I think out of the entire family it is ME whose sleep schedule is out of  whack! Last night I could not fall asleep until past 3am… and was not up until noon… luckily I had things left out for the kids so Ken could manage without me and Echo. In fact the kids were very excited about this one – making bracelets! And Ken of course remembered to take pictures!

Busy Beaders (Gavin green)

Trinity is still very off her schedule and sleeping in in the mornings. So we are slowly working her back to up by 8/9 to nap by 11. The weather has become favourable so I sent the twins out during nap time to collect the “bad apples” off the tree closest to the house. It is sad as it produces TONS but we can’t find any use for them and if they are left they rot so quickly. It has been 3 days+ since they have done this chore so today there was more whining than usual. BUT the good tree has been producing too and I now have BAGS of apples waiting for the slow cooker and applesauce. Definitely one of my summer goals – to refill our freezer with applesauce to hold us  through winter. I am definitely going to miss the tree and the raspberries when we move in the spring.

Apple collecting (Gavin red)

Last night I finished ALL my thank you cards for post baby gifts… now to fill them out and get envelopes ready. But it felt good to finish it all in one go. One less thing on the list and now I can start thinking about the BAPTISM invites. Although we are thinking of having that around early October. My mom is in the middle of making the baptism gown so there is no rush – and Karyn is gone to Scotland until the 10th of September (lucky girl!).

I am actually feeling rather good about Echo’s stocking. I have managed to get a lot of the bits and pieces completed that do not include metallic threads and am hoping to see at least one of the figures done by the weekend. This is my 5th time stitching this particular pattern (and last). Once I get ahead on my projects and wish list I am going to start a stocking for Ken – just not THIS pattern!

Stocking to date

Of course heading out to get thread was the perfect chance to attempt a picture of ALL 5 kids in front of our “picture taking tree.” It is hard to get them all to behave but in my mind a picture with all of them in it smiling or not is a win.

All 5 together (Zander purple)

We are still waiting on our time for Friday’s 2 week appointment. It is hard to get in to see a paediatrician here in the city. Well at least ones we are ok with seeing. The doctor who saw Echo at the hospital was rude and the other doctor who was on call before that was the one that we absolutely HATED when dealing with him and Trinity. He refused to listen and acknowledge that breastfeeding was a good idea or that we had more than just the one child. It is hard to believe we are creeping up on 2 weeks with this sweet little baby in our lives, the time has just flown by.

Sleepy

I have also heard back from my commission that she received her piece and was happy with it! This is not one I will have up for sale or free download but I am definitely proud of it!! We based it on the two badges that they used for the missions and went from there.

NASA commission

We played around with some photo taking tonight… not too much as Echo was resistant to more than a couple poses. I think we have to wait until very late in the evening when she is REALLY relaxed to do our last few ideas for the newborn photos. I am still not sure what I will use as our announcement/wall photo for her…

One of the poses

Life is feeling rather close to home right now. Our days are filled with excited kids who are slowly coming back down from all the crazy that has gone on, and our brand new baby… Ken doing what he can when he can and myself just getting back the energy I had before I got pregnant. It feels… fulfilling!

Busy on his bike

Well our week of “normal” (or as close as we get to it) has begun and slowly for me and Echo… we slept in… until past noon! Much needed sleep – although broken up every 2 hours for feedings, the added sleep helped. There is something so relaxing about snuggling with  newborn baby! And today she got her very first at home bath! Her umbilical fell off yesterday (yay!) so we are good to go to have our bath. Mini milestones.

Bath with a helper

The weather is STILL not co-operating for us  to head over to the legislature and do the fountain thing. I am going day by day watching the weather as I REALLY want to take all the kids over there just once this year. Then that leaves the conservatory to go and take pictures at (one of my favourite things to do) and then the zoo… I do love going out with Echo, she is very relaxed in her carseat and carrying around a tiny baby like her when she is done with the seat is simple. We still want to take the boys to see the dinosaurs at Tyrell Museum before too far in the fall AND go the 3 hours to see a friend who relocated to Alberta from Ontario. But there is still Ken and his schedule to work around and the busier HE gets the better for US!

My goal for this week is to get us settled so that when we do focus on our schooling the boys have a bit of autonomy. I can’t stand over them as much as I did before Echo was born and right now am concerned about getting them solid with their numbers and letters… Gavin is already showing interest in reading (I need to get my hands on the Bob Books 2nd box in the series) and Zander is doing terrific with his simple addition. Subtraction has me a bit worried but I have found some hands on rods that will help with that – if I can get the funding set up ASAP. I am rather excited about the idea of being “official”… big step for us!

Oh we did do one of our mini milestone activities last week – we stamped Echo’s feet and then embossed them. Lilac powder I had bought for a project with Trinity previously worked perfectly. They are so tiny! When she gets a little bigger I plan on doing her hands as well.

