life with 3 boys - 1 big one and 2 small ones

Sunday, November 7, 2010

fIrsTs

These past couple of months have been filled with a lot of firsts.  Some have been fun, some a little sad, but all have been memorable
1st day of school
1st time riding a two wheeler
1st hockey practice
1st playdate at a schoolmates1st time swimming the length of the small pool 
1st parent teacher interview

1st new words (up, down, all done, treat, licrich, out, bath, tv, meat)
1st time jumping off the back of couch
1st time eating fish (ya!)
1st time hitting mom 


1st time giving epipen
1st parent teacher interview (where I am the parent)
1st time having aleksander and mommy time
1st time having fish in a year (Ya!)

 And in 2 weeks
1st family vacation to Hawaii

Celebrate all your fIrsTs!  
 
 

Monday, September 27, 2010

Summer Holidays!


When I first created this blog my intention was to update is every other week (as a way to chronicle our memories for my boys.  Well I admit that I am a few weeks behind (well more like a few months behind).

This summer was great!  We did a whole lot of camping, which both boys love no matter what the weather.  We also decided to take a road trip-Victoria Island.  16 hour drive no problem!

We stayed in Naniamo on the island for 4 days.  We collected hundreds of crabs,  hugged some big trees, saw goats on a roof, and rode on the ferry!  I would have to say that the ferry ride was the hightlight of Vancouver Isand.
Ferry Ride

Passed out after a day at the beach
 After 4 days on the island (and Aleksanders asthma acting up, one emerg visit) we decided it was time to move on.  Penticton Bound

I have to admit it I LOVE PENTICTON.  Hot sunny days on the beach is where it is at, and with kids it is the best.  Malcolm was not sure about the ocean but he loves the lake (no sharks here, I didn't tell him about ogopogo).  We had amazing weather, plue 37 most days.  We really did spend our days on the beach!  We will definitly be heading back their next summer, but I think my husband wants a road trip to seattle.
beach bums



We had so much fun and the boys were such great travellers (Malcolm only threw up once in the car).  Even though two months have past Malcolm is still talking about the trip and Aleksander loves looking at the pics.

Fall is here and we love it!

i love you more

Sunday, June 27, 2010

1st Camping Trip

Last weekend was our first campout of the season.  We decided to go to Churchill at Lac La Biche. 

Well it is beautiful there and I recommend it.  It is nicely treed, big stalls and beautiful beaches, and lots of hiking/biking trails.

Malcolm was so excited to be going camping, he was really jumping up and down and could not stop talking.  Within 1/2 an hour of being their Aleksander fell out of the camper and got a big bump on his head and Malcolm got his finger stuck in a flashlight somehow (I thought it was going to be broken).   There was about an hour of crying but all was healed with roasted marsmellows.

Despite the few bumps at the beginning of the weekend it was a great camping trip.  We went with another family and had a great time.  It was one of their first times camping as a family.  I hope they liked it and had fun.  The kids played great and the adults also played great.   The husbands seemed to get along,  who wouldn't get along after a few beers by a campfire.  Aleksander and Malcolm do love being in the outdoors and I am so happy that they are finding the joy in camping like my husband and I do.  We are planing are next camping trip for July 2 weekend if anyone is interested.

i love you more!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

MALCOLM MAREK
This post if for my first born.  What do say about your first born?  Life definitely takes on a different meaning after you have a child. 

Malcolm was born on May 17, 2006.  Pregnancy was great throughout.  Labour and delivery was 3 hours in total.  He was a healthy 8 pound 14 ounces of joy.  We named him Malcolm after PJ's dear friend who past away suddenly 2 months before he was born.

Malcolm was an amazing baby and at 2 months he became an amazing crier!  For about 4 months he cried every afternoon for a few hours.  Who could blame him though he suffered from reflux and would projectile vomit every time he nursed.

Other than that he was the cutest baby boy that quickly became the chubbiest, squeezable baby.  He definitely loved his mama and became quite attached to me (and still is).  He reached all his milestones just like the parenting books said he would (now with 2 kids I have no idea when which kid should be doing what).

As a toddler, Malcolm was very quiet and shy.  He stuck pretty close to me especially in new situations.  He loved playing with me-he especially loved playing with musical instruments and dancing around (this seems to be a common theme in our house-it couldn't be because I play 3 instruments and my husband can pick up an instrument and figure it out).  He also loved just being outside even in the middle of winter.  I remember one cold day he was bundled up so much he could barely move, but there was no way he was coming inside.

