Welcome back???

All right I suck. I admit it. I have neglected to inform the bloggy world of anything in our house. And not because there is nothing happening, mainly because I am just too lazy to do it. All I want to do is sleep, 22 hours a day to leave room for the requisite food requirement and peeing of course.

But alas with 3 kids there is no way on God's green earth I can do that. They'd burn my house down around my ears or kill each other. But they are surprisingly resourceful if need be. Ryan is now capable, at the age of 4, to get cereal for himself and turn on the tv, which means I can lie in bed pretending that they aren't all awake and that I have to get up sooner rather than later. The added bonus to that is with Leigha and her feeding tube...she is confined to her bed until I go get her!!! So minimal fighting in the mornings!!!

I have made it to 32 weeks pregnant!! and haven't been up to much really. I went on a scrap retreat the last weekend of August and..( insert yelling from the girls) had contractions all weekend and cankles (made driving home fun :p). They haven't really let up much on both aspects so I have been "confined" to "resting". K so I have 3 other kids, one with medical issues, my doc knows this so the words "try" were very strongly put at my appointment on Tuesday. I just have to make it another 3 weeks and I've made it to the "safer" zone. I am feeling the desire to clean, cook and generally stock up so have had to plan my days so I am not on my feet a lot and have to pay for it, Neil is not good at the foot rub.

I still feel "good" in the happy sense that I can move freely without crying and am not getting embarrased trying to dress myself around the large lump in front. I am at the point where I can't even put on underwear without assistance. And Thank GOD this is "summer" (hahahaha, well not here but..) so I don't really need socks. With Leigha I actually stopped wearing them due to the fact that I could no longer reach my feet without falling over and Neil wouldn't help me without laughing...so not worth it. Considering it was winter for the bulk of the largeness portion of my pregnancy with her, no socks was not a brilliant idea but I worked with what I had.

Nathaniel is growing like a weed, 70Lbs now :o He is huge and eats more than Neil at meals. But again we are entering a growth spurt and have the wussy, cry at the drop of a hat kid on our hands. Karate/Jui Jitsu ( I have no clue what it's called) has helped with the self esteem issues and he asks daily when he's going again or when the next time is. Currently he is down 2 teeth over less than 3 days, courtesy of self managed care :) He wiggled those little things until he swallowed one ( too funny when Neil went to look for it and found not a trace, we think he was so excited that he forgot to spit it out and swallowed it instead). The second tooth almost followed the first but he caught it in time just to show Neil in the kitchen and drop it coming down the stairs to show me. We found that one but he was none the less very excited when the tooth fairy visited the next morning and left him 4 shiny new quarters for each tooth lost. I have a great picture of him smiling with no lower teeth :) He now has 4 more teeth in the pre stages of falling out, looks like wonderful Christmas photos are in store for us :)

We started Grade 1 this week and have had many new stories at the supper table. And on top of it, he's too pooped to fight with anyone!!! It has made bedtime all that much quieter.

Ryan is still hitting and temper tantrums but since starting him on Melatonin every night we have yet to see a drop in them and are starting to wonder if they are sleep related at all. Considering I am shorter on patience lately I don't think having 2 kids with big tempers is a really good idea right now.

On the "new" aspect of thing. I have managed to secure a contract for Leigha's Pediasure and thickener through downright obnoxiousness and being quite firm when dealing with our "worker". She has agreed to fund us through the government agency until December 31st where upon we must at that time provide our own private insurance and proof that Leigha has medical requirements for the products requested and that they are "medically neccessary". Now considering the kids doesn't eat much of anything by mouth that doesn't go down in liquid form I'm not sure how we can not prove that this is a neccessary thing. It is getting so bad at meals now that she actually chews the food up and then spits it out again without actually swallowing much of anything " me no like" is the usual comment associated with that...oh so lovely. And it really doesn't matter what I cook, it's always the same with re-constituted food being served back to me by some pigtailed kidlet. Very annoying.