Some of the footprints

A bit late but we did manage a trip out to Michaels to shop for my belated birthday gift… coupons in hand I even managed to get a lovely paper pack for 50% off… so I got the paper pack, a matching solids, ribbon for thank you cards, adhesive (refill YAY) and two Perler bead tweezers (Trinity broke a pair way back when). This has left me with 20.00 to either get myself a little treat later OR put towards the camera fund  (which is an even BIGGER treat in my mind!).

Paper pack

Sadly because we could not set off until late the local thread store was already closed for the day. This means no metallics for me tonight, but hopefully we will make it tomorrow. Apparently I don’t only need this particular thread for the mini project but also for Echo’s stocking. Figures. I have been doing as much as I can on her stocking lately with the hopes of getting it mostly done by the end of the month. I am down to the time consuming bits.

I finished a couple of scrapbooking projects last night… the first page for Echo’s book…

Echo

and an 8×10 piece I am going to hang on the wall in Trinity’s room… this was a fun one, using the shimmery metallic paper and then a picture I just had laying around. Nothing fancy but cute enough to go on the wall. Now if I can make the decision as to which of my more artistic maternity shots I am going to use in my special album I can get started on that project. I am really excited about it!

Trinity

So now to get going again on the scrapbooking… between feedings of course!

Sisters

Well Echo is now just over a week old (as of Friday) and an absolute dream of a baby. We have yet to have more than a day or so of calm, visitor free time so the kids have definitely not settled into a routine that includes having a new baby. That is what THIS upcoming week is for, figuring out what preparation is needed homeschool wise to have the kids occupied during the times Echo needs me and finding enjoyable and QUIET occupations for those nap times that occur.

1 week old pre editing

Nana and Baba’s visit coincided with over 200 fires in BC which meant for MOST of the time we were kept rather close to home to avoid the smoke hanging over the city and much of the province. Nana is an asthmatic and we didn’t want to have Trinity running around when the smoke was at its thickest or Echo breathing in too much. So Thursday was spent indoors for the kids – playing Legos and watching tv and such with Nana and Baba. Ken, Echo and I ran out to do some minor shopping. I managed to get myself a pair of I guess yoga pants from Walmart (17.00) and some needed baby items. It is always nice to get out and about WITHOUT the bulk of the family. The smoke was absolutely horrible, when you went into stores it followed you in and everything was covered in a smog coloured haze.

Nana and Baba and the grandkids (Gavin yellow)

Thankfully by Friday the air had cleared enough for a family outing. We packed everyone up and headed off to the local Fort and for the first time ever actually SAW THE FORT! With the smoke and it being a week day it really was not that busy. So we started our adventure on the train!

Echo's first train ride

This took us straight to the oldest era at the park and the trading fort. We stuck around for the walk-through and then spent a nice portion of our visit checking out the fort and surrounding buildings. Ken found tons of photo opportunities and the boys and Trinity got excited about EVERYTHING.

Exploring the fort (Gavin yellow)

After the fort we went on through the eras until we hit a place to buy snacks and then the exit. After 2 hours there we were all ready to head off to home… with a quick stop off at T&T to show Nana and Baba what the boys term the “Chinese store.” Dragon fruit was purchased and we headed back home to enjoy our evening.

Exploring the tent/temporary homes (Zander blue)

Saturday began with an increase in smoke once again which had us grounded to the house until the late afternoon when we ventured out to the nearby park for an hour or so of play. Trinity was instantly shoeless and running around… Emanuel and Nana spent most of their time building sandcastles with the bucket and shovel that happened to be left in the van from our visit to mom’s cabin.

Little barefoot lady

Sandcastles at the park

Ken and I took Echo after all the fun was had at the park and got Ken a much needed haircut. It is always a bit of a treat to get to go out without all the kids! Add to that a shaved face and life is good.

Clean cut

Today we said good bye to Nana and Baba as they headed back to Minnesota. It was definitely a good visit and the kids had a blast with their grandparents. We are all looking forward to some down time now. Monday will be our first day of really being a family of 7 and working on a routine that will work. There is still Echo’s 2 week appointment to schedule… gotta love busy doctor’s offices who keep PUTTING YOU OFF! But Ken is determined.

I have to do some shopping again tomorrow – drawers for the gifts Nana and Baba brought the kids – SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

School supplies! (Gavin left)

I also get to pick out a belated birthday present from Ken’s folks… so MICHAELS for the win! And the thread store to pick up one skein of metallic floss for a gift for a friend’s mom (I HATE running out). In fact Ken’s folks showed up with a bag if threads for me – apparently Jo-Ann’s had a sale… so now I have to go through all of those (DMC) and sort. What a great gift! (and aida cloth too!) Should be fun.

Today was a special dinner for our family – Chris and Chris came over and made us lasagne! Talk about yummy! AND we got in a nice visit… so win win.

Nom nom nom

Now with all the kids (except Echo of course) in bed at a decent time my evening is free… I am hoping to get a scrapbook page done for Echo and maybe the 8×10 wall hanging for  Trinity’s room – bunny theme I am thinking… but other than that – veg!

A week and a couple days post baby