A scary flashback Friday

A memory from 8 years ago. 

As a family this is still one of the biggest near misses we’ve ever had. Whenever I think about how bad this could have turned out I cringe and then feel grateful that he escaped with no serious injuries. We were very lucky that day! 

Throwback Thursday - Baby and Toddler James!

While trying to pick a baby photo for the Grade 7 slideshow I was flooded with memories of what life was like for us when James was a baby. It was only 13 years ago but man it feels like a lifetime has gone by. He was the best baby and such a happy toddler. He was smart and funny and cheeky and so loving. So many of the same qualities he still has today! 

Another from then to now!!

Only 3 years apart and I can't believe how much they've all changed!

May 2020

March 2023

 As soon as the 2020 photo popped up in my memories I instantly thought of this recent photo we took of the kids at Science World during our week in Vancouver for provincials. So fun to see the changes in them all and to see the massive size difference now between them all. James is a literal giant of a child. Jordie is growing slowly and Kennedy is already quite tall compared to other kids her age. It is fascinating to see how their growth patterns change and I can't wait to see which of them ends up tall like their uncles and which ones stop growing young like their daddy did! 

From then….to now!

Baby Kennedy….still in the hospital, maybe 3 days old? This takes me back to those long hard first days with her, our last tiny little human we would bring home with us. 

In general, I don’t think she looks a lot like she did as a baby, and then I see this photo and I totally see the similarities!

Every time anyone in our family sees this photo it’s always the same reaction….”aaawww, it’s big fat Jordie!”  He was seriously the cutest chubbiest baby I had. He was a pretty serious baby so when we did get smiles from him they were so cherished. 

His smiles and big brown eyes still melt me like they did almost 10 years ago!!

This is probably my favourite photo of James as a baby! His first smile captured and I have never forgotten this picture through the years!

If he didn’t wear glasses I think he would look a lot like what he looked like as a baby!

I’d like to think he’d be proud of us...

Jim's Grandpa Doug was a very special part of our lives in the early years of our relationship when we lived in Nanaimo before moving to PR. Him and his wife Doris were very supportive of us and helped us out whenever they could. They lent us their truck for date nights and grocery shopping, they had us over for dinner, and even came in the middle of the night to take me to the hospital when I had a Crohn's attack and Jim was out of town working. 

When we announced we were getting married Grandpa was sick with cancer and while he didn't want to do chemo he committed to it anyways. He said he would do anything to be at our special day. 

We asked him to do the sand ceremony during our wedding and we were so grateful he was able to do it. Just two weeks before the big day he called us one day with barely any voice and said he wasn't sure if he was going to be well enough to do it after all. A side effect of the chemo had left him with very little voice. We were heartbroken but hopeful that somehow he would be able to do it. 

Fast forward those two weeks and he showed up for our wedding weekend looking and feeling great and so excited to be part of our special day. Doris even told us how he had spent the day before they came making that special folder with our names on it to to hold the words to the sand ceremony. We still have the folder to this day and it holds those words, plus our wedding vows and other wedding mementos.

This part of our ceremony is truly the one that holds the most memory for Jim and I and it was all because of Grandpa. 

One of my favorite photos of all time. 

Sadly just a few weeks after our wedding Grandpa called to say that he was done with chemo and was ready to go. He died less than 3 months later and while his death was such a sad time in our lives we both love him so much and are so grateful for the personal sacrifices he made in order to be there for us. 

Grandpa's wife Doris is such a special person in our lives, even to this day. When Grandpa was dying in the hospital Jim made sure to tell him that we would always be there for her and she would always be part of our family, and she absolutely is. 

This trip down memory lane was brought on after I posted those photos the other day of our family and how much it's changed since that day we got married. Grandpa was such a big part of our day and his memory lives on for Jim and I very deeply. 

When I looked at the pictures of our family growing and changing year by year and I was thinking of Grandpa, what came to mind was that I would like to think that he would be proud of us and the life we've created for ourselves. I know for sure that he would have absolutely adored our kids if he'd been given the chance to meet them. I think he would have gotten a real kick out of Jordie as he's so much like Jim personality wise. And of James because he's such an odd combination of Jim and I. And of Kennedy just cause she's hilarious and just like her Mama. 

He was such a special man and I feel so very fortunate to have been a part of his life even if it was only for a short number of years. I do believe he's out there somewhere watching over us and smiling down on us as we go about our daily lives. 

Throwback Thursday - then and now!

Almost 2 years apart! How is she almost 3 already?! She fills our life with so much love and laughter every single day. She can be a frustratingly stubborn little beast but also so incredibly loving and sweet too. She is a beautiful little mixture of all of us and I see so much of both of our personalities in her. I can’t wait to see what this next year holds for our KJ girl (or Eddy Do as her daddy calls her!)

