Sept 5 2010

This weekend Nate and I have been starting to try to potty train Austin. We tried a few months ago but it wasn't going well and Austin really hated it so we decided to wait until after we went to Nova Scotia and then try again. So we started on thursday. The first day he was not too thrilled by the idea but by day 2 he was going on the potty regularly and has been having very few accidents. We finally got him to poop on the potty today and he was VERY proud of himself. So that's some good progress so far. He won't tell us when he has to go, we have to really watch him but so far it's going really well. So that's nice. I'm really looking forward to only having 1 kid in diapers!
This morning we were in a bit of a rush to get ready for church since we were going to Fenwick and had to leave earlier than usual so in the midst of it, Wesley ended up crawling and then falling off our bed onto the floor. Yikes.. he was not too happy about that but he was fine so that was a relief.
I'm going to be starting an online perinatal nursing course next week so I'm excited and nervous about that. I got the book delievered already on friday only a day after I ordered it and I've started looking through it and now I'm getting a little more nervous about it... there's a lot to cover! Hopefully it's interesting..

August 28 2010

It's been a while since I've posted last... we just got back yesterday from a trip to Nova Scotia. We celebrated my Oma and Opa's 55th wedding anniversary there with our family. My mom's sister lives out there and so that's where we all went to celebrate. It's been about 10 years since I last went there so it was nice to see everyone again.
The trip down was awful, Wesley just did NOT want to be in his car seat and just cried and cried. But we made it and we had a really good time. We camped our trailer out in my Aunt and Uncle's yard along with Maria and Steve and a trailer was set up there for them. We went to a zoo one day, went on a hay ride, saw the pigs, tractors, went to see the tides/Bay of Fundy, and swam in their pool. It was a really nice vacation and the anniversary dinner was made by my cousin who is a chef and it was AMAZING. My cousin James and his wife Amy have a son, Jackson, who is about a month older than Austin and they had a really good time playing together as well.
The trip home was much better, I bought some formula for Wesley and so he took bottles on the trip home which was much easier than stopping every time to breastfeed him. And he seemed much more content. Last night he slept again for 12 hours, only getting up once to eat. That was great since he was up ALOT while we were away. I guess it's just hard for kids when they get off schedule.

We left at 7pm and drove for 20 hours straight, only stopping to fill up on gas, bathroom breaks, and once for a lunch break. We took turns driving and sleeping in the back with the kids and it went really well, Austin woke up around 11 pm when we stopped to get gas and just watched the dvd player until he finally fell back asleep at like 1 am... but he slept a lot during the day on the drive to make up for it.
Today Nate took everything that needed to come out of the trailer out and put it away in the garage. I don't think we'll be doing any more camping this summer so it's nice to have it back in the garage. Nate also cleaned out the garage which was really needed so it looks so nice and clean now. Austin of course had to help with this so it took a little bit longer than what Nate had hoped :) I managed to get most of the laundry done but it still all needs to be folded, which is the WORST job ever.. I hate folding laundry.

Tomorrow we hope to go to the peach festival in Winona with my sister Maria and her family so that should be fun!

August 10 2010

This past weekend Nate and I had a pretty relaxed couple of days.. went for walks, took Austin to the park, had a barbecue and fire in the back with a few couples from our small group, and just hung out. It was really nice. Austin didn't want to leave the park so we just started walking away saying bye, thinking that he would quickly run to catch up. Nope.. he just stood there waving bye to us. lol, too smart for us already...

Austin has been watching Nate kill flies with the fly swatter and so yesterday he ran to our cutlery drawer, grabbed a spatula, and started saying "bees" (which is his way of saying flies) and swatting at the coffee table. It was really funny.

I was on the phone earlier and apparently wasn't paying attention to Austin because I came into his room and found him with a mountain of wipes on the floor, attempting to wipe his blue bear's bum. I think he emptied out 2 full things of wipes onto the floor... lol


My sister Maria came over yesterday with her kids and they all played outside together. They are way too cute together and sat outside at the little kids table for lunch eating their pizza. It looked quite comical.

