merry merry merry Christmas

Well, another Christmas come and gone. It was a wild, event filled time, as it always is, but I'm happy to report that all my fears of it being, quote "a gong show", were unfounded. The events, luckily enough, actually revolved around Kai's nap schedule and exhausted him enough to allow him to sleep through the night every night. He loved the attention and the activity - he's such an active guy that it was great for him to be able to play and wreak havoc amongst aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. We even managed to keep his toy situation in check. I was a little nervous of being inundated with toys, since we're in an apartment and his stuff is already filling it up, but everyone showed great restraint and stuck to money for his education fund, books, building blocks and the Smart Bounce and Spin Pony I'd asked for. I know, it's quite the toy, but my brother-in-law is a technophile and loved that he could get him what he called "a Wii for babies".

Kai also got to hang out with his cousin, Jadeyn, again. He really liked her and smiled every time she was near. Unfortunately, he's a little violent in his love and took a few swipes at her. We tried so hard all month to teach him not to claw at faces when he's excited and wants to express affection, but he's a hard nut to crack. He did give her a few kisses on her head, though, which was too cute for words. Granted, his kisses are of the wide, open mouth variety with some teeth and lots of licking.

I unfortunately didn't take many of my own pictures since there were about three other cameras around it was easier to let my sisters take pictures for me. I did get a few of Kai checking out the box of his new pony - he adored the picture of the baby on the box and gave it lots of kisses.

Next up his his first birthday! Wow, time flies. I'm looking at getting back to work soon - I'll keep you posted as to what transpires with that. I'm a little sad to have to go back to work, but I'm also looking forward to doing something a little more sedentary than chasing after a raucous one-year-old.

Here are a couple pictures I did take. Enjoy!

now and not yet

There's a fascinating concept in Christianity that can be referred to as a 'now but not yet' idea of existence. It holds that because of the work Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection for the salvation of the world, the Kingdom of God already exists on earth, but not in its fullness. The fullness of the Kingdom will come with Christ's second coming. It's a complicated theology to explain in a few words, but I really like the imagery. It makes me think a little of the spring - good weather is here now, but it's not as good as it will be in a few months.

Anyway, this whole idea of 'now but not yet' feels as though its permeating a lot of areas in my life right now. Things are going pretty good overall, but there's this general feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction underlying it all that it could be so much better. There are little things in some areas that could be improved and big things in other areas that could certainly be made better. Unfortunately for me, most (okay, all) of these things are way, way out of my control to alter.

I know I have mentioned this numerous times before, but I am not a process person. I like results. It is incredibly hard for me to sit back and allow things to work themselves out naturally and organically (as they inevitably do). My instinct is to get in there and negotiate the quickest path to a positive result. It is desperately difficult for me to bite my tongue and stay out of things when I feel as though I could do something to help. It is so desperately difficult that I have often made the mistake of getting involved when I shouldn't. This happens most often with family, but i have done it more than once to friends, too. And when I do overstep my bounds, the results I so badly crave are never the ones I wanted or expected.

And so in these 'not yet' circumstances I find myself in, I am being very, very careful about not overstepping and being as patient as I can be. That's not to say I talk any less than usual, I'm just trying to be more careful about who I'm saying what to. In some cases, I'm even keeping my mouth shut because I feel like God hasn't given me permission to speak. That's especially hard, but it's also especially important.

I don't really have a point in all this, I'm just kind of musing about my state of mind lately. It's a difficult position for me to be in, this now but not yet, but I'm trying to make the best of it and learn as much as I possibly can about how to be a good leader, a good sister, a good daughter, a good wife, a good mother, a good friend and just a good person.

The world feels very big and very small to me all in the same breath.

Next week is Christmas and I'm looking forward to all the crazy family time, but I do also wish a little that I could find a way to make at least a few moments go in slow motion so that I don't get the sensation that I'm somehow missing it all.

And every morning and every night I get to greet this little guy and wonder, how did I get so lucky?

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

Bet I have you singing that song now, don't I? Sorry. I'm getting bad for getting songs stuck in people's heads.

Speaking of having things stuck in one's head, I've been having some really weird dreams lately. Like the other morning, I dreamed we got this 'threat' (for lack of a better word) in the mail from Winnipeg Water and Waste for a $1400 fine because our apartment complex was using too much water. It wasn't an actual bill, it was just a letter saying that we might get charged $1400 - no, it was $1427 - for excessive use of water. I was pretty incensed. Earlier that week, I dreamed we were at a pediatrician appointment for Kai, except it was my OB-GYN who was the doctor and not our pediatrician. We (that is, Vergil and I) were there with my mom and my three sisters - the youngest of whom were both crying because they didn't want to endure a doctor's exam for some reason. But that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was when Brad Pitt and George Clooney showed up to hang out in the waiting room for us. They were all Ocean's 11-like (having very goofy, completely indiscernible conversations) and I remember feeling very exasperated by them.

I find my subconscious putting together very random topics and situations. For example, in my former dream, here are where I think some of the pieces came from - I used to work for the Water and Waste Department at the City of Winnipeg, I've been seeing a lot of commercials from Hinterland Who's Who about where your water comes from and making sure to preserve it and, well, it's Christmas. Who doesn't get stressed about money at Christmas? The second dream, jeepers, I don't know why my sisters were crying, except that they always hated dentists and doctors and as for Brad Pitt and George Clooney, I think I've just been watching too much of the Ellen Degeneres show. She just moved studios and George Clooney's office is next door to her and she is on a quest to get him on her show. Why that should then feature in my dreams, I'm not sure, but there you have it.

Anyway, how's that for random? Pretty good, huh?

