Trip to Mountain Grove + a Magic bbq

Friday was Casey's birthday so we braved our first road trip with the three kids to visit our Mountain Grove family. We've had portable dvd players in the past but had gone a few years without. Now that Caleb and Liana are stuck right beside each other in the backseat they tend to bicker so we invested in a new one. Even picked up Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo. The car ride went relatively well; Evelyn cried just a little when we were approaching Mountain Grove (hungry) and Caleb cried a little when we were approaching home (sleepy). Evelyn slept most of the time which was actually great for being passed around and held by the many family members meeting her that day. I find it funny how she needed zero to two blankets depending on who was holding her!

Aunt Casey: one blanket

Aunt Tina: one blanket

Kathy: one blanket

Grandma: no blanket

Aunt Karen: two blankets (she was pressured into it)

Great grandma: one blanket

Aunt Doreen: one blanket

Grandpa: no blanket

Here's a picture of Evelyn in an oversized shirt Casey gifted her before her birth, in honour of her aunt's birthday:

Sunday we had friends over for Magic: the Gathering (Darcy's retro Cube draft to be exact!). I placed third - not bad considering I hadn't played in over a month! Liana babysat Evelyn while we played. She earned her $5 an hour, especially since Evelyn had a diaper incident that involved both my daughters changing their outfits.

After the gaming we hosted a little bbq by the pool for players and their families. Evelyn even had her first dip in the pool. All photos courtesy of Liana.

Drying off Evelyn after her swim with dad

 

Raman playing catch the baby

Caleb showing off on the diving board

Nathan being a rock star

Evelyn's funny face

Milkmaid

The last few days have been mostly about me trying to fatten up Evelyn. She has an appointment to be weighed on Tuesday and until then I'm supposed to feed her as frequently as possible and pump a few times a day. I'm also chugging Milkmaid Tea and popping Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle pills - six teas and 19 pills throughout the day, to be exact. The few recent moments that weren't about nursing were spent doing chores, cooking, a visit from Laura and a shopping and Starbucks outing with Dadirac.

Evelyn's three weeks old today. I went a little nuts with the picture taking this evening. Here are some of the many taken.

A wedding, lack of sleep, and a baby checkup

Last Saturday grandma and grandpa came down to babysit Evie's while Darcy and I went to friends' wedding. The ceremony took place at From This Day Forward, a cute little venue located downtown (intimate setting, the prettiest crystal-looking chairs, and soothingly cool temperature!). After the ceremony we walked over to the Museum of Nature for some group photos, and then came back home to happily find a hungry baby (was hoping to nurse her before returning to the festivities). The dinner was a five-course meal at Vetta Osteria, which we'd somehow never noticed despite being located across the street from the Comic Book Shoppe, the store we visit the most (if we exclude grocery stores). We arrived home shortly after 9pm and Evelyn was apparently good while we were away.

At Vetta Osteria for the wedding dinner. 

Sunday early morning Debby took care of Evelyn for a few hours when she awoke which allowed for extra (blissful) sleep. Evelyn's sleep has no pattern yet. For awhile she was sleeping 3-4 hour stretches but recently it's become 1-2.5 hours, which is way harder considering it takes 30-60mins to feed, change and put her back to sleep every time. Apparently this is normal as babies spend more time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is thought to be necessary for the extraordinary development happening in their brain. REM sleep is lighter than non-REM sleep, and more easily disrupted. So every time she wakes up during the night we'll try to keep in mind it's required for her brain development.

Since I moved out of my parents' place I visit them every Sunday afternoon for lunch. My mom's been outraged that we've bailed the last few weeks - the first Sunday Evie was only a few days old and the second one conflicted with a birthday party - anyway, she was thrilled to have Evelyn over. We dressed her in some of her fancier clothes for the occasion.

The beginning of dressing in fancy Sunday clothes for lunch. Darcy and Evie don't look impressed...

Darcy's had been off work for two and a half weeks but returned today. I survived the day with the three kids and even managed to do laundry, cook meals and write this post thanks solely to Liana volunteering (insisting even!) on watching Evelyn. Liana even changed the baby's diaper and got her dressed today: super sister!

Caleb helping prepare dinner

Sisterly love

Girlie outfit Liana picked out for Evie

This afternoon I took Evelyn to a follow-up  appointment with the midwife. She was a little concerned with the slowness of Evelyn's weight gain. Weighing in at 9 lbs today means she hasn't yet regained her birth weight but that she's close. All those visitors that called her a huge giant baby might have given her a complex. It was suggested I pump a few times a day after feedings but I think I'll also pick up some blessed thistle and fenugreek for good measure. Caleb also had his first swimming lesson ("swimming level 1") at Bob MacQuarrie this afternoon. His cousin Eddie is in his class so it's some nice bonding time for them.

