Lapse

Apparently having three kids and a full time job plus various volunteering responsibilities means that you are quite neglectful with blog posts.  As always, I will try and do better, we will see if I can get one post a month, which could be a good target.

We have done a mediocre job keeping our photoblog up to date:  https://seaborns.shutterfly.com/

It includes pictures and also some of the photo books that we have created for our parents.

To see the photobooks, you can go here: https://seaborns.shutterfly.com/photobooks

Connor is now in Grade 3 and reading books like they are going out of style.  He has discovered the author: Rick Riordan and has finished two 5-book series and is now reading a trilogy.  I think we will try the Harry Potter books next, but if anyone has any suggestions, you know where to reach us.  Connor is also playing his second year of novice hockey.  He has progressed up to a B team after playing a year of C.  His goal is to play for the Montreal Canadiens, so has some work to do over the next few years.  If they count heart as one of the conditions to get into the NHL, he is a shoe-in.

Wyatt is now in Grade 1.  He is adapting well to the new routine.  He really enjoys math and asks to play a math game on the iPad constantly.  Wyatt is looking forward to trying cross-country skiing this winter.  After a morning of downhill skiing at Mont Ste-Marie last March, he decided that maybe cross-country skiing would be a good start.  We are patiently awaiting the snow to fall so that he can begin his lessons.  He is also loving being a Beaver.  He has many friends in the colony which makes it that much more fun.

Dallin is in his last year at daycare.  He is now the "big boy" there.  He can't wait to join his big brothers at school.  He is our most adventurous son and will not back down if his brothers has something that he wants, but is very gentle with other kids (which is good).  Dallin is making tiny steps in his swimming lessons.  He is very excited to attend, but not so excited to get in the water.  This last session he made great strides and enjoyed jumping into the pool after much prodding.

Julie is still working at Sport Canada and recently was able to attend the Parapan Am Games in Toronto as part of the Sport Canada delegation.  As the election was called just before her departure, the Ministers did not attend, but she was able to accompany Senior Officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage at various sporting events at the Games.  The plan is that she will have a similar role at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in September.

Geofford recently was laid off from his job at CAE, but he is actively seeking employment.  In between applying for jobs, he has had the opportunity to get a few projects completed around the house.

First Cross-Country Family Vacation

With two weddings within a week of each other out in BC, the Seaborns decided to head out west in mid July to meet up with some of Julie's west coast relatives. We would have also met up with some of Geofford's cousins, but the two that live out there weren't there at the time. Charlie was in Ontario and Eliza is still out adventuring in Australia.

Here is our photobook from the trip: https://seaborns.shutterfly.com/photobooks/6

April-November 2012 update

Halloween 2012 - Cowboy, Monkey & Ninja

So I keep trying to update the blog on a more regular basis, but life keeps me busy.  I have definitely enjoyed my maternity leave with Dallin and am only half looking forward to going back to work at the end of February.  So much has happened over the past 9 months and it would be quite difficult to recall all the events and it would probably be pretty boring to read about it, so I would recommend just looking through our flickr photo stream to see what we've been up to.

Dallin is now pulling himself up on EVERYTHING.  He is a little bit of a menace to our furniture as he is either pulling things over or trying to gnaw on the edge of things: tables, couches and my personal favourite the garbage can.  I am a little worried about what he will do with the Christmas tree, I'm thinking of leaving the breakable items off the tree this year, just in case.  He is very curious about "solid" food as he is very interested in what we are eating.  He is still trying out pureed food, but eats a wider variety of vegetables and meats than his middle brother.  We have made a few visits to daycare and he loves his big brothers so I hope the transition will be easier on him than it will be on me.

Wyatt is enjoying being the middle child, but I think sometimes he would prefer to be the only child with mom and dad's undivided attention.  He is the most stubborn and is still quite limited in his food preferences, but we have added a few over the months: broccoli, carrots, rice.  The only meat he eats is pork in bbq pork buns from Yangtze restaurant.  Maybe in 2013 he will grow out of this?  Our poor little dude has had an exciting year full of medical fun :D  He had hernia surgery at the end of May and he was admitted to CHEO in September as he had another asthma exacerbation.  This time he spent 5 nights at the hospital (including our anniversary).  We were able to do some allergy testing as a result of this visit and it turns out he is allergic to cats and dust mites.  He is also on medication to help him get through the cold season and hopefully we will be able to avoid another admission to the hospital.  Wyatt is also enjoying his time at home.  He is only attending daycare part-time, but he is truly a home body and loves the "stay-home" days.

Connor is relishing being the oldest brother.  He adores his baby brother and Dallin squeals with excitement whenever he sees Connor.  Connor is no longer the smallest kid at school.  He is now one of the "big" kids in his class.  He seems to really enjoy going to school and learning.  He is quite strong at math and is just starting to read words on his own.  I know some of it is just memorization or trying to guess the words based on the pictures, but he when he feels like it he is quite good at sounding out all of the letters.  Connor also played "soccer" for the first time this summer.  He really enjoyed running around and kicking the ball occasionally.  Connor (and Wyatt) also started skating lessons this year.  Connor was quite shaky at the beginning but by the end of the session he is able to move around on his own.  We can't wait until the local rink freezes over so that we can practice skating there.  Connor is also going to Beavers and enjoying his time there.

