See - we really DO have four kids!

I *finally* have pictures of all four kids together now! I had a big mental block somehow thinking that it was too hard...but yesterday I just told them all what to get dressed in and we ran outside and did it. They're not perfect, but at least I have something! :)

This was at the end of their 3.5 minute attention span!! "Huh?! What camera?"

Kindergarten girl

Abby started kindergarten last week...and loves it, of course! We adored the teacher Gavin had for kindergarten, so we decided to send Abby just for this year since the teacher is still there. She goes two days a week (Monday/Wednesday), and occasionally on Fridays as well.

She was very confident right from the first day - the night before she said to me "mom, you're just going to drop me there, right? Like not stay?" :) I did end up staying for a few minutes, but she was quite happy to play with her little friends and didn't even notice me leaving. It's great to see her so confident.

More monthly pictures of Katrina

5 months (I missed four months, apparently) - 11lbs 12oz

6 months - 12lbs 8oz

7 months - 13lbs 3oz

Brotherly love

Gavin and Abby often have days where they fight like cats and dogs, so it's so nice to have moments like today where we can see how much they do love each other.

We had been at a friend's house visiting this morning, and on the way home Abby started wailing that she didn't know where her straw cup was. I asked her if she had put it back in the diaper bag when she was finished, but she couldn't remember and was way too upset to try and think where it could be. (It was definitely time for a nap...) I assured Abby that our friends would bring it to church on Sunday, but she was heartbroken that she wouldn't have her favorite cup to drink out of at quiet time.

When we arrived back at home, Gavin took Abby with him downstairs, and every few minutes one of them would appear upstairs rummaging for various supplies. I try to give them pretty free reign when they've come up with a project, as long as I don't see anything dangerous heading to their rooms with them. ;) A little while later they came back upstairs with this:

Gavin had taken a pink plastic cup, cut out a cardboard circle from a cereal box, made a hole in the lid and then taped it onto the cup so Abby could have a pink straw cup for her quiet time.

Those are the moments when I think they really will turn out okay. :)

She's growing!

Those of you on Facebook have already seen these pictures, but I wanted to give our blog readers a little comparison of how Katrina's been growing. I'm hoping to keep taking a similar picture each month for her first year, at least!

Three weeks - 5lbs 7oz

Two months - about 7 1/2lbs

Three months - getting close to 9lbs

Butter making!

We're reading Understood Betsy for Gavin's school right now, and after reading how butter was made in the olden days, we decided to try it for ourselves!

It was actually much easier than I had anticipated (I thought we might be shaking our little jars for hours...) and it turned out great! The kids loved watching the cream change from liquid, to whipped cream, and then suddenly separating into buttermilk and butter! We all enjoyed some of the fresh butter on some fresh bread this afternoon! Yummy!

Yikes!

I knew it had been a long time since I had updated...but yikes!!

I think everyone has heard now (hopefully!) that we welcomed a new member into our family just before Christmas - Katrina Nicole Hope joined us a month earlier than expected on December 19. There were some complications with the delivery and Katrina was in the NICU for five days and came home on Christmas Eve. What a wonderful Christmas present that was!

She was readmitted the next week for observation because there were some issues with her heart that we had known about during the pregnancy but weren't sure of the severity. She's since seen a pediatric cardiologist from Edmonton and she will continue to be seen every few months, but she's doing great and likely won't need surgery to repair a hole in her heart until she's between three and five years old.

Katrina was 5lbs 2oz at birth which was quite a change for us as our other kids have been 9-10lbs! She's up to 6lbs 13oz now and is definitely looking fuller in the cheeks - very cute!

I'm loving maternity leave and being able to stay home with all four kids - I can't imagine having to go back to work at this point like many moms do in the States. Hopefully I'll have more time to keep the blog updated now! ;)

Shortly after she was born - lots of tubes and wires in the NICU, but we got used to what they were and how to 'unhook' her to hold her pretty quickly.

Cuddling with Daddy on Christmas Day

This gives you a bit of perspective on how tiny she was. Just a little dolly. :)

Snuggling with Granny while she was at our house helping.

Snow day :(

Well, at least the kids were excited!

