Winter in Victoria

So we had a brief period of winter here in Victoria with real snow. It's gone now, but it was here for a few days!

Saturday Morning

It's just before 9am on Saturday morning and so far we have: eaten breakfast; played 'chase me'; jumped on the bed; played hide and seek; watched tv; watched pictures on the computer; done a load of laundry; lined up all of Kian's trucks; Keira has had a nap (I can hear her starting to wake up now); I've finished my second cup of coffee; and Kian is about to have a snack.

I remember when Saturday at 9am was just rolling out of bed time. I kind of miss that! I'm hoping that I won't have to wait 18 years to have that again!

All about Keira

My mom pointed out recently that there hasn't been a lot of Keira in my blog lately. So here is a post dedicated to my little girl!

What is she up to these days? Well she's grown 2 tiny teeth on the bottom. She can sit for a few seconds at a time. She's not crawling yet - mostly because she hates to spend any time on her tummy.

In spite of the fact that her sleeping habits leave a LOT to be desired, she seems happy and healthy. I on the other hand, am cranky and irritable whenever she has a short nap, wakes frequently at night, or wakes way too early in the morning (which is quite often.)

She loves playing in her exersaucer and is amused by it for way longer than her big brother ever was. She's also fascinated by her big brother and is always grabbing for him when he's nearby. Kian is a great big brother and gives her hugs and kisses, brings her toys, runs up to her room when she wakes up from naps, brings spit cloths when she spits up, and lets me know when she's crying.

Video-Mania

Kian the Builder

Kian likes to help Daddy build stuff.

Living by the Ocean

I love living by the ocean. We are within fairly easy walking distance to 2 different beaches.

On the walk through the woods down to one of the beaches there are blackberry bushes. Kian loves blackberries. Unfortunately they are all gone by now! This is Kian looking sad because they're all gone.

Happy Halloween!

We had lots of activity this halloween. Kian dressed up as Bob the Builder and Keira was a Christmas Elf. Erick and I were both pirates!

Friday night we went to the Family Centre for a BBQ, Saturday night was a Halloween party at our church, Sunday morning Kian got to wear his costume again for church, and tonight he went trick or treating and handed out candy.

Painting and Lining up the Trucks

Two of Kian's favourite activities!

Just for Fun

Here's some more pictures just because my kids are so darn cute!

Family Visit

Kristen and the kids visited us in late September. The kids had a great time playing together. They chased bunnies, played at the beach, went to the park, the petting zoo, and the duck pond.

It's so nice to have family in the same province even though we've moved all the way across the country!

Starting Solids

Keira is now eating solids... yay! Erick fed her the first meal of rice cereal. Now we've added yams. Next comes chickpeas!

So far she's a great eater! I hope this continues.

Saanich fair in September

I have finally uploaded all of the pictures from our camera onto my computer. They go back a bit!

Here are the pics from the Saanich Fair that we went to in early September. Kian loved the rides, the tractors, and the animals! We'll definitely go back again next year.

Currently sleep deprived...

Its been a busy month. Kian is now settled into his daycare and I'm playing the role of frumpy hausfrau! I've just survived a night of very little sleep and am sitting on the couch with the cause of my very little sleep. She seems pretty wide awake and disgustingly happy, while I am feeling just the opposite.

In light of my crankiness, I'm just going to post a few pictures rather than give an update on the past month!

Family Week

So Erick is off of classes this week. This morning we went to the KidsFringe event in Market Square. Lots of fun!

We plan to cram in as much fun as possible during this next week, because when Erick starts his classes he'll be extremely busy.

Daycare...

Well, miracle of miracles, we found Kian a daycare spot that starts in September. It's a home daycare that is a 7 minute drive from our place. Hopefully the lovely woman who runs the daycare will be able to take in Keira when the time comes.

This is Erick's last week of MBA orientation courses, then he has a week off, and then starts the program in earnest. Having Kian in daycare will certainly make life more manageable. Although, it really hasn't been too bad having both of them home.

I'll probably keep Kian at home at least one day each week even though our spot is for 5 days a week. He's such a good big brother to Keira and I want to make sure they continue to have bonding time together with mummy!

But, I am excited about the chance to start exploring our new city. Without Kian in tow, I can easily cart Keira all over the place!

It's fun to play at the Y... M.. C.. A.. eh!

Gotta love the Victoria YMCA! They offer playcare while you work out, up to 1.5 hours per day. I take the kids there at least twice a week, leave them in playcare, go work out, and then get an uninterrupted shower. I may have to start going more frequently!

We also have a handy dandy water table in our back patio. It's completely enclosed and because we don't really have any mosquitoes to speak of, I can just leave the door open for Kian to wander in and out to play.

Keira is entertained by various toys for minutes at a time. I get to go to the bathroom all by myself sometimes!

Welcome to Victoria

We arrived in Victoria on the ferry from Port Angelus (USA) on the 19th (I think it was the 19th but I don't have the date memorized). Regardless... we spent a full week without any furniture except for lawnchairs and 2 plastic bins. I don't recommend living without furniture.


Grandma and Grandpa Dirks stayed with us from our arrival on the Saturday until that next Thursday. We had been hoping for our stuff to arrive while they were around so they could distract the kids while we unpacked. Alas, this was not to be. So Erick and I frantically unpacked during naptimes and after Kian's bedtime. I also do not recommend doing this if it is at all possible to avoid!



In the week with my parents around and the following week (Erick hadn't started classes yet) we tried to explore as much of Victoria as possible. We visited numerous playgrounds and parks. The photo of Kian above is from the Carnarvon water pad... a great free option for a hot day!




We also visited the Beacon Hill Park children's farm. It is a small petting zoo in Beacon Hill Park. The park also has a water spray pad, a great playground, numerous duck ponds and walking paths, and a cricket field.





