Budding Photographer

Last week my Mom and I took the kids to a small fabric store in town in search of fabric to make baby #3 a quilt. We came away with this beautiful selection.

Now this particular store always has me walking on pins and needles when I bring the kids in. It is run by a bunch of older ladies that always try to get my kids in their play corner the second we step in the door (with all the beautiful fabrics and our little fingers it is understandable). Picking out all the fabrics, pattern, etc is a bit time consuming and the kids lost interest in the play corner quickly. Luckily my mom and I both had cameras in our purse and thought to let the kids use them. Taking pics kept them entertained the rest of the time and the entire ride home ( a good 200+ pics taken by each). I was just glancing at the pics and got a good laugh at the ones JA took. I will refrain from posting a pic of the old lady scowling at him but I got a kick out of it!
A few pics:

My personal fave (love his beautiful eyes)

I love seeing the world through their eyes.

Friday Reflections

I had a little request for a new post. I have had a few ideas floating around in my head but it has kind of been a blah kind of week. Nothing too exciting has been happening and with a little pregnancy induced insomnia, a cold and a husband working very long/late hours every day I haven't had any extra energy!

A few reflections for you:

1. This is going to sound VAIN but I'm going to say in anyway at risk of drawing attention to my flaws. Do you ever make a larger purchase that you love love and love for years to come? (Believe me, I have had a few of the opposites too). Anway, as I was looking through years of old pics in order to compile my previous anniversary post I was struck with a realization (besides the fact that I am the luckiest girl to be married to such an amazing man)...........here comes the vain part.......I LOVE the results of my Invisalign braces. Seriously a purchase that I love every time I look in the mirror or see pictures. The benefits of having a jaw that doesn't lock, a bite that lines up and a lack of extreme jaw and head pain from grinding my teeth at night are pretty great too. I still glady wear my braces every night now and will for the rest of my life with a smile on my face. (Don't judge me too harshly ;)

2. I am so grateful for inspriation and guidance as I serve in my calling in primary at church. A STRESSFUL situation climaxed on Sunday night. I won't go into details but there were a lot of people and strong emotions involved. Can I just tell you how grateful I am for the inspiration I had for dealing with it. Let me tell you pregnancy hormones and exhaustion could have made things way worse! Good to know that help is only a prayer away.

3. My little Buddy has been giving me a run for my money. I got some great advice from friends and family for some more creative solutions since I am a bit limited with not being able to pick him up. I have been making a HUGE effort to focus on the positive and give him tons and tons of praise and be more attentive to him.

This morning I was in a rush trying to get the dishwasher unloaded before we had to run out and JA instantly noticed the water that was accumulating in the door of the dishwasher off a few items. He ran and grabbed a pile of cars to play "car wash" with. I realized I had two choices, I could close the dishwasher or aid in his fun and encourage his imagination. I had a sink full of bubbles for the items I was hand washing and scooped him out handfuls of bubbles to add to his car wash. A simple thing but something I need to do more often.

4. Baby #3 is 18+ weeks and seems to be doing well. I have gained a couple more pounds so I am hoping that means baby is growing well! We have our ultrasound on Monday and I can't wait to find out what we are having so I can start getting things ready. I honestly don't care either way if it is a boy or girl, all I want is a healthy and strong baby. My guess is leaning towards it being a girl. Time to place your guesses.........what do you think it is???
Stay tuned for a post on Monday (hopefully this is a cooperative little one)

Updates

1. Operation:Organization Update - A few months ago I went on a serious mission to get the toys organized and under control in our house. Over the past two months a lot of that beautiful organization went to heck. With not feeling well (barely able to pull myself off the couch for anything other then the essentails - food prep, large spills, vital cleaning & laundry) things started to get out of control quickly.
I have been blessed/cursed with a lovely daughter that has a serious bag lady/hoarding issue! If there is a purse, bag, bin, tote, gift bag, even a pillow case within her reach she will cart toys around the house faster then you can blink your eyes. I seriously remove a full bag of garbage from her room every few weeks. Anyone else have child like this?
This morning my sweet husband helped me and my daughter (under much protest) get things back to their spots and get toys in bins and up and out of reach. The good news is that this took about 1.5 hours not the days and days it took in the fall. Hooray for the organizing that I spent so much time on..........so easy to get re-organized when everything has a place to be put. Sigh of relief for this neat freak ;)
Good thing AL doesn't typically have access to a cage of this size or she would fill it to the brim every chance she got!

