The first of many

I really wanted to document this. This is Jaces first of MANY time outs. He never does anything seriously wrong and he mostly does things to play games and have fun. But one of these times he's going to get stitches. Well we know he'll get stitches because he's busy and ALL boy but I do need to teach him some how.

He's funny and thinks everything is funny and should be a game. So if you tell him no he waits them laughs and does whatever you said no to. The game could go on forever. I've slapped his hand over and over and he just laughs. With Talia at 6 months it took one hand slap and then she never threw food on the floor again. Also I could never spank that girl because it would traumatize her for life. Even some timeouts are traumatizing enough for her. SO with him he usually just laughs with those punishments. Anyways here it is his  timeout spot (until he figures out how to open the sliding doors) and yes it's gated off because there's no hope for him staying in a spot. Hopefully by the time he figures out how to open the sliding doors he'll be able to stay in one spot.

So funny because Talia went to the gate and check on things and he managed to to harass her in there. He grabbed her "num nums" aka her blanky and he has a stronger grip so he held on and just laughed. I kind of laughed too. I know I shouldn't have- he's in timeout!

Anyways it seemed to work he hasn't climbed on a chair since and he looks at me when he's tempted.

He's a funny kid. Understands us but he doesn't talk at all. He makes sounds and says gaga, dada but not to us. He tries to sing and he loves to dance. He's actually very loud. I guess my brother didn't talk till he was 3 and Jace makes similar sounds to what Blake did. I actually love it and he stays my baby longer.

Anyways here's to hoping I can figure out how to teach Jace better. It's just tricky having two kids that actually have to be parented VERY differently.

Does any of you have to parent your kids different? I never hear about it from my mom or mother in law about parenting differently for different kids. But trust me when I say I actually NEED to with these two. Just wondering if you have too as well...

Best friends

I've expressed this many times but again I am reminded of how lucky we are to have had Jace when we did. He truly is a sweet boy and loves his sister SO much. He's at an age where he plays with Talia well and Talias not too old to play his games. They just love each other. The first thing he points to every morning when we get him is Talia's room. Usually she's still sleeping so we rush pass her room. But after nap he looks for her and when he sees her he gets giggly and wants to play even if she's not in the mood for playing.

Talia just loves him. Jason asked her the other day some questions for my Mothers day card and one of the questions was who's your best friend? He was fully expecting her to say mommy, but nope she said Jacey boy! I've been replaced but I love it! She thinks his name is Jacey, or Jacey boy.

Yes there are times she's not in the mood to play Like when he teased/ harassed her by dragging her blanky (her most prized possession) around the house laughing and not willing to give it to her. He knew exactly what he was doing you could see it on his face. I couldn't help but laugh and watch it play out. Anyways He has a stronger grip than her and Talia doesn't know how to defend herself so she didn't find that too funny. He's so his Dad! But usually she just loves playing with her "baby brother" as she would say. And lucky for her Jace is ready to play from the minute he wakes up.

I'm so happy they're so close on age. I always wanted my first two 18-20 months apart. We got 17 and it couldn't be better. Plus they actually look the same age. Talia's not tall and Jace is tall so they're only like 4 inches apart it seems and the same weight. So seems like I have twins. We had our busy/ crazy months and still have crazy/ frustrating moments but seems like life with them is getting easier in some areas. Especially the playing and friends department.

The picture below describes them perfectly. Talia loves attention and people showing her love so when Jace cuddles/ molls/ gently wrestles her she just LOVES it and just laughs. This happens often.

I just love them. I mean this when I say it, I truly am blessed to be their mom. They remind me that life is great!!!!

Excuse my allergy swollen eyes in my photo! These allergies are getting the best of me. Grateful my husband can give me good tips on how to deal with them and get me some medications.

A gift

Happy Mother's Day to every woman who's influenced a child for good! I'm grateful for a mother that raised me to be the mom I am. Also I'm grateful for a mom who is SUPER involved and a great influence on my kids.

I also know now what a sacrifice it is to be a mom. A sacrifice of your physical body to bear children, your time, your mental and emotional patience, and well basically everything. So thank you Mom.
I love being a Mom and even though it is hard sometimes I feel truly blessed to be a Mom. I wouldn't trade this role for anything. It's brings me the most joy in life. I love my kids... that is all!


