Let's try this again

I feel like I have so much to share, that an instagram post just isn't enough.
And I think I have the time to finally write again!

We've been homeschooling. It's a VERY loose term. We generally school Monday to Thursday, just like Zoe's Kindergarten schedule was. We start around 9 and end somewhere between 10:30 and 11:30 depending on the activities.

We're doing it for a few reasons. I enjoy the structure, it really helps me get the day started. Zoe enjoys it, and a few things were very Zoe led to begin with. During Kindergarten they had done journals (drawings and some letters) and she really enjoys doing that still, which is how we start our day.

I also like planning for the week. I'm not coaching right now, and I fully enjoy using my creativity to plan a schedule for the week. Today was a 'Music Monday'. To fit in that category, our story was 'Old MacDonald had a Farm' and our craft was shaker bottles. Zoe liked story time at school, and was a bit disappointed that I did not have a carpet for her to sit on. We do have a fluffy blanket and that has become our storytime blanket. It has also become Jackman's favourite place to lay down, and takes full advantage of it the second I lay it on the floor.

The shaker bottle was water bottles I pulled out of recycling, then we put food colouring in uncooked rice, made a small mess, and filled the bottles with rice, beads, googly eyes, sticks and pom-poms. Ta-da - Music!

We ended schooling by 10:30 this morning, as Zoe was very done and had a melt down while we were doing the bird dance.

At first, we didn't really have an official way to end the school part of our day, and it was confusing for us. Now we have a song that we play when we're done, and then we usually have some quiet time. I feel like Zoe is very done with me by that part.

William participates when he likes. Usually he listens to story time, occasionally does some crafting, and always dances or works out with us.

And if we don't get something done in a day? Then that's okay. I have a bin for crafts that are half-finished because the kids were just not interested.

We are now starting distance learning to, and since (Thank Goodness!) it's only Kindergarten the activities are mainly play based and a lot of what we are already doing (storytime, movement activities, journaling).

I am grateful for the fact that it is only Kindergarten and I wasn't thrown into a situation where it was schooling beyond my knowledge or recollection. And that it's only one kid. I have much to be thankful for right now, as Zoe also willingly participates. Though I have noticed her moods are starting to swing a bit, as this situation is really starting to wear on her. She is very social and I know it's tough that she can't do that part of school, as it was her favourite.

Aside from that? It's pretty dull. I'm a bit of an emotional rollercoaster now and again. I've noticed that since I'm home all morning, it's really easy for me to finish an entire pot of coffee. And I suck at eating in the morning. By lunch I end up being a jittery mess and get pretty snappy, and usually have to go hide.

And the lack of adult contact can be draining when Jason is working long days. I feel like I forget how to have a conversation. Or I just end up having a lot of conversations with myself, which I'm sure is not crazy at all.

I've definitely had mornings where I have been unsettled and have no idea what to do with myself. I pulled all my yarn out of it's bin one morning last week. Sat and stared at it. Then left it all over my bedroom floor for most of the day. The kids gave me trouble for making a mess.

I do have a new plant though I'm very excited about. It's a teeny venus fly trap. In a clear skull planter. Well it was a candle holder, but I think it works better this way.

I think I will use this blog again to make updates on what is happening in our little house. Gives me another thing to do, yay!

Hope everyone out there is doing okay and making do with their situation.

Peace & Love

Chow

Victory is mine!

I feel like a small celebration is in order. Zoe is down for a nap.

Nap time has not been so easy peasy as of late. Yesterday I let Zoe just hang out in her room for quiet time (which I hoped would turn into nap time, because I like to dream big). After 45 minutes she started knocking on her door so I opened it.
She announced she was "All Done" and strolled out totally nude.

Wearing clothes is another thing Zoe isn't fond of lately. She has become surprisingly efficient at removing them.
The other day she came up to me just wearing pants, so I told her to go find her shirt and put it back on. She said okay and walked back to find it. Or so I thought.
She came back up to me a minute later with no shirt AND no pants, but thankfully, her pull-up remained on. Later when I found her pants, they had gained a mysterious wet spot. And mysterious it remained, because like all other unknowns, the washing machine usually takes care of it.

