26 April 2014

Disneyland!



Well, we are back from 5 days in Disneyland. It was a great trip, busy with two babies, but great.
All 10 of us headed to the airport for 8:30am and we managed to get there early. We had two suitcases, 2 boxes of treats for the flight crew and passengers, 2 carry on bags, an oxygen machine for the flight, 2 strollers and a car seat. It was crazy lugging all of it around and going through security. The strollers got the pat down while we are trying to manage 2 little ones and trying to keep track of our luggage and carry on bags.
With the help of grandma and grandpa, we managed to get settled probably 20 minutes before boarding. We made 190 treat bags for the flight and it was announced before we boarded the plane. The message that we included in the bags was read so that all the passengers could hear and I shamelessly included Adele's Over the Rainbow Baskets Facebook page in the little write up. Always thinking! :)


We were the first ones to board the plane, which was nice, so that we could get the girls settled and all of our junk! We had the bottle ready, the lollipops were ready to be sucked. We were going to do all that we could to avoid ear pain. Brinley was not happy when she was told that she needed to remain seated during take off, there were a few tears, but other then that, we were all ok.
The flight went really well, the girls were happy and well behaved. :) When it was time to land into LAX, Brinley was tired and hungry and not in the mood to be told to sit and stay buckled. She cried and yelled and cried and yelled all the way down. It was glorious! Thank god for the treat bags, although I don't know if they helped the passengers in the rows all around us. One lady in front of us mentioned that maybe ear plugs could have been included in the treat bags. I almost told her to shove it, but instead I focused on my wailing child. I didn't know if I wanted to spank her or hug and kiss her, all I wanted was for the plane to land. Once we touched ground, I unbuckled her and she wanted some snuggles and immediately fell asleep in my arms. Poor peanut.
Adele was happy and in all her glory for the entire flight because she was being snuggled and loved. She's pretty low maintenance when she is getting some lovin!


We made it to the hotel way later then expected...we went for dinner then got the kids ready for the Pirate Pool area. Such an awesome and fun time for the kids. There is this massive bucket that fills up with water, then it tips over and soaks the kids down below. I offered my sister 50 bucks to stand under the bucket but she refused. My dad piped up and said that he would do it for 50 bucks. I knew that there was no way that my dad would take my money, after all, I am a stay at home momma on a budget. He stood under the bucket, got soaked and gladly took my money. We tried to make him feel guilty by telling him that it was Brinley's meal money for Disneyland and that now she would have to eat ketchup packets for the entire trip, but that did nothing. He still has my 50 bucks! :)


We spent 2 days at Disneyland as a family and had a great time. Brinley isn't into rides yet, so we hung out at Toon Town and let her run around the play area. She loves to be able to control the situation, so if it's something where she can come and go, play on the structure, but stop when she wants, she is happy. 

We decided to stay at the pool on the third day. We spent 8 hours at the Pirate Pool and Brinley loved it. There is a little kiddie pool, which I called the Pee Pool, she was in her glory. It's a foot deep and perfect for a 2 year old. She would run and splash and play with her water toys. It was such a perfect day. Adele and I hung out in the shade, she napped and fed and cuddled with her Minnie Mouse. We tried to put her in the Pee Pool but she wasn't into it. We tried.


I met up with a dear friend who I met through the blog. She started reading the blog right from the start. She found out that they would be having a sweet princess with Down syndrome right around the same time as us. We chatted often and shared our fears and worries but also our excitement of meeting our little miracles. She went full term with Ella. She was to be induced. That's when her nightmare started. The cord had wrapped around Ella's neck and sadly, they lost her a few days after delivery.
I couldn't wait for her to hold Adele and snuggle her, she had been waiting a long time. She held her almost the entire time and it made me smile. It was such a great moment for all of us. I know that it was also difficult and emotional for her but I think that joy of holding Adele and actually being able to spend some time with her, eased some of the pain.


Our trip lasted 5 days and it went by so fast. We decided that this time, Brinley would sit with her cousin Danika and her Auntie for take off and landing. James and I would sit with Adele and our nephew Ryder. The flight went smashingly perfect. Brinley stayed with Danika the entire flight and we sat with the comedian.  :)
Ryder is such a hilarious kid...we call his sayings Ryder-isms. Let me share a couple from the flight.

James has a tattoo on his arm - "Uncle, you look just like a rock star. A real rock star. Wow!"
During the flight, many, many times - "Auntie, are we going down? Is the plane going down? AUNTIE, IS THE PLANE GOING DOWWWWNNNNN?"
I encouraged him to maybe not say that because it could cause anxiety in others. This meant absolutely nothing to him.
I told him during the flight to stop doing something and he looks at me - " Auntie, I sure like the way you talk to me."
Landing into Calgary - Ryder's arms are up in the air - "WEEEEEEEEEE, can we do this again? Let's do it again Auntie!"
Going through customs - "Mom, can I have my gun? It's a real gun! MOM, can I have my gun?"

The kid kills me! He is non stop and hilarious. You never know what's coming next. I get a little frightened actually and sometimes hold my breath when he opens his mouth!


Oh ya, when we were at the airport, mom, dad and I saw Joan Rivers. She was about two feet away from us. She looks the exact same in real life as she does on TV, plastic with lots of makeup. She was with an assistant, who got her to the plane and boarded before anybody else. It must be a rough life. :)


Before we left for Disneyland, we decided to throw out all of Brinley's soothers. Friends gave me many suggestions on how to get rid of the soothers, great suggestions. Tie them up in a bag, put them in the tree and tell her that the Soother Fairy would be coming to take them away, let her throw them out, put the soothers in a Build A Bear as well as many more. I suck as a mom, I put them in a Sobey's bag and chucked them when she wasn't looking. We are now soother free! My friends are way better than me and I am A-Ok with it! :)

Crazy Ry!
 
