Category: Birthday’s

If the Shoe Fits……

When Siah was a baby, I found the most amazing baby products were available. I have no idea if they were available when the first three were little, but I was thrilled at what I found online in 2007/2008.

One thing that I determined to do with Siah was to buy better quality items, but only what we needed. For example, I had probably 5+ pairs of shoes for my little girls and at least that many again for Jeremy. I mean, I needed those cute runners and those fancy shoes and those other fancy shoes and the little sandals and the slip on comfy shoes…and it went on and on and on.

In total, even if I bought the shoes on sale, it still added up.

I remember looking online at a pair of $40 shoes that I was considering buying for Josiah and cringing…and yet, I’m positive that I spent more than that on all the different pairs of shoes for Geli or Xani or even Jeremy….And I’m not talking all together over the first year or two…., I’m talking at one time, if I had 4 pairs of shoes that I paid $10 each for. BAM! Same price!

But, the difference was that I was only planning on getting one pair….less crap to store, they were leather…..better quality, and they were supposed to be better for their developing feet…..soft soles.

I went ahead and bought the shoes for Siah and I’m thrilled I did. I believe that I’ve spent less to shoe Josiah than I had with any of the other kids and I’ve been thrilled with the quality, style, and functionality of the shoes and the contribution to the healthy development of Siah’s feet.

I do like the Robeez brands for both the soft shoes but also the Mini-Shoez and the 1st Stepz but……..no where near as much as I love Pediped Shoes.

I LOOOOOOOVE Pediped shoes. They are by FAR my favorite baby/toddler shoes.

Just recently, Josiah received some birthday money from my parents. I figured that seeing as he’d grown out of his last pair of Pedipeds over the summer that this would be the perfect time to get another pair for the fall/winter.

I went looking at their site and as usual, there are SO MANY cute shoes to choose from.

I went looking in the sale section and found this pair in a size 12 and this pair in a size 11 and figured that I could get both if I chipped in a little to what they had given and covered the shipping. I figure that both shoes should last us for a while especially seeing as his feet measure a size 10 perfectly.

I also liked these shoes, but not as much as the first two.

I placed my order and waited for the package to arrive.

It only took a few days and when I opened the box I was excited to see the two boxes indicating the shoes that I’d ordered.

When we opened the boxes is when we discovered a problem….

Now, I’ve ordered a few times from Pediped and never had any problems before. But, this time, there was a bit of a mix up. I received the brown pair in the correct size but the box that showed the black and red size 11 shoes actually had a size 9 of the blue and white runner that I’d liked but didn’t order.

I contacted pediped by e-mail and they responded right away, like within 15 minutes. I could keep the blue pair to give away or keep and they were sending me the correct pair right away.

So, I actually got 3 pairs of shoes for the price of two and even then….the price of two was pretty good as, it was on sale.

I LOVE Pediped and will continue to buy shoes from them. Amazing Shoes, Amazing Customer Service.

Check out their sale items…..great deals.

ps. I’m not getting comp’ed anything to promote this company. I just love them and wanted to make sure that other’s knew about them too. If you need or want to get some great kids shoes, then check them out.

Happy Birthday Alexandra

In the middle of all this other chaos, it is very important to me that this very important day doesn’t get forgotten about.

It is with great pleasure and many gushing happy feelings, that I wish my sweet Alexandra Janelle Culley a happy 12th birthday.

Alexandra Culley

My Sweet Xani
Happy 12th Birthday

Alexandra is having to miss out on a family birthday dinner and having me there to hug her today, so feel free to leave birthday wishes with her here so that she can “fell the love”.

Jon

Edited to include Xani’s comment:

Well apparently I’ll be celebrating most of the summer. One tonight with Geli, Tomorrow with Amy, one with school friends, and some time with Nana Culley. But thanks for all the happy B-days.

love Xan

LIttle Bit ‘O This and a Little Bit ‘O That

I’m sitting on the main level of my house killing time listening to my baby scream his head off because he,
“WAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNTTTTTSSSSSS MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMAAAAAAA!” and seeing as he is mostly over the whole measles thingy and I’m so tired of his incessant night waking, we have started to institute the

Back to Bed, Baby! Initiative.

This involves getting up every time he wakes up and putting him back in his own bed. He is in a bed, and so he can easily get out and the biggest issue that we have is not even him coming to our bed in the middle of the night.