Leigha has also recently begun with the terrible 2's temper tantrums. Very aggravating most days since she seems to think she doesn't need to nap anymore. So not a good thing for someone who would LOVE to nap daily :( I am finding the serenity somewhere and haven't sold her yet to anyone...GOD give me strength.

But we are now almost 1 week with no bottles!! none at nap time (well , when I'd want her to nap) and nothing for bed. So I've only been waking up with her about twice a night this week so far to un-tangle her tube and settle her again. She asks for one everytime but is being told that the bottles are for baby now. I actually had to throw them all out because of the Pediasure smell they all had. I give whole credit to my sister who had the kids over the weekend while I was scrappin, she's the one who actually did it. No battles really this far. One bad start of night (Monday) but with a door cracked open she has settled fine all by herself!

Crap! I'll be back later they threw popcorn all over the toy room!!!

Hiyah

Hello to my internetters, I know I've been ignoring you all. I am a horrible friend. But since I haven't had much to talk about lately other than my spinning head and nightmares I am a poor bedfellow to have around. I started having the nightmares about a week ago. I haven't told Neil. I'm sure he has noticed. How could he not. I have been jumping down his throat on a daily basis about nothing. Literally I can cry at the drop of a hat and I do believe I am on the verge of a breakdown of some sort. I am truly thankful for the pharmaceuticals that I have on hand to get me through the next 4 weeks that I have until that day. I'm honestly getting sick thinking about it. Am I going to be able to bear it? I know I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. Take a pill Meghan and breathe. I will talk about...wait I have no life right now... ooooo wait I had a birthday last weekend :o I know it may astound you but I turned 29 on the 17th :o I actually had an entire weekend away with my sister. And all we did was hang out and be crafty...oh and drink...hypnotiq and Gin mixed with Raspberry Minuite maid Juice...bad, bad, drink that is....oooo, so bad... Anyway, So on the 16th Laura and I headed up to our family cabin NE of our place for a whole weekend away. The only thing I really wanted to do was check out the local town's Liquidation World. Let me just say we spent $100.00 and 1 1/2 hours poking around in there. I managed to get a steal on some big old vases ( big clunky dust collectors), and some paintings for the kids toy room ($7.00 each :o ). We then proceeded to attempt to make homemade pretzels-they were soupy? For some odd reason the dough wouldn't come together, she tried to bake me a cake ( the beaters were awsome !!) which burnt in the oven after being in for only 20 mins ( it was charred and we had smoke in the entire cabin...so nasty), we forgot to bring any water but managed to find ice in the deep freeze so thus used this for the pasta we cooked on the Friday night when we arrived until we went to town on Saturday to buy some ( we have a well and pump but it is shut down and blown out to prevent it from freezing in the winter, our well and pump doesn't like -40).....and to top it all off on the drive home..... I GOT NAILED BY THE RCMP FOR SPEEDING!!! Actually it was my dogs fault in a sense ( ha blame the dog trick). Abby thought it was a good idea to crawl into the front seat with me, nosed herself under my elbow. When I was trying to get her back I also wasn't watching the speed. I was already stopping as the cop passed me, I saw his lights go on...totally sucked. He cut me a break, but I got nailed for 124.00 anyway and 2 demerits. My first time ever :p Either way I had an awsome time away sleeping in, laughing at the dog trying to dig under the cabin looking for whatever was nesting under there ( I hope it wasn't a skunk, lots of banging in the early morning hours and something ran down the cat walk really early on Sunday morning...ewwww), and talking it up with my sister. I'll let that excitement get me through the next few weeks. I have work to keep me busy and organising the boys with sitters for that week as well. I'm looking for a nanny high and low, and needing a house cleaner as well....a longlist to keep my mind occupied. One day at a time and one moment. I'll see what happens on the weekend maybe it will snow and I can snap some great shots of the kids playing in the snow ;p Have a great Friday, and I'll make more of a habit of poking in my head in the next few days. ;)

Are you Really Sure You Want To See This?

