Ahem...

I'm sure I have every body's attention now.

Just for the record...I am NOT expecting.

But the last few days have been filled with pictures drawn by Caleb (and Anna now too) of me with Sara in my tummy (in case anyone comes visiting here and sees a picture like this lying around you're not suspicious!!!).

Either Caleb wants me to be pregnant again or maybe he wishes that Sara would go back to being inside my tummy (a little less competition around here for attention!).

Eating with Sara

We've recently been giving pablum to Sara - and she loves it :) She loves it so much that it's pretty much a catastrophe when the bowl is empty and her face is cleaned...don't believe me? Watch this...

A Promise is a Promise

We enjoyed our family Christmas last weekend at my parents - traditionally I post some nice pictures of the kids opening up their gifts etc...but this year....I just couldn't help showing off my brother and sister...and I promised them I would post these lovely pictures of them - a promise is a promise!!

*

Some people's kids just never grow up...

It was pretty much impossible to get a "nice" posed picture of these two - posed for sure...but nice...um...I think not!

Future Dentist?

Sara has really started reaching out and grabbing for things as of this week. The face (and hair!) have become favourites for her (nice "loud" reactions when the hair is being pulled!). I kind of see a future dentist in her in these pictures (too bad for me as dentists are about my least favourite kind of people in this world!).

Sara's first dental victim!

Get that camera outta here...I'm trying to work!!

Back to my patient...lets take a look at those pearly whites!

Say Ahhhh!!

Our toothless grinner...satisfied with her work ;)

Sisters

****Hmm...I forgot to mention that these are pictures of both Sara and Anna here...can you tell who is who?!?***

I received this outfit as a gift when Anna was born and put it on Sara yesterday - super cute and super soft (just want to hold them all day in this outfit!).

I knew I had taken a couple pictures of Anna in it as well, so did the same with Sara today - they are about a month apart (Sara about 4 months and Anna about 5 months).

I think there's a slight resemblance ;)

Rolln', rolln', rolln'....

No lack of nothing around here...keep those rolls coming Sara!!

Some Colour with a Splash of Snow!

Wow - it's hard to believe that it's actually snowing out - and especially that it's already December and we've seen next to nothing of the white stuff this winter. Not that I'm complaining, the weather has been quite beautiful for the time of year it is!
I still had a couple late blooming roses in the garden...can you believe it?!

All 3 of my spike plants are still nice and green :)

Alvar's bamboo bushes...no leaves, but I liked the colour of the branches

Ok, and I cheated, this would be an evergreen...but still colour!

Weekend Vacation

This past weekend we took the kids on a mini-vacation to Niagara Falls. We hadn't done much this year yet in the way of vacation (i.e. no camping etc), so we decided to go "all out" and do an over-nighter at the falls. I'm not sure how much the kids understood of what we were doing until we actually got there (staying in a hotel etc.) - so although they were excited to go, they really had no idea what they were getting into!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel, overlooking the falls. We were way up on the 19th floor (I think the elevator rides were quite the hi-lite for Caleb and Anna especially!) and had a beautiful view of both falls and the a bit of the city as well.

We enjoyed a managers reception after we got settled in our room, eating chips and candy and drinking pop (life doesn't get much better then that ;), Esther actually thought this was dinner (to her surprise we were going out to dinner yet too...all part of the package we got). Then back to the room to get ready to go and see the Festival of Lights. We drove thru the area, looking at all the light displays and such - a really nice show, the kids quite enjoyed it (and we enjoyed driving instead of walking because it was raining out!). Then it was back to the hotel - to enjoy the jacuzzi tub for a "swim" (kids got their bathing suits on). After the tub, it was time to watch the fireworks display from our room. Definitely a bonus, I'd highly recommend anyone with kids to do this...we got the kids all ready for bed, p.j.'s and all, and then enjoyed the view of the fireworks right from the bedroom!

After that it was bedtime. I think Alvar and I were bracing ourselves...figuring it was going to be a long evening of "shhhh...go to sleep" and "stop poking your sister" and "be quiet for the 20th time!!"...but were pleasantly surprised when the kids were fairly quiet within the hour! I guess this made up for the 5am drive that Alvar took with Caleb to find a Shopper's Drugmart to get some Tylenol for his earache (an adventure all on it's own!). After the "drugs" took affect, were were all back to sleep (everyone woke up at this point), and stayed that way till 8:30am.