If you ever see my kid running around naked, there is a good chance I did dress her once, possibly three times that day, but at some point I gave up. Because as far as I know, it's frowned upon to tape your kids clothes on. But not illegal right?

Her words are getting better, she's almost at sentences. Common phrases are 'What happened?", "All done", and "Found it."
There's no asking why around here, as Zoe thinks she has everything pretty figured out. "Right there" and "Come on", being two more of the mini bosses commands.

She does love her brother though. She's not terrible at sharing and does try to entertain him when he's crying or in his exersaucer.

William is a whopping 6 months old now. He's pretty pro at sitting up, and does enjoy feeding himself crackers. He also really loves Jackman and watching him play fetch. No teeth yet, but if I had to judge by the amount of chomping, I'd say he's getting close.

Both kids and myself have had a cold for the past week, and are pulling through it just fine. Though it did make some of the nights a little harder and we moved Williams swing into our room for a bit just to get some sleep.

In non-kid news Jason has about 3 weeks left of school and I have about 3 weeks left until Christmas break. It's been a bit hectic the last couple months, so we may start counting down days soon.

I've started putting up Christmas decorations, but it's really just more things for Zoe to play with. And right now, anything that falls on the floor and can be crumpled, is obviously garbage, so that's where she puts it.
One day I will appreciate her tidiness, until then, everything I just had and can't find, is probably in the garbage.

That is all for now.

"But Mom, he's in my chair."

Hanging with Great Papa at Swiss Chalet. What else do you do on a Friday?

At dance class

Mmmm, crackers!

Chilling with JJ, drinking some juice.

Peace&Love

Chow

I'm not insane, I'm a Mom

I'm surprised people let me out of the house some days.
Even as I'm writing this, I'm wondering if I should post, because the words aren't flowing very well, and I have to keep backspacing some really bad typing.

William, thankfully, is usually a good sleeper but for a few nights in a row this week he decided that he was starving. So going onto day three of sleep deprivation, I ended up standing in an elevator, finger hovering over which button to press, for a good minute. The sad part is, it was a building with two floors, so I only really had one option. The other coach with me had to tell me which button to press.
And the best part is, they still let me on the ice, and trusted I knew what I was talking about.

As a mom though, I do enjoy my me time, and even though I should be sleeping right now, since it seems William went down early, *touch wood*, I'm not. I am sitting here, loving the fact that at this moment, no one desperately needs me. And that is so fantastic.

Along with Cheerios and stickers, Zoe's other most used decorating tool is a marker. I decided to be a free spirit the other day and let her have some markers that she received for birthday. Washable my arse. The second I turn away to look at William, she draws on herself. Of course, she's only two, so it's really not surprising. The fact that she bit the tip off one marker was a little more surprising. I thought she had passed the stage of tasting her colouring supplies. I thought wrong. Until I was able to get around to cleaning her up, she looked like the Joker for a bit, with red marker smeared across her cheek. I found it mildly entertaining.
For the time being, the markers have been put out of sight, until another rainy day.

The Rubiks cube has also been put away, as Zoe 'showed' it to William by shoving it under his face while he was having tummy time. Poor kid. He seems to be in a real hurry to become mobile and I truly don't blame him. The ability to defend himself against his well-meaning sister would really come in handy.

Big Bill and Little Billy

He's not far off though. He'll be 4 months next week, and already he can roll across the living room floor. He loves being propped up to sitting, as well as practicing his standing. Since he came out longer than his sister and is growing steadily, my thought is that he is hoping to use his size to intimidate her. Best of luck, but I don't see that happening, Zoe is afraid of nothing.
Zoe can also climb like a monkey so height means nothing to her.


She managed to use her tricycle to climb into the bottom of the double stroller the other day, and then up into the top seat. Of course she did all this while I had my back turned, cleaning up the plant she knocked down. It was clearly a diversion tactic.