I went out for dinner with Laura last night and we got to talking about all the lovely pictures I take of my children. I really do take lovely pictures and would take nicer ones if I had a better camera don't you think??? (hint, hint!!)

Anyway so she commented that I don't have nearly enought pictures of myself and that I have way too many of the kids. Well yes I do have millions of pictures of my kids doing a multitude of things from playing in the mud to tackling Neil in the yard and trying to ride the dogs like horses. But I will concede the fact that there are few pictures of me. Let me show you that I do not go invisible in front of the camera....

 There is this one, my wedding day September 2003. My Deer in The Headlight Picture. My Dad kept asking me the whole day if I was sure I wanted ot marry Neil. HELL YES!!! I was just nervous about being in front of everyone.

Then the one where I have been drinking lots of wine at the reception I was feeling quite good by then. At least this picture didn't have me waltzing around with my wine glass and the bottle. I even had a bottle at the bar just for me that everytime I walked by our Bar tenders- that I have know for years and are in the ELKS with my dad, uncle, and grandfather- they would top it up for me. Probably helped me get through the night.

Then we have the gift opening the next day in which our Best Man Chris decided it was a good idea- insert BAD- to have our friend Jerry mix his drinks for him. By the middle of the gift opening he was soused and giggling. Hence why I have yellow bells on my head. He could barely walk by the end of it.

I'll admit one thing here a big fat secret I hate my picture being taken. Yeah I do, I admit. I would much rather look at other people and stare at my kids than look at a photo of myself and see my flaws. Well not flaws really just the minor flibs that need to be ironed out. The double chin passed on through the famdamily that type of stuff. It takes time and energy and I lack it right now having to spend most of it on Leigha and her health crap and well I get shoved to the back burner most of the time.

While I can manage to throw myself into some form of respectable if needed at last minuite, I am not usually comfortable as nothing fits and I am self conscious. But then I am hard on myself too as this is only a road bump and my mother always said that it takes 20 years to get rid of the weight your children pack on you. Not sure if that is literal weight or figurative. I'm going for literal.

OOOO, love this one, me at 38+ weeks pregnant with Ryan. Hot June weekend and I get to go to a convention with a bunch of old guys. We had a very very good family friend receiving an honor that night and went for him. But we had to party with the old codgers too. They all sucked- the old farts they all left by 1000- but we had a great time despite. Except my feet:( Poor feet didn't like that night.

In 2002 I bit the bullet and got my boobs done. Not implants :o I had them reduced. I went from a ginormous boonder boobed attack goddess with boobs that were a 48FF down to a 36C. It was hands down the most amazing thing I ever did for myself short of losing the 45lbs right before my wedding. I never regretted doing it at all, despite the pain I went through after delivering the kids, that had to be almost as bad as the actual surgery. That and I so wanted a pretty bra for the first time in my life, not some granny panty thing from Sears with the 3 inch bra straps. The first bra I bought was RED!!!

Maybe it was that I bounced back into my regular clothes so soon after having the boys that has made me stick into this funk, that and I am sick of wearing the same 4 pairs of pants, boring wardrobe:p Or the fact that I can't eat most veggies and fruits unless you boil the snot out of them until they are mushy and tasteless.

Oh yeah this is a gooder, you should feel lucky that I put this out there. I think that in this case I looked way better pregnant. This is in January when went on our cruise taken in Ocho Rios Jamaica.

Meh, I need to find a blind cabana boy and camp out on a secluded beach where no one can see me except for the birds and fish who could care less. So now I have included pictures of me over the last...6 years. At least my husband thinks I'm cute, then of course half this issue is his fault isn't it?? But then I find bald men sexy too;)

If I looked farther back I have my skinny boob pictures but those are best left in the box with the ex boyfriend. But I do really appreciate the fact that I learned to have my eyebrows waxed so there are 2 not 1 large fuzzy worm. But in the above picture that dress thingy makes me look very boobified doesn't it? hmmmm, odd, that and how did Neil manage to climb those falls with sunglasses on the whole time?

