Nothing to write about

I noticed today that I haven't posted for awhile. I really have nothing to talk about, nothing to exciting. I have a little girl down with a fever and we are starting to prepare to go to Manitoba for a couple days. We will be leaving around the 6th of December. I found this questionnaire while I was reading Tara's blog


1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? Dove body wash, L'oreal shampoo for kids.

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? Not at the moment, I would love some though.

3. What would you change about your living room? I wouldn't be living in a rental house, I would be back in Manitoba in the house we owned with the red walls.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean, but that doesn't say anything about the state of my dishes on the counter.

5. What is in your fridge? Milk, lot's of fresh fruit and veggies, yogurt, left over homemade chicken noodle soup.

6. White or wheat bread? Whole wheat.

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? A ton of junk.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? Clear plastic one on the outside, solid blue on the inside.

9. How many plants are in your home? Zero.

10. Is your bed made right now? Nope.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Neither...

12. Is your closet organized? Not at the moment.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? Large black heavy duty one. We used it when we were assistant directors at Beaver Creek Bible camp.

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic more at home? Evan and I Glass and Emmanuel and Micah have plastic.

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Nope

16. If you have garage, is it cluttered? No garage, our office/playroom is cluttered.

17. Curtains or blinds? blinds...I bought curtains for our living room but wrecked them before i put them up...

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? 1 regular and sometimes a body pillow.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? one small light in the bathroom.

20. How often do you vacuum? Maybe once a week

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard medium toothbrush.

22. What color is your toothbrush? Pink and Blue

23. Do you have welcome mat on your front porch? Not a welcome mat, just a plan mat to catch water.

24. What is in your oven right now? Oven racks

25. Is there anything under your bed? Dust, odds and ends that the kids push under there.

26. Chore you hate the most? Dishes and bathrooms

27. What retro items are in your home? Everything, of course

28. Do you have separate room you use an an office? Nope. Our office and playroom are together.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? One in the bathroom and one in our bedroom.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Change Emmanuel hunts for in the couch cushions.

31. What color are your walls? A Pinkish, yellowish, white color. Very disturbing, but out landlord LOVES them.

32. What does your home smell like right now? Soup we had for supper.

33. Favorite candle scent? Vanilla

34. What kind of pickles are in your refrigerator right now? None, we don't buy pickles.

35. Ever been on your roof? Not this one but our home in Arborg.

36. Do you own a stereo? Only the computer.

37. How many TV’s do you have? One in the living room.

38. How many phones? 1 landline and 1 cell phone

39. Do you have a housekeeper? Only me.

40. What style do you decorate in? anything cheap or free.

41. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?I prefer solid but whatever is cheap.

42. Is there a smoke detector in your home? 2 of em, actually

Our Trip to Banff

2 weeks ago we took the kids to Banff on a Sunday afternoon. It is soon nice to be that close, you drive 1 1/2 hrs and feel like you are nice a completely different province. I love the town of Banff and if ever Evan and I were rich we would move there.
We took the kids for a quick stop at the candy shop and walked around the main street for awhile. After the kids were tried of walking we went to a small museum and looked around at animals that had been killed and stuffed.
Last Christmas Evan and I hit a moose in the mountains and then I thought it was huge but seeing that moose close up is pretty freaky.
After the mountains we took the kids to a place call Cave and Basin. It is klms of trails that take you to the marsh and to a look out point to see birds. We also climbed many flights of stairs to some other trail that takes you to natural hot springs.
Some of these springs are so far in the ground that you have to lean of the fence as far as you can to see the water in the ground.
It was such a great thing for the kids to experience and it was soon nice to get out of the city. I am starting to feel cluster phobic in Calgary,I am not sure if I am ever going to get used to how big it is.

I have all of our pictures from that day on my face book account if anyone is interested in viewing the rest.

Anyway off to clean the house before the weekend, the task that never seems to be done or even close to done.

Emmanuel's 4th Birthday.

Emmanuel turned 4 on October 17th. I can't believe how fast the last 4 years have gone. I still remember the day he was born and the many sleepless days, weeks, months following.

