Last Week of June

This one is from May, but I felt like throwing it in...
Lukey, Bennett, Shay

My step brother came back from Asia for a short while (crazy man); his 94 yr old grandma was delighted to see him!

My grandparents (left) took a train tour through the Rockies that happened to have an over-night stay in our town...Impromptu BBQ!
(My parents, centre and my dad's parents, right)

My grandparents and their traveling companions. Sally (centre) was adopted at the age of nine from Guyana, while her parents (right), who had already raised four children, were in the country doing missionary work. Quite a remarkable story. Could you imagine waiting nine years to have a family to call your own?!

Bennett and his fantastic Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Stuckey, on the last day of school...

Playing with a wooden top that his Auntie Laura bought for him in Mexico...

Trying to see who could swing the highest: I think it is a tie!
(Derek, Laura, Bennett)

Serious Dog Walking: Look how tiny Bennett looks in this picture!
It helps that his uncle is 6'6"...

The Maple tree my grandfather backed his car over last fall seems to be making a spontaneous come back...

Miss K thinks that Nana's dog is her own personal pony...


Puppy Love!

The Archer (my big bro) and his Offspring...

Spudly did not want to partake in this photo shoot...
Miss K, Spudly, Bennett, Sunshine M

AN UNDERWEAR AFFAIR
(Spudly did not get the memo and showed up with the lone swimsuit...)
Miss K, Spudly, The Niece!, Sunshine M, Bennett

K8 @ 8 months...

My nephew (sans tears), Sir Spudly Grrr!


ALL FOUR (bio) COUSINS TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME:
Not one of them looking...

Someone snuck out of this shot...

The best I could get, necklace eater and all!

Bennett (7 yrs, 2 mos), The Niece! (3 yrs, 8 mos), Spudly (21 mos), K8 (8 mos)

The Three First Born

~My Big Brother & His Baby Boy~

Cousin Pride

A few days ago, I had the nerve to refer to the new baby cousin as, "Uncle J.'s baby..."

Bennett immediately protested, "It's not J.'s baby! Uncle J. does not have a uterus!"

"My apologies, son. Auntie N.'s baby..."

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Tonight, my camera arrived safely back home (so did Nana!), loaded with beautiful pictures and video of The Nephew! (& of the very proud parents!) Bennett hogged the thing for half an hour, watching the videos of his new baby cousin over and over...then he declared, "I want to go to ******** and see him right now!"

Not up for the ten hour drive tonight, I used the best excuse in the world..."You have school tomorrow!"

I wondered how Bennett would react to the idea of a 2nd cousin...it would appear The Nephew! will be landing into open (cousin) arms!

Inner Family Relations...Redefined.

Bennett says to me, "I want to sleep at Nana's house tonight."

I reply, "You can't sleep at Nana's house because Nana is going to ******** to see Uncle J. & Auntie N. because the baby is ready to come out of Auntie N's uterus and that means that you and **** (The Niece!) are going to have a new baby cousin!"

Bennett immediately jumps up, and with great excitement, yells, "I'm going to be a Daddy!"

It would appear that he is over the fact that he will never be a Mommy...
__________________________________________________

SIL finds out tomorrow if she will be induced on Thursday or on Friday...

Non Appearance of "The Niece! II" or "The Nephew!"

No August B-day for that one! Still being told...any day now! Officially 4 wks from the due date... Big Brother and Sister-in-Law are more than slightly anxious and sick of waiting!

Let the Waiting Begin!

Word is that the sister-in-law is about ready to pop, six weeks ahead of schedule, but being as she herself was a three months early preemie, carrying her own tike to 7.5 months (and counting) makes her proud! The Niece! II or The Nephew! may be making an appearance sooner than expected and I'm about as freaking excited as an Auntie-to-be can be! They live in the next province over, so visits will be much less than that with The Niece!, still, the fact that Bennett will have another partner in crime, another cousin to grow up with, is just a fantastic little thought that warms my heart!

In my group of five siblings, I was the first and only parent for 3.5 years; my baby sister & BIL jumped on the parenting band wagon, with production of The Niece! in late 2005, and now, roughly 5.5 years into the game, it's awesome to have a second niece or nephew and exciting to share the parenthood thing with more of my peeps!

Also, Cousin Alexandra was induced yesterday, so there should be news of little Arden coming soon as well! This one is roughly a week or two over due, so the wait has been a long one for her Mama!

From the Photo Archives: Era - 2005, Event - Big Bro Kicking Little Bro's Ass

After getting sick of hearing from the mouth of a babe (hairy on top) how that babe could whup the big brother's ass (sans hair on top), the hairless one took on the challenge...

That's right. Pull up those britches little guy...


Circle each other once...


And then get right down to it... Is that four legs and one head? Is the hairy one already missing a shoe?


He momentarily assumes that this is a piece of cake... I personally request chocolate moose cake, thank you.


Don't roll over on the bike parts...that might not feel pleasantly...


Two legs, two arms and two heads...at least this configuration has an even numbers of appendages...


Le Smack!


Le Leg!


What? Over All Ready?


Dude. You looks like you hurts!

Did I ever mention how much I don't like surprises? (or at least that I knew what colour I was shopping for...)

The sister-in-law's ultrasound has come and gone. Can you guess who had his/her legs twisted together like a pretzel? So, this means that there will be no gender specific shopping as of yet. Sigh.

My brother is quite certain that it is a girl! Of course, I knew Bennett was a girl! And my sister knew that The Niece! was a boy! So, family history with such predictions is not exactly in his corner on this one...

Said child (& the Mama) are reportedly healthy and all is well!

First Glimpse of THE NIECE! (II) or THE NEPHEW!

ETA: Late September

Call me Crazy! but I would swear that this offspring has the sister-in-law's forehead!

Gender confirmation to come...I think she said her next ultrasound is next week...and she's roughly half way through the pregnancy...so, four or five months along!

Bennett & The Niece! are excited to have BABY COUSIN (II) on the way! Well, as excited as a five-year-old and eighteen-month-old can be...which means they will hopefully appreciate having another cousin a couple of years down the road...

My *official* prediction is that this is THE NEPHEW! Which, with my fantastic ESP abilities, probably means it is a girl...

~A Morning at Nursery School~

Last night, a drunk driver, plowed into the back of my sister's van, causing a four-car-pile-up, involving three parked cars and his own, and totaling them all. Thank god all of the innocent vehicles in the accident were parked and not occupied by human beings, thus the damage was mostly limited to an extensive clean-up and a HUGE inconvenience for the owners of the vehicles. My sister & brother-in-law, however, were up most of the night with the circus that followed and were more than slightly exhausted come today.

So as The Niece! did not miss an important orientation day at her new daycare, I volunteered to take her. She did so well! And I have to say, that hanging out with a dozen one & two-year-olds was an interesting way to spend a morning!

What a big girl! A year ago, she was a bald little peanut, learning how to crawl; today, while still a peanut that weighs next to nothing, she is a big girl, with a full head of beautiful hair, and on her way off to Nursery School!

I hate to tell you, big brother, but the stroller you were slated to inherit from our little sister, for your soon-to-be-offspring, was in the back of her van, which happened to be the drunkard's point of impact, thus smashing the little hot rod to smithereens! So, Happy Stroller Shopping to y'all!

**UPDATE** In the evening, after all was said and done, my sister received a call from her daycare of choice, with the news that they had an opening and it was hers for the taking. So...turns out our little auntie/niece orientation day was at a daycare The Niece! will not be attending after all. Figures.

My Big Brother

Tell me this pic does not rock!