Autumn colours out in full force...

We are now in Ottawa for the week, and I have to say that this is a gorgeous time to be here! The autumn colours are out in full force, the skies are blue and there's a crisp edge to the air that requires a sweater - sure beats the insane heat wave that was going on last May when I was here!

Pop's funeral was yesterday, and it was a bit bittersweet - nice to see all the family but sad that it took the death of a loved one to get us all together. His body was cremated the day before, so we had the urn with his ashes in the room, with a whole bunch of photos displayed around the room and his red curling jacket that he was so proud of prominantly displayed. The service was from 2-4, and at 3 Heather hired a bag pipe player to come and play Amazing Grace as a tribute to her dad. It was a perfect way to send him off and to say a final goodbye. He'll be missed by many.

And now we're just spending our time visiting with everyone before we fly out on Sat. The girls are having a blast playing with their Aunty Meg and Uncle Ian, Kea and Meg are building some sort of lego structure right now as I type this! Tomorrow we are spending the day with Maya, so Kea's thrilled about that - she just loves the idea of having a cousin, so talks about Maya all the time! And luckily they are quite similar in personality so they tend to play really well together! Just too bad they can only see each other once or twice a year :-( As always, it's really, really busy while we're out here, trying to fit in enough time with everyone, but well worth the effort to be able to catch up a little with everyone's lives!

and good-bye to pop ~

Jamie's grandad (Heather's dad) passed away lastnight, at about 5:00 Ottawa time. It wasn't a huge shock, as he was in the hospital and his health wasn't doing well at all, but that doesn't make it any less sad. And it happened just over 24 hours before Jamie could make it to Ottawa to say good-bye, if you can believe that. Definitely one of the major drawbacks of living so far away from his family, we miss out on a lot of the day to day stuff, and risk missing a chance to say good-bye. I'm really sad that our kids will not grow up knowing their Pop, but we have lots of great photos with him from our last visit. And Jamie already shares so many stories of growing up with his Pop, that I'm sure he'll always be a part of their memories. Every time I watch sports on TV (especially curling!) I'll raise a Coors Lite in his memory!

Kea, Tiegan and I are currently in Seattle, visiting with Gram for the weekend. We took the train down on Thurs. night, which was quite an adventure for the girls - I was amazed that Kea even managed to fall asleep by about 9:15, she was so excited! Today we went to the Children's Museum here in Seattle, which was just a blast, and now we're back at Gram's apartment. Kea is watching the Cirque de Soleil on DVD and Tiegan is playing tea party with her Gram while I escape to type a bit on-line. I was actually just looking on-line for flights on the Westjet website, and found flights for the three of us on Monday to Ottawa (the funeral is on Tuesday) and returning on Saturday, for just under $1,000. Isn't it sad that that seems so cheap?!!

Happy Birthday Tyson!

Today my baby brother turns 19 - how crazy is that? It hardly seems like 19 years ago that Clare and I sat on the couch in the birthing room at the hospital in Regina (was it called Wascana General? Or Regina General? I can't remember), staying up all night because we were so excited that mom was in labour! And then the moment came, mom's water had broken all over the floor and she was beginning to push. I remember her making a lot of noise with every contraction (which I definitely understand more now!), and that freaked me out a little so we had to run out of the room with each contraction, and come back in between to see the progress. Clare was a little annoyed, but I just could not handle being there. Until the head was out, and then we saw Tyson being born, and Mom and Ian got all gushy and acted so weird, and I remember feeling awkward at how unusual they were acting! And no, he wasn't the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen - he looked like a wrinkled up old man, and when he tried to burp he looked exactly like E.T.!!! And I don't think that was sibling jealousy speaking at all, newborns are just not that attractive! Unless, of course, you are a parent of said newborn. Luckily he's grown much cuter as he's aged!!!! One of these day's I'll be able to link photos....including one of my alien baby brother!!!

milk, does a body good!

There's a woman here in Vancouver who I've met through the Mothering website who has put out an appeal for breastmilk. Her daughter is 4 months old, and I guess she is only able to provide about 40% of her needed milk. She's been getting milk from the Vancouver breastmilk bank but I guess due to a shortage there she can no longer get any breastmilk. She's tried a couple different types of formula but they seem to give her daughter a rash, so she's asked any of us Mothering mothers if we'd be willing to donate some milk. So every morning I find myself pumping milk, and I'm amazed to discover that even after Tiegan nursing for what seems like ALL NIGHT LONG, I can still get 125-150 ml. of milk for this little girl. Makes me appreciate how lucky I've been to be able to produce such an abundance of liquid gold for our babies. And doing this is helping to appease the guilt I feel about not donating milk to the actual bank in Tiegan's early days when I had so much milk. With the next baby, I will get more organized earlier......and any of you nursing mothers with young babes, think about donating some of your breastmilk for all those babies who need it!!!!

happy thanksgiving!