We got ready that morning for a lovely buffet breakfast - with tons of food to choose from (I think a little overwhelming for the kids!). After breakfast it was time for a quick swim in the pool and hot tub - and then already time to pack up our stuff.

We checked out of the hotel, but left our van/luggage there so we could head down to Clifton Hill on the shuttle bus to take the kids to a couple of the (super over priced ;)) attractions there. We ended up in 2 fun houses - good place to get some energy out and let them run around and enjoy themselves.

And finally it was time to head home...I think everyone was good and tired by this point anyway and happy to head to our own house once again.

Our Hotel

Esther enjoying the view.

View of the bedroom from the bathroom.

The most "coolest" thing in the room...a shoe shiner - we ended up unplugging it for fear of someone breaking it!

Jacuzzi Tub swim.

Fireworks from the room.

Again...highly recommended to get a room with this view!

Sleeping peacefully!

View of the pool....not my picture...I forgot my camera when we went swimming!

Rolling barrel at the funhouse.

Funny mirrors...nice hat Esther!

A couple of coneheads ;)

Slanted room...very awkward and actually made you feel like you were on a boat out at sea...felt a little seasick!

Kids caught in the net

Picture Update #2

Well, this is my attempt more or less at getting a good shot of the kids together. I just want that one perfect shot, where they are all smiling beautifully...maybe I should aim for having them all look at me at the same time for starters! Oh well....I'll have years of practicing I'm sure...one day we'll get a good one ;)

Caleb looking at Sara (that boy is so in love with her - it's super cute!), Anna looking at the ceiling...Esther looks great (from what I can see of her!).

Okay...trying a bit too hard there Anna and Caleb. (Esther again looks great)

Must be something really interesting on the ceiling there Anna! (Esther almost looks great)

Bit of a "harsh" smile from Caleb...Sara's almost had enough here now too (Esther still looks pretty good!)

Ahhh...here we go. We moved to the floor...seemed to work a bit better (Anna was totally excited to hold Sara here too...Sara...not so much!)

Picture Update #1

Things around here have been settling down much better since we've switched Sara over to the bottle. She's happier, sleeps more and is wwwwaaaayyyy more content. Yeah! So, now that my arms are baby free this evening (this is the 2nd evening in a row!), I figured I'd post a couple pictures for the blog....not many words...but they say a picture says a thousand words, right?

Hmm...Sara does not look too impressed...cute no doubt, but definitely not happy to be put on her tummy on purpose (and then was expected to smile yet too...I don't think so!)

Alvar always has the gift of sleeping with our babies - it never seems to work for me...

Caleb spinning some of his toys... a barrel of some sort - just a cool shot...

Isn't she cute?!?!!!!

Happy Birthday Esther!

Today, Esther, you are 9 years old!

You are such a blessing to our whole family.

Your smile, your singing and your eagerness to help in any way you can is a beautiful thing to see!

Keep up your love for life - and above all your love for God!

Our prayer for you is that God continues to grow you up to love and serve Him and others around you. May God bless you richly in all that you do!

Our Cutie-Patootie

A couple people have commented that our blog has been a little "lacking" lately...and yes, I'll agree, it's been slightly non-existent for a few weeks now! It's definitely not for lack of things going on around here - it's been busy!

We recently switched Sara from nursing to bottle feeding - things weren't going very well (you'd think I'd have enough experience by now eh!!) and between Sara's constant eating/crying schedule, the rest of the family had suffered enough. I think partly she wasn't getting enough milk...and therefore was pretty hungry. Overall she has most definitely proved to be our most time-consuming and difficult baby - you know it's bad when your other children walk around the house with their ears covered from the constant screaming or when your kids start complaining about red stop lights as Sara seemed to start crying anytime we came to a stop! So, Sara is now full time on the bottle (and we really really hope that this solves her crying and lack of schedule...only time will tell!).

Don't get me wrong...Sara is still super-cute - and does have her wonderful times of smiling and happiness - I just hope that maybe we can skip the "terrible-twos" for the hard times she's been giving us already!