FIVE!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to my amazing, funny, happy-go-lucky, great, #1, awesome, hilarious, smarty-pants, super-duper, sweet-as-pie, cuddly and lovey son Benjamin!!!

Lego Party!!

Guess how many Lego's are in the jar?!

Goody bags! Thankful I own a circle cutter!

(This is Ben's sweet expression as he watched Daisy have her turn).

Quiet time after the party, playing a new game with is new headphones :D

Nine

Jack is nine months old today!

He is crawling, climbing and pulling himself up in a desperate attempt to keep up with his big brother & sister!

I took him to the health unit the other day to find out how much he weighs etc as it seemed like he had just finished a growth spurt. Sure enough, he has grown a bit! While he is at 19lbs 8oz, he's still very tiny according to the "stats". Weight is 30%, height (just over 27") is just 15% and head funny enough is 46.7cm — a whopping 80%! Good things come in small packages though!

We are done nursing as of August 1st, and that's okay. He stopped being interested in it and was getting painful. So, we ended it on a good note and he loves his bottles! A couple weeks ago he wasn't interested in food, possibly his tum getting used to the formula, but he seems to be back on track. Now if only he got back onto his old sleeping habits and sleep all night and nap more. This waking twice a night business is nonsense.

It's a good thing you are cute!

Jack was supposed to be napping... instead he figured how to pull himself up and didn't know how to get back down! This was Friday...

...by Saturday you were trying to climb the stairs and had a knee up at one point.. oy!

Look at them teeth! Four on top, two bottom!

This face cracks me up!

Look out world — here I come!

Funky Monkey

My lovely friend Gillian has started her own wee photo gig, Funky Monkey Photography, and was so kind to come and take pictures of the kids the other day. She's also the photographer for Delish!

Thanks Gillian.. they look great! You have a natural talent for this!!

Graduation!

Ben graduated pre-school today! The year FLEW by.. of course having a baby part-way through made everything seem to go by even faster ;)

Way to go Ben!!! Next step — kindergarten!

Seven

Jack is seven months old today!

My teeny tiny guy is growing up so fast, changing every day! He's napping on his tummy at times, sitting up and chewing-chewing-chewing! Still just two teeth, who knows when there will be more. Sleeping has gotten better the last while, but naps are quite short (like, 30 mins if I am lucky). Of course the days he naps longer than that are when Daddy is watching him! BUT at least there is a bit of a daytime routine in terms of timing. That's tricky to do when you have three kids 4 and under!

At his 6 month vaccincation/check-up last month he weighed 15lbs and was 26" long, his head 44cm (his head is always in the higher percentile, all his smarts LOL!) He's so small & tiny! I don't like to compare too much as to what the others were at their milestones, but he's just so physically different than them! Doc says he's a-ok though, growing but just at a different rate!

He's such a sweet & cuddly guy (he really does give hugs!). I call him a koala bear because if given the chance, he grabs your arms and pulls you in, hanging on for dear life! I am still nursing him, which is so great. The others weaned themselves at around 4-5 months, and they were also biters! Ouch!). Not sure how long we will keep it up, but right now he doing great with it and I don't wanna pay for formula if I don't have to! He's on solids now, loving all the foods I cook up for him.

Love you, Jack ;)

Meeting his Great-Grandma — she came for a week visit at the end of May.
Miss you Grandma!!!

Pink Candy

In this nice weather, we've been taking the kids for a walk, rewarding them with a wee slurpee (Mike and I get Iced Caps!) and then carry on our walk.

Last night, while sitting down for a few in the store, Daisy asked Mike if she could have pink candy. Well, more like "Daddy? Pink candy?" The girl loves pink. She had a pink hair clip in, pink sweater, pink tights, pink sandals (with hot pink toe nails) AND was drinking a pink cotton candy slurpee. Mike's response? "No, Daisy. They don't make pink candy."

She stared at him, looked over his shoulder (at the aisle with candy!) and so plainly replied "Um. Right there" and pointed.

LOVE HER! I think we laughed about it half a dozen times last night.

Ugh with a big huge capital U.

So much has happened the last two months I don't even know where to start! I have had this post saved for so long, editing/adding/deleting.

Ben — growing up so quickly. He is an excellent counter, can identify letters and is starting to put them together into wee words. He has always quite the memory (I call him my little elephant) but it's sure showing now. Songs, sayings, even clips from his movies — we hear it all! He is in swimming lessons again, repeating his last level as it had been quite a while since his last set, but loving it. One more to go. We have had a private tour of his new elementary school where he will be going to kindergarten full-time in the fall. They are so nice there, introducing him to everyone they met, seeing all the classes.. he is so excited for school! He will be going to a day summer camp here in town, for 5 days in the late afternoon, all Toy Story themed! It's put on by a local church, has a HUGE turn-out (last year was 400 kids) so I know he's gonna love it. Haven't told him yet!