Way back Wednesday

While going through our basement I found so many awesome photos from my past and will definitely be sharing more on this blog in the coming weeks/months as I do a big sort/organize/purge of all of my photos!

Going way way way back to my 16th birthday and a fun night with some of my best high school friends! Melanie, Theresa and our beloved and missed friend Jody, who died when we were all just 21 years old. I can't believe she's been gone that long already. I wish I'd said more and done more in the last few years of her life and it's a regret I will live with forever. I am very fortunate to have had some wonderful years with her in my life and so many amazing memories with all of these girls.

Scariest roller coaster ever! Six Flags Magic Mountain

This one was fun though! 

Some cute sibling photos I found during the basement clean out! 

Tana Banana in Grade 2

Baby Kimmy...the cutest thing is that kennedy now has this blanket and sleeps with it on her pillow every single night!

Toddler Kimmy

Grade 6 Kimmy

I'm thinking this is Grade 11

True Love Tuesday

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have Crohn's disease. I've been very fortunate for the past several years that it has stayed mostly at bay, with just some random days/weeks where I feel kinda crappy, but overall no big flare ups since the year I got pregnant with Kennedy. I had a bowel resection surgery a few months after James was born so just over 9 years ago and I always said if it kept it away for 20 years I'd be happy, so we're half way there. 

Anyways, all that to say that these are some photos I came across while doing the basement clean out. The first one was when we first got together, and the second was three years later when I was deep into a flare of Crohn's and had been on prednisone for months. It's funny because when I looked like that Jim said he never even noticed it, I guess because he saw me every day, but wow, what a difference a few years can make. That's why the post is called True Love, because it's gotta be true love to not notice that your wife to be looks like a swollen balloon. I'll never forget the look on my dad's face when I walked off the ferry a few months before that photo was taken and he was shocked to see me (remember back when there was no FB, digital photos or things like Facetime, so my parents would go months between visits with no idea what I looked like!)

2003 vs 2006

Then here I was not quite 1 year later...after a lot of walking and eating healthy, and stopping the prednisone, losing the water weight and getting medications straightened out that helped my Crohn's finally. I think I went down almost 25 lbs from August 2006 when the photo was taken until August 200 when we got married. 

Throwback Thursday - The 2 year old Jordie edition

Today on my FB memories I had a bunch of toddler Jordie photos show up, so I decided to do a throwback Thursday post about this special little man.

The biggest thing I remember about Jordie at 2 was how little he talked but how loud he still was despite that. He was a grunter and yeller and a doer. He didn't ask for anything, he just did it himself. He knew how to communicate and get what he needed but didn't feel the need to communicate with us. It drove me crazy and I longed for him to talk, now I long for the quiet once again :)

Not only was he not talking like other kids his age....he was MASSIVE in size too! He was the same size at 2 that I think James was at 3. He was a solid little guy for sure and he played hard and loved hard. 

After a 4 hour play outside he came in and just crashed. Another thing about Jordie was that he LOVES his SLEEP! He was and still is by far my best sleeper. OMG his chubby cheeks and belly in this picture just kill me.

An evening playdate and visit with Auntie Theresa and Kaleb in Nana and Papa's backyard while we were house sitting for one of their vacations. 

The other day I shared videos of both James and Kennedy and how much they were talking at 2! Here is a video at the exact same age as them and he was just starting to make any legible sounds. He was quite delayed in his speech and didn't start really talking until he was much closer to 3. 

Another favorite video from about 6 months later

Here he is a big closer to 3

And just because he was so cute and looks so much like his Daddy...here is a newborn photo of Jordie too.

Throwback Thursday - Photos of newborn Kennedy Joanna

How is this little monster going to be two in just two weeks?? I'm throwing it way back to the first week of her life when we lived in the little hospital cocoon and snuggled and fed for hours on end with family visiting in between naps and check ups. Her birth was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I've never really shared much on here about how it all played out after the complications of my pregnancy. It's on the major to-do blog list, and maybe one day I'll get to it :) 

For now I'm going to drink in the memories of snuggling this little lady, my very last baby.

2018 Daily Photo Project

I did it...not during the year but all in the last week! I've compiled this project and now can finally start taking off some of the more than 20,000 photos and videos on my phone! This year I'm definitely going to keep this project up to date so it's easier to compile it all next January 1st.

So, here we go, all the way back to January 1, 2018, and a photo every single day of the year!

And just because I think it's fun to tag these photos in the app I use, here is now the numbers played out for 2018:

Dad ~ 81

Family ~ 47

Friends ~ 66

Hads & Kins ~ 20

James ~ 165

Jordie ~ 176

Kennedy ~ 173

Mom ~ 113

Nana & Papa ~ 13

Tassell's ~ 28

* In previous years I've actually been able to get the kids to line up exactly even but this year that proved to be a lot harder with me spending far more time with the littles than with the big ;)