Boy in a Box

The best day ever for my kids was the day our rangehood microwave died. It may have cost mommy and daddy a pretty penny to replace, but it came in a sweet sized box. I threw in some pipsqueaks and the two of them have had a blast.

 However, we did have to have a little chat (again) about the fact that although these markers are washable, they are NOT to be used as facepaint.

Kind of ironic...

I've been so busy working on converting my blog into hardcover books that I've actually neglected my current blogging. Be prepared. Turning my blog into a book has really made me think about my blog and what I want to document.

So some things will change. I will blog more. It will be picture heavy because I don't scrapbook and I rarely print photos, so it's a nice way to keep some photos. I will tell more stories of my kids that I think are sweet/hilarious/sad/uplifting or heck, even boring, just so that I have these memories written down.

So for now, I'll leave you with these pictures. These two are are my life. They are so much fun and they are developing such a great relationship. It really makes me wonder how a 3rd is going to fit in with these two monkeys.

Chelsea has been so sweet and patient, for the most part, and I stress patient. Gavin is really big into copying EVERYTHING his sister does. She has started having such good conversations with him. They are now sharing a bedroom and sleeping in bunk beds. I hope this fun relationship continues!

Purse = Giant bag of money

So I had a hair cut tonight and I was greatly anticipating it. Not that I was doing anything drastic, but I was trying out a new hairdresser and let's be honest, I haven't had a haircut in many months.

I hopped in my husband's car. It's a little black Golf that happens to be a standard. No problem. I'm very comfortable driving stick.

So I park on the driveway, make the effort to shut off the lights (because I've left them on in the past) and I walk to the door of the house. As I'm opening the door, I turn back and look at the car to be sure the lights are off.

*Items in the diagram may not be to scale.

Happy the lights are off, I turn back to the door to go into the house when it all starts to process. "...The..... car..... IS... MOVING!!!!"

In what feels like super speed, I drop my purse and RUN towards the car. Apparently, at that moment, I believed that I was consumed with super human strength and/or that Chris' little Golf was indeed just a little toy car, because I grabbed the door handle and tried to dig in my heels and stop the car from rolling down the steeply inclined driveway. This is when everything starts going in super slow motion and I start chanting some weird "no.. no... nonononononono!!!"

.

(Oh, and yes, there was car heading my direction.)

That aside, at this moment as the car is gaining speed and going down the driveway, eventually bumping onto the road, I realize that, unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to stop the car (shocker - I know).

Somehow, with the help of God, I wrench open the door and throw myself in, slamming my arm into the doorframe in the process.

Now, I am in the car, still continuing that weird, "no.. no... nonononononono" as I slam on the brakes. Finally, after what feels like a million moments, the car stops rolling and I look to my left and there is a car, also stopped. Now, granted, I'm pretty sure this person has seen the WHOLE scene play out and has had plenty of opportunity to slow down, and laugh and laugh.

But then, as I'm sitting there, heart pounding so loudly that I can't think, I realize that I need keys to start the car to pull it back up out of the driveway. In a panic, I think they are in my purse, which as you remember, is way up by the house.

So I sheepishly try to get up out of the car and realize that the keys are on the seat between my legs, so I start the car and pull it back up the driveway, praying that I won't stall it with my stupidity. I manage to pull it together, pull the car into the driveway, put the E-brake on, shut off the car and walk back to the door.

Seriously, did that JUST happen? It was like the movies, I swear. It was a scene from the movies.

Now, don't you wish you were my hairdresser who got to hear the play-by-play, filled with adrenaline as I struggled to catch my breath and burst into fits of laughter as I kept replaying the scene in my head? C'mon.

It was just like the movies. 

Recipe for Support

It was one of those situations that just hit home. Here I am, expecting my 3rd baby after being blessed with two healthy babies, and a couple in our church gave birth to their first baby - a beautiful boy diagnosed with Hypophosphatasia. These two parents are such an amazing example of faith, courage, determination, love and faith. The story of this family will affect many.
Now we know this couple, and Chris and the dad go way back, but we aren't really friends. We go to the same church and will sit and talk, and I think they are great, but we definitely aren't close. But sometimes, you just feel a nudge, a gentle tug inside and a little voice whispers, "You can do something."