In other news, my Christmas decorations are up. My sister Breanne came over and helped me this year. It was so great. That's definitely one of the biggest things I miss about not having my family around - we always had so many great traditions with Christmas that we always looked forward to so much. It was so nice to be able to put up my tree with someone who gets as excited about Christmas stuff as I do. That day kind of made up for not having Vergil around all December.

I'll leave you with that. You know, all these weird dreams happened after I cut and coloured my hair last week. Maybe the dye is affecting my brain...

call me not to politics (updated)

I know a lot of people who have said to me, "I want God to call me to an occupation, but I just hope he never calls me to missionary work. I couldn't handle living in deepest, darkest Africa." For me, it's politics. I couldn't handle being called into politics. I have no idea what our government is trying to pull these days - it made me laugh out loud to hear about this 'coalition' the opposition parties are cooking up. Only because it's all just so ridiculous. We currently have a minority government who are trying to behave as though they are a majority and apparently, their lording it over the opposition parties have offended them to the point that they are taking this drastic measure to remedy their annoyance.

Okay, I know that's a pretty trite summation of what's really going on and I just can't stomach researching it in any further depth, so I have no real authority to make an educated comment on the situation, so please forgive me if I refuse to elaborate or engage on much more of a discussion on the matter. Instead, read Rick Mercer's blog. He knows about this stuff better than I do and is witty enough to make it sound interesting. Suffice it to say that I would cry long and hard if I were ever called into politics. Or journalism. Which is kind of ironic since I've actually been trained in that medium. I have a very hard time watching the news. It just makes me angry and snippy.

Anyway, enough about that. I'll just get myself all worked up.

In other, family related news - Kai has officially slept through the night (12 hour stretches) since my last post! That's over a week! I feel like a new woman, and I like it. I'm just really hoping now that he'll continue this trend for a few weeks or even months. A girl can dream, yes? He's also napping really well in the afternoons. Granted, he's a few weeks away from walking and Christmas is coming up (my family's all coming in from Edmonton for three days) and that'll probably throw everything off again, but hey - that still gives me a few weeks of potential!

That's all I have for today. Here's a fun picture of Kai and his mouth full of teeth.

this post will probably jinx it, but...

Kai slept for 11 hours straight the last two nights in a row. After months of agonizing over his sleep (or lack thereof), he all of a sudden decided now was a good time to start sleeping through the night. I feel so well-rested the last two days I hardly know what to do with myself! It almost makes me a little giddy!

Granted, now that I've bragged about it to the world, he'll go back to sleeping like a newborn (i.e. not at all), but hey, at least I can say I had two good nights. :D

everybody was kung fu fighting

No particular reason for my title today, just couldn't think of anything clever to say. Finding titles for things I'm writing or have written has always been the hardest part of writing for me.

Speaking of writing, though not my own in particular, my youth professor from college has published his first book! I'm proud to say that I had a behind-the-scenes hand in it, having edited his Doctor of Ministry dissertation on compassion fatigue out of which this fiction novel was born. It's called Restoring Rebecca and here's the synopsis for you:

As Rebecca throws herself into her familiar superhero role, her caring begins to take an emotional toll, and she’s forced to ask the most difficult question of her life: “Is it time to stop caring?” With the help of her dog and a wise veterinarian at the pet hospital where she volunteers, Rebecca comes face to face with radical new ideas that could change the way she cares – and help keep her sanity intact.

Shedding new light on the little-known but important issue of compassion fatigue, Restoring Rebecca is written for people who love to care and those who would like to better understand them. It’s a book that will challenge you to face your inner superhero and to fess up to your limitations as a caregiver.

Anyway, if you're interested in reading it or know a young person who might benefit from the story, it should be available to order on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com before Christmas.

In other news, Kai and I are officially weaned, which is kind of nice and kind of sad all at the same time. I had thought I would nurse until he was a year, but my milk supply was definitely decreasing and I just didn't feel able to keep up with him anymore. He eats solids like a trooper and is finally starting to get the hang of finger foods - he realizes he needs to actually chew the items that go into his mouth and not just swallow them outright.

We get to see his doctor next week without having to get any shots, so that will also be fun and Christmas is coming, which should be both chaotic and loads of fun. I keep telling people not to bother buying him toys - boxes and paper are all he's gonna care about this year. We'll see if anyone listens to me.

And then, oh dear, his first birthday. Hokey smokes, did that ever go fast. I can't believe that less than two years ago I was agonizing over whether or not I would ever be able to get pregnant again and if I did, whether it would be successful. And now look at us - a happy, healthy little family with a child that's almost a year old. Amazing.

The other thing I have trouble with when it comes to writing is my endings. I get stuck all the time - whether it be not being able to finish a story or just wrapping things up well. Oh well, I'll just do what I always do in my blogs - end with a picture of my son!

sore all over

Another aquafitness day, another afternoon of achy shoulders and arms. Having to hold Kai up close for 45 minutes straight, even with the help of water, definitely has a negative impact on my already inflamed carpal-tunnel syndrome. Ah well, on the bright side, we're looking at a record-breaking three hour long nap this afternoon! Whoo-hoo! We've actually seen much improvement on the nap-schedule front. Now Kai will have usually a 30 to 45 minute nap in the living room in the morning and then I put him down in his crib around 1:30 or 1:45 for a 1 to 2 hour nap. Wednesdays are the exception, since we have aquafitness in the morning, so he can't have his morning nap, so we have an earlier, and hopefully, longer nap right around noon. Often I get him to have one more nap sometime before bed - either in the late afternoon or early evening and that usually does it.

Night time sleeping is still a little off-and-on. He's cutting another couple of teeth on the bottom, so he's a little more wakeful because of that. I'm trying really hard to be stubborn about not 'rescuing' him if he wakes himself up between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning, but letting him get himself back to sleep. It's going fairly well and I haven't had any complaints from my neighbours yet, so I'm hoping our apartment block is better insulated than I had feared.

