Best Friends Forever

Theresa and I have been friends since we were 12 years old. For some of those years we didn't speak and we went our separate ways and did our own things, but 7 years ago when we both moved back to PR we reconnected and it's been so much fun since then. Jim and I moved into the townhouse complex where her and her husband lived and from there we had our very own F.R.I.E.N.D.S situation. They lived right behind us and we would meet on the deck for coffee in the warmth of many summer mornings and supper on summer evenings.

This past June they moved on from the townhouses and we miss having them nearby, but on the other hand now that we have to make the effort to drive there to see them our visits are so much fun and more meaningful as they are a lot less often than they used to be.

The Slacks older boys have watched James grow since a baby and have always been great with him. Dane especially has had a bond with James and loves him just like a big brother. I wondered whether we would ever have children together as theirs were so much older than mine...then happily discovered they were expecting their third just two months after us. Kaleb was born not quite a month ago and tonight we got together for our first good visit since he arrived and just couldn't help but to take a picture of the 5 boys together. I'm sure this will be the first of many of these photos we will take...and before we know it they will all be shoulder to should on a couch instead of all five comfortably sitting on a loveseat! I can't believe that it's just me and Theresa surrounded by our pack of boys!

We love you Slack Family and really look forward to watching all of our boys grow up together!

35/52 - A Portrait a Week

This week I'm going to start with a really candid photo that my mom snapped of James up at the cabin last weekend. It is such a rare non cheesy photo of him and I absolutely love it.  

Some may have seen this photo on FB the other day but here is Jordan in his lifejacket on the way to the cabin. Another favorite that I know I will remember forever.

And because I don't think I have any photos of just the two boys together this week I'll post a new family photo instead. Hahahahaha...no one except Jim looks particularly good but I'll take it anyways!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

The Barfies

Since James learned how to talk we've never had him complain of a sore head, sore tummy or any other sicknesses. I should have known when he just wasn't quite himself yesterday, then didn't finish a small bowl of veggie soup for supper and didn't want dessert when bribed to finish the soup, or when he said to me right before climbing into bed "Mommy, my tummy feels a little sick". Because he's never said anything like that before I didn't know to ask him what he was feeling. I thought maybe he was just tired so I kissed him goodnight and told him to crawl in.

An hour and a bit later we were watching a show with Ang & Bill and I heard over the monitor beside me....the dreaded SPLOOSH...followed by a dreadful crying/screeching coming from his room. Jim and I went barrelling up the stairs to find him and his bed covered in it. If there is one thing I hate in life more than most things...it is absolutely positively BARF. Any kinds....mine, pets, kids, adults, doesn't matter, I HATE IT! Jim took on the task of cleaning up the mess, and I took to showering James. We put him back to bed very sleepy but hoping for the very best it was a one time upset. We were dead wrong on that one...within about 20 minutes he was up again. Gravol came right back up and it just continued until midnight when we gave him some Benadryl (recommended by the ER doc 2 years ago when he got a 12 hour flu bug) and he fell asleep for 4 hours, then up again 2 more things at 4 and 5 am. By then the poor little guy couldn't even keep water down :o(

Back to bed he went, with his wonderful Daddy sleeping on the floor beside him, and fell asleep for a few more hours. When Jordy and I got up at 7 James and Daddy moved to our room and snuggled up to watch a movie. He came down after that, got sick one more time and then managed to eat half a piece of toast and a small apple sauce. Most of the day he spent lethargic and tired and really not himself. He had a 3.5 hour nap and then managed to eat just a small bowl of chicken noodle soup and a glass of apple juice.

After supper tonight he was back to his typical 3 year old self and was cheeky and causing trouble once again! He went off to bed tonight at 9 and I think we're past the worst of it now. Let's hope he stays barf free overnight and we can enjoy the last day of his cousin's visit tomorrow!

Let's also hope that Jim and I have avoided catching the dreaded "barfies" as James has taken to calling them! I don't think he'll forget this past day anytime soon.

Cute picture from our weekend

Jordan all dressed and ready for our big trip up the lake to the cabin. 

