Liam is 11 Months!

Of all the monthly pictures of Liam I think this one shows the significant change over the last month.  He actually looks like a little boy rather than a baby. *sniff sniff*

I think it's the haircut.  This time we went really short (which I'm not a huge fan of so we won't be going this short again).

Liam is now walking everywhere.  He's climbing up on EVERYTHING and reaching up for things on tops of desks and counters (which makes it challenging to put things out of his reach!).

This is a VERY busy stage.  I remember this stage with Koen - the stage where I cannot sit down for half a second because my baby is either trying to scale the stairs, climb the chairs or eat anything he can find.  I remember thinking when Koen was this stage that this was the hardest stage.

It's been a busy month for us.  Eric has been working very hard and doing a ton of overtime so has spent a lot of time away from home.  He's putting in long hours, not sleeping much because they switch from nights to days and back to nights.  Back at home I have been pulling 24/7 with both kids.  One of whom is teething, the other who has a cold.  Nobody is letting me sleep for longer than 1 hour stretches.  To say we are exhausted is an understatement.  It's been a tiring month.

Taking care of the household while Eric is away is challenging with an 11 month old.  He is about 25 pounds and still needing to be carried a lot of the time.  Mowing the lawn I put him in a backpack and get it done.  It's not easy, but it's the way it goes.  The lack of sleep is the killer though.  The world seems to look so much brighter after a decent sleep. With no sleep it's hard to keep patience, especially when teething is happening and lots of crying is involved.

A long time ago I realized that I liked my "stuff" if I kept it clean.  When things were messy and disorganized I was always wanting "new" things from the store because I didn't like my things.  Once I realized that I actually wanted what I've got when it's clean it lit a fire within me to keep my house clean and organized.  This can be an Achilles heel when you're home alone for so long with 2 kids.  It's nearly impossible to do it all.  Cleaning the house with 2 toddlers is like raking leaves in a hurricane.  Trying to make supper (and then do the dishes) with a baby crying, crying, crying is very stressful.  It's not like I can say "Here! You take the baby while I do dishes!" or "Do dishes while I deal with the baby!"   So, I deal with the baby, somehow completing a balancing act with Koen in tow, and I get everybody in bed for the night.  Then I go back downstairs, finish the dishes, figure out what we need for the next day (food, clothes, etc) and fall into bed completely wiped, only to be awoken every hour all night long.  And it starts all over the next day.  I feel like I run all day long just to keep on top of things.  If I am going upstairs, I grab an armful (if the baby isn't being carried) of things that need to go up.  If I am going down, I grab a load going down.  I do laundry all the time and no - I do not sit down except for a few "moments" when the kids are in high chairs eating when I check my facebook or pinterest (which is usually no more than 10 second spurts!).

Am I overwhelmed?  This month, yes.  It's hard to do it by myself.  And I know it's hard for Eric to be away and put in those kinds of hours.  I don't like to complain because I have a great life.  I have great kids, we are healthy and there's not much more you could ask for.  But I think it's okay if I admit that I'm tired. No wait - I'm exhausted.  I am also happy that my boys are so busy and active.  Sometimes, when I feel so overwhelmed, I wonder how other people do it - without burning out.  Do other stay at home Moms have helpers?  I know of a few stay at home Moms who put their kids in daycare a couple days  a week.  Some of them have housekeepers.  Some do both.  Is it wrong to want a little help once in a while?  I have neither - daycare or housekeeper but I tell you, I sure would like to have a day or morning per week to myself to get some things done! 

Anyway, I am rambling on and on while I am still delirious from lack of sleep and Liam's 11 month post has turned into a post about motherhood instead.  It's been a wild ride on the roller coaster of baby life but I wouldn't have it any other way!  It goes by SO fast - I can hardly believe I'm already writing Liam's 11 month post!  Where does the time go??

Happy Birthday Eric!

Eric has been working a ton of overtime this last little while which means we haven't seen him much, but he was able to spend one full day at home this week and it happened to be on his birthday!  So in birthday fashion, we had to have a party! 

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Happy Birthday Eric!  I hope this is a great year!!!