Olivia and Wesley hanging out while the kids ate lunch

Wesley is officially "scooting" all over the place. He's 5 months old today! It's crazy but SO cool to see.. he just scoots on over to whatever toys are lying around only to have Austin snatch them and run away saying "No, Autis" hahaha, poor Wesley, no wonder why us "middle" children are the way we are, lol!!

Today when I was changing Austin's diaper on the floor, Wesley scooted over and started grabbing at him... so Austin tries to swirm away, laughing and saying "no baby". They were both giggling at each other and then Austin would run away and come back, lie on the floor, and they would both do it all over again. It's so cool to see them playing together and giggling at each other.

Here's a picture of Wesley

scooting... he started off on the mats and

then wanted to get to the garden hose, lol

My parents are back from their business trip/vacation so they came over to visit tonight.. Austin loved to see them again and of course, has to drag them around to play with him and look at books with him.

August 6 2010

This morning Nate and I actually got to sleep in, Wesley slept through the night again, 7pm-5 and then went back down until 8. Austin got out of bed at 7:30ish but then watched tv in our room and let us go back to sleep for another half an hour. It was very nice. Wesley also went to bed tonight at 6:30 pm... so we'll have to see how long he sleeps tonight!

Today Nate finally hooked up the outdoor speakers that I got him last year for his birthday! lol, took a while but they are really nice and it's great being able to listen to the radio outside on the deck now. Austin was right in there beside him trying to "help". Nate is really good with letting Austin help and sure has a lot more patience than I do... he always lets Austin do everything with him and Austin just loves it.

I made homemade butter tarts tonight and they turned out really good... thanks to my sister Maria for her fabulous recipe! I'm pretty sure Nate is going to eat them all within the next day which is why I try not to bake very much, lol.
Wesley got up on all fours today trying to crawl rather than creep which is what he was doing.. it is so cool to see how fast babies grow up, it's crazy that he's already almost 5 months old!

I still haven't heard anything about my job come January so I'm still kinda worried about that.. but I guess I will just have to find something else if need be. We've been really praying about it and know that God will see us through. Sometimes its hard to trust and I'm really struggling with just letting it go and giving it to the Lord.. what a wonderful thing to be able to do!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to proser you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"

Luke 12:22

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear"

August 5 2010

Last night Wesley slept through the night again, woo hoo! It was SO nice and I've feeling quite refreshed which is awesome. Today Nate and I went to my Opa and Oma's for coffee and lunch and had a really good time with them. Austin loved playing with all "new" toys and Wesley was very well behaved. We then went home, the kids napped, and then we went to my sister Maria and Steve's house for supper and the kids played together. That was also very nice and the kids are now finally both sleeping. Nate went out to visit his Opa in the hospital, so that leaves me with some alone time! I never thought I'd be excited about alone time but it is very nice and I think I'll read my book some more!

2 weeks until we leave for Nova Scotia!! Woo hoo! I'm really excited but also nervous about driving with both kids for that long... it takes about 20-24 hours to get there and we're going to attmept to drive it straight or stop for just one night depending on how the kids are! It'll be kind of a pain to have to stop every 3-4 hours in the day to feed Wesley but unfortunetely, not much can be done about that! At least he will have Austin in the back with him to be able to watch... hopefully that'll be alright. Austin also has a bunch of stuff from his birthday that we're saving for the trip so it'll give him something to do, colouring and stuff.

Wesley is starting to really find his thumb these days and it looks way too cute when he lays there sucking on it, lol. He is a really good baby for the most part and I am REALLY enjoying the baby stage again... I may even do it again some day :) lol

August 4 2010

Yesterday night Wesley FINALLY slept through the night... he went down to bed at around 7/7:30ish and he slept until 7ish this morning, only getting up to eat once at around 5ish!! It was awesome! Hopefully he keeps this up but I'm not getting any hopes up! lol
Today was pretty uneventful, I went to baby group this morning, then the boys napped for a while and then we pretty much played all afternoon/evening.. it was a nice relaxed day.
It looks like its going to be an early night... Nate's just reading Austin his bedtime books and I'm breasfeeding Wesley but he's already asleep on me and it's only 6:35... yikes... better go try to wake him up a bit so he's at least not up all night!

