2011 A GREAT YEAR

I've heard much mention over the last couple days of people being glad to be over with 2011, and ready to start a new year, in hopes of a better one.

What a pity it was such a rough year for so many, because looking back over the events of the year, I actually think it was a pretty good year for us.

I thought I'd blog about the highlights of our year:

January: We found out we were expecting baby #2
February: I was deathly sick from baby #2 - ok, so not really a 'highlight', and it lasted from January through April, but so totally worth it :)
March: I turned 26 - yup, I'm officially past the quarter century mark.
April: Luke successfully transitioned over to his big boy bed with absolutely no trouble at all.. what a big boy he's become :)
AND, we found out that Kate is in fact a girl...
May: Luke turned 2
Grandma & Grandpa Geddes came to visit
We had outings to the beach and the zoo.
I learned how to make strawberry jam... and it was sooo yummy :)
June: We got to spend a weekend at the beach with friends
July: Jake got that super cute video of Luke singing 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes' and we got LOTS of rain which Luke LOVED because he could splash in puddles afterwards.
August: We got the nursery ready for Kates arrival.
Hurricane Irene passed through, which although a 'disaster' turned into a blessing in disguise for us, when our insurance paid for a new roof, that we needed even before Irene caused additional damage, but couldn't afford.
September: My mom arrived for her 2 month visit - her first time in the USA
And of course the BIGGEST highlight of the year - KATE LYDIA GEDDES joined our family
October: Jake turned 32
Halloween... Luke had a blast getting free candy with his buddy Brent :)
November: Kate was blessed and we had a great Thanksgiving here at home.

December: Jake and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary
It was Christmas - which is a highlight every year for me :)

Some of the highlights I mentioned may seem insignificant, but it was a fun year, and one that for the most part we really enjoyed. We had a few hiccups and trials along the way, but every year comes with those. I am mostly grateful that 2011 brought our little Kate to the family. That would make any year a great year :)

Now, I get to look forward to 2012, that comes with all of it's milestones for both my babies, hopefully a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and who knows what other fun and surprises we'll get. I'm ready :)

!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas has come and gone... geez, WHERE has 2011 gone?

Our much desired plans to fly to Utah for Christmas fell through cos we're poor, and somebody decided that it should cost as much fly to another state, as it does to fly to another country... seriously...

So, we had our own, fun little Christmas here at home.
Last year, I was sooo anxious about spending Christmas alone... meaning just us 3 Geddes's, but this year I knew it would be great even if we were alone. And it was...

Christmas eve we decorated sugar cookies with mr Luke... he was going to need to use these to bribe Santa to still leave gifts under the tree, because he'd been such a stinker all week.
After Santa (mommy..lol) ate about 6 large sugar cookies, my mood was sufficiently sweetened that I decided not to sell his toys, but in fact let him have them on Christmas morning.

I know they're not the prettiest cookies, but they were painted with great enthusiasm by a sugar addicted toddler and his equally sugar addicted parents :)

The cookie bribe worked.. Santa came :)

Christmas morning was super fun. Luke is old enough now, to know that gifts are AWESOME, and he went straight in for the kill, shredding paper and getting into everything.
He got some fun stuff (courtesy of Targets buy one get one 50% off sales...Santa knows where to shop!)

Luke got to open Kates toys too :)

Christmas? What's all the fuss about? lol..

Checking out her new toy... we bought something she'd "grow into" because really, what does a 3 month old actually play with???

Of course Christmas wouldn't be complete without a melt down :)

I bought 2 packs of flash cards from the dollar store to put in Luke's stocking.. He likes to point to bright pictures and have you tell him what they are... surprisingly the cheap stocking stuffers have been well played with already :)

After church, we just enjoyed a fun, chilled afternoon playing with new toys, eating beef stew (yes, we had beef stew for Christmas dinner... WHY?... because it's YUMMY, and the crock pot does all the work for me so that I can enjoy Christmas with my family and not in the kitchen cooking, and just because I said so... lol) and watching random shows and movies on Netflix, now viewed on our TV through Jakes new Apple TV (his Christmas present to himself...)