We had a party with friends from our church, it kind of got out of hand and turned into 26 people in our home. 14 of those people were kids. This year defiantly made me look forward to next year where we will invite a couple boys from his kindergarten class ( AHHHH Kindergarten, that is a whole other post).

All in All the party was a blast, Emmanuel had a Lightening McQueen birthday cake and homemade pizza (8 pizzas).
He received great gifts, manly from the cars movie and is seeming older already. One gift from Evan and I was a bicycle helmet so now Emmanuel is allowed to ride his bike on the side walk. I write this post with a lump in my throat and watery eyes thinking about yesterday when I took him to ride outside. Me having to run after him to keep up. He was gone and there was no looking back ( until he couldn't turn with out help :) ).
I will end this post with one last sentence ad many pictures, my first born is growing up.

* Having problem posting pictures, will try again later.

Life

Our life this past month in a nut shell is birthday, broken bones and cleaning.

First things first, about 2 weeks ago, Micah was running in our friends living room when she slipped and fell into a window sill. I was out for supper at the time when Evan called me frantically on the phone. When I returned to our friend house I found my daughter looking like this,

The picture doesn't show everything, but Micah's nose was instantly swollen and turning color, she couldn't breath through her nose and was crying uncontrollably. Evan and I rushed her into the Red Deer hospital. By the time we got there her nose was huge and starting to look like a banana.
We left the hospital 2 hours later with a daughter full of pain medication and a freshly broken nose. The doctor said it was only crooked because of the swelling and they didn't need to set her nose. Here are a couple pictures of the next couple days.

Day 2, swelling is going down, her nose is getting straighter and the bruising is getting darker.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

After this point things have been progressively getting better. I will have more posts later today or tomorrow about the rest of out life.

Micah's Appointment

I was wrong my last post, Micah's appointment was with her new pediatrician and not the ophthalmologist. Micah has her appointment with the eye doctor in a couple weeks.
The moment the Dr. walked into the room I fell in love with her. The doctor is in her upper forties super upbeat and very caring (qualities that are hard to find in a Calgary Doctor). It was nice to have a fresh opinion of Micah and it was the first Doctor that told us that Micah's crying many not be due to something physically wrong with her it may just be her temperament.
We were sent for more blood work to rule some different things out and also a x-ray of her hips. This doctor is the first one to take me seriously about Micah's odd running gait. Micah's left hip seizes up when she runs, it makes her look like she is running side ways and leaning forward. It is incredibly cute, the doctor was having a hard time not laughing. She was also the first doctor to make Micah run and watch what is going on.
All in all it was a great appointment.

Well, I have to start baking, Evan and I are having about 20 people here on Sunday for Thanks giving and I work Friday night as well as a 12 hr shift on Saturday.

Stay at home Mom

I was reading Carissa's Blog today and it really hit home for me. I have a working Mom for the last straight year. At one point I was working nights at Tim Horton's on weekends, delivering papers and babysitting 2 days a week as well as caring for my home and children. This lasted for about 2 weeks and the burn out happened. I have been at Smuggler's Inn for just about a year and have loved every minute of it. Last weekend I handed in my official 2 week notice letter, and I have mixed feelings. I would love to stay but the commute is to long especially in rush hour and to this day the kids aren't dealing well with me working. Micah screams while I am at work and Emmanuel acts up the entire day after I get off. I only worked Fridays and Saturdays so Emmanuel would always act up on Sunday.
At this point I need to do what is best for my family, if I don't work Saturdays then Evan can work them making triple the money I would make and then he would be home in the evenings.
Seems like a no brainer decision, to my heart not a easy executed plan. At home I cook , clean, run errrands and take care of the kids with little to no affirmation or thanks. At work you are constantly being affirmed, thanks for doing this, thanks for doing that, etc. It is really nice to feel needed and wanted, I know I am needed and wanted at home but no one verbally tells you that.
Anyway, I am happy about my decision to go back to being a stay at home mom and it will be SO nice to have Evan home in the evenings, I feel like we are on the road to start feeling like a family again. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and feelings.

On a completely different note Micah has one of her specialist appointments tomorrow morning, this one is with an pediatric ophthalmologist. I will post info when when we return from the doctors office.

Life as we know it.