2. School Kids Update - this was a big week here. AL has officially been registered for Kindergarten (gulp) and JA has been registered for preschool in the fall. There is only 13 mths between JA and AL but I have decided to hold JA back a year and put him in 2 years of preschool before kindergarten. Long story short I want him to have as much success as he can in school. He has a December birthday, is tiny for his age, has a speech delay and is learning things at his own slower pace so I know this is by far the best decision for him.

3. Baby #3 Update - At 14 weeks I have been delighted and surprised to be able to feel little baby movements the past few days (at least a week earlier then with the other two). Such a great feeling!

4. Winter Days Update - After barely being able to convince JA to wear a costume at Halloween I was pleasantly surprised this week when he has decided that playing dress up is the best.thing.ever. I have been surrounded by dinosaurs, fairies, dogs, princesses and firemen all week. I love seeing imaginations soar when a costume is put on. Fun.

5.Date Night Update - We made a goal last year to hire a babysitter at least once a month and go on a date. If we could get lucky and convince the Grandparents to watch the kids we have been able to get out even more! This has been just the best thing ever. I have been a bit of a slacker with getting a sitter when Thomas suggests it the past two months (let's face it, when you want to just crawl in bed by 8pm it is hard to go out). We finally got a sitter last night and went to the temple and then out for some food with a great group of friends from church. I was beyond touched when our sitter refused to let me pay for her service since we were at the temple. I did manage to convince her to take a bit of money since we went out after but there was no way she would take it all. Moments like those really are the sweetest.

Keeping Busy in January

I have been the hugest slacker with taking pictures this month (I am pretty sure that not feeling well has played a big part in that). I was just looking back at the pictures I did take and wanted to document a few.
We have had the craziest weather this month. We enjoyed some glorious weeks of temperatures above freezing through December and into January.
One warm January day we had the best time at the park.

My dear friend that moved away last month came for quick trip to do some repairs on their house and so T and I took their kids for the day. We headed to the mall and had so much fun at the bowling alley. Sadly 4 toddlers and bowling didn't give me a chance to get the camera out. AL kept asking to go bowling again and when we were at the store last week she spotted a bowling set she thought she would love. Luckily for her I had bought it months ago on sale and had planned to give it to them for Christmas, but decided to save it for a winter day at the last minute. The have had so much fun with it ever since!

I decided to sign my kids up for 5 weeks of bi-weekly swimming lessons to kill time while T would be at school. (Now of course he is home and able to come watch on his way home from work). I knew the moment I signed up for January lessons I would jinx our amazing winter weather. Sure enough, the first day of lessons were 10C and then by our third class the windchill was -44C. JA is in a parented class so I get the joy of the cold pool water and even colder walk back to the car after.......lol the things we do for our children. The kids LOVE it though and burn off some serious energy.

I was spoiled with a great date night with T for my birthday earlier this month and then a much needed girls dinner out with my dear friend LF to celebrate as well. So fun.

Last night I signed my "baby" Boy up for preschool for the fall........where does the time go?!?! JA and I have loved having so much fun together while AL has been at school. He has become a great shopping partner, much to his father's horror I am sure. I couldn't resist today when we were out shopping for a baby gift and JA spotted a "Cars 2" shirt that he wanted so badly (good thing I had a gift card). He had to put it on the moment we got home and gather all his "Cars" cars to play with!

January hasn't been overly exciting but I am sure loving the simple things that make the days enjoyable. Sure do love my little family. We are off to play in the snow in the yard and once again enjoy the above freezing temps!

Back to School

"Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad I'm not a fool........"

After tons of prayer, discussion, thought, stress and probably a bit more stress T has decided to tackle his MBA. There are so many options for completing an MBA with huge differences in the cost and time line. T has been toying with taking his MBA for years and finally decided to start this new year. He decided on RRU (out of Victoria) because it has a nice quick 18 month time line that is designed for those working full time. Even though the tuition cost is a hard pill to swallow we figured it would be better then dragging it out for the next 4-7 years part time and still finishing with a large tuition total by the time school fees are factored in. He is required to travel to the school a couple times during the program for close to a month each time which will be a huge adjustment for the kids and I back at home!(We are hoping that there won't be nearly as much snow to shovel this winter compared to last year)
2012 is shaping up to look like a crazy busy year for our family but it is exciting to be working towards some new goals. I am so proud that T has decided to pursue his educational and career goals by taking on this challenge.
We have jokingly decided that our resolutions for this year will centre around trying to keep our santiy, avoiding any huge break downs and trying not to go too crazy in the process..........the more I think about it, I have a hunch these are probably some pretty realistic goals.
Here's to the next 18 months flying by quickly!!!!

