Please sickness....go away!!!

We continue to be a bit sick around here:( The girls are pretty much over their sicknesses. Last Wednesday evening, Jeff was reading the girls a story before bed and out of nowhere Gabby threw up...alot!! She went to bed no problem and then about 10pm I heard her coughing and I went into her bedroom and she said "mommy I barfed" and it was everywhere! Jeff gave her a quick bath and I threw her bedding into the laundry. She slept the rest of the night and got up in the morning and was hungry and back to normal:)

And this past Tuesday, Megan woke up and said her tummy hurt:( She was spending the day with Jeff's mom and was pretty mellow all day. She had no appetite, but didn't threw up either. By supper time, she was getting hungry and feeling a bit better. She had a good sleep that night and was back to normal the next day:)Marty woke up at about midnight on Tuesday night and was "talking" and wide awake. This is very unusal for him, so I went in to see him. He was getting a little fussy and seemed uncomfortable so I gave him a little Tylenol. Just after I gave him the medication, he threw up several times...poor little guy:( We cleaned him up and tired to get him back to sleep. He was crying alot, which is very unlike him. Neither Jeff nor I was able to console him and he has still been coughing from his cold for the last 2 weeks. Anyways, Jeff and I were both concerned and we decided to take him to the Emergency. I left the house about 2:30am and got back around 5:30am!! As soon as we got into the van, Marty had calmed down. We got to the hospital and he was all happy with smiles for the nurses and doctors!!

Thankfully, the ER wasn't too busy then. We got in quite quickly, but then we first saw a nurse and then another nurse and then the doctor. Then the doctor wanted me to nurse him and then keep him upright for about half an hour to make sure he would keep the fluids down. I told the doctor that he has been coughing mostly at night for the past 2 weeks as well. The doctor thinks that he might have some mild pediatric asthma:( So, they gave us a mask and a puffer to use when he has coughing attacks.

The nurse showing us how to use the mask and puffer said that most babies hate it and will cry and wiggle away from it. Well, Marty was happy as a clam to breathe into the mask...such a good boy! Since we have been home, his cough has been better and we haven't even used the puffer. I think that the cough is just the ending of his cold.

He had a great sleep last night...12 straight hours! And today he seems happy and back to his usual self. He still has a little runny nose though. It just feels like this cold won't go away!

Last Saturday night, we went to Derek and Colleen's place for dinner and pumpkin carving! It was pretty much the daddy's doing the carving, but we all had fun! The girls requested that Jeff carve Boots the Monkey...Dora's friend!

And so he did...
Sarah and Gabby being silly...
Marty and Jake...playing together already!The daddy's carving pumpkins...Marty loves to touch the pumpkin, especially when the light is on inside it!
Daddy and his girls...they are so proud of the pumpkin!
My mom and I were going to take the kids to the pumpkin patch this morning, but it was snowing and raining:( It was just too wet and cold to go there...so we will have to wait until next year. The kids were just as happy to play at grandma and grandpa's house instead. My dad took the girls to Tim Horton's for donuts and they were thrilled!! Then Megan spent the afternoon with my parents while I took the 2 little ones home for a nap. She loves having one on one time with people!

That's all for today! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures of the kids (and us) in our halloween costumes next time!!

All about Mimi

In case you don't know, Megan has many nicknames...Mimi, Meemo, Meems, Tickles, Monkey. All of our kids have nicknames, but she has the most! Gabby calls her Mimi, even though she can say Megan!Megan made a very special decision this week! She asked Jesus to come into her heart on Saturday. We were talking about Jesus on Friday and after our conversation I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart, and she said "no thanks". I was not going to push it. Then on Saturday we were talking about it again and I asked her again if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart and she said YES!! Jeff and I were overflowing with joy, including a few happy tears!! We talked about what this means and then I prayed with her and Gabby(she insisted on doing this too!). Then we phoned all her grandparents and told them and they too were all SO excited. I know that she doesn't totally understand what this means, but some day she will. I took a video of her yesterday saying that she asked Jesus into her heart, so that she will always remember it!!


