Reunited

My friend Riham left Canada on July 4th.

The next day I drove back to PEI 

with two sick little girls on my hands.

How we made it back in one piece is beyond me,

because the very next day is when the sickness hit their momma.

It wasn't exactly timed very well,

since we only had two days to prepare for our next set of visitors.

Friends that we met while living in Yellowknife

came to visit us on July 7th

during their cross-country venture in their little plane.

You might remember Cole from some of my very first posts.

He was born just 4 days before Piper,

yet met her months before that

when his mommy started prenatal yoga

at the same time as me. 

Technically those two were due to be friends

before they were even born.

Speaking of that,

it's quite amazing that they were born only 4 days apart.

Cole was due to be born on December 24th.

Piper was due on February 12th.

Due dates that were one and a half months apart...

yet Cole arrived quite late

and we all know that Piper arrived quite early. 

I guess they were just in a big rush to actually meet each other

face to face.

The reunion was fun.

And since the last time they saw each other,

they each have a younger sibling now!

Piper got to introduce Cole to her little sister

and he got to introduce Piper to his little brother.

It's so amazing to watch them grow.

xo

xo

One of the first times that Piper and Cole met.

They arrive in their plane! 

Reunited.

And happy about it... for a short time anyway.

Elliotte is introducing herself to Liam!

The little rascals getting covered in sunscreen before heading outside.

We took a trip to Moncton and visited the zoo.
Elliotte was growling at the tigers here.

And a trip to the beach at West Point was a must.

A rare family photo of the Lynches.

xo

Time to make sand castles.

And time for the big kids to turn my living room into a train.

A STREAKER tried to jump on board the train.
Thankfully the police were nearby and handled the situation!

Lobster Roll

Okay.

So Nana and Poppy are due to arrive in PEI

in just over a week.

That gives me roughly 9 days to catch up on these posts,

so that we can share some new posts while they are here.

That's because they have promised my girls

that they're going to take them everywhere and do everything

that PEI has to offer.

This sounds like a whole lot of fun for their momma,

or a whole lot of relaxation if I stay at home

while they're out enjoying PEI.

Either way,

we need to catch up on posts!!

Here's the last day of our visit with Riham from Germany.

We took her to the airport in Halifax to say goodbye.

If you haven't been to the Halifax airport,

then you're missing out.

Piper and Elliotte LOVE it there,

but for one reason only.

The lobsters!

There is a small store there that sells lobsters.

Live.

Cooked.

And Stuffed.

We ALWAYS have to go and visit the lobsters when we're there.

Each time, the girls will play with the stuffed toy lobsters

and hope that this is the day that Mommy will say yes

and let them bring one home with them.

After multiple visits to that store in the airport

over the past 3 years,

I finally said yes.

But only because Riham asked if she could please buy them for them.

Piper and Elliotte were ecstatic

and I was touched that another friend was being so kind to my girls.

There is so much love in this small small world.

xo

xo

Our hungry hippo decided to taste her lobster.
Surprise. Surprise.
She just wants to eat everything.

So happy!
Elliotte's lobster is named Hummer,
which means lobster in German.
Piper's lobster changes names daily.
I think today it was Shoobie Nubie Doobie.

Pool Crasher

I'm still very much trying to catch up on photos 

that were taken during the few weeks that we had visitors

and I didn't have time to blog.

Here are a couple of photos from July 7th.

We were actually in between visitors here.

Mark set up the pool in our backyard

and made it even more fun by adding the little slide.

The girls were having so much fun,

that it isn't surprising that their best bud decided to join in. 

Mark was not impressed.

I was just glad that Blue didn't burst the pool 

with one of his claws.

He ended up with his own pool after this!

xo

xo

This was Daddy swinging Piper off of the slide after she hit the water.
Could you hear the squeals of delight?

Elliotte needed a little help with her dismount off of the slide.
She may have swallowed a little too much water the first few times.

Yeah, I guess Blue wanted to join in on all of the fun!
We didn't even see him coming.
He just jumped in.
Out of the 'Blue". 

After the pool crashing incident,
Blue got banished to the patio.

