Brendan is 8!

Hard to believe this time EIGHT years ago, I was just reaching active labour with my first born child.

Here's his birth story:

On Wednesday July 11, 2001 I started having stronger Braxton Hicks contractions. Throughout the day they became harder. Around 10pm I went to the hospital in hopes that my baby would make his/her grand appearance. That wasnt the case though, when I arrived there wasnt too much going on, the nurse gave me a couple of sleeping pills and sent me on my way. The sleeping pills didnt work at all. I was up all night with contractions.

On the morning of July 12, 2001 5am, I woke my Mom up and asked her to take me to the hospital. The nurse gave me a gown and hooked me up to the non-stress test machine to check baby's heart rate and monitor my contractions.

Around noon they gave me a shot of demerol in the behind and told to go home and relax - easier said that done! From there, the contractions got stronger and more painful. I couldnt stay in one place for longer than one minute! I would go from my bed to the couch, from the couch to the bathtub ... I even tried to take comfort in my little brother's bedroom. I just could not get comfortable.

I was home alone. My Mom took my little brother's and my step dad was at work. I was left home alone out in booneyville to whimper and cry. Around 7pm I called my Mom (who was at a friend's house) and told her she must come home ASAP! She arrived home shortly after and took me to the hospital. The truck ride was awful. Each small bump was felt.

We arrived at the hospital around 9pm. My baby-Daddy arrived shortly after. The night seemed to go by so slowly. At the time, those few hours seemed longer than the nine months I carried the li'l person inside me.

Around 3am the time came for me to start pushing. It was the moment I had been waiting for FOREVER. There was no turning back.

4:18am Friday July 13th, 2001 - Brendan Mathieu arrived. It was a rainy morning but this li'l guy definately brightened up my world!

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He was a tiny li'l man, 8lbs 1oz and 20.5" long. He had red hair and dark blue eyes. He was the cutest li'l guy. He had big hands and big feet ... and really long, slender fingers. The tiniest li'l toes! He had the cutest little cry. It was so soft and so quiet.

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To finally hold him, and kiss him for the first time was the most wonderful and emotional time in my life ... words cant describe how amazing this moment was.

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I love him so much! Words cant express the amount of love I feel for him!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY BRENDAN!

Birthday Bash Times 2!

For Brendan's birthday this year we decided to have two seperate birthday parties. His first birthday party took place July 5th with his school friend's. The kids had a BIG water fight - over 400 water balloons & squirt guns! ... as well as taking a dip in the pool!
. His second birthday party took place July 12th with family and close friend's of the family. We had a bbq with tons of great food! I think it's safe to say "fun was had by all" at both events!

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One Hundred Fourty Two

Happy 142nd birthday CANADA!



A picture of the boys at our local Canada Day parade - enjoying the bag pipes! Keeping in touch with our Scottish roots!

Keyan Goes to the Dentist!

Keyan has been visiting the dentist since he was 3 years old. At almost 5 years old, his visit this June was his third time in the dental chair. He is such a trooper - he handles it better than his own Mommy!! He is so compliant, we are so proud of him. Now if only he can teach this to his older brother!

Knopp's Dairy Farm Adventure

On July 18th, we accompanied Brendan's Grade 1/2 class on an adventue to Knopp's Dairy Farm. We had a first-hand look at where it all begins - how the milk makes it to our kitchen table.

This is a picture of the kids exploring the OLD milking station.The kids meet some baby calves.
Lily makes friends with a baby calf!
Here, we meet some milking cows, as well as Mommy's-to-be.

Meet Arden Elly. She was named after the kid's school, Arden Elementary. The farm had a big fire a couple of years back. Arden school came together and donated money for the purchase of her. The kids of the school voted on her name!

This is the NEW milking station.This is where the milk is stored until a big truck comes to pick it up!
Tractor rides for all!

Fun with relay races!

The fresh farm air was enough to knock Lily out for over 2 hours!

The kids enjoyed 3 fun rounds of water balloon toss!

Watching the remaining water balloon tossers!

Watching the Knopp's dog chase a soccer ball. Always more comfortable in the back of a tractor trailer!

Thank you Knopp's family!!

Numero UNO Party!

On June 14th, close family and friends gathered together to celebrate a year full of love with Lily! She looked like a princess in her beautiful yellow dress [thanks Grandpa!] and sparkly tiara with matching necklace!
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Lily had a wonderful time with all the people that mean so much to her! We love her so much and couldnt imagine our lives without her! It's so hard to believe she's been here with us for a year now.