I'm super excited for Christmas 2012... Luke will be super psyched by then, and he'll probably be old enough to better understand all the santa stuff etc, which will make it way more fun... this year he saw the fat, hairy man in a red suit at the mall, took one look and was heading in the opposite direction.. yeah, I must say that I find the overgrown facial hair kinda creepy too... lol.

Now, on to 2012... I think it's going to be a great year... and I'm so ready for it :)

MY LITTLE SINGER

Luke seems to really enjoy music, and a lot of time I'll catch him singing... either along with the theme music on some of his Disney DVD's, or to a music DVD we have.
He's language is still a bit behind, but that doesn't stop him from trying his best to sing along.
He's so ridiculously cute sometimes, and I never tire of hearing him sing.

Yesterday I got some video of Luke singing Old Mac Donald, and Hey Frankie (A silly song on a music DVD he has)
If you watch right around 1 min 10 seconds on the video, you'll see him do an 'elephant trunk' motion as you hear them sing 'she has a trunk for her nose' in the background. LOL.. he's so silly.

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We Love our funny, sweet little man :)

TALKING TO MISTER BEAR

When Kate is in the mood, she really enjoys some chilling time where she kicks, and stretches and just talks her little heart out.
She is such a sweet baby, and we just can't get enough of her.

I wonder if she'll be a chatter box like her mama :)

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"LITTLE" MISS KATE

Kate turned 2 months on the 16th.
Yesterday was her 2 month pediatrician appointment, and shots.
My little girl is so itty bitty and petite.

Her 2 month stats are:

Weight: 9lb 11oz (4.39kg) - 25th percentile
Height: 21 inches (53.34cm) - 10th percentile
Head circumference: 14.5 inches - 10th percentile

I couldn't believe she hadn't even made it to 10lbs yet.
Luke was 14lbs (6.35kg) at 2 months, and in the 95th percentile. LOL, so it's a big change for us to have such a light weight, petite little baby.

Despite her small size, she is still healthy, and strong, and developing right on track.
We are getting more and more smiles out of her, and she is starting to coo at us too. It's so sweet to listen to her 'talking' and giving us those gummy smiles with her bright eyes all lit up.
We certainly make beautiful babies.

She's not a very good sleeper yet (cat naps during the day, and frequently wakes up at night still) so we're all pretty tired, but she's such a little cutie, and we're really enjoying her. I wish we could keep them this small and sweet for a bit longer (minus the sleepless nights of course. LOL). There's nothing quite like the warm weight and sweet smell of a newborn asleep on your chest :)

LIFE IN THE GEDDES HOME

My Beautiful Babies.
Luke 2 and a half years old
Kate 8 weeks old

Time is going by so quickly at the moment.
Kate is already 8 weeks old, and Luke is 2 and a half.
Life is a the Geddes home, is nothing short of CHAOTIC. lol.
I like to think that for the most part, it's happy chaos, though we definitely do have our moments (like right now, I can hear Jake sighing heavily, because he has reached his patience limit with Lukes morning of melt downs) lol
I'm happy to say that I've survived the first week of solo mommy duty since my mom left, and it hasn't been an entirely unproductive or chaotic week. Days were long because Jake had to work late, but I managed for the most part, to keep my cool, and stay on top of things... by staying on top of things, I simply mean I took a shower every day, fed my kids and husband, kept up with the laundry, and we all made it out alive. LOL
I have a long way to go before I feel like I'm back in control, with a routine, and system set up that works for me, but all in all, it wasn't a bad week.

Luke is showing some definite signs of improvement with his language. A lot of the time we still have no idea what he is saying, but he is at least saying SOMETHING. haha.
He is trying to communicate a little more, and he is constantly pointing at things either asking what they are or telling us what they are. He copies and imitates things he hears and sees (including a clip of Britney Spears dancing on a Pepsi Ad. lol.. too funny) and he is starting to take a bit more of an interest in books. I think the next 6 months will bring a huge improvement in his language and communication skills, which will be great.