Julie is really enjoying her time off (as I mentioned before).  This has been my first full year of maternity leave and I am very grateful that I had this opportunity.  Being home during the day has allowed me to be involved more at school (I am the School Council Chair) which has allowed me to get to know some of the other parents at the school.  Although I was hoping to get a lot more done around the house, being able to spend time with kids when we aren't exhausted after school/daycare/work has been quite the fun experience.  I also joined the Athletic Club which has helped me achieve a bit of balance as they have a great play room for the kids which allows me to focus on my fitness while the kids are being cared for by wonderful staff members.  I completed my first 5km post-baby with a chip time of 28:48 which was under my goal of 30 minutes.  I have also been enjoying the hot yoga room and am starting to regain some of my flexibility.  In addition to working out at the Athletic Club, I am playing indoor soccer with my brother Francis on Sunday afternoons. I forgot how much I loved playing soccer and am quite thankful that Francis asked me to play.

Geofford had to un-retire from ultimate as this was the last year that his division (Masters) would be competing in Sarasota at the UPA Championships.  His team, GLUM, only competed in the Fall Series which freed up our summer.  It was a nice compromise as he was still able to enjoy some summer pursuits (cottages, Cawaja beach) while still playing ultimate at a high level.  He has also been busy outside of ultimate with our house.  He completed the renovations on our bathroom just after Dallin was born.  As I am on maternity leave, he has been able to leave for work earlier which means he also returns home from work earlier which gives us a bit more time together as a family in the evenings.

My goal for 2013 is to post on a semi-regular basis (ideally once a month, but who knows, the next post may be next December....)

And now we are 5...

The past few weeks have been very exciting for the Seaborn family.  We welcomed our third baby boy: Dallin Kwok-Yan Seaborn into the world on Friday, March 9th at 12:47pm at the Ottawa Hospital - Civic Campus.  At birth, he weighed 3850g (8lbs 8oz) and measured 53.5cm (21") long.

Our first family picture (taken by the anesthesiologist) 

Despite the repeated trips to the hospital, I actually made it to the scheduled c-section date and was quite happy that I did, as the surgery was more complicated and thus took longer than anticipated (due to my insides looking like chewing gum between saran wrap due to the previous "emergency" c-sections) so I was glad to have had my obstetrician perform the procedure.

Unfortunately (or fortunately - depends on how you look at it), Geofford got quite sick (fever and very sore throat) while Dallin and I were at the hospital, so he wasn't able to spend as much time at the hospital with us, but fortunately I was at the hospital, so the nurses were able to help me out.

My parents were a huge help though and took care of Connor and Wyatt while I was in hospital and Geofford was fighting his sickness.  They brought the boys to the hospital so that they could meet their baby brother.  It's very cute, they call him Baby Dallin (to differentiate from all of the other Dallins that they know...).  I wonder how long he will have to keep that moniker...

Mom and her three boys

On Monday, March 12th, Geofford did manage to get himself out of bed and to the Toyota Dealership to pick up our new "mini-van" which isn't really all that mini.  We are now proud owners of a red Toyota Sienna.  He then came to the hospital to pick Dallin and I up to bring us home.  I had to make a few concessions as Dallin was dangerously close to the 10% maximum weight loss limit (his weight dropped to 7 lbs 11 oz), but I agreed to supplement with formula so that we would be allowed to leave.  At that point, I would have agreed to almost anything to go home :)

Since we have been home, Dallin and I have been quite busy trying to avoid getting sick.  Both Connor and Wyatt got sick once Geofford got better and then once they were better, Geofford got sick again.  I am hoping that the cycle does not repeat again.

Dallin has been a good baby thus far.  He has grown quite a bit in the last two weeks despite his initial loss of weight.  At his appointment earlier this week, he weighed in at 9lbs 15oz and measured 58cm, so there is no longer a concern regarding his weight.  We are now trying to figure out our routine now that I am a little more mobile.  My next big milestone will be to try and drive somewhere that is more than 5 minutes away.

Dallin in my tummy (-19 days) and outside (16 days old)...how did he fit in there?

36 weeks and a false alarm.

So I have reached the 36 week threshold and the past couple of weeks have been very exciting.

We celebrated Wyatt's 3rd birthday the weekend before his birthday and it was a great time as both sets of his grandparents were able to make it as well as some close family friends.  It was a surprisingly smooth brunch (at our house) considering that there were 10 kids in the house.

The next day, Geofford somehow injured his back which was a little stressful for the family as I have been quite restricted in what I am supposed to do around the house.  We were able to balance things but he was completely out of commission for a couple of days dealing with the painful back spasms.  Just as Geofford started feeling better, we had to take Wyatt to the hospital Thursday night (the day after his actual birthday) as he could potentially have a hernia and he had a high fever and started vomiting.  The doctors felt that the fever and vomiting were not related to the hernia, but just as a precaution we had an ultrasound to check out the hernia.  We will be meeting with the pediatric surgeon to discuss the results Tuesday, February 28th, so hopefully everything turns out ok from that.

We also celebrated our niece's first birthday which was very special.  She is not going to the baby in the extended family for long, so it was nice to celebrate her special day.  Family Day was quite uneventful, but we were happy to be able to spend time together as our family of 4.  We were also able to get some cute photos with me and the boys.