Impressive that she managed to maneuver everything just so.

Not a lot else to report, just the usual antics of parenthood.

Jason will be starting school on Monday, and our Nanny (Kelsey), is working out quite well. The kids have both really taken to her.
Now that William is starting his move into mobility, Jackman has taken more notice of him and likes to give him kisses.

Peace&Love

Chow

Long time coming...

I've tried and tried again to write this post in the last few months.
Most times I don't get past the first line, and sometimes I open a new draft, laugh, and shut my laptop.
This one I actually got half way through three days ago, and then needed a break.

So if anyone is wondering things are going along quite well over here.

William has started sleeping through the night, so yay! Though I'm sure I jinxed it right there. The little man is a funny one. He's definitely a good baby, much like Zoe, but in no way is he like Zoe.

I've been lucky to spend lots of time with him this summer, and we've developed a lovely bond. And by that I mean he doesn't like bottles. Zoe took a bottle (even from me) like no big deal. William eventually takes one, but he does let you know first that he is not happy about it.

Other than that, he is a super happy little guy. Loves to chat and squirm about. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" can almost make him giggle. I never found the humour in it, but apparently he gets it. He is getting close to rolling over, and enjoys sucking on blankets and his bottom lip.











 








Zoe is very enthralled with her little brother. When she is not trying to feed him rocks or claim everything as hers, she can be very thoughtful. The other day when he was fussing in his swing and I was getting ready for our walk, she found a toy of his and gave it to him, along with his blanket. But then later she woke him up, by taking his blanket. It's very give and take around here.

Zoe turned two last Monday, and then had lots of fun on Saturday celebrating her birthday. We lucked out with some nice weather and it was a fun day for all. Zoe was of course spoiled rotten by everyone.

Present helpers

Birthday girl

Also, Zoe has started potty training. Well, we had a loose start a while back, but now we are heavy into it.
In my defense, she's shown a lot of interest and I really didn't want to miss an opportunity. So far all I've learned is that it's much easier to potty train a dog than a child. And Jackman still pees on the floor when he gets excited so hopefully Zoe will learn from his mistakes.
In case anyone feels envious of the awesome times at my house, William had two blow out diapers, and Zoe pooped beside her potty (so close!) just this day alone.
If anyone has potty training tips, feel free to pass them on, because I will take all the advice I can get.

Since Kiersty has taken off to Lethbridge this year, and screwed us over for childcare (just kidding, best of luck to Kiersty), we have hired a nanny for when I'm coaching. Tomorrow will be her first day, and we are all pretty excited.

In non-child related news (we have some of that!) Jason is going back to school at the end of this month, for his last year (electrician). I'm sure he's going to ace it, like he does every time.

And in less than a week my fabulous cousin Kim will be getting married, so I'm really looking forward to that awesome time. And there will be relatives here to visit and catch up with, which is always fun.

Other than that, not much to talk about. I could ramble on about the little ones forever, but how about some pictures instead.

 

Trying to get pictures of the kids together... maybe in a few years.

Mom, I think I'm muddy.

  

I was lucky enough to have some lovely flower beds this year, that didn't get hit with hail.

Peace&Love


Chow

Welcome Little William!

After much anticipation, William Hans Doiron entered this world Saturday (May 28) at 8:32pm.
He weighed in at 7lbs and is 21 inches long.

 


Apparently after a very relaxed last few weeks he was in a hurry to get out.
The first contraction came about 5:30pm, while we were still at Declin's birthday party. That was about the time I went home as I wasn't convinced though that it was the real deal. But by 7pm the contractions were 4 minutes apart. At this point Jason was using all his willpower to convince me that I could walk to the car.

Once we got to the hospital, the contractions were closer to 2 minutes apart, and the second I got into triage before the nurse could even check me, my water broke and I stated that I was ready to push.
So, by 8:32pm William was born, and then they finished checking us in to the hospital.

I guess when my doctor was warning me to go in at the first sign of a contraction she was serious. But in my defence, I had almost nothing in any other labour symptoms. Which was very different from Zoe.
But we made it just in time, and everyone is happy and healthy. And after 24 hrs, William and I were able to come home.

