3 and a 1/2 years

Half birthday time around here again!  Technically JA's half birthday was yesterday but we had a busy schedule and he of course didn't have a clue that we celebrated a day late.
I always keep things super simple but the kids really do love all the little touches of fun.  I covered the couch, that JA loves to watch morning cartoons on, in balloons for him to discover in the morning.  Always a hit.

The balloons made there way to the backyard not long after breakfast and provided some serious entertainment (even when they flew over the fence to the neighbor's house)!

AL had to go and get her immunizations so all the "birthday" celebrations made for some good bribery to add to the situation.  We lucked out and Grandma joined us for the fun!
AL was so brave and didn't even cry.  JA was so worried for and held Grandma's hand super tight with a look of concern on his face all during the immunizations.  He sure does love his sister.

We headed out for a little birthday lunch/celebration of bravery afterwards. 

AL declared that her owies felt completely better after lunch was finished!

JA could spend every waking hour of the day outside if I let him and so we were pretty happy to see the sun shining after the last few days of rain.  The kids spent the afternoon playing in the yard, helping me water and weed the gardens and making mud pies.
I managed to convince JA to pull himself away from the dirt and lady bugs in the yard to come in and decorate his cake (after a good hand washing of course ;)
He had the best time decorating his half cake with "dirt, worms and rocks"!  It made for some great and messy fun as he created his masterpiece.

The kids spent the entire evening riding bikes with the neighbors, truly a favorite past time.
Before bed JA led us in singing Happy Birthday!  He really had himself a great day.

At 3 and a 1/2 years our Buddy:
- is still obsessed with cars, trains and fire trucks
- he can tell you what direction to drive to get to the fire station from several kms away in any direction and knows exactly where all the train tracks and LRT tracks are on the south side of the city
- loves his sister more then anything.  Truly best friends.
- is still a pretty shy little guy
- has a strange anxiety over riding in elevators
- has come leaps and bounds in the speech department and we are looking forward to the progress he will make in the fall with even more help
- has a great sense of humor and loves to make us laugh
- still not a huge fan of church ever since he graduated from nursery
- is still a tiny little guy and barely cracks the growth charts
- is just the sweetest little boy
We sure do love our little Buddy.

4 and a 1/2

Do you remember when you were a kid and a year seemed like forever?!?! I do. Can I just tell you that we LOVE half birthdays around here. Anything to add a little extra to an ordinary day.
I can hardly believe it but my little girl turned 4 and a 1/2 years old this week. We were super busy on the actual day so we celebrated the next day (love that she didn't have a clue we were a day off).
We filled the table with balloons the night before and the 1/2 birthday girl (and JA) were pretty excited to play with them in the morning.

For weeks now AL has been trying to earn a little Snow White and house we had purchased on clearance. She had a chart on the fridge she put stickers on when she did extra chores (unloading the dishwasher, hand washing dishes, dusting, etc) around the house as she worked towards it. She was one sticker away from reaching her goal so I surprised her with her toy. She was thrilled!
A while ago I had won a headband in a give away from my friends company MiaMum (check it out here). We went over to her house and AL had a great time picking out the "perfect" combination of flowers to have on her head band (it took a lot of convincing from her mother that some of her ideas were a little extreme ;). I love that all the flowers just snap on and off the band and can be added to a small clip as well! She came away with a couple cute head bands and we also bought some great Sassy Straps for the baby brother's pacifiers!
When we got home I had her sort Smarties by color to decorate her cake with a rainbow. (JA had a great time eating as his sister sorted)

I made a half cake (1 9inch round cake cut in half, stacked on top of each other) and laid out a pink arch or Smarties to have AL create a rainbow with. She had other ideas and thought it would make a better letter "A" and then soon after JA joined in the fun and the decorating was really in full random swing. They had the best time!

We spent the afternoon having lunch at Grandma's house and then playing with some pretty retro Barbies from when I was a kid! We took a trip over to the Dollar store so the birthday girl could get a container of beads. She spent some serious time creating beautiful necklaces when we got home.

After a dinner of her choice (plain bow tie pasta and fruit and raw veggies) we put 4 1/2 candles on the cake and sang Happy 1/2 Birthday!

The day was a success!