Our life has been anything but normal or slow in the past couple weeks.
I have been home with the kids during the week and working during the weekend. Evan has been working 16 hours days for the past 2 weeks, it was crazy. Evan was doing a taping job in the evenings as well as working his day job. That is all over and we will temporarily return to life. I have 2 more weeks left of work and then I am done, I love my job but driving 25 mins one way for 15 hrs a week is not worth it. On Friday nights I spend 1 hour in the car for a 3 hour shift. I am going to say out of the work force for a couple months and then after Christmas I am hoping to find the same kind of Job just closer to home.
Evan will be working normal hours for the next week and a half and then he is off to Red Deer to work with one of our friends for 6 days. That is going to be a long week for me at home.

Hopefully I can think of something more Interesting to post in the near future.

Contest

I am not one to sign up for contests, I am not sure why but when I was reading Stacy's blog I knew I couldn't pass up this chance. Maybe I will get addicted to signing up for contests.
I love the Idea of a nursing bracelet, when I was nursing either of my two kids I would always forget what side was last and what time ( and who wants to feel there breasts in public to see which is fuller). I also checked out Amy May's sight and really like a lot of things she is offering, I will definitely be shopping there IF there are more children in the picture for us.

hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

The things we teach our Children

I have always known that our kids listen and hang on to every word we say. There have been many embarrassing moments when Emmanuel has repeated something we have said in the privacy of our own home. Today I saw the fun side.
I was playing kitchen with the kids , we were making food for the kids stuffed animals and we were having a blast. Emmanuel then decides that he wants to play house, he tells me that he is the dad and Micah will be the mom. I am thinking okay great maybe I can sneak away and get some dishes done, when I am torn from my thought to hear Emmanuel stating that Micah needs to stay in the Kitchen because she is the mom and he will go to work.
I thought it was very cute and funny.

We just came off of a wonderful week. My parents were out from Manitoba and we had a blast.

We spent the days hanging out, going to the mall or the Zoo. They left on Sunday and it felt way to early. It was a perfect balance of spending time with them, my parents spending time with the Kids and Evan and I having our own time with the kids.

I have been so thankful from the visiting that we could do with both of our parents in the last couple weeks.

I will post more later with Pictures.

I am sitting at the computer in absolute bliss, my house is silent. Micah is sleeping and Emmanuel is watching cartoons, and for the moment all company is gone. We had Evan's parents out from Saturday at 8:30 a.m until last night. We had a wonderful time with them but it is nice to have my home back. I have a week to get things in order then my parent will be coming out.
On Sunday Micah had her 2nd birthday and we had a party, what a wild day. The house was full and lively, it was great.
Micah feel in love with the 4 princesses cake at superstore and then we found the same design at Dairy Queen. So we went with both, not on purpose of course. I ordered the cake from Superstore a week ahead of time and on Saturday Evan and I found the Ice cream cake and Dairy Queen said they could have it done on time so we order one. Long store short Evan thought I would cancel the order from superstore and I thought he did it, it didn't get done so we ended up with 2 cakes.



Evan and I bought Micah a Kitchen and she received lost of things that go along with it, She also got a little leap pad book reader, a cabbage patch kid and tons of other things. We appreciated everyone that could be there is person or thought.

On a completely different note I saw our family doctor today to get Micah's blood test results. These test where taken a couple weeks ago by her cardiologist.
The good news is that all test came back normal. The not so good news is Evan and I are starting to feel like we are living the mystery Diagnosis show on TLC. Micah weight has only drop a little bit more which is good but her attitude isn't changing. Her doctor now has passed her case on to a pediatrician and we are been sent to a support group for parents with chronically unhappy or strong willed children. He isn't sure is the group will help Micah because they aren't sure what is wrong yet but he is more concerned about Mine, Evans and Emmanuel's well being. We have been listening to crying for a long time already.
we will keep everyone up to date as everything unfolds. We are still praying that Micah just out grows it, but it also would be nice to know what is going on and how to make things better for her.