So for Mother's Day I was able to get a photo of all my moms grand kids (all four that is) and it turned out pretty good. Has influenced us all for the better and they are products of her. And they're just so CUTE!!!

Avery (3.5) and Marli (9 months) Heavenor & Jace (14 months) and Talia Low (2.5yrs)

Sometimes your plan is not the plan you're supposed to be on...

Warning Long but I think worth a read. Thanks for listening!!!

Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a nurse. It was who I was and I knew that was the career I needed to be in. I worried and stressed about getting in because academically I didn't have the highest marks. I had good enough marks in the maths and sciences but really struggled in social and English. Thankfully I could switch my social 30 mark for my musical theatre 30 mark which was 100% I think? So I thank my musical theatre teacher for helping with my overall average to get into university.

Anyways the end of July leading up to the start of University rolls around and I still hadn't heard anything. I can't remember but I think I might have been on the waiting list to go to Grant Mac. or maybe I didn't even get in there. Either way U of A was my last option and I didn't have any job or back up plans for the fall. August came, I think it was even mid August and I got accepted to U of A!!! I remember not feeling super stressed but feeling extremely blessed. I knew I would get in but I just needed to wait.

Went to school for 4 years. It wasn't the easiest for me, and I bet it would have been easier if I hadn't been such an anxiety case when it came to tests and clinical instructors. The whole four years I remember feeling blessed, not just blessed but extremely blessed to be passing school. Sounds like I'm dumb, I'm not I just stress when exams role around and stress trying to impress instructors. I knew I just needed to get through school, know what I know and feel confident in it because I was a people person and knew I would do well in my job.

So June 2008 came around and I graduated. I did it!!! I had my first job, and one I always stayed with in pediatric cardiology. I loved it. A lot of the patients were chronic patients so you got to know some of the families and patients well. I probably could do a whole post with how much those kids touch my life and influenced me for the better. Sure there were harder patients but kids are so resilient and truly little angels. I can't say enough about those kids and how much I loved caring for them especially those that were cardiac. I'll never forget some of those kids. As for the unit, I worked with the best staff and best managers. It was like a family. I felt so at home there and had so much support when I needed it and was able to support others when they needed help.

My plan was to have a family and work casually while my kids were young to maintain my license and maybe work a little more as they got older. I never wanted to loose my license because I went to 4 years of school not just to have an education but because I wanted to be a nurse. It was working out fine. We had Talia and had Jace a littler sooner than planned so I was finding it hard to find people (mostly family) to watch the kids. Such early hours and long days. Plus when Jason had a day off was I supposed to pick up a shift and work every time he had it off? Then we would never see each other.

Whenever I went to work a shift I felt like it was a little break from home and kids, but I also felt like I missed out and that there was stuff to be done at home. I just felt pulled in many directions. I prayed about it many months ago and felt at peace that I should just stay home. I didn't act on my answer and looking back i dont think I was ready for an answer. I stressed (and still do) about what people will think of me. "You went to 4 years of school to throw it away?" "Just get a sitter" "I Would keep it" or "Kamry you love being a nurse" and mostly family that was proud of me for achieving my goals would be so disappointed. Also I know I've been blessed with a nurturing spirit and I thought being a nurse was how I could be that person. Being a nurse has also been so much of my identity. So that answer was quickly pushed out of my brain and I continued to stress about what I should do. Jason supported me either way. He knew how much nursing meant to me but he also knew the importance of me staying home with the kids. Not all women have that opportunity or some women need to work for other reasons and I fully support personal decisions in this area. As for me I wasn't sure where I wanted to be.

Well I needed to make a decision because I couldn't keep putting it off and not working any shifts. I needed to commit. I also was so torn and loved both nursing and being home with my kids full time that I actually couldn't commit to one way. So one night I prayed and asked that Heavenly Father help me to feel at peace with what decision was best for me. The next morning I think I was doing some routine task, I think wiping Jace's hands and both kids were in view. The thought popped into my head "You're so lucky to be able to stay home with these kids" and the rest of the day I felt at peace with that. What I understood by that is that financially it is possible to be able to do this right now and this is where I need to be. Talia needs consistency and needs me by her. Jace of course needs me but Talia is very emotional and needs me more. So that was it no turning back.

