Yates-Laberge Family Site

This entire week has been  a long and much needed exhale…things have gone smoothly…the kids have been CALM….and nothing major has caused more than a few minutes of chaos in our house. I feel like we have been waiting for this week since we got here. …and..my GOD!!! IT FELT GOOD!

Lessons learned this  week…

1. Don’t DON’T DON’T go and ask your child’s teacher how they behaved EVERY DAY!! It causes TOO MUCH STRESS!!!  Why didn’t ANYONE tell me???!!! I have talked to Andrew’s teachers EVERY SINGLE day since preschool!!! Most parents just smile and wave…I check in….and USUALLY are told of one thing or another that he did ….so, inevitably it starts our afternoon off with a negative note!! I am not uninterested..but, I guess I finally “get” that I don’t need to know EVERYTHING about EVERY minute of his day….WHY DID IT TAKE ME THIS LONG TO GET THIS?????

2. I am in LOVE with our Wii and big brain academy was MADE for Claire and I !!!! We love it, we love competing, and I think “playing” with your partner is one of the healthiest things that can happen in a relationship! Some how, some way….the Wii is helping …..odd huh…

3. Hearing my son compliment me in another room…when he thinks I am not around….is heart warming, brings tears to my eyes….and simply renews my spirit in motherhood. After eating yummy cookies yesterday that Karen brought over, I thought I would give my hand at some…I got frozen, already shaped, as pre-done-as-possible cookies and put them on a cookie sheet today They were warm when the boys arrived home from school. Mind you, they were ALL STUCK TOGETHER in a Tupperware container….but, nonetheless,….warm THEY WERE DELIGHTED with my effort…. Tonight when Claire went in to check on the boys and cover them up before we went to bed, Andrew woke up a little…..and mentioned what an amazing “cook” I was…and that my cookies were the best he had ever tasted!! ohhh….if he only knew…..but, my goodness….it felt SO SO GOOD

4. I was 100% correct about our nutty schedule. It was WAAAYYY too much. Setting limits was the RIGHT thing to do and having dinner as a family for 3 nights in a row was the NECESSARY thing to do. EVERYONE needs balance….EXPECIALLY US!

5. Karen is a heck of a playdough maker and ROCKS for making some for Adam. He is SO IN LOVE with molding this soft home-made concoction into a plethora of snakes, people, and a billion other shapes!

6. I really don’t like  a week full of rain….I love the sun too much.

7. The airline price hike has freaked us out a bit…..and the thought of paying 3,000 to fly home is nauseating.

8. I may have to get braces to stretch out my mouth due to grinding my teeth so hard for so many years….I just think it is ODD…100% ODD!!

9.  I have lost 35 lbs since moving to Calgary and it feels DAMN GOOD! I am going to celebrate with a few new clothes this weekend

10. Google calendar is even BETTER now that I can view it on my phone internet service! Google calendar keeps our lives COMPLETELY ORGANIZED!!!!!!!!

I am off to sleep and wish for some word from some of you. I am missing my friends and wanting to connect this weekend.

Anne

Adam made the newsletter! Or at least the back of his head did!

Here it is

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b143/kinder-news/newsletter-2008may.pdf

The little boy to the left of the photo is his friend, Graham (Karen’s little boy).

Adam is 100% obsessed with plant, plant parts, nectar, and oxygen right now….I love that!!! I have a little video of him talking about it that I will post later. He tells me about plants EVERY SINGLE DAY…so so sweet!

Anne

Me…or all people….learning how to FINALLY be organized….imagine!

A few things that are really helping.

1. Cell phone alarms – I have an alarm on my cell phone to ring when it is time to leave to get Adam and one for Andrew.  I have to give credit to Kacey for this one! It helps every single day!

2. Google Calendar!!!! – Seriously….an amazing tool. I use it for my “to do” list also..but, a little differently. I put the items that I need accomplish on different days…to sort of schedule them in for time slots, rather than just having them on one list that overwelms me. It gives me a REALISTIC view of how many things need to be accomplished and EMAILS me a reminder to do it!!! If I don’t do it, I simply reassign it to a new day that is not so full. When I complete it, I delete the event.  It works for me! SERIOUSLY! I am getting stuff done and not really stressing out about it all the time like usual.