I think I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but Megs started ballet about a month ago and she LOVES it!! After the whole episode in the summer with her not participating in her soccer camp, I was hesitant to put her into any other programs. But, we were able to do a "try me" class and she did great! She goes once a week for a 1/2 hour class. Gabby, Marty and I sit in the waiting area while she is in the class. I think there are about 10 other little 4 year old girls in the class, and they are all so cute in their tutu's! Gabby loves to watch the girls dance through the glass door. She keeps asking if she can do ballet too! I think she has to be 3 years old before she can go in...so we will see when the time comes:)Megan has been such a big helper for me with Marty. She always makes sure the gate at the top of the stairs is shut, or makes sure he has toys to play with. I love the little conversations her and I have been having lately too. I went into the hot tub with the girls last night and it was so fun just to chat with them! I love my girls so much!!We have had a pretty low key week since we have all been recovering from a little cold we got while in Victoria:( The kids have done really well, just the usual snotty noses and a little cough. Marty has been coughing sometimes in the night and sometimes up to an hour. He is so amazing...and never cries! I did get up last night while he was coughing to give him Tylenol just so that he could get back to sleep. He only seems to cough in the night and not at all during the day...strange!

Marty likes to get into a plant that I have on the living room floor...you can see the trail of dirt behind him! But, he was too cute not to get a picture of. I have since moved the plant elsewhere!!This weekend we are going to some friends house to carve some pumpkins for halloween, we did it last year too and the kids loved it! Jeff and I are going to an adults only halloween party next Friday and it should be lots of fun. I'm not telling what we are going as...but, I'll post some pictures after the party! Then on Saturday we will probably just take the kids around our cul-de-sac for a little trick or treating! They are getting excited about wearing their costumes...they are going to SO cute!!

Victoria....with lots of pictures!

This past week we have been in Victoria for a little vacation. Well, the main purpose of going was to celebrate with Curt and Anne at their wedding! It was such a beautiful wedding and we are SO thrilled to welcome Anne into the family. She is such a sweetheart!

It all started with a long drive and a ferry ride...It was Gabby and Marty's first ferry ride. Megan had been on the ferry when she was about a year old, so I'm sure she didn't remember it. They had a blast running around on the deck and they also liked the play area inside.Megan took this picture of Jeff and I - pretty good, except I think Jeff is eating something!!
The wedding was on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day. Megan and Gabby were flower girls and Jeff was a groomsman.

Here is Megs all ready to go to do her job as flower girl...she loved it!!I had to wake Gabby up from her nap to get to the wedding on time and she needed to have her hair curled. She was a little upset that I had woken her up:( I gave her a cookie and she was much happier after that. This is a good picture of what her hair is supposed to look like...it turned into a rats nest by the end of the ceremony.My beautiful little girls...
**There are tons of pictures to share...and most of these pictures were taken by Eric and Traci! They are very talented photographers:)

Here are the brothers all ready to go!Sweet Annie and Curt...
Here dress was stunning, as was she...which I think is obvious!!Megs and Grandma...I love Megs little smile in this one!Me and my pretty girls...It was quite difficult to get a family picture with everyone looking at the camera:)The reception started at 7pm, which is normally the kids bedtime. I knew that we would keep them up a little bit late that night. I thought they would last until maybe 9pm or so. The toasts and slide show happened and then the dancing began. Well, the girls perked right up when the music started and they danced away until 11:30pm!!!! I couldn't believe it. They just kept going and going. We finally took them home to get to bed. I think that is the latest they have ever stayed up!Even though the girls were up SO late, they did NOT sleep in:( They were still up at 7am, needless to say, they were a little over tired for the next couple of days. They did do pretty good and we had a good trip home on Tuesday.
We rented a house in Victoria with Jeff's family. It was so great to have the space, especially with us having 3 kids! The house had 5 bedrooms and a playroom and a nice backyard with a hot tub.
On Sunday afternoon, we headed downtown to check out Victoria. It is such a beautiful city! We walked along the ocean and down to Fisherman's wharf. It was a little chilly, but still so nice. Gabby was so brave and touched the horse with one finger...
And on Monday, we ventured out to Beacon Hill Park. The kids loved the petting zoo! Gabby was especially excited to pet the goats.Another attempt at family photos...Chasing ducks...We just can't resist taking pictures of this happy little guy....These are just a couple cute pictures of the girls, practicing being flower girls the day before the wedding!We were gone almost a week and it was a great time all around! I'm so thankful for this time we had to be together as a family and to celebrate with Curt and Anne. We are so blessed!

I hope you made it this far...I just had SO many good pictures and wanted to share them:)