August 3 2010

Today I went to my sister Maria's house in the morning to hang out with the boys. It's always hit and miss with how much time we'll actually get to talk seeing as how there's 5 kids, all 3 and under. So today was one of those days that the kids just didn't want to play nicely and Austin was being quite the bear today. Oh well, such is life with children, lol. I want to enjoy the stage in life that I'm at but I do have to admit, I'm looking forward to the days when the kids are old enough to go play without needing so much direction or care... I'm sure that'll come with its own struggles as well. :)
At least the kids napped nice and long today and were in much better spirits when they woke up. Austin played on his own this afternoon after his nap and loves "tucking" his blue bears into bed, singing to them, covering them with a blanket, and giving them hugs and kisses. It's pretty hilarious.
The other day Nate shaved off his goatee, which was quite the shock because I think it's been about 10 years or so since he's been clean shaven. It took a while to get used to it but I like it. The morning that Austin first saw him with a clean shaven face, he cuddled into bed with him and was just stroking Nate's face for the longest time. It was really funny.

August 2 2010

Today Wesley has really started to creep like crazy.. he is scooting on his belly to get to toys and stuff now. I didn't think I would have to baby-proof this early but it looks like I may have to keep a close eye on him. Austin has some toys that have little pieces so I'm worried about Wesley getting ahold of some of them. Austin doesn't quite understand that Wesley can't have little toys or things. Here's a video of his creeping...



I pretty much spent today playing outside since Austin really wanted to play with his new "fire truck" so badly. lol He did NOT want to nap today, he was having way too much fun with all his new toys. Other than that, I cleaned up from yesterday and read some of my book while the boys napped. It's so nice when they both nap at the same time and today their naps overlapped for about an hour which was awesome.

Austin was playing on our bed this evening, he would grab all the pillows and pile them up as high as he could and then fall into/over them and just laugh like crazy. Wesley was on the bed too just watching and giggling as well. It was really cute, I love seeing the two of them interact, it's so neat how early they develop a bond already.

Austin's party today was a huge success and he has SUCH a great time. He loved every minute of it. We had a huge lunch, sat outside because the weather was beautiful, and the kids all played. There were a lot of people: 20 adults, 7 kids, and 2 babies! It was a wonderful time and Nate and I both said afterwards that we are sure blessed with some wonderful family and Austin is extremely lucky to have so many people who love him and who want to celebrate his birthday with him.

Austin had so much fun playing with all of his gifts and it was hard getting him to go to bed tonight because he just wanted to keep playing. He got a firetruck from Grandma and Grandpa, which actually sprays water so he had a lot of fun spraying people with that. He also got bubble blowers, a t-ball set, a truck, a bunch of puzzles/scissors/books/crayons, and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting... he was spoiled rotten and will be kept busy for the next month with all the stuff he got!

Austin loves doing puzzles and colouring right now... especially if mommy does it with him. He sits at his little table in his room for about an hour straight every day just colouring and drawing. It's so cool because he's actually starting to draw pictures, he can draw a set of eyes and this morning when he was colouring, he drew a couple of candles and said "happy day" and pointed to them and said "hot". They were just a couple of lines but I was amazed that he had done that... kids sure are smarter than we give them credit for sometimes!

The cake turned out pretty good except that Nate had to cut the licorice with scissors in order to cut it. I was supposed to just use icing for the cake but I ran out of red food colouring so the icing just turned out pink. I could not let myself make Austin a pink cake for his birthday so I ended up using the licorice that was supposed to be for the fire hose to coat the entire cake. So it worked out alright after all, lol.

The kids loved it so that's what counted :)

The cleanup actually didn't take that long because I have some wonderful family that helped clean up and so it was a pretty stress-free day. I'm looking forward to playing with Austin tomorrow with all his new toys, I'm sure he'll be pretty busy all day tomorrow.

Wesley was really good today as well and he enjoyed attempting to grab at all of Austin's toys before promptly being told "No baby.. Autis.. mine" What can you do? lol

Nate also got the washing machine hooked up this evening and it works great so there's a lot of laundry to do in the next couple of days, hopefully the septic system handles it alright, lol.

