What am I turning into??

It's official. I've become trendy.

No, not in the way that everyone will want to become me, but more in the way that I've followed the cell phone trend and have purchased a Motorola Razr. And it's pink. PINK!!!

The best (or worst) part is that it matches my new pink diaper bag. The diaper bag, by the way, is satin brocade fabric with a cherry blossom design. It's all so pink.

I'm overwhelmed by an urge to buy pink nailpolish and fluffy earmuffs. Someone hold me.

Parenting, Liam style

A couple of weeks ago, I looked into the living room to see Liam bouncing Lily up and down and repeating over and over again in a girly-esque voice "I'm a pretty princess! I'm a pretty princess!!". My manly man is no more.

This morning while brushing my teeth, I overheard Liam saying to Nicholas "Even Spiderman does it that way.". I believe they were discussing Nick's web-shooter.

Princesses and superheroes apparantly make for good role models.

Heh

So there are very few things quite as entertaining as watching a baby trying repeatedly to catch an avocado pit as it rolls away. It's level of funny had absolutely nothing to do with my incredible lack of sleep lately. Nope. Just because I giggled so hard when the cereal attacked me that Liam asked if I was high isn't a sign of anything. Nope nope.

I need some freaking sleep.

Lilliam

Lillian is very much like her Dad. We've joked that the name Lillian actually sounds a lot like L'il Liam, which isn't too far from the truth. Here is further proof that Lillian is just a smaller, cuter, more girly version of Pappa John.

1. The scalp-to-hair ratio. In Lily's defense, though, she's gaining ground rapidly.

2. She's happy just hanging out and can amuse herself for extended periods of time with a plastic cup. (For Liam, think coffee mug.)

3. She speaks in grunts and nonsense chatter.

4. She's got that cute pudgy belly.

5. Her life revolves around my boobs.

6. She loves my hair more than I do.

7. She can fall asleep anywhere, anytime.

8. She gets very cranky when she lacks food or sleep.

9. She really likes books (more in the way of trying to chew on them when I'm feeding her, but close enough).

10. Watching her trying to roll over is a source of great amusement.

Humph!

So does everyone remember my beautiful new bedspread I purchased only a couple of months ago? The one that I was so excited about because it meant that I didn't have to use the ratty Walmart one any longer?

Yeah. It's in the wash. Jack PEED on it!!

He jumped into the bed and when I told him to get down (he almost landed on the Lilybird) he went to the foot of the bed and lifted his leg. And peed. A lot.

I'm so completely unimpressed right now. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it comes out of the wash in one piece. I put it on delicate just in case.

Officially official

Since Helen has been demanding a foot update (such a demanding woman that Helen!) here is my official foot update.

My foot is much better than it was but it's still frustratingly far from normal. The last of the bruising around my toes is finally fading but the swelling below my ankle bone seems to be sticking around.

My range of motion is pretty good except for pointing my toes down and in. I still gimp down the stairs a bit and I've discovered, quite painfully, that I can't go up on my tiptoes yet. Oh, and wiggling on my shoes is bad. Bad bad bad.

The biggest frustration for me right now is how little I can walk. A shopping trip makes me ache since I'm using my muscles wrong and I haven't gone for a decent walk outside in three weeks. Ugh.

Anyhow, hopefully Liam's right and I'll be pain-free in a couple of weeks. Since my plan of running in March has been squashed, I'm now hoping to get on the running bandwagon around the start of April.

Wow!

I fell asleep with the kids last night around 9:30 and my house was a disaster. I woke up at 7 this morning to find that my entire downstairs was spotless and there was a fresh pot of coffee made.

Either the cleaning and coffee fairies were here or I truly do have the best husband in the world.

Cutie cuties

Anyone who knows me well knows I don't do mornings. Well, because I was especially tired yesterday, Lily stayed up til 11:45 last night and the cat woke Nicholas up at 5:45 this morning.

In an attempt to cheer the heck up, I'm sharing these ultra-cute photos, courtesy of Cute Overlaod. I'll actually add them to my blog links someday.

Enjoy.

My Coffee!!!

A little while ago, I made my morning coffee as usual. Usual, by the way, is filling the water line to just above 4 cups and adding 3 Tablespoons of grounds to the basket in case anyone is interested.