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Lily's guests included: [Mommy] Jessica, [Daddy] Jim, [Brother] Brendan, [Brother] Keyan, [Uncle] Daryl, [Uncle] Darren, [Uncle] Jason, [Nana] Cathy, [Papa] Wendel, [Great Grandma] Rita, [Great Auntie] Cherie, [Great Uncle] Larry, [Cousin] Jaimie, [Grandma] Lynda, [Grandpa] Norman, [Great Granny] Judy, [Great Pa] Martin, [Grandma] Glenda, [Uncle] Jordan AND [Adopted Aunty] Sabrina.

A Year to Celebrate!

It's hard to believe that at this time, ONE year ago today, the doctor was breaking my water and a few hours later I would have my baby girl. I cant wrap my head around the fact that she has been in our lives for that long. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital!

Here's Lily's birth story:

I woke up Wednesday morning (June 11) with contractions that were 10 minutes apart. As the day progressed, so did the pain and contractions. By 1am, Thursday morning [June 12] they were 2-4 minutes apart.

Even though the contractions were tolerable, the hospital still asked me to come in and get checked since she was my 3rd baby and I have a history of fast active labour.

We got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and I was still only 3cm. No change all day. So disappointing!! She called my doctor who said to send me home to rest. She gave me the option to either meet her at the hospital at 8:30am to be reassessed, or continue on with my 11:30 appt in her office.

Once home my contractions were a stready 2 minutes apart and the worst they had ever been ... but still tolerable. I breathed through them and got a bit of rest.

I was going to just wait until my 11:30 appointment but couldnt sleep. Jim and I took Brendan to school and then headed up to the hospital.

My doctor checked me and I was still the same. As she was checking me the nurse was opening up a hook they use for breaking the water! I was so shocked!! I was not expecting anything to happen.

She broke my water at 9am. The water was green, Lily had her first bowel movement inside.

Contractions slowly got stronger. At 11am I was at 5cm. Contractions from there got ALOT more intense. Just after noon I asked for drugs because it was sooo painful. I was given fentanyl - "very groovy" as I referred to it. It helped make the contractions more tolerable.

At 1pm I was a "very stretchy" 7-8cm. The pressure was sooo intense. By 1:15pm my doc arrived and I felt I had to push so bad, grunting so hard through each contraction. It turns out I still had a li'l lip of cervix left and couldnt push yet. It wouldnt go away because Lily was laying the weirdest way inside and her wasnt putting enough pressure on my cervix to make it completely dilate.

My doctor decided that she would let me push while she pushed the lip of cervix to the side. OMG what an intense feeling!! So many sensations all at once, I didnt like it at all. Owiieeee!!

Lily finally flipped her body around inside. With a couple pushes I got her head out, her shoulders were the hardest because she was so broad!

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Our big baby girl was born at 2pm on the dot! Weighing in at 9lbs 11oz, she was 21.5" long.

I was told before giving birth to her that she may not be placed directly on my chest because of the concerns that come with passing meconium in-utero. She was taken away right away to the paediatrician, still in the same room. I was okay with it because they had a good talk with me before about it, it wasnt a shock and I understood what was going on. She scored 7 on her first apgar test, and then a 9 on the second one.

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She let out her first cry a couple minutes after birth. Shortly after she was sucking so hard on her fingers!

A little bit after birth the nurse was listening to her chest and it didnt sound good. They took her for xrays, which later came back good. We didnt sleep the first night. She seriously ate for four hours straight. The nurse took her to the nursery to allow me to sleep a bit. While in there Lily was shaking, they checked her blood sugar level, which came back very low. They supplemented her with 40cc of formula and she was okay after that. They said that there was a small chance I had undiagnosed gestational diabetes, not to mention Lily's size, her body needed that little extra.

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A new deck!

When we moved in, back in '07, it was clear to us that in the near future we would have to replace our rotten deck with something SAFER! In March my brother, Jason along with the help of my husband Jim knocked the old sucker down!




Jason spent his days off work building us a new deck! This time with stairs and a UV protectant roof! He did a wonderful job! We're so pleased with how it turned out.

Sizzlin'

Oh boy, was it ever a scorcher today! We maxed out at just over 32C. The kids and I spent the majority of our day in the van and Walmart! A/C is a wonderful thing!

I bought the kiddies a baby pool to cool off in, they sure had a blast! ... as you will see in the pictures to follow! Even I stuck my feet in it! Refreshing!

Lily is clapping! ... Keyan "Yayyy!"

