HELLO!

Wow, has it ever been a long time or what? I will save you the excuses and get to it. . .  Ummm, where do I start!
I guess an update would be good. In just shy of a year we have moved from Sarnia, Ontario to St. John's Newfoundland to Calgary, Alberta. It has been interesting to say the least. Right now my heart aches for my friends in Newfoundland that I miss so much. Hi everyone! We have met such amazing, wonderful, people in our travels and transfers. We have been so blessed. Cooper and Avery have like 5 sets of adopted grandparents. They are so lucky. We love you all and miss you like crazy both our Sarnia and St. John's friends.
So let me just get to the stars of my life and let you see them too (the whole point in having this blog).
(Just a little disclaimer. I have come to the realization that if I stop to edit photo's that you will never actually get to see them. So here they are unedited. It just takes me far to long to do so and I don't have time as a busy Mom to do it. Besides their cute faces make up for the unedited pics anyways!!!)

We went to the ward camp out @ Botrell campground. These pics are from us having fun there. 



Daddy and Cooper kicking around the soccer ball. It ended up in the creek that ran through the campground and there was a mini rescue to try and get it back before it floated away. Thankfully there was a fence that stopped it from continuing on or else it would have been long gone.





Avery started on solid foods this month. She still hasn't figured the whole process out, but it will come. More ends up on her face and bib than in her tummy!



Cooper is growing so fast. I think he has gained 2 inches since we packed up our house in St. John's. He is talking so much and is pretty clear in his pronunciation. There are a few things he says that are so cute because he has his own way of saying them. Adorable is more like a-doya-boy-ill. He loves dirt, rocks, backhoes and all other heavy equipment, bubbles, airplanes and helicopters. He is loving his new play structure in the backyard that came with the house.
Avery is so sweet. She is sleeping through the night now (which makes Mommy very happy) and goes to sleep when you lay her down all on her own. Very different than what her bigger brother was like. She is very slowly getting the knack of eating. She is very close to sitting up on her own and doesn't mind tummy time. She is also growing so fast. She is fitting into 9 month clothes.
That's all for now folks. There are a million and one more posts I wish I had the time to do but for now this will have to suffice.
Luvs,
Myril

Hijacked....

By Kacey ....
Hey M
Just wanted to let you know how amazing I think you are.
I am lucky to call you friend or "PBF" (practically best friend)
The last few years while you have been east it's been slightly more difficult to get together but I appreciate the effort you have made to keep us PBF! I love how faithful you are and am enspired every time I see you. You build me up I love you for that! I love how positive and happy you are no matter what is thrown in your way.
You have two beautiful children who are going to turn out as great as you with you has their momma! I am so happy to have you back in Alberta. Thank you for the visit today. I am so looking forward to many more visits (and scrapbooking adventures) in the VERY near future. Sorry Kent you knew the scrapbooking hiatus wasn't going to last forever.
Love you M
Your practically best friend
Kacey

My Angel Mother

Happy Mother's Day Mom.
I want you to know that I love and appreciate you very much. Thank you for all your selflessness and sacrifice in raising your 8 children. Although we are all grown up now with families of our own I thank you for what you have done, do at present and will do for me and my children. We are so excited to be moving back to Calgary so that our children can be around you more often.
I enjoyed the time you were here visiting us. I felt so loved and I am grateful for the support you gave to us, especially while Avery was in the hospital. I am blessed to have such a strong valiant Mother.



3 generations.



Cooper Day 4

We have been to Costco twice this week and they are doing some kind of construction in the parking lot. With construction usually comes heavy equipment and what little boy doesn't love a track hoe, front loader and the like. He saw them from a distance and got so excited. I told him after we were done we could go check them out. He was fascinated by them. He now says front loader and back hoe. It is so cute how he says them too. Now he looks out our front window and continuously says back hoe in hopes that one will pass by our house!
He was like that during the winter as well with the snow plow. Any time there was a loud vehicle he would point to the window and say "plow".
We also went down to the harbour today and saw the docked boats. He kept saying "hi boats" and really stressing the TS. He just makes me laugh so much. It is so great being his Mom. I love it. He makes me so happy. Both of my children do.