Zoe at first wanted very little to do with the new addition. Upon meeting him in the hospital and informing her that he was going to come home with us, we received a very dirty look.

She's tickling him, not attacking him, I promise.

"Ear!" Zoe is quite proud that her little brother has ears.

Zoe and William holding hands

But once he was home, curiosity took over and she seems to be quite interested in all his ears and toes. We're working on being gentle, as Zoe is fond of 'honking' noses right now, but William is not the least bit phased by her inquisitiveness.

Jason is off work for two weeks now, so we are all settling in quite nicely and enjoying our new family dynamics.

And here's an exciting game of 'find the toddler':

Peace&Love

Chow

36 weeks!

36 weeks and counting.
I'm officially in the last month of pregnancy with #2. And I'm still on the ice coaching.
I think it scares everyone but me. No worries, I've cut back on the amount of coaching I'm doing, and I don't try anything fancy. Both my feet stay firmly planted for the most part.

I'm feeling decently well, little bit uncomfortable here and there, baby likes to stretch sideways and make me a little lopsided. When I compare my first pregnancy photo's with these ones, I've decided I need to start smiling more in these ones. Zoe must be wearing me out, because whenever I do remember to take a picture, I really don't look impressed. But I am enjoying it, and even as I'm typing this, it's so comforting to feel all the squirms and stretches going on.

Zoe had a nice relaxing day inside today as the last few days have been so nice we've spent them mostly outside, and a lot of time at the farm.
Jackman is very willing to share his kiddie pool with Zoe, and they both have lots of fun creating muddy, wet, grassy messes.

Zoe is also quite the linguist these days, trying new words all the time. Not all of them makes sense, but she is opinionated. (and no one is surprised)
She is growing up ridiculously fast, as she has had at least one pee on her potty four days in a row. I'm not really prepared for it, since the new little one is about to be a big change, but we're going to roll with it for now and see if it keeps going.

Not too much else to report for now, things are busy as usual, and that's just the way we like it. :)

Zoe is a big fan of stickers. They're fun to put anywhere. 

She threw most of the toys out and then just climbed in. Because it's more fun this way.

Peace&Love

Chow

Good Life, Still Good

Yup, still letting the good times roll.

Had the Easter weekend off from coaching, and was able to spend lots of time with the families.

Zoe had a blast with her uncle's and cousin Izzy. Izzy tries so hard to 'mother' Zoe, and it's so cute, but Zoe has none of it.

Zoe decided she was laundry. Or wanted to help, by throwing it back at me.
Either way, she was really upset when I took her out.

Modeling her new toque, made by Mommy.

First day of swimming lessons. (She's not a fan by the way, by we're going to keep trying.)

Zoe was lucky enough to be Izzy's 'friend' on 'bring-a-friend' day for her gymnastics class. And I learned that Zoe is not ready for organized and structured classes.
It was lots of fun, but Zoe didn't want any of the sitting and listening to instructions, she just wanted to explore. And not the obstacle courses that were set out for her group, but every other thing.
She ended up joining in here and there, and I think had a blast. I had a really good cardio workout, trying to keep her on task, and only semi-disruptive (she's cute, it's okay).

Again, helping with the laundry.

Just being a weirdo. (I have no idea where she gets that from.)

She looks so grown-up here, I don't know how to feel about it.

Baby #2 is still growing stronger by the day. Pretty active, just like Zoe was, so my hope of a quiet child is slowly being dashed.
Preggo wise, I'm feeling pretty good, had a full day off to stay home today, and I'm pretty impressed with all I accomplished. Though I've got to say, my hips are little more sore this time around than they were last time. But I have lots of heating pads and a great pillow set-up for sleeping so that helps. And I've been told it's normal, so I'm not concerned.
I've also been told I look much bigger this time around, even in my face. I know a feel a lot more waddly.

30 Weeks

That's pretty much all for now.

Peace&Love

Chow