Anyways, I reluctantly agreed to the dog thing for Shane.  So, on Father’s Day we picked up this new pup that just seemed “perfect.”  I actually found him in the ads for Shane (because my googling skills are far superior to his) and made him call.  We skipped church to go get this pup because we didn’t want to be too late.  He’s an Alaskan Malamute, a couple months old.  It was one of those decisions that just “felt right” (at least for now).  Ya, ya, thinking with emotions, we’ll see how far that gets us.  Anyways, I liked this breed because they are super mellow dogs, quite social, and a good family pet.  They do not have an agressive edge so that makes me feel at ease with kids being around him.  They are also quite a large dog, and bred originally for pulling sleds.  Shane really wanted a dog that was big and could pull.  Yeah, because pulling him on a skateboard is something very essential to our everyday life.  But ya, a dog is like an outdoor companion for Shane.  He’s gotta be able to keep up on the board or the bike or the mountain.  So, this dog is good for that.  And, since he’s kinda along the husky-line of dogs, his fur will keep him nice and warm for an OUTSIDE life.  I do NOT want a dog living where my human pack lives.  There’s gotta be a separation there.  (Sorry to all those inside-dog-loving people).  I can hardly keep up with my own girls’ mess in the house, let alone a sub-human’s mess.  I don’t want the dog smell in the house and I don’t want fur in the house and I don’t want dog pee and poo in my house.  And to all those people who say “my dog doesn’t smell,” it’s not true.  I used to think that too in our old house.  “Oh, Hassa’s clean, our house doesn’t smell like dog at all!”  But, you ask a visitor and they’ll tell you that you are living a lie.  They stink.  Bath or no bath, they freaking stink.  Anyways, trying to stay positive here…oh yeah, and this dog is super mellow for a puppy and great with the kids.  He doesn’t jump up and rarely bites or nips to play.  He just kinda sits around and wanders here and there.  His sister at the breeder place was a lot more active.  Anyways, enough details about a freaking dog…bottom line…we gotta get through the next weeks of puppy-training and hopefully we won’t have to return him.  He’s a bit of a whiner when left alone (standard issue) and he’s loud.  He howls.  I hope the neighbor doesn’t visit with a shotgun.  We’re trying our best to keep him quiet and so far the only real whiney-time was this morning when he woke up.  I think he needs a good walk/run first thing to wear him out.  We’ll see.  And, one more detail, we named him “Neko,” which means “one who is victorious.”  Shane kept thinking he wants a name that has to do with the idea of “victory.”  Perhaps because he was so defeated by Hassa’s death…anyways, “Neko” it is.  River keeps calling him “wolfy” so that might take over the official name.  We’ll see.

OK, onto real life.  Our yard– dialed in!  We got grass, we got a trampoline, we got a baby swing.  It’s pretty sweet.  Next on the long list of “things I want but don’t really need,” is a fire-pit bowl thingy.  Time for some summer camp fires.  Well, I guess we need some summer first.

AND- I finished mounting my backsplash in the kitchen.  I still have to chaulk it, which will only take a couple hours, but time is scarce, so I need to wait til a day where the kids are gone or Shane’s around.  He’s been on days for a month now so I don’t have very much time to do anything but manage the day-t0-day tasks.  Which reminds me, I have like 4 baskets of laundry to fold

For one, Shane’s back on the dayshift, which I always enjoy.  I do things the way I like to during the day and structure my day and the girls’ day accordingly.  The three of us chicks stay home lots, go for walks, play playdough, shop, go visit friends, etc.  It’s great.  Dad gets home at the witching hour (5pm) and good chaos ensues.  Then he gives the kids a bath while I clean up the disaster that we call “dinner.”  What is truly amazing is how one meal can make a normal, clean looking kitchen into a scene from Twister.  Seriously.  What’s the point of even vacuuming?  Ellie is almost worse than River now.  I can’t WAIT til its sunny out and I can transfer the highchair out on the cement pad in the backyard.  It’s gonna be dinner outside every night…if summer even decides to show up.

And, our backyard, it is LUSH.  We finally got the seed down over about 4 inches of rich topsoil.  It started to sprout up after a few days and all this rain has served us well in the backyard.  We timed it perfectly– well, I should say Mother Nature timed it well.  I don’t think we’ve had one sunny hot day since we’ve seeded.

