Christmas Day ~Part One~

Christmas morning my boys woke up at 7am (Alberta time) but we hung out in our room till 8 and then the 3 of us went and climbed into bed with Grandma & Grandpa. A little while later Ethan woke up and we decided to get opening gifts.

Grandma reading Santa's response to the kid's letter.

Rylan's stocking gift!!!

Instantly in his mouth... ALWAYS!!!

Nathan opening one of his stocking presents.

Opening gifts from Santa:

Steven's "New" PS

Dad opening his gift

& his new silver dollar

Eating ANOTHER toy

Eli had been up sick ALL night (it wouldn't be a Butler Christmas without someone having the flu) so he and Russell joined the party later on.

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas with my family. Everyone, minus Karalee's family, was there and we had SUCH a fun time. I LOVE spending Christmas with all my family especially now that we have little ones to share in the excitement. (This is going to be a post of pictures).

                             

Lisa & Steven

Doesn't Dad look excited..hehe.

    

 LOVE my boys!!!                                                                   

How cute is Ethan?!? :)

We tried to get a picture of all the boys cudded up in their Christmas PJ's but Eli found a spot on the floor and wouldn't move from it...hehe...so this is what we got.

Then it was time to do the Nativity...haha.. YA RIGHT!!! It was bedtime for the littles, Ethan&Eli, and they wanted NOTHING to do with being the Wisemen/Shepard. It was HILARIOUS... their parents would put on the headgear and before they let go the headgear would be coming off. Nathan got dressed as Joseph and Grandma asked him who he wanted to be Mary? "Grandma" was his response. Nathan, Grandma and Baby Celeste got in position, Ethan&Eli ran around like crazy monkeys, Wayne tried to get Rylan to be the Star, Rylan ate the Star... it was LOUD, CRAZY, parents were getting frustrated, Grandpa was told to just read the scriptures QUICKLY, I was laughing... it was the BEST Nativity EVER!!!!

Reindeer food and Sparkles were sprinkled on the snow outside so the reindeer would know where to land. A letter was written to Santa, cookies, chocolates & milk were put out for a hungry Santa to enjoy and kids were quickly sent to bed. It was SUCH a fun/crazy night but the PERFECT Christmas Eve in my opinion.

So fun!!

This is so fun to do. My sister Karalee sent us the link and had made a video for Nathan. Wayne then went and made a video for Nathan, himself & me. Nathan LOVED it and couldn't stop talking about what Santa said to him. I watched my video later on and it seriously made me feel special...like Santa was talking to me.

So here's the link: Santa video

The verdict is in....at least for now.

So if you've been reading this blog for a while you may know my little saga with Siast and trying to get into Nursing. If you haven't been reading or forgot here's what has happened so far: In the beginning, update, update #2

So I thought everything was good, but then I received a letter in the mail... Siast is changing their requirements for entrance into the program. The "old" way was if you had the core classes and your average was above 65% then you were put on the "list", so first come first served. Well now that the Practical Nursing program is a high demand program they have changed the requirements to highest average of the core classes gets in first (which makes sense but sucks for me). At first I didn't think that was a big deal because I had all my classes, my average was good, and I had challenged my Math so I was good their too... Ummm no. Because of the new requirements the Accuplacer (the exam that I challenged my Math and was fine the old way) is no longer valid for this program and so I have to take my Math.

I found out this information too late to take my Math this semester so I just hoped and prayed that I would get in this year and not have to worry about upgrading my Math. I reapplied and was told that I would know by the end of November whether I got in or not. Well November came and went and nothing. Yesterday I called and got the person's answering machine. Uggg...waiting all day for her to return the message was horrible. Today I was going to be gone for most of the day, so first thing this morning I called the lady.