Some other spots we've visited are the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, Gyro Park (which is quite close to us and has a beach area, Cattle Point Park, and a few other parks whose name's escape me at the moment!

So far the weather has been phenomenal. We have been here 3 weeks now and today is the first day we've had rain.

We occasionally go for a 'Bunny Walk' in the evening. The campus is overrun with bunnies and Kian gets very excited to see them.

I've spent many mornings over at the family centre during their drop in times. I've also spent a few mornings over at the YMCA (they have drop in child care for 1.5 hours when you come to work out).

Erick has just finished a week of classes and I've finished my first week home with 2 little ones. I think it will take Kian a little while to adjust to all of the changes...

So far so good!

Pics from the road...

Here's a few pics from the trip from Winnipeg to Victoria...


We stayed in hotels with pools and waterslides to give Kian something to look forward to each night. He loves the water!

One of our many many stops along the way. It was so great to have the Dirks grandparents along for the ride. It made everything easier.

More water fun ...

Another interesting stop... a waterfall

Many diaper changes along the way.

Settling In..

So, here we are in Victoria at last. I don't have much time to give details... I suspect it may be awhile before I have any time for any details...

Happy 2nd Birthday Kian

We were at my parents place in Steinbach for the weekend, so Grandma made a birthday cake for Kian on Sunday. Kian got a 'rumble' tractor from his Dirks Grandparents.

He wanted to blow out his candles again and again. But he wasn't all that interested in eating cake, just the strawberries we put on top.

On Monday (Kian's actual birthday) Erick and I gave him Lego. Which has been a huge hit!

Manitoba Mosquitoes

The bane of our existence in Manitoba is the vast mosquito population here, that and the viciously cold winters... Even though the weather is quite nice for playing outside, I dread leaving the house with the kids... especially after it rains. Every step in the grass raises another cloud of mosquitoes. If you stand still or move too slowly for more than 2 seconds you end up with a swarm on your legs, arms, and around your face.

We celebrated my grandmothers birthday this weekend with a bbq. They sprayed the backyard, but the bugs were still pretty bad. I didn't want to take Keira outside in the bugs so I ended up staying inside for almost the entire time. I can't put bug spray on a 2 month old, and she's not happy sitting in her car seat with the bug net over it for long periods of time, so it was either hang out outside swatting myself and my baby, or stay indoors. Poor Kian has a rash of bug bites from playing outside there... not my idea of a nice summer no matter what the weather is.

Just one more reason to look forward to our move to Victoria... significantly fewer mosquitoes.

Conversations with Keira

Here's a sampling of my daytime conversations with Keira!

This has been the week of doctor's appointments. Kian had his yearly ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) specialist appointment on Monday. He also had his Audiology appointment this morning. His hearing in his good ear is very good so no worries. He has his 2-year check up with the pediatrician next week Friday. We'll collect a copy of his medical records and get a reference letter so that we can find a new set of doctors for him out in Victoria.

Yesterday Keira had her 2 month appointment and vaccinations. She did great, she's such a little trooper. I got a copy of her medical records now for our move as well.

27 days to go...

Tick tock tick tock... only 27 days until we leave for Victoria. There's still so much to get done before then: finish our renovations, pack, forward our mail, see as much of family and friends as possible, celebrate Kian and Erick's respective birthdays, go to a wedding, doctor's appointments, get glasses before Erick's done work (and his benefits), and, and, and...

The big ones to finish are really the packing and the renovations. Today my mom is coming over so I hope to make the most of her visit and get a lot of packing done while she entertains Keira. Boy am I going to miss having my parents around! And the kids will miss their grandparents too, especially Kian who loves to play with Papa & Grams and Grandma & Grandpa.

1 Month and Counting

Time has gone so quickly lately. It's hard to believe that Keira is already over a month old. Kian is such a great big brother, he's always giving kisses and trying to share things with the baby.

Life is busy with the kids and trying to finish up renovating our place, while packing to move out to Victoria. We've got about a month and a half until we leave. We're both excited about what lies ahead, but sad too about leaving family and friends behind (we think more of you should be moving out west with us!)

We'll be moving into family housing on the UVic campus where Erick will be going to school. I'll be home with both kids when we get out there so it will be a lot busier around the house than it is for me now with just Keira to tend to. I'm hoping to find another mom or two to do a childcare share at least 1 or 2 mornings a week. Kian will need to get to know the other kids in the family complex, he's so used to having full days at daycare that being home everyday with just me and Keira would be boring for him.

But before we go, we're trying to see family and friends as much as possible in between all of the other things that need to get done. 2 weekends ago we were up north at Erick's folks place and last weekend I took the kids to my parents. Kian loves all the outdoors time, both sets of grandparents have more outdoor space than we have here in the city.

Our Little Girl, the birth story.

So, I wasn't completely sure if i was in labour on Sunday afternoon (Apr 11th). Since last time I never noticed my water break, my doc said that if I wasn't sure that I should go into the hospital and get checked out if I suspected it had happened. So that's what we did. It turns out that my water had broken during the night. So I was admitted that afternoon even though nothing seemed to be happening.

I got some medication to hopefully start things moving along. We watched a couple of movies, went for coffee at the Tim's in the hospital lobby, and then tried to get a little sleep. All of a sudden the nursing staff descended on our room, apparently the baby's heart rate had dipped dangerously.

From that point on things moved very quickly. I was whisked off to the operating room for an emergency c-section. It would have been scary but things happened too fast to really think about anything. Baby Keira came out wailing at 12:45 am on April 12th. As soon as we heard her we knew she was just fine!

So now we're all at home and enjoying life with our 2 little ones.