my boys' take on the Royal Wedding and other small horrors

In case you missed this picture when I posted it on Twitter...

As I mentioned briefly in my last post, while at the finca last week I managed to get completely covered by bug bites. I don't know if it was my deliciously juicy preggo blood or maybe just an extreme reaction to a new kind of bug bite, but this is what my arm looked like two days ago,

Gross, eh? And they're SOOOOOOO ITCHY!! Most look even worse than in those pictures now since I've scratched them til they're scabbed. The crazy thing is that Peter had loads too but most have already disappeared, Liam has maaaaaybe a couple (although his awful sun burn made up for it, poor boy), Simon looks like he has the chicken pox from scratching his even worse than mine, and Andrew has a couple dozen little ones that he likes to point out but rarely scratches.

Me? I have HUNDREDS. Literally. I counted about 65 in those pictures... and that's on one side of one arm! My legs are awful too. I seriously look like I have a disease. Or am a meth addict or something.

And I have a formal wedding to go to THIS SATURDAY. As in tomorrow.

Hopefully it will be dark and candle lit.

*sigh*

I'm hoping to go for a manicure today (they only cost about $5 down here and it will only be my second EVER... my first being 9 years ago in Quito, Ecuador) with a friend -and fellow wedding invitee- from the embassy. That along with my haircut tomorrow may be enough to make me feel pretty... in spite of my ill-fitting non-maternity dress, big belly, and bite-covered self.

* * * * * * * * * * *

After the boys finished their far-too-early breakfast this morning before school, I had them bring their uniforms into the TV room so they could watch the end of the Royal Wedding while getting dressed. Liam is quite happy to share a name with Prince William, but didn't think that Kate looked like a princess (not sure what constitutes a princess in his mind). Simon said that I am a like a princess (stop laughing!), and Andrew didn't pay attention to much other than the horses until the planes flew over. He loved that.

Liam was also full of questions about monarchies and why some countries have kings and queens and others have presidents. He also didn't know why the queen's husband is only a prince and not the king (good question). We dug out some of our Canadian coins to show him the queen on the back and explained that Canada is part of the monarchy, so Prince William is our prince too. Hopefully that will make him feel more a part of the celebrations at their school today...

That's right, they're having a Royal Wedding "street party" at the school today. It is a British school after all.

But it still made me laugh.

Speaking of street parties, we (and everyone at the embassy) were invited to a party at the official residence of the British Ambassador this afternoon. I had no intention of going, but after watching part of the wedding this morning, I'm almost tempted. Unfortunately it's during my Andrew's nap time.

And I need to stay home and figure out some way to mask the horror that is my arms in time for tomorrow night's wedding...

34 week belly pics

I have so much to blog about from the last two weeks... 

• A trip north of Bogota to the town of Villa de Leyva, considered one of the finest colonial villages in Colombia where we visited an ostrich farm, ran around a dinosaur park, swam for hours, toured the town itself, and got a bit lost before finally finding the town of Raquira.
• A two-day-turned-five-day vacation at a finca (a rural holiday home/estate) with three other families we've met since moving here. Eight adults, nine kids, horses, a pool, tennis courts, amazing grounds, wonderful food... and mandatory maids to clean up after us so we could just enjoy our time. Oh, and HUNDREDS of bug bites.
• Our Easter that didn't feel much like Easter.

But for today I'm going to post some "self" maternity pictures I took yesterday. I have to get better at clicking the remote and hiding it quickly while keeping the boys out of the frame AND POSSIBLY REMEMBERING TO SMILE. I look angry/sad/depressed in most of them. But it wasn't as painful as I anticipated, so maybe I'll try again in a few days. Definitely once I get my hair cut this Saturday... if I go through with it (since Peter still isn't on board with me getting dreads).

(It might also inspire me to change out of my pjs on a more regular basis...)

So these pictures were taken yesterday at 34 weeks + 1 day,

(See those three large, empty frames above the couch? Know what they say about the cobbler's kids' wearing hole-y shoes and the mechanic driving a car about to break down? Yeah, same thing with photographers. Or at least with this photographer. Empty frames or just no pictures AT ALL.)

the Colombian "desert"...

...where it rained most of our stay. And was cold. 

Of course.

Good thing there was a heated indoor pool.

And check out Simon's ribs in a few of those jumping shots... I swear we do feed the kid!

(I know these photos won't win any awards, but being in the pool was such a huge part of this particular trip. With the crummy weather, it gave us something fun to do with the boys... and totally wore them out so they slept like little logs. Win-win.)

(If I get around to it, this post will link back to these Wordless Wednesday parties.)

a few things I don't want to forget

There is so much that has happened in our time down here that I just haven't found the time to blog about, but that I don't want to forget. So this post is going to be a quick series of bullet-style memories. If you'll indulge me.