Thursday the 3rd

Today was one of those days were the simple things in life just add up to make a for a good day. You know, the kind of day where at the end of it you sit back and smile and just feel content even though nothing too exciting happened.
We started out the day babysitting one of AL's friends for the morning. You would think that having an extra child in the house would make for more work but I am discovering over and over that having an extra child makes for way less work. My kids are so entertained by having someone new to play with that they keep super busy and never have time to fight! Love it.
The kids had a great time working on a gorgeous birthday sign for their Auntie with markers, glue, stickers, pom poms and jewels.

We walked the girls to preschool and enjoyed the sunshine and the fact that it is November and we haven't seen a flake of the white stuff yet.

This afternoon our wainscotting and trim in the basement was re-painted a beautiful "snow fall white" which made me smile. (We had a bit of a painting nightmare earlier in the week when our color matched paint turned out to be beige, not white.....ugh, expensive)

This evening we had a fun little birthday party for T's sister. I made a delicious roast chicken dinner. Auntie D wanted pie for dessert so I made both banana cream and a key lime meringue pie..........yum! Gotta love comfort food.

A good day.

After almost 2 months of weekly physio on my IT band I was finally given the go ahead to be done with physio and to get back to running. Wish me luck tomorrow night when I head out for a run! Can't wait to get back at it.

"Buddy, you dropped your purse"

I could hear the kids playing in AL's room early this evening while I was tidying up. When I heard AL exclaim, "Buddy, you dropped your purse" I had to go and take a peak!

These shoes were made for walking

My parents just got back from a "work" trip to Barbados. In her usual style my Mom came home with gifts for the family. She brought back a handmade purse for herself and an identical miniature one for AL.
With purses in hand Grandma and AL set out on a little shopping trip yesterday afternoon. I mentioned that AL really needed some new shoes but I didn't imagine how much fun they might have with that request!
AL came home with not just one but two pairs of "light up" shoes that she picked out herself (she was lucky I wasn't along to ruin her fun by picking out something less flashy).


Al tried on her shoes for me this morning and JA was instantly captivated and very insistent that he wear a pair too (despite the size difference). They spent the morning jumping and running around the house watching the shoes light up!


Thank goodness for Grandma!!!

Too Much Fun!!!

We just had one busy and action packed weekend. We really had just so much fun. The weather was amazing so on Friday we finally got out the bubble sprinkler that AL got for her birthday back in October. It was seriously too cute and the kids loved it.

JA loved stepping on all the bubbles that covered the lawn.

Saturday morning started off bright an early with a 5km run at 7am with some amazing ladies. All I have to say is that it is amazing what you can convince yourself to roll out of bed to go do when you are motivated! It was a great start to the day.

The union that T is a part of (AUPE) hosted a fantastic family BBQ that was seriously the highlight of the weekend. The kids loved every minute of it. They had pony rides, wagon rides, a petting zoo, cotton candy, snow cones, airbrush tattoos, balloon animals, magicians, a tent with coloring and play dough, bubbles, amazing food, etc. It was really hard to believe we paid $3 each for all the great fun.
Eating the first snow cone.

Getting a bit too cozy with a horse in the petting zoo (JA has no fear!).

Hay Ride


Horse ride all by herself

We spent the rest of the afternoon at home playing in the kiddie pool and then we lucked out and got invited to the private beach in our friend's community and had a blast playing until a storm rolled in.

We spent Father's Day trying to spoil our favorite Daddy. The kids made him some great finger painting pictures that I mounted for him to hang in his office at work. We gave Daddy a wrapped up hot wheels race car and then we thought he would like it even more if he knew that we also got him tics to the Indy car race! We had a fun filled family BBQ and really just the perfect weekend!

How lucky are we?!?!

I just had to make a little note on my blog about the amazing luck we have had this past week...................the temperature has been in the mid 20's all week! That is pretty much unheard of for here. (I even managed to get a bit sun kissed on a few occasions........welcome back freckles!!!)
We loved every minute of it and had just so much fun outside playing!

AL learned some new climbing skills when her cousin came for the day.