Malcolm just recently turned 4.  He is still  a very sweet little (actually he is huge for his age) boy.  He still prefers to be by his mama's side, but he now is not stressed when I have to leave him at his Baba's or at a friends for awhile.  He still loves music and is dying for a real drum set- I told him that the music store said that he had to be 10 years old- I am pretty sure that Pj will be coming home one day soon with a drum set (he is also dying for one too).  Malcolm is really enjoying sports too.  This past winter her learned to skate and we took him to the Mountains and went downhill skiing.  He is in soccer right now and is loving it!  Swimming is something else that we love to do and he is definitely a fish.  This winter I am sure we will be busy with hockey although I am not sure if I am ready for it.  Of all things, Malcolm's favorite activity is pretend play.  He has a pretty good imagination.  One minute we are knights, the next minute we are knights that are training jedis that are going on a mission to outer space.  Every night we have to read a book, but there is no way he is going to sleep without a story that we make up-he for sure gets all his storytelling abilities from his papa.

I try to make my boys feel special.  I always tell Malcolm that he is my favourite oldest boy.  He then tells me "I know and you are my favourite Mama"-I guess we both get to feel special.

I love you more!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Bittersweet

Aleksander, my youngest son is very adorable and special. When Aleksander was 7 months old I gave him some rice pablum. Little did I know that this would change our lives drastically so quickly. Within 5 minutes of eating 1tsp of this pablum he started vomitting. I didn't think to much about it, but then he vomitted again. I then noticed a hive by his eye so I gave him some bendryl. Within 2 minutes his eyes were swollen shut his lips were triple in size and his whole body was red. He was screaming and gasping!

I immediatly rushed him to the hospital were the quickly gave him an epinephrine shot and oral steroid. We then spent the next 6 hours in the hospital were they poked and proded ALeksander to keep checking on his vitals. They discharged us with a prescription for an epipen and told us to us it if necessary.

I kept my emotions intact pretty well. I started crying at the hospital when I knew his was ok. But when I got home it hit me, we had no idea what he was allergic to and why so severe?  What is it? How are we going to find out? How are we going to manage? He is so little, what are we going to do?

We went to see our family doc and he immediatly sent us to a pediatric allergist. 2 days later Aleksander was getting his skin pricked to determine what he was allergic too. The test showed that he was allergic to diary (which was in the pablum), nuts, eggs, and sunflower. We were also sent for blood tests. The blood test confirmed the allergies plus soy and wheat.

What happened to just a nut allergy? No, that would be to simple.  Instead he is allergic to everything. Diary and soy is in everything. Plus I am nursing so that means I could not have anything that he is allergic to. The first month was tough. It wasn't tough because of what he was allergic to, it was tough to educate people. It is really hard for them to understand a diary allergy. So many people respond with "Oh does he get a tummy ache from milk" my response is "No he dies from milk!"

This all happened nine months ago. Is it easier now?-yes and no. We have recently been to a different specialist and Aleksander can now have soy. He is drinking soy milk and loves it. I have cut back to nursing only once a day, which is why I have named this post bittersweet. Bittersweet because I am so happy that he can have soy, but kind of sad that he doesn't have to solely rely on me. We are now dealing with asthma with Aleksander and have been to the emergency room twice with him struggling to breath.

I still struggle with going places (home is our safety zone). This month was Allergy Awareness week and I would like to quote a mom that wrote this in resonse to this question posed- if you could say one thing to people about allergies what would it be?

She wrote "Imagine an open bottle of poison sitting on a lunch table. Ingesting one drop of this poison can cause death within minutes. You see a group of children come in and sit down at this table. Your child is with them. As a parent, what would you do? Would you remove the bottle of poison or would you allow it to stay on the table and just teach your child about what’s in the bottle and tell him or her to stay away? What if the bottle spills and it goes all over the table? Do you wipe it up and allow him or her to continue with the meal? Do you worry that the drop you missed is the one that happens to get onto your child’s sandwich? I know that most of the parents out there would remove the bottle from the table before the children eat. Many families of life threatening food allergies are faced with this situation every single day. It may be milk (butter,icecream, cheese, yogart)or sesame or eggs but it’s still POISON to them. That’s why you see many of us wiping down chairs and tables, bringing in our own food, sitting at a ‘poison free’ table, trying to make celebrations without food, and so on. Parents will do whatever it takes to keep their children safe. Yes, there are children out there with mild food allergies so maybe the poison is more like a thumbtack but many do indeed have ‘life threatening’ allergies and can die!

I am posing this question to you? What would you do? If there actually was an open bottle of ammonia on the kitchen table would you remove the bottle from the table?  Let me know!

Even though it has been a rough go at it for Aleksander, he is on the most part a healthy 16 month old. He is very adorable and goofy. He loves playing and is always in a great mood. He loves his big brother and copies everything he does. We are always prepared with his epipens and inhalers if needed and are always trying to minimize risks.  We are now a very healthy eating family-now processed foods here!