Liam's Baptism

In 2009 we had Koen baptized by my Great Aunt Jennie.  At the time she was 97 years old.  This January she turned 100 years old.  That's right - she is 100 years old and just moved into a home because she had fallen and broke her hip.

This woman is amazing.  Her mind is great.  She was a school teacher for her career and then became an Anglican Priest.  She took up the fiddle at age 65.  Up until a couple years ago she used to go around to care homes and play music for the residents (she had an accompaniment on piano and someone else on another instrument I believe).  She is now in a home, where some of her former students reside as well.  Her older sister just passed away about a month ago.  She was 103.

We were blessed to have her baptize our children (she has baptized my brother's children as well) and she happened to be in the city and feeling great so we were able to get Liam baptized.  I was so happy.  It was unfortunate that Eric had to be up at work for it - but we realize that a part of his job means that he will not be able to attend every event.

Liam had a quick 5 minute nap before the big event.

I got the boys in matching outfits (I have always wanted to do this - I have a friend who gets her boys in matching outfits for family pictures and I love the way it looks!).  Getting a decent picture of the two of them together was a different story......

Liam was ready to go!

My friend Deena lent us one of her beautiful dishes that her in-laws make (they are gorgeous!!)

Aunt Jennie performed the ceremony.  My Dad did the readings, my Grandma, aunts, uncles, brother, niece and cousin attended. Liam want to get moving so I held a squirmy baby for the duration!

I love this picture.  Aunt Jennie is Liam's Great-Great Aunt.  You can see the old age in her versus the fresh age of Liam.  Liam's head is in the holy water.  I think this is a beautiful picture of a beautiful moment.  It's not very often that people have "Great-Great" relatives. 

Liam did great with the water - no tears, only just smiles for all of us looking down on him.

When we were done I put him down so he could practise his walking skills and the crowd cheered!  Yay! Liam is baptized!!

Myself, Liam, Aunt Jennie and my Dad.

My Mom, myself, Aunt Jennie, Dad & Liam 

Here are my best attempts at getting the kids picture taken together!  I sure think they are pretty cute :)

Afterwards we had a light lunch, a good visit and overall it was a great event.  Or maybe a great-great event ;)

You Never Know What You'll Get on Camera.....

What an awesome day we had today!  The kids had a fabulous afternoon playing in the backyard with their cousins.  I was snapping pictures as the kids were playing.

I turned on our bubble machine and the bigger kids went crazy trying to chase and pop all the bubbles.  It was great fun until a huge crash between Koen and his cousin at the end which resulted in a lot of tears and a few minor injuries.  Little did I know I caught the crash on camera as I was trying to snap a picture of Liam!   I had a good laugh :)

This weekend we had a playdate with my best buds and their kids.  I love it when the little boys (and girls) get together and play.  We had a great visit, good eats and most of all time to be with eachother.  Once upon a time we literally spent 24 hours a day with eachother.  We could finish eachother's sentences.  It was great to be surrounded by great friends :)  Here are some of my favourite pics from the day....

Grandma's Hip Surgery

I often ask my Grandma what it feels like to be in your 70's.  I want to know what she knows in her 70's that she didn't know in her 30's.  I want to know how I may feel when or if I reach my 70's.

Grandma will be 79 years old this year and this past week she got one side of her hip replaced.

The recovery from this surgery is incredibly painful.  Her mobility is obviously severely affected and she will have to have physiotherapy to regain mobility with the new hip.  They gave Grandma a lot of pain killers, so much in fact that she was falling asleep mid-sentence and speaking with a pretty thick tongue. She was so drugged up in fact she was asking silly questions like, "Did you bring the cattle in?" and going on trips to Japan (haha). 

She did not like being "out of it" and didn't want to be on the pain killers, but also was having terrible pain so it was sort of a lose-lose situation.  I can't imagine going through this today - let alone when I am close to 80 years old.  My heart goes out to her.

Every day she seems to be improving.  She is now sitting up in the chair and is up using a walker (although very painful!).  And although she is going through a lot, she still maintains her positive energy that she spreads to anyone who comes in contact with her.  I guess that's what I can take away from watching my Grandma go through this ordeal.  A picture of what it's like to be in my 70's.  Being positive, having a positive outlook and spreading positive energy to people who come in contact, no matter what the circumstances.  It's inspiring.