Cooper day 3

I have missed posting something about Cooper for both Tuesday and Wednesday. But you know what? I am not going to beat myself up for it. In all reality I don't think anyone else really minds. It was more for me but instead of blogging about it I am enjoying Cooper before he turns 2 and is no longer my baby but my toddler! We have had a really fun week so far. We have gotten out of the house more in this week then almost all the weeks combined since Avery has been born. The weather has been great. A little windy or actually a lot windy but the sun has been shinning.
This week we went on a hike which required some major off roading in the double stroller. I have been wanting to do this walk forever and I took the kids and finally did it. It turned out to be quite the adventure as the trail was a lot more rough than I expected. We had a good time though and our stroller didn't fall apart. I think I got some really great pictures.
Today we went for a walk at a large pond, looked at the ducks and a swan and played at a really great toddler park. I can't wait until Avery is big enough to play with Cooper. I think Cooper enjoys the park more when he has some friends to enjoy it with. We also did some shopping to get ready for Cooper's birthday party.
Here is the invitation.

He is into a lot of things right now and one of them is balls. So we are having a ball theme party. I will post pics after is all said and done.
I sure have enjoyed my little man this week. He is so fun to be with and listen to his talking. He says the cutest stuff.

Cooper. Day 2.

Cooper is a sweet little boy. He has a tender heart. Often when I discipline him he breaks down and starts to cry even before I am finished and will want to give me a hug and cuddle. I don't know if that is normal but please don't tell me if it is! I want to keep thinking he is a tender heart.
He has his days, I am not saying that he is perfect, but I appreciate his sensitivity and how for the most part he wants to make amends if he needs to.
I particularly am pleased with his relationship with Avery. He watches out for her. He is a great big brother. He always has a kiss and hug for her, tries to help her if she is crying, plays with her and even shares. She in turn adores Cooper. It is so amazing the connection these 2 have. I can't explain it in words as to how it makes me feel but I just love it and it makes me ubber happy. Seeing them together is one of those motherhood gems that makes all the hard times more than worth it.
It kind of reminds me of my older brother. I thought he was the best and he took good care of me when we were growing up. 
Being as Cooper loves his little sister he likes to share. Avery will be laying on the floor playing with one of her toys and Cooper will announce "share", which means I want to be down on the floor beside her. When I hear this I react quickly. If I don't Avery will end up with a portion of her body laid on or squished because Cooper has tried to lay beside her to squeeze into the area under the toy. (You will see what I mean in the pictures). I move her over and help Cooper get situated so that he doesn't knock her in the head with an elbow or lay on her arm. Avery's reaction is one of happiness and she loves it when Cooper comes to "share" with her, that is if he hasn't hurt her in the process of trying to share.



This is what we call the caterpillar. It is a small mat but big enough for 2 little bodies!




Cooper having a tender moment with his sister.



This one cracks me up. I wonder what is going through Avery's head. Maybe: "I am so lucky to have such a great big brother like you Cooper! Or: "you again, would you just leave me alone to play by myself already"!



One of his many little tender touches he has for his baby sister.





My sweet little ones. I am one happy Momma.



Avery is 4 months old today

Avery is becoming quite the little chunky monkey. Her cheeks have really filled out and she has so many rolls on her legs. It makes me smile. I like my babies to have some weight on them. Here are a few of the shots we took today. Not edited as beautifully as I would like but better up on my blog then not, right?



Loving those rolls to the bottom right of the picture!



She is tolerating tummy time better and better all the time. I can't believe how much better she is as lifting her head up in such a short time. We tried this last month and she couldn't lift her head very well at all. They grow too fast.

Cooper's almost 2!

To celebrate/mourn my Little Man turning 2 on May 8th I want to do a week of posts about him. To kick things off are pictures of him before and after a hair cut. Each time I cut Cooper's hair it gets a little easier, emotionally that is. Even though I once again lopped off all of his curls I wasn't wanting to bawl my eyes out after it was done. I am excited that soon I will be able to get pointers from my sister in law on how to do a better job.



BEFORE the hair cut. Such a cheesy grin. The only way I can get a picture of Coop these days is either with this grin or he is a blur running away.




TV face on. He hates his hair being cut so I have to A.) let him watch a movie while I do it (hence why the TV face) and B.) bribe him with candy.