Full swinging summer

Life is crazy and is about to get crazier for our family. We seem to always be busy at home or on the run, summer is in full swing. During the week Evan works from 6:30-6:00 and every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-11:00 and I am at home with the kids. On Fridays and Saturdays I work out of the home at a restaurant. Sunday is our only free day and we always manage to double book us.
We have not seen a free weekend this summer and will not see one for a very long time. Up until this point we have had family over on the weekends but this Saturday Evan 's parents are coming out and after they leave my parents will be out. I am super excited to have family come to visit, This is the kind of busyness that is welcome.
Emmanuel has been loving the time he has spent with his uncles recently, we have spent some time with my brothers in the last little while.
Micah though timid has also been enjoying the extra attention, as for myself I have have been trying to relax and not think about when the house is quiet of visitors and all I can hear is "Mommy play with me" repeated over and over again. I can say with great confidence that I have accomplished very little around the house this summer, the kids and I have taken up permanent residence at the playground or water park.
We also will be getting some news on Micah's test blood test results taken 2 weeks ago. Her doctor called to set up an appointment to discuss something with us, I tried to find out what it was on the phone but the nurse was not aloud to disclose that information to me. I guess I will have to wait.

Anyway been loving the sun and summer but it is supposed to rain tomorrow so I will welcome confining the children and tackling my laundry and dishes.

crossing the finish line and starting a new race

Thank you so much to everyone who thought of us and prayed for Micah yesterday during her appointment with the cardiologist.
First off, Micah was weighed and she has dropped another 1/2 pound. That puts her at 22 pounds even.
The hole in Micah's heart is still there as well as one of the valves in still floppy. The hole in 3 mm, which means it has not grown since our last visit. Micah's Cardiologist said that her heart is not enlarged anymore and it physically has no signs of having trouble coping.
He doesn't believe surgery will ever be necessary and Micah "should" have no symptoms. This leads us to the questions why is she losing weight and is so tired. We have finished the race with her cardiologist and will not need to go back to see him unless she get seriously ill.
Now for our new race we have started, after the appointment with the cardiologist we were sent over the the children's hospital for MANY tests. They are testing her liver function, kidney function, thyroid, cell counts and everything else under the sun. So we will continue in the stage of have no idea what is going on and will keep praying for answers and treatment.

We are very thankful for the answer to our prayers about her heart and are so glad to close that chapter in our lives, God has been truly faithful through the whole thing. Our plan is to keep looking to God with this next path we are taking to finding health for our daughter.

Nearing the finish line, hopefullly.

Due to the drop in Micah's weight over the last 2 weeks she has been rushed in to see her cardiologist. Normally it would take 2 months to get in with the doctor but Micah was given an appointment in 5 days ( that was last week). Micah's appointment is tomorrow morning at 8:10.
I am hoping that we are nearing the finish line, 2 years is a long time to be living in question, running to the doctor with a cold, monitoring her color, breathing and heart rate.

I am scared that the doctor is going to tell us to wait another 6 months and we will check again, we have heard that so many time. Along with, she needs to gain more weight and she wont be nearly as cranky when she learns to fall asleep on her own. By the way she has been falling asleep on her own for 6 months and the irritability is getting worse. I was starting to wonder if it was just the fact that she was almost 2 but it is a different cry then when she is trying to get her way or is mad.
It is almost like a sad and painful cry mixed together. I have gotten to the point that sometime I just walk away because nothing help.

I feel like we are at the point were I need to fight for my daughter. I don't want her to have the pain of surgery but I want her to have the results.

I am walking into the doctors office with my lists of symptoms and other weird quirks of her, I am going to fight this fight and get the ball rolling.


We will update everyone tomorrow or Friday.

One step forward two steps back

Last Thursday Micah went for her 12 month and 18 month Immunization. She needed to get a total of 5 needles. so the gave her 4 last time, the last needle was just a poke they hit a vein so they had to pull the needle out right away. Today she got the last two, boy did she remember that place, she was already screaming when they were weighing her. Last Thursday Micah was 23 pounds 1 ounce, today she is 22 pounds 10 ounces. They weighed her twice just to make sure it was right. It feels discouraging when she hit her target weight and is now back down. Her Cardiologist doesn't look to fondly on dropped weight.
Right now we need to just pray and trust God that all will be fine in the end.

