red deer

our trip to red deer was nice... although we had a false start to the drive. i was a little bit past leduc and somehow realized that i had forgot something for emerson that was very important. it's the tube feed bag and the extension piece that connects it to her. i called the u of a hospital to see if it was something i could just pick up in red deer at their hospital, but no such luck. i had to turn around, go all the way home to get it, and then start the drive again. the kids weren't thrilled. but at least i remembered when i did because i'm not sure what i would've done otherwise! she wouldn't have been able to have any formula while we were gone.... not good! anyway, we had a great visit with angela & her kiddos and their turtle LOL, and then on to my grandma's where we got to see a few relatives as well! it was a nice "getaway". i just realized that was emerson's first time anywhere out of edmonton area! we haven't been doing much travelling too far with her being sick -- i like to be close to the hospital just in case. she sometimes gets sick fast and sheesh, red deer wouldn't have even had the needed supplies to feed her. yikes!!!

road trip!

no pictures for today... shocker! i did take some, but they are just of the kids sleeping tonight so i won't post them ;) we had a good day... i picked the older kids up from my parents' house around 11:30am, ran a couple errends, and then went for a visit with juanita, keith, cole, erin and friends of theirs at their new house. the kids had a good time. makes me so excited to eventually have a new, bigger house too! probably won't be until november now. grrrrrrr!!!! i sure hope it's before christmas at least!

we're making a spur of the moment road trip to red deer tomorrow. just me and the kiddos. so i'll post an update once we're home tomorrow night.... hopefully with some pictures :) we're going to visit some friends who moved there from edmonton -- we met when we all had our first babes... and then we'll visit my grandma too. my parents are also there visiting :) this trip was thought of and planned this afternoon.... but of course it's midnight and i haven't prepared anything yet. hmmm....

good night!

an emerson update...

at lunch time today, i dropped hallie & kai off with grandma & grandpa! they are spending the rest of the day and sleeping over there tonight! yay! emerson had an appointment today at the hospital, in the "aspiration clinic" that they run. she met with her feeding & swallowing person and also her pulminologist. it was a bit of a weird appointment.... you see, i sort of stopped giving emmy her medications over the past few weeks. she is normally on about 4 medications and i ran out of one... and while waiting for it to be refilled i got lazy and just gradually stopped the other meds. i KNOW this is not a good idea, especially in emerson's case, BUT i also believe that sometimes mother's know their baby... in a special way... and this must have been one of those mother's instinct times. anyway after being off ALL meds for about 3 weeks now, emerson sounds almost 100% -- no wheezing, honestly i have never heard her sound this good. i told the doctors today that i did this, and i felt really really stupid, but they were so impressed with how she sounds so they didn't yell or scream at me and tell me i'm a horrible mom for doing this. thank god! friday we go see the pediatrician and see what he thinks about the med situation. perhaps she will be med-free... or perhaps he'll want her on something... like her reflux meds at least. we shall see. but overall, i'm so happy that my baby finally sounds pretty healthy for this first time in 8 months. YES today is her 8 month birthday! i can't believe she is already 8 months.

kipp tonight said she is our last baby.... part of me agrees fully... i don't want any more babies right now. but i also sometimes wonder if i might want more in the future. oh well, time will tell and i have a feeling once emerson is older, i won't want to be in the baby stage again!

whew, this was a long post. i'll leave you with some pictures.... some show emerson's tube, so don't look if you don't want to see.... and not sure why the same pic is on here twice but whatever. weird blogger quirk!?

OH, and i just looked at emerson's shoes. they are the ones she has worn since she was like 1 month old. the tag says "0-3 months" and yes, they still fit her at 8 months. i find that VERY weird. especially since my other 2 have monsterous feet. hmmm.... i bought emmy some shoes the other day that are size 3, but they're huge on her. perhaps this small foot thing is also linked to her being so short. she's somewhere between 10-25% for height.... but like 75% for weight LOL!

another beautiful day!

today we went to kinsmen park with our friends juanita, keith, cole & erin, emma (who i was babysitting) and some other new moms & kids we met! the kids had tons of fun... there was a sprinkler there too, and we did a picnic lunch. definately have to go back more this summer! it will be nice when the spray pool ther opens during the week starting in july. (now it's only open weekends) then we went to sara, madison & cooper's house for a playdate. we skipped gymnastics... not really planned but the kids were having fun and mommy was tired anyway!

sprinkler!

this saturday i went to a child care first aid course, which i didn't need to do, but i wanted to do. i'm glad i went. i feel refreshed! i have decided to not go back to work at telus, but instead run a dayhome. over the summer i have a busy schedule of extra kids most days, but still a couple of half days off for appts and other fun stuff. then, come september i have 2 kids coming tues, wed, thurs which will work out perfectly! i'm so happy that i can stay home with my babies and have some playmates here for them as well!

sunday we had a nice family day at home, and then went to my parents' house in the afternoon. the kids had a blast in the sprinkler (again, i wish we had grass here!) and then we had a BBQ dinner before kipp had to run out to soccer practice.

splash! mud!

the kids are in gymnastics on monday afternoons... they love it! it's done at the end of june though.




we spent a few days last week playing in the "pool" (sandbox turned pool) because it was soooooooo beautiful outside! most days i had 6 kids + visitors, which made it even more fun! i can't wait until we get grass though, look at the nice "brown" water. i refilled the water to make it clean again at least 4 times each pool day. grass will be SOOOOOOO nice!

we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

some pics from the zoo last week... we went with friends sara, madison & cooper and heather & prevail! it was a perfect day for it!

4 years old!

princess hallie celebrated her 4th birthday. i can't believe how the time has flown by! *sniff sniff* brings a tear to my eye....

jumping on board

ok, blogging seems like the new thing.... so i'm doing this now instead of jamming those emails full of pictures down your throats! check back here often, i'll update with pictures and a blurb every couple of days or whenever i have something worth sharing! on that note, i'll leave you with some pictures...


hallie's playschool graduation (graduating from 3 yr. class, starting 4 yr. class in the fall)