We considered buying a trampoline, but maybe we’ll wait til later this summer.  They are not cheap.  A regular spring-trampoline is about $400 with the safety net included.  The non-spring kind is about $1000.  Ya, not cheap.  But, I remember having a trampoline as a kid and its definately one of those toys that you get your moneys worth.  From Ellie crawling around enclosed, to sleepovers outside as teenagers, its a timeless toy.  So, I think it will be a wise purchase.

Oh- and- exciting news on the kitchen front.  I’m starting my backsplash very, very soon.  I have most of the supplies needed (including tiles) and I have researched and asked people how to do it, so I’m confident I can figure the rest out.  The Dick’s Lumber employee was very encouraging, telling me, “it’s a tedius and messy job.”  Just looking at his face I could tell he was thinking, “This girl is wasting her time. Hopefully she has a husband that can fix her project.”  Mmmhm.  Well, we’ll see about that.  I’m open to the project taking a long time and being tedius.  Hell, I painted my cabinets in like 7 months, you think I’m worried about timing?  The moment I start setting deadlines, my work turns to crap.  I need time to do things properly.  So, if I only get one freaking row of tile down properly, I’ll be happy.  We’ll see.  Even preparing the wall, I realized how much I’ve learned.  There were a few holes in the wall under the cabinet, where screws/drywall inserts were in the wall, and I unscrewed them, got my pliars and twisted out the inserts without damaging or ripping the insert, and then puddied the holes!  Voila!  All within like 3 minutes.  I’ve learned a lot!  So, I’m hoping I can pull off the backsplash…

Ok, battery is dying, tummy is growling. Big long day in Abby today.  Better get my snacks and DVD player.

Anyways, in one of the latest episodes there is a hole in the bush, with a huge light emanating from the hole.  It is called, “the Source.”  The two brothers symbolizing light and dark, good and evil, are looking into the hole, and their mother is informing them about the details of the light.  I wish I wouldn’t have deleted it off my PVR because i’d go back and quote you the exact sentencing, but she warns her sons not to enter into the forbidden light-hole, but to only protect it.  Humans just want more, she said, and just looking at it and protecting it isn’t enough, they always want more. She warns them never to enter, lest they die (strong allusion to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil).  (Now, whether the show actually literally and logically follows the allusions they create is another thing).  Anyways, the “dark” brother also has this overwhelming desire to get off the island, to go beyond what he knows and find out where he is really from. He’s not satisfied on the island and feels it in his core that he belongs somewhere else.  I found this so enlightening.  It’s so like all of us– never, ever satisfied with things the way they are.  We are constantly looking for something else, something new, some good things, some forbidden.  Though the light is there, we need to go inside that light, and figure it out and see what’s around the corner.  And it got me thinking even more…why on earth would God have placed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, right spack in the middle of Eden and then say, “but just don’t touch that one.”  Was that his way of unleashing free will?  By offering a choice between something good and something bad?  And, seriously, Adam and Eve were in Eden– don’t we think of Eden as being the supreme life?  The perfect natural context, married to the perfect spiritual context.  Nature and God in harmony with Man.  Why did Adam and Eve want more?  (Well, in all fairness, it was probably Eve that wanted more…her mind was probably a little more curious than Adam’s mind.  Adam was probably just wanting to know what the next meal was gonna be).  But yeah, really, in this perfect physical and spiritual context, with God as their friend at their side, they wanted more and had to try the freaking tree and wreck everything.  It really makes me see how we were wired to want more, wired for unsatisfaction, right from the beginning– before we were even “fallen.”  God made it that way.  It’s not our fault.  I guess it’s what we do with it, how we use our will to chose between things, that is important.  WOAH- tangeant.  Sorry, I was meaning to write about Ellie and River’s bizarro morning sleep patterns.

Ok so this morning Riv gets up to pee at like 4am.  Did she go back to sleep after?  Who the hell knows.  I did.  But then I soon woke up at 5:15 to hear her freaking singing her song in her bed.  On and on and on the tune goes.  It’s like the never-ending song.  It’s probably one of those things that in 20 years I’ll look back and think, “oh man, I miss those days, my toddler singing a tune in her bed at 5:15,” but when it’s happening in real time it can be exasperating!  I told her to go to sleep and she said she is singing to go to sleep, and, in all fairness, she was laying there humming with her eyes closed.  She often does that just before she dozes off.  So, yeah, she ended up going downstairs at around 7 and I have no idea if she did go back to sleep.  While watching Sesame Street she looked and me, with bags under her watery eyes, and said, “mama, I’m tired.  I need to go to sleep.”  Ok, so, nap time at 7:30am.  Fine by me.  Ellie of course wakes up often from Riv’s loudness, since they share a wall, and so I gave Ellie a bottle at 7 and figured she had probably been up for a while too.  So I put her back down and she went back to sleep too.  So, they are both sleeping now (8:30), hence the long blog today!