What else is new..? Hmm, well, it's Christmas season again and that means we won't see a lot of Vergil for the next couple of months. In spite of the fact that the economy is on the down-turn, and people are definitely being more frugal about what they spend, retail Christmas season is still incredibly busy and hectic. I have a feeling that people will still spend about the same this Christmas season, but will return a lot more than they might have come January.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same around here. My year of mat leave is, unfortunately, drawing nearer to a close so I have to start thinking about work again, but I think I'll put off really dealing with that until the new year.

As always, a picture of my growing boy. He's getting more and more mobile and I think we're just counting down the days until he takes his first steps. How weird is that?!

9 months

I honestly can't believe Kai's 9 months old already. Funny how it never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies. Another three months and he'll be a year old! Amazing. And yet, I can hardly remember when he wasn't part of our lives. Actually, that's not true. I still have very distinct memories of the eight months between my miscarriage and conceiving Kai. I actually hope I never forget that time because it will always remind me of how blessed I am and it will always humble me before both God and the childless or those who have lost children.

You know, I don't know why I always try to blog on Wednesdays after aquafitness. Maybe because I have time and I'm too tired to do anything else. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to think very clearly, either. Ah well. Here's a fun picture of Kai in his halloween costume to make up for my lack of creativity.

big flat blank

I don't actually have a lot to write today. The most exciting thing in our lives is only by proxy - my sister Breanne got engaged over the weekend. We're all very excited for her and very pleased with the new future brother-in-law. He proposed in a beautiful church in Minneapolis using a $12 acrylic ring but promptly replaced it with a beautiful ring they'd chosen from Tiffany's. La-di-da!

Kai's got four top teeth well through the gum now and I'm hoping he'll wait at least a few weeks before he decides to cut any more. You've probably guessed by now, but teething is not my favorite baby milestone to get through. He is becoming a little ham bone, though, our kid. He's got this mischievous grin that just makes you wonder what's going on in that little head of his. He's also getting into EVERYTHING, so I bought a bunch of door and drawer latches to try to thwart his busy fingers. My luck, he'll figure out how to get past them by the time he's 18 months.

Anyway, I think I'll leave this post at that for now. Here's a picture of my funny kid to make you smile:

aqua fit

Kai and I started a Baby and Me Aquafitness class last week and I have to admit that aside from the great exercise, I really look forward to these classes because of the AMAZING naps they induce. Last week, Kai immediately crashed after lunch and slept for two hours straight. Today, it took a little coaxing, but he fell asleep soon after his lunch and is sleeping soundly in his crib at the moment. I'm hoping for another two hour nap, but we'll see what I can get.

In the vein of sleep, I'm sad to report that nights have not been great for my son and I of late. He's cutting three top teeth and they are wreaking havoc with Kai's sleep habits. Most nights, he's been able to fall asleep on his own, but three to four hours later, wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep on his own. Monday night was particularly bad and all day Tuesday, both he and I were tired and irritable. Unfortunately, bedtime only seemed to make things worse. He absolutely refused to sleep in his crib. He wanted to sleep on me. It was more than I could handle. I was irritated, frustrated and tired. I had to put him down in his crib and walk away so I could have a little breakdown. Vergil tried getting him to sleep, but was also unsuccessful, so for the second time in his life, we let him cry it out. He wailed for about a half hour and eventually fell asleep sitting up with his face pressed against the crib rails. If I hadn't been worried about waking him up, I might have taken a picture because it looked pretty funny. On the bright side, he did stay in his crib and slept, mostly uninterrupted, until 4:30am. I fed him then and he slept in his crib until quarter to eight. Anyway, we'll see how tonight goes. It's not fun listening to him scream, but he's got to that point where he knew what he was supposed to do and was really just trying to get his own way.

So that's our big adventure this week. We attended a friend's wedding on the weekend, which was a lot of fun. My sister babysat, and fortunately, Kai was very nice to her. I'll leave you with a picture of Verge and I getting cozy with the bride and groom:

vacation

It's been a great couple of weeks for us. We spent our first week of vacation at the cabin and actually had pretty decent weather. It wasn't nice enough to swim or anything, but it was nice enough to hang out on the dock and watch Vergil fish. Kai and I bought him a fishing rod for his birthday and he seemed to enjoy himself, even if he didn't catch anything. Here's a picture of Kai watching his daddy fish:

After a very pleasant week relaxing, fishing, walking around Lac du Bonnet and hanging out in the hot tub (don't worry, the water was only body temperature - I wasn't about to boil my babe),

we headed off to Edmonton for a week to visit my family and meet my new niece, Jadeyn. Kai did really well on the plane, I was very proud of him. He didn't cry at all.

It was sad to leave my family after that, especially now that my sister and I are both moms. It would be so nice to just be able to hang out, compare notes and all that good stuff. It would also be nice to be able to go over to my mom's whenever I wanted. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything. *Sigh*

Anyway, here are some more pictures of my beautiful niece and my cheese-ball son from our trip to Edmonton:

Meeting cousin Jadeyn for the first time

Napping with Jadeyn on the couch

In his Sunday best

Jadeyn sucking her thumb

Jadeyn and me

happy baby day!

Good news today in our world - my sister Sheri had her baby! Little Miss Jadeyn Nicole was born at 12:30 am this morning and weighed in at 8lbs 5oz. Mom had to be induced because the little girl was far too comfy in the womb, but everything went really well and mom and baby are both much happier this way. Especially mom. :) My new niece has a mess of hair and I have to say I'm a little bit jealous. How is it that all the white babies I know have been born with whack loads of hair and my little mixed baby, who was supposed to come out with a baby faux-hawk of thick, black hair, is as blonde as I was when I was small? Genetics are a funny thing, I tell you!