The biggest issue is the fact that since the while measles thing, he’s been waking up around 11 or 12 and screaming for no reason that we can figure out. He is quite verbal (as in everyone who hears him speak can’t believe he’s only 2 years old) and his language skills are quite advanced and so if he so desired, he could tell us if there was an issue…..I think that he’s OVERTIRED and can’t even really handle himself. You should see the dark circles he’s currently sporting under his eyes. Poor Baby.

The 11-midnight scream fest comes in a close second in the frustration factor. The number one issue is that he’s decided that regardless of whether we let him sleep with us or if we put him back in to his own bed, around 2am, he wakes up and then is basically restless and awake from 2am until after 5am. This time usually involves TONS of thrashing around. Crying because the covers are on. Crying because the covers are off. Kicking mommy and daddy in the head/stomach/back/whatever happens to be closest to the thrashing feet. Crying because we won’t let him watch a movie. Crying because he wants to go to the bathroom. Crying because he doesn’t want to go to the bathroom. Basically, there is lots of crying and very little sleep.

And so, it is time to learn how to sleep again.

This likely means that we will get even less sleep over the next 3-4 nights as we sleep train him to stay asleep or at the very least, to once again stay on his bed. YUCK! but it will be so worth it by next weekend when we are all sleeping soundly. I hope I’ve not jinxed it by saying that.

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It was my baby girl’s 13th Birthday today. Angelica became a teenager today. I’m still a a bit amazed that I have a teenager and yet….it’s really not that different feeling from yesterday as she was quick to tell me. Time sure flies doesn’t it.

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Jon and Jeremy went to church today and Xani and Siah and I stayed home. Siah’s still officially within the contagious time period and Xani was coughing like a mad woman. We made coffee cake and an egg/hashbrown hash-type breakfast. We cleaned the kitchen and then sewed like crazy.

I’ll be showing you over the next little bit some of the fun things that I made. Xani made 2 pillows and she did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

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We’ve filled and hidden the kid’s Easter Baskets and tomorrow morning we’ll have a treasure hunt for the kids. They are looking forward to it and if it weren’t for Geli’s birthday being today we probably would have done them today, but I wanted to make her birthday special. We had her favorite meal of roast chicken, and potatoes, with carrots and asparagus and gravy AND…..Yorkshire Pudding. And she was a very happy girl. We’ve still not given her a gift or even had a cake so I’m not sure how special of a day it was, but ….well…….ya know……it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?

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I’m still trying to come up with a fun activity for us to do as a family tomorrow……ya know, one that involves being trapped inside the house with a contagious child….ya! should be fun! It’s been a long LOOOOOOOOOONG week and I still have a few days left to go.

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The baby has been making the funniest movements. I’ve been bent over the sewing machine and apparently, he didn’t like being squished because he kept trying to streeeeeeeeeeeeetch out and kept kicking out the sides of my body towards my back. It felt so weird, and yet……….TOTALLY AMAZING. Baby movements are the best thing ever.

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Some people from our complex just had a stillborn at 24 weeks. One week shy of when Nathaniel was born. My heart os breaking for them and all they are going through right now. I only hope that I can, in some small way, reach out and be a support or comfort to them. I’m feeling stressed that I’m pregnant, though and am feeling cautious as to how that might make them feel. So many sad conflicting emotions. In some ways, it’s like reliving the whole loss over again. So SO sad!

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Well, after half an hour, it’s quiet and so I’m gonna sign off and head up stairs to bed. I hope you all had a great Easter Sunday with great food and hopefully lots of chocolate…….

Hot and Puffy

Today was a much cooler day, but it was still warm. When I look at the thermostat in my house and it reads 28 degrees or even higher at 30 something… that’s too hot….for inside……

We’ve still been trying to plow onward and empty more and more boxes and trying to put away more and more stuff and to bag up and throw or give away anything that doesn’t actually have a “spot” to fit into.

So far we’re getting there. It’s slow going, but we’re getting there.

The stairs in my house are slowly killing me. I’m not used to it and it’s annoying to have to run from the top to the bottom only to find out that your forgot to bring something with you and it……just. happens. to. be. onthefreakingtopfloor.

So you pound up the stairs again and then rinse, lather, repeat a hundred times a day.

If I were actually losing some weight as a result of this, I’d not be complaining, but nope. No such luck on that point.

If anything, I’ve gained some weight and judging by the size of my feet tonight…I’ve been on them WAY TOO MUCH TODAY.

