As many of you already know, an incredibly exciting event took place at the Mundy residence this evening.(no, my husband did not shave off his Movember stache) I, however, did cross off the very last item on our reno to do list!! So I figured (since it has been soooo long) I would write a little blog post to celebrate:)
Most of you have probably sort of followed along with the 'Tale of the Mundys First Home' via facebook. But I have been told that I have been very vague about a lot of the details. So since the renos are done and I now once again have copious amounts of freetime, I thought I would take a little time and fill (any of you that are interested) in on a few more details of the house and updates etc.
The house itself is a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom town house in a great little complex called Immel Ridge (which came complete with 2 GREAT sets of neighbours;) I have had my eye on these town houses for probably 3 years now. Watching MLS almost daily for new listings. Crying myself to sleep when ones would sell. There are, I believe, 5 different layouts. But only one of them ideal for our family. And there had not been one on the market for nearly a year. So when this one came available, we jumped on it. And then everything happened sooo fast. We held our breath and waited for the rug to get ripped out from under us, but before we knew it, we were clearing all subjects and signing a mortgage agreement. And it was ours!!
Why is this place so perfect and worth MLS stalking for 3 years for?? Well, let me tell you... To start, if we ever were to write a list of our top priorities for a home, at the top of our list you would not see: a massive gourmet kitchen, or luxurious onsuite. You would however see: a bedroom for each of our kids all on one level(preferably separate from main living area). And a rec/family room(more or less somewhere to put all the kids crap) And that is exactly what we got!
It is 3 levels. The mainfloor has kitchen, powder room, dining/living room. Upstairs there is a bathroom and FOUR bedrooms! And downstairs there is another bathroom, a rec/family room and the 5th bedroom. It honestly couldn't be more perfect for us. Except for the fact that the people before us had VERY different taste in design then us.
Although the place was in fine working order and could have been move in ready, we knew that we were going to have to do a fair bit of work to get it to a point that we would truly love it.
So that is what we set out to do, and I have to say, we have done a fine good job of it. To start, we pretty much redid the entire main floor top to bottom. We painted every wall. We put in new (beautiful!!) laminate flooring, new baseboards, some wainscotting, retiled the fireplace, replace the bathroom vanity. AND last but definitely not least- we redid the kitchen!!
This was something I did not expect, but that my AMAZING husband insisted on for me. Knowing how much I love to cook, it was important for him that if I didnt have a big kitchen, I at least had a very functional (and oh so pretty) kitchen. So we changed the orientation of it a bit to give it better flow. We left a portion of the lowers( replaced the doors to match all the new doors) but replaced all of the uppers and extended them by 7 feet and built them right up to the ceiling(!!!) Then we added a big pantry and some more lowers and then wrapped the counter in front of the window to create a little breakfast bar area.
Its faboulous. I LOVE it. I honestly feel so spoiled when I look at it. We added a few custom features that really kick it up a notch. I have 2 HUGE pot drawers and 2 small appliance drawers that help to eliminate so much clutter. And we put soft close hinges on everything. I had no idea how much I would love those! The only problem is, it makes it a little more difficult to prove your point when you are pissed off;)
We also replaced all the existing carpet which was on all the stairs and the entire top floor. And we repainted our room, Ashton's room and Madisyn's room.
Madisyn's room was my little project. It is a room I have honestly been dreaming of doing one day for my daughter since a particular episode of trading spaces I had seen when I was 13. I actually got pathetically emotional as I finished pulling off the last strip of painters tape. But it was just so amazing to see a room I had been picturing in my head for 14 years come together in front of me. Totally worth the many hours of work that went into it!
So I think that is pretty much it. Although the downstairs could use some new paint, it is most definitely not a priority at the moment. I am sure we will eventually get around to painting it. But I will definitely not be losing any sleep over it!
Now we can start to fully unpack and get organized and settled and FINALLY start to really enjoy our first home. It has been an emotional roller coaster. I have shed way more tears over it then I ever thought I would. And I am sure I haven't exactly been a joy to live with the last couple of months. So I am so excited (as I am sure my family is as well) for things to start levelling out so I can get back to being my normal awesome self;)
I still have to pinch myself sometimes, i can't believe it is ours! But we couldn't have gotten to where we are with it without my mom and my step-dad Mike. I could never express in words how truly grateful we are for EVERYTHING they did. They have been over here(from Victoria) almost every weekend since we took possession helping us out. Mom took care of the kids so we could both be working on the place and Mike did a TON of the work. Well pretty much everything that required any skills, as we have none. lol. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Love you both so much!!
I know many of you are waiting to see pictures. I have been holding off on posting any until I could post before and after pictures together. So we will take some time this weekend to do some after shots and I promise I will post them sometime next week!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Josiah
Five years ago today, we welcomed our first baby, little Josiah David Mundy into the world.
Even as I write that sentence, I am in shock. It is absolutely unreal to me that it has already been FIVE years!!! I honestly remember that day like it was yesterday. It was not just the day Josiah was born, but the day that we went from being a couple to being a family.
Finding out I was pregnant with Josiah, was a dream come true. All my life, all I have ever wanted to be was a mom, and knowing that that day would soon be here was incredible. I will never forget seeing the two lines and knowing exactly what it meant, but still fumbling to re-read the instructions just to make sure. I dont know that I had ever felt so much excitement and anticipation in my entire life. I screamed and I cried, great big happy tears. It was amazing.
The pregnancy was long and rough, but 9 month later (in true perfectionist Josiah form) he arrived exactly on his due date. For the first time, I truly understood the meaning of pure unconditional love. This being our first born, we didn't know what to expect. And it was nothing anyone could have ever prepared us for. We were both shocked at how quickly and how deeply we loved this tiny little person. Like I have said in previous posts, it was a love so strong and so deep, it almost hurt. I would do anything for him, I would even lay down my life for him.
And he was ours, all ours. A perfect blend of both of us. And my goodness, was he beautiful! As biased as it may sound, he was one of the most perfect newborn I had ever seen. And he just got cuter!
He quickly became one of the happiest babies I had ever known. Always laughing and smiling. And when he smiled, he smiled with every ounce of his little body. His entire face would light up with a big, full on, mouth wide open smile. It didn't take much for others also to fall completely in love with him. He melted hearts wherever he went. The grocery store, Colin's work, the park. He was born a charmer. And had more personality then most adults I know.
It was a joy to watch him grow into a toddler and then become a big brother. A role that he proudly took on. He absolutely adored Madisyn, from the moment he first saw her. He called her his pretty pretty princess, for a LONG time. (Between him and Colin, no wonder she has the 'princess syndrome' so bad)
Becoming a big brother for the second time, has been equally as exciting for him. I love watching him with Ashton when he thinks I am not in the room. The way he stares at him and talks to him, is the most beautiful thing.
He is an old sole. Some kids are just smart, they can read better and write better. But Josiah just 'gets' things that other kids his age don't. He asks questions that I am not ready to have answers for, and he knows things that most kids his age wouldn't have a clue about. He pays attention to people and notices things that most people (adults included) would over look. This, not always, is a good thing. I think sometimes, he just has too much going on in his head, that he doesn't know how to process it or deal with it, and in turn acts out. As sweet as he can be, oh man can he flip. We have dealt with our fair share of behavioural issues with him.