I don't know what he was complaining about.
He had his own pool to play in.
I guess the other one just looked like a lot more fun. 

Piper decided to return the favor and crash Blue's pool party.
(PS. Just seconds after I took this photo,
Piper did a face plant straight into the pool.
And I mean FACE PLANT!
No hands out to catch herself.
She popped up sputtering and shocked yelling,
"I'm okay!".
I may have laughed until I cried!)

Eli Harold Martin

I'm allowed to announce now!

At 11:32am on July 24th,

Jack officially became a big brother

to little

Eli Harold Martin. 

He weighs in at 8 pounds 12 ounces

and is 21 3/4 inches long. 

LOVE!!!

Piper and Elliotte cannot wait to meet him. 

Well... Piper is excited to meet him. 

Elliotte has no idea that he exists yet,

but I'm sure she'll like seeing him when we meet him!

xo

xo

Big brother!

Introducing Eli.

First time at home as a family of four!

As much as I would love to say that this is an adorable photo
of Piper, Jack and Elliotte waiting in the window for Eli,
it's not.
If you look closely,
it's a photo of my 16 month old standing on a table,
while looking out the window.
Safe.
NO!
This is how I found these three
after I asked my sister to please WATCH my children
as I grabbed the laundry from her downstairs.
Thanks, Krista!

Happy Canada Day 2015

First things first.

JACK is a big brother!!!!

His baby arrived safely earlier today and we couldn't be happier.

I'm not revealing any information just yet.

I have to be sure that Krista and Harold 

have had time to tell everyone first.

Then you can be sure that you will see a brag post

from a very proud aunt!

Congratulations Krista, Harold and Jack!!

As for this post and Canada Day,

it seems so boring now compared to all of the excitement of today.

We ended up spending Canada Day in Halifax.

Riham, the girls and I all drove to Halifax Common,

where we met my sister and her family.

We all had a great time taking in the festivities

before heading back to Krista's house with the kiddos. 

The fun only continued there for the wee ones. 

They had a blast!

xo

xo

A Canada Day snack for our little Canucks. 

Elliotte had to hop down to have a chat with Jovi.

But of course it wasn't long before she returned to stealing her sister's snack.
Piper had better learn to eat faster or she's going to starve!

A dip in the pool was the highlight of the kids' day.

We couldn't keep the little one in the pool.
She was in and out at least fifty times.
Can you spot what she's going for here?

Yep. The shovel.

Apparently every swimming pool needs a shovel.
?

Due Siblings

Today is July 23rd.

My sister is due with Jack's baby brother or sister today,

but unless that baby is in one super rush,

he/she is going to miss their due date. 

Perhaps he/she didn't get the memo?

Jack was way late,

so maybe it just runs in the family!

Either way,

we're excited for the news of Baby Martin's safe arrival.

Speaking of babies and siblings,

I can't help but continue bragging 

about what an amazing big sister Piper was yesterday.

My heart is still soaring every time I think about what she did

and what a perfect little lady she was

for our entire stay at the hospital.

The critical care nurses and other patients 

had to have been thinking that I was a great mom 

raising great kids when I walked out of there.

And that is NOT something that I think people would often say about us.

I know I'm not a bad mom.

My children are cared for and loved,

but I'm also very realistic about the fact that I'm very much

learning how to do this parenting thing as I go.

Most often my parenting decisions are made by the seat of my pants

and hense don't always end up with the most favorable results.

Either way... last night was one small verification 

that my kids are awesome

and that I must be doing something right. 

Back to the blog.

This photo was taken around June 26th.

That was the day when Elliotte had milk from a baby bottle

for the very last time.

She's been happy to drink from a sippy cup for a while now,

but I was hanging on to the bottle for convenience 

and I won't lie,

I knew I would miss feeding it to her.

Piper too.

She loved giving her baby sister her bottle of milk before bed

and her mother very much enjoyed watching them.

In the end,

it was Piper that gave Elliotte her very last bottle. 

A bitter sweet moment for our little family.

We are sad in some ways that our girls are growing so quickly,

yet we're so thankful that they are healthy enough to do so.

Be still my heart.

xo

xo

Piper loving giving her sweet little sister her last bottle.