Liam's Hospital Stay

One fussy baby who was not eating well, had a low grade fever and whose urine smelled really, really bad prompted this Momma to get him to the doctor.

The doctor thought he might have a bladder infection and so he ordered us to get a pee sample.  Well, we did.  You know how to do that on a very busy baby??  They give you a bag with stickers on it and you stick it on him until he pees.  Then you return it to the lab.  Can't say I've done that before.

The lab results came back positive for bacteria in the urine.  But since the bag tests aren't that accurate - if you get a positive you have to go and get another test (because it could be a false positive) and this time he has to get a catheter done.

We went to the emergency room at the hospital to have this done.  It was awful.  It was after supper (read:  bed time.  Tired baby.  Tired Mom - we had had two birthday parties this day).  While I had him there my stomach started to get really upset.  Not the greatest time to run to the bathroom.  I had caught a bug and had been nauseaus and heading to the washroom all week.  Kinda hard to do at the hospital when you've got a baby.  It's not like he can be put down on the bathroom floor!! Ewwww.

So thank God my Mom came to the rescue so I could have another person with me at the hospital!

The nurses did the catheter.  I requested to go out of the room.  I knew from tests on Koen that it's not pleasant.  I wanted to be the one that came in afterwards to rescue and hug....not the one to hold him down while he was getting catheterized.  It hurt I imagined :(

We had arrived at the hospital at 6:30pm and by 10pm I finally got Liam to go to sleep on the hospital stretcher in emergency amongst all the lights, noise, and puking coming from across the hall. It lasted about a half an hour.

His test came back positive for bacteria.  This meant that he had both a bladder AND kidney infection.  That's right - my boy with only ONE kidney had an infection in it.  This meant that the treatment was urgent and aggressive.  He needed antibiotics intravenously immediately to zap that infection and protect that kidney!!  They were also very worried he may have urinary reflux, a condition where the urine is not completely emptied and shoots back up into the kidney poisoning it.  We needed an ultrasound.  It was the weekend.  We had to wait a day or two to get some results.  I was sick with worry.

After we got up to our room on the pediatrics ward, Liam went through a traumatic experience of getting poked, having his thermometer taken rectally, and trying to get an IV started in one of his veins.  He screamed and fought and screamed and fought.  For some of it I stood in the hallway.  I cried only a tear, but inside I wanted lay down and bahl.

Liam sleeps in a sleep sack at home.  In a room with dark blinds.  And a humidifier going for white noise.  In the hospital there was light, he wasn't in his jammies or his own sleep sack and the only noises we were hearing were beeping machines and other crying babies.  He had a hard time going to sleep after getting poked and prodded.  At 2am he was finally sleeping in his crib.  I had to use the washroom and then was going to take my place on the fold-out cot.

When I got back from the bathroom this is what I saw:

So we spent another hour and half marathon trying to get Liam to go to sleep.

I got 3 hours of sleep that night and Liam woke me up 4 times during it.

The next days are a bit of a blur, but we eventually got to get out on a day pass and return to have his IV flushed with saline every 4 hours so that it didn't close up.  We also had to return every night by 10pm to get the dose of antibiotics through the IV.  They put the IV in Liam's foot which meant he had to stay off it.  No crawling or walking - - - for MY kid??  It was tough keeping him off his busy little legs.

Once we got the ultrasound and it came back normal (praise God!!!!!) our course of treatment changed from the IV to antibiotics by mouth for 8 days.  This meant we got to go home.  I was so relieved!!  And Liam was VERY happy to be able to crawl and walk again!!



Liam did not like the hospital.  I don't blame him.  He always needed to make sure I was right beside him or touching him.  He needed his Mommy (just like we all do sometimes).  I'm lucky I get to be his Mommy :)

We are getting referred to a Kidney Specialist and they will see us if deemed necessary.  My family doctor mentioned that he might perform a test where they put dye in his urine so that they can see if everything is functioning normal on the inside.  We will cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now, the antibiotics are making Liam feel better and I can see the improvement every day.

I am very thankful that there was nothing more wrong here.  VERY, VERY THANKFUL.