34

I turned 34 yesterday and had an amazing birthday, namely thanks to glen.  I went for a pedicure (alone) in the morning, all of my colleagues came over with a cake after lunch, and Finn and I had a nap in the afternoon while the boys visited a water park.  Glen brought home sushi and cupcakes and wine for dinner.  I felt so lucky to be with my boys, happy and healthy all day!  The evening before we were at our neighbours for a little backyard birthday fun (3 of us in 2 days) and 3 lovely, beautiful women held Finn for about 4 hours.  It was super relaxing for me, and Elliott had tons of fun in a big kiddie pool with his friends.  Taking photos seems to be one of those things that has dropped while I love my new baby, but here are a couple of cuties from the last couple of days.

 Finn loves the soothie.  Elliott wouldn't take one, so I feel especially proud.

 Elliott loves having Finn on him or snuggling with him.  cute.

 After a great day, we are all ready for bed.  Snuggles during books.

Finny got a new toy!  Cute! 

My Finn

In chronological order, so you can see that Finn is growing and gaining lots of weight.  And beautiful.

 I love this photo.  I'm not sure who likes this position, but the boys often get here themselves.

 Finn's first bear.  My friend at work gave it to him and he loves napping with him.

We had a really fussy night last night and then a big sleep in this am (thank god for daycare).  Who couldn't see a little face like thisl forgive everything, and love him to bits.  What a wonder.

Happy Canada Day

From our backyard to yours.  Thank heavens we live in Canada. 

Elliott and our pal Gloria- he was 'teaching' her to wave the flag.

Slip and slide

EJ's favorite!  Seriously, him and his pals have been asking me when we can do this all winter!  He has mastered a new trick, he calls it slip and slide extreme.  I'll try to get a picture :)

waking up

This little man is a hungry guy!  You'd think I was starving him.  But we woke up calmly this morning and here is his cute face.

Welcome Baby Finn!

Sorry that I am not posting any photos of my dear baby boy Findley Oscar Hayward-Cheetham, who was already born over a week ago!!!  Finn was born on June 9th around 10pm, after a very reasonable and relatively short labor.  It was much more intense than previously, but that paid off in time and seems to be in recovery. 

We've all been doing great at home, Elliott coming into his new role with only a few bumps and glen being a great support to all of us.  I've been feeling so lucky to have so much time together as a family- and glen still has 2 more weeks of time-off.  Finn and I've been sleeping together and the boys have been having all kinds of adventures.  It is a true luxury to do this all together, and a second time.  It's true!  Much easier the second time. 

Glen just arrived home and got my cord- here are some pictures.

 Found in the grass a 4 leaf clover the DAY I went into labor. 

 Finn in his first hours... snuggling mom in my hospital bed.

 The profile that I stare at hours each day.

 His first go at the soother.  Somehow got both hands up there to hold it in. 

My boys, together.  Elliott is so gentle and caring and attentive.  Exactly as I imagined he could be, but certainly more that I expected. 

Glen does an excellent job at updating his facebook photos too if anyone is looking for a new friend.  He has better quality photos than these too!

Farmers Market is open!

One of our favorite's of the season... we have a great market that happens on Saturday mornings about 2.5 blocks from our house. Elli has always loved going, and it is joined to a school playground. So after we buy our veggies and snacks we can play for a couple of hours. This last weekend, we went with our friends, and here are the kids eating fresh cucumbers.

 Glen was trying to recreate the hours before my previous labor and we went for an annoying drive to the McClure ferry.  This very old ferry takes 2 cars accross on a cable rope.  It was a fun adventure for Elliott, but didn't result in a baby brother, just an annoyed mother (the road is really curvy and hilly).

Hanging out

 Elliott heard that people put cucumber slices on their eyes- so we had to try it out.  It actually felt great!

 Little boy got a hair cut.  The kids place closed, so he went to Daddy's barber.  Pretty cute cut for half the price!

And yes, we are nearing the end here.  37 weeks now and hoping for another week or so.  The baby is really low and things feel like they are getting ready. 

Breakfast time!  Snuggles again.

From Elliott's perspective

Here are some recent shots from Elliott- I haven't included the other 100 that documents the cat's every move.  But you get the idea.

Papa- ready for work. 

 Penny thinking about her day.

 And still thinking...