I heard that gentle voice and let it simmer for a couple days. The church was going to be holding a bake sale fundraiser for them and I planned on donating a bunch of baking. But I kept coming back to the thought, "What if it was us? What would I want people to do?"

I had messaged the mom and said, "What do you need? Cash? Gift cards? Meals? How can I help?" and her response was just so sweet, saying that whatever we wanted to donate would be very appreciated.

So, I thought, "If I'm baking cupcakes anyways for the bake sale, I'll advertise trays on FB."

Now I've sold cupcakes in the past and usually max out at around $300 in sales. I didn't even ask Chris. I just put a little blurb up on my FB and Amanda's Creative Cakes status and was overwhelmed with the response. I watched as people ordered tray, after tray, after tray... As much as I wanted to raise money for this family, I never expected to sell more than $500 of cupcakes. As the night went on, I finally had to stop the sale when I realized I needed to bake over 700 cupcakes! Yikes!!

I wound up making 840 cupcakes and every one of them sold and requests were still coming in. In case you are wondering what you need to make 840 cupcakes filled with peanut butter, white chocolate cream cheese, or cookie dough, here's a rough breakdown of what I needed.

20 cakes mixes

20 cups flour

20 cups sugar

1 bottle vanilla
3 bottles of butter flavouring
10 lbs of Crisco
64 cups hand-sifted icing sugar
60 eggs
6L sour cream
1 jar of peanut butter
8 bricks of cream cheese
3L whipping cream
1L milk
5 cups butter
180 balls of cookie dough
8 boxes of pudding
62 foil trays 
51 amazing customers

Once Chris realized how much money we had raised, he made the comment, "Man, you should have sell cupcakes to pay off our camper."

I laughed. Somehow, I don't think this picture of our 1989 camper

would raise as much money as the story of beautiful little Deklyn.

So again, I say thanks. The response was unbelievable. Thank you so much for helping me support this family.

Belonging

So I've been contemplating this post for a while. Belonging. I often feel completely out of place.

Wikipedia describes "Belongingness" in this way. "It is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, or a sports team, humans have an inherent desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. The motive to belong is the need for 'strong, stable relationships with other people.' This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity. The need to belong is the need to give and receive affection from others."

I don't feel like I belong at my job right now. It's a new, intense, isolating position - I'm not in a classroom and I'm not really part of resource. I don't really work with anyone. A lot of the people that I talked to moved to a different school. Being half time, I don't have a lot of time to socialize. Again, I get that this is simply where I am in life right now, but that doesn't mean it's always fun. I'm finding it hard.

Then I've been struggling with friendships. I know it's the stage of life I'm at right now. It's tough to have "couple" friends because of the age of our children and bedtimes and such. Also, my husband doesn't talk much, which can make things kind of awkward. I'm an outgoing person and he would be perfectly happy to never leave the house again. This will be further complicated when we add a baby into the mix. Again. I do understand that this is the stage we are at, and maybe I just need to loosen up - my kids won't always have a meltdown if they aren't in bed on time.

And then there's this...

I feel this sums me up lately. Over the past couple years, I feel like I've built walls. I'm scared to get hurt or rejected, so sometimes it's easier just to close up and turn away. Then sometimes I'm sad that I'm not someone's "person." You know, that person that you can't wait to text or call when something good happens, or that person that you call to vent or cry to.

Now don't get me wrong. I have some good, good friends - friends that make me smile deep down and friends who love me. I just need to learn to reach out more, instead of waiting to be reached out to.

So, be prepared people. As I'm reaching out and expanding and stretching myself, I just might call you for a coffee date.

Happenings.

- Back to work tomorrow. Yikes. We are so out of routine. We like sleeping in and wearing our pajamas all morning. We try to stick to the usual bedtimes, but we've been having some good afternoon naps that tend to push bedtimes later and later.
- Totally love watching my kids' relationship develop with each other. Chris and I are almost 100% sure that they like each other!