• Last weekend was a "Fun Day" put on by the school at the huge Multiparque. We'd driven by the entrance several times before, but had never been inside. We didn't quite know what to expect, so were just hoping there'd be enough to entertain all three boys at their levels. Well, it was awesome! As soon as we got there, went through the line for our wrists bands and entered the park itself, the boys were off and running. I pulled out my camera (of course) with its freshly-charged-overnight-batteries... only to find that I hadn't put the memory card back in. I was pretty furious with myself, imagining all the amazing photo ops I'd be missing that day, but decided it was a sign to fully experience the day without seeing the entire thing through the lens of my camera. I'm still sad that I don't have pictures as reminders of the great fun that was had that day, but it did make life a little easier to only have the three boys to worry about... and not my fourth baby (ie, my camera).

picture taken from Multiparque's Flickr stream

• The week before last there were our first parent-teacher consultations. I met with Simon's teacher, Miss Denise, first. Nothing she said was a surprise. She said he has tones of energy and enthusiasm, but can also be a bit too competitive and physical with the other kids (again, not a surprise). But everyone there adores him. Everyone from his classmates, to teachers, to other staff, to older students... they all know his name. He makes himself known (that day we spent at Multiparque, Peter couldn't get over how many people -both adults and kids- came up to Simon to say hi). She said that academically he would probably be finding school pretty boring except that he seems to love it so much (which he does). He's smart and funny and eager to please and do well. He's enthusiastic and completely engaged in the class. He's energetic and physical and competitive... and needs a bit of work developmentally when it comes to dealing with certain social situations (isn't that a nice way of putting it? *grin*). It all sounds EXACTLY like Simon.

Simon dressed as a cat for his Nursery Spanish Assembly

...and performing WITH VIGOR!

• My meeting with Liam's teacher also went well. Again, he's very well liked and has done a relatively good job integrating into the life and routine at the school. The entire school is IB (International Baccalaureate), so the marks are given between 1-7: 1 being the lowest, 4 is passing and 7 is far exceeding any expectations. For having been there less than two months of an over-three-month term, he did really well. He had mostly 5s and 6s, his only 4s being in writing, math and social studies. He still struggles a great deal with writing (a post I've been meaning to write), but I think (hope) that his teacher and I have come to an understanding. I still feel there is far too much homework expected to be done each night (not that it's particularly difficult, it's just the sheer volume! again, another post for another time). So while we do have some issues with the school, I love some of the opportunities that Liam has had there... violin lessons each week, tae kwon do classes, fencing. Fencing?! Although the mornings seem to be especially hard on him, I know he enjoys the school once he gets there.

Liam at the monthly school flag raising

• Speaking of the mornings, I'm not sure many times I've already complained mentioned it here on the blog, but mornings here ARE HARD. Peter sets the alarm each morning for 5:40am and when it goes off, he gets up to start getting ready. When he gets out of the bathroom, he comes and gives me a shake before heading to the kitchen to get breakfast ready for the boys. I drag myself moaning out of bed and then set to the task of waking Simon and Liam. Simon usually takes a minute to wake up, but he's little enough that I can drag him onto my lap and rub his back as he struggles to open his eyes. Generally the first thing out of his mouth is, "Is it a school day?" and when I respond that it is he jumps/falls off my lap and staggers to the bathroom and then to the table. Liam, on the other hand, is far more difficult to rouse. It's not that he won't wake up, he just doesn't want to get up. Remember it's still before 6am at this point, so I DON'T BLAME HIM. There are always complaints and sometimes tears. I try to be gentle and encouraging and understanding (and generally succeed), but it gets pretty exasperating because I'M EXHAUSTED TOO. After quite literally dragging him out of bed, he too goes to eat. But who wants to eat anything at dawn when you've only been awake for two minutes?? It's always a struggle to get them to eat anything in the mornings. Once we've given up the breakfast battle, they leave their half-eaten meal on the table and we begin the frantic where's-your-uniform-yes-you-do-have-to-change-your-socks-and-underwear-do-you-need-your-library-books-today-grab-your-bag-did-you-check-the-menu-for-Simon*-have-the-snacks-been-packed-why-don't-you-take-off-both-shoes-by-the-front-door-can't-you-take-off-your-coat-without-turning-both-sleeves-inside-out marathon of trying to get ready before we have to take them down to the meet the bus at 6:20am. That's right. Usually less than half an hour for waking to boarding the bus. Most mornings -after they've been kissed and waved off- I climb back into bed shortly after 6:30am hoping to be able to rest a bit more before Peter leaves for work. I'm such an optimist.

• While Simon still struggles with some of his phonemes -mostly blends with the letter 's' like 'sl' 'sp' and then the letters 'f' and 'v'- he has a pretty impressive vocabulary. However, he does struggle a bit with conjugating the past tense of verbs. It so cute though that I often let it slide. I know he'll figure it out on his own just by hearing correct speech... he's only four after all. But to give a few examples, he will generally just add 'ded' onto the end of any verb, even if he's already unconsciously conjugated it to past tense. So "I saw-ded..." or "Liam take-ded..." or "We go-ded..." or "I poured-ed...". However my personal favourite of all his mis-speaks is when he's trying to say the word "won't"... he says "willn't". For example: me- "You have to have a nap today or you'll be way too tired and won't be able to have fun tonight." Simon- "No, I willn't!" Am I wrong to not always correct him? It's not that we always ignore it. We do practice proper speech patterns at home, but some of what he says is just so funny!