But that being said, he really is the one of the most genuinely loving people I know. I can firmly say that I know he will make a great husband and father one day. He just has it in him. He will be the husband who holds his wifes purse for her while she goes to the restroom, and paints her toes for her when she is too big and pregnant to do it herself. He will probably even do the cooking and cleaning. Lol. Well, maybe.
I think all parents look at their kids and hope for them to dream big. To become something/someone great. With Josiah, I dont think that will be a problem. In his preschool class of 3 -5 year olds, they were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. There were monster truck drivers and firefighters, teenagers, fishermen and I think even a monkey. Josiah wanted to be a civil engineer.
Dream big my boy, dream big.
So the day is here, my little man is five years old. I have never felt so unprepared for my child to turn one year older, it actually makes me quite sad. Why do kids have to grow up so darn fast?!
I know any of you reading this with older children will say, "Just wait till he turns 10 or 16 or even 25". But we are not there yet, so for now, for me, this is a big deal.
Thanks to the wonderful world of facebook, most of you have been able to watch my other 2 grow and change since the day they were born. Well, actually even before they were born. But since I wasn't a 'facebooker' until he was about a year, I decided I would add some of my favs of him from his first year, and then a look at his last 4 birthdays. It is CRAZY how much he has grown up, but he is still the same Josiah.
Even as I write that sentence, I am in shock. It is absolutely unreal to me that it has already been FIVE years!!! I honestly remember that day like it was yesterday. It was not just the day Josiah was born, but the day that we went from being a couple to being a family.
Finding out I was pregnant with Josiah, was a dream come true. All my life, all I have ever wanted to be was a mom, and knowing that that day would soon be here was incredible. I will never forget seeing the two lines and knowing exactly what it meant, but still fumbling to re-read the instructions just to make sure. I dont know that I had ever felt so much excitement and anticipation in my entire life. I screamed and I cried, great big happy tears. It was amazing.
The pregnancy was long and rough, but 9 month later (in true perfectionist Josiah form) he arrived exactly on his due date. For the first time, I truly understood the meaning of pure unconditional love. This being our first born, we didn't know what to expect. And it was nothing anyone could have ever prepared us for. We were both shocked at how quickly and how deeply we loved this tiny little person. Like I have said in previous posts, it was a love so strong and so deep, it almost hurt. I would do anything for him, I would even lay down my life for him.
And he was ours, all ours. A perfect blend of both of us. And my goodness, was he beautiful! As biased as it may sound, he was one of the most perfect newborn I had ever seen. And he just got cuter!
He quickly became one of the happiest babies I had ever known. Always laughing and smiling. And when he smiled, he smiled with every ounce of his little body. His entire face would light up with a big, full on, mouth wide open smile. It didn't take much for others also to fall completely in love with him. He melted hearts wherever he went. The grocery store, Colin's work, the park. He was born a charmer. And had more personality then most adults I know.
It was a joy to watch him grow into a toddler and then become a big brother. A role that he proudly took on. He absolutely adored Madisyn, from the moment he first saw her. He called her his pretty pretty princess, for a LONG time. (Between him and Colin, no wonder she has the 'princess syndrome' so bad)
Becoming a big brother for the second time, has been equally as exciting for him. I love watching him with Ashton when he thinks I am not in the room. The way he stares at him and talks to him, is the most beautiful thing.
He is an old sole. Some kids are just smart, they can read better and write better. But Josiah just 'gets' things that other kids his age don't. He asks questions that I am not ready to have answers for, and he knows things that most kids his age wouldn't have a clue about. He pays attention to people and notices things that most people (adults included) would over look. This, not always, is a good thing. I think sometimes, he just has too much going on in his head, that he doesn't know how to process it or deal with it, and in turn acts out. As sweet as he can be, oh man can he flip. We have dealt with our fair share of behavioural issues with him.
But that being said, he really is the one of the most genuinely loving people I know. I can firmly say that I know he will make a great husband and father one day. He just has it in him. He will be the husband who holds his wifes purse for her while she goes to the restroom, and paints her toes for her when she is too big and pregnant to do it herself. He will probably even do the cooking and cleaning. Lol. Well, maybe.
I think all parents look at their kids and hope for them to dream big. To become something/someone great. With Josiah, I dont think that will be a problem. In his preschool class of 3 -5 year olds, they were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. There were monster truck drivers and firefighters, teenagers, fishermen and I think even a monkey. Josiah wanted to be a civil engineer.
Dream big my boy, dream big.
So the day is here, my little man is five years old. I have never felt so unprepared for my child to turn one year older, it actually makes me quite sad. Why do kids have to grow up so darn fast?!
I know any of you reading this with older children will say, "Just wait till he turns 10 or 16 or even 25". But we are not there yet, so for now, for me, this is a big deal.
Thanks to the wonderful world of facebook, most of you have been able to watch my other 2 grow and change since the day they were born. Well, actually even before they were born. But since I wasn't a 'facebooker' until he was about a year, I decided I would add some of my favs of him from his first year, and then a look at his last 4 birthdays. It is CRAZY how much he has grown up, but he is still the same Josiah.
Last belly picture taken 2 days before I had him.
First time in my arms after getting out of recovery. (Longest 2 hours of my life!!!)
Perfect little man.
1 day old.
First few minutes home from the hospital.
2 days old.
His favourite place to be, snuggled up with daddy.
4 days old.
Probably still my favourite picture to date of the 2 of us.
5 weeks old.
There it is, the famous Josiah smile!
9 weeks old.
Happiest baby around!
4 months old.
Just hanging out in Uncle Regans racecar, no big deal;)
4 months old.
ALWAYS smiling.
5 months old.
Still smiling!
6 months old.
And again:)
7 months old.
Too much cute going on here!
8 months old.
Who really needs toys when you can just give them a cardboard box.
10 months old.
1st birthday
2nd birthday
3rd birthday
4th birthday
And finally, 5th birthday!
Ok, wow. Now I am completely choked up from looking through all those! And I can guarantee my mom is by now too;)
I know that he can't read this right now, but I hope that some day he will get the chance to. When he does, I hope he will be able to understand what a blessing he has been to us and so many others in his first 5 years. He truly is a remarkable kid!
So happy 5th birthday my dear boy! I love more then I could ever express in words. I am so proud to be your mommy!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A New Kind of Bribery
I remember back in the day -before kids- watching other people parent their children, and thinking to myself (far too often) 'I will never do that when I am a mom!!' Thats right, we are all the greatest parents in the world, until we have kids of our own.
One of those things, (well probably actually many of those thing, but for the sake of this post I will say one) that made me absolutely cringe, I regret to say, I am now guilty of doing myself.
You know the mom in the line up at Walmart, with a full cart and two bratty misbehaving children? The one who looks like she is either going to burst into tears or bash some heads together? Then she leans down and utters the words, "If you guys start being good, I will give you a treat!!" Yeah... thats totally me.