She had gotten the information from the school people for who was in or not just last week and is sending out the acceptance/didn't make it letters today. I finally just asked if I didn't get in where I am on the waiting list. She looked and said that she thinks I am in the top 15. OHHHHH MAN!!! I asked her if she thought there would be any hope that being in the top 15 I would get in this year. She said that some years a lot of people decide drop out of the course but because of the new criteria next year she doesn't expect many people to drop out this year. :o(

I'm sad, actually really sad, but at least I can now figure out what to do next. I don't want to have to upgrade my Math, I would have done that a year ago if I had known what was going to happen. Just because I haven't gotten in now doesn't mean I won't this year, but my chances are slim to none. But the most thing that makes me sad is that I have to miss a good chunk of time at night away from my boys. :0( I know that when I'm in school I will miss a lot of them, but missing them now sucks because I could have already had this class done. I know that it's worth it, and in the long run this is what is best for our family, but it just SUCKS!!!!

I know that everything happens for a reason. I really do believe this but right now it's hard to be okay with that. Oh well...tomorrow I will be registering for the Math class and hopefully I'll pass with high marks to pull my average up even higher and then I guess we will just wait and see.

If I don't get in again next year I am going to start taking some of the classes in the program like, Anatomy & Physiology and Sociology. Every one of these classes I take, if I pass, can be used to help raise my highschool average by 1%/class. So I can add a total of 6% by the time I'm done the classes that I can take beforehand. Plus, then I will be done those classes and won't have to take them once I'm in the program.

Okay, enough of my ranting... I'm feeling more at peace with this now. Now I just hope I can get into the Math nightclass.... cross your fingers for me PLEASE!!!!

Growing up too quick.

Today in Primary Rylan was laying beside me on the floor on his back while I played the piano. I looked at him a few minutes later and he was on his tummy...ummm..how did that happen!?!? :)

Then tonight Wayne was playing with Rylan and Rylan kept trying to roll and reach for the toy Wayne was holding, but his stinkin arm kept getting in the way. Well, Nate was tired of watching so decided he could be of help and teach Rylan how to do it. This is what I caught:

(Sorry about the quality...we don't have much light in our living room)

Wayne and Nathan left to go do something else, and Rylan was talking like crazy so I pulled out the camera again and I'm glad I did because I caught this:

I'm not sure if I am ready for this next stage...

#1-I can't believe Rylan's already big enough to be rolling. :(

#2-We REALLY need to baby proof this house, and quickly.

" I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I'm out of control sometimes and hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." ~Marilyn Monroe

That's all I have to say...hehe.

(Thanks Becki for posting this, it's a gooder)

My new favorite picture!!!

Isn't he just a doll?!?!

A little yummy hint.

So I have a yummy little somethin somethin to tell ya...

SPINACH!!!!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Remember this

Well, I still like to have my "swamp" smoothies (that's what Nate named them, hey, whatever helps him to drink it I'm totally okay with it). We usually have at least 1 bag of spinach in the house (bought from Costco for less than $4/bag).

I know, I know....it's not like I am the first to figure out that it's a great idea to put veggies into things . But I get tired of having salad or cut up veggies with EVERY meal so throwing in some veggies in different places is exciting to me. I LOVE to throw some spinach in soups, scrambled eggs, quiches, stirfry (at the VERY last second, like when you are pulling the stirfry off the stove), sauces, really ANYTHING!!!

I don't really like the taste of frozen spinach...to me it has a weird taste to it, but fresh spinach is soooo yummy and it cooks down SOOOOO easily.

Tonight I made spaghetti and meat sauce and threw in 4 BIG handfuls of spinach and not only did it make the sauce look prettier but it added to the yumminess!!! :0)

Beautiful moments.

There are moments in my life that I WISH I could take a breath and pause everything and somehow take in every smell, movement, sight but mostly the feeling and then I'd want to breathe and to take in the next breath and start over again.

Tonight was one of those moments.

Nate & Rylan had both been put to bed but both were having troubles sleeping. I had just picked up Rylan because he was acting like he needed to burp (which he did) and then Nate asked if I would come and cuddle with him for a few minutes. In my mind I quickly debated just telling him to go to sleep or cuddle....

My heart won.

So I laid down with Rylan in between Nathan and I. Nathan was lying on my arm and had his one arm wrapped around Rylan. We layed there for a few moments and then the sweetest, most beautiful thing a Momma could see happened...