They are huge and puffy and they hurt like crazy…

But we are getting there.

It’s my baby’s second birthday tomorrow.

How the crap did that happen?

Where did the last two years go and where did this little boy come from?

We are going to be celebrating his birthday in September. The weather will still be nice enough and hopefully I’ll have my house in a little bit more order…..Am I dreaming on that one?

Well, The baby is being bathed and I gotta do what I can to tidy up the kitchen before Jon is done with him……lets hope I haven’t used up all my time.

Happy Birthday, Xandra Janelle!

It’s Xandra’s 11th Birthday today.

Xani 3

Wow! Does time ever fly by? It’s hard to believe that this little girl has grown up so fast.

She was my BABY. I wanted a baby and had Geli and all she wanted to do was to grow up so SO fast. So I got pregnant with Alexandra 6 months after Angelica was born and she was ALL BABY, ALL THE TIME!

In fact, Xandra was still a baby LOOOOONG after Jeremy was born.

She still wanted to be held and carried and packed around like a baby. She did for a long time.

Xani 1

I remember us talking about how she was in her own little word. I thought that was just her personality….turns out she just couldn’t see and all those hours spent talking to herself as she sat 2 inches away from the mirror were probably her way of connecting with actual people instead of moving and shifting blobs….

I remember the Dr talking to us about how poor her eye sight actually was. It’s amazing she is as well adjusted as she is and now, her eye sight is fairly well…..not perfect, but perfect with glasses and honestly, the Dr wasn’t even sure that we could pull that much off. So we are so thankful for how far she’s come.

The school was even talking to us about autism in Grade One…..got the girl some glasses and turns out that not only is she not autistic, but that she’s above average. Who woulda thunk it?

Xani 2

She is happy and bubbly and has the most amazing personality. She is soft and gentle followed with a quick wit and acid temper if she is crossed. She is the most amazing set of contradictions and I love her. She makes me laugh and cry and wonder how I was so blessed to have been a part of bringing her into this world.

She is growing up so fast. Faster than Geli is… in some ways…..it’s scarey. I’m not sure if it’s her friends this year or just her inquisitive personality, but she’s so interested in fashion and all things “girly” and even boys…..

One thing we have in our favor is that we can and do talk about so much. She has unending questions and while I might not always have the answers, we can at least go searching for those answers together and hand in hand we will find answers to all the questions she has.

Xani 4

She is growing up to be a gorgeous woman inside and out and while she still has some time yet…I often catch glimpses of the woman she will become and my heart swells with pride and love and joy…..but mostly love.

Happy 11th Birthday, my sweet bunny!

Birthday Brunch or Lunch or Whatever

Tim organized a family party for himself for his 30th Birthday. Nice, eh?

I mean, we woulda gotten around to it in about a week or so, but he jumped right on that and we all headed out to a restaurant for brunch this past Saturday morning.

It was so nice to be able to get together and even nicer that everyone was able to be there.

Waiting for Brunch

We did have to deal with a last minute venue change as the original place couldn’t accommodate all 24 of us as they were already dealing with another party of 40 – YIKES! So…..White Spot in Walnut Grove so graciously fitted us into their back party room and that was awesome as we could be our noisy selves without worrying about bothering anyone. It also meant that the kids could waltz around a little without bothering anyone and that right there was a HUGE sanity saver as it meant that I could relax a little and not stress too much about what my monkeys were doing.

Aside: It’s a little weird/fun/exciting/strange to see Angelica sitting with the adults the whole time. Even though the age difference between her and Xani is only 15 months….she’s turning into a young lady and Xan is still a little girl, and today was the first time that was really evident.

By the time we all showed up and then actually ordered….our Brunch had turned into Lunch, but really, the best part is not the food – although we love our food. The best part is just getting to spend time together.

Sleeping Boy(S)

We had a lot of fun taking pictures….

Taking Pics of taking pics

Building Card Towers…..

The Pro show how to git 'er done

We had a bit of a brawl to try and determine which is better the Blackberry or the iPhone….

Blackberry versus iPhone

It was just a really good time with the whole family.

You can click here to see the whole set….if you’d like.

A HUGE Shout out to Tim for organizing and arranging everything. Thanks for planning a great time for us to all get together. It was AMAZING, and I hope we don’t wait too long for the next one.

Happy Birthday, Little Big Brother!

Today is the day that my little brother turns 30!

