Writing and Reading

I LOVE when our kids hit new milestones. Something truly special about growing up and doing new things. Here's a picture of a new thing Colby can do!

He is learning to write his name! I absolutely love this photo (and his big proud smile!) of his name on his MagnaDoodle. We will keep working on the "y" but I think he's doing pretty great for a 3 year old. Good job, buddy!! :)

Jenna LOVES reading! Music to Mom's ears, right?! ;) Yes, yes, as a teacher, I love seeing children of any age reading and enjoying it. We will often find Jenna sitting on her little Dora couch or just on the floor in her room beside her bookcase reading some of her favourites! Love it!!


One of the books I read while I was pregnant with Colby was called "Reading Magic" by Mem Fox. I love Mem Fox and was very fortunate to meet her (and get a few books signed) at Convention a couple of years ago. The book speaks to the importance of reading aloud to your children from the day they are born. As I taught Early Literacy in the past and enjoy teaching Language Arts at any grade, I realize the importance of reading readiness skills. The book suggested reading 3 books aloud per day, every day. I found it was quite manageable when I was at home on maternity leave, but now that I'm back at work, it's a bit more challenging! Thankfully, we still manage to fit it in! :)

Tough Little Jenna

Ever had an experience that you never want to experience again?

Yesterday was one of those experiences for me. Tuesday, February 8th was a tough day for our little Jenna, Mom, and Dad. Jenna has been suffering with concurrent ear infections for the past several months. She got her first infection on August 21, 2010 (when she turned 11 months old). From then, she has had 8 infections and been on 6 rounds of antibiotics.

Yuck. Hard on her little body, I know!

We were very fortunate to get in to see an ENT in Barrhead quickly on January 31st. I learned a lot about ear infections and what exactly was happening with her/lack of eardrum vibration/affecting hearing, etc. He suggested that she have day surgery and have tubes put in both ears. Of course, also believing this would be best for her, we agreed. According to his schedule, we were hoping that she might be in in about a month (beginning of March), but I received a call on Monday early afternoon indicating that they had a cancellation and he could do the surgery the next morning.

Wow. Next morning. Okay!

With little time to think about things, I booked a sub, stayed late doing sub plans, Gerry took the day off, planned for my mom to take Colby to the dayhome, and were out the door at 6:15 am yesterday morning headed back to Barrhead.

It was a rough morning. My biggest fear was how she would react to the anaesthetic, as I had heard the actual surgery procedure was very quick and "routine". I went into the OR with her and cried just as much as Jenna did while they used the gas to put her under. Once she was out, I returned to the waiting room. It was only about 20 minutes before I heard another cry of hers and it was over. Our doctor came out and said it was a success (although the right ear was particularly bad), but both eardrums cleaned out and both tubes were inserted. Thank goodness. As Jenna didn't go under very well, she had a hard time coming out of the anaesthetic. She cried and cried and cried for about 40 minutes until she truly began to "wake up". Poor thing. We felt completely helpless and I was worred that this was not "normal", to which our nurse reassured us it was. She was apparently rather "calm" but was just crying as she came out of the drugs.

Definitely not something I want to go through again, especially with our 16 month old. Poor thing, I felt so bad for her.

But... she's one tough cookie. Once she was awake, she was fine! Slept all the way home (probably was a good thing we had an hour drive home from Barrhead!), ate a big snack when we came home, and was happy to play for the rest of the day. She had another big 3 hour nap in the afternoon, but was completely back to normal by late afternoon. Whew! So good to see her bounce back so quickly! :)

Now we need to be very careful with baths, swimming, etc., but we'll deal with that! We're just happy that hopefully this will help her in the long run and not have to go to the doctor's office at least monthly for another ear infection! Good job, baby girl! xoxo

Mom's Weekend Away!

As sad as I was to leave, how guilty I felt, and how much I cried while leaving, I enjoyed a much-needed "girls weekend" two weeks ago! I went away for a weekend (Friday evening to Sunday afternoon) to a scrapbooking/crafting retreat at Rustic Ridge and Ranch. SUCH a wonderful weekend!!! Aaahhh, wonderfully delicious homecooked meals, hot tub, sauna, food and drinks, scrapbooking all weekend into the wee hours of the morning, and 8 lovely ladies to make it all GREAT! I finished 17 pages, which isn't as much as the last time I went on this retreat, but still, I'm quite happy with the progress of Jenna's album!

The kids had SO much fun at home with Daddy that weekend. Sadly, they weren't too overly excited to see me when I returned home early Sunday afternoon :( Sign of a good time with Dad nonetheless! It was very cold out, but they did venture to Ryan and Leanne's house for a playdate with their kids! I'm sure Gerry was pretty tuckered out after two busy days with the kids! Thank goodness for quiet evenings and good nights of sleep, right, Ger?!

I truly love scrapbooking and being creative, but it's so hard to do on a regular basis. Between working nearly full-time, enjoying my time with Colby and Jenna, housework, laundry, hanging out with my husband, and (hopefully) a little bit of exercise, there's no time left for crafting :( Thank goodness for monthly crop nights in our basement :) It's great to have good friends get together, bringing whatever they all want to work on, laughing, chatting, eating, and crafting for one night a month! With everyone's busy lives, it doesn't always work out that everyone can make it, but it's sure great to have a "date" with some great ladies once a month!

I think it's important to have some "me time" that Moms always seem to struggle to find. Life is all about balance and this is something I'm working on for myself. Balancing family, home life, work life, social life is very difficult. It's coming though... thank goodness for the wonderful people in my life to help keep me grounded, focused, and living my life to the fullest!! :)

xoxo
Lesley