She likes to pretend that she's Elliotte's mommy,
so she was sneaking a kiss here.
(I think she has seen her mommy do this once or twice.)

And...
the novelty of feeding Elliotte wore off when Dora became more interesting.
Elliotte was trying to follow the nipple with her mouth,
but Piper wasn't paying attention. :-)

Amazing Big Sister to the Rescue

Piper is officially the best big sister EVER!

In the past I have posted about Piper's horrible reactions to mosquito bites.
We had hoped the Elliotte wouldn't have the same fate.

Well, she doesn't.
Elliotte's reactions are WORSE!

Two weeks ago,
a mosquito bit her on her forehead.
The resulting swollen forehead and eyes was frightening.
It changed the look of her face completely.
It took three or four days for the swelling to go away.

Next came her foot.
Two days ago Elliotte would scratch her little foot
and then put it on my leg saying, "uh oh".
She kept doing this until I was able to distract her from it
and put some hydrocortisone on it.
Still, the swelling was awful and still persists.
I can't even put a shoe on that foot.

Then tonight happened.

Piper goes to Active Start again this year,
but we chose to attend a location that is 30 minutes away,
so that the day didn't clash with my running group,
Piper could be on a team with her friend Claira
and we could visit Barb and Wes more frequently,
as they live just around the corner from the soccer field.

Well it was calling for rain tonight,
so I asked Barb if she could watch Elliotte at her house,
while I took Piper to soccer.
I wasn't worried about Elliotte getting wet on the field,
I was worried about the swarms of mosquitos that come out when it's wet.

Barb was more than happy to watch her,
so I dropped Miss Elliotte off at her house and headed to the field with Piper.

We arrived at the field,
only to discover that they had canceled Active Start for the night
due to pending thunder showers.

So back to Barb's house we went.

Piper was only too glad to have a visit there,
so all was good.

Within 20 minutes of our visit
the storm made it's appearance.
Thunder, lightning and an impressive downpour.
(The potato farmers must have been dancing in their fields tonight!
What a beautiful rainfall it was!
With no wind to interfere,
the rain was falling straight down from the heavens.
It was really magnificent.)

Anyway,
it was all over before an hour had passed
and was time for us to head back home.
I had Elliotte wrapped up inside my coat
and we quickly ran next door to Barb's neighbor's house
to see her Newfoundland dog
before running back to get in the van.

TWO minutes.

We stopped outside the van for TWO minutes
to admire a beautiful fully formed rainbow
that had appeared while we were inside the neighbor's house petting the dog.

During those two minutes,
Elliotte received at least two mosquito bites.
There could be many more,
but I'm only positive of two.
One was on the top of her head,
the other on the back of her head.
She was scratching, but nothing unusual.

We said goodbye to Barb and started the 30 minute drive back to our house.

During the start of the drive
Elliotte was fussy,
but I just thought she was getting tired and cranky.
Bedtime was in less than an hour.

About half way home,
Piper pipes up and says,
"Elliotte has a rash on her face, Mommy".

I ask what kind of rash,
thinking that Elliotte was just scratching a bite.

Piper then tells me that she has a big BIG rash
and that it's all over her face.

I immediately pulled the van over and jumped out to check on Elliotte.

Oh.
My.
Word.

I don't know how I managed to keep my cool and not panic,
but it's a miracle.

Elliotte's little face was so swollen.
Her eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks...
they were all red and blotchy and raised and awful.
Just awful.

I jumped back in the van and started to drive... FAST.

Elliotte would cry off and on,
as she was incredibly uncomfortable and irritated.

When she didn't cry,
I would start to panic.

I kept telling Piper to make her sister cry so that I knew she was okay.

Piper would say, "MOMMY!" in a shocked voice every time I said it.

She must have thought I was losing my mind...
asking her to make her little sister cry!
But it was the only thing I could think to do to keep my head clear
as I drove 140 km/hr along the 90 km/hr highway
in the middle of a construction zone.
As long as Elliotte was crying,
I knew she was breathing.
It was all I could think of to do!

I almost lost it again when I got stuck behind a car towing a boat
that was clearly not in a rush to get anywhere.