AFTER (notice the candy outline around his lips? Smarties.) Still having TV face.



This is more his real smile, not the cheesy grin. I think he was at a part in the movie he really liked. He was watching Bambi.

 Our Little Man is sure a joy to us. He is really into Buzz and Woody from Toy Story right now. He tries to say the phrase that Buzz says "To infinity and beyond", but his way is more like "finy beyond". It is so cute. He also says helicopter, heli-cop-piter (which he is also really into). Once in a while we try and catch a glimpse of the Cougar helicopters that frequently fly over our house.  I guess you have to hear him say it to see how cute it is. He is growing up so fast. I can't believe where the time has gone. It feels like last month I was leaving work to go on mat leave. CRAZY.
Stay posted for more on Bubba as we call him. Funny thing, if you ask Cooper what his name is he says Bubba. It it hilarious.

Easter

Happy Easter.

Motherhood?

So I have been asked to give a talk on Motherhood on Mothers Day. What are your thoughts, feelings?

We are moving home!

Kent is being transferred with his job back to Calgary. It came very unexpected and sudden. We'll take it. We have become very aware lately that our parents are not getting younger. We feel very blessed that we will be closer to family and Cooper and Avery will know their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.
We are sad to leave our friends we have made here in St. John's. We were just starting to have families move into the branch that had kids for Cooper to play with.
Bitter sweat.

Get mad or laugh?

You know when you have those moments with your kids when you can either discipline and give your child trouble for what they have done, or laugh your head off and grab the camera? I had one of those today. Too funny.

Cooper learned what Nutella was today. To say the least he loved it. While Kent and I were getting ready for church Cooper was having his fill.

Our little man is so cute. Everything he does is cute (except when he screams because he wants something). He says the darnedest things and pulls things from out of no where. Well sort of no where. For instance he started saying God after he would see or say Jesus. Where did he get that from? I guess from family scripture reading. He picks up way more than we know.

I have a million other posts I want to do. So lets hope all goes well and I am able to do them.

Luvs 

Our Little Family

Kent had Friday off of work. So we took advantage of the nice weather and went to the park. It's funny that I thought there wouldn't be very much snow at the park. Ya, right! I wished I had my snow pants and boots. Silly me. Spring won't be coming to Newfoundland until June.

The snow was so deep that the bottom of the slide was covered and the bench in the foreground was barely poking through. I can only imagine how much more there was before the snow started to melt and the rain came.

Kids at Play

There really isn't a word to explain Cooper right now. He is fun, caring, tender, affectionate at times, playful, eager to please, gentle, learning, adventurous, brave, impressionablee. He is really into books right now as well as cars. We recently put him into a big boy bed and he LOVES it. His room has a car theme and he can't get enough of it it seems. He likes playing in his room on his own and sometimes I will go in to see what he is doing and either he will be playing with his toys or lying on his bed sucking his blanket fringe. He is just so darn cute. His vocabulary has taken off and his pronunciation is getting better and better. He does have these moments of babbling when you know he is trying so hard to talk adult talk. It makes me giggle. 

I love that he loves me so much. He gives me kisses and hugs all the time. A moment I will cherish forever: we were at a friends for a birthday party and I was in another room changing Avery's diaper. He was so happy as he was playing with his friends. I could see him catch my eye and he full out ran and jumped into my arms and gave me a kiss and hug. Melt my heart. It was so tender. Those are the moments we Mom's live for.  
Another storey or funny thing about Cooper. He has this thing that he likes to do. I know it probably isn't something to be proud of but it is HILARIOUS to me. Cooper loves to pick at his toes and pull out the lint or what I like to call toe jam. He is constantly pulling off his socks and looking between his toes. I gave him a time out once and found him pulling out his toe jam. So much for no toys during a time out and for him to think about what he had done! He has something on hand or should I say on foot that will always keep him occupied should he need it!

 Avery is a doll. Every day she is different and I am learning who she is and what she prefers. She is very quick with her smiles and loves to talk. She is a social butterfly and does not like to be alone. For the most part I feel this is a great blessing to our family as she won't let us forget her. However, sometimes I wish she could play on her own and not need me so close all the time. Her favorite place is her caterpillar which is were she is in these pics.

