Snow - and lots of it!

By the time I get home from work at 4pm, it is already getting dark outside. But, the kids need to get out, so I have been bundling them up and taking them out. It takes me about 15 minutes to get them dressed, and another 5 for me. At best, they last about 20-30 min outside before cold noses and fingers have them crying to go inside again. I discovered that I can pull both of them at once, in different sleds, because one has a really long rope.

I just completed a Trauma Nursing Core Skill course over the weekend. It was really interesting and I think I will find the skills applicable on almost a daily basis. There was a written and practical skill evaluation at the end. I was anxious about the skills, but I passed it! Yah!






We tried to make a snow man yesterday. The snow is too dry however, so it is more of a snow pile with jelly bean eyes and a touque and scarf and pencil arms. I am not sure what the purple jelly bean on the snowman's forehead is intended to be.

We had reached the 20 min mark by the time I took this picture. Evelyn is in a very cranky mood. She is crying at me "don't take a picture of the snowman!".




When we have not been outside, we have been baking muffins. Evelyn loves to help mix the batter and count the measurements with me. She is also in charge of putting the liners in the muffin tins. I also made muffins with my "little sister" at the school this week. It went really well. I think we may move into cooking and baking after we finish scrapbooking. We shared some of the muffins around to the staff (Ryan just went into the staff room and filched some while we were handing them out) and received many compliments.


This pic is posted mostly because I like it and because Evelyn is actually LOOKING at the camera! She is just starting to do this again. I am very excited.

If you are thinking to yourself "She looks a bit green between the eyes" you are not seeing things. She somehow managed to make the bridge of her nose contact the edge of the coffee table. She was leaning on it with her knees on the couch and elbows on the table, next I know, she has a big scrape and bruise. No bleeding, and no pain after a few minutes, nothing moves that shouldn't, so I'm sure it is not broken.

In this picture, she is enjoying a piece of Halloween candy. She loves the suckers the most. I have been impressed by how readily she shares her treats with us. As soon as Ryan or I finish our supper plates, Evelyn will pipe up and ask "Do you want a Halloween treat?" Then she will go and pick one out for us.



We all received a little package in the mail from Ryan's sister Dawne. She recently spent her birthday in Hawaii and sent us some treats. Ethan LOVED the necklace made of 'kookie nuts' that have a delightful hollow sound when they are knocked together. They were intended for Evelyn, but they will be shared ;-) You can see he is drooling quite a bit. I think he is working on his left upper front tooth. Evelyn had taken a liking to the Hawaiian flower style bib that was intended for Ethan. She has been wearing bibs again at her request to keep her shirts cleaner. I must say, "I'm cool with that!"

Ethan is crawling like a pro now and is very fast. We played catch with the nut necklace. He was really into the game because of the neat sound that the nuts made when they hit the floor.






He is determined to feed himself now. He refuses to let us feed him at all. This has resulted in some mess (obviously) but also in him actually eating less food. The only way he will accept a spoon from Ryan or me is if we pretend to be a train. An airplane will not do the trick. It must be a "Ch-ga, Ch-ga, Woo-Woo!" Works every time!

He has also started to give out hugs to Ryan and gets really excited to see him. He can stand on his own for about 2 seconds. And he is working on how to climb out of the playpen he is closer to success on that front than I am comfortable with.

He and Evelyn have started to play together for up to 20 or 30 minutes without any issues or screaming. Most of the time Evelyn does not want him near her, so she has taken to closing the door to her room and playing for a long time in there. We have decided to allow her to have that alone time and not force her to play with her little brother.

This conversation just happened about 5 minutes ago:

Me: It's lunch time and Ethan is still napping. Ella, would you like to go wake up Ethan?
Evelyn: Mmm Hmm! I love Ethan!
she pitter patters down to his room, opens the door and says "Good morning Ethan! Did you have a good sleep? It's lunch time now!" Then, speaking to me "Ethan had a good sleep." Then, speaking to Ethan, "I love you Ethan!"

Now, I have to go and feed them.....

These are some pics of the view from our back, front and side yards with a close up of an old dog house roof to show the snow accumulation.

Ethan's First Birthday

A year has past already! Wow, Does time go faster the more kids you have? This----->
Feels like yesterday!


