Nate's teeny tiny hand came up and his tiny little finger slowly started tracing circles on Rylan's face. I layed there and watched as the loving/sweet circles continued, and I was amazed as Rylan's eyes slowly got heavy and then closed. I quietly whispered to Nate that Rylan was sleeping and Nathan popped his head up to see for himself, which of course woke Rylan up again...hehe. I whispered that we needed to stay calm

The little finger started it's gentle circles again....this time moving down to Rylan's nose. I knew that I should put the baby to bed and get Nate to sleep but my body wouldn't move, maybe because my heart was too full. All I could do was lie there and watch as my sweet sons shared a moment with me a moment of selflessness, a moment of tenderness, a moment of love

I cried.

My head finally won over my heart and I told Nate that it was time to go to sleep he informed me that when I picked up Rylan I needed to "tickew his nose because he yikes it" I kissed Nathan goodnight and as I lifted Rylan to my chest

I tickewed his nose because he yikes it.

My INCREDIBLE Family.

What can I say?!?! I love these guys more than life itself!!!

LOVE this picture!!!

This was Nate's idea.

Yay...we all look kind of normal.

Oh these 2 kill me!!!

Okay, this kid is hilarious....I am happy if we can get 1 "normal" picture out of 20 pictures because this kid believes he is a model....do you think I take too many pics?

Can you tell he loves his Daddy???

Itty Bitty's turn.

My 3 studs!!

Ahhhh....how can you not want to kiss this face??? Boogers/drool and all.

Oh Nate!!

Nathan and Rylan were laying on my bed (I was in the other room) and Rylan was cooing to Nate. Rylan started fussing and I overheard Nate say in the sweetest voice....

Nate-Rylan, if you're sad all you have to do is say a prayer. Ya, that's right, you just have to say a prayer to Jesus and then you will be happy. Sometimes if you have a nightmare you can say a prayer too and then you won't be scared. Otay?(that's how he says okay and I LOVE it). Otay buddy???

Rylan-oaooooagohhaoogggg

Nate-Just have to say a Jesus prayer and then everything will be otay.

Awwww.....I LOVE how Nate is already trying to teach Rylan the things that are important to Nate. Plus, it's pretty cool to know that what we are teaching Nate he actually hears. He's such a sweet boy and I love him like CRAZY!!!!

Doing a test.

Plus, I LOVE this picture of my sweet nephew Eli!!!

Every once in a while I will be looking through my pictures on my camera and think "Where the heck did these pictures come from?" or "Why did I take a picture of/like that?"
Here's some of the pictures that I am talking about....

Was I taking a pic. of my new rocking chair??


Or spying on my neighbours?


Maybe practicing my Depth of Field!!!


???

Whoops, cut off his head

That's a little better...lost the legs but that's okay, who needs those anyways. I love this picture though because Rylan has THE scowl and I am sure he's thinking "What the heck are you doing?"

Hmmm...this might be a clue.

Love this one...Rylan's joining in on the fun.


Little feet????hmmm.....


Ohhh...could it be???


It's NATHAN!!!!!

What's with the smiles buddy??? hehe.


This kid cracks me up!!!

Nathan is such a WONDERFUL big brother. When I was pregnant I wasn't too sure how Nate would adjust to this new role of his but he has been phenomenal. He LOVES Rylan more than anything. He loves kissing, hugging, bugging, tickling, kissing, talking to, kissing, holding, rocking, kissing, cuddling, kissing, loving, oh did I say kissing his little brother? In fact, I am surprised how much Nathan (being a tough and sometimes too rough little boy) has been interested in Rylan and willing to help with anything I need (when it comes to Rylan). I couldn't have hoped for anything more from him....he's been great!!!

Cuddles after bedtime stories


Nathan babysitting & showing his Leapster to Rylan


Nathan yelled to me "Mommy, Rylan's cuddling me" :)


Rylan falling asleep, what a good babysitter!!!


Nate telling Rylan a story, this was when Rylan was only a few days old


Nathan, You ROCK!!!!

Nate's last day of Preschool 1.

This last year has been a LOT of fun with Nate going to Preschool. He goes to a cooperative preschool so I've been able to be parent helper quite a few times and Daddy got to go once, which Nate LOVED. It was so much fun seeing the change in Nathan over the year and watching him grow and develope both socially and scholastically. We are so proud of our big boy!!!