Daisy — our little spit fire, learning her independence (aka stubbornness!). She is talking up a storm, full sentences, and will try to repeat everything. She says "I love you" now (been working on this for a while!) She's doing great potty training, going pee quite often, waking up dry quite a bit, actually pooped on it today for the first time! She is so in love with her baby brother, it's awesome. I was going to try to register her for something this summer, but not sure yet.


Jack — 6.5 months old! He's got two teeth, waiting for more wee teeth buds to show up. He's got great strength, rolling over and able to hold himself in a sitting position for quite a while. He's always got smiles and giggles for his brother & sister, his non-stop entertainment, and he loves to cuddle and hug. His sleeping routine seems to come and go, was good for a while, and then back to the way it was, but I know it could be a lot worse! He's still tiny, just 15 pounds, but healthy. Doctor isn't concerned as he is growing & gaining, just at his own rate. The other kids at this age were pounds heavier. Bonus of having a tiny baby — the clothes fit longer!!


Mike — laid off again, for the third time this year. He would still have a job, if we could afford to just sit around and wait for work to pick up, but that's not the case. Last one hired, first one to go typically. He has been busy around the yard though (aerating, sanding, built an awesome sandbox for the kids) and various things in the shop.

As far as myself goes, when I wasn't being mama, I was working on Delish Magazine! I call it my fourth child ;)

Delish is a free-to-the-reader online publication for women. It shares a credo with the three of us, and that’s “Live like you mean it.” We’re not teenagers, we’re definitely not cougars, we know our own minds and we’re comfortable in our own skin. With that in mind, Delish will focus on what’s real, what’s useful and what’s beautiful.

All in all, we are happy & healthy, the main things.. right?!?

March

Wow! Another month since my last post.. well, sadly, blog has taken a very far back seat in the list of priorities. Sorry, blog. It's me, not you :P

Anyhoo.. here's what has happened the last month:

We had our 8th Wedding Anniversary! Mom and Dad watched all three kids so we could go out for a nice dinner together!

Mmm.. Shirley Temple!

I turned 31, had a lovely birthday. This is the drawing in my card from Ben :) It's a cyclops!


Mike, sadly, is laid off AGAIN. Here's hoping that something bigger & even better comes along.

Daisy & Ben went to the dentist. He had another cleaning (loves the dentist!) and it was her first visit. Her's was basically a chair ride, didn't want to open her mouth LOL! But as long as she isn't afraid, and we have no concerns, who cares!


Daisy turned TWO! What a big girl she is. We had a great party, rainbow themed! The cake was made by moi (YUMMY!) but was an experience to make. Tried to make fancy frosting, measured wrong, burnt out my mixer.. fail! Cool Whip & vanilla pudding to the rescue :) AND she is now in a big girl bed! She had mastered the art of climbing out, so, it was time. She is doing great in it.. so proud of her! Next up - potty training!

Her snazzy PINK run bike!

This one kills me.. I am making a fabric cover for her helmet (a kitty!).
Right now it looks like a piggy :P

Ben was very happy to get back to pre-school after the two week Spring Break. Tomorrow he gets to go on a field trip (with daddy!) to the fish hatchery. He is also going to be starting more swimming lessons next month.



Jack is sure changing! Near rolling to his side, reaching & grabbing for toys, passing from one hand to the other, teething (oh the drool!) and VERY strong. He just had his 4 month shots, took them like a champ (of course!), had the look-over at the doctor. He is a *tiny* guy! So much smaller than the other kids, like, 25th percentile! Daisy & Ben have always been at least 75th or higher, so it's different. Apart from his prolific spitting up, I'm not terribly worried, and the doctor isn't concerned as he is growing, just not as quick as the others/the"norm". His head circumference on the other hand is in the 90's, so it's all going to his brain lol! As a comparison, at this age, Ben was five pounds heavier than Jack, who is just 12.5 pounds right now. I guess he's the runt :) I'll start him on rice cereal in a few weeks I think, see if that gets him growing!




We had a great Easter. Mom & Dad were still here, and Mike's brother brought Granny (GG) out for the weekend as well. We even did a family photo outside!

The Merriman gang!


I soooo wish he was smiling here.. oh well!

Cheese!

Mom made her this fab little dress, using fabric that was from her mom (GG),
so it was probably intended to be used for her or her sister when they were little!