We had a small party for Ethan with a Rocket Ship cake, hats, blowers, horns, balloons, and signs. Evelyn is so into party stuff right now, we just had to go all out with the extras. After we had finished decorating the cake, she wanted to light the candles and sing for Ethan so badly, I just had to give in and let her do a practice run.

Ethan got excited about ripping the wrapping paper after he saw a few opened. He loved his cake.

He has given pretty equal attention to all his gifts today. Thank-you to everyone who sent him something. He is in Truck and Ball and singing Bear heaven!

This post has no subject. I just want to hear how cute my kids are ;-)

(The new look is a response to my frustrations over formatting changes from the draft to published versions of my posts. This layout shows up almost exactly the same as the way I laid it out.)

Ethan has taken a liking to the sock monkey that I made him. I think he specifically likes the monkeys ears... He giggles when I make it dance above him by jiggling it too. Really though, I just like the pictures.

The other day, Evelyn enjoyed a very leisurely bath while floating on her back. I Liked how her hair floated around her. She stayed in the water for almost 45 minutes. The picture of her wrinkly hands shows the results of her lengthy soak.
















I tried to get some Christmas pictures of the kids. Ethan co-operated a little bit, Evelyn not at all. These are the best of the bunch. You can look for them soon in your Christmas card!

Ethan is starting to walk along the walls while just touching his hands against the wall. He also crawls properly (on his knees instead of his belly) almost all the time now. He is basically weaned completely. He never asks to nurse, and seems to prefer the bottle to me! So, that was easy!



Evelyn has taken my return to work very easily. She bids me a cheerful goodbye in the morning and welcomes my return home with the question "Did you have a good day?" When our babysitter(s) leave, she wants to know when she can see them again. Ethan is usually asleep when I leave, but cries as soon as he hears my voice when I get home.

I have done 2 shifts on the floor and 1 orientation day. So far, it is going well!



Okay, so, this is the part where you leave a comment saying how adorable my kids look and how you just LOVE this one or another picture in particular... You know the drill. I want to hear it!

Trick or Treat!

I took the kids to the school for their annual Halloween Costume Parade. It was fun. Ethan got scared by Ryan. He had dressed in a 'Wookie' mask with crazy hair and Ethan got spooked. I was asked to judge the costume contest, and neither of the kids won ;-)

Ethan had to have a nap at around 4 pm, so he slept until almost 6 pm. I took Evelyn trick or treating without him. We went to about 6 or 7 houses. It took us almost an hour to do those! (We walked) We had fewer kids than last year. Probably around 40.

Evelyn was more excited about handing out candy than she was about getting it. When the cars pulled into the drive way, she would start yelling "The kids are here!" "Trick or Treat!" "Can I give out the candy?" We let her give out the candy a couple times, but she was so generous, we would have run out if she continued. She just dug both hands into the candy bowl and scooped a huge pile into the kids sack.

Ethan was SO cute dressed as the frog prince. When I got him dressed, I held him in front of the mirror. He started to giggle and waved his froggy hand at himself. He kept giggling in the car too because he could see his face in a little mirror on the seat back.

Evelyn was so excited to be "dora the explorer" she wanted me to help her do the dance Dora does, and she got dressed in her costume about 3 hrs early. She looked a bit odd as a blue eyed Dora though and did not get many "Oooh's" or "Aaaw's". (Ethan got lots though). I dressed as a clown. A very yellow clown. Evelyn had fun wearing some of my costume too.

I went to bed by 9:30 and slept until 12:15, when, I was woken by Evelyn telling me she wet the bed. So, I changed all that, got her settled, and tried to go back to sleep. I kept coughing and could not settle again, so I moved to the couch/ so I would not wake Ryan. By around 1:30 am, I had finally fell asleep again. Then, at 2 am, Evelyn gets up and wants to pee. I don't think she actually did, but I was up and getting her settled again regardless. I think I fell asleep again around 2:45 am (the coughing started again) and was woken around 4 am by Evelyn (again) she was just calling out and asking for hugs and stuff. At 5, 6, and 7, Ethan woke up and cried for a few minutes, then settled again. Yes, he settled, but I still woke up! Argh! It was a very long night.

I have an interview with the manager of the Boyle hospital today. I think it is more of a welcome meeting. They really need nurses. I think I will start orientation next week. There is a trauma nurse course at the end of the month that I want to attend. And there will be an ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) [I get to learn how to shock people] course offered soon too. FUN!

