I'm back

Well, we have moved into our new house now. We looooove it! But we are definitely still in the middle of chaos. We got hooked up to the internet yesterday so now I can give the answer to the little quiz in the previous post. The Schulzes were right... Kid A is Aiden, Kid B is Hannah and Kid C is Kiera.
Today we are having an at home day while the girls recover from colds. It seems that when it rains it pours! The day after we moved Kiera hurt her foot (fortunately it doesn't seem to be badly hurt and she is able to walk on it again), Hannah got a cold, and we found out that Aiden needs to go for an ultrasound for a "clicky hip". I can't really complain though. We have a very good baby who sleeps well at night and eats very well. The girls are adjusting well to their new brother. He is like a celebrity around here with his fan club stopping by every now and then to give him a kiss and a hug. Hannah is very excited about the new house, where she gets her own room again. Someone asked her the other day if she misses the old house and she answered "NO" without any hesitation. Kiera has been a bit stressed with all the changes and her limited understanding of what it all means. She has started stuttering the past few weeks and is frustrated with herself for that. She has really tried to be brave in all of it though and reassures me "Mommy I'm happy!" We love our new neighbourhood. Within hours we had met three of our neighbours and they have been incredibly welcoming. The previous owners had left us a huge pile of garbage and the neighbours were practically racing to see who would take it to the dump for us. Apparently the previous people were not a good fit in the neighbourhood with their teenaged kids. And everyone was very excited to see that I was pregnant when we came to look at the place a few months ago. There is another newborn baby next door and Hannah has begun making friends with the kids across the lane. Such a change from our last neighbourhood. We are also enjoying the quiet, being away from MacLure Rd, and Hannah has loved the empty streets for riding her new bike on.

Who's who?

Looking at Aiden the other day I realized how similar our kids look in the newborn stage. I love the side profile shots, maybe because that's what I see the most while I am feeding them. Can you tell which kid is which? Kid A

Kid B

Kid C

Welcome Aiden Tys!!

Aiden was born July 28th at 5:25pm. He weighed 9lbs8oz. He is healthy and sweet. And so far a very good eater and sleeper! We had been praying for that especially since the third never gets as much attention as a first or second born. Also we are moving next week so we have lots to keep us busy right now.

Proud big sisters!

Our kids!

Hannah (almost 4), Kiera (2) and Baby (one day overdue)

Happy Canada Day!

At the Parade...Cousins!!!Me and Mandy and MandyMatthew making sure that Kiera gets her share of the candy. What a great cousin!No lack of sugar here!Or here! Savouring every last drop...This was July 15th, about 39 weeks pregnant. My silly girl! She loves to play computer games and wanted a picture with the egg she had created.

Strawberry Picking and other random stuff...

We're moving! Three weeks after the baby is due! Our place sold, finally, and we found a house that we are really excited about, so now the real work begins.

Father's day :)

Tea party with ice cream treats at GG's (Great Grandma's)

Strawberry picking.

Once she realized she could just eat them, we didn't get much more help from her :)

At 36 weeks I had a hard time bending down, but I wasn't the only one. There must have been at least five other pregnant women there that day.

"I A BIG GIRL!" Kiera turns two!

Kiera Counting

Kiera can count to ten! The only problem is she gets to ten and says two instead which usually starts her all over again. It's like the song that never ends.

Adventures in May

I took lots of pictures in May so I'll try to catch you up with what's been going on without overwhelming you. May always turns out to be a busy month for some reason. But at least it is also a fun month, with Mother's day and our anniversary in the middle of it. For mother's day we had a picnic at Aldergrove lake with my mom and grandma and then a picnic at Jason's aunt and uncle's place with his whole side of the family. Hannah was very excited about all these picnics and the weather held out just long enough for us to really enjoy ourselves. After the picnic at Aunt Carolyn's Hannah was talking about "cavity" and it took me a while to figure out that she was talking about Cassidy their dog. =) I forgot my camera though so I don't have pictures to post of the second picnic. My girls took me out for breakfast on Sunday before church as my celebration. I also got to join Hannah at preschool for a Mother's Day tea, where the kids sang for us and we got our nails done by the kids.
Our anniversary was on the 15th. This year was number five for us. We got away for a couple of nights to Seattle while the girls spent one night with each of their grandparents. They did really well apparently and now every time we go over to either place Hannah is very disappointed that she doesn't get to sleep there. Jason and I packed as much as we could into our time in Seattle, at least as much as a pregnant woman can handle. We stayed at a hotel in historic Pioneer Square about 9 blocks from Pike Street market. We discovered on the second day that buses are free in the downtown area so we were very happy to not walk those 9 blocks uphill again! We went on a harbour cruise the first day which was informative but a bit too choppy for me at times. We took the underground tour the second day and I think this was the highlight of the trip for us. We learned a lot of interesting and crazy facts about Seattle and the tour guide was quite funny. I was worried about what it would be like but when I saw that I wasn't the only pregnant woman there I guessed it would be okay.
Of course we had to spend some time shopping at pike street market too, where we bought some of the amazing tulips and a bit of fruit. I got a grapple, which is an apple that has been infused with grape juice. It is an apple that tastes like a grape. Interesting. As we always like to do, we tried to find food we don't usually get to eat at home. Of course I had to get my fill of pad thai. We also had fish and chips on the waterfront, real authentic american bbq (not a vegetable in the place), some russian pastry things at the market, mexican, and some authentic italian food at a restaurant where they had the same plates I grew up with (that picture is thrown in there for you mom!)
Since we have a membership at the Vancouver zoo we get into the Seattle zoo for free so we had to give that a shot. Much to our disappointment they didn't have any bikes or a train like our zoo (we were both in pain from too much walking all weekend) but it is such a great zoo inspite of that. The animals are easy to see and they seem to really be active and noisy. We have found that it is hard to actually see the animals at our zoo since they usually are tucked away somewhere.
So that was our weekend away. When we got back we still had time to spend a few days with the kids before the long weekend was over so we went to the zoo again. The kids usually just want to ride the train and play at the playground. The animals are more intersting to us at this point. We couldn't get on the train once so we decided to try out the bikes. It was hard work for mom and dad but we really liked it.
So here are some pictures of the month:

Two days till the end of tax time!!!

Tax time (technically March and April but it spills over into Feb and May too) is always a very busy and stressful time for us but this year we took on a few more things too. We found a house that we really wanted to buy so we decided to list our townhouse. Since then the house we wanted sold to someone else but we still really feel like we would like to move. Our place has two bedrooms up and one down, which doesn't work as well with three small children. We had made the living room into a bedroom for Hannah but we were never really comfortable with her being in the front room with such a big window and easy access for burglars, not to mention her love of standing in the window at night for everyone to see. Anyway, we changed it back into a living room, taking the door out of the archway and painting over the pink walls. So now we feel like we have committed to making this move to a house with three bedrooms upstairs, hopefully before we have the third child. With this change came a lot of other changes. The girls moved into the same room and have had a hard time adjusting to sleeping together. They kept each other awake for hours the first few weeks and are just now slowly adjusting. That has meant very tired girls and frustrated parents. Hannah also has nowhere to spend her "quiet time" in the afternoons so she is more tired than ever (she used to nap occasionally when she had her own room). I have also been adjusting to not having as much downtime either.

We haven't had any offers on the house yet but we have had a lot of showings, average of one every other day until this last week. As good as that is, it has been tiring trying to keep the house clean and packing up the kids at inconvenient times to get out of the house.

...BUT...

On a good note, there are only two more days till tax time officially ends and Jason can slow down a bit. He has been especially busy this tax time, working sometimes 17 hours a day and almost every day into the wee hours of the morning. He is living on so little sleep. His girls have been missing him but we have still tried to do some fun things when we have time. We went to the zoo the other day and bought a year long membership. Such a great thing to live so close. The girls loved the train and the playground there. Next time we will stay a bit longer and actually see some animals. :) In May Jason and I are planning a little get away for our fifth anniversary. We are going to Seattle for a couple days of relaxation and sightseeing. Any thoughts on fun things to do there when you're huge with baby?

Speaking of baby... he seems to be doing well, as far as I can tell. We found out that it is a boy (of course they can be wrong, so we take that with a grain of salt). I was expecting to find out it was a girl since that is what we are used to and I had heard somewhere that the chances of having the other when you already have two of the same goes down considerably. BUT we are very excited about this news. We have a name picked out but we aren't telling until after he is born. I have been feeling pretty good, just some varicose vein problems that are aggravating and a bit of heartburn, but not much to complain about at this point.

Here are some pictures of the last little bit:

Sisters! Sometimes they actually get along quite well!

The girls sometimes ask to be wrapped like little babies. Funny kids. Fun with the laundry basket. Who needs toys?Easter: decorating eggs... Hannah has been learning a lot about God lately. She got a Bible called the Beginner's Bible for Christmas which speaks right at her level and has been amazing for her. It is her favourite book and she and Daddy have read all the way through it. She is learning a lot at Sunday School and Preschool too. Even though she says her favourite parts of Easter were the egg hunt and decorating eggs, it was still a more meaningful time for her than previous holidays as her understanding grows.Ready to get messy!!!To add to the busyness Hannah started Ballet classes last week. She is pretty shy so it seems like she isn't having much fun and only participates as much as necessary, but after class she shows her excitement and wants to show off everything she learned to anyone who will watch. She impresses me how willing she is to participate in activities and preschool in spite of her shyness. I hope that doesn't change.Doing a plie. (I don't know how to spell that)

Playing in the hail

Hannah can "read"!

Hannah loves to read to her little sister. Unfortunately Kiera doesn't always stay sitting.

Ready for winter

Daddy is our hero!

Watching Jason install the new faucet.

Why moms should never go to the bathroom...