• Speaking of funny (and since I've already mentioned Multiparque a couple of times), it'd be remiss of me not to share this story about Liam. After about an hour at the park he finally bumped into some of his buddies from school (remember the whole school and their families were there for the "Fun Day" in addition to all the normal FINALLY-a-super-sunny-Saturday park visitors). They decided they'd like to race the go karts together. We all walked over in a big group to that end of the park, where it was discovered that Simon was too small to ride. Andrew was SO excited about the little cars, but I knew he wouldn't understand that only Liam was allowed. Simon wanted to stay and watch, so I left Peter with him and took Andrew over to see some llamas. After a little llama ride (insert non-existent super cute picture of Andrew on a llama), I took him to the side of the track opposite where Peter and Simon were standing so we could watch Liam race. I should explain that these weren't little putzy go karts... it was hardcore! Full helmets with visors, five-point harnesses, neck collars to prevent whiplash... and they went fast! Liam just barely met the height restrictions and he's not short for his age. Clearly they're meant for more the 10-15 year old set. Either way, Liam was in a kart lined up near the back of the pack. When he came around the bend towards us, Andrew and I cheered and waved and were all smiles and encouragement. When Liam couldn't see me, though, I admit I was laughing my head off. He just looked so INTENSE. When the race was over, I watched Liam duck his way through the crowd to find Peter, who gave him a big hug. Since I was so far away I couldn't hear what was being said, but Peter later informed me that while he was all "Great job, buddy! You did amazing!!", Liam had buried his face into Peter stomach and said, "I thought I was going to DIE!". I will NEVER be able to think of this story without laughing... even as I write this, I have tears in my eyes. He has since decided that Mario Kart for the wii is a much safer way to feed his need for speed.

picture taken from Multiparque's Flickr stream

• I can't leave this post without mentioning Andrew. He is such a sweet, loving, easy little guy. He's a favourite wherever we go. The kids at school swarm him (to the point that he often needs to be picked up and saved), he runs and hugs all of the embassy staff whenever he sees them (who wouldn't love that??), and all the guards/maids/gardeners/drivers/nannies/police/etc that we see anytime we leave the house are always greeted with smiles and waves... and often hugs too (can be a bit awkward!). At 27 months, he's well on the way to being diaper free very soon. Yeah! He still has accidents, but generally only wears diapers at night or starting in the afternoon when his brothers get home and the crazy starts. And he's finally -FINALLY!- starting to talk. We know this is really late, but he communicates so well without words and is otherwise so great/amazing/awesome, that we've been hesitant to worry too much. He's clearly able to say most sounds and syllables, but just wouldn't put them together. Truly, I think it was/is a power issue as much as anything. Back in January I got fed up and taught him two dozen or so signs, which he caught on to immediately and have helped a lot (and are super cute to watch). I think he's also decided that it's as much to his advantage as to ours if he starts talking. Thankfully. He still only really says mama, dada, yeah, up, poop, goal (*rolls eyes*), bye bye, owie and uh oh (which I realize is not a lot) with any regularity but he's at least gotten over his stubbornness and will parrot us when prompted. Frankly, when compared with his brothers it's been kind of nice to have at least one quiet kid!

here he's waving goodbye to Peter (the little blob on the right, under Andrew's arm)

...and how cute are those tiny undies??

sweet, sweet boy

a wee flashback

You've already seen the series of pictures I took this fall of the boys and their cousins on the red bench, but I've never shown all the others from our little walk-around-the-neighbourhood session.

Xavier, age 8:

Liam, age 7:

Rowan, age 5:

Simon, age 3 1/2:

Andrew, age 1 1/2:

Xav and Rowan:

My less-than-cooperative boys:

All five:

My younger sister with all her nephews:

In an abandoned lot... thankfully there were no needles on the ground (I'm not kidding),

At this point, most of them had had ENOUGH. Liam's eyes were bothering him from keeping them open in the bright light, Rowan had a terrible almost-constant cough, Andrew was having a meltdown, and Simon had a fever and -we would learn later that night- the beginnings of strep throat. Poor guys.

Here we are back at my sister and brother-in-law's place... I think I'd bribed them with cookies or jelly beans or similar to make them stay for a few more shots.

Since we only make it out to Regina once a year (if we're lucky... once we start getting three year postings, it will be even less frequently), I hope that we can repeat these little sessions... although our next planned trip isn't until this Christmas when there will not only be three new babies, but likely feet and feet of snow and ice... we might need to find some alternate locations!

(more flashbacks can be found over at Tia's and Alicia's)

no, that's not face paint

These pictures are from yesterday. It was not as hard a day as last Monday, although Simon and Andrew did manage to get into some mischief together...

This is an unsponsored post brought to you by Crayola.

he said he was a cat

his claws

not to be outdone

did I mention he was "a mean cat"?

check out Andrew in the background!

truth be told, he started it...

But at least it wasn't the walls. 

This time.

And, yes, I did send Simon to school like that.