Happy Valentine's Day

Aren't the two little "Sweet Hearts" adorable in their matching Valentine PJs? These PJs were a gift to my girls from our wonderful friend Lynda! Can you believe that Robynn's are a size 6 and Natasha's are 6 - 12 months!!! Oh my goodness how big my two girls are already!

Robynn is telling you "I Love You" in sign.

Kinder treats for Valentine's morning - what fun!

Joelle introduced Robynn to Fancy Nancy, and now Robynn just loves her.

For Valentine's the girls each received two books - the best presents of all...

In keeping with trying to do a weekly family event, Russ and I bundled up our Angels and took them for a walk to the Pitt Meadows Airport. We had such a good time; we didn't want to go home, so we continued on up to Bonson Park to spend some more family time. What an awesome day!

Chocolate from the wine lady!

Jessica came over after my surgery to entertain my eldest daugter. Jess was just awesome! She picked Robynn up from preschool on Tuesday, made her one of her favourite lunches: calamata olives - with the pits removed, smoked applewood chedder - but only the parts with the red stuff on it, crackers, and grapes! Now what 4 year old wouldn't be thrilled with that kind of lunch? I have a strange kid... Then the two of them went swimming for TWO hours!

Of course, Jessica had pre-made dinner. So Robynn and Jess sat down to yummy homemade cannelloni with salad and garlic cheese bread (I had a sippy cup of broth!), and for dessert there was the best smelling apple crisp with vanilla ice cream! No, I wasn't jealous... Because Russ wasn't home that night, Jess stayed and read to Robynn and tucked her in. Awww...

The next morning, Auntie Jessica was back just after breakfast and was conned into playing a game of Simpsons Chess (I got this game for Russ when we were dating - Robynn loves the characters!), then they were off to Jungle Jacs! Jess stayed there playing with Robynn for FOUR hours!

When they came home, since Natasha and I were sleeping, Jess set Robynn up with her laptop and The Little Mermaid. Robynn was so lucky she even got to watch Peter Pan afterwards too!

Daddy came home during the movie marathon and, having not seen his 4-year old in over a day, asked her what she'd been up to. Her reply had nothing to do with the pool, Jungle Jacs, the yummy food, the games, the movies.... No, my daughter said, "I got a chocolate from the lady at the wine store!" Oh my goodness did we laugh!!! Apparently, after shopping for some groceries that day, Jessica took Robynn into the BC Liquor store to buy a bottle of wine for dinner. Robynn was given a chocolate to celebrate dry grad. This is what she remembers most fondly of her two days with Auntie Jessica! You know, it's kind of fitting...

Notice how everyone else gets REAL plates and cutlery! I get a sippy cup and a zip n squeeze bag!

Thank you so much Auntie Jessica!!!

Playdate with Matt & Michael

On February 5th, Robynn and I got together with Leah, Matthew and Michael at the kid's favourite restaruant - McDonald's! They like to play in the play place, between eating their little bites of lunch, and Leah and I like chatting! But this day we just didn't feel like staying in, so we packed up all of the wee ones and headed off to Blakeburn Park. It was so nice to get out in the crisp Spring air.

Michael hamming it up for the camera.

Apparently, ham was in order for the day!

This one makes me laugh...

Robynn was trying to be silly, and she accidentally dropped her gum!

Oh, I didn't hear the end of it...

Family Time at the PoCo Arena

Russ and I have noticed how much better our family functions when we actually work at spending quality family time together - I know that it sounds like a no brainer, but really, sometimes things need to hit you in the head before you can figure them out! So, on February 7th, Russ and I took Robynn and Natasha skating. We tried to go the the Maple Ridge Planet Ice, but it was closed for a tournament. Instead, we travelled all the way to the PoCo arena for some family fun. Actually, it was a blast!

The arena was free that day, because they were celebrating Power Smart, so Robynn even got cool trinkets for answering some Power Smart questions.

We were able to bring Natasha in her stroller onto the ice, so technically, this is her first ice skating day!