Anyway, here's a picture of my beautiful new niece (who looks just like her mom when her mom was a baby - see the picture of me and my sister below for proof):


Hahaha - I just realized that they even have the same kissy lips! Oh, I love it!

I'm very excited to meet my new niece. We're headed out to Edmonton next week Saturday to do just that and I can hardly wait.

Unfortunately, I do have to temper this very happy post with a serious prayer request. My former art/bible teacher from junior high, Gerald Folkerts (no relation), who is a very talented artist (recently involved in the Invisible Dignity project, which some of you might be familiar with), was just diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Apparently brain tumors are symptomatic of cancer elsewhere in the body, so it's a scary situation. You can follow their story on their blog. Be sure to check there often and to pray/think of him and his family often. Thanks!

sicky sick sick

It took seven months, but Kai's got his first cold this week. And so do Vergil and I. Well, not our first, but you know what I mean. We're a family full of sickys today. Poor Kai's got a snotty nose and bright red cheeks because - well, I don't know why his cheeks are red. Either that's part of his cold or he's teething some more. Or both. Or maybe the cheeks have nothing to do with anything - what do I know?

Feels like I know less than nothing about babies these days. Not that Kai is becoming more difficult, he's just had some really bad days that leave me totally at a loss to know what to do. He's been sleeping like a newborn this last week and I don't know how to fix it because I don't know what his problem or problems are (teething? growing? sickness? all of the above?). We don't have anything resembling a nap schedule yet and I'm hesitant to try to implement one before October because we're going on vacation and won't be at home for two weeks so it feels ridiculous to try to implement anything new before we're back.

So yeah, that's pretty much our life right now - making things up as we go along and trying not to over-think things and trying even harder not to take his bad sleep habits, hatred of his playpen, restlessness in his stroller and his excessive suckiness personally.

Anyway, on a completely baby-free note, the wedding we officiated last week went really well. It was a lot of fun and I think the bride and groom enjoyed themselves. I accomplished my goals of not making the bride cry or laugh too hard and as far as I know, they are officially married. At least, all the papers are signed and mailed away. Hopefully they don't get rejected or something weird like that.

The wedding itself was really small, but that was because the bride and groom spoiled us with a six-course meal at Amici's including bison carpaccio, seared Ahi tuna, wild boar bacon, elk steak, a light meringue dessert and cake baked by the groom himself (who is a chef by training). Pretty amazing stuff. It was a really nice day out for Vergil and I, except for the fact that we had to work for our meal! In addition to being the officiants, we were also the Emcees at the reception. Ah well, it was all worth it.

I'll post a picture of us with the bride and groom as soon as I get it. I had to order them from their photographer, so you'll have to wait patiently with me.

In the meantime, here's a picture of our son showing off his new skill - pulling himself up on EVERYTHING!

here comes the bride...

Here's my nifty news of the week - I get to perform a wedding ceremony on Thursday for my former roommate and her fiancé. How fun is that? I got my temporary marriage commissioner's license and I officially get to pronounce them 'husband and wife'. Except they won't let me call them 'husband and wife'. They think it sounds old and awkward. Fortunately, because Canada has legalized same-sex marriage, the forms they sent me don't actually use the terms 'husband and wife'. And no, I will not get into a discussion about same-sex marriage on this post or any other. That's best left to in person venues rather than the inter-web in my opinion.

I'm pretty excited to be an officiant at a wedding for the first time in my life, but I'm also a little nervous. I know my girlfriend is very adamant about having a non-traditional wedding ceremony, but unfortunately, a lot of the things we have to do during the ceremony are, well, traditional. Vows, exchange of rings, declaration of intent, signing the register - heck, they even want me to say a little message in the middle. Maybe she and I just have a different idea of what 'traditional' means. She is a Catholic French-Canadian and I a Protestant Dutch-Canadian, after all, so that could explain our different interpretations.

I also have to figure out a way to a) not make her cry too hard at the beginning when I dedicate the service to her mom who just passed away from cancer this year and b) not make her laugh so hard that she can't say her vows properly. Vergil will be co-officiating with me (though I'm the only one who can legally sign the marriage license), so the laughing thing might actually be more of an issue than the crying thing.

We're also Emceeing their reception later on that evening. Less pressure there, but it still makes for a busy day for us. They're only having 30 people at their wedding, so it's small, but with 40-45% of the bride's guests being francophone French-Canadians and 40-45% of the groom's guests being Cantonese-speaking Vietnamese, I just hope our humour is actually understood. Oy vey.

Our good friend Jae is on babysitting duties that day. I'm so glad she was able to help us out. I hope Kai behaves and doesn't give her too much grief.

Anyway, that's what's new in the dela Rosa household this week. My friend Kayla and her little boy Elliot were finally able to come for a visit last week. Elliot is doing just smashingly since his surgery and he and Kai had a great time hanging out with each other!

teeth pictures

Here are a couple pictures of Kai's buds. So much trouble for such little nubbins!

teeth!

Well, it's happened! Kai is cutting his first two bottom teeth. I'll say that the process of teething has been very interesting. He had been really spitty and drooly for about a week before I found the first tooth and his sleep had been (and still is) kind of screwy. At first I thought it was just all the activity and people and disruption of our routine, but now I realize it's been the teeth the whole time.

I'm actually wondering if he's not working on a couple teeth on the top, too, because today's been a rough one. He's been cranky and clingy and whiny and not napping well at all. His top gums look a little red and slightly inflamed, too, so I wouldn't be surprised if I found a tooth poking through there one day soon. Watch him get all his teeth all at once. This kid has no patience for anything, I tell you.