 There is an awesome series of this.  Elliott moved the cars all around- into crash-ups, flipped over, all lined up.  I actually didn't realize he did all of this until we saw the camera.  So cute that he loves his cars this much, still.

 Our yellow house.  Looks so cheery in the Spring.

And the maple seedling that has turned into a tree in 4 short years!

Victoria long-weekend

We are fully into baby-preparation mode these days, and so spent the long weekend at home working on some projects around the house with my parents help.  My job was to keep Elliott out of the painting projects, and food on the table for everyone.  The end results of the projects are great and make us feel a little more prepared to not get a whole bunch done for the next few months.

Elliott is camera happy these days.  We let him use our camera and he takes as many shots as we wants to.  The photos are pretty great- I'll put some on the next post.

Elliott bought a $.25 boat at a garage sale and he was desperate to sail it.  Not imagining that the water park could actually be open yet, we ventured down to the river.  But it was, and on a cloudy, cool Sunday Elliott got completely wet.  But more importantly, he and these 2 boys at the park ended up sharing and loving this little boat for about 1.5 hours.

 Finding the boat under the bridge. 

Elliott and Penny love each other.  Thank goodness, otherwise Penny wouldn't get nearly the snuggles that she does!

Back in Action

After the most miserable colds ever, we are all feeling much better.  This weekend we got back to life, and it felt so so good. 

 Elliott and I strolled around the Wildlife park on Saturday.  Some highlights: 2 small grizzles climbed a very tall tree and wrestled, he had the tube slide to himself and went down about 20 times, a peacock really wanted our snack and came within a foot of us, and we met the sweetest owl Elliott called "lovie owl."

 My friend Patty coming down a child's slide.  She was helping to faciliate coordinated play between our boys.  Awesome mom.

 Glen finally got his long anticipated wish- a hitch and bike rack for our car.  Locked and loaded within an hour! 

We all rode around MacArthur island for about an hour.  Elliott was awesome on his 2 wheeler, and didn't want the ride to be finished.  I sure did- that was a lot for me with a big belly!

Birthday party

My friend Alex really goes over the top with her amazing birthday creations.  I totally admire it.  This year Elliott will be lucky if I can pick up and ice cream cake!!!

While I lay in bed sick with a cold, glen 'manned' the bouncy castle at the party.  Apparently Elliott and his bud loved it.

Earth Day

Glen organized a mini-block clean-up for Earth Day.  Here is the cutest clean-up crew to grace our clean block.

Tire Swing

Glen made this cool tire swing for our backyard last week.  Free tire from the tire shop, but $50 for the high end hardware.  Sure has made our backyard popular!

riding the 2 wheel!

Last weekend, Elliott declared on Friday afternoon that he wanted to ride his peddle bike without training wheels.  I searched for the right tool, but called glen at work.  He left work early and was home within 10 min!  He couldn't miss this, and within 1 hour, Elliott has his trainers off and was riding his bike on his own.  Pretty memorable day for us too.  Who remembers learning to ride their bike?  I sure do.

There are some sweet girls down our street who live with their grandma.  Glen gave their bikes a spring tune up- easy earn of cool points. 

Easter

We were lucky to have our friends visting us this Easter weekend (an annual tradition, we think 4th in a row!).  They brought their 2 cuties with them, and their aborable 5 week old!  That was a full house, but we all did great.  There was lots of fun in the backyard, Ella and Elliott went skiing (and LOVED it), we went to a couple of parks, and pretty much chatted the entire time. 

Little bunnies searching for Easter eggs.  The highlight for them of the weekend. 

 Examining their baskets and being very good about equal distribution.  Next year, we'll add another little mister to the mix.  Bringing us up to 4 boys and 1 girl.  Go Ella Go!

play time

Elliott is definitely over his aversion to face painting!  I think I might hire this girl for Elliott's birthday party.

 We've had the pleasure of playing with Elliott's best bud Friday afternoons for the last couple of weeks.  On the walk to our house, there is a great playground for the boys to play at.  Remember lying on a swing and kicking your legs?

 The boys having a blast riding bikes.  They did it for 45 min straight, and when I took off their helmets their hair was wet with sweat!

Kaitlin

 We love Kaitlin and soon she is leaving Kamloops- this makes Elliott sad and Mommy more sad!  This past Friday she took Elliott to gymnastics while I did a little extra work.  And he had a wonderful time and immediately asked when he can play with her again- this has to be the most satisfying feeling for a parent.