Mom with her two boys

Now to the false alarm part - I started feeling contractions last night (Feb 23) at about 10pm.  They weren't super uncomfortable yet, but at the same time the doctor didn't want me to labour so I was trying to avoid going to the hospital for as long as possible.  Finally, I called the triage at the hospital and they recommended that I come in just to get checked out.  After we had made arrangements for my mom to come and take care of the boys, Geofford and I headed to the hospital at around midnight.  The nurse and doctors did determine that I was having contractions but not enough to trigger having the c-section especially since the baby is still technically pre-term.  Also, since I had two previous c-sections this next surgery will be a little more complicated as there will be more scar tissue so it would be better to have the surgery during the day when there are more doctors around in case of any complications (eek!).  We ended up leaving the hospital at around 5:30am with instructions to return if the contractions became more painful or if I started experiencing other symptoms of labour (water breaking, etc.).  So far, I am still having contractions about every 7-10 minutes, but they are not yet painful enough to return to the hospital.  I am hoping that things don't progress tonight as there is currently a snowfall warning in effect and things will be really messy outside....but we shall see, this baby seems to have a mind of his/her own.

From the Environment Canada website

The countdown is on!

My c-section date and time has been set for March 9th at noon.  This means (in my head) that the baby will be born sometime between now and March 9th.  I would like to have faith in my OB and believe that the baby will be born on March 9th, but that is 38 weeks and 1 day.  Historically (with only a sample of 2), I have never made it past 37 weeks 2 days (Connor) and Wyatt was scheduled for 38 weeks, but was born a week and day early (36 weeks 6 days - which apparently is pre-term, which is funny because he weighed 8 lbs 2 oz).  With both boys I had emergency c-sections and I have a feeling that Baby #3 will be no different, but I am still hoping for a March baby.

Although I want the baby the baby to come out (selfishly because I am getting quite uncomfortable), I know that it is still too early as I am only 33 weeks and 4 days, but it is still a vast improvement of 25 weeks 4 days when I was admitted into the hospital.  The next milestone that we have set for the baby is to make it past Valentine's Day and Wyatt's 3rd Birthday (Feb 15th).

As I am setting milestones for the baby, I realize that we have to start getting ready for the baby's arrival.  My labour bag and the baby's bag are ready for the hospital and we have a room with a crib in it, but it is not ready for the baby yet as it has become a dumping ground for things without a home.  My biggest frustration at this point is that I can't really do anything, except make lists for Geofford.  I would like reorganize the baby's room so it is set-up a little differently than it was when Wyatt was living in that room.  My mother in law has kindly sorted through all of our kids clothes, so the baby's dresser is already fully stocked and ready to go, so that is done.  

The other big thing that we have to do is purchase a mini-van.  Geofford had to be convinced that it was the right thing to do because although it is theoretically possible to put three carseats in a Honda Civic, it really isn't all that practical (especially for a woman who will be having a c-section).  We have narrowed down the van selection to the Toyota Sienna.  It has all of the features that we want and the dealership is close by so servicing the vehicle will be convenient.

One of the things that I am able to do is surf the internet.  A friend of mine invited me to join Pinterest in the fall (let me know if you want to join...it's addictive), which is a place to view other people's Pins or find cool things on the internet and Pin it.  It's a virtual bulletin board to post up things that you think are interesting.  Some of the "boards" that I have created are: Recipes, DIY crafts, Home improvement, Places that I want to visit, etc.  Through this site, I have been able to come up some ideas for the kids' rooms, crafts for them to do and recipes that I want to try.  I have also started planning Wyatt's birthday party using the site from recipes for the food, to decorations for the house.  We shall see if I can actually follow through with any of the ideas...

Another thing that I have been looking out for is potential poses for the portraits of the new baby with the kids.  Below is a practice of a baby portrait that I found.  The boys were pretty excited to try, but it will be interesting to see if we can actually pull it off once the baby is born.

Connor and Wyatt practicing a baby portrait pose (with Mirabel - my cabbage patch kid who is "standing in" for the baby.  I found the pose on Pinterest, but you can see the inspiration here on the Shanna Michelle Photography website...the picture on the site are stunning!

As the title of this post indicates, the countdown is on.  The baby will be born in 32 days (or less), so in just over a month we will be a family of five!  That will definitely be a new adventure :)

Chinese New Year...and a little regression.

Happy Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year for all of those Asians that also celebrate the Lunar Year).  It is officially the start of the year of the Dragon.  Although there has been some debate that the start is February 4th, which is technically in the Lunar Calendar the first day of spring, but in all of my google searches, I have not found any reference to the year of the dragon starting February 4th....if someone can provide evidence to the Feb 4th switch, then I will change my opinion.

Geofford had set a milestone for us to have a dragon baby (he is a little biased as he is a dragon himself) and now we have reached that milestone.  The next milestone is to make it past the Superbowl (on Feb 5th for those non-NFL fans out there).  :)

Our Chinese New Year eve dinner was special this year as my cousin Evelyn was here for the weekend (she was on her cross-country interview tour for her medical residency), so she was able to join us for dinner (since she was staying with my parents, it wasn't a big stretch).  She even made a lantern out of a pomelo (even though it technically isn't Chinese Lantern season, but it was still pretty cool).