On a happier note, Emmanuel went to his first birthday party today. our neighbors son turned 5 and had a party at Build-a-Bear. It was a lot of fun minus Micah screaming due to her immunization and Emmanuel not letting me out of his sight. Emmanuel tends to get really shy when he is around a lot of people.
So Emmanuel and Micah both return home to show there Daddy there brand new bears.

First Night

Last night was Micah's first night in her new bed. We kept the bedtime routine the same and kept everything low key. Micah cried for about 30 seconds, by the time I walked out of the room she was talking to Emmanuel and her Cat.

she got out of bed once and came to the door, Evan just asked her to go back to bed and she did. Micah was up about every one to two hours last night. It seemed like she just needed a little bit of reassurance and then went back to sleep. She stayed in her bed until 7:30 in the morning.

I have to say it was a good night and I am hoping things get better.

Water Guns and Big Girl Beds

We have had a wonderful weekend, full of some great family time. On Friday I worked until 10:30 at night and on Saturday I worked until only 5:00. That was the first Saturday in about a month where I didn't work a double. Saturday night Evan and I took the kids roller blading in the double stroller along the bow river, we went about 5 miles and had such a blast. After our work out we decided that we deserved some Gelato, we are crazy about that stuff.
Evan and I have been looking for a toddler bed for Micah for quite a while now, everything we have found that is good quality is very expensive. While I was at work on Saturday Evan went on line at a Calgary web site and found an Ikea toddler bed for only $50.00. It is an expandable bed so it converts into a twin bed. Micah is sleeping in it for the first time tonight.
Sunday we went to church and listen to an amazing service about feeling like God has forsaken us and is not there. It put a lot of things in perspective for me.
After lunch we went and picked up Micah's bed and headed out on a search. I was looking for washable training pants for Micah, pull ups are way too expensive and i feel like Micah is relying on them. When ever she is running around naked she doesn't have accidents but with pull ups she is always wetting them.
I only bought one but I am looking for more, the same or different as long as they do the same thing. I f anyone has any ideas please let me know.
We also found Emmanuel his first water gun, all the neighbor kid have water guns and Emmanuel is left out. He is super proud of his water gun and can't wait to use it on the neighborhood kids.

Evan and I have also made a commitment to no T.V in the evenings that we are both home after the kids go to bed. We have had some great talks, It has definitely been great to re-connect with each other.

23 pounds and counting

Today Micah had her 18 month immunization ( only 6 months to late). She was weighted as has hit 23 pounds, that is 23 pounds and 1 ounce to be exact. She has moved from the 3rd percentile to the 4 th percentile. We are taking baby steps!
Hopefully this slight weight gain will give her cardiologist hope that she is growing a developing well. we will find out more about her heart in Aug and will let everyone know then what is going on.

We had a crazy weekend, spent it working and at the stampede with Nathan and Cheryl. I will blog and set up pictures after the kids go to bed

Mel

Our Crazy and Wonderful long weekend

We had a crazy but great weekend. I worked from 5:30 - 10:30 on Friday night and then 11:00a.m-10:30p.m. on Saturday night, I was exhausted. After Evan picked me up from work on Saturday we needed to go and pick up a waffle iron for Sunday. We saw some pretty good fireworks on way home. Sunday I was up at 6:30 in the morning with Micah and in the kitchen by 7:00. we were having 7 people over for breakfast at 8:30. I made homemade waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, bacon and tons of fresh fruit. We also had Ethan, Dave and Kendra's son for a couple hours that morning while they had brunch at smuggler's inn.
Emmanuel with his uncle Adam and Adam's girlfriend Charlie

My brother Nathan and Sister- in - Law Cheryl

After everyone left we gave the kids some lunch and sat down to debate whether I wanted to take a shower or have a much needed rest. At 1:30 I laid down with Micah and Evan lay down with Emmanuel. We all feel asleep ( Emmanuel never falls asleep during the day) and only woke up 3 hours later. What a huge answer to prayer, I desperately needed that rest.
We then rushed to get dressed and were out of the house 15 mins later. We had supper with Jeremy and Jaclyn and spent the evening at the park.
At 11:00 p.m. Evan and I packed up the kids and headed into the city center to watch the fireworks, we all had a blast.