For the last day the kids had learnt quite a few songs and poems that they performed for us including, Baby Bumblebee (this is my favorite song ever I think) and a bunch more.



After the program Nathan's teacher, Mrs. Christiansen, gave all the kids a little memory book with some of the fun things they've done over the year.


The preschool had rented a bouncy castle and the kids (boys) had tons of fun crashing into eachother...hehe.
Here the kids are all getting ready to give Mrs. Christiansen flowers.


Nathan & Mrs. Toni Christiansen (she was AWESOME, Nathan loved her and we are sad because she isn't teaching next year)


BTW, I know the posts for the next little while should have been done a while ago but oh well...they are getting done now. :)

So I've started a new blog Pretty Shabby and would LOVE it if you took a little wander over that way to check it out. It's just in the VERY beginning stages, I would like to decorate it up my own style and add way more posts but I'm excited about it.

Can you get any sweeter?!?

This video is self explanitory (is that how you spell it?), and to this Mommy Nathan can't get ANY sweeter.... I LOVE the very end.

Our little angel baby!!!

On May 30th (my due date, thankyou baby) our sweet little angel boy joined our family.

The story (this is going to be long but I want to write it down while I remember all the little details..): **Most of the pics in this post were taken by my friend Jen**

Wayne and I stayed up late Friday (29th) night with Darryl & Juanita (Wayne's brother & brother's girlfriend) watching a movie, in fact we stayed up till 2am. I know, stupid, and I actually thought at 10pm that I should go to bed but didn't. So at 2am we went and climbed into bed and almost instantly I felt a "weird" pain

....hmmm....

then 5 minutes later another weird pain...

"Wayne. What time is it?"

W-"2:13"

5 minutes later...ummm.... "Wayne. What time is it?"

W-"2:18"

Me-"I think I might be having contractions."

Another 5 minutes went by and the pain was there again.. "OH CRAP!!!!"

So I layed in bed for a while and since I couldn't see the clock and couldn't time the contractions I got up and finished packing my hospital bag and Nate's sleepover bag. I then wanted to keep busy so I showered and did my hair and makeup (have to look good while pushing the baby out...HAHA...ya right, my hair was in a ponytail before we left the house) The contractions were then about 3-5 minutes apart and 45seconds-1.5 minutes long and hurt enough to make me stop and focus through them but really they weren't CRAZY bad. I decided to call the doctor on call and had a contraction through the conversation and was told to come in.

4:30am- I woke up Wayne and told him it was time and then Wayne got Nathan up and ready to go. I called my parents and Wayne called his parents, both sounded oddly awake like they were excited or something to get "this" call. On the way into the city there were 2 BEAUTIFUL rainbows that helped keep my focus while I tried to stay focused.

Sitting in the car was NOT fun because sitting was NOT comfortable at all, but I didn't want to scare Nathan or let him know that I was in pain so I tried to stay SUPER calm.

(This was while I was having a contraction... I look really happy don't I..haha)
We dropped Nathan off at Auntie Jen's and then headed to the hospital, the contractions were still 3 minutes apart but closer to 1.5 minutes.

5:00am- Wayne dropped me off at the Emergency room doors and then quickly went to park. I had a contraction right before entering the hospital and quickly was surrounded by 2 EMT's and a security guy.... I felt REALLY special. We were quickly admitted and headed upstairs to assessment.

5:30am- I layed down in the bed to get hooked up to the monitors, and a few minutes after the nurse left the room I suddenly had an urge to push. "OH CRAP" I sent Wayne to get the nurse because I really didn't want to deliver a baby on my own. The nurse VERY quickly came into the room and checked my cervix.... 5-6 cms. I must have scared the nurse because I was moved to Labor & Delivery RIGHT then...in fact, I think within 5 minutes I was over to the other wing.