I really don’t know what to do with Riv’s sleep business.  Is she just a super-wired kid, with such a strong WILL for being awake?  Or is there things that need to be adjusted?  I mean, it’s not really a discipline issue, per se, since she’s not really doing anything wrong, just humming quietly in her bed at 5am with her eyes closed.  But, seriously, its really frustrating when she does stuff like this, then is up in the morning and super tired and dragging her feet and sporting the sourest of moods.  And she walks into the walls and furniture.  I can always guage if she was up way too early by how many walls she walks into in the morning.  So yeah, do I cut out the nap?  Earlier bedtime?  Later bedtime?  She went to bed around 915pm last night (although she was in her bed a lot earlier, but again, humming never-ending songs takes some time).  HMMM….but she really needs that nap, especially since she often is up around 6ish.  It’s like a bad cycle that I can’t break.  If I cut the nap out, she will not magically start sleeping in more.  Usually the opposite…it’s like she needs a new pattern so she can go to bed earlier and sleep in longer and wake up less frequently at night.  I dunno.  Surely I’ve blogged about this before…

Ok, Shane’s home off the graveyard, gotta go!

Shane and I had a great time too.  The 3 hour drive was great.  It’s such a weird feeling doing things solo with no kids.  SO quiet in the car.  Just the driving is vacation enough!  We could stop at Timmy’s or Starbucks whenever we wanted to and didn’t have to pack a bazillion things and carry a bazillion things.  It’s amazing how you forget how simple it is to just carry a light purse– instead of a 20 pound diaper bag in one hand and 30 pound child-car-seat combo in the other– meanwhile attempting to balance the coffee cup in some obscure position on your body.  Yeah, a light purse is nice.  Anyways, so after a few coffee stops and gas stops we finally checked into the Delta Okanagan Resort and it was pretty sweet.  A lot busier than I thought.  Kelowna is a bit of a party town so there were all sorts there.  It was buzzing.  It was great…going out for food, walking the beach, walking through the strips of shops, etc.  It was nice, really nice.  We even rented a movie off the TV (something we would NEVER do) and stayed awake through the whole thing!  The movie was “Up in the Air.”  Weird show, but good.  13 dollar rental, it better be good.

And, on the kids front, Ellie’s mobility has changed her personality.  I might have already written about this, but she’s just a totally different kid.  She hates diaper changes with a passion so I literally need to pin her down with force to wipe her butt.  She likes that.    And she’s waking up earlier and waking up more at night, crawling around and making all sorts of noises.  It’s nice, it means she’s growing and developing, but at the same time, its a foreshadow of toddler round 2.

Ok, time’s up, gotta feed the kiddos some food.

And, since we got a huge load of soil dumped at our house, I have a lot of extra soil to put in my front planters.  And now I need some more plants.  I’m gonna try to hit up Devon Nursery today and pick up some good stuff.  I should get some pics and show you all.  Maybe today if I get a second I’ll snap a few pics.

As for the kids, River has been off-kilter lately and I think I figured out why.  Too busy.  She has been waking up a lot more again (just when I said to myself…’hmm, it’s like Riv has finally figured out how to sleep and go back to sleep, and to even like to sleep!).  But yeah, so waking up whining and crying and peeing and whatnot.  So, I thought back on the last few weeks and I think I counted being home ONCE in the afternoon/evening.  The other 6 days of the week we were out, or River was not at home.  Out of whack.  As much as it pains me to sit around and stay home, it really does make for a better-behaved toddler.  Though we’re together as a family when we’re out, Riv is busy with other kids or with other people and she doesn’t get the “mommy-time” that she needs.  That, combined with me having the wisdom’s out and the down-time that I needed to recover.  So, I’ve purposed to stay home more this week, especially in the afternoon/evening around dinner-bedtime.