Thats right folks, I bribe my kids. Granted, I don't do it all the time, but they are not bad all the time either. Lol. I like to think of it more as 'rewarding'. But I know deep down, that using a 'reward' to get them to behave more appropriately is nothing but a bribe. But unfortunately, if bribing them is going to get me through a trip to Walmart, or a preschool drop-off, or bedtime, or even just to get me through the day, then I am going to do it. Especially now that I am juggling 3!
There is quite a variety of bribes that get thrown around the Mundy house. There is the stereo typical candy bribe, or the movie or special show bribe. We also have the video game bribe, which I enjoy because that usually involves my husband having to carry it out for me, as I am not so good with electronics. Another one that I am particularly fond of is the Starbucks kids drink bribe. Yes I know that by allowing my children to order their 'half sweet, no whip, made to only 100 degree Vanilla Steamed Milk', I am creating future Starbucks fiends, especially when I am doing it following poor behaviour. BUT, they do only cost 1.00 AND I get to also reward my own good behaviour with a 'grande breve White Chocolate Mocha, add full pump Cinnamon Dolce and sprinkles'. Sounds good to me!
But there's a new bribe in town. And it happens to come in a 9 pound, ridiculously cute, blue eyed, dark haired, faux-hawk rocking little bundle. AKA- Ashton William Mundy. Yep, I bribe my big kids with their new baby brother. Terrible isn't it?!
"And the Mommy of the Year award goes to..." What?! Not me?!
But it works! (most of the time) And sometimes, you just gotta do whatever it takes.
I have even photo documented some of my amazing results!
These ones were taken after a particularly trying Thursday that led to a particularly trying Thursday night without Colin. The only thing that got me through (other then my standing date with McDreamy and McSteamy) was knowing that bedtime was coming. And I would go to whatever lengths it took to get them there in a timely fashion. Even if it took me saying, "If you get in bed and stay in bed, I will let you have special cuddles with Ashton!!"
So there you have it, another confession from Mommy Mundy. Judge me if you will, but I know I am not alone;)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Relax I'm a NINJA...!
Well if thats not a great start to any birthing experience, I'm not sure what is. In a time of understandable uncertainty & heightened emotions, Nothing is more relaxing than a 'NINJA'
(explanation will come, I promise)
This is Colin by the way (to clear possible confusion)
Ok, so first I think its only fair that I apologize for not having any contribution this far on how things played out on the day Ashton arrived. I've been taking some heat for not making a post, however in my defence, deep down I knew it was important to me to land this post exactly on the 1 month milestone.
It has been 1 month today,
It all started with a bump in the night, or more of a rough-nudge-in-the-very-ridiculous-early-morning... "I think I'm in labour ?!".....
BOOM, I'm awake.
My alarm hasn't been that effective ever in my life. Lucky for me (with permission) I also have the ability to sleep nearly on command, as we're still currently nowhere near daylight, and things are just starting to progress.
I got up for work now as usual, to confirm that today probably wasn't a good day to go into the office.
Well if you know me at all... then yup, I dragged her 'labouring' to work so I could make sure things were all squared away before we spent an unknown period of time at the hospital. No urgency for these Mundy's, this is old-hat.
Arrive at the hospital, pouring crazy rain, we park as far from the door as possible (cause we had a free pass)... now 10 steps, 1 minute labour, 10 steps, 1 minute labour, 10 steps... did I mention pouring crazy rain? or the 'one-man' umbrella, not quite big enough for the 'three' of us. The rest is a damp trip upstairs for check-in/ triage.
Thank God, They kept us... nothing worse than being sent home at this point. It was a great relief to know that we'd be able to start settling into our (heck-yes) private room!
Now this is where 'my' NINJA arrives, I say 'my'... because, she made my day!
Sporting purple streaks & a graphic tee... "Relax I'm a Ninja"
The Midwife arrives.
In my head, "heck-yes, thats fricken awesome!", the un-professionalism was amazing in such a situation.
Having a baby is one of those times in your life, when you can't really be sure how things are going to happen. With so much confusion and uncertainty about everything. However at that moment I knew that no matter what was about to happen, it was going to be Awesome!
In all seriousness though, besides the purple streaks & graphic tee, I couldn't have asked for a better experience for Kandis. I'm not sure how much of that excellent care and attention was due to the difference in having a midwife, or how much was just because her 'particular' midwife was fantastic. Her midwife had the ability to really understand the things Kandis needed to hear & how to help make the experience the best possible for her. I know how much that understanding support had helped Kandis. It in turn also helped me knowing that Kandis really had the help she needed.
Labour & delivery is a helpless time for Dads, powerless to help, and unable to really truly even understand how this is a physically possible event. I can say the midwife also made the whole experience for me much more comfortable, by being able provide the support for Kandis that I am unsure how to provide, and have no control over. It truly did help relieve many of the worries that are so un-controllable and reduce the feeling of helplessness.
Not only did we have a great midwife who did a fantastic job, But we had a RAD midwife!
All you other midwives should be jealous, cause she was B.A.!
Our afternoon was filled with snacks & labouring... and the odd Starbucks run. Really once things came time to pushing, somehow it managed to be quick and... (nope not gonna say it, I know better than that). This time I agreed to cut the cord, which I hadn't done in the past. I know it was important to Kandis, so I managed to over come that feeling of taking scissors to my wife and now barely born Baby. I'm glad I did, as it's just one of those things you'll never know what it feels like until you've done it.
Welcome, Ashton William Mundy (and holy crap so much hair). Once again overwhelmed with more feelings than you've ever understood possible until you've had a baby. Surprisingly with the same intensity as each baby every time. For us this is 'Baby Makes Five'.
To complete the timeline would require an overview of the next 24 hrs, tried to sleep on and off, alternating with Kandis. It was a pretty typical first night.
Then somehow without warning....
Student Nurses everywhere, everywhere, everywhere..!
Not just new nurses, but actual 'stupid-people' student nurses. Seriously, frustratingly stupid people calling themselves nurses everywhere. I wouldn't have trusted 95% of them to babysit for me.
With that being the only negative, I'd have to say Welcoming Ashton was overall a great experience. If I could give any advice, Find yourself a RAD midwife.
Happy 1 Month Ashton!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Our 3rd and Final Addition Has Finally Arrived!
**WARNING**
Due to the current emotion state of the writer, the following blog post may be filled with mushy, cheese ball writing. So if you can't handle sickeningly sappy stuff, you may wanna skip this one.
So, as most of you already know, after 9 of the most exhausting and uncomfortable months of my life, our littlest Mundy has finally arrived! Ashton William Mundy made his grand appearance on January 28th at 5:01 pm, weighing a very healthy 8lbs 1oz and 21 inches long. We are all sooo relieved that he is finally here! We couldn't be happier.