Here he is….I ripped this off of Facebook….nice of me, eh? He’s looking pretty good for an old man. And that is his lovely girlfriend, Daisy with him….ain’t she pretty? Oh…yah…this is supposed to be all about Tim, isn’t it?

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Here is a little birthday greeting from the kids for Uncle Tim on the momentous occasion of his Birthday…..

If you’re friends with him on Facebook, go and leave him a message, or if you know his number, then text him, but if you don’t have either of those options available to you and you still know him from somewhere, somehow….please feel free to leave him a birthday greeting here.

Love ya tons, little bro. You are a great man. I hope this year is the best that you’ve ever had.

The Day Before….

Tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of the day that Nathaniel died and was born.

It’s been a funny lead up to the day….funny – different or funny – weird not funny – ha ha.

We’ve talked about it off and on for the past month, but more “in passing” as opposed to an actual discussion about him or the day… and now….here it is upon us.

This is the first year that I’m very aware that I’m not grieving the day in a very hard way. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that since that time, we have been blessed with a living child.

To be honest, I didn’t grieve this day last year very hard either, BUT I was out of town and busy and didn’t even really realize that the day had come until it was mostly over. I was just trying to get thorugh the day in an “out of the norm” schedule and with a 4 month old.

It was probably 6 or 7pm that evening that I realized that I had forgotten and really even at that point I had only a moment to feel terribly guilty that I had forgotten, and then my time was once again consumed with Siah and my surroundings.

So, I’ve had this week, off and on, to remember and to put some thought into tomorrow. I woke up this morning remembering how I woke up and felt uneasy that he wasn’t moving and how I tried to tell myself that it was nothing….how I stressed all morning and then finally late in the afternoon we went to the hospital and it all began…..

What a hellish day.

I’m so glad that I’m 4 years removed from the weighty emotions of that day. I had a moment yesterday where I teared up thinking about a little boy who would have been around 4 years old……but who is only a thought…not even a memory…just a dream or a hope.

I think that we will do what we’ve done ever year except for last.

It’s the way that we celebrate life and remember Nathaniel.

We will go out for breakfast and then go and buy some hellium ballons and write notes to Nathaniel all over them and then let them go in a near by park.

This year will be a little different with Siah around to get on it all….I’m thinking that we’ll have to get a balloon that he can keep. He’s not going to understnad why he had a balloon in his grubby little hands and then all of the sudden it’s gone and he can’t have it back……too funny.

Just because I can talk about all of this without feelig crushed under the heavy weight of grief doesn’t mean that I don’t still hurt thinking about all that we’ve lost. It’s just a different kind of pain. I think that if I had to describe it…it’s become a part of me. I will always have this little piece of my heart that belongs to Nathaniel and while the wound of the loss is not immediate and fresh – there was still a wound and it left a permanent mark. I’m okay….in fact most days, I’m definately better than okay….but I live with this….this is just who I am. I have a child – children actually – that I don’t get to hold and cuddle on a daily basis, BUT……

I do appreciate the children that I have, that MUCH MORE because of it, and even if that was all I got out of “all of this” then that’s amazing, but it’s not…there is SO MUCH MORE that I’ve learned and that has been given to me as a result of the loss and in a weird way, I’m thankful for what my children – ALL OF MY CHILDREN – have taught me.

So, tomorrow we celebrate life! If there was one thing I could leave with you it would be,

“Live your life with no regrets!”

I hope your day tomorrow is full of love, and peace and hope. Mine will be!

Some News

Alright, so I’m feeling a bit better – Thanks to all who asked, commented or e-mailed. I haven’t had such a sore throat in a long time. But I think I’m on the mend. It was weird…no other symptoms except a wicked sore throat.

AND…..YES!!!! It was my birthday yesterday. I’m now officially 33 years old. I’m easy 10 years older than Xandra’s teacher this year….and THAT makes me feel like a geezer. Okay, maybe not 10, but he’s a guy and he looks younger than he actually is – which is a good thing because he looks really young…..really REALLY young. But he seems like a really nice guy so it’s all good – I guess, eh?

So, thanks for all the Facebook messages, and the e-mails and the phone calls and texts, and well – I felt totally loved and spolied.

