May 2016

We have been loving the warm weather this past month. We have taken full advantage of it and have been hitting of a bunch of parks, which Lincoln and Lacey love. We also have been putting the sprinkler under the trampoline to help cool them off. We love that summer is almost here.

Special Snack Day

At Lakeview School they rely on kindergarten parents to help out with the snacks each day to help things run smoothly and to keep the costs down. They have it very well organized so each student gets to have a Special Snack Day every month and a half. Lincoln looked forward to these special through out the school year. On their snack days the students are asked to provide a snack for the class and they are also welcome to bring someone with them to school that day. Lincoln was very lucky and he was able to bring mom twice, dad, Nana Harker, Nana Yamamoto and Aunt Sara. It's was so much fun spending a day in Lincoln's class with him. On your special snack day you get the opportunity to help Ms. DeJong with the calendar, the weather frog, snack time, etc. It's fun being the teachers helper.

Even though it was so hard leaving my precious child in someone else's care at the beginning of the school year! I am so glad Lincoln got the teacher he did. Mrs DeJong is just amazing and I can't say enough about her. She has made Lincoln's first year of school very memorable. Lincoln always looks forward to going to school, seeing his teacher and is always ready to learn something new. I love when Lincoln comes home from school and can't wait to tell me all about his great day he had at school. He sure loves Ms DeJong!

Lincoln's Six!

I'm not entirely sure if I deserve this little man of ours. He made me a mom six years ago and it's bee one fun adventure having Lincoln apart of our family. I feel very blessed to be a mom to this special boy of ours. He's taught us how to make life happy. That life is for laughing, being silly and having fun.

EATING • Lincoln enjoys/loves chocolate. He's our chocolate boy.

• Lincoln's favorite fruit is apples.

•Lincoln sure has a appetite lately, even though you can't tell by looking at him. He's tall and skinny like his dad. For breakfast he can eat 3-4 waffles.

• Lincoln's never been a kids who likes to sit and eat, he'd rather play, then take a bite and repeat. In other words he likes to eat on the go.

HOBBIES • being outside, reading books (by himself), hide and seak, riding his bike, playing at the park. 

TALKING • I love the long conversation we have at night while we cuddle in his bed before he falls asleep. This is when Lincoln really opens up and talks about his day, school, friends and how he feels about things. I cherish this time of the day with him.

FRUSTRATIONS • Lincoln's sister who know's just how to bug him the right way ( it's a sister thing).

• When Lincoln gets mad he likes to throw toys, hit and say unkind words. We are still learning how to say how we are feeling when he's mad instead.

MY FAVORITES • Lincoln loves his space and quite time by him self.

• That he is happy, unless he doesn't get enough sleep.
• He is super helpful. He is usually almost always willing to help me. Which I so appreciate.

•Lincoln's loves adventures and trying new things.

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I feel that motherhood has to be the most rewarding thing I've done. It's the promotion of all promotions! I have really enjoyed who I have become because of it. Our life is not perfect but it's perfect for us and I give a lot of credit to Lincoln! I love his great sense of humour he has. That he's strong willed. Determined. Kind. Snugly. He's an amazing boy! And I'm glad he's my son. Happy sixth birthday Lincoln!

Lincoln's Birthday!

Lincoln had a great birthday. We started a birthday tradition that on the eve of their birthday while the kids are sleeping we decorate the house. Lincoln woke up to the house decked out in dinosaur birthday decorations which he loved. Makes it feel like a extra special day. We started the day off with green dinosaur shaped french toast. Then after church we played with Lincoln's new toys he got for his birthday. For supper we headed to a restaurant of Lincoln's choice, he choose Fire Stone. After supper we had family come over for cake. Lincoln had a fun filled day and got spoiled.

May Long Camping

I love the tradition that on May Long weekend we go camping. It's something I remember doing growing up and it's a fun tradition to do with our kids. It seems like most May long weekends it likes to rain, we didn't let that stop us from having fun. We went camping to my Grandparent Stewart's land just south of Cardston, near Aetna and Kimball. We stayed in my dad's fifth-wheel, which was nice as it rained almost all three nights and we were camping with a baby. Josh's parents and Scott's family also joined us. It was Josh's parents first time taking their new fifth-wheel out camping. It was fun having so much family around. We didn't let the rain stop us from having fun. We layered up and spent most of the time outside. We went quading, played in the puddles, played games, enjoyed sitting around the camp fire. Lincoln also got to practise shooting pop cans filled with water, that looked like they exploded when you hit them. It amazed me how good of aim he has. Oliver was a champ the whole weekend. Can't wait to go camping more this summer.

Abigail's Two

Lincoln, Lacey and Oliver's cousin Abigail turned TWO! She invited us to the Holiday Inn Waterslides. We all had a great time.

We are so grateful that our kids have such a great relationship with Abigail. They love spending time with their cousin. Whenever Abigail's around it's a party.

Oliver's 16 Weeks

If I could go back in time, I would give myself a hug and tell myself not to fear, because I could never imagine the joy that was to come.... Oliver's a dream baby. He's always happy with a big smile. He's made me appreciate being a mom to my three kiddos, just that much more. Sometimes we get so caught up in life and how busy it is. With having Oliver join our family it's made me realize all the simple joys in life and all the things we take for granted. I wish I could slow down time, Oliver is growing so fast and I can't believe he is already 4 months. 