My friend recommended a homeopathic teething tablet by Hylands, so we'll see if they do anything to take the edge off. I broke down and gave him some Tempra this afternoon because he just seemed so uncomfortable. I'm really reluctant to drug him up for every little thing, but I think today was justified.

Anyway, this new phase of Kai's life has definitely proved more trying on me than I had anticipated. I kind of felt like I was just starting to figure him out and all of a sudden, he throws me this teething curveball and I feel like I'm almost back to how I felt a few weeks after he was born - clueless and frustrated. I had a pretty bad couple of days this week where I just felt really down and depressed. My mood improved as the week went on, but it's definitely been a roller coaster emotionally the last little while.

What else was I going to say? Oh yeah, when we first started feeding Kai solids, he got the hang of it really quickly and ate pretty much everything we offered him. There was a week or two there where we could hardly feed him enough. The last two or three days, however, he's been indifferent and kind of irritated with eating even a little bit of rice cereal. I'm assuming it's because of the teething thing and possibly because he'd had a growth spurt earlier that has since ended, but it has definitely added to my feelings of cluelessness and frustration.

Alrighty. Enough whining. I have a meeting tonight which means Kai and Vergil will be on their own for a few hours. Hopefully the nap the little guy is having right now will help with his mood for the evening and doesn't leave Vergil feeling too frustrated with him.

I don't have a good picture of Kai's nubbins yet, so I'll leave you with a picture of him on a happier day.

unmotivated

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us at the dela Rosa household. Kai and I spent the week with my parents at my uncle's cabin last week - Vergil joined us for the weekend, which was nice - then it's been naught but getting together with family all this week. All good stuff, but it does leave a body a little tired after a while. I have to say that Kai is awesome in rooms full of people, even when he's being passed around like a party favor. He's quite the little ham/charmer, entertaining people for hours without a fuss. Last night we had an impromptu party for my youngest sisters, since Brenna, my cousin Farrah and my parents were all in town and Kai did really well until the drive home. I think the over stimulation and exhaustion finally got the best of him. He had a bit of a meltdown and it took a long time to settle him down to finally get him to sleep. He was so tired he couldn't stop crying and then he had the cry-breathing going on for about 45 minutes after.

Anyway, today we were supposed to go out for lunch, but I decided after the day we had yesterday and the evening we're going to have tonight yet, that we'd stay home instead. I think it was a good decision, as he is having a substantial nap right now.

As for me, while I could also use a nap, I could also stand to clean my bathroom. But I don't really want to. Bleh. It's so hard to get the necessities done sometimes when there's so much other stuff going on.

That's about all that's new around here. Summer's turning out mighty fine, I have to say, but it sure does feel like August is almost over already! Seems like I've booked myself full already. I hate when I do that. Oh well, September brings another week at the cabin and then a week in Edmonton to visit my family and my soon-to-be-born niece or nephew! Very exciting!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our week away: Kai in his (warm) pool and chillin' in the hammock with his granddad:

rotting meat

So I was going to cook ribs in my slow cooker today. Juicy, succulent pork side ribs with BBQ sauce. Delicious, no? Well, the ribs I just bought on Sunday are green, mouldy and smelly. And no, I did not leave them out on my counter for two days. They were safely stored in my fridge, just like they were supposed to be, waiting to be used today. The label on them claims the meat should be used by the 24th of July. It's the 22nd today. I'm a little ripped off. I think this will be the first time ever in my life that I'm going to go back to the store and complain - either ask for my money back or get something in exchange. The thing that makes me even madder is that the fresh fish I have in my fridge, which was also bought on Sunday, is STILL GOOD! How does that work? Pork goes bad while the fish stays good? Doesn't make an ounce of sense to me.

Okay, that's enough ranting. Once I shower and get myself ready, I'll trek off back to the store to complain about my meat. Probably not till after lunch, I think.

In other news, we've started Kai on solids this week. How fun is that? Just rice cereal so far, but he gets to try chicken tomorrow. That should be fun. Why chicken, you ask? Well, at the nutrition class I attended a month or so ago, they informed me that since 2004, they've changed the order of introducing foods to baby. New research has shown that at 6 months, baby's iron stores deplete to such an extent that you need to introduce iron-rich foods first and foremost. All of the baby cereals are fortified with iron, so that's a good starter, but veggies and fruit obviously aren't, so they recommend starting with meats now. Weird, hey? But that's what I'm gonna do. I hope Kai likes meat. I figured I'd start with the milder-tasting ones like chicken and pork and move my way up to beef and fish. Turning him into a carnivore right off the hop. Kind of funny, if you ask me.

I've actually gone ahead and cooked up my own meat baby foods for him. No, I'm not an uber-keen homemaker. Somehow, it just seemed less gross to feed him meat I've cooked and pureed than to feed him jarred meats. Maybe that's because I've had cats and meat out of jars just feels too much like cat food. Although, I have to admit that the beef I made smelled a heck of a lot like cat food after I pureed it. LOL

And that's all I have time to write today. Here's a video of Kai trying his rice cereal for the first time. Enjoy!

showing off

Not much to say today - just some videos for you to watch of some of Malakai's new skills. He just learned how to blow raspberries on Saturday, so we got some fun footage of it. I think he's pretty cute.


And here's video evidence of what I've been claiming over the last couple of posts - my babe is already figuring out how to crawl! How scary is that!


Now I'm going to participate in my favorite mommy/baby activity - napping! :)

blankity blank

I really don't have a lot to say today, but I grow tired of looking at my rant against Anonymous, so I thought maybe I should try to post something new.

Life's been pretty normal around here lately. Vergil had a 4-day weekend over the long weekend, during which we spent most of our time with my parents who were in town. He started his new job on Wednesday and everything's going well with that so far.

