Welcome Home!

We had the best welcome when we brought Keira home. Jayna and Kepler had picked out flowers for me and her, and they both picked pink before they even knew it was a girl. And Jayna made her this cute little card.


They had also made cupcakes with my mom for our anniversary, so thoughtful.

And then the mauling began. :)

Kepler thinks it's amazing that the baby has eyes, and ears, and a nose, etc.

And they both love it when the baby grabs onto their fingers. That was one of the first things Jayna did when they saw her at the hospital.

Proud big sister and brother!

We have been so used to calling her "the baby" for so long, now we need to get used to calling it "her" and Keira!

It's a GIRL!

Keira Kathy Fitzner was born on July 26 at 9:04 am
She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19.5 inches long

She arrived 2 weeks early on mine and Gibb's 9th wedding anniversary!
Everything went great and we had the most fantastic nurse who ended up delivering our baby (the doc was tied up in an emergency and showed up 20 minutes later to stitch me up).
We're glad to be home now and are really loving having a newborn in the house again.
Jayna and Kepler are so excited and proud to have a baby sister!

There is nothing like seeing and holding your baby for the first time!

Braces!

After a long 1 year and 11 months I am done with braces and dental appointments, WOO HOO!
(Just barely less than the 2 years I though it would be)
This has been one of the major highlights of the summer for me so far. It might be topped by the baby being born in a couple weeks, but it will be close. ;) The other highlight has been eating corn on the cob without cutting it off!
I actually got my braces off in June, but I was waiting to get my permanent crowns on my implants before I posted any pictures, so here they are.

BEFORE

The first day I got my braces on I came home and Jayna was inspecting them and tried to kiss them! Ha, we thought it was pretty funny, and she liked our reaction so for a few weeks after that she kept trying to kiss them, gross!

DURING

Both of these pictures are about half way through

AFTER

When we told the kids I was going to be getting my braces off they were both really sad. Neither of them remembered me without braces. Jayna couldn't understand why I would even want them off because they are so sparkly and pretty and she can't wait to have braces when she gets older. She also thought I wouldn't be a mom anymore without braces on, and that it would hurt or break my teeth to get them off. Kepler didn't really understand, but kept asking me if I would still be his mommy after they were off.
I have to admit I was a little worried that my teeth might fall out after they were off. And I didn't really think I looked like myself anymore, but I got used to it pretty quick and I could not be happier to be done with that!

More soccer

Soccer is all done for the summer and we're going to miss it.

Jayna loved having her friend Rylan on her team with her

Kepler got a soccer ball for his birthday and loved bringing his own ball to the games.

He proudly told everyone that he was on Daddy's soccer team. Good thing this kept him happy for the season, next year he'll be playing too!

Swimming Lessons

Jayna and Kepler just finished a session of swimming lessons. It was Kepler's first time in swimming lessons, and his first time not just being a spectator to Jayna. He was so excited and loved it! He is not scared of the water and loves to jump in, do back floats and go under water.

Kepler in On my Own Sea Turtle

He really wanted a picture beside the water

Jayna was in Salamander and did really well this session. I think the magic combination was a great teacher and her goggles. We did a little extra practicing with her back float and it was worth it. She was so excited that she passed her level and will be a Sunfish next time!

The final countdown!

I'm 36 weeks and officially starting to count down until this baby gets here. I feel like I'm in the home stretch and the end (of being pregnant) is in sight! It's funny because even though we didn't find out what we're having this time I've never been more prepared. I thought I would be dying to know if it's a boy or girl, but I've been totally fine with it, until the last couple weeks. Now I'm just getting really impatient to know what it is. Jayna has totally switched from wanting a sister to wanting another brother. She's now completely sure it's a boy and when I tried to ask her why she thinks that she just says "Because I love having a brother, so I want another one!" Good enough for me. And so now of course Kepler thinks it's a boy and wants a brother too. At least I know that if Jayna is happy, Kepler will be too.

I've been going back and forth between thinking it's a girl or boy this whole time, but I think it's been about 60% boy and 40% girl. Gibb just says that every time he pictures the baby he pictures a boy.

There's not really much else I can do to prepare until the baby gets here, except try to keep my house clean. My mom gets here on Thursday and the kids finish swimming lessons on Friday. And then we all get to sit around and wait...I have a feeling this could be a long month. ;)

Here I am about a week ago at 35 weeks

Bunk Beds

3 months after ordering them we finally got the bunk beds in this week! This has been a highly anticipated event at our house, and one of the major things to check off the before baby comes to-do list. Kepler just turned 3 and was still sleeping in the crib. He was kind of attached to the crib so I wasn't sure how he would do, but once the bunk beds were up there was no looking back for him. He's so ready to be a big boy in his bed!
Jayna has been talking about sleeping on the top bunk since she got to sleep in the bunk beds last summer at the cabin.

Gibb being the handy man

Just a little bit excited...

The first couple of nights Kepler ended up back in the crib because he wouldn't stop singing/talking and keeping Jayna awake. Jayna is not into partying with Kepler at night before they fall asleep, she is all business and runs out to tell us if he makes one peep that he's keeping her up (party pooper!). Kepler quickly learned that talking means no bunks beds and so he's been quietly falling asleep ever since. At night he says to me "Mommy do I get to sleep in the bunk beds again? I promise I'll be quiet! No talking in the bunk beds, that's the rule." And he so desperately wants to sleep in the bunk beds that he's been following that rule.

Jayna still needs to get used to the fact that she shares a room and a bed now and that Kepler is allowed to come in whenever he wants to and play on the bunk beds too. But so far it's been a great transition and it's nice that the kids love going to bed, hopefully we can milk that one for a while! It's weird having an empty room though, I think it's going to take me a while to stop calling it Kepler's room.

Gregoire Lake

Gibb had an extra day off this week-end, so we went out to the beach at Gregoire Lake, which is only about 25 minutes away. It was really windy, but the kids still went in the water. They loved playing in the sand for so long, building sand castles and digging for treasure.
It was so nice for Gibb and I to be able to relax while the kids played. They're old enough now to be careful by the water and play together. We need to enjoy this for a few more weeks until we start all over again with a new baby!

Canada Day

It never really feels like summer to me until July 1. It seems like Canada Day always has great weather too. We went to the parade again this year, and the kids actually remembered it from last year.

Just to prove I was there!

My favourite "float"!
This Buffalo was in the parade last year, and I told the kids it would be here again, so glad Bailey Jr. didn't disappoint them. Only in Fort McMurray...

Kepler loved waving and yelling "Happy Canada Day!"

We ended off the day with a BBQ and finally going to see Cars 2

Kepler keeps telling me now that he wants to go back to Canada (meaning the parade), because he loves Canada so much! I tried to explain to him that we live in Canada, but that was way over his head. So now I just tell him we'll go back to Canada next year.