Monday, was my favorite day. Evan and I took the kids to Elbow falls. We went with Dave and Kendra and Ethan. We spent the day walking along paths that wind along the falls. The kids throw rock, sticks, flowers and leaves into the water, watching them flow with the current and over the rapids. It was a very relaxing and peaceful day. You can't help but stand in awe of God's wonders and marvelous creations.

Scattegories

Scattegories

Another tag! It's like the game...use my first name initial to fill in the answers to the rest...Add up your points and win a prize!

Your Name: Mel

1. Famous singer/band: Metalica
2. 4 letter word: Mesh
3. Street name: Marlborough drive
4. Color: Metallic
5. Gifts/presents: Magnadoodle
6. Vehicle: Mazda
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Mugs
8. Boy Name: Matthew
9. Girl Name: Matilda
10. Movie Title: My big fat Greek wedding
11. Drink: Mocha
12. Occupation: Mid-wife
13. Flower: Magnolia
14. Celebrity: Matthew Perry
15. Magazine: Maire Claire
16. City: Milwaukee
17. Pro Sports Team: Montreal Alouettes
18. Fruit: Melon
19. Reason for Being Late for Work:Menopause
20. Something You Throw Away:
21. Things You Shout: Mercy
22. Cartoon Character: Mighty Mouse

I got all 22.
at least my blog inst boring anymore.

Questions and Life

I tend to wonder why about a lot of things in life, things that I may not ever get an answer to, things that are completely out of my control. These are questions that are at times all consuming.
I have had lots of times that I have struggled with the fact that we moved away from Steinbach 5 years ago, why we left our families, why we left so of the best friends you could ask for. Last year I began to question why we left Arborg, the first house we bought ( that is still ours), the place where both our children were born. i have realized that life has many ups and down and eventually you will make a new home and find new friends. Evan and i spent the first year in Calgary dealing with many hurts, when Evan was promised a job out here I wouldn't need to work and we wouldn't need to worry about money. We lost a lot of money when his first boss went on drugs, Evan had two horrible job after that, at one point I was babysitting out of my home, working night shift at Tim Horton's ( Friday and Saturday), and delivering papers every morning. We were always wondering if we would have enough money for food, we always ate, even if we have to get food hampers . God was so gracious to us, we are starting to see why we stuck it out and are starting to reap lots of benefits. We have found a wonderful church, Evan has a great job, I have a great job ( only Friday evening and Saturday during the day), we have made some wonderful friends and re connected with some old friends.
To sum it up, I am truly thankful for my life, for old and new friends and new beginnings.
Sorry about the rambling, it feels good to realize how thankful I am for my life and I just wanted to share that.

NEW Beginnings.

Micah at 22 1/2 months has decided that she doesn't want diapers any more, so we are potty training.
Hurray for us, It has not been as easy this time as it was for Emmanuel. well see how it goes.

runs in the family

Just thought i would share this picture of the kids. They are starting young following Evan and I in our motorcycle obsession. Micah also walks around the house looking for pens. If she finds one she will try to "tattoo" her arm( no joke ). One sure fire way of avoiding a temper tantrum with Micah is letting her look at my tattoo magazines. We definably have some things running in our family.

