I finally posted some more photosfor you on the web site (http://www.thebentleys.ca/familyPics/index.php). They are from May, June and July.
In June, there are some great pictures from the trip that Emma and I did to the zoo one day. Emma was having fun posing, and then decided that she wanted to take pictures. There are some great photos that she took (okay I filtered out a couple of bad ones).
In July, there are some pictures from our trip to Fernie with Grandpa.
Well, we have been really busy with thing and I have been really, really bad about posting photos or anything else on here… Sorry.
I finally posted photos for the last 6 months or so in the Family Photos section.
| I finally added the pictures from February including a couple like this that look amazingly like Cousin Kendra (Darren claims that it is him shaving) and may of her having a great time posing for the camera. She does love to act up for the camera sometimes! |  |
Woo hoo! It’s Earth Day! It’s hard to explain to a 3 year old that one day it’s her birthday and the next day it’s Earth Day. It makes it even more confusing because she shares her birthday with the Queen. lol
For Earth Day this year I think we’ll be picking up garbage for a while. I really want to teach her the importance of doing your part in working towards a greener future. Every piece of litter contributes to an overall problem of lack of respect for the planet that we live on. If we teach our children at a young age to respect and love nature then I think that they’re more likely to carry this morals into adulthood. To me, it’s just as important as teaching them not to smoke or do drugs.
I’m ecstatic that more and more people are recognizing the importance of raising green kids. Organically grown cotton is now used to make more and more kids products. Bamboo and soy ink toys are gaining in popularity. People are learning to buy less, even if it’s only the recession that is making them do so. Plastic bags are becoming a thing of the past. Heck, even my redneck, way behind the times, Western Canadian city (Calgary) is finally getting curbside recycling! There’s so much to be happy about.
In our joy though, let’s not forget all the work that still remains to be done. Even little things like picking up litter and random dog poo at your local park can help. Not only does it get rid of that garbage, it also makes anyone who sees you doing it (or better yet, works at it with you!) think twice about doing their part.
So get out there and enjoy the day. I’ve got to get at it if I want to get any litter picked up before the snow hits today. Oh, why oh why do I still live here? Winter is a beautiful season but I wish that it wasn’t so long here.
I got this email today from a girlfriend of mine that is just TOO funny to not share. The names of the innocent have been removed…
Saturday we were supposed to go to the beach at Sylvan Lake with Doreen, Dee, Jason, Hiyat, Gabe, Maya and Zach. Emma was REALLY looking forward to it. She LOVES beaches and does not get to see her cousins very often.
Instead, she got a cold Thursday and by Friday night she had a fever and massive wheezing in the middle of the night. We tried pumping her full of Ventalin, but it didn’t help enough. We tried to think of a way to go to the beach with everyone, but in the end we gave up and sent Kris with Nana while we went to the hospital.
It was a good thing that we did. Thankfully her blood O2 was still pretty good (around 90%), and they pumped her full of stuff, but within about 4 hours she was doing better and we got to go home (what a relief!) It is a little upsetting that we went through all this in the summer as we were hoping that this was at least “just a winter thing” and were starting to hope that she was growing out of it.
On the good side, while she was certainly not happy about going in and got very bored sitting there just watching cartoons for hours, she now says that the doctors are nice and she actually wanted to go back and “visit the doctors” again today just for the fun of it! Silly girl.
The doctors were suggesting that she should be checking in with a doctor every three months now. What a pain. Not to mention, our really nice and friendly family doctor left to open an expensive private practice (out of our price range). Hopefully we can get in with the new doctors at his old office.
Well, wish us luck!
It was the anniversary of my husband and I’s wedding yesterday. 4 years is definitely a new world record for me personally being married! It seems like such a long time and yet such a short time as well. We’ve been busy these past 4 years to the point of ridiculousness. I’ve quit smoking, got pregnant and had a healthy baby, suffered through postpartum depression very badly for a long time, got pregnant again and found out that the baby passed away in the second trimester. Suffered through postpartum depression again which I didn’t even realize you could without at least having a baby with you! Suffered through grief, anxiety, hospitalization while my superhuman husband dealt with the chaos left at home. We’ve had many up times as well. Every day with our living children is a blessing. They may not always be perfect but they’re healthy and happy which is more than most parents ever get.