Anyhow, I came upstairs to get dressed then remembered that my pants were down in the dryer. Following Kim logic, I decided to sit at the computer for a bit since I was upstairs anyhow.

By the time I went back down 10 minutes or so later, I smelled my coffee and thought "Hot diggity, I can start my first cup while I'm getting dressed!!" and proceeded to enter the kitchen to fulfill my fantasy.

Instead of a beautiful dark-brown lake of coffee steaming away in the pot, I found coffee-ground soup. Euch!! I forgot to push the pot in all the way and the sometimes-faulty Pour-a-cup feature had kept most of the coffee up in the basket.

I dumped the entire thing into the sink and phoned Liam, repeating over and over again "My coffee, my coffee!!!". He understood.

My coffee maker has now had a bath and a new pot is (hopefully) successfully brewing. I don't know how much more trauma I can handle this morning.

Good Morning!!

Well, that'll wake me up quicker than any cup of coffee.

This morning, Liam got up with Fingers around 7 and headed downstairs. A few minutes later, Nicholas woke up and came stumbling into our room. I mumbled "Your Dad is downstairs" and promptly fell back asleep.

Eight o'clock rolls by and Nicholas was back again saying "You need to wake up or you'll miss Tae Kwon Do". Ugh. When I asked where Liam was, Nick said he was asleep on the couch. Cursing the few hours of sleep I'd snuck in, I got up and stumbled to the bathroom.

I pushed the bathroom door open and walked in, noticing that the air seemed kind of warm. I wondered if Liam had turned the heat up as I turned to close the door. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed that there was A NAKED MAN SITTING IN MY BATHTUB!!!

I think it took my brain about five full seconds to realize that it was Liam, by which point I had gasped, stepped back, and almost fallen over.

Now I've made everyone picture Liam naked in the tub and that makes me laugh.

So yeah. Good morning world. Once my heart stops beating at 200 bpm I'll go make some coffee.

Blogger my shiny shiny love

So, to celebrate the ending of February and the entrance of a bright new month, here's a happier entry.

My husband rocks. Yesterday, not only did he go grocery shopping after work but he came home and washed the dishes. All of them. While he washed said dishes, I was not allowed to do anything. When I tried to clean up the living room, I was physically forced to sit down and I had a book shoved into my hands. Yay for reading.

Lily has finally figured out the rolling thing. After that inital roll a few weeks back, she'd kind of forgotten the fluke that flipped her over. Yesterday she seemed to remember what it was all about, though, and was flipping over repeatedly. It's real cute-like, but not during diaper changes. She's also doing the "I've rolled onto my belly and now I'm tired of it but I don't know how to get out" thing as well. Screeching baby is always fun.

On the topic of Lily, she has a new cutest part. As all parents know, the nighttime diaper is very soggy and heavy first thing in the mornings. Lily's morning diapers are heavy enough that they pull down and she shows a bit of butt crack. Hairy man butt crack is nasty, but teenie tiny baby butt crack is so so cute!!

And now on to Nicholas. Last night, he was getting changed into his pj's in my room. It just so happened that Michael Buble's "Feelin good" was on the radio. During the realy swanky part with all the "Bwa wa waa"s, Nick pulled his shirt off and was swinging it around over his head. It was purely unintentional on his part, but really freaking funny. My son, stripper extrordinaire.

Oh, and now something about me. After having abandoned my Leader Applicant work for so long (I think I went a month without touching it), I finally wrote yesterday! I finished one section which translated into two typed pages. Now I just need to proof-read and send it in. Yee-haw!

Adios February!!

For such a short month, February has thoroughly kicked the crap out of me.

In just 28 short days I have:

- attended a weekend Beaver camp
- travelled to Vancouver for 5 days with 2 kids
- dealt with Nicholas getting sick not once but TWICE and Lillian once
- sprained my freaking ankle, which now looks like it's been painted with blue ink
- missed out on more hours of sleep than is healthy (thank you Lily and Fingers)
- taken part in the regular day-to-day parenting of two kids and running of our house

So, February, go away. Let March come in and be kind to me. Somehow, the Magic of March will sweep into my house at midnight tonight and the dishes will be washed, the floors will be vacuumed, and the laundry will be washed, folded, and put away.

Ugh-ugh-ugh

So, this is what it's like to have two sick kids at once, hey?