Love You More

Monday, May 24, 2010

The Long Weekend

This weekend was the long weekend. My whole extended family came down to St. Paul-all 4 of my brothers, sister inlaws and nieces and nephews (actually one of my brother lives in St. Paul as well). Malcolm absolutely loves it when everybody comes to Baba's. He adores all his cousins and plays nonstop with them.

Friday night we had supper at Baba's and then visited. We had a little girl hop in our car and come over for a sleep over. I think it was past midnight before Ava and Malcolm finaly went to sleep. Saturday, it was off for lunch to my brother Shanes and then Malcolm and his cousin Josh went to the new Shrek movie. I must say that it was pretty funny, although I think I enjoyed eating the popcorn more. It had been 5 months since I had popcorn (we thought aleksander was allergic and I am nursing so couldn't have it). Saturday night it was back to Baba's for supper. All the kids decided that they wanted a campfire although if was freezing. That night Elle decided to jump in our car for a sleepover. On the way home, out of the blue Malcolm looks at Elle and says "I love you". Sunday was a lazy rainy day at Baba's again-lots of kids running around inside and attempting to play in the rain.
Today was a productive day at home. Pj and I planted some tree saplings, I pruned my crabapple tree and rose bush, and I worked my flower bed. After lunch we all went for a bike ride. On our way home we picked up Liam(nephew). Malcolm and Liam are now sleeping. I wonder if Liam will stay all night this time? Aleksander loved all the attention this weekend from his cousins, aunts and uncles. He is walking more and yes he is still climbing. Pj caught him trying to climb the piano!

I owe my husband an appology. The only flaw that really bugs me is the nasty tobacco habit. He is trying hard to quit, but hasn't quite gotten there yet. (I gave up diary, nuts, wheat, eggs how hard can quitting smoking be?) Other than that he is the sweetest guy there is, especially when I am busy doing things.

If you haven't noticed I have already changed my blog name. "i love you more" is a game that Malcolm and I play. It usually starts with "i love you to coop", his reply "i love you to Joshie's", and we go back and forth until Malcolm says "mama i love you more".


i love you more

Sunday, May 23, 2010

My Family



My first boy is my husband! I meet my husband ten years ago. We dated for 3 years and he proposed to me on Halloween, we were married 5 months later on April 5, 2003. My husband is an Occupational Therapist and works at the hospital. He is a great papa and a wonderful husband.

My two other boys are Malcolm and Aleksander. Malcolm just turned 4. He makes me laugh everyday. He loves playing pretend (or as he says tember) and we spent most days playing knights and kings, luckily I get to be the princess. He is starting to like pokemon which I really don't understand but of course we have to pretend to be pokemons and have battles. He is playing soccer and he is doing great and loving it (quite different from last year). Aleksander is 1 (15months) and is a joy. He definitly keeps me on my toes. He is just starting to walk but he is an expert climber. The other day I caught him on our kitchen table and then on our wood pile outside. He loves to make people laugh and is quite goofy. Aleksander has severe multiple food allergies (diary, nuts, eggs, chicken). It was quite challenging at first but we are adapting. The hardest part of his allergies if dealing and educating people on the how serious his allergies are (he is anaphalctic to diary and needs an epipen).

I take care of my family and my family takes care of me!

I Love you through and through boys!

Friday, May 21, 2010

About Me


My name is Jana Dechaine. I am 32 years old soon to be 33. I am a full time mom and I am so happy that we are able to do that (even though some days i do count down the hours until my husband gets home). I am married to a wonderful husband whom I love for all of his flaws and in spite all of his flaws. I have two beautiful boys named Malcolm and Aleksander.

Before having children I was a special education and taught special ed kindergarten for six years. My experience teaching was wonderful and I was able to work with so many talented and knowledgable staff, the kids were great. And yes I am secretly assessing your kids (I just can't help it). One day I would like to go back to school and work on my masters with a focus on autism.

My sister(inlaw) inspired me to start this blog. I thought this would be a great oppurtunity to record some memories for my kids, plus I do not scrapbook and I have about 5 months of photos to put in books. My goal is to post something once a week-lets see if that happens.

"I Love You Through and Through" by Bernadette Rosetti-Shustak, a favourite book of my boys is the inspiration of my blog title:
"I love you through and through.I love our inside and outside. I love your happy side, your sad side.your silly side, your mad side. I love your fingers and toes,your ears and nose. I love your hair and eyes, your giggles and cries. I love you running and walking, silent and talking. I love your through and through....yesterday, today, and tomorrow, too."

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Learning How To Blog

Right now I am trying to learn how to blog with a crying baby trying to climb me. It is not working very well. I guess I should be doing this when Aleksander is sleeping!