Keyan, Lily & Brendan - chillin'

"Ahhhh" Feels nice!

Splishin' and a Splashin'

Lily needs a break ... swing time!

Brendan decides to put his feet up for a bit!

Brendan and Lily swing together!

A year ago today ...

June 3, 2008 was our estimated due date for Lily! This time last year I was trying every old wives tail out there to get labour started ... Jim likely thought I was CRAZY! Thinking back now I feel sorry for the guy and everything he had to endure.

Summer weather has arrived!!

Bring on the a/c units, sprinklers, sunscreen, bathing suits, swimming pools etc ... SUMMER WEATHER IS HERE!!

Lily has gone to bed in next to nothing the last couple of nights. She was sleeping all sprawled out because it was too hot for clothes and blankets! ... see her rosey cheeks!

The two younger kids spent a good portion of today in T's and undies! Below is a picture of them escaping the sun and enjoying a swing on the deck!

The past two days had a maximum temperature of 28C ... tomorrow is going to follow suit! This time last year our maximum temps were hovering around 16C. If this is any indication of what our summer weather will be like ... it's going to be a HOT ONE!

First BBQ of 2009

Today we attended our first BBQ of 2009! We got together to try out Grandpa Norman's new fire pit! We roasted weinies and marshmellows on a stick ... the boys loved that!!! ... as well as yummy burgers done up on the fancy grill! The weather couldnt have been better! Good times had by all!

Daddy Jim & Lily

Grandpa Norman & Lily

Lily

Great Grandpa Martin

Brendan & Lily

Allergies, Eczema, Hives ... OH MY!

When our son, Keyan was 2 months old he developed a rash all over his face. Our family doctor first shrugged it off as baby acne. After a while it only got worse and spread from his face to the rest of his body - it was really itchy, red & inflamed, and would ooze clear liquid (pus).

He was then diagnosed with atopic dermatitis - a.k.a eczema. He was referred to a local pediatrician who then sent him for allergy testing. We found out he was allergic to cow's milk and eggs. As time went on we added wheat, chicken, goat's milk and soy to his list of allergies. To date he's lost some, gained some ... the list stands at cow's milk, eggs and salmon. Non-food allergies include pacific trees, grass and cats.

Over time his eczema has improved, although he still gets the occasional flare up. Very rarely does he need to go on antibiotics or oral steroids anymore. He is very aware of what causes his flare ups, as well as what he is allergic to.

When we found out we were pregnant with Lily, one of our first thoughts were "I hope she doesnt have eczema or allergies like her brother!" Like Keyan, at 2 months old she developed what seemed to be baby acne. She was also a fussy, pukey baby like her brother. It was those few things that made me wonder if she was going down the same path.

I then made the decision to breastfeed her for as long as possible, as well as cut dairy and eggs out of my diet completely. In my mind her 'symptoms' disappeared within a couple weeks. Fluke? I'm not so convinced.

By the time Lily was 7 months old I decided to slowly add eggs back into my diet. With no reaction from Lily, I did the same with cow's milk. Everything seemed okay, I didnt notice any reaction.

About a month ago I started giving Lily Nutrigrain bars, they contain a small amount of dairy. I thought that was a good start to see if she could tolerate it. No visible reactions. A couple weeks ago I gave Lily her first bite of cheese, she loved it! Again, no visible reactions. Next would be yogourt and cottage cheese ... no visible reactions.

On May 24th I made myself a smoothie. Lily was going nuts for it so I gave her a sip. No second thoughts because she's had milk products before. A couple hours later we discovered a big hive on her chest ... milk related? ... quite possible.

I thought about what I was going to do next. I decided to give her a couple of days without cow's milk products and see what happens. As I expected, no more hives. After those couple of days I gave her a nibble of Nutrigrain bar here, a nibble of cheese there.
Now we're discovering Lily is itching her skin more and has dry, red patches on her arms. They resemble eczema quite a bit.
Below: the first picture is from her scratching; the second picture is a close up of one of her dry spots.

Tonight we ate out. I brought home some good ol' Mickey D's. Lily had her very first cheese burger! Within about 5 minutes of her eating her cheese burger we noticed a big hive right beside her eye brow.

Our plan of action now - wait until Lily's 12 month check up with our family doctor. I'll let our doctor in on what's been going on and hopefully she'll send her for some allergy testing. By that time she will be old enough to get the skin prick test done, in our experience it's alot less traumatic then getting blood taken ... in fact, it's not traumatic at all.