So many of you have been wondering how it all went, so I figured I would take this opportunity to tell you all at once rather then write it out over and over. (If you dont want to hear all the gory details, you might want to skip ahead to all the sappy stuff a little further down)
How did it go? Well, to be honest, it was great! (Well as great as a tiny human coming out of your lady bits can be!) My labour and delivery with the other two were really terrible and fairly traumatizing experiences for us. I had the long drawn out, 28 hour labour with Josiah (all with no drugs because I was trying to earn a friggin badge or something) That was followed by 4 1/2 hours of pushing, 3 failed attempts with the vacuum and then ended up with an emergency C-Section. Then there was Madisyn. That labour can only be described as fast and furious. I would actually take the long labour over that any day! We were only at the hospital for about 45 minutes before I started pushing. (Sounds dreamy hey?! Yeah not so much.) Add some fetal distress, and swelling of the baby's head and what appears to be another very stuck baby and you get a very panicked delivery room. (You know when the doctor and nurses are starting to panic, that things aren't going too well) Although the OB was on his way to perform another C-Section, 3 attempts with the vacuum, a whole lot of pushing and one massive 3rd degree tear later, our little Madisyn did enter the world naturally. (I then endured one and a half of the most painful hours of my life as he repaired the tear with no freezing because evidently I have a tolerance to what they use for freezing. It was a really fantastic way to end that whole experience) The doctor who delivered her (who was not my normal doctor) later advised me to not attempt another natural delivery. He said that my bone structure was just not made for pushing out babies.
So why do it again?! It was a question that I asked myself up until the day he was born. But, third times a charm right?! And it was!!
I decided to go the midwife route this time and we are soooo happy with that decision! My midwife was pretty confident that if baby arrived before the due date, I would be able to successfully deliver naturally. He pushed it pretty close, but at 4:57 am on January 28th at 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I had my first contraction. At first they were about 6 or 7 minutes apart but then after about an hour or so got a bit more sporadic. Colin had something at work that needed to get done by that afternoon, so I went into work with him and laboured in his office for about an hour. Then we came home and tried to get a little bit of rest. The contractions were still fairly sporadic, but getting alot more intense, so we headed into the hospital around lunch time. At that point, although I wasn't in active labour, I was 5 cms so they admitted me. My mom, dropped the kids off at my friend Amy's and met us up at the hospital. We got settled in our room shortly after 1:00 and then sent Colin to get some Starbucks. You cant deliver a baby without getting a Starbucks fix;) AND there is one conveniently located in the lobby of the new hospital!!! (I know right?! Totally awesome. Someone was thinking when they designed that!!) We sipped our drinks and just sort of hung out until about 3:00, then things really started happening. Finally in active labour! And my goodness was it active. Contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasted minimum a minute each one. Thank goodness for the gas! I seriously love that stuff. It doesn't take the pain away at all, but it makes the few short minutes between contraction a little more, interesting, you could say. Lol. (You will have to ask my mom and Colin about that if you get a chance) By 4:15 I was still only 5-6 cms and feeling a little frustrated that I wasn't progressing anymore. I was beginning to think it would be another repeat of Josiah(I was stuck at 5 cms for more then 12 hours) But at 4:40 they checked me again and I was up to 9! From there, things went really fast. My water was ruptured and I started pushing at the next contraction. I pushed for only 16 minutes and he was out! (I honestly didn't think that was even possible. I had heard other people say that they only pushed a couple times and then delivered a baby, but I honestly thought that was a myth. Apparently not!) And it was a BOY! Once again, Josiah called that!
The whole thing was really quite amazing. As painful as it was, it was really a wonderful experience. I can hands down tell you that having a midwife changed everything. It was so much more relaxed and calm. I really felt like she was there to support me and help me get through it rather then just there to catch a baby. And the coaching that I received was completely different then before. There was no one standing there frantically yelling at me to "Push, Push!!" She just told me exactly what to do and how to push. And when she could see that I was tiring out, she told me just to breath through it. So even with taking a few 'breaks' I still managed to get him out in such a short time. I would absolutely recommend midwife care to anyone!
**Sappy part coming up**
Also, getting to share the experience with my mom was incredible. It was really a full circle moment for us, her getting to witness her baby giving birth to her grandbaby. She was over the moon! I actually think she is probably still telling anyone who will listen all about it. Lol. I wouldn't have had it any other way. A big thank you to Amy for helping us out and allowing mom to be there!
And then there is my AMAZING husband Colin. *sigh* How do I even sum up all I have to say about him. Well, I couldn't have gotten through it without his calm support, and of course his sense of humour. (He is seriously one funny guy) I remember the day we got married, looking down the aisle at him and thinking that I couldn't possibly love him anymore. But each time I have a baby, I fall more deeply in love with him. It's like the bond between us grows that much stronger. Seeing him for the first time with our tiny baby in his arms, completely melts my heart. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I am truly so blessed to have him!
Then of course there is little Ashton. Once again, I am completely blown away by the hearts capacity to love. And how instantly it happens. I loved him before I knew him, but the moment they first put him up on my chest, like with Josiah and Madisyn, I loved him so much it almost hurt.
And we couldn't have asked for a better baby! (Knock on wood) So far, he is absolutely dreamy! He is so layed back and content. He eats great and is gaining weight really well. He is doing 6-7 hour stretches at night all ready. That freaked me out a little at first, but my midwife assured me that as long as he is getting 8 feedings in 24 hours to enjoy the sleep. So that is what I am doing. Although, sleeping when the baby sleeps really is alot easier said then done. There is always so much to do!
The kids LOVE him! They cannot get enough of them. The struggle right now is their constant need to be the one to 'help' with the baby. It gets a little ridiculous sometimes, and I am finding I have to almost make 'baby jobs' up for them. But you do what you gotta do.
Although they love him and are great with him, their behaviour towards us on the other hand, has been a little less then stellar. They have definitely figured out how to 'utilize' the half an hour or so that it takes me to nurse the baby. It blows my mind, the damage a 2 year old and a 4 year old can do to a room in such a short time. And they do weird things that they have never really done before, like empty an entire dresser onto the floor?!
But we expected it. It doesn't make it easier to deal with, but I know that we are not the first family to have older kids act out a little once a new baby arrives, and we certainly wont be the last! But it really is wonderful to watch them with him. They have proudly taken on the roll of big brother(again) and big sister. (And they have the shirts to prove it. Lol)
We now feel like our little family is complete. We are, without a question, done. So for any of you rooting for the Mundys to continue on until we have a ball team, you will just have to settle with, ummm, not sure. I cant think of any team sports with only 3 players. Bowling maybe?? I dont know, but you get the idea. As cute as we make'm, Ashton will be the last:) And it feels great that we have ended on a good note!
Whew, so there you have it. First post since his arrival. Sorry for the delay! This post was actually started 2 weeks ago. I guess I have just been a little busy. Lol. Hopefully the next one wont take me quite as long!