- Gavin's speech is growing by leaps and bounds. We are doing a lot of speech therapy with him and it is paying off. He has become quite the little chatterbox, repeating everything he hears. Chelsea has had to tell him a few times, "Gavin, you don't need to say everything I say!" I love it! He is scheduled for another surgery in March, this time to remove his adenoids, in another effort to improve his hearing and speech. The ear, nose and throat specialist said this will help eliminate his mouth breathing and his need to constantly be drinking.  

- So the news is out that we are indeed expecting #3 due on July 12. We are very excited. I'm slightly terrified about gaining weight, I'll be honest, but it'll be fine. I seem to have really popped over the holidays and finally put the ol' stretchy maternity pants on. Sigh of relief. The only annoying thing is that they never stay up. I'm constantly trying to hike them back up where they belong, which is annoying when the top of them rests under your boobs. It's not a graceful act.

- I've been feeling really good - I haven't been sick once. It's amazing actually. I have finally gotten past the "tired-beyond-all-comprehension-can-i-nap-for-17-hours-a-day" stage. I'm hoping this means that I will feel a little more like myself.

- We bought a van. An 8 passenger van. Man, oh man. Somehow, I woke up one day and was a 30 year old, almost mom of three, who is going to drive a mini van. Yikes. Wasn't I just 17, playing basketball, worrying about my Calculus exam?

Mexico 2011

Ahh, bliss. Arriving in Mexico and seeing this peaceful view made the craziness of the past few days all worth it. Up until 2 weeks before Christmas, we thought Chris had to work this year during the holidays, so when he talked to the other staff members and found out he didn't have to stick around, we quickly started searching online for trips to somewhere warm. We wound up booking a suite at El Dorado Seaside Suites. We booked on Sunday, Dec. 18 and left on Dec. 22. Yikes!! I'm surprised I survived. Usually I need a few months notice to mentally prepare!

This vacation was absolutely perfect. It was an adults-only, all inclusive, smaller resort designed around relaxation. I didn't realize how badly I needed to reconnect with my husband until we were given this opportunity to just be with each other. It was perfect.

The food was amazing. It was all a la carte dining, which meant that it was all restaurant dining. There were 5 restaurants to choose from and they were all fantastic. We got to try new foods that we normally wouldn't order and we definitely had fun with that!

One of the pools at the resort. We really didn't swim in the pools as they were cold and there was so much lush greenery and palms around the pools that it didn't allow a lot of sun through, so we stuck mainly to the beach.

Chris was super pumped to do some scuba diving. He started in the pool at the resort, then wound up doing a day trip to Playa del Carmen to scuba diving about 40 ft under water.

I would say 90% of our time was spent like this. Relaxing under a cabana, soaking up the sun. I would send Chris out each morning at 6:30 to go put our towels in one of these coveted cabanas so that we had the option of sun or shade. It was perfect!

We dined at the Asian restaurant. It was one of our favourites!

Many of our breakfasts were taken in at the Garden restaurant because Chris loved the french toast. He talked about it every single day!

In all fairness, it was pretty amazing french toast. Strawberries, cream cheese and whipped butter. Yum!

Some afternoons Chris would head back to the hotel for a proper nap, but I wasn't willing to waste a minute of glorious sunshine. I mean, come on... would you head inside if this was the weather outside??

This was taken in the Mexican restaurant.

As we were leaving, this tiny little man insisted that I take a picture with him. He was so tiny!

I didn't realize how early it gets dark in Mexico. It was pitch black by 5:30. I mean it makes sense because the sun is up and hot so stinkin' early, but it was still a surprise to me.

This next picture makes me laugh. One of the amazing staff members picked us up in his golf cart and gave us a halarious tour of the resort.

Here we are, waiting for our tour bus to take us to Xel-ha and Tulum.

Oh yes, the traditional Mexico picture with a huge lizard!

The tour in Tulum was disappointing. We had a terrible guide, and the tour was rushed and crowded and hot, but we were still able to quickly check out a few of the ruins before being rushed back to town.

Enjoying the lazy river in Xel-ha.

Of course, we indulged in many yummy drinks.

Haha. Now I'd like to take credit for this cheesiness, but alas, I can't. We were just walking around the resort and saw it so Chris insisted I take a picture.