In my previous post, I stated that we made it to 32 weeks, but I was mistaken.  Last Thursday was only 31 weeks.  I blame the baby brain for the mistake, but 32 weeks will be on Thursday...so we are getting there.  I noticed my error, not from the journal that I have been writing in that clearly states that this week is 31 weeks, but from the screen at my ultrasound this afternoon.  The screen said 31 weeks 4 days, which was confusing to me since I honestly believed that I reached the 32 week milestone last week.  Oh well...31 weeks is still better than 25 weeks and 4 days which is when I was admitted to the hospital.

Back to my ultrasound, the technician was able to take some measurements to try and estimate the size of the baby and also looked at the kidneys.  The kidneys appeared to be of normal size from my non-technician eyes, but I verified with the technician and she confirmed my hypothesis.  She also told me that the baby weighs approximately 4 lbs 10 oz based on the size of the head, torso and femur.

32 Weeks!

We made it to 32 weeks!  It's hard to believe that it was over a month ago that I was admitted to the hospital for a tear in my amniotic sac.  Everything seems to be ok right now, but I am still being very careful as it would be nice to keep Baby #3 in utero for as long as possible.  I still get very tired when I go into work so I am very grateful that work allows me to work from home for most of the week.  :)  At my doctor's appointment this week, my doctor didn't see any reason to move up the c-section date, but due to her own family commitments has not yet set the actual date for the c-section.  So far, the date that we are aiming for is Friday, March 2nd, which would be 37 weeks and 2 days (which is the same gestation as Connor).  Here's hoping Baby #3 cooperates.

In other family news, Wyatt is mostly potty-trained during the day.  He occasionally has accidents, but on the most part stays dry for most of the day (with the exception of nap time when he still wears a diaper).  The next big milestone for him will be to stay dry during his naps and then we will hope he stays dry during the night.  We are pretty excited as he will be mostly out of diapers when the baby is born.  Connor is still loving school.  His teacher now has a twitter account in addition to her blog, so we are able to follow what is going on at school.  Connor even made it onto a picture from the latest blog post!  Geofford found out that he did not make the cut for the Master's Team Canada team which was slightly disappointing.  He says now he can officially retire, but I'm not sure if he can go a summer without competitive ultimate, so we will wait to see how the baby's temperament is before he makes a final decision regarding his retirement.

We also celebrated Christmas with my family this past weekend.  As all of us live in Ottawa, and we see each other on a fairly regular basis, we made the conscious decision to celebrate after everyone comes back to Ottawa so that our spouses can spend Christmas with their families.  This allows us to enjoy the evening without the same stress of having to fit in all of the family visits in a small amount of time and also extends the Christmas season.  This year, we celebrated extra late because Christmas happened at the beginning of the school holidays, and we had already taken down most of the decorations.  The kids still had a fabulous time and really enjoyed playing together.

The five grandchildren...for now.

My parents with their grandchildren.

My family

I am looking forward to the next week as I am off on vacation (as my daycare is closed so my daycare provider can enjoy her honeymoon in the Dominican Republic....I am so jealous) and will be able to spend time with Wyatt.  Hopefully he doesn't get too bored as we will be in the house most of the week.  Fortunately my mother and sister-in-law have some time off so they will be able to take him outside to play.  Also we will be celebrating Chinese New Year on Monday, which was another milestone for baby as we were hoping to have a dragon baby :)

Looking Back on 2011...and forward to 2012

It has been another great year with some ups and some downs.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Wyatt turned 2 in February and started being able to talk to us a lot more.  He also had a brief trip to the hospital at the end of November for what seemed to be an asthma attack, but we are hoping that it is a one-time occurrence and not something that we will have to watch for during cold season.  He is also mostly potty-trained which is awesome as it means we will only have one child in diapers in 2012 :)
• Connor turned 4 in August and started Junior Kindergarten in September at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.
• Julie and Geofford celebrated their 5 year wedding anniversary on September 16th.
• We welcomed Elena Kwok to the family on February 20th.  She is the third child of Francis (Julie's youngest brother) and Jaclyn.
• Damian (Julie's middle brother) and Michelle got married on October 1st, so we had  many excuses to have parties: Stag and Doe, Bridal Shower, Bachelorette, Bachelor Party, Rehearsal Dinner, and the actual wedding!
• Cassie (Geofford's cousin) and Ian got married on April 8th in London, England, so Geofford and Julie decided to make the trip across the pond.  Julie had a bit more vacation than Geofford (since she didn't accompany him to Prague in 2010 for the WUCC), so she went for a week whereas Geofford was in London for a long weekend (Thursday morning to Sunday).
• We also had the opportunity to celebrate friends' weddings: Cindy and Zach (June 4th), Tony and Whynter (July 30th) and Kevin and Lily (October 8th).
• Julie got called for jury duty in March, so she got to see the justice system first-hand.  She's glad to have experienced it, but hopes that she will not have to do it again.
• Julie's Poh-Poh (maternal grandmother) passed away on April 14th.  She lived a good life (she would have been 100 in September), with 11 children, 25 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren (I hope I'm not missing anyone) at the time of her death.
• Julie was able to attend the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, MX in November.  It was an amazing experience and she thoroughly enjoyed her first multi-sport games.
• Geofford was the best man in Damian's wedding and a groomsman in Tony's wedding, so he had a few commitments attached to each of those weddings.
• Geofford also played competitive ultimate with the master's team GLUM again this summer.  They came in 2nd at the Canadian Ultimate Championships (which were held in Ottawa) in August.  It was a disappointing finish for the team as they were hoping to win, which meant that the team's leadership would have the opportunity to select the team going to the World Ultimate Championships in 2012 which will be held in Sakai, Japan from July 7-14th.  Geofford has applied to be a part of Team Canada, but hasn't heard back yet.  He is supposed to hear sometime today if he made the short list, so we shall see...
• Baby Seaborn #3 was conceived and has been demanding a lot more attention than his/her older brothers did while in utero...I wonder if that is a sign of things to come in 2012 and beyond...