I know this is BASIC stuff for MOST people, but I have struggled for my entire life to get organized and I feel like I am making a LITTLE headway…

Any other suggestions you have, let me know….things I am still having a hard time staying on top of 100% of the time…laundry, cleaning, time for ME!

Claire is sick. She has something called dry sockets…or dry pockets…or something like that.. The weather here is VERY VERY dry and we are all having a hard time adjusting to it. Her face hurts and there is a lot of pressure behind her eye. She went to the Dr. today (because we have HEALTH INSURANCE!!) and got a prescription (which was paid for 100% by INSURANCE!!!) and she will hopefully start to heal. I bought a HUGE HUGE whole house humidifier tonight and I set it up in our bedroom on HIGH. I am hoping that helps somewhat. She is really really not feeling good. I feel horrible for her.

We had meetings with both of the boys’ teachers today. I will write more about that later.  I need to get my butt in BED!

Anne

Seriously…the SUN came out today!! NO KIDDING!! It has been snowing for a WEEK….every SINGLE day….SNOW…and then today……..NO SNOW…and the SUN!! It was GLORIOUS! So, we took FULL advantage of the day….NOT!!! We TRIED to go and finish up helping move Claire’s friend from work. But, we could not FIND them…..and when you move….you unplug PHONES…..and she does not have a CELL PHONE yet…..so, needless to say…..after not finding the people we were supposed to be helping…..and missing out on prime yard sale times….I WAS NOT IN A PRETTY MOOD! Seriously, there are only 4 hours during an ENTIRE week that really are great for yard sales! 9-1pm on Saturday!! JUST 4 hours that I really want NOTHING else planned….and I want to be able to do what I like to do….not a big request I think! There are 168 hours in a single week. I only REALLY request 2% of the overall hours in  an ENTIRE week to have dedicated to WHAT I WANT TO DO!!! ….and it did NOT happen! UGGGGG …ok, a little dramatic…but, I wanted to go yard sailing on a beautiful day! ….ok, enough whining….I got it all out

Andrew complained of an ear ache last night and again this morning. We don’t have a pediatrician here yet…..and I needed to get the best idea for a Saturday medical visit in the area….so, I did the best thing….drove through a parking lot and saw a dad putting a baby in a van….stopped and asked him what to…and where to take a kid with an earache on a weekend…. It worked….he told us ..he knew right away. So, we go over to the little clinic and they take us in. 

 They tell us that Andrew has basically a COLD….1.5 hours of waiting and waiting…for a COLD….I do NOT think it is a COLD but whatever…we will see….what DID happen was that Andrew got weighed….he has lost 3 lbs!!! 3 pounds is almost 10% of his total body weight! He is down to 39 lbs!! My heart dropped! One thing that is happening is that he can not have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. There is a child in his room with peanut allergies so the kids are not allowed to bring in peanut butter …anything….for lunch or snack. Andrew LIVES on Peanut butter…no kidding….it is pretty much WHAT he will eat HAPPILY and we have FINALLY gotten him up to a bold 42 lbs with it!! So, what the HELL DO I DO????? I am going to talk to the school on Monday and see what can happen….because he won’t TOUCH almond butter ($9.00 a jar !!!) and most of the little “bars” with any high fat content are peanut butter based. Now, on TOP of already losing weight, he is sick…..we are NOT in a good place with him.

IF ANYONE KNOWS HIGH FAT CONTENT ITEMS THAT CAN BE PUT IN LUNCHES…PLEASE CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW! We need fat and calories…ASAP 403 217 9272.  IF you don’t have Canada calling, call me and I will call you right back. Remember we are two hours behind you …5pm Calgary = 7pm New Hampshire. We are up until 10pm or so.

Something is wrong with our Wii. It is really making a loud noise when we put in the games…just spins loudly. I was SO happy to find out  today that since I registered it online when I got it, I was given an extra year of warranty on top of the regular 90 days. BUT, my warranty ran out 22 days ago!! What are the CHANCES!! But, good news…they gave me a tiny extension since I called so close to the expiration date. I have to send it in and they will probably just give us a new one. I am SURE that all the travel and moving around did not help at all. Nonetheless, it is good news.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have NOTHING PLANNED! ZERO….NOTHING…. just family time. That makes me feel so GOOD! Canada has really made me understand how much family time is worth….

No more adoption questions for today! Thank you all for your opinions and for thinking that I did the “right” thing…..

Later gators

Anne