(Gavin taught Rachel how to make a snowball, and she promptly threw it in his face - she thought it was hysterical!!)

You might be getting too big for your paci when...

You can put the whole thing in your mouth! ;)

(For the record, she only is allowed her paci in bed and in the van - and the date has been set for getting rid of it...yikes!)

Kids watching hockey

Gavin told me they were in 'the cheap seats!' :)

Girls' fall pictures

The pictures of the kids that are up on our wall right now are from last fall - they turned out really well and I wanted to do it again this fall. Well, apparently fall is now, so last night I took the girls out (just to the ditch at the end of our road - trying to take them all out to the park by myself last year was a bit of a disaster!) and did their pictures. I didn't have time to do Gavin, but hopefully he will be quick and easy and I can get his done this week sometime.

Fun at the park

I THINK spring is finally here, and I took the kids over to the park close to our house to enjoy some late afternoon sunshine. :) Rachel loves to be outside (she doesn't always get to go out when the big kids do since she needs a little more direct supervision!) and she tries her best to keep up with Gavin & Abby!!

Abby is a little monkey at the park! She tries things that cautious Gavin might have attempted only last summer. She doesn't need any encouragement to try something - I just turn around and she's doing it!

Looks like we'll have another reader on our hands soon...

Rachel was finished her snack and picked up Gavin's Big Book of Trivia Fun for some light reading while she was waiting for mommy to wipe her hands! ;)

"Take a picture of MEEEE, Mommy!"

Abby loves to have her picture taken, no matter what she's doing. ('Take a picture of me putting on my socks, Mom!' 'Mom! Get a picture of me looking at this paper!')

My attempt at Mother's Day pictures...

Man, oh man, getting more than one little kid to cooperate for pictures is practically impossible!! :)

On Mother's Day morning, I got the kids all dressed and only realized afterwards that they were all in shades of blue and white. Clearly a sign that I was supposed to take pictures!! ;)

Rachel wanted nothing to do with her brother and sister, prefering to run down the road instead, chasing after the neighbor's cat. It was also all of about +3 degrees outside, so everyone was complaining how cold they were! Sigh.

Maybe in 20 years I'll forget what a hassle it was to try to get decent pictures of these cuties!!

Work in the basement...

Our basement was 'finished' when we moved in, but there were a lot of things that were not done really well. The drywalling was a little sloppy, the baseboard was some "wood-look" plastic, and most of the door frames weren't finished. Oh - and the couple of doors/windows that were finished were stained a deep red color. Not to mention the orange/gold carpet! ;) I've always planned to finish and fix the doors and windows, but I guess I just don't spend enough time down there for it to quite irritate me into action!

I finally decided about a week ago that I was going to JUST DO IT! Actually, I decided I was going to put new baseboards on (we took off the old ones about a year ago when we put the new carpet in), but realized that of course I couldn't accurately cut baseboard when there were missing door frames. So...door frames it was.

Here's a few before and after pictures...the hall closet before (no framing at all, lovely brown plastic folding curtain):




And the hall closet after...

Family room windows...

The family room windows didn't have any frames on them either. It's amazing the difference it makes!!! :)

Before (well, I had already primed one window before I remembered to take a picture!!):

After (without the blinds put back up):

These couple of recent pictures capture Rachel's personality so well!! The 'hat' she's wearing in the bathroom picture is actually the top of the popcorn popper...she found it in the cupboard one day a few months ago, and it fits perfectly! She wears it at least for a couple hours every day - what a goof!

She loves to brush her teeth, and since she figured out both regular door handles and child-protected door handles within the span of a couple of days, we often find her digging in the bathroom drawers for her toothbrush.

Rachel is our first 'paci baby' - she LOVES her soother! She's only allowed to have it for naptime and bedtime, but she's become very tricky at trying to get it during the day! Sometimes she asks for 'crib' just so she can sit there and have a bit of a suck on the paci! Today I found her sitting at the end of the hallway with her paci in her mouth - she must have been able to reach it in her crib! I did take it away, but had to take a picture first. She's got her eyes closed - I think she was trying to hide from me - if she can't see me, I must not be able to see her, right??? :)