Here is our year in review in photos:

Make a free digital slideshow

As the year comes to a close, it is traditional to make resolutions for the New Year.  We have already started one of our resolutions, and that is to eat healthier and with a better social conscience.  It is something that we have been thinking about for a while and the opportunity dropped into our laps during the holidays.  We received a visit from Nutrafarms asking if we wanted a free meat sample.  We decided to listen to the pitch and found out that the meat is not organic, but it is all from Ontario and it is all free-range, grain/corn fed and antibiotic free.  We decided to give it a try as we were trying to purchase things more local, but meat was something that always alluded us because we didn't have the time to visit different farms/farmers markets, etc. to source out our meat.  We are going to try it out this year and see how it works out.  The cost works out to be about half of our yearly grocery bill, but we figured the value should be worth it.  We received the shipment of meat yesterday and we will see how things work out.  Here is a picture of the meat:

The other big resolution that I want to make is to try and spend more quality time with family and friends.  This may be a difficult one to keep, depending on Baby #3's temperament, but as I will be on maternity leave for the majority of the year, I'm hoping that we can make it happen.

With everything that we have been through the past couple weeks, a few people have commented to me that I have been quite optimistic through everything that we have endured.  I guess my initial reaction was that this is nothing that I can control and if I keep thinking positively then I will be able to get through this rough patch, because that is all that this is, it's a little bump in the road of life.  In the grand scheme of things, my life is pretty good and that is what I focus on.  I was listening to the CBC this morning and I was reminded of the letter that Jack Layton wrote to Canadian's right before he passed away.  The closing paragraph is quite moving and is something that I will strive to achieve:

"My friends, love is better than anger.  

Hope is better than fear.  

Optimism is better than despair.  

So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.  

And we'll change the world."

Wishing you a wonderful 2012!  

~Julie

Happy Boxing Day (aka the 2nd Day of Christmas)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, Chanukah, Festivus, or whatever else you celebrate at this time of year.  We are celebrating the fact that we are still a family of 4 and Baby Seaborn #3 is still enjoying his/her home in my belly.  It has been two weeks since I was admitted into the hospital and I feel like we are in a good place right now.  I am almost at 28 weeks (which is apparently a major milestone in baby development) and so far so good.  Modified bed rest is a lot better than complete bed rest and I was happy to be able to leave the house twice on Christmas day - once to go to mass and the other to go to Christmas dinner.  It was nice to go out into the world and see friends and family outside of my home.

There was a challenge called the Hourly Photo Challenge that was issued by a blogger that I follow.  I was able to capture most of the day with the exception of the two hour block that I was napping in the afternoon.  I managed to post most of my pictures on twitter/facebook before nap, but everything post-nap I uploaded to instagr.am today.

Here is my Christmas Day in photos:

9:00am - The boys actually let us sleep in past 8:00am, so my first picture was of us having breakfast after we opened our stockings.

10:00am - Getting ready to go to church, I wanted to capture the fact that it was actually a White Christmas

11:00am - I was actually in mass, so I couldn't capture a picture, but I did take a picture of the alter and environment after mass at Good Shepherd Parish (so this one was actually closer to noon, but not quite there, so I count it for the 11:00am picture)

Noon - My parents came over after mass and my mom made the boys reindeer hats, so I thought that they were pretty cue.

1:00pm - The tradition at our house (so far) is to open stockings before breakfast, have breakfast, go to mass, have lunch and then open the gifts under the tree.  The boys don't know any better at this point, so it stretches out the day (but also compresses the gift opening time as Wyatt still needs to take a nap).  So far, we have always made the same breakfast strata for lunch and it seems to be quite the hit as Geofford hasn't let me make anything else.  This year it was a team effort as I can only do so much in the kitchen.  Here is what was left after everyone had lunch.

So for the 2-4pm hourly photos, I was unable to take any pictures...so there is a slight gap in our day.  Wyatt and I were napping, but I'm not sure what else was going on the house...

5:00pm - Part of the boys' stockings was a beautiful wig - all of the male Seaborns (from my immediate family) donned these wigs to enter into the house for Christmas Dinner.  I personally think my boys look like Thing 1 and Thing 2

6:00pm - The exchanging of the gifts - round 2.  This is a beautiful tissue pouch designed and created by Geofford's cousin - Chidima Nzakamulilo.

7:00pm - We are starting the first course of dinner: Geofford's aunt's fabulous Vichyssoise and her wonderful rolls which are a family secret.

8:00pm - The turkey dinner with the Seaborns is always a feast, so I took a picture of my plate, which is a pretty good representation of all of the fabulous dishes.  I think the only thing that I am missing is the cranberry sauce, which was very tasty.