Kai's doing really well at figuring out how to crawl. He doesn't quite have it all coordinated yet, but he can get himself across short distances to get at toys or other objects he's interested in. We lowered the mattress in his crib the other day because I was worried I'd go in there one day and find that he'd figured out a way out of it. He likes grabbing at faces and has this hilarious fake cough he does when he's fussing. His personality is just coming through more and more every day and I love it. It's so much fun to watch him grow and develop, though I have to say, everything feels like it's just rushing along. I really do wish I could kind of slow things down some days - press the slow-motion button on the remote or something.

Anyway, that's about all I've got for today. As always, here's a fun picture of my ever-changing baby. He's already trying to steal the remote from his dad.

Dear Anonymous,

It's time to bid you adieu. After five months of persistently deleting every comment you've made on my blog and hoping that you would get the hint that I wasn't going to put up with you, I've had enough. I could rant on for pages about how cowardly it is to insult someone on-line and not even leave your name for a proper rebuttal, but I won't, because somehow, I just don't think you'd get it.

No, I know you wouldn't get it. You're a cyber-bully, plain and simple, and you don't give a rat's a** about politeness, etiquette, decorum or just being a decent human being, so I won't waste words on you.

Frankly, I've just grown sick and tired of your petty insults. And seriously, lay off insulting my baby. He's a BABY! I can't figure out how you could be so offended by a child that you need to tell me repeatedly that he's ugly, goofy-looking or otherwise not cute. You think I care what you think? I don't, but I'm tired of trying to make you realize that.

So, no more anonymous comments on this blog. I have no use for you. Go be a pest to someone else and leave me alone.

Or, if you grow a pair and would like to insult me in person, go ahead and email me or Vergil: kristamk@mts.net or vdelarosa@mts.net. We'd be happy to exchange pleasantries with you.

ch-ch-ch-changes

Well, we're in for another month of changes in the dela Rosa household. Verge got a new job this week. As of the beginning of July, he will be managing a different clothing store. Suffice it to say that it was time for him to move on and the new place made him an offer he couldn't refuse. We're pretty excited about it, actually. Better pay, a week more vacation time and this new company sells men's, women's and kid's clothes, so now he can outfit our whole family! Good times. It'll be a busy month, since, once again, he's been called in to whip the place into shape, but that kind of thing really energizes him so it'll be good. Besides which, my parents, sister and cousin are all in town around the end of July, beginning of August, so I'll have lots to do to keep me busy.

Also, I've been elected to be an elder at my church. I'm really honoured and looking forward to getting my hands dirty in ministry again.

What else can I tell you? Kai had his second round of shots last week Friday. We could tell he's definitely developing and becoming more aware of his surroundings because he knew what was going on this time. Vergil had him on his lap and I was to the side, trying to distract him, but oh no, his eyes were glued on the doctor and the needles that were being prepared and sure enough, before the doctor even came at him with them, that bottom lip was right out and he was crying. As bad as I felt for him, I thought it was kind of cute. He did really good, though, and only cried for a few minutes after it was all over. He ran a bit of a fever for most of the next day, but by Sunday was back to himself, so I think that's pretty good.

Oh yes, I know what I wanted to tell you - I won a book on this blog a few months ago and got it in the mail a couple weeks back. It's called A Crack in the Wall by Betty Jane Hegerat and I have to highly recommend it to you. She's a brilliant writer. So good, in fact, that I can't read her book before going to bed because her stories are so engaging that my brain won't shut down. So, if you're looking for a good book to read by a Canadian author, check out A Crack in the Wall.

That's all for now. Here's a pic of my smiling babe for you:

2% less

My girlfriend told me that apparently, pregnant women lose 2% of their memory and that it takes two years to get that memory back. I don't know about the scientific accuracy of her claim, but anecdotally, I'd have to say she was right. I'm pretty sure I've gotten stupider since I've been pregnant and had Kai. The synapses don't fire as quickly as they used to, as it were.

For example, this past weekend while we were at the cabin, I decided I ought to sterilize Kai's soother and RaZ-Berry teether. I put a shallow pot of water with the aforementioned items on the stove to boil and returned to the living room to watch Vergil play Lego Indiana Jones. Some time later, Vergil says to me, "Did you have something on the stove?"

"Ah, sh*t!"

Sure enough, the water had boiled away and Kai's soother had melted to the bottom of the pan. The poor RaZ-Berry had fared a little better, but it was beginning to disintegrate, so I had to toss it. Anyway, in my panic, I pulled the pan off the stove and put it on the small counter between the stove and fridge. I had turned away to the sink to try to salvage the RaZ-Berry and when I turned back, I saw that the pan was about two inches in the air. The counter was burning and bubbling up, taking the pan with it.

I felt like an idiot. I should have known not to put a smoldering pan onto an unprotected counter like that. But no. I was pretty upset. I left a message for my uncle, telling him what had happened and asking him to let me know how much it would cost to fix the counter. He called back, laughing at me, as he had about 60 feet of that counter top (basically a peel-and-stick dealy) in his garage and it would take him a half hour to fix. Said it would cost me a doughnut. I still felt stupid, though, but that only seemed to make him laugh harder.

Anyway, that's my story for today. Please continue to pray for/think of my friend Kayla and her little boy, Elliot. Looks like they're going to have to be in hospital a lot longer than they had anticipated. Bleh. Not cool.

Oh, you can also think of/pray for my friend Sheri, whose little girl is getting ready to make her entrance - hopefully any time now!

Here's a couple pictures from our weekend away:

good news

My friend Kayla's little boy, Elliot, finally had his surgery on Monday and it looks like everything went really well and he is recovering like a champ. So that's good news for sure.