So many of you have been wondering how it all went, so I figured I would take this opportunity to tell you all at once rather then write it out over and over. (If you dont want to hear all the gory details, you might want to skip ahead to all the sappy stuff a little further down)
How did it go? Well, to be honest, it was great! (Well as great as a tiny human coming out of your lady bits can be!) My labour and delivery with the other two were really terrible and fairly traumatizing experiences for us. I had the long drawn out, 28 hour labour with Josiah (all with no drugs because I was trying to earn a friggin badge or something) That was followed by 4 1/2 hours of pushing, 3 failed attempts with the vacuum and then ended up with an emergency C-Section. Then there was Madisyn. That labour can only be described as fast and furious. I would actually take the long labour over that any day! We were only at the hospital for about 45 minutes before I started pushing. (Sounds dreamy hey?! Yeah not so much.) Add some fetal distress, and swelling of the baby's head and what appears to be another very stuck baby and you get a very panicked delivery room. (You know when the doctor and nurses are starting to panic, that things aren't going too well) Although the OB was on his way to perform another C-Section, 3 attempts with the vacuum, a whole lot of pushing and one massive 3rd degree tear later, our little Madisyn did enter the world naturally. (I then endured one and a half of the most painful hours of my life as he repaired the tear with no freezing because evidently I have a tolerance to what they use for freezing. It was a really fantastic way to end that whole experience) The doctor who delivered her (who was not my normal doctor) later advised me to not attempt another natural delivery. He said that my bone structure was just not made for pushing out babies.
So why do it again?! It was a question that I asked myself up until the day he was born. But, third times a charm right?! And it was!!
I decided to go the midwife route this time and we are soooo happy with that decision! My midwife was pretty confident that if baby arrived before the due date, I would be able to successfully deliver naturally. He pushed it pretty close, but at 4:57 am on January 28th at 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I had my first contraction. At first they were about 6 or 7 minutes apart but then after about an hour or so got a bit more sporadic. Colin had something at work that needed to get done by that afternoon, so I went into work with him and laboured in his office for about an hour. Then we came home and tried to get a little bit of rest. The contractions were still fairly sporadic, but getting alot more intense, so we headed into the hospital around lunch time. At that point, although I wasn't in active labour, I was 5 cms so they admitted me. My mom, dropped the kids off at my friend Amy's and met us up at the hospital. We got settled in our room shortly after 1:00 and then sent Colin to get some Starbucks. You cant deliver a baby without getting a Starbucks fix;) AND there is one conveniently located in the lobby of the new hospital!!! (I know right?! Totally awesome. Someone was thinking when they designed that!!) We sipped our drinks and just sort of hung out until about 3:00, then things really started happening. Finally in active labour! And my goodness was it active. Contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasted minimum a minute each one. Thank goodness for the gas! I seriously love that stuff. It doesn't take the pain away at all, but it makes the few short minutes between contraction a little more, interesting, you could say. Lol. (You will have to ask my mom and Colin about that if you get a chance) By 4:15 I was still only 5-6 cms and feeling a little frustrated that I wasn't progressing anymore. I was beginning to think it would be another repeat of Josiah(I was stuck at 5 cms for more then 12 hours) But at 4:40 they checked me again and I was up to 9! From there, things went really fast. My water was ruptured and I started pushing at the next contraction. I pushed for only 16 minutes and he was out! (I honestly didn't think that was even possible. I had heard other people say that they only pushed a couple times and then delivered a baby, but I honestly thought that was a myth. Apparently not!) And it was a BOY! Once again, Josiah called that!
The whole thing was really quite amazing. As painful as it was, it was really a wonderful experience. I can hands down tell you that having a midwife changed everything. It was so much more relaxed and calm. I really felt like she was there to support me and help me get through it rather then just there to catch a baby. And the coaching that I received was completely different then before. There was no one standing there frantically yelling at me to "Push, Push!!" She just told me exactly what to do and how to push. And when she could see that I was tiring out, she told me just to breath through it. So even with taking a few 'breaks' I still managed to get him out in such a short time. I would absolutely recommend midwife care to anyone!
**Sappy part coming up**
Also, getting to share the experience with my mom was incredible. It was really a full circle moment for us, her getting to witness her baby giving birth to her grandbaby. She was over the moon! I actually think she is probably still telling anyone who will listen all about it. Lol. I wouldn't have had it any other way. A big thank you to Amy for helping us out and allowing mom to be there!
And then there is my AMAZING husband Colin. *sigh* How do I even sum up all I have to say about him. Well, I couldn't have gotten through it without his calm support, and of course his sense of humour. (He is seriously one funny guy) I remember the day we got married, looking down the aisle at him and thinking that I couldn't possibly love him anymore. But each time I have a baby, I fall more deeply in love with him. It's like the bond between us grows that much stronger. Seeing him for the first time with our tiny baby in his arms, completely melts my heart. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I am truly so blessed to have him!
Then of course there is little Ashton. Once again, I am completely blown away by the hearts capacity to love. And how instantly it happens. I loved him before I knew him, but the moment they first put him up on my chest, like with Josiah and Madisyn, I loved him so much it almost hurt.
And we couldn't have asked for a better baby! (Knock on wood) So far, he is absolutely dreamy! He is so layed back and content. He eats great and is gaining weight really well. He is doing 6-7 hour stretches at night all ready. That freaked me out a little at first, but my midwife assured me that as long as he is getting 8 feedings in 24 hours to enjoy the sleep. So that is what I am doing. Although, sleeping when the baby sleeps really is alot easier said then done. There is always so much to do!
The kids LOVE him! They cannot get enough of them. The struggle right now is their constant need to be the one to 'help' with the baby. It gets a little ridiculous sometimes, and I am finding I have to almost make 'baby jobs' up for them. But you do what you gotta do.
Although they love him and are great with him, their behaviour towards us on the other hand, has been a little less then stellar. They have definitely figured out how to 'utilize' the half an hour or so that it takes me to nurse the baby. It blows my mind, the damage a 2 year old and a 4 year old can do to a room in such a short time. And they do weird things that they have never really done before, like empty an entire dresser onto the floor?!
But we expected it. It doesn't make it easier to deal with, but I know that we are not the first family to have older kids act out a little once a new baby arrives, and we certainly wont be the last! But it really is wonderful to watch them with him. They have proudly taken on the roll of big brother(again) and big sister. (And they have the shirts to prove it. Lol)
We now feel like our little family is complete. We are, without a question, done. So for any of you rooting for the Mundys to continue on until we have a ball team, you will just have to settle with, ummm, not sure. I cant think of any team sports with only 3 players. Bowling maybe?? I dont know, but you get the idea. As cute as we make'm, Ashton will be the last:) And it feels great that we have ended on a good note!
Whew, so there you have it. First post since his arrival. Sorry for the delay! This post was actually started 2 weeks ago. I guess I have just been a little busy. Lol. Hopefully the next one wont take me quite as long!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A Little Catch Up... OK, A Lot!
I would like to start by reassuring you all that, no, I did not abandon my blog!
I do sincerely apologize for my lack of posts! Granted, the lack of posts did happen to (partially) fall during the busiest month of the year. But still, over a month?! There is no excuse for such behaviour! So here I am, back at it. It's time for a little catch up...
