Happy Bir-day!!

We are in Magrath right now enjoying the snow (well most of it has melted now but it is still chilly out there) for a couple of weeks.  My Mom came down on the train last week and drove back with me and the kids so we could visit for a couple of weeks.  They just got their mission call on Tuesday to the Apia, Samoa mission and will be reporting May 30 so this was our last chance to come and visit with them.  Daniel will be coming up on the train next Thursday and then we will all drive back to Portland on the following Saturday.

Benson has been having the best of times here.  He has spent time out in the shop helping Papa build a bed (every time there was a loud noise he would run and hide in the mesanine (nor sure on the spelling for that one!) until it was quiet again).  He went swimming with his Auntie Brooke after patiently enduring car troubles for a couple of hours.  He kept trying to comfort my sister's 5 month old daughter by saying "It's ok Naomi, the car just won't start.  They're trying to fix it."

Today was probably the most fun for Benson though.  Pictures will have to come at a later date.  He informed my sister that it was her 'happy bir-day'.  We made a cake for her complete with candles to blow out.  He made a 'Christmas tree' (a rocking horse and collapsible tunnel with blankets and an exercise ball on top... with an oragami star on top) to put all her presents under.  After dinner we played animal charades, sang songs, opened presents and ate cake.  He was most insistent that it was Brooke's birthday... it was really funny!

We have more fun to come so I will have to post more about our vacation in the next couple of days.  Most of Daniel's family is coming down to visit this weekend so there are bound to be more stories!

Kimber has been having a great time here as well.  She has taken on her Houdini skills again, though that is a story for another post!  She got caught up on her immunizations today and has been pretty good considering she got poked 4 times today.  I wanted to cry though as I was holding her still with tears just streaming down her chubby little cheeks.  She has officially only gained 3 and a bit pounds in the past year and 3 months.  She is now in the 90 % for weight and 75 % for height so I am just fine with this news!

I keep thinking of more to write, maybe for my own purposes of keeping records.  McKay and his cousin Naomi were weighed the other day.  They are the same length, heads are the same size and Naomi weighs 10 oz more than McKay.  Naomi is 1 month and 3 days older than McKay.  They are so cute!!

I must be off to bed.  Everybody here is trying to get me to go to bed early and it never seems to be as early as we planned on!  I got sick the day after we got here, naturally, which is why everybody is trying to herd me off to bed!  I am sure another post will be coming soon.  Hopefully there will be pictures!

Bells Palsy

So for the past couple of weeks Daniel has been dealing with Bells Palsy.  The left side of his face has been paralyzed.  I had him take these pictures/video on Sunday to share with all of you.  Sunday was a turning point for him though.  He moved his lips a tiny bit to start to smile.  Well it was more of a twitch.

Daniel has been doing really well dealing with all of this.  He has had to manually blink his left eye and was adding artificial tears to help keep his eye from drying out.  He also has taken my jokes fairly well.  I am glad he has a sense of humor!  The kids didn't seem to notice how he looked.

Something Happened Today!

 The "February Blast" made it to Portland via the "Polar Express"!

Daniel went to class as there was a late start to the day instead of the cancellations we have experienced during some past exam weeks!  We really are hoping class is canceled tomorrow.  Let me rephrase, I am hoping but Daniel is not as he has 2 patients tomorrow.

I took the kids out to play in the snow.  I know back home this is nothing but for our kids it is the best thing!

 

 Kimber bundled and ready to go.  She wasn't so sure about walking on the grass with boots and the snow!

She fell down and sat there worrying about the snow stuck on her boots and gloves.

This is how excited Benson was for the snow!  I asked him to show me how excited he was and he gave me this cheese of a smile!

Here is to hoping that we survive this "crazy" weather.  Really was it worth canceling Oprah on Tuesday for a breaking news broadcast on how to stock up and prepare for the "February Blast"?

A Little Bit of Everything!

This post has a little everything from Christmas to Valentine's Day!  I hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day yesterday!

 So this picture is pre-Christmas.  Kimber loves to walk around wearing Bens' gum boots.

 

Benson and McKay.  McKay doesn't take a soother anymore.  I am happy/sad about that.  It was really nice to just plug him up when it wasn't time to eat and he wanted to suck but now we don't have to worry about weaning him off of it now!

 

This is Bens on Christmas morning.  He asked Santa to bring him a baseball hat so Santa finally found one!  Now Mom has to stitch it back up because Bens tightened it up all the way and forced it on to his head!  He looks way too grown up in this picture!  I can't believe he is turning 4 in about 2 months.