Ryan has been 'stealing' Evelyn's nose lately. This evening, after supper, he told her he could not give her nose back because he ate it. Evelyn promptly replied "You need to spit it up!"

Ethan has started to mimic us saying "Uh-Oh!" He has yet to initiate it and use it in context, but we are getting closer to talking!

Au Revoir Autumn, Welcome Winter!

This was the view from our window yesterday morning.

The view this morning is almost exactly the same.

I hope this snow doesn't mark the beginning of whiteness for the next 6 months, but it is possible.

Evelyn had fun outside. She swept the snow and made snow angels. She wanted to make snowballs, but the snow kept sticking to her mitts.

I am glad that I got to enjoy a second, more colourful, Autumn in Victoria. I can still see all the Reds and Oranges and lushness in my minds eye. Now, I have to remind myself of the beauty of the whiteness... It does fill the house with a great light - pure and gentle. It is actually brighter now than when the trees still had leaves. That is good....

Evelyn started asking about "Kris-Kras Trees". We explained that first came Ethan's birthday, then we will think about Christmas Trees.

Anyway, all you readers who are still enjoying Autumn and green, take heed! This may be your view in a couple months too! Enjoy the green and colours now!

SO BIG!

Ryan and I firmly believe that little kids and dogs have way too much in common. They both learn tricks like 'stay', 'down', 'catch' and 'come', and they both put things in their mouths that an adult just cringes to think about.

I don't know how many times I have said the phrase "Don't lick the toilet seat" to each of my children. It is just one of those phrases I never thought I would ever have to utter. Yet, I have said variations of said phrase at least a dozen times. Perhaps it is the convenient height of the average commode. I really don't understand its almost hypnotic attraction to my kids mouths.

Dogs and children also eat food off the floor. Really, a crawler is almost as good as a dog for keeping the floor clear of cheerios and bread crumbs, and peas. Ethan likes to drop these things from his highchair so he can snack on them later - once he has worked up an appetite from scooting around. Their little bellies are essentially self-propelled 'swiffers' that catch every hair and dust bunny. I never thought my floors were that dirty - until Ethan started to tummy scoot. Really though, after all the kilometers that he has clocked scooting over my floors, they are no longer that dirty!

Dogs and young children also have an odd fascination for playing in - and eating their vomit. Gross, but true. Another phrase I never thought I would have to say (and say more than once) is "Don't play with your puke!" You see, and unfortunate side effect of scooting on your belly after you have just eaten is that your meal has a tendency to make an encore. It is just sitting there, right in front of your face, and it appeared out of nowhere! "What is this gelatinous goop?" "Ooh, look! It spreads around really well!" Are phrases I am sure float through Ethan's head as he investigates his newest appearing toy.

So all this preamble is just to get to the point that Ethan has learned his first trick. He will enthusiastically raise both his arms over his head with an excited little inhale of breath in response to the question "How big is Ethan?" I believe he is trying to answer "So Big!"

He is also getting the hang of peek a boo now. He prefers to play with a blanket or dish towel. I think the whole idea of his hands hiding whole body from view is a bit absurd to him. (Smart kid!) So he actually hides himself with a blanket. It's pretty cute.

I think he is trying to say "Ella" though it sounds more like "El-Lum." He almost seems to call her when he follows her around at times. He cut his second tooth the other day. Now his first is easily seen and will shortly be joined by it's neighbor to the right.

Oh, and he climbs. He tries to go from the kids bench to the coffee table, over the bench, along the bench... he also can climb up 2 stairs now. Watch out when we come to visit!



Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We look forward to seeing you soon!

(I'll post some pics and video in a bit)

The Elephant Song

I love this song. I thought you might enjoy it too.

A video for Evelyn's little friends, plus one more

I thought she was so cute having a conversation with her friends. She is so excited to see them in a couple of weeks.

This second one is of Ethan having a giggle fit (helped along by Daddy and Evelyn) and at the end, Evelyn says all of our names.

Autum days

The light was so good yesterday. I just had to take some pictures. ('Some' being about 100, but I'll just post the best of them). The leaves are falling to the ground already, which is both beautiful and a bit sad too.