July 31 2010

So today I attempted to make a cake for Austin's birthday celebration tomorrow... it's a firetruck in case you can't tell, lol. I still have to make the ladder for it but that'll be a task for tomorrow since I don't really know how I'm going to do it yet..

We have about 25 people coming tomorrow for Austin's "party" and it'll be a lot of fun I'm sure. I spent most of today making homemade cheese bread, nasi goering, and a bunch of other yummy things for tomorrow. I hope it is nice weather so we can all just sit outside.

Nate went to my parents today to help my brother finish their fence gate.. so now their yard is completely fenced in finally... which is going to be super nice for the grandkids to be able to run around out there and we won't have to worry about them getting out of the yard.

I'm also attempting a zucchini dessert, it's like an apple crisp except with zucchini and I've heard it's really good... I got a huge zucchini from my sister-in-law's garden so I figured I'd attempt something new.

We got a new washing machine today finally! Thank goodness because the laundry is starting to pile up. Nate couldn't figure out how to fix the other one so we found one on kiji for $100 which wasn't bad we thought.

Wesley was super fussy today so it was hard to get so much done because he constantly wanted to be held.. he is starting to roll around like crazy and starting to scoot a lot too... he can get to toys that he wants already and he is hard to change now because as soon as you lay him on his back, he rolls over right away onto his belly. It's cute but can get annoying when it takes 10 minutes just to get him dressed, lol. He is always smiling and start to laugh out loud at Austin when he plays around him. It's really cute and I love how much a smile changes his little face... especially his cute little brown eyes.

July 30 2010

Last night I went to a union meeting in regards to the hospital closing beds and pretty much found out nothing that I didn't already know... it's frusterating because Nate and I don't really know what to do but I really do need to go back to work come January seeing as how Nate is only working 3 days a week. If I get laid off, I can't collect EI because I've been on maternity leave for the last year. So I couldn't sleep last night because I just kept thinking about what we're going to do come Jan. I know that I just need to leave it in God's hands.. he's never let us down before and I know he will continue to bless us. I read Psalm 91 last night and it really helped me to stop worrying and just leave it up to God.

We went yesterday to pick up Opa's chickens and I had a good laugh watching Nate try to catch them.. it was quite funny. Then one got loose and he had to chase it to catch it, I was just watching howling.. lol Then Austin went with him to drop them off and he enjoyed that.

This morning Dad Veldhuizen came over to cut Nate and Austin's hair.. Austin looks like such a big boy now, it's crazy how much difference a haircut can make!

Here are a few pictures from Austin's birthday...

On Sunday we're having a birthday celebration for Austin but we figured we should do something on his actual birthday so we gave him a piece of speculaas, which he loved... and put some candles in it. He needed help to blow out the candles and then wanted us to put them back in after we took them out... lol

We also gave him his soccer ball, which he decided immediately needed work and went to work at it with his tools... oh and his hard hat of course! He had a lot of fun and ran around singing "Happy Day" all evening after we had sung happy birthday to him.

Last night I went to my sister Maria's place and we just hung out and worked on our recipe books, it was a lot of fun.. I took Wesley with me and he was great, went to sleep just fine and so I was able to stay for a while.

Today we are going to the hospital to visit Nate's Opa who just had his foot amputated as a result of an accident... I'm looking forward to going and it's great because my sister is going to watch the kids so we can go this afternoon. We also have to go pick up his chickens because he's getting rid of them. So that'll be interesting. I told Nate that I'm NOT going to help him catch them.. yuck.. I'm sure Austin will get a kick out of them though, lol

Nate is home today but he's busy attemping to fix our washing machine which crapped out on us the other day.. so far no luck, I've been telling him to just get a repairman in but of course, he's a man and can fix it himself!! lol But I shouldn't be too hard on him because usually he CAN fix it himself but he just can't stand it when he can't.

Anyways, I better go pay some attention to Austin, he's getting kinda antsy without anyone to play with since Wesley is still sleeping.