Balls were flying everywhere!

Mud pies were baked daily.

Smiles were in abundance!

It was such a treat to have a little taste of summer.

You know you have a sick little boy when......

He spends all day sitting on your lap with his head cuddled into your chest (which is unheard of for him) and when you put him down to play you come back to find this......

If you look really closely you can see he is cuddled up to the TV remote!

"Sunny Days..."

The theme to Sesame Street has been playing over and over in my mind today for 2 reasons: 1.) We watch and read too much Sesame Street in our house AND 2.) The AMAZINGLY gorgeous and sunny weather we have been blessed with!!!
It is unbelievable how much energy and excitement you can get from a little sunshine and warmth. These past couple of weeks have left me feeling much more alive and refreshed thanks to a combination of great daily workouts, the majority of nights have been filled with sweet uninterrupted sleep, and getting outside to play every afternoon.
I love taking the kids outside to play, they seriously make me think of watching animals that have been penned up all winter run wild! We have been having a great time with side walk chalk on the driveway, shovelling piles of snow everywhere, chasing bubbles, playing in the playhouse, eating snow and trying to keep JA from running into the street (my least favorite part)!


Today AL and I went outside will JA was napping and I was such a proud Momma to watch as she actually blew several bubbles on her own.


We headed to the backyard and trudged through the snow to the back edge of the yard where we could actually stand on grass because the snow had melted entirely there. She spotted our garden boxes that have been mostly exposed and was sure we needed to go and water the carrots and beans (that we had grown last summer) with her watering can. It was hard to explain to her that we needed to wait for the snow to melt before we planted and watered. She seemed so set on watering with her little watering can that she brought it in the house with us to fill it with water. I decided to be a "fun" mom and let her water until her heart was content in the sink!

Even though I know it will likely snow again I am still going to enjoy every moment of it. Hooray for signs of spring!!!

My Big Girl!

We had a big night in our house on Monday. I went to Aquafit (which I have been loving & is just the best break) and when I came home at 9:30 I was a bit shocked to find that AL had tried to climb out of her crib and had a pretty good fall. (Of course it had to happen when Daddy was with her; I swear he feels worse than any parent when his kids get hurt). She had been trying to climb in and out over the past week and I was in a bit of denial that I needed to deal with her being in a bed and no longer in the confinement of her crib. Anyway, I found myself at Walmart at 10pm buying railings to put on the single bed we have. By 11:30pm we finally had the bed in AL's room and the railings attached. I was so scared she would be up all night with her new freedom. I was also a bit sad at the thought that she wasn't a baby anymore. I remember some of her first sleeps in her crib like it was yesterday!

I am so happy to report that over the past week AL has been nothing but perfect about sleeping in her big girl bed. She was so proud of her bed when I got her the next morning! I have actually loved starting the new routine of taking her to bed and laying with her and reading stories and saying prayers.
The bedding I had for the single bed was blue and so my mom and I took her out and we bought the sweetest bedding. When I put her down for a nap the other day I said "Nice blankets AL" and she said "Soooooo Pretty!". She loves them. Now I just need to see if we can find a nice white wooden head board for her bed (I would love suggestions on where to look for something cute & affordale!) I am proud of my big girl in her big girl bed!

Best Buds!

We just had a great morning with our Best Buds and I thought I better blog a bit about them before my memory fails me. (I want to be able to tell AL about how cute they were when she is older!)
L.F and I met years ago when we were in YSA and became friends but I think our friendship was sealed when we trained and participated in the 60km walk for The Weekend to End Breast Cancer several years ago. It was such an amazing experience and she was just the perfect person to share it with. (After walking 60 km together and talking the whole way I am sure we learned every detail about each other!)

Ever since then we have been there for each other through thick and thin (though I am sure I am in her debt for how much she has done for me). She is always the first friend I want to tell exciting news to and she has always been there through the hard times too. She literally saved me and my little family last fall when I was on bed rest. She was always willing to drop everything to come and take care of us. I couldn't ask for a more special and compassionate friend!
Now that we have kids I just love the fact that they are best buds too! Her son W was the first person (besides my parents) to meet AL after she was born.

AL and W just have so much fun together. AL enjoys her other friends but there is another level of excitement when W comes over. She loves to pretend talk to him on the phone and always wants to know "Where's W?". They have done so many things together and I hope they continue to have so much fun together! We love our Best Buds L and W!