5:45-11:45- I tried incredibly hard to focus and control the INTENSE urge to push. The nurses informed me that if I pushed while I wasn't fully dilated that I could cause some major problems and make delivery a LOT harder. I climbed into the shower and Wayne tried to keep the water spraying on ONE spot while I swayed back and forth.... you would think his hand eye coordination was better but he needs some practice. The shower felt really good but the urge to push was still REALLY strong...in fact I don't remember really feeling the contractions because I really was just trying not to push. I then climbed in the jacuzzi which was FABULOUS and in between contractions I actually almost fell asleep. I then got out of there and went back into the room. My nurses were wonderful and kept saying how great I was doing, that I could do this, that I was strong...etc. etc. I got to the point that my body just started to push on it's own and then I was FIGHTING off the urge. I decided at this point that I was done... I NEEDED an epidural... not because I was in SOOOOO much pain but because I was so scared that I was going to hurt myself and cause problems. The nurses gave me the mask thingy that has some drugs in it and I thought I was going to suffocate myself... I was sucking those drugs in as HARD as I could and nothing was happening. After a while the nurses put some medicine into my IV, whatever it was made me feel loopy but still didn't help with pushing. Finally, the anesthesiologist came into the room and I was in heaven.

Noonish- The drugs started working and the urge "subsided" so I sent Wayne off for lunch. Wayne's family arrived and we chat for a while. They all left the room so I could be checked again and I was only 7cms.... SOOOO DEPRESSING!!! I used the excercise ball for a while to help get baby moving down and after a while the doctor came in to see how things were going. She realized that baby was facing the wrong way (baby's nose is suppose to be facing the bum and baby's nose was facing my belly button)...ohhhh...that's why I've been wanting to push and things have been feeling soooo different. So the nurses had me get up on my hands and knees to try to get baby to flip over.....didn't work. I was starting to feel the contractions again and the urge to push returned. Transition phase things started happening, including the fabulous puking that I do ohhhh so well.

2:30- My parents FINALLY arrived..hehe.. The doctor came back in to check me since I REALLY needed to push again and told me I was only 9 cms and NOT to push. She left the room and during my next contraction baby's heartrate dropped. The doctor instantly came back in and checked me again and suggested we do a test push...so I pushed and she decided that we were going to go ahead and get this baby out. She informed me to be prepared because since baby was facing the wrong direction that it was going to be a LOT harder to push baby out, but after hearing that my baby could be in trouble I didn't care what it took or how much energy....I was going to do EVERYTHING to get baby out.

3:04-I started pushing. The nurses and doctor were awesome....Wayne was WONDERUL, but kept petting me..hehe. I should add that Wayne was INCREDIBLE the whole time...he did EVERYTHING I needed him to do... hold my hand, get away....can you get me some water, no ice, no water....rub here, don't touch...but he mostly just gave me the look like, you can do this and it REALLY helped...he was the PERFECT partner and coach. I don't really remember a whole lot at this point other than trying to find that perfect spot to push but I do remember seeing the head doctor come into the room and the vacuum was started up. I pushed a few more times and then I heard the nurse say "He's right there Jackie, RIGHT THERE." I waited for that last contraction and out HE came. The dr. told me later on that while baby was crowning and right before that last contraction she watched his little head turn all the way around and baby then came out the right way....why didn't he do that 6 hours earlier?!?! :)

3:17- They took our sweet baby instantly away to the warming table, not onto my chest, not where I could see him but away from me. I held my breath waiting for that little squeak of a cry...nothing. Then in walked the Neonatal nurses/dr..... my heart stopped beating! I asked my dr. if everything was okay and she said that baby just had a hard time coming out. Still no crying. I looked at Wayne as if he could make it all better and the look of fear is all I saw. That's when the tears started and all I could do was pray out loud that he was fine...please be fine. I don't know how long it really was, but it felt like eternity until finally we hear the faintest noise but boy was it THE most beautiful noise I have ever heard. After a few minutes the nurse finally brought me my beautiful baby and everything was fine... HE WAS PERFECT!!!!

So I would like to FINALLY introduce our sweet angel baby:

Rylan Jack Shutra
9lbs 6oz
23 3/4 inches long





He is a WONDERFUL baby and has already brought soooo much happiness to our family. It's amazing how much we all love him already and it feels like he's ALWAYS been here.