The decision hasn't been hard ever since that day. Of course writing about the kids on the unit and the staff I get teary eyed and miss them so much. I just want to go hug all the little patients and just love them and see them for who they are. I wish I could go back and love them more and be better. I remember another lady at church talking about accomplishments and she had no idea how much her comment affected me. Anyways she was a nurse and worked for a couple years (like me). At her 10 year reunion with her graduating class she said all these nurses were talking about how much they've accomplished career wise and that she felt she hadn't. But she quickly was reminded that she has raised kids and that is a lot. She remembers those years as great ones. Ones where she learned to become a good mothers and met good people. She said she only thinks of those as good memories but it was time to make new good memories and move on. There are so many good things to do and accomplish in this world and we all could be very capable of accomplishing many but it would be impossible to accomplish everything and be good at all of them. So nursing at this time is that for me. A great goal I accomplished. I was able to work and become a better person because of the staff, patients, and family I met. It was just time to move on from that area (for now), and focus on something else. I have other things like my family, my health with weight and having more kids, family history, and learning to take good photos of my kids and creating memories.

 I guess if in the future when my kids are older I want to get back into I will go back for the refresher year and a bit. I know it is a lot of work but if that's what I want to do then that's OK. I know of a few women who have gone back. One is a good friends mom, I was talking to her and telling her my dilemma and she said, "Oh don't loose your license it's a long year and a bit... wait I actually shouldn't say that because I don't regret and love all those years I had at home with my kids." I remember going to this friends house and having her mom there whenever we went home. She was such a good influence on her kids and I respect her so much.

I loved being a nurse (this is where I get chocked up). It was me. I loved how I became a confident person through this career and found out who I was. I loved holding the babies at night, I loved stroking this specifics girls head as she deteriorated and needed to eventually be moved to PICU, I loved talking and listening to the families, and I loved laughing with staff and keeping things light. There were of course difficult people to care for, sad situations, times when you made a mistake and stressful busy shifts that you couldn't show your love as much as you wanted, but I remember the times when I had time to love those patients and just be in awe of them.  I was blessed in every way to be able to meet this goal. So many people supported me and were proud of me. I hope I'm not disappointing them because truly this has been the hardest decision for me. I am a better person for being a nurse. I really hope to get back into it but for now it's too hard to keep up with the amount of time I want to stay home. So thank you 4C patients, staff, and managers. It's been the greatest experience!!!

I am pregnant here with Talia.

Sweet little girl who is older now and doing well

These kids can survive much more than you or I could ever and teach us more than you or I ever could.

Rainy day

Played with the kids all day. It was fun and there was minimal crying from a certain child which made patience last a lot longer. We played doll house, kitchen, hide and weak, watched tv, wrestled, had short naps, ate food, listened to baby Einstein music, Jace cuddled/ wrestled with talia as he does often, and ate some more, then baths then bed. Talia got a fat lip, Jace fell multiple times because he doesn't step over toys yet, but it was a good day. By the end I did want some adult interaction so I'm glad Jason got home.

Photos of our rainy day.

Cal-ee-fee-ni-a

So call us crazy but we decided to take our very young kids to Cal-ee-fee-ni-a (as Talia would say) to go to Disneyland, Sea World, and the beach. We did enjoy it and the kids did better than I expected. They even had to share a room for the first time and did good which was a relief because we'll be having to do this more in the summer. There was a few meltdowns and the usual moodiness but nothing major.

Yes a vacation with kids is not the same as a vacation without kids but we all really needed to have a break. Jason found this really nice little house that we rented for the week. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen with a cute little breakfast nook, a reading area, and a little living room with a TV hooked up with direct TV so the kids stayed entertained at times. The house also had it's own pool and hot tub, a wicked BBQ, table and chairs outside, and a hammock. Jason thought the house was OK but I thought it was so cute with lots of character. Backyard was great.

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of Jason's brother Robbie and his wife Cammie who met up with us for 3.5 days. Talia loves those two!!! It was nice to have another couple there as well so we could play some cards and just catch up. Having Jason's siblings scattered all over the States it was nice they could come because we don't get to see any of them near as much as we would like.

This post is mostly going to be a picture post of our trip.