He has the cutest little smile and this picture captures it perfectly! 

34/52 - A Portrait a Week

Starting off with the littlest Barrows today. I love this outfit that we got for him from Jim's family in Nanaimo. I've waited to put him into it and am hoping that in September for his monthly photo it will still fit his chubby little legs and thighs!

And now onto my finally freshly haircut big boy James. He has had a fear of getting his hair cut since just after his first cut at 1. He would scream and cry whenever my sister got near him with scissors. We finally bit the bullet and forced him to do it by saying he couldn't go to school without his hair cut...and that if he didn't let Auntie cut it that Daddy was going to shave it again, which would have been traumatic for all involved! Luckily he sat, relatively still, while watching movies on the iPad and Mommy standing in front of him encouraging him, and a very fast Auntie Ra working her magic. Within 10 minutes it was done, with just a few tears and no screaming at all. Oh my gosh he's so handsome and grown up looking!

hehehehehe...this picture makes me giggle. James as always was having a hard time focusing on me with the camera and Jordan was just about to lose it any second but nonetheless I love this photo of my two big guys.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Big/Little Brother Couch Fort Fun

For the first time since Jordan's birth I saw James want to include him in something that he was doing. James was in one of his couch forts playing on his Innotab when I brought Jordan downstairs and randomly thought, I wonder if James will let him in the fort with him? and will Jordan scream because he just woke up and is hungry and wet?

Well James lovingly welcomed him into the fort, even telling me to pull the blankets over so they could play together in there. And Jordan...well he was super happy to lay there with his brother, even when the blankets went over his head.

I can't wait to see these two in another year when Jordan can really play and interact with James. I love the relationship I see forming between them and I can tell that Jordan already loves him so much. When James is in the room Jordan's eyes are following him and when he talks to him he starts to giggle and smile. Oooohhh it just melts my heart completely.

Here are the photos from my boys couch fort fun.

Jordan's Monthly Photos with Harris

3 months already! 

Wow, where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that he was born into our little family and instantly we became this whole new dynamic team. James continues to love his little brother like I could never have even dreamed he would. He wants to hug and kiss him, hold him, feed him and is starting to want to make him smile and laugh. He even mock "yells" at him when he puts his finger in Jordan's mouth "Eeewww....Mooooommmmm, Jordan is sucking on my finger!" I just laugh and ask him what he thought would happen when he did that :o)

This month Jordan has really become quite a little person. He is smiling and just starting to giggle at us sometimes. He loves his bath and is starting to not mind being put on his floor mat to look at the toys on it. He is eating 6 oz of formula every 3-4 hours during the day and here comes the best Mommy brag of this whole post...he is sleeping from between 9 and 10 until 6 or 6:30....which means this sleep loving Mommy is feeling happy and refreshed most days. I know from my experience with James that this can change at anytime. James was a good sleeper too..until he hit about 18 months and the night terrors started :o(  I'm desperately hoping that my hopes and dreams of a great sleeper have come true and even though this kid is a spitting image of his Daddy that maybe, just maybe, he will love to sleep like his Mommy. One can hope right?

He is now a whopping 16.9 pounds as of last week and 24" long. He is a happy, chubby and smiley little guy. He is my newest love and I am cherishing every single snuggle and breath of clean baby scent that I can while I can. Before I know it he will be all grown up like his big brother.

After 10 minutes of looking through the choices I just couldn't decide on just 1 so here are two adorable photos with Harris the bear.

Here's all the pictures in order:

Growing up and changing

I've been resisting moving Jordan over to his crib in his room. He is almost too big for his bassinette and I keep putting off moving him, first it was till after our trip, now it's till maybe mid September. I don't know why I'm thinking so much about it. Maybe it's because I looked at James's baby calendar and he didn't move to his own room until he was close to 4 months old. Or maybe it's because if he does wake up at night it's easy to just lean over and comfort him and put the soother back in his mouth. Or maybe it's because I'm just really not ready to admit that my baby (possibly my last baby) is growing up and changing every day.

