First day of school

This was one happy day!! Seriously. Abby was thrilled to start school and Ethan kept himself to a reserved grin. He's been through this first day thing so many times that I think he's just used to it.
My little monkeys who aren't so little anymore. Ethan is starting Grade 5 and Abby is in Grade 1. Where the time when I have no idea.
Surprisingly enough they love going on the bus. I'm fortunate that they are the last ones picked up and the first ones dropped off. They are on the bus for such a short period of time that its still fun.
Lucky mommy got to spend the whole day with this little sweetie.

What a crazy 2 weeks!

So the weekend before school started we decided to go visit Matt and Nicki and take the kids to the zoo. We hadn't gone since Abby was 2 so she doesn't really remember anything, except for what she sees in pictures. The kids had a great time. Abby was running and exploring everything, I swear she is part mountian goat, climbing on rocks and hills. But she loved every minute of it.

The kids and Auntie Nicki taking a break by the elephants...
Mr Owen stretching out at Matt and Nicki's. The little stinker is rolling over all the time now. Big surprise because he started doing it at 3 months. He'll be crawling before I know it. Ron got this awesome shot of me and the kids. Love it to pieces because I'm always behind the camera. Plus with Owen in front I don't look so rolly ;) Only another 32lbs to go before I'm back to the pre-pregnancy weight. Slowly but surely.

Back to school pictures coming soon...

why yes I *am* alive!

So life with 3 kids is interesting to put it mildly. We've had such an odd summer with July dragging by at a snail's pace due to a certian duo of kids bickering and whining that they were bored. Then poof August goes like lightening. We were so busy that the passage of time just slipped away. The most noteworthy being our 10 year anniversary being celebrated (and the subsequent party) and Ron and I having our birthdays.

Funny how nice it was to have no routine for the kids at first, just unwinding from the school year and now I'm craving that regularness of school. Oh don't get me wrong I'm dreading the morning race with lunches/breakfast/combing hair stuff/homework struggles but I'm looking forward to not having to mediate for a few hours at least. It will be nice just Owen and I for a bit.

Speaking of Owen the little monkey rolled over for the first time on Saturday. From back to tummy! Silly boy had just turned 3 months old. I'm so not ready for him to grow up!

I promise as soon as the kids are in school I'll be posting more regularly:)

Round 2...

of thrush. Ugghh! I thought and had hoped that we wouldn't have to deal with this again but here we are back on meds. Thankfully I was able to get into the dr. and get a Rx, not my regular doctor but the man had the power to give me a Rx so it was all good. Owen is already clearing up and not so fussy, poor little man. Me, well let's just say that tylenol is my friend for at least a couple more days.

Tomorrow Owen goes for his very first immunization, can't believe that he is 2 months old already. Time sure flies. He smiles all the time, has rolled over twice and figured out his bouncy chair. He also loves his bath, much like Grandpa Bourassa and certain noises make him jump just like Grandpa Hilligas :) He also loves to be swaddled after supper and being outside at anytime of the day is pure contentment for him, just like his daddy.

Big Smiles!!

Owen has been smiling since he was 7 days old but this is the first one I caught on camera :)

New favorite picture :)

I think this one needs to be enlarged and framed :)

Happy Birthday Abby!

Can't believe my baby girl is 6!! These pictures are so Abby!

Finally a moment to breathe!

So having 3 kids is a lot of work, thankfully Ron has been wonderful. Besides taking the older ones out to play or just taking Owen so I can go to the bathroom he's been finishing or cooking supper more times than I can count. School will be out in a week and a half and I'm expecting a different schedule already. We'll see how it works out. So far Owen is still quite the novelty for Ethan and Abby. Just wait till he starts getting into their toys!

I love big baby yawns!
Finally a picture with his eyes open. So far they are dark blue just like Abby's were. I don't expect them to stay blue but change to brown. Though Ethan's eyes seemed to change almost right away because I don't remember them being blue.

Love love love this onesie! It was a gift from a special friend who will be greatly missed when she moves :(

While you were sleeping...

As promised...new pictures :) check out that face!!

Mommy should have been doing something more productive! But its been so long since I could just enjoy a cup of coffee (which tastes *so* good right now!) and surf the net that I just couldn't help myself. Plus there are always new pictures to share.