At 4 and a 1/2 years AL:
- continues to surprise me with how smart and inquisative she is getting
- refuses to wear jeans (only sweat pants, leggings and dresses for her)
- loves every minute of her gymnastics and swimming lessons
- loves preschool in a big way
- is very socialable and friendly with all the kids in her class
- is such a little Mother to JA (she always is quick to correct him when he is doing something wrong or quick to remind him to "use his words")
- can be a bit stubborn when it comes to practising her letter writing or drawing pictures. She can do it but this girl still loves to scribble, especially over top of her nice neat work (a bit of a wild spirit ;)
- LOVES her family and her puppy
- Loves to make a mess
- is the sweetest and most loving girl

We are so blessed to have her as part of our family!

2 and a 1/2 years

It's that time again. Half birthday time (confused? Check this post)A year is a really long time is "kid time" so it is fun to celebrate part way through the year as well.
Today my sweet baby boy turned 2 1/2! It is really hard to believe that he is already this old; I wish I could just slow down time a bit.
I always try to make sure our half birthday celebrations are kept low key. I was going to hang some balloons for the birthday boy to wake up to but I had a hunch he would love coming down to a bin full of balloons on the living room floor. The balloons were met with the hugest squeal of excitement! He spent a lot of time through out the day throwing the balloons around, rolling on them and whacking them with a fly swatter (don't worry, it is a clean swatter I use for a pointer in primary); they were a hit.


With Thomas starting a new job last week we got to reselect our health benefits so I figured I better take the kids in to have their eyes tested to make sure we didn't need higher benefits in that department!
Grandma is an optician and the kids love going to her work. They got all decked out in preparation for their visit with old frames she has given them.

JA gets super nervous about doctors and new places but he did so great getting his eyes checked; he only had one tense moment when he first sat down in the big chair but he settled quickly. AL was a perfect patient and we are in the clear with great vision for this year!

AL had a great time baking her "Buddy" a half birthday cake (one 9 inch round cake cut in half and stacked)while he napped.

JA loved licking the beaters clean after his nap (ignore his not so manly bib)

We spent some time riding bikes outside and then when Daddy came home we headed out for a Mc-dinner and then a stop at the Dollar Store to let JA pick out a toy. Naturally he picked out a car!
When we got home we sang "Happy Birthday" to our Buddy. He seriously loved it and did a great job blowing out his candles.

Before I could cut him a piece of cake he had grabbed his spoon and dove right into the cake....lol!

It was a fun day for sure. I love making ordinary days a little more fun!

At 2 1/2 JA is:
- OBSESSED with cars, trucks, diggers, really anything with wheels. He can usually be found with a car in hand
- starting to make some progress in the speech department. He is in the midst of speech therapy but over the past few weeks his vocabulary has really exploded (let's hope it continues at this rate)
- one small little guy. He weighs in today at 25lbs (4 lbs gained in the last year and a half) and is about the size of most of his 18 mth old friends (or smaller!)
- a big tease! This little guy loves to tease his sister by taking something of hers (it is usually something she isn't even using like a shoe from the closet), dangling it in front of her and running off laughing while she chases him!
- still very shy. He takes a long time to warm up to new people and places.
-in love with his sister. He loves to play with her, copy her and be right by her side
- Curious George's #1 fan!
- a huge fan of riding his tricycle up and down the sidewalk and all over the house at lightening fast speed
- is the sweetest little boy that loves to cuddle and smother me with his wet kisses! We love our little JA and feel blessed to have him in our family.

3 and a 1/2

Today we celebrated AL's 1/2 birthday (see this post for a little bit more about 1/2 birthdays in our house). AL loves birthdays (I am sure my love for planning parties has fueled this love). She honestly talks about what kind of party and cake she is going to have most days. Right now she is torn between a Count Von Count (from Sesame street)Party or a Rainbow party........good thing she has another 6 months to get it all figured out!
We kept the party decor pretty low key with a birthday banner that we had on hand from the dollar store and a few balloons. She was pretty impressed though either way. The birthday girl got to pick out our lunch and dinner choices and she gave me a chuckle when she requested a hot chocolate in the Santa Claus mug to go with her lunch!

We spent a bit of time working on a few craft pages (printouts of a birthday cake, the #3 1/2 and some Tangled pics). We used her favorite craft supplies: glue, glitter and jewels.


We then got to work baking a half birthday cake. AL requested purple icing and pink sprinkles and she was just the best helper icing the cake and "dumping" on the sprinkles! She had a great time practising blowing out the candles as well.

After our Mc-dinner (her choice) we took a trip to the Dollar Store so the birthday girl could pick out a little treasure. I love that she was pretty insistent that her brother be allowed to buy a toy car as well.


AL typically never touches dessert, but she ate every last bite of her cake! She really had the best day and I loved watching her have so much fun.