I've been tagged

As I sit here and wonder what is interesting about my life that I can blog about I realize that I have been tagged Carissa for a meme. So here it goes, I hope it is slightly less boring for you then how it feels in my brain. What were you doing 10 years ago? Well, I was only 14. I was most likely babysitting, wishing I could drive, and hoping for the day I would be cool. The sad part was it took reaching high school and my group of friends went from 2 to no less then 20. What were you doing 1 year ago? My husband had moved to Calgary 2 months earlier and I was at home with a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old. I was trying to find renters for our home or sell it ( what ever came first), clean the house, start packing, take care of my two kids and not miss my husband to much ( the kids and I moved to Calgary to join Evan the second week of July. Last May - September were months that I truly would like to pretend never happened. Five Snacks you enjoy Frozen Yogurt anytime of the day Fruit salad Original Lays Chips Smarties Watermelon Five Songs which you know all the words A little drop of rain -Lullaby I started singing when Emmanuel was born. Evan's mom sang it to him when he was a baby. Shine On-Barlow Girl Suddenly I see-KT Tunstall I'm Broken-Evanessence and Seether I've always loved you-Third Day Five things you would do if you were a millionaire? I would go to an all inclusive resort with my hubby at least once a year. Take our family on vacations. I would defiantly put away enough money so Evan could get his teaching degree, we could retire and travel and our kids could pick any post secondary school they wanted and not worry. Anything left over would go to an Orphanage in Congo. That is more then five but what does it matter. Five Bad Habits I worry way to much. Especially about things out of my control. I play with my hair all the time, more so when I am nervous. I am stubborn and hard headed. If I want it my way or think I am right I wont listen to anyone else. I really should change that. I stay up way to late. I let my dishes sit for sometime a week. One last thing, I always need to feel in control. Five things you like doing Playing with Emmanuel and Micah, swimming ( watersides), rock climbing, spending time with my hubby and a good movie. There is so much more I could say , I also really love my job. Five things you will never wear again Bubble gum jeans, neon colors, bikini or anything that shows my baby belly and stretch marks, stick on nails, slouch socks. Five Favorite toys Our digital camera, a volleyball, my kids little people sets, any kind of Car tracks, and cabbage patch babies

Our Family Vacation

Evan, Emmanuel, Micah and I just spent the weekend in Edmonton. Evan and I had decided that after 4 years it was time for a family vacation. We had planned on going camping all weekend but after hearing the forecast we were quick to change our minds ( what are you going to do in a tent all weekend with a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 1/2 yr old). We chose the next best thing, spending the weekend in a hotel with continental breakfast and a pool. No cooking or cleaning for the entire weekend, only pure relaxation ha ha. Sorry had to laugh the kids had a totally different plan. After looking past all the tears, I want to go homes, sleepless nights (Micah) and general craziness we had a great time.


walking down the stairs of our hotel to Breakfast. We spent the entire weekend eating out the least we could do was take the stairs.

Evan with the kids at the Sea Caverns in West Edmonton Mall. There are crocodiles in the tank behind them.

The kids and I petting Sting Rays. So cool

Evan playing in the pool with the kids. We had a great time in the hot tub but the other pool was far to cold.



This is last last picture I will share on this blog( more will come later). I wanted to show Micah's little head twist to the side. Almost every time we bring the camera out she cranks her head to the side, It is almost like she is saying Everyone look at me, I know exactly how beautiful I am. Super cute.

We had a blast, I throughly enjoyed my time with Evan and the kids and I defiantly learnt a lesson. Just because it is call a vacation , with kids around doesn't mean you get a break :)

More stories and pictures to come.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I aways thought that life when Emmanuel was two was on the best of days hard and trying. Who wants to be saying no all day long.
Well, now I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 22 month old. I love my kids more then words can describe but to hear "Mommy play with me" all day long gets incredibly tiring. If Emmanuel is not begging me to play with him he is off torturing his sister.
While Emmanuel is being the boy God created him to be I am trying to deal with a 22 month old that has a attitude the size of a13 year old and the body the size of a 12 month old ( we just hit 22 pounds :) )
Now that all the explaining is done, fast forward to today. I write this as I hang my head in exhaustion.
I just got over a nasty flu on Tuesday, the symptoms are gone and the exhaustion is raging in full force. On top of that we are leaving for Holidays tomorrow and I have done NOTHING. Evan also works long hours so he isn't much of a help at the moment.
7:00a.m Emmanuel jumps on me, all I can hear is Mommy play with me. My response Waiting until after breakfast.
8:00 Micah please eat your cereal NO. We do this until the bowl gets dumped on the floor. Micah has a time out and screams like it is the end of the world.
9:30 Micah is screaming from the play room, "Emmanuel Hit me" Emmanuel's response No I didn't. Emmanuel goes for a time out. When I ask him why he hit her his answer was " Because I wanted to".
10:00 Micah throws herself on the floor screaming, what brought it on? I haven't a clue.
10:30 Micah throws herself on the floor screaming, what brought it on? I haven't a clue.
11:00 Mommy come play with me. I was just playing with Emmanuel but it is never enough time for him.
12:00 Micah eat your lunch NO. Plate of food and cup of juice on the floor. Micah has a time out and screams like it is the end of the world.
2:00 Micah is sleeping and Emmanuel is watching Tree House, the house is quiet and I am ready for a nap.