Nick started to come down with a cold on Saturday and Lillian followed suit last night. I was in bed at 6:30 this morning with a hacking boy on one side and a snuffy girl on the other. What is it with babies that they can't figure out to breathe out of their noses??

As much as I didn't envy Liam having to head out in the cold this morning, there was a definite part of me that wanted to say "Hey, I'll go to work today and you can stay home with the kids. If only he could lactate. Damn him.

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part. Lily apparantly has a built-in defence mechanism against Mommies putting things in her nose. I squirted some saline solution in her nose in an effort to clear out some of the goo. She started to choke so I piked her up and she puked a huge blob of milk and goo all over me. Yum. "If you're gonna squirt stuff up my nose and slime you, woman!! Bwahaha!!"

Home again home again

(My apologies to my dear Helen in taking so long to post my Vancouver entry. I'd started it Wednesday morning before the famous stair incident. Now that I'm unable to do anything useful, I'll finish it.)

After spending five days in Vancouver here are my broad generalizations of the city and it's residents:
- Everyone drinks coffee, talks on cell phones, and walks their little dogs around the streets. Often these things happen at the same time.
- There are definite gaps between the "Have's" and the "Have-not's". People either walk around with fashionable clothes and expensive accessories or else they push shopping carts and dig through dumpsters.
- The drivers are insane. Sudden starts and stops combined with random non-signaled turns made for some very tense moments on the roads.
- Vancouverites freak out when the temperature dips near freezing in February. This is Canada, people, get over it! You've got green frickin grass and flowers in February. I'm not even sure if they can be considered Canadians with winters like that.

On the topic of Trevor and Mina's wedding, it was simply beautiful. They were married O.L.P.H church (the Vancouver version, not the Sherwood Park version I was married in) in a beautiful ceremony. Their two readings were the "my love is a gazelle" and "love is patient, love is kind" ones, both of which Liam and I had chosen for our weddings. I read the first one which is the one Trevor read for us so there were some really nice memories there for me.

Mina was absolutely gorgeous. She wore a dress that had a sleeveless bodice on top and a poofy bottom with a bit of a train. There were white fabric roses on the skirt part and she had pretty white gloves as well. Her hair was pulled up and she wore a tiara as well as a veil. I wasn't alone in thinking she looked like a princess. During her walk down the aisle, she was so nervous that she was shaking and didn't look up at all. I teased her later that if I hadn't known her I would have thought she was unhappy to be getting married since she looked so serious! She relaxed a bit during the ceremony, though, and was soon teasing Trevor once more.

We had a lunch reception in a beautiful building (the name of which I can't remember) on the UBC campus. It was a cozy and intimate set-up as there were about 55 people present. I spent much of that time in other parts of the building feeding and rocking Lily as well as playing with Nicholas who had had enough of all this boring stuff before the ceremony had even finished. I had many many moments of wishing Liam were there since I felt overwhelmed with being mostly alone with two kids and even whined to Karen once "I want my husband!".

After speeches, a short dance, and some outdoor photos of the shivering bride (she was sleeveless in near-freezing temperatures!) we packed up and headed out to Mina's parents' apartment building where they had rented an area where the cake-cutting took place and various Korean foods were served. Trevor and Mina had changed into Korean clothing for this portion and Mina looked like a beautiful doll.

After a bit, Jo and Graeme drove the kidlets and I back to the hotel since we were all tired and needed to go to bed. Within 45 minutes of getting back to the hotel room, I had both kids asleep and I had polished off a cooler. I can't remember the last time alcohol has been a better friend to me. I even wrote some alcohol-induced mushy stuff about Liam in my journal. Yeesh.

We got to see Trevor and Mina for a bit on Sunday and I kept poking Mina's belly. The chick is 17 weeks pregnant and she's just starting to get a little bump! Too cute. I made them promise to send me belly pictures throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Oh, and the honeymoon. They've headed off to Korea for a week then they'll hit Thailand for two weeks. I'm not jealous. Really. Not at all. Uh-huh.

The remainder of the trip was spent mostly in Stanley Park. We visited the more public areas at first but the 4-hour hike in the woods was much more satisfying. Nicholas found the Haunted Tree's Great-great-great-great-great-great Grandpa. Anyone who is confused about the Haunted Tree needs to tell Liam to post about it.