Robynn has been taking lessons through the fall. She's getting better, but since Christmas she's switched to figure skates. We had her learning in hockey skates, but I guess they just weren't pretty enough. She asked for the figure skates herself.

Funtastic Family Night at Hyde Creek

I really got to break in my new little PINK Olympus - it's waterproof up to 6 feet! - when we went to Hyde Creek for a family night. I've really been meaning to take Robynn swimming, but with breastfeeding Natasha, that just wasn't really an option. Well, since we had to try out a bottle before my surgery anyway, Russ kept Natasha on the pool deck, and I took Robynn swimming.

Robynn and I had a blast! We played in the pool, went down the little slide, and when the BIG slide opened up, we went down that one over and over again!

Here is some video - yup in the water - of Robynn going down the little slide. She's wearing a life jacket, because this pool is a little deep.

Okay, this video is only for the less squeamish. I gave Robynn the camera to take with her down the BIG slide. It goes underwater for a bit at the end, and it looks spooky. Really, Robynn was just fine, the water was only 6 inches deep, and I was there right away. She's actually screaming with joy!

Wee College Super Star!

Wee College is such a fun time for Robynn. She goes every Monday morning, and learns all about her Bible! She has fun projects, songs, memory verses, and homework!!! Mrs. Low and Mrs. Douglas are such great teachers. I highly recommend this class for ALL of my friends' kids!

Lining up - see the banners in the back - those are all of the bible verses the children have learned!

The purpose of Wee College is to familiarize children with the Bible - here Robynn is looking up the Books of Paul - that's what today's class was all about!

Every student has the opportunity to be the Wee College Super Star! That means that their Mum or Dad comes to help the class, they bring a snack for all of their friends, and - best of all - they are the class helper for the day. Robynn has been very fortunate, and she's been the Super Star twice! She is so proud of her Super Star sticker and that she got to help out the teacher. So sweet.

Laundry Day

On February 17, Natasha celebrated a milestone - quietly. She fell asleep all on her own. No soother, no Mum, no sister, no nuthin'. Unfortunately, she fell asleep right in front of our laundry closet and the doorway to hers and Robynn's bathroom.

Natasha and Robynn bathed together, and after getting Natasha dressed, I settled her on her play mat, so that I could sort the laundry. She was perfectly situated to see and hear Big Sister and Mommy. I guess she was quite comfortable.

This little sleep time (it lasted about an hour or so) meant a delay in getting laundry accomplished, but it made me such a proud Mum to see my baby get to sleep by herself!

My Little Swimmer

Bath time is certainly a favourtie time around the Reid household. Robynn gets very upset whenever Natasha doesn't bathe with her, and Natasha gets EXTREMELY upset when she is removed from the bath. Maybe I should just keep them both in water... Something in the blood maybe? I always enjoyed swimming and my Dad is a sailor. Hmm.

These videos show a little of how Natasha likes to move in the water. Okay, and they show how cute she is too! The little voice in the background is Robynn of course!

Apparently, I'm hungry

... As I've been updating my blog, there has been a curiously loud rumbling going on in my belly. Could it be that strained liquids aren't doing for me? Yes, I've already lost weight - no, I don't know how much, but between getting my milk supply up again, and only being allowed blended, strained liquids, I'm a little behind on the calorie uptake!

Natasha is working her hardest to get my milk back to it's pre-surgery level. Apparently, being put under a general anaesthetic with a lowered body temperature and blood pressure rate for 5 hours kills your milk supply! I honestly didn't think I'd loose milk that quickly. Thankfully, Natasha doesn't give up. The first real day back at breastfeeding, I think she ate 30 times. We've gone down since then, and I'm taking Fenugreek to help stimulate the milk supply - it's all working, and - now if you know me, you know that I'm a worrier - I'm actually not worried about her loosing weight. It's not going to stop me from taking nasty, yucky fenugreek or letting Natasha use me as the human soother, but it does ease my mind a bit.

Well, my tummy keeps on rumbling, so I'm going to take the hint... Should I eat blended, strained mushroom soup, blended, strained curry gravy, blended, strained ... you get the idea!