At 3 and a 1/2 AL:
-is full of imagination. She loves to play with her princesses and has the best conversations with them.
-is very opinionated (that opinion is also subject to change at a moment's notice)
-loves to play with her brother and keep him in line
-loves preschool, dance class and Sunbeams (or "Sun Beeps" as she calls it)
-loves animals. She loves her puppy as well as her imaginary cat named "Missy"
-is the queen of carting around toys in purses and bags and spreads them throughout the house
-loves to learn and inquire about things around her, she is constantly asking about the shapes we see everywhere we go or what letters words start with, etc.
-is so sweet and full of love and we are beyond blessed to have her in our family

We love you AL!

1 and a 1/2

It is that time again..........1/2 birthday time! (See my previous post on AL's 1/2 birthday if you are confused). I can hardly believe that my little boy is 18 months old already. It still feels like he is my little baby; they really do grow up too fast.
We celebrated JA's 1/2 birthday yesterday at my parent's house with a few delicious cupcakes (although I was going to make a 1/2 cake I figured he wouldn't know the difference this year). He loved every minute of us singing to him of course the 1 1/2 candles caught his attention too!


(note the car in each of his hands in the above pic)
AL of course got in on the action too with a candle of her own.


18 months old means he can officailly go to nursery at church now which he has been doing on and off these past few months as I been blessed/cursed with the opportunity to serve in nursery (nothing like being called to nursery with both of my kids when I was almost child free at church) Thus far JA loves being able to play and play and could care less if I am in there.

At 18 months old JA is:
-the sweetest little boy around; he loves to snuggle and cuddle
-he is very shy of strangers and will burry his head in my chest until he warms up (the other night we had the missionaries for dinner and he instantly became shy and stayed hiding in my chest for over an hour but the moment they walked out the door he lifted his head, started chatting and ran off like nothing had happened!)
-he loves loves loves cars, trucks, trains (anything with wheels) and always has at least one in his hand (I have gotten in the habit of carrying Hot Wheels around in my pocket for when they are needed)
-he is so funny! JA loves to make us laugh and will put on a good show to make us laugh. Today he walked around with a plate covering his face laughing contagiously as he would run past us. He loves to do this (see below pic) and yell "ahhhhh" until both his sister and him are laughing hysterically

-he loves to dance to a good tune
-he loves to eat (a total meat and potatoes kind of guy!)
-he is a terrible sleeper (mostly due to being sick so often over the past few months)but we are working super hard on getting him back to sleeping through the night
-he is so skinny and tiny that he is still wearing lots of pants that are 6-12 month size
-he is finally getting some hair (although it is all in the back), the tiny curls are adorable. He is pointing to an airplane in this pic which is another favorite thing of his.

-he is a man of few words but he seems to have an adorable language all of his own. He walks around babbling all day long; he especially loves to chat with his reflection in the oven door.
-he is beyond loved!
We couldn't imagine our lives without JA in our family. We truly are blessed to have such a sweet little guy. We love you Buddy!

2 and a 1/2

My adorable friend NS is such an amazing Mom. She has a way of creating magic in ordinary days for her girls. A while back she mentioned that she celebrates the kids 1/2 birthdays with half of a cake, a dinner of the child's choice and a trip to the dollar or candy store for a treat. It struck me as such a fun idea that I had to give it a try this year.
Today AL turned 2 1/2 years old! (Time really does fly by too fast). We had a great day baking and decorating half a cake. I thought she might die from waiting for her Daddy to get home so that she could blow out her candles (she practiced all day). Her reaction to it all did not disappoint either!


JA enjoyed every moment of it too!

AL at 2 1/2 years old:
- loves to help out with everything in the kitchen. She loves to use the beaters and mixer, stir anything that is going in a bowl or just stand on a chair at the counter to watch
- loves to make her brother squeal and laugh
- can be quite independent and has a mind of her own which even includes displays of the "terrible twos" from time to time but fortunately we don't see that side of her too often
- loves animals, especially dogs
- loves to be read too while cuddling
- loves to identify the letters, colors and numbers on signs and buildings every where we go
- is a little "mother" to her brother and is always parroting what I would say to him
- loves to take her Daddy's hand and go for a walk around the neighborhood watching "diggers", swinging at the park, observing birds in the pond, race on the path, etc on the way.
- is just so sweet and melts our hearts on a daily basis with her funny comments, kisses and hugs

We feel beyond lucky to have our little girl in our lives!