Today we woke up and made pumpkin waffles with whipped cream for breakfast, and then gave Jamie's dad Wayne a call to ask him how to cook a turkey! See, we had decided to go all out for dinner tonight and cook up a full turkey dinner even though it was just us. But ultimately we had no clue how to do it! So, we followed Wayne's instructions to a "T" and it all worked out beautifully! I LOVE turkey dinners! Not so good at making gravy, but hey - it was my first try! We had cranberry sauce, cream corn, mashed potatoes (plain for me, with mashed yams for Jamie) and orange maple glazed yams - all very very yummy and filling! Now I'm trying to convince Tiegan to go to sleep in the front carrier and Jamie's making some tea to go with our pumpkin pie and ice cream! Food, glorious food!

We installed a DVD player into our computer, so we can finally watch movies! We've been without TV since last spring, and for the most part we LOVE it! Jamie and I find we have so much more time these days, and are able to work on our hobbies and listen to music more. I love that Tiegan hasn't really watched any TV at all in her short life, and Kea's play is so much more independant and creative now that she doesn't have the option of watching a video every day! However, we just really miss watching good movies, and since we don't really get out to the cinema as we used to, we're resorting to DVD's. The trick is to see how long we can go before Kea realizes that it's even an option!!!!

Our friends Rana and Hugh (and big brother Nathan) had a baby girl this morning! What a great Thanksgiving gift....kind of reminds me of when Tyson was born so many Thanksgiving weekends ago! They'd planned a c-section for Wed. the 13th, but Rana's waters broke this morning so they went in early, and had a c-section at 11am. Her name is Samantha Denine, she was 8lb 5oz and evidently everyone is doing really well. I can't wait to meet her, hopefully tomorrow morning! I'm so addicted to newborns!

good-bye nannie....

Yesterday would have been my Nannie's 80th birthday. Instead she passed away on May 14th, and we spent yesterday holding a celebration of her life with family and many of her friends. Dad's sister, Aunty Linda, organized it and her in-laws (Betty and Carmon Greenwood) were gracious enough to host in at their house. I knew many of her friends from the times that I've spent at Nannie and Grandad's house, and it was really nice to see them again. And then there were a bunch of her friends from Voice of Women who I'd heard about over the years but had actually never met before. It was great to finally be able to put a face to their names, and also to hear some of the stories that they had about Nannie - to see another side of the woman I knew!

After the get-together with everyone, the family gathered together and went to one of Nannie and Grandad's favourite restaurants, Eighties, for dinner - seemed very appropriate to eat there one final time, even though I've never found something there that I actually like to eat! Ah well, my love of food definitely was not inherited from this branch of the family, that's for sure. Just my love of afternoon tea and my need to have something sweet with that tea! That, and an enjoyment of sharp cheddar cheese and jam sandwhiches...yum!

Years ago Mom, Jamie and I (with Kea in a backpack carrier) spread Grandad Jennings ashes just off the trails at Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, somewhere he had taken his kids and us grandkids to many times so it was a place that really had special meaning to us all. And now tomorrow morning we're going to take Nannie's ashes back to the same spot and as discreetly as possible (with Linda, Dave, Carla, Paul, Allyson, Dad, Clare, Alex, Jamie, Kea, Tiegan and I all there!) spread them with Grandad's. Hopefully we can eventually put a bench nearby so we'll always have a place to go drink our tea, play a game of Michigan Rummy and remember Nannie and Grandad.

new remedies -

Jamie just dropped off a couple of new remedies for my infection. I'm going to try phytolacca homeopathic remedy as it's been recommended by many nursing friends who have been where I am now, and when Jamie was talking to the guy in Finlandia, he also recommended a clay poultice to draw out the infection so I'm going to give that a try. At this point, I'd try anything - last night I did the grated potato as a poultice all night long, and I can't tell if it did any good but it sure made a mess of the bed! Tiegan spent 20 minutes trying to pick up all the pieces....so I guess it gave me a bit of extra sleep this morning!!!!!

I just tried to lie down with Tiegan for a nap this afternoon, but after 45 minutes she woke up. Obviously far too early for her, as she's broken down crying a few times since we've gotten up. Once because she walked by the vent and a blast of hot air hit her face. DEFINITELY needs some more sleep! I'm nursing her right now, so hopefully we'll be going back to bed soon. And by tomorrow, with all these new remedies, hopefully my breast infection will be all gone?!!! Cross your fingers for me......

UGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

I have another breast infection. Double ugh.

I hate these things, and yet I always let myself get run down to the point where I get one. I should just learn to nap every afternoon, ESPECIALLY right now when Tiegan is not sleeping at night (going on three weeks now - yup, we're all pretty much zombies around here). Instead I push my body until I get sick, and then I'm forced to rest to recover and avoid the antibiotics. This time the infection is on my left breast, and I'm using comfrey compresses, marshmallow root soaks, hot showers, echinnacea and lots of sleep.