So what has been keeping me from the computer the last month or so? Well, there was Christmas parties, Christmas concerts, Christmas shopping, just general preparing for Christmas. Then there was Christmas itself. Then we had visitors and New Years, then getting back into the swing of school/work after being off for the holidays. And there is something else too, what was that again?! Oh right, I am 9 months pregnant! So our lives have been consumed with baby prep. But before we get into that, I will fill you all in on our Mundy Family Christmas/holidays. And maybe even add a couple of pictures too!
Ahhhh, Christmas. As previously written, my FAVOURITE time of year. And this one, was no exception. I would even go as far as to say it was the rootinest, tootinest Christmas there ever was! Any guesses what the running theme in our house over the Holidays was?! Toy Story of course! Yes, our house has been over taken by Toy Story paraphernalia. Thanks to Christmas, we were able to load our kids up with all of the Toy Story stuff they have been begging for for months. They were in heaven.
We celebrated Christmas morning, with just our little family of 4. It was really nice. The kids slept until 8:30. Josiah was the first one up. He came busting into our room so excited that he was shaking. His actual words were, "I am so excited, I can't keep my legs straight! Even my germs are excited!!" We then all went and got Madisyn up and then proceeded to the living room where the kids opened their stockings. (You can seriously put anything in a stocking and it will always get the same high pitched excited squeal. It's awesome.) After stockings, I did make the kids sit down and eat a quick breakfast, which went surprisingly well considering the mound of gift piled under the tree. Then we took our time opening the gifts. Most of the morning actually. We weren't in a rush to get anywhere, or do anything else. I could actually call the morning relaxing. Never thought I would be able to say that about a Christmas morning.
The rest of the day was equally as relaxing. I even managed to nap! Then we headed next door to our friends, Jen and Dave's house for an awesome Christmas dinner. She was already cooking for more the 20 people, so whats another 4 more right? (Thanks again for having us! We had a great time)
The following day, my mom and step dad headed over here from Victoria. We went for round 2 of present opening. We all got COMPLETELY spoiled. It was seriously over the top, but totally awesome. Lol. Thank you mom, for reminding me that I am still someones kid!
But everyone knows that the greatest gifts, are the ones that keep giving. And that is exactly what our little Madisyn did for us this year. She decided, completely on her own, to potty train herself Christmas day. Now I have to confess, in the month prior, she had gotten almost no encouragement from me in the department. My concern was that if we pushed her to do it too close to the arrival of the baby, that once the baby came, she would completely regress. I also honestly didnt think she was ready, as she hadn't really been showing any of the 'signs'. But Christmas morning she woke up and just decided that would be the day, and she darn well did it. Although I was in denial for a good 4 or 5 days, she was ready right away to be in panties full time. (Just not during sleeping time) We have not had a single out of the house accident. She has not peed in her carseat or anything like that. There have been a small handful of ones right in front of the toilet while frantically trying to get her pants down. But other then that it has been pretty smooth sailing. And I am pretty confident that since it was something she chose to do on her own, we will be fine once the baby arrives. Fingers crossed!
Anyway, here are a few pictures of Christmas for you all!
I do sincerely apologize for my lack of posts! Granted, the lack of posts did happen to (partially) fall during the busiest month of the year. But still, over a month?! There is no excuse for such behaviour! So here I am, back at it. It's time for a little catch up...
So what has been keeping me from the computer the last month or so? Well, there was Christmas parties, Christmas concerts, Christmas shopping, just general preparing for Christmas. Then there was Christmas itself. Then we had visitors and New Years, then getting back into the swing of school/work after being off for the holidays. And there is something else too, what was that again?! Oh right, I am 9 months pregnant! So our lives have been consumed with baby prep. But before we get into that, I will fill you all in on our Mundy Family Christmas/holidays. And maybe even add a couple of pictures too!
Ahhhh, Christmas. As previously written, my FAVOURITE time of year. And this one, was no exception. I would even go as far as to say it was the rootinest, tootinest Christmas there ever was! Any guesses what the running theme in our house over the Holidays was?! Toy Story of course! Yes, our house has been over taken by Toy Story paraphernalia. Thanks to Christmas, we were able to load our kids up with all of the Toy Story stuff they have been begging for for months. They were in heaven.
We celebrated Christmas morning, with just our little family of 4. It was really nice. The kids slept until 8:30. Josiah was the first one up. He came busting into our room so excited that he was shaking. His actual words were, "I am so excited, I can't keep my legs straight! Even my germs are excited!!" We then all went and got Madisyn up and then proceeded to the living room where the kids opened their stockings. (You can seriously put anything in a stocking and it will always get the same high pitched excited squeal. It's awesome.) After stockings, I did make the kids sit down and eat a quick breakfast, which went surprisingly well considering the mound of gift piled under the tree. Then we took our time opening the gifts. Most of the morning actually. We weren't in a rush to get anywhere, or do anything else. I could actually call the morning relaxing. Never thought I would be able to say that about a Christmas morning.
The rest of the day was equally as relaxing. I even managed to nap! Then we headed next door to our friends, Jen and Dave's house for an awesome Christmas dinner. She was already cooking for more the 20 people, so whats another 4 more right? (Thanks again for having us! We had a great time)
The following day, my mom and step dad headed over here from Victoria. We went for round 2 of present opening. We all got COMPLETELY spoiled. It was seriously over the top, but totally awesome. Lol. Thank you mom, for reminding me that I am still someones kid!
But everyone knows that the greatest gifts, are the ones that keep giving. And that is exactly what our little Madisyn did for us this year. She decided, completely on her own, to potty train herself Christmas day. Now I have to confess, in the month prior, she had gotten almost no encouragement from me in the department. My concern was that if we pushed her to do it too close to the arrival of the baby, that once the baby came, she would completely regress. I also honestly didnt think she was ready, as she hadn't really been showing any of the 'signs'. But Christmas morning she woke up and just decided that would be the day, and she darn well did it. Although I was in denial for a good 4 or 5 days, she was ready right away to be in panties full time. (Just not during sleeping time) We have not had a single out of the house accident. She has not peed in her carseat or anything like that. There have been a small handful of ones right in front of the toilet while frantically trying to get her pants down. But other then that it has been pretty smooth sailing. And I am pretty confident that since it was something she chose to do on her own, we will be fine once the baby arrives. Fingers crossed!
Anyway, here are a few pictures of Christmas for you all!
All ready for Santa on Christmas Eve!
Last Christmas picture as mommy of 2.
Our stockings hung by the chimney with care.
Despite all of mommy's threats Santa still came!
The highlight of his Christmas, his very own gel. Any of you who know Josiah well will totally get this. Lol.
Ok, so right up there with the hair gel was his Toy Story 3 for the PS3 video game. He even got his very own controller, cause what 4 year old doesn't need there own PS3 controller?!
Looking too darn cute with her gift from Uncle Regan.
Jessie and Woody dolls from mommy and daddy. Not only they do the normal pull string talking, but there is a mode that they talk to each other! It is actually really cool!
