~ Happy 4th Birthday Lennah ~

Happy 4th Birthday to our precious First Born! Lennah's birthday was celebrated the Saturday following her birthday of August 21st. We combined a Hawaiian themed BBQ with her party as it was to be our last get together before the end of summer and William's arrival. The kids limboed until the sun came out, played outside, ate great hot dogs and hamburgers by Daddy the BBQ'er and even got to unwind with a cartoon. Thank you to everyone who could be there to celebrate Lennah's big day!

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~ Hospital Stay 2011 ~

Resting comfortably on Day 2. Having a little sleep after some Advil.

Such a beautiful smiling little boy even when he's not feeling well.

So, after a lengthy blogging absence, I never envisioned that I would have the time to update my blog because I was sitting in a paediatric hospital room. Those of you faithful readers, i.e. Auntie Julia!, will know that on September 22, 2010 we welcomed a beautiful son to the world. William Nelson Fox has to this date been a complete joy and a healthy baby. More on his arrival and the girls as I endeavour to get everyone "up to speed" in later posts.

On with this story, about 3 weeks ago all 3 children came down with a gastro-intestinal flu. While the girls quickly recovered after about 3 days, William didn't. He continued to have vomiting for 6 days and then had diarrhea for the next 2 weeks. As a result of being severely dehydrated, when he contracted a UTI he quickly went downhill. Just when I thought he was on the road to recovery this past week he took a turn for the worse, becoming very lethargic and feverish on Thursday afternoon. On Friday afternoon we thought we should get him checked out again before the weekend. And after bloodwork, a urine test and a chest x-ray it was determined he had a UTI. Our Dr in McBride contacted the paediatrician here in Prince George and he requested that William be admitted to the paeds unit ASAP as his salt level was so low he was at a high risk of seizure. This is what scared me the most. After having been through a hospital stay with Lennah when she was four months old, I wasn't worried about IVs or chest x-rays, but this was another story. Off home we went to pack a bag and send off Lennah and Charley to our good friend, Liz.

A few minutes after arriving home to pack, Nathan took a call from the doctor who again stated how concerned he was about William's risk of seizure. The Dr decided he would ride with us to Prince just in case William did indeed have a seizure. About 15 minutes later he again called to say that he had changed his mind and had ordered an ambulance for us. The Dr and I would ride in the ambulance and Nathan would follow. So off we went, arriving at the hospital in Prince George to the very capable hands here. The poor little guy was so dehydrated his veins in his hands had all but shut down, making the taking of blood and putting in the IV quite difficult. What was amazing to Nathan and I was how quickly William perked up when he received the fluid and became the William we know and love, if not still a little subdued. He started blowing bubbles, grabbing his feet, the IV and just generally looked 100% better.

Fast forward to Monday and William's off the IV, temperature's down and he's taking oral antibiotics. The Dr has advised us that we should be released tomorrow! Yayyy! Our little man is on the road to a full recovery. There is still some concern that the infection was caused by reflux and William will need further "investigation" in a couple of weeks to determine the cause. But, for the mean time we are happy to know the infection didn't get into his blood or worse yet, his spinal fluid.

Please keep watch for more updates to his condition and I'll let you all know how the last 8 months (eek!) have been since my last blog post.

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~ Baby Fox #3 ~

So, we've been at it again! Sorry, excuse the pun - eek! Another town, another baby. That's right, we're officially expecting our third little rugrat! I keep teasing Nathan that we can't move again! It seems each post he's had I've gotten pregnant. LOL

It was amazing, I got to see so much with this ultrasound. This baby was moving so much. I got to see our little Skeletor sucking his thumb, hand in his mouth, opening and closing his mouth! And yes - It is a Boy! We found out this time and we are so excited. For now, though, potential names are being withheld - gotta leave something to be surprised at!

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~ Bunk Beds ~

From this, last September.

To this today!

Since we need to make some room for new Baby Fox, due this September, we've decided to put the girls into bunk beds in Lennah's old room. We decided on this cute set from JYSK. First place we checked out, and after looking at a dozen (almost literally) furniture stores, the one we ultimately liked the best. The price tag also agreed with our pocketbook!
So for now, we decided to put them side by side as we transition Charley out of her crib and into a big girl bed. As well, I didn't want Lennah attempting to climb down out of the top bunk to come and visit Nathan and I in the middle of the night as she's become accustomed to. There's still some more decorating to do. I've been thinking about a cool wall decal instead of painting. A few flowers perhaps, adding their names above their bunks when we stack them?
Tonight was the first night in the new beds and so far, so good. Charley was out in about 5 minutes, asleep that is! I struggled a little more with Lennah, but I think that may have been due to the excitement! Let's cross our fingers it's a good sign that tomorrow night may go as smoothly.

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~ The Cream Soda ~

On our trip into Prince George this Monday, we bought Lennah her first bicycle. Not another trike, but a big girl bike! Behold, the Cream Soda. It literally is cream soda pink, with sparkly streamers at the handlebars, the all important bell and a hand brake. She adores it! I hope to have more pictures tomorrow with Charley on her trike for the first time as well.

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~ Early Spring in McBride ~

Lennah and her friends, Amelia and Sydney

Spinning Charley

Wheeeee!

Lennah and Lucas

Spring has come early in McBride this year. We've been heading to the park most days lately.

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Charley's first time on the ice "skating", with a little help from her big sister.

This was probably Lennah's last time on the ice this season. Hockey ended today with hardly a bang. I'm glad Lennah had a good time on Wednesday at the mom and tot skate. It was so exciting to see Charley on the ice for the first time. Can't wait to get some skates on her this fall!