Ellie has been better lately.  Way more content and “herself.”  She is a total mover now, so that new crawling-sitting-pulling-up thing has been keeping her busy in her crib.  She doesn’t just lay down when I put her down to sleep.  I try to pull her feet out from under her so she is forced to lay down, but that lasts like 3 seconds and then she’s sitting up and smiling at me like, “hah mom, nice try.”  But, the last few days she’s eventually gone to sleep so I’m hoping she has figured it all out.  But its once thing to have it “figured out” and another to actually do the thing. It’s like an instinct she has to just get up and crawl.  Not sleep.  Sleep is not instinctive.  Unfortunate, really.

And, I am SOOOO stoked about this weekend.  Shane and I are going away for our anniversary.  It’s only for one night but I’m embarassed to say its the first night EVER away from kid(s).  The only other time we left Riv for a night was when Ellie was born in the hospital!  It’s partly that the babysitting aspect has not really worked out, and partly I haven’t been aggressive enough to make it happen.  But, there’s no excuse this weekend.  My mom has graciously offered, and Shane has time off, and it’s our anniversary, so we’re going to Kelowna to a Spa-Resort-Hotel thing and it’s gonna be good.  Even driving for 3 hours kidless will be treat enough.

Ok, Ellie is hanging on my leg, I better get these kids some food.

This last week has been a bit crappy.  I had my teeth out and thus had to kind of relax and pass on some duties to other people.  Things always go to the crapper when I can’t be the mom–not too puff myself up or anything– but that’s just how it goes.  Moms know best.  Right?  Anyways, so things have been a bit out of routine, I haven’t spent very much “quality” time with kids, or with Shane, and so it can get very edgy in a hurry.  The last few weeks have been way too busy and not enough stability at home, and it always reflects on the kids.  But, alas, we’re coming out of it now and hopefully in a few more days I’ll be back to semi-normal.  My mouth still hurts on and off, but yesterday felt a lot better than the day before, so here’s hoping for full chewing ability in a few more days.  Seriously, how much soup can a person have?

And, it’s official, Ellie is a crawler.  She still is quite on the lazy-bones side, so even though she “knows” how to crawl, she still just sits around and plays with toys.  She has become quite the fuss and grouch though, if she wants to start moving and can’t.  But, generally, still sweet.  She has been waking up more frequently also, making things extra low-patience in the house during the days, but whatever.  Phases, phases, phases.  Probably because I haven’t been snuggling with her much in the day…more teeth…more crawling, etc.  And now I’m looking at her and she’s got a runny nose again.  Maybe another cold or more teeth comin’.  These kids never stop changing!  But I am so thankful for her and Riv and love having my two girlies.  I couldn’t have asked for a better two-pack

Ok, I better go get some breakfast going and get the day going.  I made a cake for River and so now I gotta decorate it! Fun fun!  She will be so surprised when she sees it.  Cake with Smarties on top!  The world doesn’t get any better.  This morning some of her cousins are coming over, and tonigh she will get to see some grandparents.  So, that’s today.  Very thankful for a big and healthy 3 year old beautiful girl, full of many, many, many words and much love!

Coming from the room next door: sounds.  Drilling noises.  Machine noises.  Teeth hitting the ground kind of noises.  And then, some friendly conversation:

-”Gurinder!”

-”Mmm…hmm…mumble mumble…”

-”Gurinder you’re at the dentists.”

-”Mmm…mumble in a loud voice”  (meanwhile I’m thinking this guy has totally lost it).

-”Gurinder, you need to move your tongue.  I can’t work.  This is the dentist.  We need to pull out one more tooth.”

-”Mumble mumble…loud incoherent speech” (I think he was trying to leave?!?!)

-The end.

So, I was putting all my hope in this “sedation” thing, meanwhile listening to this big action next door I was wondering if I could ask to be put RIGHT OUT.  But, no, I’m too polite and besides, all the paperwork had already been signed.  I started having visions of myself waking up and being totally out of control, finding Gurinder and getting the hell out of there.

Well, once the IV was in, they didn’t spare any time and said that in about 30 seconds I’d be out, and it was about 3 seconds and I was out.  I do, however, remember waking up ever-so-slighty at one point in time and them saying something about a tooth and my head jerking.  Seriously, I remember it.  I mean, I don’t remember any pain or anything beyond this vague memory, like a dream.  When I finally came to, the nurse led me to the “recovery room,” where I by accident spit blood all over the floor.  Lovely.  I’m not sure how they expect you to drink some freaking water out of a dixie cup when your entire mouth is full of guaze, swollen and your brain is on the streets with Gurinder.