After a few days here, Grandma Clara and Grandpa Mike took Josiah back to Victoria so he could celebrate New Years with them. We headed over to our friends Gord and Linsday's place for a New Years shindig and had an awesome time. Good friends, good food, good beer(or so I heard) good laughs and surprisingly well behaved kids that lasted right until midnight. (That was a first for Madisyn)
So here are a few pictures of that as well. And I also added a picture of Madisyn and her bf Kaydn, that was taken during one of his visits over here with his mommy and daddy (Jerod and Bobbi) during the holidays. It is just too cute to not post!
Madisyn and Kaydn, waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
We have one of these pictures for every special occasion from the last 8 1/2 years!
Then we decided to get baby in on the action.
Ready to bang pots on the deck at midnight.
My little girly and I enjoying our sparkling juice.
And here is the extra picture. Who said a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe was made for one?!
So anyway, on to baby... And to be honest there is not a whole lot to say at this point. There is nothing really 'going on'. No baby action. I have been completely bombarded with phone calls, emails, facebook messages, texts, bbms etc. in the past week. I honestly cant keep up. I apologize if any of you are waiting for a response from me still. I cant even reassure you that you will get one. I understand that everyone is very anxious to get the big news, trust me I get it. After all it is my lady bits that this Mini Mundy is currently doing a headstand on;) But rest assured, Colin and I will not keep it a secret when this little one does FINALLY decide to grace us all with its presence. Thanks to my pretty purple BlackBerry, we will be able to post it on facebook right from the hospital, and for those of you who we have promised a call or text when things start happening, you will most definitely get one. We have a very organized list for when the time comes. No one will go uninformed, we promise!
So until that time, we will anxiously wait. Everything is ready. All we need is the baby! Hopefully sooner then later!!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Perks of Parenthood
First of all, I would like to apologize for my lack of postings recently. Life has been pretty insanely busy the last little while, and has not left much free time for blogging. And on top of being busy, we have been dealing with some pretty intense behavioural issues, that have had us pretty much pulling our hair out. (And wishing that I wasn't pregnant so I could be adding alcohol to my daily diet) To be honest, most days in the past couple weeks have left me feeling so frustrated, that had I sat down at the computer to write something about my kids, I probably would have gone to craigslist and posted them for sale rather then blogged about them. Scratch that, I would have listed them for free.
But things seem to have somewhat settled down, and I once again feel like I can safely write about them. And maybe perhaps in sharing about what we have gone through, it might help one of you get through your day with out posting your kids on craiglist, knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Kids have issues, some are worse then others, but they all have them! We all deal with them. It's just one of those things in parenting that we just have to get through. And we do, we always do. And there are always better days!
Anyway, if you are interested in hearing all the gory details, read on. If you dont want to taint the glorious vision you may have of the Mini Mundys (or even the Big Mundys for that matter), I suggest you just stop now, or skip ahead, as I promise I will end this post on a positive note!
So here we go... Our normally sweet as candy, heart melting little girly, has been replaced by an unreasonable, emotional, tantrum throwing, full on terrible two year old who will meltdown without any warning and for no particular reason, at the drop of a hat. Yeah, it's been fun! There was actually one particular weekend that I can honestly say was the worst weekend I have had in my last 4 1/2 years of parenthood. I felt completely powerless. A feeling that I am not too fond of, as I like to control, well, pretty much everything. There was even times that I looked down at my ever growing belly and thought, "What am I doing?! A third, have I completely lost my mind?!" It pains me to even write that, but it's the honest truth. And honesty is the best policy right?!
This particular weekend started out with some big family fun on friday night. (which I will fill you in on at the end of this post) Maybe the late night or the fact that she was feeling a little under the weather contributed to what was to follow, but non the less, it was terrible. Saturday mid morning, marked the start of the first meltdown. This one, maybe the worst. It lasted for upwards of 2 hours!!! Seriously, 2 hours straight of relentless, unconsolable screaming at the top of her lungs. It continued for the rest of the weekend. Every few hours, another meltdown ensued. By the end of the weekend, I was so emotionally and physically drained that I honestly felt like running away.
Here's the thing about Madisyn, she is an incredibly stubborn, strong willed, sassy little thing. (I seriously have no idea where she gets it from. It must be her dad. ) She had mastered the art of manipulation before she could even talk. What she lacks in size, she more then makes up for in attitude. She is a tiny controller. We often sit back in amazement and watch her manipulate a situation into going her way, all with a bit of a hair flip, a flutter of eyelashes and a mischievous grin. She will be trouble, we know it. In about 12-14 years things will get VERY interesting. At least we have a few years to prepare... All that being said though, she really is one of the sweetest little girls. She is generally an absolute joy to be around. She just has a bit of a dark side, you could say. When she gets mad, she gets REALLY mad. Like run for the hills, lock up your children kinda mad. She is capable of tantrums far worse then we ever saw from Josiah at this age. BUT, they are generally very few and far between. Which was why this particular weekend sent us into such a tail spin. It was sooo out of character for her to have tantrum after tantrum. We were at a total loss as to what to do, or how to deal with it. It left us feeling completely helpless. A feeling that as a parent, is absolutely horrible!
Another thing about Madisyn is, she is a daddy's girl through and through. Almost from the moment she so 'gracefully' came into this world. She has him wrapped around her little finger so tightly, it is almost sickening. So when comfort is needed, without hesitation, she will always go directly to him. That is until this one glorious weekend when she decided to forsake all others and turn to her mommy. Wow, did I ever feel honoured. Actually to be perfectly honest, it made me want to run in the opposite direction. I was the only one she wanted. Although there was nothing I could do to stop the screaming and carrying on, she still clung to me for dear life while doing it. It was awful. This may have something to do with the impending change our family is about to make. She may be starting to understand that she is going to be losing her spot as baby of the family. I don't really know what it is, but regardless of the reason behind it all, it has not been fun.
The tantrums themselves seemed to have tapered off in frequency and perhaps even in severity. But they are still continuing to happen far more then they ever had before. And like I said before, they come on without any warning and for almost no reason at all. The last 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for us. I think more tears have been shed in the Mundy household then ever before, and not just from the Mini Mundys. It doesn't help that I am nearly 8 months pregnant. But we know that this too shall pass, or at least thats what we keep telling ourselves. Lol. So until then, we will just continue to cope as best we can.
(If you happen to be surfing craigslist and come across a posting for a child that seems all too familiar, you will know that we are just having 'one of those days'!)
It is times like this that are hard for us as parents to remember that parenting, like almost any job, although incredibly hard at times, does come with it's perks. Aside from the obvious ones like the hugs and cuddles (on good days) and the whole unconditional love thing, there are also some other pretty sweet perks that I feel deserve some recognition. For example, you get to use your kids as an excuse to go to events like DISNEY ON ICE!!!! Ok, let me rephrase that. You get to experience with your kids some of the greatest moments of childhood. You get to once again see the world through the eyes of a child, and it really is a much better place from their point of view.
So thanks to my wonderful mom, we all got to attend Disney on Ice when it was in Abbotsford a few weeks ago. (This was the big family fun I was referring to) As a kid, I was lucky enough to see it a number of times in Calgary. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood. I guess technically that was when it was just called the Ice Capades. So when we saw that it was coming right to Abbotsford, we knew it was something we couldn't miss.