We won't talk about the water that was poured on the floor, the biting and the tears that took place between 12:00 and 2:00. I LOVE nap time.

I can imagine how many moms are out there right now totally understanding what type of day I have had today and sadly that thought is not making me feel better.
What does make me feel better is knowing that everyday is not like this and getting huge hugs a wet kiss for my two wonderful children.
Sorry that I have been all over the place with this post, just trying to get my thoughts out.
I will try and Blog when we return from our holidays on Monday.

Mel's Latest body Art

Evan and the Kids surprised me with a tattoo for mother's day. I have had an idea for a long time but never would have gotten it done because of the money it would cost. Evan decieded it would be a great mother's day gift.
I took a couple picture with our web cam, when the total tattoo is finished I will take better pictures and post them.


There are 5 cherry blossoms, one for Evan and I and the kids. On the inside of my forearm there is one closed cherry blossoms for a baby we lost. I am super excited and can't wait for it to be all colored in.

Family Update

Sorry for the recent silence over on our end. Life just keeps moving and I am constantly running about 3 steps behind. Evan is keeping busy with working and also his side business, He does framing, dry walling and mudding with Jer Hiebert. I am work at Smuggler's Inn on Fridays and Saturdays. I also Clean the house, make meals and run after 2 kids.
We are now settled into our new house and loving it. We have so much more space for the kids to play.

Emmanuel is a typical pre-schooler who loves to torment his younger sister. He also thinks that it is very funny to take credit when Micah farts :)
Micah is just about 2 and is entering the terrible two's stage. If we tell her not to do something she will look us in the eyes and say NO, then proceed to do it while looking at us. She always keeps us on our toes. Micah will have an apt. with her Cardiologist in the beginning of Aug, this will determine if and when she will have her heart surgery. Micah is also having problem's with her eyes that started about 3 months ago. When are waiting to hear from a pediatric Ophthalmologist, her family doctor is concerned about the intensity of her eye pain and the wait to get in to see a specialist that he is recommending that we take her into Emergency and the process will speed up.

That is a very quick update on our family, I will be more diligent at updating the blog every couple of days.

Schellenbergs have now join the 21st century

Sorry about the delay since the last blog. About an hour ago we finally got our phone and computer set up.
I love our new home. It is a duplex like the last one but it has 3 bedrooms and all the bedrooms are on the main floor. We have moved up in the world, Instead of living in a dump we are living in the lap of luxury( according to us :) ).

When I figure out how to post pictures I will get some of our house and new ones of our family up.

I am heading out to work so I will blog more tomorrow during quiet time.

Mel

Schellenbergs have now join the 21st century

Sorry about the delay since the last blog. About an hour ago we finally got our phone and computer set up.
I love our new home. It is a duplex like the last one but it has 3 bedrooms and all the bedrooms are on the main floor. We have moved up in the world, Instead of living in a dump we are living in the lap of luxury( according to us :) ).

When I figure out how to post pictures I will get some of our house and new ones of our family up.

I am heading out to work so I will blog more tomorrow during quiet time.

Mel

Official last night in our house

It is the last night in our home. We will be moving tomorrow evening around 6:30.
Our new house is in the North West of Calgary a lot closer to Evan's work and our Church. It will be about 15 mins further for me to go to work.

We will be moving up in the world from our tiny 2 bedroom to almost double the space and three bedrooms. It also has a unfinished basement for the Kids to play. The kids are super excited about the new house and the fact that they will have a play room.
Tonight will be my first time seeing the house, every time that Evan went to look at it I was working. So I will blog again on my first impressions of the house either tomorrow or the next day.

My mom came out on Saturday and will be staying until Wednesday morning. It is really nice to see her and be able to spend some quality time together. She also came out to help us pack and move.

Good Night
Mel

The Schellenberg Family is online

We, Like many others have decided to start a blog.
This is for the purpose of updating our friends and family on our lives.