By the way, there are a couple cute videos in the post titled "2 videos and a series of unfortunate events" If you are not among the 4 people who left comments, please check them out ;-)



























Yes, she is trying to eat the tree.



For more pictures, visit my online album at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21111&l=ef8c5&id=650696549

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Happy Birthday! We all hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,
Ryan, Evelyn and Ethan

2 videos and a series of unfortunate events

Here is one of Ethan:





Here is one of Evelyn:




Ethan has finally cut his first tooth! Evelyn only has one tooth to go, so I should be down to having only one child teething in the near future! Yah!

So, the day before Ethan cut that first tooth was an unusual day. Let me tell you about it....

It all started when I decided to wash my glass teapot. I thought "I'll wash it by hand in the sink so it won't break in the dishwasher." Good idea, but poorly executed. I dropped a mug on my teapot and smashed it in the sink. "Argh! Jeez, Bev! Get it together!" I say to myself as I clean all the shards up.

That evening, after supper, I remove Ethan's tray and start washing him up. He promptly stretches forward and pulls on my place mat. This sends my full glass of OJ crashing to the floor. Glass and juice everywhere. I set about cleaning it up and adding this glass to the glass from my unfortunate teapot. I thought I got all the shards, but I must have dropped one on the rug by the garbage pail. I discovered this missed shard a while later, but there is more to the story before we get there...

Supper is cleared away, the juice is mopped up. I decide to start cutting up some butternut squash that I have baked as finger food for Ethan. All goes well for a while and I am feeling very satisfied with my efforts to provide wholesome finger food for my son. While my mind is occupied with these happy thoughts, I proceed to slice my thumb - right into my nail. "Argh! What is wrong with you, Bev?!?! Jeez!"

Blood is everywhere (except the squash) as I attempt to staunch the flow with a paper towel. Evelyn is so helpful and runs to get a band-aid for "Mommy's hurt finger." All is well again, but I decide I am not cutting the rest of that squash. Ryan helpfully completes that task while I nurse my wound.

So, bedtime for the kids rolls around and we all settle in to vegitate in front of the tube. Our calm is interrupted by a very odd cry and gagging sound that is coming from Ethan's room. Ryan jumps up to investigate and quickly calls me to the room. I discover Ethan, absolutely covered in a huge amount of vomit. It is in his hair, his ear, down his back, in his little hands, all over his crib - everywhere! I whisk him into the tub and wash him off. He screams the whole time and keeps crying until he is dry and dressed and cuddled. He had been fighting a stuffy and runny nose for a couple days, but we were at a loss for the cause of this episode.

Once he was calm, I nursed him again and proceeded to burp him. All of a sudden, I feel his tummy tense and make a retching motion. "Uh-Oh!" he's gonna blow! "Yuck!" Everything in his stomach is released all over me. Fortunately, he missed himself, so I did not have to change him again! I call Ryan for back-up support (namely a towel to mop up everything) I get changed, and decide to keep Ethan up for a while.

With his track record, I decide to stick close to the sink. So, there I am, with a sick baby clinging to and cuddling my shoulder. I am walking him around the kitchen to calm him when I feel a rather unpleasant, sharp sensation in the ball of my foot. After a sharp intake of breath, I attempt to investigate the sole of my foot without disrupting the cranky and sick infant who is clinging to my chest. More blood, and a small shard of glass that is still protruding from my foot. I remove it and ask for Ryan to bring me a band-aid.

Soon after applying my second band-aid of the evening, Ethan's stomach starts heaving again. Thankfully, there is nothing much left to come out, and I am still standing next to the sink. Once he is settled, I cuddled him on the couch for a while and put him to bed. He slept uneventfully until morning. I made it to bed without further incident, and the next morning, Ethan had cut his first tooth.

Thank Goodness, that day is done!

This picture of Ethan shows off his fat lip. Two days after the series of unfortunate events, Ethan gave himself a really good split lip. He was pulling himself up to standing, decided to sit down, and caught his lip on the edge of the step stool he was holding on to. Blood everywhere (again) and Evelyn was so concerned. She wanted to put a band-aid on it so badly. She thinks they make everything feel better and wanted to make Ethan feel better too.

After a quick breastfeed, the bleeding had stopped, and I could assess the damage. He managed to split both the inside and outside of his lip. It was pretty swollen for a couple days, but looks almost normal now. I was surprised by how he ate and played and mouthed things without a problem. Poor little guy!