I have to say that both Ethan and Abby were pretty good babies...once we got Ethan's eating thing figured out. But right now Owen has them beat. He is such a content little guy. Its rare that he fusses and when he does he calms down quickly when wrapped in a blanket. He sleeps well, only getting up once a night. Plus he eats like a champ! Ouch! We went and got him weighed yesterday and he's gaining really well. By this Thursday he'll be 2 weeks old (gasp!) and he's supposed to be at his birth weight of 8lbs 5 oz. As of yesterday he's 8lbs 10oz. So he's doing super.

The kids are still in excited can't believe we have a baby mode. Plus with school winding down they are just in a buzz. Between field trips, graduation for Abby and track and field, we've been pretty busy. In a way it will be nice to have them home on summer break because then I don't have to worry about lunches and proper bedtimes or prying kids out of their beds in the morning. But I will miss my time with just Owen. Things are so quiet around here when its just him and I. When Ethan and Abby come home the noise level jumps!

I'm personally doing quite well. At first I was a bit tired and grouchy about all this extra baby weight (yuck) but its starting to come off which is really nice. I gained a whopping 48lbs with Owen, thankfully 33lbs is off already. I'd like to loose another 10 past my pre-pregnancy weight so I've got a little ways to go. But because I can't really "diet" while nursing, I'm just cutting out all junk food and processed food and sticking to lots of fresh veggies, fruits, lean meats and low fat dairy. All my carbs are multigrain and in moderation. Soon I'll be able to start exercising and hopefully that will help get me back into shape. I'm convinced that those "baby blues" that all the books talk about are mostly women sad/grouchy/depressed about how they look after baby is born.

Some new pictures of Owen (@ 5 days old)

Some more pictures

Big sister at last!
Grandpa Bourassa with Owen
My big boy!

He's Here!!

Emily, Ethan, Owen and Abby. Just for Grandma Hilligas!
Great Grandma Bourassa with Owen...her latest great grandchild. My boys!! Ethan and Owen

Abby and Owen...she's totally a mother hen :)
Emily and Owen

And boy for this little one to be late he sure got here in a hurry!! Poor Rhonda had to drive me to the hospital and we almost didn't make it! Seriously within 5 minutes of getting to the hospital Owen Ranald Hilligas made his debut! He weighed 8 lbs 5.6 oz and was 22 inches long.

my excuse for not blogging

is that I'm waiting on this baby!! It seemed like things were starting to happen yesterday but then they stopped. I'm heading to the doctor's today to see what's up. Technically I'm only 1 day over but I'm ready to have this little guy! I'll keep everyone posted!

my scrapbook room is done!!

for some reason blogger always adds my pictures in the opposite order that I want. Geez! Anyway here's the after pictures...

And now the before pictures...what a mess!

this one should have been included in my after photos but again, blogger!!

apparently I'm nesting

or so my mom says. I'm just thrilled to be getting a bunch of stuff done and organized. The kids' rooms are done, including the baby's room. All that needs be done in his room is to set up the baby monitor and wash his new sleepers. I'm so anxious to do some scrapbooky/decorations for all of their rooms but I'm a bit held up by the fact that I don't have a scrapbooking space right now. Heck I don't even know where half of my stuff is! I'm going to see if I can convince Ron to set up my desk today, then at least I can start organizing my stuff. It'll be like Christmas all over again especially going through all the bags of stuff that I've gotten over the last 3 months. Just because I didn't have a room didn't mean that I didn't shop ;) I didn't realize how stiffled I was with my creativity without a space of my own. Dragging out some of my stuff to try and create doesn't work well for me.

On to baby news...he's still baking, lol! I've got 2 weeks until my due date and so far I'm feeling ok, some contractions but nothing regular. My doctor checked my yesterday and I'm dilated 1 cm and feeling "soft" but it will be a week or so still. This is fine for me, gives me more time for naps :) I went and got some maternity pictures done this week with a friend of mine. I had lots of fun but was I tired! I'm anxious to see how the pictures turned out. Thank goodness Chantelle can photoshop out stretch marks! After 2 other pregnancies a smooth belly is not always in the making. Of course, I got more stretch marks with Ethan than any of the other 2. He paved the way.