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~ Figure Skating/Hockey 2009/10 ~

Halloween Party for Lennah's figure skating group. Lennah dressed up as Rapunzel.

Lennah's first day of hockey and Daddy's first day coaching.

I added this one just for fun, Lennah flaked out one afternoon. But, this was not the norm!

The official figure skating portrait.

Her medal from the Winter Carnival.


The official hockey portrait.

Lennah's first Jamboree, jersey and medal.

It's not been without a lot of tears; Lennah, me, Daddy too if he wasn't such a daddy! But, we've persevered. We spent much of the winter at the hockey arena, at times 4 to 5 times a week. Lennah was probably a little young to have been thrown into both hockey and figure skating, but she's done great. Lennah finished figure skating in late December and hockey is over next month. Looking forward to a much needed break before soccer starts in the late spring!

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~ My Obsession ~

It's been an awful long while since I've posted any new updates or photos. It's been a busy couple of months. We were spending 4 days a week at the ice arena for Lennah's figure skating and hockey. Christmas came up so quickly and we spent some time at the coast with our families. And, next thing you know - it's the end of January! Not to mention my newest obsession, er hobby - KNITTING!

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So, I'm going to be selfish and have my first post back about my knitting! The projects I completed for Christmas and for my ETSY shop.

The dishcloths.

The grey scarf for Auntie Julia and the pink scarf for Addison. I used the same pink yarn that my Mom used in Addison's afghan.

My "easy care" cactus' that I hope to be completing and listing in my ETSY shop! I've got to mount them in their terra cotta pots with gravel yet.

These scarves are my passion right now. Sari silk yarn, purchased from a seller: http://www.northcottwilson.etsy.com/ on ETSY. The sari silk yarn comes out of a women's collective in Nepal. It's fair trade with the money going back to the women who work there. They take sari scraps and make yarn. I've combined it with a mercanized cotton. My first one was with bamboo. I'm working on my 4th one now, the first one I haven't given away. I'm hoping to generate some interest in my ETSY shop with it!

You can see some of the beautiful jewel tones that just pop out with the combination of the black cotton.

That doesn't include the 2 lucky hunting toques I made for Nathan and Uncle Dan. Which proved lucky when Nathan got his first deer of the season the first day he wore it! The three scarves I made for birthday gifts for three local children. I've also made a couple of other scarves, for me and to sell. The need to create has become overwhelming! More on that later.

So, that's some of the new news with us. We have virtually no more snow, here in McBride. It's almost spring-like! Figure skating is over, I have some great photos and video of Lennah and the winter carnival to come. Hockey is almost over, with 2 tournaments left before we finish in March. I'm sad to say, I'll be happy to see it end for this year. More photos of hockey to come, too. Christmas was great, if not a little rushed and short on the visits with family - we'll see everyone soon, I promise. And we should have some more exciting family news to post in the next month! Stay tuned!!!

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~ Halloween 2009 ~

The Evolution of our Pumpkin!

I thought Lennah would enjoy carving her first pumpkin - I was mistaken. I thought she would love to stick her little mitts inside and pull out all those pumpkin seeds - wrong! After making sure her fairy wings were on, she proceeded to draw the faces she wanted me to carve. I think she was surprised at the "eau du pumpkin", that seemed to seal the deal. She was having none of this messy job! It was now all up to me. I think with Lennah's direction, our pumpkin turned out okay!

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Here are the kids in their respective costumes. Lennah as Rapunzel Fairy, Charley as our monarch butterfly, and my bad boy biker, Nathan

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We had a great Halloween weekend, full of many firsts for both the girls. Lennah attended her first Halloween party at figure skating. She carved her first pumpkin. Both the girls trick or treated for the first time, and saw their first fireworks show. I found myself (and I think Nathan too) getting right into the holiday and enjoyed myself immensely.

~ Mom's Visit to McBride ~

I finally got a chance to give Mom a tour of McBride on Monday. First stop, the Whistle Stop Gallery and Beanery coffee shop. As we walked out of the train station this is what we viewed. I have never seen an entire rainbow! We witnessed not just one end, but both. Sadly, we were unable to see the pot of gold!

Next stop, Dunster. This is Mom outside the train station.

Then we were off to the West Twin Old Growth Recreation Trail. It's a 1.5km trail through an old growth forest. It was amazing and so beautiful. Hard to believe it was just along the side of the highway.

Next on our tour was Horseshoe Lake, with it's birdwatching gazebo.

My Mom came for her first of many visits (hint, hint) to McBride this August. She made it up on the 22nd, just in time for Lennah's 3rd Birthday party, that post to follow. We had a very busy 4 day visit. After the birthday on Saturday, I hosted a very successful Undercover Wear party - you're welcome Mom! Then, as you can see from the photos, we kept ourselves busy touring around the immediate area. I didn't even mention that the whole household came down with a cold while Mom was here - sorry 'bout that! We're so glad you could make it up to visit us Grandma.

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~ Puddle Jumping - Chapter 2 ~

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You can see in the background the temptation - PUDDLES!

It all started out innocently enough, or should I say tame?

I'm not sure who was having more fun - Nathan or the girls?

Pruney Feet! Both the girls rode home sans pants, socks and shoes!

We've finally ventured out to see some of the surrounding area here in McBride. The girls and I have been here since mid July and I haven't seen anything but the town itself. So, Nathan took us to Holmes River about 10 minutes out of town. The falls, while small, were very pretty. But, as you can see the girls and Nathan had a ton of fun in the mud puddles.

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