It was AWESOME! Seriously an amazing show. All 5 of us thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of a gamble, as the show didn't start until 7:30, which is right around bedtime. But they both did amazingly well. Actually Madisyn may have even done slightly better then Josiah. Her eyes honestly didn't leave the ice from the moment it started. She was in absolute awe of the whole thing. Josiah was equally as thrilled, but a little more chatty as he wanted to talk about every single character as they came out on the ice. But really I was so proud of both of them and how well they did. Being the Toy Story fans that we are, I think its safe to say that was our favourite part. (Well aside from Colin. I think he preferred Cinderella. Lol. Maybe he will blog about that) But we truly enjoyed the entire thing from start to finish. It was an absolutely PERFECT family night!!
But things seem to have somewhat settled down, and I once again feel like I can safely write about them. And maybe perhaps in sharing about what we have gone through, it might help one of you get through your day with out posting your kids on craiglist, knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Kids have issues, some are worse then others, but they all have them! We all deal with them. It's just one of those things in parenting that we just have to get through. And we do, we always do. And there are always better days!
Anyway, if you are interested in hearing all the gory details, read on. If you dont want to taint the glorious vision you may have of the Mini Mundys (or even the Big Mundys for that matter), I suggest you just stop now, or skip ahead, as I promise I will end this post on a positive note!
So here we go... Our normally sweet as candy, heart melting little girly, has been replaced by an unreasonable, emotional, tantrum throwing, full on terrible two year old who will meltdown without any warning and for no particular reason, at the drop of a hat. Yeah, it's been fun! There was actually one particular weekend that I can honestly say was the worst weekend I have had in my last 4 1/2 years of parenthood. I felt completely powerless. A feeling that I am not too fond of, as I like to control, well, pretty much everything. There was even times that I looked down at my ever growing belly and thought, "What am I doing?! A third, have I completely lost my mind?!" It pains me to even write that, but it's the honest truth. And honesty is the best policy right?!
This particular weekend started out with some big family fun on friday night. (which I will fill you in on at the end of this post) Maybe the late night or the fact that she was feeling a little under the weather contributed to what was to follow, but non the less, it was terrible. Saturday mid morning, marked the start of the first meltdown. This one, maybe the worst. It lasted for upwards of 2 hours!!! Seriously, 2 hours straight of relentless, unconsolable screaming at the top of her lungs. It continued for the rest of the weekend. Every few hours, another meltdown ensued. By the end of the weekend, I was so emotionally and physically drained that I honestly felt like running away.
Here's the thing about Madisyn, she is an incredibly stubborn, strong willed, sassy little thing. (I seriously have no idea where she gets it from. It must be her dad. ) She had mastered the art of manipulation before she could even talk. What she lacks in size, she more then makes up for in attitude. She is a tiny controller. We often sit back in amazement and watch her manipulate a situation into going her way, all with a bit of a hair flip, a flutter of eyelashes and a mischievous grin. She will be trouble, we know it. In about 12-14 years things will get VERY interesting. At least we have a few years to prepare... All that being said though, she really is one of the sweetest little girls. She is generally an absolute joy to be around. She just has a bit of a dark side, you could say. When she gets mad, she gets REALLY mad. Like run for the hills, lock up your children kinda mad. She is capable of tantrums far worse then we ever saw from Josiah at this age. BUT, they are generally very few and far between. Which was why this particular weekend sent us into such a tail spin. It was sooo out of character for her to have tantrum after tantrum. We were at a total loss as to what to do, or how to deal with it. It left us feeling completely helpless. A feeling that as a parent, is absolutely horrible!
Another thing about Madisyn is, she is a daddy's girl through and through. Almost from the moment she so 'gracefully' came into this world. She has him wrapped around her little finger so tightly, it is almost sickening. So when comfort is needed, without hesitation, she will always go directly to him. That is until this one glorious weekend when she decided to forsake all others and turn to her mommy. Wow, did I ever feel honoured. Actually to be perfectly honest, it made me want to run in the opposite direction. I was the only one she wanted. Although there was nothing I could do to stop the screaming and carrying on, she still clung to me for dear life while doing it. It was awful. This may have something to do with the impending change our family is about to make. She may be starting to understand that she is going to be losing her spot as baby of the family. I don't really know what it is, but regardless of the reason behind it all, it has not been fun.
The tantrums themselves seemed to have tapered off in frequency and perhaps even in severity. But they are still continuing to happen far more then they ever had before. And like I said before, they come on without any warning and for almost no reason at all. The last 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for us. I think more tears have been shed in the Mundy household then ever before, and not just from the Mini Mundys. It doesn't help that I am nearly 8 months pregnant. But we know that this too shall pass, or at least thats what we keep telling ourselves. Lol. So until then, we will just continue to cope as best we can.
(If you happen to be surfing craigslist and come across a posting for a child that seems all too familiar, you will know that we are just having 'one of those days'!)
It is times like this that are hard for us as parents to remember that parenting, like almost any job, although incredibly hard at times, does come with it's perks. Aside from the obvious ones like the hugs and cuddles (on good days) and the whole unconditional love thing, there are also some other pretty sweet perks that I feel deserve some recognition. For example, you get to use your kids as an excuse to go to events like DISNEY ON ICE!!!! Ok, let me rephrase that. You get to experience with your kids some of the greatest moments of childhood. You get to once again see the world through the eyes of a child, and it really is a much better place from their point of view.
So thanks to my wonderful mom, we all got to attend Disney on Ice when it was in Abbotsford a few weeks ago. (This was the big family fun I was referring to) As a kid, I was lucky enough to see it a number of times in Calgary. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood. I guess technically that was when it was just called the Ice Capades. So when we saw that it was coming right to Abbotsford, we knew it was something we couldn't miss.
It was AWESOME! Seriously an amazing show. All 5 of us thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of a gamble, as the show didn't start until 7:30, which is right around bedtime. But they both did amazingly well. Actually Madisyn may have even done slightly better then Josiah. Her eyes honestly didn't leave the ice from the moment it started. She was in absolute awe of the whole thing. Josiah was equally as thrilled, but a little more chatty as he wanted to talk about every single character as they came out on the ice. But really I was so proud of both of them and how well they did. Being the Toy Story fans that we are, I think its safe to say that was our favourite part. (Well aside from Colin. I think he preferred Cinderella. Lol. Maybe he will blog about that) But we truly enjoyed the entire thing from start to finish. It was an absolutely PERFECT family night!!
Here they are waiting for the show to start, with their arms full of gold, I mean, Disney merchandise. But for the cost, it may as well have been gold.
No excitement here!
Enjoying her snowcone in a cute but entirely impractical Minnie cup. With an even more impractical straw/spoon. But its all about the experience!
Eyes glued to the ice
Our attempt during intermission at a family photo. Madisyn was too concerned that she was going to miss something on the ice to actually look at the camera.
Jessie and Woody!!!
Ready to head home. Tired but sooo happy!
So yes, definitely a 'perk of parenthood'. What an Awesome night it was. Thanks again Grandma Clara!!!
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