Last night Jamie came home early so I could go to bed. I had a fever and a throbbing headache, my body ached and I basically felt like crap. As I was falling asleep, I could hear the sounds of early evening going on downstairs. CBC was playing on the radio, Jamie was working on a stir-fry for supper, Tiegan was busy walking back and forth along the kitchen, handing Jamie the magnets off the fridge (one of her latest obsessions!) and Kea was laying on the kitchen floor with her drawing paper and coloured pen, asking her dad how to spell various words (that's one of her latest obsessions!) It sounded so domestic and comfortable, and I fell asleep realizing just how lucky I am, to have a spunky toddler who lights up our lives with her great smile, a caring and constantly happy preschooler who can entertain herself for hours on end, and a wonderful husband who is trying to be the best partner possible with an insane work schedule. I love them so much! Now I just wish this throbbing headache and red, sore breast would go away, then life would be almost perfect.....

duck egg yolks and mah jong

Friends of ours through Kea's preschool brought some Chinese moon cakes for us to try the other day. We'd heard all about the moon festival, and wondered about going down to Chinatown to try out the mooncakes, but upon learning that they have duck egg yolks in the centre we decided not to. I don't know why, but the thought of eating an egg yolk in the middle of a pastry disturbed me, and duck egg yolk even more. However, once we were given a few different samples of the mooncakes, along with instructions on how to prepare them and some Chinese tea to drink with them, we figured the least we could do is try them! And you know, they were really good! I really liked the traditional style far more than the modern style, and the tea complimented them perfectly.

And in the spirit of the evening, Jamie decided to look up mah jong on the internet and learn how to play. He'd been talking about it with friends at work, and has decided he wants to learn how to play it. Should be interesting.....I actually didn't realize that young professional males liked to play it, I only hear of elderly Chinese females playing it together. Goes to show what I know - evidently it's *cool* to play it these days!

Autumn has to be my most favourite season....

It's a gorgeous sunny day here in Vancouver, this first day of October. The leaves are all changing and falling to the ground, and the girls and I went for a long walk around the neighbourhood collecting chestnuts and chasing leaves as they fell from the trees. Tiegan has discovered the joys of watching squirrels run up and down tree trunks, gathering nuts, and gets very excited trying to chase them! Everyone is out raking leaves and working on their gardens, and I really get a sense of what a great community we live in during these autumn days!

Our neighbours across the street are using this last bit of great sunny weather in order to paint their house, and wouldn't you know that they're painting it a gorgeous shade of purple (don't know what it is called exactly) - which is the colour we've talked about painting our house in the next couple of years. Well, okay, Kea's pulling for pink, but we all know that that is not going to happen, so purple it will have to be! I'd show you a photo, but I haven't figured out how to link photos to this blog yet!

Kea is currently obsessed with drawing faeries, and I'm currently surrounded by 5 or 6 pages of them. We took a colourful one down to the photocopying shop to get one copied onto transfer paper, so we can iron one onto a baby shirt for a gift - it looks really cute! Again, I'd show you a photo but......soon, soon!!!

Jamie's off work early as it's Friday, so he should be home any moment now. Life is so good some days!

desperate for sleep.....

We seem to have breeded ourselves an insomniac with Tiegan. She just hates to miss a second of anything, so rarely naps for longer than 20 minutes at a time during the day, and is often up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Happy and excited, but nonetheless, up. Ugh! Needless to say, Jamie and I are feeling rather tired and slow moving, and every night go to sleep (earlier and earlier) in the hopes of getting a full night sleep. She'd better start sleeping more soon otherwise she'll end up with two of the crankiest parents ever!!!! And she's pretty much used up that cute card she's so good at pulling out at my lowest moments!

As for Kea, she's happily busy at preschool three days a week, and becoming more and more independant every day. I just can't believe that she's four now, and very adament that she can do things herself, her OWN way. Baths have totally changed now, as she insists on turning the taps on herself, turning them off when the tub is full enough, can climb into our large claw-foot tub without any help, washes her own hair and even rinses it herself - can't help but wonder why we're even there sometimes, though it gives us some time to read a magazine!!!! Lately she's become very upset because she doesn't "get" to go to daycare, like "everyone else". So nice to be appreciated!

Clare and Alex are coming over from Victoria on Thanksgiving weekend, and we'll be working on the website together. I guess I'll link this blog to it at that point, and it'll become more available. I haven't decided if this blog will be focused around the kids, or more about me and my thoughts/finds/adventures - more than likely, I guess, a combination of them both and hopefully some snippets of Jamie too!!!! Though I doubt I'll be able to convince him to "blog" himself! And of course, always keeping in mind that the family will more than likely be reading this. That fine line between opening up and sharing stuff about ourselves, and also protecting ourselves on such a public forum....we'll see how it goes! Tiegan is now asleep (FINALLY) in the front carrier, and it seems soooooooooo stupid to not be going to bed myself, so I'm signing of for now!!!!