 

 Kimber snuggles.  Have I ever mentioned how curly her hair gets when she sweats? 

I don't know what is going on here. Bens is probably watching a show but he loves sitting in his Elmo chair!

 

McKay sleeping.  I realized that I haven't been taking pictures of McKay.  This was about 1 month ago.  I need to download our cameras more often!

 

Benson got a special delivery yesterday.  His Primary teachers sent him a card sewn in some plastic with treats and toys.

  

I made a special cake yesterday and loved the look of it.  Honestly we haven't iced or eaten it yet!

 

Kimber fell asleep at the table again!  She is so cute when she konks out like this!

Benson was pretending to sleep this morning.  What a funny boy!

Christmas Catch-up!

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!  Hope we all enjoy today!

Daniel went up to Calgary this weekend to Part A of his Canadian Chiropractic Boards so it was just me and the kids here for a couple of days!  It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be.  Daniel got home yesterday morning so I didn't have to try to do church all by myself.

Since I am a little behind on posting here are a few pictures from Christmas that I haven't put up yet.

Benson playing with his Snowmen.  He loves figuring out which one goes inside the next!!

Kimber is growing up so much!  It has hit me lately what a big girl she is.  She loves singing now and will walk around with a book waving her arms around leading music.

I just love her smile!

I know... enough Kimber pictures but she really is too cute to pass up sharing!  We went to Peacock Lane while Daniel's family was here.  Kimber looked so cute bundled up while we walked the Lane seeing all the lights.

We gave the kids bunk beds for Christmas and they LOVE them!  Kimber has been awesome sleeping in her big girl bed.  She gets out and wanders sometimes but when she is ready to sleep she usually gets back in bed or at least tries.  There has been a time or two we have found her asleep part way on her bed.  She got so tired she fell asleep with her legs dangling off the bed!

Benson loves being on the top bunk!  His face just lit up when he saw the bed Christmas Eve.  Kimber hasn't tried getting on Benson's bed yet.  We have him trained to call us if she does!  The kids are also wearing their Christmas pajamas.  I couldn't resist getting them for them when I saw them.

We loved having Daniel's family here for Christmas!  It was nice to having to travel during the break and to enjoy the holidays in our home for the first time!  That also meant that I did the meal for the first time!  I had an excellent teacher (my MIL) that helped me through all the steps!

Since school has started back up we have been busy/sick.  We are looking forward to a small break (3 day weekend) next weekend.  Not much else has been going on here.

McKay is officially sleeping through the nights now so we are planning on moving him over to the crib in the kids room.  Hopefully that will be a smooth transition.  I was going to do that but realized that would mean I would have been alone in my bedroom this past weekend.  Call me chicken but I hate sleeping alone!

Hope everybody has a wonderful day!

Baby Blessing

Here's to catching up!

December 19, 2010 we blessed McKay William Bateman. Daniel's parents and brother were here and my Aunt and Uncle came up for the day for it.

Our first official family picture.

Our family with Grandma, Gramps and Jordan.

Unfortunately this was the best picture of us with my Aunt and Uncle. The kids were sick of sitting and ready to go to nursery!! Especially Kimber!

Me and McKay.

McKay wore the same outfit that Benson wore for his blessing. Somehow it was a little bit better for a spring baby! Anyhow, he looked just as precious as ever!

We wished that we could have shared this with more of our family but we are grateful that we were able to have this much family there to share in this with us. We have great friends here to also helped out with the blessing and helped us celebrate McKay's special day. Thanks so much!

That just made think about our friends. Over the past 2ish years we have watched people move in and out in our ward and from the school. I hadn't thought too much about it but this week some of the friends we are closer with started moving out. It is making school ending more of a reality. We are going to miss the friends we have made here so much! We wish the Wach's the best in their new part of life. Over the next 8 months we are going to be seeing more and more change with friends moving and us moving as well. I feel ready to leave Portland but not so ready to leave our friends. Wait, they could all move Canada right? Just come with us! I know... new place, new friends and we will have to go visit our friends so we will new places to visit! Just pick somewhere awesome because when you visit Edmonton we have West Edmonton Mall to visit!! Anyways, long sidetrack later... enjoy your weekend and stayed tuned for more!

Lost & Found

LOST: 1 cute, melodic voice. (Daniel's words)

FOUND: Stuarts voice!

If you find my voice please send it back!

On another note of finding something, Daniel must have been a good boy this year because we found a little McKay in his stocking!


Merry Christmas!