He seems to be a little more adjusted to his baby sister. Well at least for the past 3 or 4 days, he hasn't seemed quite as jealous of her, and I haven't seen him 'bullying' her quite as much as he had been doing. He enjoys lying next to her in my bed in the mornings when he wakes up, and he has wanted to hold her a couple times over the last few days. He also likes to give her a paci when she gets upset, though he does find it very frustrating when she spits it back out. lol

He has also taken a huge interest in BUGS.. and we have no shortage of them here. He is constantly pointing out a spider, or a bug, or a moth somewhere in the house (yes, sadly we get that many where we live) and takes an avid interest in them.. dead or alive. :P
He has started to pay more attention to his surroundings while we are out, and he loves to point out all the trucks on the road, or look at the moon (another frequent favourite) and he has a radar for spotting a ball or a balloon in just about every place we may find ourselves.

Kate is growing and developing more and more each day.
I was pleased to get the first smile out of her on Halloween (Oct 31st), and since then she has given a few more. She loves to lie next to Luke in my bed in the morning, then stare at him and smile. I'm not sure if it's that she just really loves her big brother, or if it's a "I'm cute, please don't hurt me" defense mechanism so that she won't get beat up. haha
I'm sure in no time they will be playing really well together, and love each other to bits.

She is still a SUPER slooooow feeder. It takes on average 45 minutes to an hour for her to drink a 4 oz bottle... with it taking even longer on some days (like today)
We've tried to move her up to the next 'flow' bottle nipple, because she is still using the newborn to 1 month nipple, but the next one up she just chokes on.. so I guess slow nipple, with slow drinking baby is how it's gonna have to be for now.
She's becoming a lot more alert now, and likes to have short bursts of time where she can lie and look at the toys on her activity mat, or just stare around the room. She has the cutest big eyes, and you just want to eat her up when she opens them wide and stares around, which she loves to do over your shoulder.

This year has FLOWN by.. it's crazy to think that next month is Christmas, and then we start 2012, and before I know it, Kate will be turning a year old.
I'm definitely ready to move past the sleepless night stage, but I sooo love having a little baby in the house. Jake and I both, are suckers for a warm, snuggly cuddle with a newborn on your chest and their sweet smell wafting up to your nose. And then of course there are the little feet, that I just LOVE to play with. Poor Kate frequently goes sock-less, despite the chilly house on some days, because I just love to look at and hold those tiny little newborn feet :)

We are very quickly forgetting what life was like before Kate, and we're loving watching her and Luke grow.
I have a great little family, and although some days are just plain exhausting and hard, I wouldn't change the 'package' I got for the world.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

I'm very late posting this, but I decided that for the purpose of my 'family journal' I'd like to include Kate's birth announcement on my blog.
The large picture was taken when she was 2 weeks old, and the picture with the crocheted hat, and of her feet were taken the day after her birth, before we were discharged from the hospital.
She has grown SOOO much since then. She's a beautiful sweet little girl, and we LOVE her.

GOGGA'S BIG TRIP

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind of chaos, fun, laughter, sleepless nights and making memories.

I haven't blogged much about the things we got up to while my mom visited, so I decided to do a picture blog, showing some of my favourite photos of Goggas visit, and some of the things we got up to :)

So here is the past 2 months in a nutshell!

(Some pictures aren't great quality, because they were taken on my cellphone when we didn't have a camera handy)

There was far too many trips to McDonalds :)

The highlight of her visit - Kates birth :D

Short lived excitement at going to Walmart. lol...

Starbucks...  their lemon pound cake is yummy!

 
Bowling

Vollmer farm... a gorgeous day, and fun for everyone.

 





Listening to music in bed...

Cooking with Luke :)

 
Cuddles...
Time with baby Kate!

Race car driving at the grocery store :)

 Teaching an 'African' how to pump gas. lol

 Feeding the ducks at City Lake

And final goodbyes...