Jon took me out for breafast in the morning (I love going out for breakfast – It’s my favorite!) and then two of my girlfriends took me out for all you can eat Sushi for lunch (that’s my next favorite) and then my brother was going to take me (and Jon) out for dinner, but at that point I was “yucking out in my pants” ……ha ha ha ha – that was something I said a very long time ago, and I can’t believe that it just popped into my head right then. Actually, I was feeling very full, but still excited about going out for dinner – Can you imagine a whole day without me having to prepare ONE SINGLE MEAL…yah, me either, so this was AWESOME.

BUT….and there’s always a but, eh? But, we remembered that it was “Meet the Teacher Night” at both the Middle and the Elementary School, and so we rescheduled for early next week…..was it Monday or Tuesday? I don’t remember? Hmmmmm Chris????? Help me out?

And, in the middle of all this, my house is an absolute disaster and looks and feels like a bomb exploded and a camel threw up. Fortunately, my natural deodorant is still working and so it doens’t stink and above all else…..THAT IS AWESOME. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to go to out, and to sweat, and to stay in those same clothes all day, and then to take them off at the end of the day and to do a pit sniff and other than the fact that you “know” you sweated in them – THERE IS NO STENCH! So much so that if you wanted to be gross and disgusting – which I don’t – you could totally get away wth wearing them again the next day…..which I wouldn’t, but I could….I totally could.

This is so unbelieveble to me. I am starting to grasp the fact that I am not a stinky hippie any longer. YAAAAAAHHHH!

Okay, so back to the bomb exploding, camel vomiting disaster of a house…….

A while back my favorite earrings broke.

It was hell!

My sister made these earrings for me back when she worked in a Rock and Gem Store in North Vancouver. They went with just about every piece of clothing that I owned and they were the perfect mix of not too dressy, but not too casual. They were perfect! PERFECT, I tell you!

Well, I wore them right out! One of them broke on me after YEARS of almost daily wear.

I was devestated, and so after an appropriate mourning period, I decided to move on and attempt to recreate a new pair that was as close to the originals as possible.

I headed to Michaels, and found some stuff and whipped up a new pair in no time at all.

While I was there, I got sucked into the black hole of the beading and jewelry section, and I will never again be able to climb my way out of there again. THE END!

Actually, I was overcome with ideas and possibilities, and well….in any spare time – like nap time or after bed time in the evenings – I started making some jewelry.

A friend of mine came over and saw some of the stuff and well….she picked up a few pieces, and then I had the opportunity to go and hang out for an evening with a bunch of ladies, and I sold a bunch more pieces…..and so….with a huge amount of panic little bit of stress…..I am now going to be selling some jewelery on-line.

I’ve not uploaded all the pieces into the store, and we still have bugs and glitches that we are working out, but if you’re interested – go and take a look and maybe…just maybe, there will be something that you like.

Keep checking back regularly as I still have pieces to add, and I’m making new pieces in my spare time…HA HA HA HA HA! Spare time, what is that?

Also, if you see something that you like, but you are wondering about different colors – let me know and we’ll try to work something out.

If you come across any glitches or *gasp* spelling mistakes (I would never make any of those) and you have the time….let me know so that I can make everything look as good as possible.

Hey, something in my life has to be neat and tidy and it sure ain’t my house, right now.

I’ll be adding some more product to the store today and then once again, we are off to Vancouver this weekend AND….AND…..I’m getting my hair done on Saturday! YAH! So I’ll post pictures, as soon as I can.

And hopefully, things will be getting back to normal and my regularly scheduled blatherings will resume and life will be grand, eh?

Am I nuts to think of hope for that?

Running Around..

Guess What?

It’s Siah’s FIRST BIRTHDAY……..TODAY!

I can hardly believe that it’s been a WHOLE year since he was born…although technically he wasn’t born yet. He didn’t decide to make an appearance until around 3pm….I think?

So Cute

To be certain, I’d have to go back and check, but We’re headed out because some of our longest standing and dearest friends have moved closer and we are going to help them unpack.

I’m so excited.

I have pictures to post and thoughts to expound upon and endless drivel to blah, blah blah about and it will all be good – BUT….right now, I am in my pyjamas and we have to go in 40 minutes and I gotta do something about myself.

We are going to have a first Birthday party next Saturday, but we’re just trying to nail down a time….so, if you are family or close friends, please consider yourself invited. It’s more a time to celebrate “LIFE” and to get together and just be happy than an actual birthday party, but whatever it takes to call a party, eh???

Gotta go and get ready!

Happy Birthday, my son!

This day, like every day with you, is another day to celebrate life and to be so thankful…..so, so thankful.