When I saw this picture at the airport I hoped people on the flight with us would remember this...

Cute little play area they have now at the Edmonton airport

gravol for the way there and when he woke up Jace was how I expected him to be- busy!

Talia was good on the way out. She got suckers, mentos, gum- you name it!

This was Jace, couldn't stay still and loud haha but no worse than I thought he'd be.

Crazy hair filled with sunscreen
Our first day there we went to the Newport Beach. It was 15 minutes away from our place. It was cooler at the beach  but where our house was in Tustin it was really warm the day.

 Jace would not leave me and would not touch the sand so Jace and I were best friends that day and Talia was in heaven building sand castles with Jason.

That's our hot tub in the background. Talia was not a fan of swimming unless she was in the hot tub! In fact she loved the hot tub so much while I was taking the next photo she thought she'd get a closer feel!

Jace and Me on the hammock

 Yep she went in with her clothes- couldn't help but laugh.

 I believe this photo is out of order but this is often how they looked while travelling. Either both asleep or one. But they did get used to sleeping in the car.

 Second time at the beach. It was windy but it was fun. We even saw a big fat sea lion!

 Our day at Disneyland. Talia loved it because she LOVES any princess. It was a perfect day to be there. Warm but not HOT.

 Tea cups!

 Jace liked going around but mostly he liked just being outside. He did great this day. Even took a 2 hour nap in his stroller.

 Belle her favorite. She didn't say much to them but she ran right up for a BIG hug.

 Jason and I had no idea who this Princess was but Talia loved her! ha

 Talia really wanted her face painted. So cute eh?

 Probably Talia's favorite part meeting mini.

 I remember as a kid being in Mini's house and thinking how great it was!

 So this was probably the best thing we did. We bought a ticket to this buffet where the kids could eat and meet a bunch of the characters. Talia was in HEAVEN!!! She didn't even eat much because she had to hug and meet Mini I think 7 times and then the other characters. Mini gave her "lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of kisses"

 Jace of course going after her nose. So jace haha!

K this video just makes me smile. How cute is Mini and don't you wish you dance and be that cute?  Also while Mini was dancing I looked over and saw Jace dancing pretty good. The video doesn't give do him justice.

Snow white who gave her "kisses lips" on her hand

Curio which she just ended up licking

Going on the train.

This girl cracks me up. She knows English to well. She told me to "chill out mom", or told me enough once, she also uses words attached to her sentences like "although" "actually" "just one second" "I can't do that right now because"

She's becoming cheeky! The picture describes it all.

BUT she also is the mostly cuddly girl ever. If you ever need a hug just ask her.

by the pool

Jace locked us out of our rental house while in California. Jason and I were cleaning the pool and have thought he'd lock the screen door. Tried to teach talia how to open it that didn't work. So Jason tried to teach her how to unlock the front door while he was doing that I looked through the kitchen window and see jace on top of the table. Thankfully talia figured the front door out and Jace didn't jump off the table. Jace is a funny busy boy!

At Sea World. They liked it but both kids were probably the most tired they'd been so far. So we didn't stay as long as Disneyland.

Totally different show now that they don't get in the water with the whales

These head phones and the ability to watch tree house on west jet saved us with Talia.

Jace was better on the way home that on the way there.

We survived and I feel grateful that we could go on a vacation with our little family. It was a good break. BUT Jason did just say we need a vacation from our vacation haha!

Easter photos

I was doing photos for some people so I thought I would try out the lighting before hand and take some photos of my babies!!!

Wearing Easter colors so it's fitting to say its their Easter photos. I didn't take photos during Easter. Friday we went to my moms and they did a bunch of Easter things there, Saturday did our own Easter egg hunt and baskets, and then on Sunday we had Easter dinner at my patents.

I love Easter and it was funny trying to teach Talia why we celebrate Easter. Hopefully next year she'll understand it a little more.

I'm grateful for my Savior and the sacrifice he made for me and that through him and his atoning sacrifice I can live with my family forever. This year I was able to reflect mostly on that the Savior has felt everything that I've felt through my struggles and in times of needed comfort. It makes me sad knowing the pain He went through but also comforted in the fact that He knows how I feel. The atonement is truly the greatest gift we have been given. Find out more at www.lds.org

Here are our photos: