Over a Month!

Wow, how life can change in such a short period of time. Angelina has started school and luves it! I have plugged though doing daycare upstairs. The kids don't seem to mind, but I'm really starting to missing my space. But we have continues plugging on with the renos as well, and today the digging has started on the foundation. This marks a great day! The work will get done, and once they are done we can go 'full steam ahead' on the inside renos!

As I mentioned Angelina started school. Every day she asks if 'today' she goes. My neighbor drives her to school, and brings her home. I've met her teacher, and she is a lovely warm woman. She is easy to talk to, and quit willing to talk about concerns I might have, or how I can help Angelina at home. I still have concerns and worries. But I see how much she luves it, and I see that school is a good thing for her. Yesterday we saw a friend from school at the park and she was so excited...and so it begins...

Gracey also luves the 'just me and mommy time'. Angelina was at school a few days ago, and I had no extra kids. So I went shopping and bought Gracey some boots that flash. She spent 20 uninterrupted minutes trying them on, stomping, taking them off, looking where the lights come from, and then putting them back on to stomp some more. 20 minutes! It was lovely. She was having a great time. Then all of a sudden she says, "Nope, I can't wear my boots on the carpet". She takes them off, goes to Bryan ( who has, unknown to me, attacked the kleenex box) and says so motherly "No Bryan! No kleenex for you!" I was laughing my - - - off!

And Bryan is almost walking. He is so busy. He pulls up on everything ( the hot stove!) , crawls everywhere, is always jabbering and pointing at someone, and is standing by himself. He is working hard at the park to get those stairs down pat. He goes up a few steps, and mommy gets him down (it scares me). He likes to be among his friends on the carpet to play with the toys. And he is eating. He likes oatmeal, warm bananas, sweet potato's, green beans, carrots, noddles, cheerios, bread, pears, soup, crackers, chicken, yogurt and so on. He waves and says "Hi"or "Bye". I swear he has said mom, and dad, and cat...but maybe its just me:)

It seems we have all grown and changed, but life still goes on the same daily. We are all still here, and its wonderful! We are happy, and healthy.

I Did It

I bought Angelina her school bag and lunch bag. We went together yesterday, and I let her pick it. She picked 'Strawberry Shortcake'. She was so proud to put it on and prance around the house. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday I was getting my first positive pregnancy test, holding her for the first time, watching her walk....She is so excited and she is happy and ok about it all. But am I? My baby is growing up!

I"m Mobile, and Happy

Ok, so here it is. Bryan is really doing it. Crawling crawling crawling....EVERYWHERE! Its only been since Saturday, and he is getting fast! At first, the in the morning he didn't remember. But this morning I got him up and put him on the floor. He was sitting there with this little grin on his face, and then suddenly THUMB his hands hit the floor and off he went. As he can see in the video, he is happy and proud to be moving. The crying has pretty much stopped. He is happy to be on the floor with the kids, moving around, and getting what he wants. He is pulling up on anything that will stay still. He pulls up on the coffee table, and pulls my table cloth (with everything on it) off. He pulls up on chairs, the stroller outside, and the beds. Last night he had his first crash! He was on the deck pulling up on one of the little tike chairs. Well they are only plastic....so BUMB he went. Oh, did he ever cry then! His lip is a bit swollen today, and he knocked his gum inside his mouth, so its a bit bruised. But did it slow him down...nope! After a cuddle and a nurse, off he went.

And about the girls....Grace is trying so hard to keep up with her friends, but her feet don't want to co-operate, and she is constantly dealing with skinned knees. I feel so bad for her when she hits the side walk 'WACK", and then cries! But a quick hug and cuddle and a band aid, and she's off again..... Angelina starts school on September the 3rd! She is so excited but a little nervous at the same time. We are planning what she will wear that day and how she will wear her hair. Goran's mom has bought her some new clothes but I have yet to buy her a school bag and a lunch bag. Buying that school bag and lunch bag some how makes it real...and I'd rather put it off a little bit longer.....she's ready, but maybe mommy isn't quit yet:)

And the basement. It has turned into one REALLY BIG head ace. We decided to have it done from the outside, because then it is permanent. So we had a guy all lined up...he kept putting us off and off and finally one day just called and cancelled. I was not happy. So after another week of quote after quote after quote we finally picked a company, but are looking at a 3-6 week start date depending on the weather! And then we still have to finish the basement off .....So we are hoping by the time the cold weather sets in we are all done, and can enjoy the space.

Well, now I think that is it. I just sat down to write a few lines....and got all carried away! Until next time....have a great weekend!

Good bye

On August 5th, Gorans dad passed away. He has been sick for 2 years, and towards the end was in pain and was suffering. We all miss him and we are sad that he is gone, but at the same time we find great comfort in the fact that he is not suffering anymore. The week of he funeral was hard but the family gathered often, finding comfort in being together and sharing special memories of Stevo.

We layed him to rest him on August 9th, 2008.

I'm on the Move!

Bryan is working very hard at moving around. He sorta inches around on his bum. The kleenex box is a great incentive, and he'll move pretty fast for it. The potted plants are too. The toys on the shelf aren't to big a deal anymore now that he has the world at his feet - bum I guess :) He is my earliest baby to be moving around. There is so much he doesn't understand, but he does understand the word no. 2 nights ago he had inched quickly across the room for that kleenex box. When he got there I sad, "Bryan, NO!" In a deep mommy means business voice. He looked up at me, and actually turned away from the box. I hope he always listens that well!!
He wants to walk. He luves if you hold his hands and walk with him. He does not want to sit....he will actually make his legs ridged when its time to sit (like when my back is hurting from being all bent over in helping him walk.) He is afraid of being left behind. He wants to get up and go with those sisters of his!

Renos......Need I say more?

We are up to our neck in reno's. Its a bit of a bummer to see the space. We had some cracks in the foundation. This encouraged us to knock down dry wall and find them. This has in turn encouraged us to refinish the basement properly. So here we are, the brick fire place is 3/4 gone, bare foundation exposed, plumbing exposed, ceiling gone, a closet is gone, on and on. I keep picturing the end product, and that is keeping me encouraged. It will likely be a good month anyways, maybe 2, but in the end it will be a leak free, clean, dry, fresh space. Renovating has its ups and downs. Specially at the end of the day, I'm tired, and it is that much harder to stay positive. Usually I'm crabby, and all I can see is a big mess. But after a good sleep I can see the bigger picture again. Keep in mind too, that most of my working time is when the kids are sleeping. So in the afternoon, (my drowsy time), and about 9:00-10:30pm sometimes. Those are usually wind down times, but instead I am smashing bricks, lugging bricks, ripping down walls, lugging out stinky moldy drywall....you get the idea. We are almost done demo, and the cracks are going to be fixed hopefully towards the end of next week. Then on weekends we can drywall, and start puttying....yuck.....Anyway, here is some pics for you to get the idea!
Oh, and one more thing, thanx to Cheryl for all your help knocking down that fire place. That was fun!

They are Growing, despite my despair!

1. Parker and Bryan, chomp, chomp chomp!

2. Trying out some sweet potatos, he's only nibbling on foods so far.

3. What a face! I'm glad I cought it! check out the cloth diaper.

4. What a sweetie...sometimes!

5. Just playing outside.

5. My big girl went on the train with Daddy.

6. Here is, another face, in his kamono, if you notice his feet, trying to pull up. He is tryng soooooo hard how to figure out to move!


Hope you enjoyed, have a great day!