I rejoined Sparks People today. I've had good luck with the weight loss software in the past. I like its simplicity; it basically just does the math for you re calories in and energy out. I've lost the pregnancy weight already but still carry a scary amount of pounds picked up these last five years I'm striving to shed.

Gratuitous baby pic #1

Gratuitous baby pic #2

Gratuitous baby pic #3

Gratuitous baby pic #4

Visit from Timmins family + Outing with all of my children

Ryan, Tina, Travis and Grace came to visit for a few days to meet their new niece/cousin. The weather was nice so we got to make use of the pool. Liana was excited to have Grace sleep over in her room but alas Grace passed out in the basement while watching the original Power Rangers series. Evelyn was pretty good and had some good cuddles and naps on her aunt and uncle. In the evening I had a nice long walk with Tina and afterwards all of us adults watched Super 8.

Meeting aunt Tina

Bright-eyed baby

Caleb loving having someone's full attention to talk Pokemon

Comfy on uncle Ryan

Caleb teaching Grace to play Nickelodeon Fit

Travis played every instrument we own (and tuned most of them!)

Last night we had a visit from France and Audrey who also dropped off a bag of hand-me-downs for Evelyn. Evelyn turned two weeks yesterday but is already wearing size 3 months so yay for extra clothes. Liana was very helpful yesterday: she made dinner and volunteered to hold the baby while I did laundry and had a bath.

My little chef

Baby holding while rewatching the XxxHolic series

Several friends of ours are expecting, and yesterday the first of these babies was born since Evelyn. Evelyn's soon-to-be friend Isaac was delivered by his daddy on the way to the hospital on the passenger's seat of their car! The ambulance arrived five minutes later. Weighing 9.14lbs this little guy is bigger than our big baby. Looking forward to getting the babies together and hearing the details of the exciting birth.

Caleb's been acting clingy and starved for attention since we brought the baby home so I try to have a little something for him to do every day. He started guitar lessons this week and starts swim lessons next week. Unfortunately, most of his little friends are in summer camps during weekdays. I wanted to take advantage of Lucien having the week off so we made plans to meet Lucien and Becka and the Canterbury outdoor pool. I tried hard to be on time but failed. Evelyn woke up more often than usual overnight, Liana requested vegan pancakes for breakfast, I had to figure out how to fold and unfold the stroller and had to feed to baby before heading out. We were a bit late. When leaving the park Evelyn overfilled her diaper so I got to change her in the car, the car didn't start the first two times I tried to start it (of course, both Liana and I forgot our cell phones at home), and I went on autopilot home instead of heading west to drop the older kids at their dad's. So all in all we were out three hours to spend about 45 minutes at a park. Going to have to work on packing up in advance and paying more attention to where I'm going...

It was worth it, though! Happy kids.

Buddies. Bonus is when you're friends with your kids'
friends' moms - makes busy parks much more tolerable.

Evelyn's first time at the park. She has no clue she was ever there.

Long weekend party baby

Evelyn received her very first birthday party invitation, for her cousin Ruben's fourth birthday, when we got home from the hospital. The party took place Sunday afternoon and it was an excuse to dress Evie up in one of her many dresses.

Heading out to Gena's

What Evie did for most of the birthday party

Sunday was also our first wedding anniversary and the first time we left Evie alone. She was in (a lot) of good hands: gramma Debby, aunt Casey, big sister and cousin Grace. We were gone for about 2.5 hours for a delicious dinner at Beckta Dining & Wine and the baby was apparently well behaved.

First date night since baby (my dresses fit again!)

Evelyn with Grandma

Grace meeting her baby cousin

Cuddles from Aunt Casey

Liana having fun with Grace

Yesterday was Canada Day. My favourite place to celebrate Canada Day is Petrie Island. Considered going for a little while this year, for the magic show and Little Ray's Reptiles, but driving, parking and walking would be about a half hour each way and I feel like Evie would be done after one to two hours, so decided it wasn't worth it. Liana was downtown for a bbq at a friend's for the afternoon, and the rest of us vegged around the house. Darcy and I figured out how to play Eclipse (our mutual anniversary gift: paper theme!), I've been figuring out the fancy camera Casey loaned me, Caleb watched some Power Rangers, went for a swim, and created a game, and Evelyn slept for most of the day. I also started on some postpartum exercises, with Caleb as my coach counting reps and Dex trying to lick my face. And we went for a brisk hour long nighttime walk in hopes of seeing the Petrie Island fireworks from the river near our place but no luck.

Liana tending to her multi-variety kale garden before heading out to her bbq

She makes the BEST dehydrated kale chips

For Darcy: a pictures of Evelyn in which she's not all chub cheeks!

Evie's H&M Canada Day dress

Caleb showing the robot craft he made in the morning

The game Caleb made up for us to play. Apparently we tied.

Eclipse: our first time playing a boardgame while simultaneously holding and nursing an infant!