Holiday Visiting

We enjoyed the holidays. Craig had a couple of days off and we spent it with family. Christmas Day is always spent at Craig's Uncle Jim's house with extended Martin family and all of Uncle Jim's extended family. Every year there's more people and this year it was close to about 40. So many new little cousins and boyfriends and girlfriends. It's always a great time.

Shaun really enjoyed playing air hockey. He beat me a couple times!


Finally a nice picture of Craig and Ian together where both are smiling.

The boy cousins left to right: Matthew - 5, Joseph - 3, Shaun - 3, Ian - 4 1/2 months

It was a great visit with everyone but it was nice to return to normal on Friday because all the visiting was exhausting!

Long Overdue

Shaun's at his friends house so I decided to get everyone updated on my family.

Ian is closing in on 5 months old. He's able to roll from his tummy to his back, though not consistenly because there's still times when I'll place him on his tummy and he'll be beside himself minutes later because he hates it. Good motivation for him to practice rolling, I figure. He's getting closer to the back-to-tummy roll but I think that's still about a month away. When he's laying on his back he'll pull his feet up to examine his toes and sort of rolls to his side to get a better view but hasn't made it the full roll yet. Ian's passing toys from one hand to the other, and back again. He'll reach out for a toy in front of him and is able to bat at it but can't yet grasp it on the first attempt. Usually it looks more like the toy swung into his reach than him reaching out to the swinging toy. He 'talks' a lot: cooing, blowing bubbles and making spitty raspberries. He hasn't started any consonant sounds yet but I would guess that 'g' will be the first. He's getting really close. Ian's just like Shaun, in that he loves getting lotion on after bed. I just use the regular Johnson's bath lotion that I still use for Shaun. Ian's favourite part to have rubbed is his head and temples and he hates getting lotion on his belly and chest. Maybe because it makes him cold. Shaun's been getting a kick out of how Ian will follow him around by turning his head. Shaun discovered it one day as he walked past Ian in the Bumbo and now it's a game the two will play together. The most amazing is that when Shaun disappears behind a wall Ian will look to the other side of the wall and wait for Shaun to pop out. Though that's probably because Shaun couldn't be quiet if his life depended on it so he's always crashing into something or making some sort of noise to indicate to Ian where he's going to reappear. Ian really enjoys singing songs and finger-plays. I do this one with him about a Teddy Bear walking around a garden and then tickling Ian's neck. He thinks that one's pretty funny and will shrug up his shoulders as I near the end in anticipation of the tickles that are coming. Ian seems to be making strange a little bit. I was visiting my sister in laws yesterday and their kids and Ian only wanted to sit with me. He wanted to be facing out so he could watch all the action but when Sheri or Julia tried to hold him he let them know he prefers to sit with Mummy. Hopefully the activity over the next week and a bit will help him a little. I know it's developmentally normal but after all the struggles we had with Shaun's separation anxiety I'd prefer if Ian had a milder case.

Shaun is 3 1/2. Boy, it feels so wierd to type that. He speaks like an adult some days but still has a hard time pronouncing 'r' and he lisps the letter 's'. Occasionally I'll catch him saying 'th' with an 'f' sound but mostly just for names. Other words that he uses regularly, like the number 3, he can say just fine. He's able to count objects up to 10 consistently and can count to 20 but misses 15 and says eleventeen instead. Shaun recognizes every letter of the alphabet in upper and lower case and knows the main sound for all the letters. Some of the secondary sounds - like the 's' sound for the letter c (circle) - he's still learning. Most confusing for Shaun is how Ian's name is spelled. Once again, we have a spelling issue. Man, we can't win! Most of you know that I regret spelling Shaun's name with a u and now Shaun can't wrap his head around an I being at the front of Ian's name instead of an E. When Shaun's in a mood to learn he'll work at sounding out words on his own. Butter - BTR, Ian - EN, Kitty - KTE. I just need to get him more interested in writing. Shaun doesn't have very much interest in writing or colouring at all. That definitely explains his poor motor skills when it comes to holding a pencil or a crayon. Up until a couple of months ago he was still holding a crayon in his fist. I've really tried to encourage him daily to practice writing letters and he's coming along. He is able to write all the letters that make up his name and most of the time, it's legible.

Shaun's been experimenting with his body recently; pushing himself more and more. He'll launch himself off the couch into a pile of pillows... backwards. He'll climb down the stairs using only the banister and spindles. He hops and jumps on one leg or both or alternates between the two. He's also just discovered walking with his eyes closed. He tried it in the grocery store last week after practicing in the house for a few days. He was thrilled when he "only ran into one lady, and she was old". I guess he reasons that she wasn't quick enough to get out of his way. We apologized, by the way!