Other than that, there's not much new around here these days. We're going to my uncle's cabin for the first time this year for my birthday. We'll see how Kai handles that. Hopefully he'll enjoy himself and not get disturbed by the new sleeping conditions - it'll be the first time in his playpen instead of his crib, and the first time in a strange place overnight since the hospital. I also hope he survives the hour long car ride. He's been pretty good all week in the car, but he's had a couple meltdowns that have been hard on mom's nerves.

Hmm, I can't really think of too much else to say today. I'll leave you with some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

my electro-quarterstaff

I am watching way too much Rocket Robin Hood theses days. The song is permanently stuck in my head and I think Vergil's on the brink of smacking me if I sing it one more time. Kai seems to find it amusing, though.

So my entire family were in town this weekend to celebrate my grandparent's 60th anniversary. It was a tad overwhelming for me, especially after Kai decided that he HATED the car on Friday. As I was driving to the airport to pick up my parents in the afternoon, he startled himself awake and started screaming at the top of his lungs. He cried for a good 15 minutes straight. Once I got him out of the car, he calmed down and was fine, but as soon as we put him back in his car seat, he screamed again, the whole way to my sister's coffee shop. After that, we had to drive all the way from Grant Park to East St. Paul and he cried, nonstop, for 30 of the 45 minutes it took us to get there. And then on the way home from East St. Paul, he cried just about the whole 30 minutes. That's the most he's ever cried since he's been born. I could not figure out what was wrong with him. It wasn't the car seat, because we left him in it at one point and locked it into his stroller and he was fine. It wasn't that he was alone in the backseat, because he screamed even when my dad was back there with him. It wasn't the mirror I have back there so I can keep an eye on him because I took it down on the way home from my aunt and uncle's and he still cried the whole time. Bizarre. Needless to say, I was a little stressed out by the end of that day.

On the bright side, he slept for nine hours that night. I slept like crap, but he slept great.

Overall, the weekend went great. It was so nice to see everyone and I think my grandparents had a really good time. Kai lapped up the attention from his Nana, Granddad, aunties and uncles and actually slept really good both nights they were all here. Last night was a bit of a write-off, but oh well, I guess I can't have everything!

Anyway, that's all that's new with us, I suppose. Oh wait, that's not quite all! Vergil and i got a sneak preview of Baby Jack yesterday! We were at Superstore picking up some things and saw J-L and Abby. They told us that Cynthia and Jack were there in the parking lot and that we could go see them. So we found their van and asked Cynthia if it would be all right to have a look at the little guy and she gave us permission. He is SO CUTE and so little! I can't believe Kai was that little once. I'm just so thrilled that everything went so well and that they were allowed to go home so soon after he was born! What an answer to prayer - thanks to all my blog readers who pitched in with their own thoughts and prayers for that little guy.

I think maybe I'll nap some more with my boy right now. In the meantime, here's some pictures of my cool guy:

one hour to go

And Baby Jack will be born. Pray hard! And send a postcard!

rain, rain...

...go away, come again another day. Sigh. Just when I thought the weather was starting to cooperate, it rains today on our only real family day all week. Oh well, I guess that just means we're stuck inside today.

On the other hand, we did just get ourselves a new Wii for our anniversary/my birthday. It's fun, but man alive, I didn't know my arm could hurt like that! Although, I suppose it's good because I was a little worried about having an over-developed left arm from holding Kai. Maybe playing with the Wii will allow my right arm to develop equally well.

Kai has been sleeping pretty well, though he's a little random about when he wakes up for his mid-night feeding. Some nights it's 2:30 or 3:30am, other nights it's 4:30 or 5:00am. He's also been having what seem like night terrors. Last night, about 45 minutes after we put him to bed, he started screaming at the top of his voice. He wasn't even really awake, he was just crying - loudly and almost inconsolably. It took us almost 10 minutes to calm him down. Very weird. I don't know if that happens to other babies, but Kai's been having these night terrors (for lack of a better term), the last couple of nights. Last night was the worst, but he often starts crying in his sleep, even when he's napping - in fact, he just did it again. I have no idea what to make of it. I don't know if he's growing or teething or what, but it's a little unnerving. He is chomping on his fists like crazy these days, though I haven't been able to feel any nubs when I check his gums.

On the fun side, he has figured out how to roll himself over from his back to his front. It's pretty cool. I have to get some video of it one of these days to show my parents in Edmonton, but you'll have to take my word for it for now. He used to get stuck on his arm all the time, but he's pretty much figured out how to rescue it from under him now. He'll be crawling in no time, I'm pretty sure of it. He already gets his legs going like he wants to move, he just hasn't figured out that he needs to move his arms and lift his belly off the floor. Crazy kid! He's growing so fast, I can hardly stand it! He's super chatty and he's almost strong enough to sit up on his own. He hasn't quite got the hang of that yet, but it won't be long for that either, I'm sure.

My whole family is in town next weekend for my grandparent's 60th anniversary, which is very exciting. My sister, Breanne, is now officially living here, which is also very cool. It's nice to have some immediate family here after being apart for the last 10 years.

And that's news in the dela Rosa world. Here's some more pictures for your viewing pleasure. Kai's helping me type my blog in the first one and he's enjoying lounging like a cool guy with his dad in the second.

mom's day, etc

This morning while my babe naps, I'm watching Rocket Robin Hood and waiting for my resident manager to finish fixing the taps in my bathroom. My TV package just got changed to include Teletoon Retro, a station on which they show all the good cartoons like The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, Merrie Melodies, Rocket Robin Hood, Superfriends, and Scooby Doo, just to name a few. It's some good times. And some hilarious times too. One forgets how silly and innocent cartoons used to be. Don't believe me? Watch an episode of the Superfriends and tell me I'm wrong.

Anyway, that's all I'll say about that for now. My manager is gone now and our leaky taps are fixed. I think we might be getting a new tub surround in the near future, which makes me very happy, as ours is missing some grouting and caulking.