More MK photos!

I must be addicted... Okay, the second photo shoot - Natasha's newborn shoot - was taken in the evening, and all three of us girls were in desperate need of a good night's sleep. Matt took pity on us, and we scheduled another shoot. This one took place in our home. Go to Matt's webpage; clients; the password is natasha2

Maybe I should do a fourth shoot with my battered up face!!!! Really, I crack me up! No - the Dr. did it! OH PLEASE STOP! ... It must be the children's Tylenol.

Memories...

Well, I'm not really going to get the opportunity to blog about all of the events that have happened in the past month or so, but I can give you a couple of images to see what we've been up to. Enjoy!

Auntie Lori meets Natasha.

The bright colours in Robynn's room make Natasha so happy. She just loves spending time in there - especially when she gets to snuggle Big Sister!


Peyton and Liam love to look at Natasha. Every week, Peyton asks to hold her too!

Lynda and I finally (at the end of January) got together to have the girls exchange Christmas presents. What fun! We went to open gym time in Port Moody, so the girls could run around while us bigger and littlest girls had some down time.

And here is a video clip of the girls trying to chase me - watch out for some vertigo...

Auntie Vivian hadn't yet met Natasha (snow and colds are to blame!), so she and cousin Grace came to visit us at Church one Sunday.

I took this picture with my new Olympus camera (it's pink!). Natasha (pre-surgery) was such a good sleeper. She was sleeping 5 - 6 hour spells every night. Here she is in her co-sleeper - borrowed from her best buddy Susanna.

Natasha's first trip out in the Chariot! She fell asleep. What do you expect?

Robynn has a awesome play friend in our town home complex. She and Sophie have a lot of fun together. Look how low the Fraser is!!!

One day, Robynn stripped herself naked and crawled into her new favourite blanket - "My Auntie Vivian made it with her own hands you know!" - she and Natasha had some cuddle time together under the blanket and housecoats - so cute!

Okay, here's my new little genius! Natasha was only six weeks old, and she was supposedly sleeping in her pack-n-play. Robynn and I were downstairs, and we hear this little tinkly noise from one of the toys in Natasha's pack-n-play. Sure enough, Natasha was entertaining herself by hitting the toy to make it give her the tinkly sound! I'm such a proud Mum!

Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy

... Basically, jaw surgery

Well, it's done. I'm moving on to home base now... This has been a three year production this spring, and I truly can't wait to have it over and done with.

Actually, right now, I'd just like to feel if the tea (very cooled down) I'm drinking is dripping off of my lower lip. I can't feel my lips, chin, or much of my lower face. This, in hindsight, is probably very good, since I'm so broken that I can feel the pain even through the numbness!

So here are the before and after shots. None of them are very attractive, but really, aside from the puffiness, I don't see the difference - maybe I should have had genioplasty as well - but that would plastic have been plastic surgery, and that's not why I got into all of this.

Why did I get into all of this??? Well, I kill teeth. Not yours, so don't worry. I have killed 3 of my own teeth. My jaw wasn't aligned correctly and/or never developed correctly. The doctor suspects some form of juvanille arthritis. That would explain all of my other joint issues... Anyway, I had a lot of jaw joint pain, TMJ, extreme sensitivity to cold... Only 2 of all of my teeth connected naturally. I had to slide my jaw to chew - this caused other issues. Basically, my mouth is/was (hopefully) a mess.

Before

After

This brace is preventing the swelling around the wound. I also wear an ice band around my face - it's very helpful with the pain as well as the swelling. Oh, in this last shot - I'm smiling!!!! Yeah, they cut your nerves a little when they do this surgery, so I don't have complete facial mobility or feeling - will the fun never stop.

Stay tuned for more adventures... Next up: Eating with your Mouth Wired Shut!

Too much to talk about

I'm feeling overwhelmed! I haven't been keeping up with my blog, and I'm so behind. I have pictures galore to show with you all... And even some video (I got a new camera - it's PINK!). I promise to post soon - and to write on all of my friends' blogs too.

Be patient with me; I'm a new (second time) Mum :)