9:00pm - I didn't get a very good picture of the plum pudding, but I didn't get to eat it anyways because of all of the brandy on it, so instead I took a picture of my Christmas Cracker (and the obligatory joke contained in it).

10:00pm - The last photo of the day.  The boys were already in melt-down mode seeing as it was 2.5 hours after their regular bedtime, so instead I took a picture of the Seaborn's fabulous tree.  I wish we had taller ceilings to accommodation such a big tree, but we don't have that many ornaments yet, so it's probably better that we have a smaller tree :)  The picture doesn't do the tree justice, but I would guess that it is almost a 9' tree.

I really enjoyed the Hourly Photo Challenge and hope the next time I do it, I can actually take and post the pictures throughout the day :)

Happy 35th Birthday Geofford!

Happy Birthday to Geofford!  He turns 35 today and he is still only has to care for two children.  Baby Seaborn #3 is still growing nicely and I haven't had any other abnormal pains, which is great!  We have made it to Week 27, which is still 10 weeks from full term, but as everyone keeps telling me, every day/week counts, so it's a good milestone.

The adjustment to bed rest has been quite difficult, but I have been lucky to have a very supportive family who have all helped out immensely.  The boys seem to understand that something is up and have adjusted to all of the extra attention from our extended family, so they don't miss not having as much of mom's attention.

Fortunately, I only had to do 4 full days of bed rest at home.  At my appointment with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Day Unit (aka High Risk unit) at the Civic Hospital on Tuesday, I was informed that the leak in the amniotic sac was probably high and was able to seal itself as I was no longer leaking fluid.  Also, during the ultrasound that same morning they were able to measure adequate amniotic fluid around baby, so that was all great news.  The only bad news that we did receive was, during the ultrasound, they found that the baby has an enlarged kidney, which he/she may grow out of if he/she continues to develop in utero.  As the baby's structures are so small, just a small blockage in the ureter could cause the build up of urine in the kidney.  There is nothing medical that they can do at this point except to monitor the kidney and hope that it can be resolved before the baby is born.

I was told that I was being discharged from High Risk and could continue following my own doctors for the rest of the pregnancy unless something else came up.  Since I was no longer with high risk I was told that I could do modified bed rest, which is essentially house arrest with the ability to visit the outside world on an as needed basis.  This was great news to my ears, but I do realize that I still have to be very careful as to not go into pre-term labour.  I'm going to bring it up with my OB, but I am hoping that this means that our original plan of having the baby at 37 weeks is still on the table, but I will find that out at my 30 week appointment on January 12th when they schedule the c-section.

Modified bed rest has been ok for the past two days.  It is nice to be able to sit at my desktop computer instead of having to work off of my laptop, but I do miss all of the ergonomic upgrades that I have at my desk at work.  I never really realized how much they do help.  If all goes well over the next few weeks, then I hope to be able to able to go into the office a few times a week after the school Christmas break, but I was told by a few people that I shouldn't rush things, so this is all pending my progress.

In non-baby news, my family was able to trim the tree (I just took pictures) with the kids.  We were lucky to have purchased our tree before I was admitted to the hospital, but we did have a naked tree (as coined by my niece) for a week.

More pictures of the kids with the tree can be found on our flickr photostream as well as other pictures of our adventures.

Thanks again to everyone for all of your love and support, I will try and respond to your messages, it just may take me a little while, but I will have some time in the next couple weeks :)

Escaping from the hospital!

I have been given the official word from the doctor that I will be going home today.  I am no longer leaking amniotic fluid (so potentially the leak healed, or it is just up high) and I do not seem to be going into labour, so that's great news.

I will be on bed rest for the next little while, but bed rest at home will be way better than bed rest here at the hospital.  My first goal will be completed tonight as I will return home, so I guess the next short term goal is to keep baby in the oven until at least 2012...which doesn't seem so bad, but it is 16 days away.

Thanks for all of the positive vibes and messages!

Hope...

My doctor came in this morning and ran a test.  If the test comes back negative and my ultrasound (that is booked for this afternoon at 3pm) goes well, then there is a good chance that I will be able to go home today!  There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

The attending physician at the High Risk Unit also came to see me and indicated that he felt that I would also probably be able to return home today, so that is double hope.  He also seemed to indicate that if things go well in the next week, I would only have to return to the High Risk Unit next week for a follow-up appointment and an ultrasound, and if all went well then I would be discharged from High Risk and could continue seeing my own doctors.

So does this mean that if all goes well in the next week, I will be off bed rest?  That was the question that I didn't think of until after he left.  Is that hoping for too much at this point?  We shall see.  I guess one step at a time is what I should be doing at this point.  My short term goal is to go home, so I will continue focusing on that.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers thus far.

A slight complication...

Here is a quick update on Baby Seaborn #3.  It has been an eventful last few days to say the least.

I was admitted to the Civic Hospital on Monday evening because apparently my water broke which is an indication of labour.  Seeing as I am only at 25 weeks gestation (which is about 6.5 months, full term being 37 weeks or about 9 months), this is too early for this to be happening.  As far as the doctors can tell, I have not gone into labour yet, which is good but I have been placed on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy (which will hopefully last at least 2 more months if we are lucky).  I am in the hospital as they are administering antibiotics via IV to try and close the hole in the amniotic sac or at least to prevent infection for me and the baby.  Also, I have been given steroids to help the baby's lungs and brain develop in case I deliver in the next few days (eek).  I was informed though, that the chances of the baby surviving at this point is about 80% if I deliver today and if the baby survives there is a further 70-75% chance that the baby will not have any major complications.  All that being said, the odds of having a healthy baby increases every day that I can keep him/her in utero. 