Shaun's taking more of an interest in food. Finally! He wants to help me prepare dinner and often will make his once-daily cup of chocolate milk all on his own in the morning. Microwaving it and everything. And chocolate milk in this house isn't as simple as one would think. First there's digging the cup out of the cupboard. Then comes getting the white milk from the fridge (some days the jug is empty so Shaun will have to remove the old bag, place a new bag in the jug, cut the tip and discard the garbage) and placing it in the microwave to warm up. 45 seconds to be exact. While it's warming up Shaun gets the chocolate sauce from the pantry and puts the valve in the lid of the sippy cup. Once the microwave beeps he removes the cup, adds the chocolate sauce and screws the lid on. Before he shakes the cup, Shaun returns the milk to the fridge and the chocolate sauce to the pantry. Then he's free to drink his chocolate milk. When he makes it himself, he calls it 'homemade'. I wonder what it is when I make it?

Craig and I will be married for 6 years in February. Six years ago I pictured myself to be pretty much where I am: with kids, a house, a vehicle. Never though did I imagine that I'd be so happy, so content, so blessed.

I'll be even more happy when his place sells! :P

Feelin' A Little Down

I think I'm getting ready for my first PPAF because I'm feeling a little 'off' today. I'm hugely emotional and crabby. (Is hugely a word?) But what just set me into uncontrollable tears was thinking about this house. It's not sold yet but that's not what I was sad about. I was sad thinking about SELLING this house. We've outgrown it but I don't wanna leave! We have so many memories here! I was making an album on Facebook of this house and adding captions for all the pictures. I started bawling when I got to the picture of our bedroom. I still can't believe Ian was born there. Every space in this house holds a memory for me. Like I said, I'm just emotional today so even though I'm excited to leave here I'm sooo sad too. :( I need a family member or close friend to buy this place so I can come back and bathe the boys in the tub every now and then and do laundry in the basement.

Could They Be The Ones?

We have another viewing scheduled for 1:30 today, so just about 2 hours from now. I find it difficult to imagine another family living here because this is all I've known for my little family, but even more difficult to ponder is the reality that one of these couples touring my house will ultimately be the ones living here in March. Wierd. I think about moving out and how things will be in my new house; they will be thinking about moving in and how things will be here. Circle of life I guess.

And after my meltdown last week, Craig's been working his tail off trying to help me keep up with the housework. It's been so nice to have help.

4 Months Old

I can hardly believe my baby is 4 months old. Has it really been 4 whole months since I gave birth to him in my bedroom in the August heat? On one hand it feels like it was so long ago because so much has happened since then but on the other hand, I've only known Ian for 4 months and already I know him so well.

He had his 4 months immunizations yesterday. Craig was the one who had to take him because I was picking Shaun up at school and then had a meeting with our agents. The doctor suggested we start Ian on cereal (um, no!) but said Ian is growing and developing right on target.

Weight: 16 pounds - 75th percentile
Height: 26 inches - 95th percentile
Head: can't remember the size but it's 95th percentile too

Craig said Ian did well with his shots too. The first one was a breeze and Ian barely flinched. The second one apparently stings a bit more and he was pretty upset but once Craig was able to snuggle with him for a moment Ian stopped his sobbing. How the nurses know that the second shot stings more than the first is a mystery to me. Do they inject themselves just to test?! I think babies cry more for the second shot because they're thinking, "Crap! Not again! I'd better scream this time so she doesn't jab me a third time."

Ian's definitely gaining much quicker than Shaun did though. At the same age, Shaun was 16lbs, 8oz but was born over 2 pounds heavier than Ian. Ian has pretty much doubled his birth weight in 4 months. Shaun was nearly a year old before his birth weight had doubled.

Before we know it we're going to have to buy Ian a new carseat because he is certainly quite the tubby little guy to be lugging around in that infant carrier - but the convenience is soooo worth it!

Crash and Burn

The stress of the basement has been lifted and Craig and I have been, ahem, back to normal, if you know what I mean. The weekend was nice because we were finally able to relax and spend some time together. We've been working together on getting the house ready to list. We were on a roll and then it all fell apart today and we crashed and burned.