We arrived at the hospital and I grabbed my two little girls
and ran into the emergency room.

The nurses took one look at Elliotte and commented on the spots on her face.

I told them that this isn't actually what her face looks like
and that the spots were actually on top of the swelling.

It only took minutes before the paperwork was filled out
and we were sitting in the critical care unit of the ER.
She was actually getting worse before our eyes.
The rash was spreading down her torso and onto her legs.
It was everywhere!
The doctor even asked me about the diaper rash
that was on her inner thighs.
I told him that she doesn't get diaper rash.
It was all from the allergic reaction!

Our littlest princess was hooked up to a machine to monitor her breathing
and was given a shot of Benadryl.
Two nurses monitored her constantly for two hours
before feeling confident that she was improving and that the worst was over.
Her doctor said that because I only live ten minutes from the hospital,
he was okay with me taking her home
if I agreed to continue treating her with Benadryl
and checking her for changes every hour throughout the night.

So that's where we are now.

I'm blogging to keep myself semi-calm
before I go in to check on her again.

The swelling in her face has gone down quite a bit,
but the rash on her body is still very evident.
Now I'm just watching for labored breathing or vomiting.
My poor sweet little girl.

I can't even begin to tell you how great she was in the hospital,
but even more so,
her big sister!

We were siting in that critical care unit of the ER
with a very sick old man and his wife next to us,
and do you think I had to speak to her,
even once,
about behaving?
Nope.
Nada.
She was an absolute rock star!!
I have never been so proud.

I'm sure she recognized the seriousness of the situation,
but still she's only three.
I honestly did not have to remind her to behave herself
because she was so incredible.

She managed to entertain herself with watching Elliotte's monitor,
the stickers that the nurses showered her with,
and my shoe laces.
She must have untied my shoe laces at least five times
and then wove them throughout each other
in different patterns.

She was seriously incredible!

Elliotte too.
Even if she was feeling irritated and miserable.
She just kept taking stickers off of herself and sticking them on me.

Two hours and not a peep out of my girls.
(Except for when they gave Elliotte the shot.)
She only cried for a short moment,
so even that wasn't too bad.
Piper immediately jumped up and started trying to distract her with her stickers,
which worked perfectly.
The needle was quickly forgotten
and big sister was swarmed with adoration from the nurses
for being such and kind and caring big sister.

Perhaps Piper found her calling?

She made a wonderful little nurse for her little sister tonight!

Need I even bother to say that when we got home,
before I put Piper to bed,
I thanked her a million times for being so wonderful and helping me with Elliotte.
I promised to take her to the bookstore tomorrow to pick out a new book
and then told her that we could invite Sylvie to go to the ice cream store with us.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

So proud.
So incredibly proud.
And thankful that my sweet girls are sleeping peacefully in their beds right now.

Time to go and check on them again.

Good night.

xo
xo

The mosquito bite that happened two weeks ago.

And the swelling that was the result.

Can you see how swollen her forehead is here?

Another shot of the swelling from the front.

And another view of how swollen her forehead was.

And this is the best shot that I could get of her tonight before putting her to bed.
It's not easy to see,
but the rash goes from her neck, armpit and down to her diaper.
This was 2.5 hours past bedtime,
so trying to get her to stay still was impossible.

Another attempted photo of some of the rash.

The swelling on her face is getting better, but it's not gone yet.
And the rash surrounding her neck is still visible.
So scary.

If you're going to have a big sister,
this is the one that you want!!!
xo xo

The Potato Museum

Yep.

You read the title correctly.

We visited a potato museum. 

We live in PEI after all. 

We have potatoes and lobsters.

Might as well throw a museum in there!

xo

xo

A quick cuddle with Riham when we visited the beach on the West Cape.

Piper and Daddy decided to dip their toes in the ocean.

The giant potato at the potato museum!

I wasn't kidding.
There's the sign for the museum and Riham posing with the giant potato. 

Oddly enough, this super cool train was also near the potato museum.

Elliotte threw a full scale tantrum when we took her off of it
and continued to arch her back and scream when we tried to put her in her carseat.
This was the first time she has ever done something like that.
Yikes.