My current plan is to leave the hospital tomorrow (since I will have completed the IV antibiotics) and then ideally deliver the baby via c-section (due to history and another fun complication with the umbilical cord) at 34 weeks (where the risk of infection outweighs the risk of having a pre-term baby) which puts the delivery date around February 9th, which is a little earlier than I originally hoped which was 37 weeks.  But on the bright side, I don't have to worry about the baby being born on February 29th (seeing as this year is a leap year).  Again, this is my plan, but as history has shown, my babies do not like to follow the laid out plan (Connor being born during 2007 Nationals and Wyatt being born a week and a day before the scheduled c-section).  Let's hope that this baby listens better to the previous two, but I can only hope.  Again this is my plan, but I still have to wait and see what the doctor's say.  I am hoping that they agree with my plan, and all things look good so far).

When I stated that I wanted to update the blog more often, I was hoping for bi-weekly updates, but it looks like I have a little more time on my hands, so I hope to able to provide more updates on Baby #3 as well as the rest of the family.

Latest ultrasound taken the morning after I was admitted...baby looks ok.

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A gift from niece Norah.  On each day of advent, their advent calendar has a family member's name.  Tuesday's name was Baby Seaborn #3.  She drew us a picture of all of the people praying for a safe outcome.

Her other gift to me was a drawing of herself.  Since she couldn't come to the hospital, she drew me a picture of herself so she could keep me company at the hospital :)

Time flies...

It's hard to believe that it is almost the end of 2011, where does the time go?  I can't believe that I have already been married for just over 5 years, I have school age child, another who is almost out of diapers and a third on the way!  Yikes!

November flew by, mostly because I was in Guadalajara, Mexico for the 2011 Parapan American Games for work for just over two weeks.  It was an amazing experience as it was my first major multi-sport games and I was part of the Team Canada Mission Staff.  It was great getting to know the athletes, their coaches and the support staff.  I worked on the operations team which meant that I lived right in the Athlete's Village and helped Team Canada with anything they needed.  Although the days were long, I was very lucky to be able to be able to watch some of the competition.  I didn't get to all of the events that I would have liked, but I did manage to watch Wheelchair Basketball, Sitting Volleyball and Goalball.  Here are my pictures from Guadalajara.  I decided to just post them on facebook as the seaborn flickr stream is more about family stuff and my personal flickr isn't a pro account, so I'm not sure if I could get all of the pictures on it...:p

Connor has been really enjoying school.  He has been introduced to a Math Program online that we play a few times a week (when we have time) that he really enjoys.  His teacher has also started a blog to help keep the parents informed on the activities that they do all day.

Wyatt had an exciting end of the month.  He ended up in CHEO for a three day (two night visit).  He was diagnosed with Asthma Exacerbation, which means that that he had an asthma attack, but he is too young to diagnose asthma, so it could have been a result of a virus or his environment.  Since his environment hasn't really changed, we think that it is a result of a virus, but after talking to some other parents with children with asthma, this is how it begins.  He has been ok since the episode, but we have been given some Ventolin to use as needed and we will definitely monitor his breathing.

Geofford has briefly un-retired from ultimate and is playing on Sunday nights in the 4 on 4 league.  It isn't his favorite type of ultimate, but he is out with friends playing with a disc, so it's better than nothing :)

We are gearing up to be parents of three.  The boys are sleeping in the same room and the nursery (aka Wyatt's old room) is now full of boxes of kids' clothes.  I hope to have some time between now and the end of the calendar year to sort through all of the clothes.  It was originally on my list of things to complete before summer started, but things always come up.  I am definitely looking forward to my full year off with the new baby.  It will be my first full year off with any of the kids, so I can't wait!  My list of things to do is lengthening, but my priority will be to enjoy the time off with the kids because they are only young once, and there is always tomorrow :)

Here is a link to our family picture from Damian and Michelle's wedding: http://www.francescomaragoni.ca/Albums/Kwok_01_10_2011/03.html#65   (The photographers for their wedding was pretty amazing to be able to get all of us looking at the camera at once).  Please feel free to look at the other pictures from the wedding as well...they are stunning.

Here are the Santa Claus Pictures from this year (I love the set at Place D'Orleans and also the new format where you get digital rights of the pictures so you can print them anywhere):

The boys with Santa

The family with Santa

The cousins with their wranglers (as Jaclyn said it best)

October Art

Here is some of the Fall inspired art from the kids :)

My turkey, Wyatt

Connor's Turkey Hat

The Kissing Hand Poem

Which accompanies Connor's kissing hands

And a thanksgiving wreath to show what Connor is thankful for.

What to do with Art from School?

So as usual, I have been a slacker on the blog.  So much has happened since last Christmas (the last time that I updated this blog).  As usual, I am going to try and be better and keeping this up to date (especially since I keep giving people the link to this blog on our Christmas card).

So here is a quick update of the past 10 months...