 
Danika and Ryder
 
 
 
More pictures to come! :)



13 April 2014

I Wish You Could See What I See :)


A short post for me. :) My friend Regan sent this to me this morning and I absolutely love it! Take the time to read it, you will enjoy what she has to say.....

I Wish You Could See What I See



 
 
 
 
 
CLICK ON ME.....  :)

6 April 2014

RUN, THE CAMERA IS OUT!!



I've been meaning to write about this topic for a while now, then another blog with the very same topic was shared on my wall. The other blog post was about being too fat to photograph. I didn't really want to call it that, I was thinking, "RUN, THE CAMERA IS OUT! RUN! RUN!!
Then I hear "where did Krista go?"

A friend recently commented on my wedding picture from back in 2010, then of course because Facebook is whacked, it brought the picture up to the top of my friend's newsfeeds. I knew that this was going to happen and my heart palpitated a little bit. Why did my heart palpitate you ask? I don't feel that I look the same way. I don't feel that I look anywhere close to how I looked on my wedding day. I also knew that my friends would comment and pay me compliments, because I have awesome friends.  :)
With every comment, I was coming back with "that was four years ago, I don't look the same. I got married, I have two children, I don't look like that Krista."
My dear friend Jody posted a comment that I needed to stop. I needed to embrace the compliments and just say "THANK YOU!"
So, I stopped with the low self esteem comments and acknowledged the kind words.


This brings me to why I am writing this post.


I don't like my picture being taken, by anybody, ever. I pretty much stopped having my picture taken when I became pregnant with Brinley. I think maybe my dad took a few pictures at Christmas time, so I was around 6 months along with Brinley. I don't have any pregnancy pictures when I was carrying Adele. Not one. I don't have any either with her right when she was born because she was whisked away and James missed the birth. The first picture I have is me in a wheelchair beside the baby cooker in the NICU, over 24 hours after I delivered.


I see pictures all over Facebook of friends and acquaintances and I don't judge. I don't look at their pictures and criticize their weight or looks. I am thinking, oh so nice to see a picture of so and so. WOW, so and so looks great and her children are adorable. I also admire their confidence if they are carrying a few extra pounds and they jump in front of the camera, big smile and striking a pose. They are comfortable with their body. They feel good about where they are at in life, their body, their health. They are content.

Yup, I am not as content with where I am at in regards to weight and my body but I am very blessed in other areas of my life, my children, my husband and life in general. I have read several blog posts where women are shouting from the rooftops that they love their stretch-marks, they earned them, they love the dangly dog jowl type skin that now hangs down after having children, they earned every stripe and they love it.
I don't love it at all. I love my babies, but I don't love one bit what pregnancy does to your body. It turns it into a floppy mess. A floppy mess that takes a long time for some of us to get rid of. I have friends who bounced back after 6 weeks, their bodies were perfect just weeks later. They didn't try to get it back to how they were pre-pregnancy, it just went back to tight and stripe free.
I don't have that body. My first stretch-mark showed up on my belly at just 7 weeks pregnant with Brinley and they quickly took over my stomach. I looked like a game of Snakes and Ladders. They never went away, then 8 months after Brinley, we got pregnant with Adele. This time, it looked like the anniversary edition of Snakes and Ladders. :) More stretch-marks. Sigh.


So now I have two beautiful girls and not too many pictures because I am not happy with my body. I think it's a bit selfish. It is not about me, it is about my girls. It is about them looking back and seeing beautiful pictures of their mommy, while they are sitting on my lap, while we are out at the park playing, while we are snuggling on the couch, while we are on vacation. I know that all they see is their mommy, and they love me. They don't see that mommy isn't where she wants to be with her body, they see their mommy. They don't see the dog jowl type thing hanging down, they see their mommy. I want memories that they can look back on and smile. I want them to know that I was proud to have my picture taken with them and that mommy made it a priority to have our picture taken together. I had two friends tell me that their mom was always behind the camera and never enjoyed having her picture taken. They both lost their mom at a young age and they don't have many pictures to show their children. There are only very few pictures of their grandmother. I get that they have memories, but that isn't enough. I don't ever want to be in this position. I don't want Brinley and Adele to look back and question why there are no pictures of mommy. How sad.

 
We all go through stages. We go through times in our lives where we feel great about ourselves, and there are times when we feel a bit defeated and our self esteem takes a hit, but it is up to us to bring it back up. It is up to us to show our daughters how important it is to feel great about ourselves. It is up to us to boost our children's self-confidence. It is up to us to let them know that they are perfect. My girls won't hear the word 'DIET' but they will hear that we need to eat good food and take care of our health. It is up to me right now to get myself back to where I feel good so that the girls know what it is like to be healthy and happy and beautiful.


My family deserves to see pictures of me. My parents should have pictures of their children together. They deserve to have pictures of their grandchildren, sitting on their daughter's lap.
I need to step back. I need to relax. I need to not be so critical of who I am. I need to realize that no, I am not the same Krista that I was four years ago. I have changed. I am married. I have two children. I am older. I need to look back at the pictures taken a few years ago and enjoy and savour those moments. I want to do the same thing, a few years from now. I want to look back and savour these beautiful moments.


Adele's Over the Rainbow Baskets