I'm overwhelmed. I can't keep doing everything that I've been doing and be able to function. This morning I got up at 7AM, nursed Ian, made breakfast for Shaun, got myself and Shaun dressed, changed Ian's diaper, got Ian dressed, got extra clothes for Ian's diaper bag, packed Shaun's backpack for preschool, tidied the kitchen, scraped the ice off the van, cleaned out the shop vac that I was returning to a friend, recycled all the cardboard boxes that we've been lugging around for weeks, filled the empty cat food bin, fed the cats, left Ian with Craig who was still in bed and drove Shaun to pick up his friend. Then I drove the boys to preschool, chatted with Shaun's teacher a bit about how he's been doing, picked up the window screens that were fixed for us, and came home to... Craig still in his pyjamas. How is that fair?!?!

I was soooo angry but I bit my tongue and reminded him that we had 30 minutes to get the house ready because we had to leave again at 10:00 and there was an agents tour scheduled for while we were to be out. I frantically washed the breakfast dishes, swept the kitchen floor, made Shaun's bed, put away the boys' laundry, tossed a basket of unfolded laundry in our closet that had been sitting in the kitchen in hopes of Craig folding it, folded the blanket in the basement that I had already folded once this morning, rearranged the pillows on the couch that I had already arranged once this morning, put away the breakfast dishes, nursed Ian, changed his bum, and flew out the door.

The one thing I had asked Craig to do this morning was call the bank to discuss our new mortgage rate. He didn't even do that. I was so insulted that I had been so busy all morning and Craig hadn't done anything to help until I walked in the door and reminded him we had to leave at 10:00. Why am I the one who is always responsible for things like that? He knows where the calendar is. He can read. I had even sent him an email at work last night telling him how busy this morning was going to be. I suggested when we got back around lunch time that we sit down together tonight and make a list of what needs to be done every single day until this place sells and he flat refused, saying doing that would make it seem like we were 12 year olds. Well, newsflash, having your wife remind you of each and every appointment is pretty close to you being 12 years old again. I have half a mind to leave all that stuff up to him and see how far he gets, and how nasty the house is after only a day.

What show is it on TV where people reverse their roles? I know his job is physically demanding most days and I probably wouldn't be able to do it day-in and day-out but he really hasn't a friggin clue how much I carry on my plate daily. Simple things like me reminding him to grab Ian's health card from my purse for Ian's Dr. appointment this morning, or making sure the diaper bag actually has diapers in it. He's never had to think about stuff like that because I've always done it, fearing he'd be left without it. I should leave it up to him one day.

This whole thing ended up in a huge argument about how I can't continue doing everything that I'm doing; I need more help from him. He went on and on listing off the things he's done in the past couple of weeks to help get the house ready. Yes, he's been helping with some things but I don't see him sleeping until 8AM and then sitting on his behind in front of the computer for an hour and a half while I'm off running, to be helping. Maybe it's just me. It seems to be only on his terms; when he wants to help. I don't have a choice about when I make a meal or feed the baby. I especially don't have a choice about what to clean or when to clean it now that the house is listed. I could get a call this afternoon asking to bring a client through at dinner time. I have 2 children to look after in the meantime so I would appreciate not having to pick his sock lint out of the carpet or throw his dead kleenex in the garbage.

Yeesh, that was quite the vent. I feel much better now. And now I'm off to dig the basket of laundry out of our closet so I can fold it before next week. :S I sure hope I'm not doing this for months...

Photographs from a Pro

Our Virtual Tour

It just goes to show that the pros really know what they're doing and that it's well worth the money to hire them to do what they do best. Our agents use a professional photographer to take photos and set up a virtual tour of all their listings. I guess that's why they charge 3% commission instead of the standard 2.5%. But the pictures turned out amazing. So amazing that we had a viewing tonight already. I'm not holding out... well, actually I AM hoping they loved the place and we'll get their offer tomorrow. But reality says it's 2 weeks before Christmas and most of the planet is flat broke. I'll be happy if this place sells before the middle of January. We'll see.

Let's Sell This House!

We're activating the listing today. Our house is officially For Sale. I only hope it doesn't sit too long before another young family comes along to grow up here. I already know I won't be able to return here when all the furniture is gone - too many memories. I want to remember this house full of noise and children, not lonely and empty.

I took all these pictures but the photographer is coming tomorrow morning to take some for the listing. It will be interesting to see how mine and his differ. I'll make sure to post the link to the listing when I get it.

Progress Shots

Just a couple shots on the progress we're making on the basement. Craig actually posed for this picture. There's no putty on his trowel, he's just being a goof. We've had to start calling it putty because Shaun just can't wrap his head around the fact that it's white mud. "Mud is supposed to be brown," he whines.

My dear old Dad spent the whole weekend at our house to help with the basement. He even slept on an air mattress because that's the only bed we had to offer him! Thanks Poppa Bear for all your help!!!