Kris is heading to high school in the fall and Emma is officially no longer a baby but a big girl. Kris has his learner’s license and sometimes will let me give him a lesson or two. Driving is definitely not his favorite activity. Emma seems to have kicked the binky (pacifier) habit for good (fingers crossed that she doesn’t suffer a relapse). She’s in a big girl bed and has been 100% potty trained for some time. She’s settled into our routine of dayhome and staying home with mommy somedays. Kris is turning out to be a pretty cool kid. He’s a great big brother who is always offering to help with his little sister.
Instead of a baby joining the family this year, we got a dog. The dog actually has nearly the same birthday as our son Kye would have had if he had made it. Bonsai is a good puppy and is (hopefully) beginning to get more and more potty trained. The kids love his easy going, laid back approach to life even if he does eat everything he can. Absolutely everything.
Through all of this, and much much more, my husband Mark has been by my side. I’ve started working part time in the last couple of months with his support. I’ve also started blogging both for personal expression and money. I’ve got an ongoing paid writting gig at GreenUpgrader.com which is an environmental website that guides readers towards products, services and ideas in which they can help make tiny steps towards living green. I write often there of art, parenting, and fashions that all are varying shades of green. I’ve been working on “greening up” my workplace. Recycling plastics, proper storage and disposal of chemicals, alternatives to overconsumption in the workplace, even overhead recycling programs are things I’ve been working on.
Mark is my rock, through good times and bad. He was there when Emma was born, when Kye died, when we got the puppy, when Emma was in the hospital for all of those weeks with asthma, when Kris was falling behind at school and getting into trouble. He was there when I was ill, when I was hospitalized for weeks with people even crazier than me. He’s always there for me and for our family. I love him now so much more than I did on the day we were married. If I had it all to do over again, I’d be dragging my Dad down the aisle towards my husband instead of him dragging me towards my husband because of my fear and anxiety.
You never know what will happen in life. What will happen next good or bad is a mystery. I look forward to discovering all of those mysteries with Mark by my side. I know that I can always count on him to be my rock and that he can always count on me for the same. Oh, and I almost always do the laundry too! lol Hopefully one of life’s mysteries will be experiencing another pregnancy in the upcoming months. We will always be there for each other. No matter what. And together, everything will work out!
It’s hard to believe it, but today is Emma’s 3rd birthday. Time passes so quickly when you have kids. I’ve been thinking alot lately about the time I spent being pregnant with her. It was such a tough pregnancy. I threw up multiple times everyday while continuing to get bigger and bigger. By the time I was six months pregnant, strangers would come up to me and say “You must be due anyday now!”. Yes, I really was that big.
The last couple months I didn’t see my feet at all and it seemed like all I could do was sleep and cry. When she was finally born 3 years ago today, she was 11 days past her due date. She weighed a crazy 11lbs 5oz at birth and make all the other newborns look premature. The labour lasted nearly 24 hours and was absolutely excruciating. I had two epidurals, neither of which worked. I begged them to give me a C-section but was told that I could do it. I was a proven birther as I had given birth to a large baby (9lbs 7oz) 12 years previously. Which, by the way, was much, much easier!
I ended up with post-partum depression, an awful tear in places that are not supposed to be torn and flashbacks of the labour for over a year. But the truth is, I wouldn’t change it or her one bit. She’s perfect and absolutely 100% worth it. I’ll never be the same as before I had her either physically, psychologically or emotionally but she’s made me into a stronger woman and a better mother. She’s funny, outspoken, talkative, friendly, clever, witty, cheerful and often giggles even in her sleep! I love her so much. Happy Birthday baby girl. 3 is a big one. She’s officially no longer a “baby” even though she’ll always be my baby girl. Wiping tears, away. lol
Kris posted this on Triond as “Happy Easter From the Bright Side of Evil (2009)“
Martin: Oh, hi Elsa. About last year…
Elsa starts to leave, with a smug smile.
Elsa: Oh, I remember…
Martin: So you forgive me?
Elsa throws five Easter eggs at Martin.
Martin: I’ll take that as a no.
Happy Easter from The Bright Side of Evil.
There likely follows an evil laugh from Elsa and a yell of “VENGEANCE!”
Kris published this on Triond as “Merry (Extra Late) Christmas ‘08 From the Bright Side of Evil”:
Joseph hangs holly above Elsa and Jack, Jack is confused.
Elsa: Very funny Joseph.
Jack: Huh?
Martin giggles nervously and points, while Necromancer and Author/Kris snicker above on the balustrade
Yes. That is a severed head on the dead Christmas tree. (of evil and necromancy and… stuff.)
Merry Christmas from The Bright Side of Evil.
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