When we were on vacation we went to Babies R Us and treated ourselves, using gift cards from our shower, to a new video monitor, a luxury that we didn't have with James. There were so many times when he was a toddler that I was dying to see what he was up to! Now I'll be able to see what Jordy is up to in those mischievous moments :o)

So, today I took it out of the box and foolishly got Jim to install it. Fast forward to bedtime when we would usually put Jordan in the swing while we watch TV before we go to bed, but tonight I just wanted to see what the monitor was like, so I put him in the crib, turned on the ocean wonders aquarium and walked out. I fully expected him to start crying within a few moments as he usually falls asleep in the swing and then we wake him for a dream feed between 10 & 11 before we go to bed. But....nope....he fell asleep after about 10 minutes and he's still asleep now an hour later. Last night he went from 8 pm until 7 am this morning without eating so I'm curious to see how tonight goes.

I'm sad he won't be in my room...and I can't guarantee that I won't put him back in the bassinette if he does wake up in the night. I'm just not sure I'm quite ready for him to be in his room yet! I'll get there I'm sure, but I'm okay with hanging onto this little baby boy for as long as I can!

Caricatures

Over the years we have fallen in love with caricatures and now have one hallway in our house that holds our growing collection. We really want to get one done with us and kids this fall, but there is no one in town doing them. Might have to look online to find an artist that I may be able to send the photo to them to do it.

It all started with this one from Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California back in 2006. 

Next up my sister and her husband and kids gave us one that was drawn from a picture of us from our wedding day. She commissioned our local artist Wendy Brown to do it and gave it to us for Christmas that year.

One month after Christmas we headed to Las Vegas with Ang and Bill and when we were up at the top of the Stratosphere we came across a caricaturist and thought, well we might as well do it!

Then this trip came up and we talked to Ash & Sean about wanting to find a caricaturist. Funny enough we came down from the Space Needle and the guy was just setting up his station so we were his first customers of the day!

Now here's the pictures of the completed layout with the newest one!

33/52 - A Portrait a Week

Wow, the weeks are just flying by! I can't believe we are already at Week 33. We didn't have a super busy week but I of course did make sure to capture at least a couple.

We finally got some cooler weather so off we went to a baseball game...in the pouring rain! I was excited to finally be able to dress Jordy in this adorable little long sleeve and pants baseball outfit. And just in the nick of time because he's almost too big for it! 

On that same night James was just happily running around getting wet and dirty and I managed to capture this random adorable smile while he ran past me! 

Here is their newest together photo.

And one more just because I can...and because it's kind of a cute picture of me with my two boys!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

The Barrows & Tassells go to Seattle

Not sure where to start to try to explain how awesome of a trip we had to Seattle with our friends Sean and Ashleigh. It was such a wonderful getaway from our everyday lives and although I did miss my little ones, I also had a really good time connecting with my hubby again and enjoying nothing but adult conversation for 4 days.

Our trip started with a day of shopping in Nanaimo where we got a smoking deal on a new stroller and diapers on sale at Target (I know I know, we should shop local, but seriously saving $25 on diapers was awesome!). Then we headed off to Victoria and ended up having dinner at The Monkey Tree Pub. Then off to Sean's parents where I visited for only an hour before I fell into a drug induced coma to try and sleep off my sickness! Monday morning we got up and headed for the Victoria Clipper to take us to Seattle. Our hotel was just a short 10 block walk (4 blocks straight uphill!) from the pier. The boys went to get drinks and Ash and I did what we do best....just bullshit about life! Awesome dinner in the hotel restaurant and then we were off to our first Blue Jays game! It was an absolutely incredible experience to be surrounded by THOUSANDS of screaming Canadian fans all dressed in Blue Jays blue! Singing the national anthem in an american stadium and having it be 5x louder than the american anthem made me very proud to be Canadian. The poor guy singing got lost because I don't think he could even hear the music over all of the crowd singing. Anyways, it was an amazing game to say the least. Here are some photos from Day 1 in Seattle.

The first of many lines we would stand in! Waiting to board the Victoria Clipper.

Night 1 pre-game drinks

hehehehehehe

Yup, even I had a drink!

hehehehehe...Sean is ready to go!