I can't believe how much she has grown.
Well I am going back to bed. She has fallen asleep beside me while I have been blogging.
I hope to post more pics later.Check back soon for some cute pics of Cooper being a wonderful big brother.

General Conference Weekend

I love General Conference weekend. It is so inspiring to me. It was really nice staying home and being able to watch it on our TV after hooking our laptop up to it. Cooper played while we watched. It was awesome.

Playing in Cooper's room on Sunday morning. Due to the time zones Conference

didn't start until 1:30pm for us. We had lots of time to hang out as a family. Kent is in this picture I promise.

Cooper decided it was more fun to sit on Daddy's head for the picture instead of in front of him!

Our sweet little Avery. She loves to experience her world through her tongue. She is growing so fast.

I can't believe she is 3 months old already.

Avery's Health

This month has been busy for Avery. She had another ultra sound for her hip displasia and a subsequent appointment with the orthopedic Doc. I fully expected her to be in a brace after the tech's said that her left hip on the ultra sound looked loose compared to the right. However, the Doc came in and said it was all cleared up and her hips look great. He checked her one last time to make sure. He wants her to have a pelvic x-ray in 6 months. Super great news!
She also had her follow up test from when she was in the hospital. What they did was inject dye into her bladder and then waited to see where it went. If it stayed in the bladder great. If it went up to the kidneys not so good. Well the test revealed that yes in fact she does have back flow of urine into her kidneys. I had to wait almost 2 weeks after her having the test to talk with the Doc about it. It felt like forever. So basically what the Doc said was that there was damage to the kidney from the back flow and infection but it is good that they have caught it early. There continues to be back flow and the hope is she will grow out of it. If not then she can have a procedure done to fix it. It use to be a surgery where they had to actually cut, but due to wonderful advances in medicine they will just have to go through her urethra (hole she pees out of) and can do it from the inside of her bladder. Amazing. So in the mean time of waiting to see if she grows out of it she has to be on antibiotics. This kind of freaks me out as it is long term. The dose is small but yet enough to stop a urinary track infection. If she does get another urinary track infection it can cause major damage to her kidneys, especially if it goes undetected. So that is why the antibiotics.
If you feel so inclined keep her in your prayers. I would love for her urine system to mature and heal on it's own with no "procedure". That is what I am praying for.
I am waiting to hear if Avery is going to be followed by a Urologist or the Pediatrician we saw in the hospital. Let me just say that Dr. Morris the Pediatrician we had in the hospital was amazing. He was like a big teddy bear. He oozed kindness and concern. I just always had an urge to hug him! I want him to adopt Cooper and Avery as grandkids.

Avery being sick

Last Friday (Jan 18th) Avery came down with a fever. Between Kent and I we were up with her all night trying to get her to sleep and console her as she was extremely fussy yet lethargic and very much out of it. I was petrified we were going to loose her. By morning she seemed to be doing better but would spike a temperature every few hours. After her second dose of baby Tylenol I decided to call the Janeway help line (the Janeway being the local childrens hospital). The nurse told me all babies under 3 months who have a fever need to be seen by a doctor. When I got off the phone Avery didn't have a temperature and we thought maybe she was on the mend. After about an hour her temp spiked again and we went in to Janeway ER. It was packed and I was very discouraged. Before leaving I had taken her temp just by holding the thermometer against her neck and it read 39.1, so I knew she probably was much hotter. Thankfully because of her temp and age we were the next ones to go in and we bypassed the wait. I was so grateful.
In triage her temp was 40.1. I was very worried. They gave her Tylenol, collected blood, started an IV, collected more blood for blood cultures and did a chest xray and then the Pediatric Doc came to see us. She basically said we were there to stay for at least 3 days. They don't mess around with little babies and they just jump right in with antibiotic treatment and find out what the cause later. They figured it could have been 2 or 3 things. 1. a urinary track infection, 2. pneumonia, or 3. Influenza. We played the waiting game until the preliminary report came back from the blood and urine cultures. It was a UTI (urinary track infection). It took 48 hours to get the results but in the mean time she was recieving IV antibiotics and was still having a high temp every few hours which they treated with Tylenol. On Sunday night at around midnight her temperature finally came down and stayed down. I felt a lot better and felt relieved that my baby was out of the worst of things.
Tuesday we went for an ultra sound of her urinary system and waited for the results from that. Turns out she has hydronephrosis which means her kidney on the inside has been stretched in the area where the urine collects before going into the bladder. The plan is for her to be on antibiotics for 14 days total and then have another test in 2 weeks.