Ok, so I managed to get home safely, thanks to Anna, and day 1 was fine.  I am sore and swollen and my head is a bit out of it (from the drugs I am assuming), but other than that I can function ok and I’m not nearly as “out of it” as I thought I would be.  And on that note, I’m gonna go get some more ice and lay-low.  Oma is here, which is a huge help.  Right now the kids are outside so I can rest and…well…blog.

Anyways, we all have to go through this, so that makes me feel better.  I should have done it way back in high school days, so my mommy could have taken care of me and I could have missed school.  Now I gotta arrange all kinds of daycare for the kids and worry about the rest of the family.  I just hope there’s no complications or whatever and its done quickly.

The exciting thing is, now that the wisdoms will be out, I can get some other dental work done, and get a mouth guard made for my mouth, which will prevent the grinding and clenching at night.

Anyways, not much more to say on this issue so…

Things have been kinda bizarro with Ellie lately.  She’s been waking up frequently at night, and to make matters worse, not going back to sleep once I’ve done feeding her a bottle.  It’s somewhat ok because she does generally go back to sleep eventually, without me going back in there, but still, why the burst of energy at 3am?  Isn’t she tired?  It’s like she’s playing in there, making grunting noises and occasionally I hear a good “thump” on her mattress, probably because she’s swinging her legs around in there.  What gives Ellie?  Last night I noticed she was a bit warmer than usual and then this morning I took her temperature and she was at 101.  Could it be the teeth?  Does she just have a virus?  (The rest of us had a cold this week, so…).  But she JUST hatched a top tooth and the other one is right behind so maybe its the combination.  She also has a slight runny nose and little cough.  Whooooo knows.  This weekend is super busy, including lots of babysitting, so I’m hoping she snaps out of it and sleeps ok tonight.  When in doubt, Tylenol…

Riv’s been doing quite well lately too.  She’s getting up around 630/7ish now and going down around 830/9.  But seriously, if I let her sleep too long during naps, or too late, then I’m in for trouble.  Last night I don’t think she actually fell asleep til around 930.  That combined with Ellie’s frequent wake-ups, last night was a total write-off.  The day before we went to Abby for the day, and Riv skipped a nap.  She was right-tired by like 7pm, so that was nice.  In bed, lights out (although the sun doesn’t cooperate on that one), and she’s out like a light.  So nice.  Maybe I need to just let Riv have 30 minute power naps during the day or something so that she’s tired at 8.  Same old story.

Well, that’s about it for now.  No new profound insights to share.

So, last Sunday I was approached by a lady at church and asked if I could take over the Women’s Retreat music stuff.  That’s this weekend.  I was already planning on playing guitar, but not leading.  The original leader backed out because of health stuff and busyness, so now I gotta step it out.  I like the challenge, but it’s slightly nerve-wracking for me because I am SO not used to being in charge of the music stuff, especially vocally.  Hand me a guitar, no problemo, but I have little experience with the singing part and my vocal range is so narrow that it’s hard to sing so many of the worship songs without rearranging all the keys and omitting certain parts, etc.  Well, to make matters worse, my throat is buggered up and I can’t hear anything.  Recipe for disaster!!  But, I am excited to do it and I want to do it, and it’s only Wednesday.  I have a couple more days (starts Friday) to start feeling better.  On top of that, we’re leading regular worship on Sunday and now Shane is starting to get the cold too.  Awesome possom.  Who knows how he’s gonna be feeling come the weekend.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

And on another matter, I finally reached my “goal weight” which I never thought I would do.  So, now my new goal is to continue on a sustainable excersise plan and keep eating healthy.  The hard part is maintenance, once the initial workout-buzz has worn-off.  I’m really trying to find my eating balance again, allowing myself to have treats now and again, but not going overboard.  It’s so hard, especially when everyone around me is having chocolate, why the hell can’t I have a piece?  So, yeah, finding the balance between complete restriction and minor allowance is hard.  And you know what my biggest weakness is?  It isn’t cheesecake or cookies, it’s deelish chocolatey Starbucks drinks!  YUM!!!  That new cherry mocha is awesome…yes yes I modify it so that it’s “no fat…blah blah…” but it’s still probably a high-cal drink.  But so freaking good.  Anyways, my children are waiting to be fed…gotta go