Wyatt turned 2 - he is no longer our quiet Wyatt and loves to ask "What are you doing?"  He is also a super picky eater and we have managed to introduce rice krispies to his diet which is now one of his preferred food.  Unfortunately he is quite the messy eater, so we now have a fairly clean floor (or it is covered in rice krispies).  He is now one of the big men at daycare since...

Connor turned 4 and he started JK in September.  This is actually the inspiration of the post.  Since Connor started school, he has come home with tons of art work.  Now that we have a new scanner, I have been inspired to scan the ones that we can and I'll take pictures of the ones that I can't scan.  Here is the first of many pieces of art that have been digitally archived...Now I just have to figure out how to display them around the house.  Any suggestions?

Geofford has officially retired from ultimate (for the first time...there is already talk of him potentially playing next summer).  We couldn't disclose the reason for about a month why he has to take a little time off, but it is because we were expecting Baby #3 and well I'm not sure if I can be an ultimate widow with three kids.  We'll see though, so for now he is retired and we can confirm/deny him coming out of retirement when the time comes.

I am as usual quite busy with work.  I have had a pretty eventful year thus far with work being a lot of fun and then getting pregnant.  I will be experiencing my first major games this November when I head to Guadalajara for the Parapan American Games.  I will be part of the Canadian Paralympic Committee's mission team which should be quite the experience.  I am very excited and hope that the second trimester energy will kick in by that time.

As for the house, we managed to replace the floor in the kitchen.  It looks quite fabulous and thanks to my dad and Damian for helping Geofford out.  Connor helped a little as well lay the chalk lines down, so it may be helpful to delay some of the projects for the house so that both boys can help.  We are waiting to find out the sex of Baby #3 until he/she is born but hopefully he/she will be as helpful as his/her brothers.

With respect to the family, Francis and Jaclyn had their third child, our niece Elena who is super cute.  Damian and Michelle also got married on October 1st which was quite the celebration.  Here are our pictures from the day.  Our family (and extended one) is slowly expanding and soon we will definitely have to have a kids table at family gatherings as they are soon going to out number the adults.

We are a little bit better at keeping our flickr site up to date, so you can follow some of our adventures there.  I will try and post up some more art as I get around to scanning/photographing it.

Our Christmas Celebrations.

As with all families, we choose to celebrate Christmas multiple times so that we can maximize on family time and eating time.

Now that we have our own family, we celebrate with the boys Christmas morning before church by opening our stockings.

After church, we have brunch and then gather around the tree and start opening presents.

But before the boys can open presents, they must pose for the obligatory photos with the grandparents.

After our family celebrated (with grandparents), we then have a relaxing afternoon so that we can prepare for the first of the Christmas dinners.  This year, we continued the tradition of heading to the Seaborns at the Sycamore House to enjoy the annual Seaborn feast.  The feast starts out with appetizers and the obligatory whiskey sour.

And no Seaborn family dinner is complete with not 1 but 2 plum puddings.  This is a photo of the 2nd plum pudding.  Needless to say after this fabulous feast prepared by Geofford's Aunt Carol, we were not hungry for a few days.

Unfortunately for our waistlines, we hosted some of my high school friends at our annual post-Christmas potluck at our new house.  As usual, there was a lot of wonderful food prepared.  After the dinner, we had a Chinese gift exchange (I think that I prefer the terms Gift Grab or Yankee Swap, but that's just me).  You can see in the foreground some of the gifts from the gift exchange (Keating actually stole the gift that he brought, I think that we may have to change the rules for next year).

We had one more big dinner party, with the Chinese Church friends, but Geofford wasn't able to make it so I didn't get to take any photos, but it was a fabulous dinner with a lot of wonderful food at the Chan's new house just next to the canal.

Our last big Christmas celebration was with the Kwoks.  Historically we have spent some Christmases apart (as our in-laws don't live in town) and well we see each other quite frequently, so we decided to celebrate a couple weeks after Christmas Day to be able to spread out our holidays and to take advantage of Boxing Day sales :D, but really is was so that we can celebrate Christmas together without having to rush around to do so.  This was the first year that the celebration was not celebrated in Manotick (this was also only the 3rd year that we celebrated late).  As you can see below, the boys are thrilled to have to dress up for a second family Christmas celebration.

We started off the festivities in Russell where we had brunch.  We also tried to take pictures of the family, but decided that the kids really are the most interesting ones to photograph.  As it was almost nap time, it was difficult to get a serious picture of all of them, but it was very easy to get a picture of them making funny faces.

After the kids naps (I don't think that any of the adults were able to adults napped, and I know for certain that Jaclyn gave up her nap to make Connor's Toy Story 3 cake), we returned to my parents' house for another fabulous Christmas dinner (although I still have yet to roast a chicken properly - I can do turkey, but not chicken...go figure), we were able to enjoy Connor's Toy Story 3 cake, which was the culmination of months of hard work on his part.  We promised him that he could get a Toy Story 3 (emphasis on the 3 because that is what all of the commercials are for right now, and he is 3) cake when he no longer needed diapers.  Unfortunately (but fortunately), this coincided with Christmas (so it was a wonderful Christmas present for Geofford and I) so we decided to delay giving him the cake so that we could have a proper celebration for this momentous occasion.  Congratulations to my little man for achieving this important milestone!

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas (or holiday if you aren't Christian) season!

Love, the Seaborns