I'll have to ask him...get back to you on that. Enjoy the rambling thoughts that this post has become. Explains my state of mind some hey;)

The Pink Room

Now as fun as it may sound to all that read my funny diatribes, it isn't. I am actually stuck between a rock and a hard place...

Trying in vain to choose a color to paint.....

The walls of my HORRID HOUSE!!!

When we looked at our house in Novemeber of 2007, I can honestly admit I did notice the nasy horrid teal carpet in the front living room and the grody carpet in what is now Nathaniel's bedroom. But how on earth did I overlook the gross disgusting baby puke brown that is painted on almost every surface of this place?? Am I blind in one eye or is it more the case that I was 5 months pregnant at the time and when I walked into the place I was just so freeking excited to find a house I really liked that I overlooked it all? I mean I missed the fact that the room that Leigha now has used to have a gold/yellow ceiling. Now only God knows what they were thinking when they did that, but almost 6 coats of paint later and it is still bleeding through in places because of the stipple. And no I do not want to scrape the stipple off the ceiling, nor replace the drywall at the present time.

I look at all the pretty paint samples that I have filched from the Home Depot over the past few years, somehow managing to have them in the bottom of the cart when we leave (not like they miss the $1.75 each costs, but it's the principle of the matter) and am torn about what to paint. I'm not one to go and paint every year because I am sick of the colors, do I look like a woman with time??? (I just realised there are no pictures of me on here :p I may someday remedy that, when I loose the 20+ pounds the rotten kidlets have foisted onto me:o)

I have convinced Neil, since we have the mortgage settled (YES! finally as of today it is over, I'll post about that later on) we really need to devote some time into the house now. Really make it our own. It seems so out of character for me, nothing is me in here yet. Alot like our old house was up until we listed it on the market, then it became exactly what I wanted it to be all those 4 years prior.

Anyone want to come and help me design my house??? I would love ideas and suggestions? I was thinking that maybe I would start doing a weekly post on something maybe to give myself some incentive until my sewing class gets started in October, and maybe my fair internetters you too may have ideas for me if I so happen to put pictures up of my poor forlorn house for you to see??

Stranger things have happened. But now I must go and attend to the dog that is afeared of thunder storms and is trying to crawl under the leather couch in the basement. Until I have more to babble, goodnight!

My Inspirations

So I thought being as I am so uninspired to do anything in this on again, off again weather we are having here in "sunny" Alberta (I use the term loosely as the sun, even tho it is out, has no heat what so ever in it and I am resorting to flannel PJ's and the furnace yet again) and that said sun has decided to hide behind a blanket of clouds and throw a spit of snow at us again, confining the boys inside for yet another day. I thought I could share some pictures of the kids that Neil and I have shot over the past few days.

I get complaints from my sister-in-law that I don't post enough current pictures of the kids on my Facebook page but alas I tend to put way more on here. Perhaps she should check out this instead;)

Meet Leigha and "Gack" I am assuming it means Quack as she says it every time she sees him. She received him from my sister Laura for her birthday and now tows him around everywhere. Will NOT go to bed without him and will NOT leave her room without him. Heaven forbid we go to bed and awake to find him missing. Reminiscent of Ryan and Boose.

I thought this picture was too cute I asked her what ducks say and then quacked at her to make her laugh. The rest of the pictures I have are even funnier, but then we'd be here forever with only pictures of her. I do have two other kids after all;)

Nathaniel playing in the sandbox at Grandma's last Sunday afternoon. I think he spent the better part of the afternoon in there. I believe he had sand everywhere but he was quiet and made all sorts of tracks for the cars to drive in. It amazes me the imagination he has at the age of 4.

Ryan was supposed to be in time out in this one, but apparently Neil went around and snapped his picture. Ryan is completely incapable of not smiling like a goof in pictures.