- Oliver still loves to hold hands when he needs to be comforted. This is something we did with him in the hospital, as we couldn't hold him when he got upset.

- Oliver is still doing great with peeing and pooping. I know this may not seem like a big thing but it is for a Spina Bifida mom. As it means that everything is working and he doesn't need a catheter.

 - Oliver loves sucking and chewing on his hands.

- Oliver also like playing with soft blankets and bringing them to his face.

- Oliver has started playing with toys and grabbing things.

-Oliver's NICU hair cut (bold spots) are finally starting to grow in.

- Oliver can hold his head up pretty good but can still be a bit wobbly when he gets tired. Due to the size of his head, it's harder for him to hold his head up then most babies.

- Oliver is on a good routine. Eats every three hours in the day with 2.5 hour feeds in the evening. Last feed at night is at 10pm followed by 8 hours of sleep. Which we all love.

- Oliver just had his second set of shots. First once were at 2 months and now his 4 month shots. Oliver didn't even flinch, whimper or cry when he got his first shots do to the lack of feeling in his legs. For his 4 month shots he flinched a bit with no crying. 
-At our last physiotherapy appointment we got some fun new exercises and starches to do. With the stretches we do, they go along with movements that baby's would morals do at Oliver's age. the main one we are focusing on doing is practising assisted rolling. Which Oliver loves to do.

Superhero Fun Run

We had the opportunity to participate in the Lakeview Superhero Fun Run for Lincoln's school! The proceeds from the event were going towards building a new playground for the elementary school and community. Registration was $20 a person which included a superhero cape (so cool) for the first 450 entries, a post-race goodie bag and a chip timed race (yep, even the 2.5K kids run was chip timed!) The 2.5K, kids event, started at 6pm so we got to the school grounds around 5:40. We met up with Nana Yamamoto, Uncle Scott, Aunt Melissa and Abigail, and took some photos before it was time to line up. They had the older children lineup at the front and the younger ones, and those pushing strollers, towards the back. They had a few announcements and then it was go time!

 The course was good. It was mostly flat and split between grass, trail and pavement. Lincoln went on ahead with Josh with Lincoln setting the pace. they'd run for a bit then walk, then run again. I found it a bit harder to push Lacey and Oliver in the Chariot on the shall trail and grass. We even having our running wheel come unatached at one point, thanks to another runner that helped us, so we were able to finish the race. By the time Lincoln was approaching the last stretch of the race, he kept saying his legs were tired. Josh told him "we can see the finish line and all the people cheering them on, we just need to run a bit farther to the finish line." Lincoln kept running, even though he was tired.  Of course, the MOMENT they crossed the finish line he had the biggest smile on his face. He completed his first race. I think it helped he got a medal (sour key candy on a string) and a bag of post-race goodies (chips, apple and granola bar!) LINCOLN'S FINAL TIME: 15.10 We munched on our candy medals and waited for the results to be posted. Lincoln found some of his friends and was off playing with them at the playground for a bit. The Superhero Fun Run was a great family activity that we all enjoyed participating in as a family.

Mother's Day 2016

 “ The highest and noblest work in this life is that of a mother.” - Russell M Nelson

I love being a mom. I feel so grateful to be a mom to these three. I'm amazed at what Heavenly Father trusts me to do.

Lincoln's picture he drew of me. 

Family Services With Disabilities

We meet with Families Services with Disabilities, to see how they can help our family. After meeting and assessing Oliver's Spina Bifida journey, we found out that we will be able to get some financial aid for our Calgary appointments. Which will be so helpful. Down the road as Oliver gets older they will be able to help with costs of wheel chairs, braces, etc. We feel very blesses to live where we do and to have access to these services.

One question they asked during the meeting was "What's our hope for Oliver?" This question made me think and is hard to answer in some ways.... I hope that Oliver is HAPPY and learns to ENJOY life even with his physical limitations. He's perfect to us just the way he is and we love the special little boy he is.

Car Show/ Weekend Away

A much needed family weekend. Since Oliver has been born, life been busy with appointments and Josh and I both working. We decided it was time to have a weekend away. We needed to spend some time as a family of five and just have some fun together.  The weekend was perfect. We headed to Calgary Saturday morning, spent some time in down town Calgary exploring. In the afternoon we went to a Car show. Josh loved it and it was fun seeing Lincoln and Lacey enjoying it too. I'm glad we can make one of Josh's hobby's into a family activity. After the Car show we stopped at my Uncle Russ's house for my Grandma Thomas Birthday party. It was great to see all the Thomas'. After a busy Saturday we went to a hotel and had some more fun. Can't go to a hotel without water slides if you have kids. We all had fun night on the water slides and stayed up too late. We had a great weekend and can't wait to do a family weekend trip again soon.

Smiley. Happy. Content.

Oliver is one smiley, happy and content baby. He's so easy to love. He almost never cries. I love when we are out and about and people comment on how happy Oliver is, and how he's such a smiley baby.  I'm glad others can he what a special little boy he is. We love our happy Oliver!

 Our smiley Oliver!

Happy Birthday Logan!

Thank you for all the great childhood memories together. Happy birthday to a person I am proud to call my brother. Have a happy and fun-filled day.