Out of the mouth of Evelyn

Here are a few more choice conversations heard recently around the Cracknell house.

Ryan got a haircut a few days ago (on his 29th birthday, right after we wrote our wills) and upon returning home, Evelyn immediately noticed his new 'do. It went something like this:

"Daddy home!, Daddy got a haircut!?!"
"Do you like it?" Asks Ryan
"It's so funny! Ha Ha Ha!"
"My haircut is funny? Don't you like it?"
"Make you feel better Daddy."
"How will you do that?"
"Need a hammer!"

How about that comment to make you feel good about your new cut? On your birthday no less!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday the day before with a special dinner. Evelyn was so excited all that day that it was his birthday. She wanted to have balloons and hats and "pretty letters on the wall" (that say 'happy birthday') and a cake - no, a bunny cake! Then he had to have presents, and "Evelyn have a birthday present?" (nice try!) She is really into birthdays right now! We did not have a bunny cake, but I made some cupcakes and Evelyn chose some star-shaped sprinkles to put on top.

Both Ethan and Evelyn are in the midst of sinus colds. Evelyn is really good about using a tissue to wipe her nose. A recent conversation went like this:

"May I have a tissue please?"
"Oh, yah, you need to wipe your nose," I reply.
"It's got honey in it!"

HA HA HA! how appropriate that deduction is!

As you can well imagine, my home has not been serene with two ill kids. Ethan is also teething very actively at the moment. That first tooth is getting so close! He has also become much more mobile and has begun to explore every nook, cranny and crumb in the house. I think this makes him into a regular little kid in Evelyn's mind. She has been more rough in her interactions with him, now that he is not a little baby. Ethan spends much of his time on the floor on his belly while he scoots around. This makes him very easily accessible, and Evelyn has taken to sitting on him like he is a horse! Let's just say, Ethan is not appreciative of his new role to his sister. I don't think he has aspirations to become a beast of burden!

This morning Evelyn figured out that we were going to be going on a trip to Victoria soon. She has not stopped talking about it. She says it will be a long car ride, she'll see mountains (and maybe a mountain goat too), we'll go on a ferry and see the ocean. She wants to build sand castles and play with her auntie Dawne's cats. She also really wants to see D and B and Casey. I explained that we ware not going for a long time yet. Lots and lots of sleeps still. So, she promptly replied "I want to go to sleep now" I guess she thought she could knock a few sleeps off today, and we could go sooner!

Here is a video with some of her Victoria talk.



Who wants to play a little game? We'll call it 'So you think you can dress yourself?'

So, let's break down getting dressed into smaller goals and give each goal a point value. The more important a goal is to ones overall comfort, the higher the point value.

Now, having your shirt on your torso and pants on your legs is pretty important. Let's give those 2 points each. Having each piece facing the right way will be worth another point a piece. Having it right-side-out, another point. And, finally, putting it on right-side-up will be worth...we'll make it 2 points a piece. (imagine wearing your pants upside-down!)

So, a properly dressed person, wearing a shirt and pants should score 12 points.

Okay, to play this game, take a good look at the picture below. Now, count up how many points Evelyn should get.How did she do? Post your answer in the reply sections and we'll see who wins ;-)

HAIR! Long, beautiful hair!...

Evelyn now wants to brush her own hair - at least for a little while (then it is my turn). But, the other day, she sat nicely for long enough to let me french-braid her hair. This was the first time she has let me do that. I thought it looked pretty nice.






This morning, she let me take a picture of her in one of her new sweaters that has a matching hat and scarf. She thought the scarf was pretty fun.














A few days ago, we bribed her into letting us take a picture of her in a sailor dress she has had for a while. For her own irrational reasons, she has decided to dislike that dress (and a few others I have bought her). The bribe worked very well, and she was most compliant with having her picture taken. I think it looks very cute, and, after she actually let herself wear it, I think she liked it too.












Evelyn is really missing having Daddy around. There have been many more tantrums than usual the past few days. It was cute when he came home today, she asked "Have fun at school today, Daddy?" Then a little later, she was talking about how the kids ride on the school bus and asked "Maybe Evelyn ride the school bus?"

My little Angels

This post is for you Sarah.














Good times....