July 28 2010

SO this morning at 2:54 am, my baby turned 2... sniff sniff... can't believe he's 2 already!

He woke up this morning around 6:45 because he hears Nate getting ready for work. Every morning, he stays in his bed and calls out for Daddy and if that doesn't work, then he calls out for Mommy. So this morning Nate and I both went in there to sing Happy Birthday to him and he started crying. Every night before bed, Nate and I sing a prayer to him and so I'm pretty sure this morning that he thought we wanted him to go back to sleep when we started singing Happy Birthday to him, lol... what a kid. Once we took him out of his room and sang to him, he was much happier. We didn't give him any presents yet because Nate had to get going to work and quite frankly, I don't think he really could care less anyways. We got him a soccer ball and we already gave him his other present a while ago because it was an outdoor water/sand table and we wanted him to be able to enjoy it all summer long.

This Sunday after church we're having a birthday party for him and I'm sure he will be very excited about that.. especially because he'll get to see all of his cousins who he absolutely LOVES. I'm going to attempt to make him a cake, I'll have to see how it works out, it's a fire truck cake. I got some different candies and stuff to put on it to make it look more like a fire truck and we'll have to see... I'll post pictures of it.

Wesley is still sleeping which is VERY nice... he was up twice last night so that wasn't too bad.

I better go pay some attention to Austin, I'm pretty sure he has pooped since I tried to put him on the potty 10 minutes ago.. unfortuntely he seems to enjoy wearing diapers rather than going on the potty...

July 27 2010

So my sister gave me the idea to start a blog and I thought it sounded kinda fun... so here goes...



I am a registered practical nurse who is currently on maternity leave until the end of January... I have two boys, the oldest, Austin, turns 2 tomorrow and the youngest, Wesley is 4 1/2 months. I am enjoying my time with them but beginning to get a little stir-crazy. It's hard getting out in between meals, nap times, and without too much hassle so these days I've been staying at home quite a bit, which is why I'm getting a little stir-crazy. It's too hot out right now to go for too long of walks with the boys and so it leaves me wondering what to do some days.



Right now, there are a lot of uncertainties in our lives with my husband, Nathan's job and now with my job as well. Nate is a mechanical engineering technologist and is on a work share program right now, so he's working only 3 days a week. I am lucky to have him at home with me but financially, it would be nice for him to get some more hours. The hospital that I work at is going through some changes right now and so we're not really sure yet where that leaves me in January when I'm supposed to go back. I really do want to work part-time while raising the kids because it gets them out a bit more and it helps me keep my sanity as well.



So tomorrow my oldest baby turns 2... where does the time go? It feels like just yesterday I was pregnant with him and now he's already going to be 2, such a big boy. He is such a pleasure (most days anyways :) ) and he wants to be so independent these days. He wags his little finger at me and says "No mommy, Austin do". He can't pronounce his name yet so it comes out "Autis", which sounds hilarious. He drags his little "blue bear" blanket around everywhere, trying to "breastfeed" him (lol), put him down for naps, and read him stories. He has had that bear blanket since he was a baby and has always LOVED him.



We have been taking Austin to swimming lessons the last week and he hasn't really been a huge fan of the water this year. I thought he would really like it but he's pretty hesitant and doesn't really want to let go of me. He does love going down the slide and jumping off the side of the pool into my arms though.



Wesley loves his older brother so much these days. You can lay him down on the floor and he is quite content to just watch Austin playing. He's rolling around everywhere now and I have to really watch him because he ends up all the way on the other side of the room sometimes. Austin is quite content to let Wesley watch him but always has to decide what toys and stuffed animals are okay for him to play with and touch. "Blue bear" is out of the question and if Wesley even touches him, he gets a finger wagging at him saying "No baby, blue mine... Autis" It's hilarious and thankfully, Wesley couldn't care less right now.



Anyways, I'm ready to hit the sack... I never know how much I'll be up at night with Wesley these days, he will sometimes give me a good 6-7 hours but other nights, he's up a lot.. I just don't have the heart to let him cry and so sometimes I end up getting up quite a big. Goodnight!