March 29, 2011

I have come to the realization that there are 2 things in my life that make me stressed. The first is when both of my wonderful children are screaming because they need me and I can't get to them at the same time. I think they just know and purposefully time it so they need something at the same time and both will cry over it!
The second is what to have for supper. Anyone else with me? So lately what I have been working on while I have a spare moment is a supper calendar and grocery lists for each week to coincide with the supper calander. I am super excited about it. Kent has a had some input and as a result we have a breakfast food night every week and a smoothie night. Can't beat that!

Other than that Avery and Cooper are doing great. I will post pics of them both as soon as I get a chance.

Update March 4, 2011

Time goes so fast. Avery is 2 months old and Cooper is almost 22 months. WOW!
Kent's parents were here for a visit and to help with Avery from December to mid January. Then my parents came out right after and my Mom is here still. She leaves on the 14th and I worry about doing this all on my own. I need to just keep telling myself I can and I know I can, I just don't want to be wanting to pull my hair out every 10 minutes.
Avery has changed so much and is not so fussy. She a much happier baby and is starting to fall asleep all by herself with the help of a soother, and even sometimes doesn't even need that. It is a miracle, just ask my in laws they will attest to it! She has a test next week to see if she has urine back flowing into her kidneys from her bladder. This is a follow up test from her urinary track infection that put her in the hospital with a really high fever for four days. She is doing much better.
Cooper is at a super fun age and we have lots of fun together. He is talking so much and loves repeating every thing we say. He loves his little sister but doesn't quite understand the limits with her being so little. He has lots of kisses for her and loves helping out by bringing things to us for her or throwing out diapers. His favorite thing to do right now is watching "Signing Times" which is a DVD to teach parents and children sign language. He has picked up so many signs and uses them all the time. He has his own variation so sometimes I am not sure what sign he is using. It is so cute to watch him learn and grow. He has a tender heart but sometimes can be a little mean by poking or throwing things. We are trying to teach him that we only throw balls but Avery has been at the tail end of him throwing other things. Poor girl! He doesn't quite understand consequences to his actions. It will come I am sure. I feel bad for him as it seems we hardly have any time to play just the 2 of us. Either I am dealing with Avery or feeding her. Soon he won't have a Grandma to play with.

Avery's Blessing

We had Avery's baby blessing today. She was an angel. I was so worried she was going to be fussy or wanting to feed when it was time for the blessing but she was so peaceful and even awake for it. It was a beautiful blessing too. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children. I loved the dress we had her blessed in as well. She looked beautiful.

Just so I don't forget the people who stood in the circle with Kent were Dad Pratt (Barry), Bill Green, Paul Street, Jay Wood, and Jordan Jensen. We had a get together later in the evening and had all those who participated in the blessing and their families come over for dinner. It was a memorable day.

Blessed

Jan 9, 2011
Avery  is here 7 lbs. 10 oz.. I think you all pretty much know this already. She was almost the New Years baby in NL but an emergent C-section squeeked in just before me.
To be honest this has turned out to be one of the hardest weeks I can recall of my life. I am an emotional wreck, totally sleep deprived and had an infection on top of it. So glad the inlaws are here. Now I just need to stop feeling bad about delegating and allow them to help. This I am finding very hard.
I don't remeber it being so hard with Cooper.
Avery,s nights and days are flipped which is making things hard. Any suggestions?
I don't mean to be all doom and gloom, just honest. I do feel extremely blessed and was so thrilled this morning to be getting not just one but two children ready for church, I loved dressing up my baby girl in pink and brown, with a large flower on her hat Grandma had lovingly crocheted. I should of taken a picture but we had Avery's dress and Cooper's white shirt hanging together on my scrapbook hutch ready for Sunday morn. It provoked some reflectiion and a realization that I am now a Mother of 2 beautiful, healthy children. It made me smile and I felt like I was glowing. I am so blessed even if it has been a hard week.



Already for church.