Waiting in the back alley of the hotel for the shuttle to the game!

Our first picture of the four of us!

And, we've arrived. The excitement at this point was incredible as were about to walk in and up the stairs to get to the field.

Do you think we are excited?

An awesome pic of Sean and Ash in front of the field.

Great one of Jim and Sean too!

Ash was very excited that the Churro lady came by our seats!

Brett Lawrie's bum

Some random action shots from the game. We were sitting in the lower bowl just 30 rows from the field. The lower bowl is definitely a great seat, but next time we want to be behind the dugout!

Day 2 we got up (not too early because of course we had no kids!), had a great continental breakfast at the hotel and then we were off for a day of sightseeing. Our hotel was only about a six block walk to the Space Needle so we went there first. Only Jim and I went up because Ash is deathly afraid of heights so they stayed on the ground and wandered around down there. The view from up there was great and I'm glad I can say that I went. Next time I wouldn't mind eating in the restaurant at night because I think the view with the lights at night would be fantastic.

Ash got down on the ground and tried to get as much of the needle as possible. 

Then Sean actually laid on the ground to get this awesome shot. It's definitely one of my favorites from the whole trip! Thanks Sean!

Views from up top - this is Lake Union in the middle of the city where all the floating houses you hear about are.

Downtown Seattle

Downtown with the harbour and both arenas

A picture of our hotel...awesome deals at the Holiday Inn Express

More harbour, this time you can see the ferris wheel down at the pier

One of Seattle's many ferry boats

Us with the views behind us

More of the residential side of the city, as well as Key Arena

After we came down from the Needle the Tassell's happily told us that a caricaturist was just setting up right near the Monorail station which we were about to take to downtown so we could head to the pier and Pike Place Market. So, of course, we waited and happily paid our money to get a caricature done. If you've ever been to our house you will know that we kind of have a love of caricatures and it just has worked out that all of our big trips we have come home with one. We got one down at Six Flags in California, one at the Stratosphere in Vegas and now this one at the Space Needle in Seattle. The one we cherish the most of course is the one my sister and her family gave us the year we were married of us on our wedding day! Maybe a blog post of our caricatures is in order next!

About to get on the monorail to head downtown towards Macy's, Pike Place Market and the ferris wheel on the pier

I love this picture of Ash and me! 

A parents kind of sign for the restrooms

Ash contributing to the nasty gum wall. I thought it would be really cool to see it but in the end it was just so gross. The smell was terrible with the heat and all the different kinds of gum.

Jim's face clearly shows how unimpressed he is that I made him stand next to the wall for this photo!

Standing in front of the ferris wheel on the pier. Again just Jim and I went up as Ash said there was no way she could do it! 

After a relatively short wait of about 30 minutes we were on and got our own gondola.

He may be smiling but those first few minutes he certainly was not having fun. 

I on the other hand was loving it! I love heights and to see the view from up there was awesome.

 Cheesy kissing picture!

Some scenery pics from the gondola

Now we're off to Game 2 and really hoping our signs make it on TV. They didn't, but at least we were excited to know that Baby Slack had arrived safe and sound, although I was bummed we weren't in town to visit him right away.

That smile on Ash's face is actually hiding the extreme fear she is feeling as we are going up the second of three escalators to get to our upper bowl seats.

Sean wanted a picture by the railing with Century Link field behind them. She said no way and this was the closest she felt comfortable standing. 

Amazing view from up in the upper bowl. Our seats were in the second row so we had a great view of the whole game. 

This time we were above the first base line and directly across from the Safeco Field sign.

They really did do their best to get onto TV. We also tried for the Jumbotron but of course because we were in Blue Jays shirts there was no way they would do it.

BC born Brett Lawrie on the Jumbotron

Action shots of the pitcher and some batters

Again with his cute bum!

Close to the end of the second game. The boys were relatively drunk and Ash and I were cold from the wind up in the upper bowl. 

On our way home on the Victoria Clipper. 

Thanks so much Sean and Ash for inviting us to come along for a great trip with you guys! We'd travel with you again anytime, next time let's do Mexico for a whole week!