Neil caught them standing on the ottoman in the front room, technically they aren't supposed to be in there as my Hungarian Crystal is in the cabinet in there and since the cabinet won't level on the crappy carpet, it shakes when they run through the room. The boys have decided the ottoman is the perfect jumping off place...what can I do they are boys after all. I think I'll have to ditch the carpet sooner rather that later and get new stuff put in. Thank goodness for the new job eh??

Speaking of the "new job" I had my orientation on Tuesday and I can't wait to formally start. I will be working on my own with my own patient load. I even get the opprotunity to train and teach, something I have always wanted to do. That and I even get to take courses and learn more, IV's, wound care, Blood samples...on and on, and on. Wow working for a private company has so many bonuses and they offer the wonderful benefits, something we could really use with Leigha especially.

I'm very excited not to wear uniforms anymore except for when I work at the clinic and can't wait to begin working with pediatrics, something new. Being in Geriatrics is fun and challenging, very challenging at times, but I am looking for a new challenge too. I think I am really going to like Home Care and the people I am working for. I can really understand why most of their employees have been with the company for 10+ years or more.

So that's my week thus far. My sewing project is slow but steady. I have cut the pattern peices out and have begun to pin them to the fabric after having duct taped Nataniel long enough to figure out what sized pattern I needed to use for him. I now need to cut it out and begin the actual sewing part. I'm thinking I may use some scraps to try a practice run as I really haven't sewn since I was in grade 10... oh about ....12+ years ago:( Wish me luck, and I'll post pictures as I have them;)

Rambling Rose

It's Sunday today....I kinda hate Sunday's it means tomorrow Neil goes to work and I face the interminably (is that a word???-I'll have to look it up...) long week ahead with two little boys cooped up in the house as the days get so much shorter and the weather gets so much cooler. The task of keeping them entertained is getting so much more taxing as the days go by. I am beginning to dread the coming winter months. I have no idea how I am going to get through the next 8 months ahead without losing what little marbles I have left floating in my head:P I need a hobby other than scrapbooking:0

HA, Finally after how long I figured it out:) So proud of myself:) Ryan wanted me to take a picture of him being "Funny" in the van, there you go..Ryan's "funny" face.

I am so amazing I even impress myself:) Nathaniel looking so smart. He fell down the neighbours stairs the night before the picture was taken:) He was so excited by the fact that the boys next door were playing drag racing on the nintendo he forgot to turn the lights on to go down the stairs and fell:) Last night we went to the ELKS Halloween party in Sherwood Park. It was alot of fun and when we finally made it home we had three very tired kids to put to bed:) So here are a few pics of the festivities last evening...

This is the costume idea that my mom thought up for her and my dad, my sister Kelsey and her boyfriend Ed. So we have the March Hare, The Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, my Dad being Tweedle Dum:) My mom made the costumes by hand as she does every year, and as she has since we were kids:)

Nathaniel was a Skeleton/Ninja guy, he thought that the face makup was so cool and kept asking Neil to put more on. By the end of the night he had a black eye and a purple mouth:) Very cool tho, he spent most of the veening running in circles on the dance floor with his ghost mask on and the ninja sword. He had lots of fun:)

Miss Leigha was a butterfly a surprisingly enough she had little complaint of being in the costume, she enjoyed chewing on the antenae and thought the bows on the shoes were fun too:) She was very cute and got lots of smile from many of the other party goers during the evening.

Ryan unfortunatly was sooo not into the costume thing this time. Nothing would convince him to dress in his things this time. He was suppsoed to be the Ninja. I think alot had to do with the fact that he had just awoke from a nap prior to us laving for the school so he wanted no part of getting dressed. So maybe by Friday he will dress up:) He did enjoy dancing with Nathaniel and I did get a good shot of him having a great time doing it:) He was a good sport despite not dressing up:) He did have blood on him tho from the make-up part, as he didn't want to be left out of that;)

So that was our Halloween party, I will post pics of the Halloween party at Chips on Friday and more of Trick-or-Treating as well. Have a Great Sunday:)