And the best part about the vacation? Coming home to these two crazy kiddies. Here they are, proudly displaying their Mexican guitars and Chelsea's dress. As much as I loved going away with my best friend and relaxing in the sunshine, a week was a few days too long to be away from these two. They definitely hold my heart!

Christmas 2011

Christmas came a little early this year in the Hildebrand household. Chris and I actually booked a last minute trip to Mexico and were gone over Christmas, so we celebrated with the kids on the morning of Dec. 22.
Chelsea has been asking for a metal detector since this summer when we saw a man using one at Morden beach. Any time that anyone asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she would say a metal detector and bacon. :) (We always have a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast on Christmas morning.) So, here she is, proudly displaying her metal detector from Santa.

Gavin was a tough kid to buy for this year. He loves books and puzzles and the alphabet and numbers but didn't really show a lot of interest in other toys. We bought him this car ramp, hoping he'd like it and he has played with it non-stop! Success!!

Our kids excited to dig through thier stockings! Mmm... Candy!

Chelsea checking out her loot.

Proudly displaying her new one piece pajamas, funky slippers and warm fuzzy housecoat.

Opening more presents...

We spent the rest of the morning, relaxing, eating, and playing with our new toys. Then, we dropped the kids off at Aunty's and Chris and I headed out to catch a plane to Mexico!

Feeling a lot like Christmas...

I know. This blog has been neglected, but I'm working on it.

The next few posts will be fairly random, but take what you can get!

So, back in December, we met Santa! The kids were thrilled.

 This year was an interesting one with Chelsea. Living in Winkler, Santa seems to be pretty contraversial with many people telling Chelsea that Santa isn't real. We had many talks about Saint Nick and mall Santa and the family tradition of hanging up our stockings. I felt a little sad that she didn't get to believe in the magic of Santa for a little bit longer...

Chelsea also had her preschool concert. She did fantastic, singing loudly as usual. It was cute. When I picked her up to take her to the concert, she asked if I had bought her flowers. I asked her why and she said, "Well, Mom. I'm performing today and I always need flowers when I perform!" Made sense, so off to Bloom we went to pick out these beautiful flowers!

Neglected

Feeling uninspired and too busy to blog, yet I miss it. I haven't even been taking pictures of my kids lately. I have this wicked cough/sore throat that I thought I conquered a few weeks back that appears to have reared its ugly head. I'm off to sip some lemon tea and analyze running records. Fun times.

A Mom's World

As a mom, sometimes we have to deal with situations that we'd rather not. There are some situations that I'd actually like to stay a million miles away from. But instead, we grin and bear it. Or in this case, plug our noses and wash the wall.
Potty training Gavin has been a long process.  All summer long, he's been great - if he was naked, that is. Naked, he rarely had accidents. But if we left the house at all, we put him in a diaper. If we put clothes on him, he would pee instantly. So because I'm an awesome, stellar parent, I just let him run around naked. Seriously - all the time. Worked for me!

Now it's getting a little chipper out, so we finally embraced the gitchies and on Friday last week, m'boy became a gitchie-wearing, potty training machine. Love it. I'd post pictures, but I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Anyways, he has been doing FANTASTIC. For a non-talker, he does a sweet little bobbing potty dance or he'll come and grab my hand and pull me to the bathroom. We really have only had the odd incident and those are usually in the bathroom when one of us hasn't been there to help him on.

However, the other morning, we were hanging out as a family upstairs and G waited a little too long. Chris grabbed him and started running to the bathroom, but it was too late. I wish I could tell you it was pee, but it was not. The material in question splatted on the wall as a loud bang echoed upstairs. While running into the bathroom, Chris accidentally banged Gavin's head on the doorframe - while he was in the middle of doing his thing. I came around the corner and almost died laughing. Seriously, my life is awesome. I was actually happy it landed on the wall because it meant I didn't have to clean the carpets! But there, my little boy sat, pooping, crying, and rubbing his head, confused beyond all explanation.

Needless to say, this set us back a bit in the potty training area, as G refused to perform #2 duties on the potty (or anywhere) for four days.  I'm pretty sure he was petrified that daddy would smack him upside the head if it happened.