a row, just to stop and put her head between her legs, and watch the water stream down. I couldn't stop laughing. I tried to get it on video, but it's definitely a "You had to be there" situation!

***

Meanwhile, Kevin and his buddy Grandpa Rick were sharing a cold one. Just kidding--Kevin was grabbing at it, and had his eye on Grandpa Rick every time he took a sip. Grandpa only let him chew on the lip of the bottle a bit. It probably felt good on Kevin's gums.

***

I picked this picture to end with, because it's just so cute, and it sums up how we all feel when we get together. We may only get to spend a few days a year together, and maybe we only hang out around the pool and BBQ, have a few drinks, and talk each other's ears off, but that's what it's all about, isn't it? Family: reconnecting, sharing, and simply enjoying the time we can be together.

Izzy's 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday, we went over to Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Tony's house to celebrate Izzy's 2nd birthday. It was "a bootiful summer day," as Andrea kept saying. We spent most of our time out by the pool.

Great-Gram, of course, took Kevin right away, fed him watermelon, and cuddled him on her lap.

***

Izzy got a sandbox from her mommy and daddy. Rod decided to play "find the buried treasure" with the kids--and what did he bury?--his wedding ring! And you guessed it: we ended up having to kick the kids out of the sandbox, and dig for it ourselves!

After 20 minutes or so, Nana (Uncle Tony's mom), found it! Rod is sporting a replacement ring his mom gave him to wear in the meantime. He is SO lucky Nana found that ring!

***

I swear Andrea has a built-in balloon detector. If there are balloons available, she will find them!


She also has a built-in Dora detector. If a Dora toy is nearby, she will find it, and claim it.

***

Happy Birthday, Izzy! Her daddy and her cousin, Dana, are helping her blow out the candles.

***

After cake and presents, it was time to play in the water. Andrea, Daddy, and I went for a swim in the pool.

***

It was too cold for Izzy and Kevin to swim. However, Izzy got a water-table from Gram and Grandpa G., so they filled that up with water, and put the little ones right into it! They also had an extra tub of warm water, and the kids had fun in that, too. (Notice that Grandpa didn't bother changing Kevin into his swim clothes--he said it was more fun that way!)



If you've had kids, you KNOW what regular diapers do when kids wear them in the water . . .

(It appears that the entire contents of the water-table is now in Kevin's diaper!)

***

Andrea was a bit chilled when she got out of the pool, so she enjoyed the tub of warm water, too.

But then she'd get out, dry herself off, and climb up to the slide.
Being damp, she'd fly down the slide at top speed, stumble off at the bottom, and jump up with a gymnast's landing, exclaiming, "I did it!"
She must have done it at least twenty times in a row: tub, dry, climb, slide, pose! It reminded me of SNL's Mary Katherine Gallagher: "Superstar!" We couldn't stop laughing at her.

Employee Event at Colasanti's

On Thursday evening (yes, I'm a bit behind on the Blog), we took the kids to Colasanti's. The school board was hosting an employee wellness event (which just means some fun time for members and their families). We got free hot dogs, fries, and drinks; free kiddie rides; and free access to the petting zoo/animal attractions. They also had door prizes (we won a jar of local honey!).

Rod has other family members who teach for our school board, so we saw them there. We met up with Stephanie (teacher) and Izzy, who brought Rita, Brett, and the kids as guests. We also saw Uncle Terry (teacher) and Aunt Jeanne; their daughter Lori (teacher) and her husband Chris (teacher), with baby Addison.

We had Brigitte with us, too. Andrea loves sharing her fun times with Brigitte!

on the rides

making friends

Andrea's first time in a bouncy castle (she got jostled)!

Kevin's just happy to be out somewhere!
Andrea was nervous about the goats . . .
. . . but who can resist a little baby? :))

Here's why people don't like goats . . . (it's eating the tag!).

Andrea, there's an alligator behind you!

They have many beautiful birds at Colasanti's. The birds are used to the people, so they tend to be chatty. This white fellow was particularly friendly with everyone. The kids kept talking to him, and got him to say, "Hello!" and "Bye-bye!" several times.

Thanks WECDSB, and Colasanti's, for a great evening!