Not much else new here, except that I got to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday for the first time. It was fun. Kai got me a huge card and Vergil got me a card that plays a really loud song.

Okay, I'm ready for another nap myself. I think I'll try to catch a few winks with Kai before he wakes up hungry again. In the meantime, enjoy my boy bouncing in his Jolly Jumper for his Grandad yesterday!

all's quiet

Vergil's out golfing this afternoon and Kai is snoring away on my lap right now so I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog a little. Though I don't really have much to say, truth be told. It's been pretty uneventful around here since the drama of last week's shots.

Kai is sleeping AMAZINGLY this week - he sleeps now usually from about 10pm to 4am, pounds back an early-morning snack in about 10 minutes, is back asleep 10 minutes after that and then sleeps straight through till 8am. Absolutely brilliant. I'm very much a fan of this new routine and am hoping that it continues. At least until the next growth spurt, I guess!

Speaking of which, I realize I never gave his new 'stats' that we got from the doctor last week - Kai is now 12.5lbs, about 24.5" in length and his head circumference is now 16" around. Just to put that in perspective, one week after his birth, he weighed 6lbs, 13.5oz, was 19" long and had a head circumference of 14". That's a heck of a lot of growth in 11 weeks. Could you imagine growing that fast all the time? Jeepers, it's no wonder babies need to sleep and eat so much!

On a totally separate note, I visited Prov yesterday with Kai to say hi to some of my former coworkers. It was nice to catch up with people, but so many things are changing over there! They're finally building a new cafeteria/multi-purpose building and many of my coworkers are moving on to new opportunities. I may not know 90% of the people working there next year! Weird.

Anyway, that's about all that's new with us this week. Depending on how much pain Vergil causes himself after his first round of golf for the year, we might go for a walk this afternoon sometime. I'm very glad the weather is finally warm enough to get outside more often. This is the perfect time of year, as far as I'm concerned. Warm enough to be outside with a light jacket and NO BUGS!! Mosquito season is definitely not something I look forward to.

Here's a fun picture of my boy in an old-school outfit my Oma knit for him. I gotta say, I think he looks pretty dang cute, but I have this funny feeling this picture will embarrass him thoroughly when he's older. Can you say wedding powerpoint fodder? :P

poor baby

Kai got his shots today. We opted for the new Meningitis shot in addition to the standard Polio, Diptheria, Mumps, Rubella, etc. shots, so there were three in total. He did really well and has slept most of the day. Until right about now. He's not a happy camper. I think both his legs must ache. Poor kid. We've given him some Tempra, but it hasn't kicked in yet. Since he's been born, he's never been inconsolable quite like this before, so it's a new thing for us. Little trooper. Vergil's doing what he can to comfort him. I'm so grateful Vergil's such a great dad. Unfortunately, he's going to Calgary for the day tomorrow, so if Kai's still not feeling well, I might have to bow out of a few appointments I'm supposed to have.

Oh well. It could be waaayyy worse. My friend Kayla and her boy Elliot aren't doing very well again. As much as I appreciate and generally trust doctors, I really think that a mom knows her own kid and that they should maybe pay a little more attention to her instincts and observations. Anyway, keep praying for/thinking about her and Elliot. I think they could use all the encouragement they can get at this point.

And don't forget about Baby Jack while you're at it. Things are going well for them right now, but they have a month to go before the little guy is born and lots of uncertainty as to what's going to have to happen after that. It always baffles me how even though bearing children should be the most natural thing in the whole world how many things can go wrong.

While you're sending good vibes to Elliot and Jack, enjoy Kai pretending to be a Mexican:

snores and sisters

So it's Thursday night. I'm not gonna do a 13 list today because I'm not feeling very listy. Listless, yes. Listy, no.

I'm listening to my baby snoring his little face off through the baby monitor as I write this. I know a lot of new moms who always need to check to see if their baby is breathing. Not me. My kid is one of the loudest sleepers I've ever met. When he's not snoring or just breathing heavily, he's laughing or making other noises. Funny kid. I wonder if he's gonna be a sleep-talker when he gets older.

This week my youngest sister, Breanne, was in town. Partly to visit her boyfriend, who's attending the U of M in pursuit of his Masters in Architecture, partly to see her nephew and partly to get things in motion for when she moves her in a couple weeks (i.e. finding jobs (summer and hopefully a teaching job for the fall) and finding an apartment). I'm pretty excited to finally have one of my sisters living in the same city as me after 10 years of not having them around. I can't believe it's been 10 years since my family moved to Edmonton. It's one of those things that seems like just yesterday and yet so long ago all at the same time. I miss them lots, especially now that Kai is here. I wish I could just pop over to my mom's on weekends and hang out with my pregnant sister, Sheri, or get Brenna and Breanne to babysit every once in a while. So I'm glad Breanne's moving out here for a little while, at least.

Anyway, that's about all that's new with me. I'm gonna have to turn this monitor down if I'm gonna get any sleep tonight. It's like a little baby chainsaw is going off in there!

Here's a picture of Kai in his racing gear. If his Grandad has his way, he'll be the next Jeff Gordon, I guess. :)

13 things I couldn't do without

This is purely a material post today. My list of 13 things that have made my life with a new baby easier:

1. My nursing pillow

2. My glider and ottoman

3. My stroller and carseat

4. Kai's rocking chair

5. Kai's Bumbo

6. Kai's playmat

7. Our Costco card (mostly for diapers and wipes)

8. Johnson's Breast Pads

9. Nursing bras

10. Tassimo Lattes

11. Kai's SwaddleMe

12. The Baby Whisperer book

13. My husband, Vergil (okay, he's not a 'material' possession, but I had to add him because I really couldn't do without him!)