And that was my trip. Here are some of the professional photos that were taken. Each guest received a cd with these pictures.

Fall down go boom

Here's a Wednesday afternoon math lesson for my blog-readers:

Kim + Snow + Stairs + Sandals = Krista's couch + Advil + Baggie of snow


Yup. I pulled a Liam and sprained my ankle. I was taking Nicholas out to the bus and fell down the cement stairs leading down to the road. I was wearing slip-on sandals and now I feel really really dumb. Ugh.

I called Nick's school and they're going to bring him out to the parking lot so I don't have to get out of the car. Krista's going to come by and carry Lily down to the car for me in a little while.

Somebody tell me that this is the only way in which Liam is rubbing off on me. If I start going bald next I'm filing for a divorce. (Sorry Liam.)

Alive on the West coast

Well, we made it! After all the mad-dash packing and wrangling the kids into various vehicles, we're in Vancouver and I'm at my brother's place. We've been ditched for an hour or so while Trevor, Mina, and my parents go get an ultrasound of Baby MacPherson. I'm just a little bit jealous.

I'll keep this short and sweet since Nicholas is waiting for a turn at the computer. He has the difficult decision on whether he should play games off of the CBC Kids site or the Crayola Kids site. Life is full of dilemnas when you're 5 years old.

We've got us a fancy-schmancy hotel room. The bedroom has a door that separates it from the sitting room. OooOOOh! And the sitting room has a fridge, microwave, TV, and teenie tiny coffee maker.

Liam, if you read this before checking you e-mail, GO CHECK YOUR E-MAIL!

I'm done.

It's been a slice

Well, Edmontonians, I'm outta here.

Until next Tuesday anyhow. Tomorrow afternoon the kids and I hop on a plane for Vancouver and we leave behind my poor abandoned husband. My brother is going to marry this stunning lady:





Here's a couple more shots of them. They did their wedding pictures in advance and these are some photos their friend snapped while the professional was doing his thing. The first one is them wearing their formal attire and the second is in traditional Korean clothing. I believe they're doing the ceremony in the Western garb and the reception in the Korean.

Camp Haikus

I was inspired this morning and so here is my report of camp in the form of multiple Haikus in chronological order. Enjoy.

"I forgot my shirt"
Turn around and go back home.
Lily starts to scream.

Sunshine on the lake.
Megaboggan pulled by Steve.
Praying for strong ice.

Steep and muddy slope.
Why did I take the short cut?
Try not to squash Lil.

Co-ordinator?
Some instructions would be good.
Spring camp? Likely not.

Asparagus soup.
Salmon sauce and moist pork loin.
Coffee dark and full.

These children are mine.
I know how to parent them.
Back off crazy broad.

Sleeping baby girl.
In bed, arms, and cuddly wrap.
Who needs a play pen?

Go home little kids.
Where in the hell is Wally?
Camp might never end.

Grumpy babe and boy.
Screams in the car and at home.
Sleep will fix it all.

Rolling rolling rolling...

I would like to take a moment to officially announce to the world that Lillian rolled over from her back to her stomach this morning for the first time. About 30 seconds later, she rolled from her stomach to her back and landed on her big brother.

She's been close to rolling for a week, but that darned right shoulder always got in the way. For some reason it clicked for her today. I personally think it's because she was naked and there was less interference to deal with.

Oh, and here's the latest Nicholas quote for his fans: "Africa is a really really poor country because one time there was a flood and it washed all the money out of the country. I think it went into the sewers."

Goal update

Here's where things stand as of today:
Total weight lost: 15 lbs
Weight left to lose before April 1: 10 lbs
Total weight remaining to goal: 40 lbs

I'm chipping away at the pounds and it looks like I'll make it to my mini-goal. Woohoo!! On Sunday I wore a skirt that I haven't fit into since early in my pregnancy when Lily made my belly start to bulge.

Today I finally did a workout video like I've been meaning to for a few months. The video was aptly named Shaping Up For Dummies and goes through twelve exercises with two sets of twelve for each. Lillian played on the floor and behaved fabulously. A dirty diaper necessitated a quick bum change between exercises 7 and 8. My doing push-ups over top of her proved to be too much of a temptation and she required a quick snack before I could move on to the next exercise. All in all, it worked out quite well so hopefully this will inspire me to do videos on a regular basis.