Olive lover

We often have make your own pizza night - it is a favourite in our house!

As we make the pizzas, Princess bean gets her bowl of olives which she places on her fingers and then eats. Before dinner, she will eat a whole bowl full. Last week daddy complained that there were not enough olives left for his pizza!

 

Pig Tails

Anna has a new hairstyle.... She loves her pig tails! She hops around the house all day loving the way they feel going up and down. What fun!

 

A snowy Christmas Day

 

What a joy to play outside. Living in the Frozen Tundra we are use to seeing the snow from inside with only sipets of time outside before our noses freeze. This Christmas was different. Temperatures were fairly mild giving us a chance to build snow forts, throw snow balls and sled in our street! What fun.

A twist on the snowman

Christmas morning we were blessed with the best snowman making snow ever. Here is what our neighbours created!

 

Toddler words

It has been a lot of fun with Little C this holiday season - he is getting into the holiday cheer and Santa lingo...

Last week....
Little C - Mommy I need to talk to Santa
Me - Okay, what do you need to talk about
Little C - we need to talk Marbles
Me - what do you want to tell him about Marbles
Little C - I want some!

The fun part with Little C is his passion - when he loves something, he LOVES it. There is no sense giving him something that he doesn't LOVE as he will only play with it for a few minutes (or only want it if Bean is playing with it). Last week, we went to Wonderment (a local toy store). They had a marble game set up and Little C was in LOVE. He hasn't stopped talking about the Marbles in the Marbles Store since our visit. Perhaps Santa will have heard his talk and bring him Marbles for Christmas!

A few firsts.....

Last week was our FIRST trip to the emergency room - Little C woke up unable to breathe and was diagnosed with Croup. He has fully recovered

Also last week was the FIRST time I fell asleep with Little C - In the past, I would cuddle with him for a little bit, but never stayed long enough for him or I too fall asleep. Since he was sick, I stayed a little longer and then happened to wake up a few hours later....

Over the weekend, we had our FIRST successful photo shoot where all kids cooperated and smiled for the camera! We have some great photos!

Angel Baby ate her FIRST full jar of baby food. She has been eating some pears and apples, but really had not been that interested. Last night at dinner, she could not get enough of her sweet potatoes.

Princess Bean has her FIRST favourite outfit. For Christmas (a little early), she got a beautiful red dress. She adores it! She would wear it everyday, if she could. For the past few days, when I get home from work, she looks at me and says "I want my pretty dress" "Mommy, come, my pretty dress, upstairs".

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Little C and Princess Bean had their FIRST Christmas Concert this week.

What a great show!

Bean was not quite sure what was happening and why all the people were there. Her class climbed up on stage, a few classmates broke into tears, and others just stared out at the audience. Her teachers started singing and doing there motions.... and the class just kept on staring and crying! Bean finally started to say a few things, but mainly stared and wondered what the heck was going on.

Little C, on the other hand, was a great PERFORMER! He proudly climbed up on stage, sang his songs with pride and followed along with all the motions. His class (along with the other pre-K class) put on a little skit of the Christmas Story. I sat in the audience almost in tears while watching my little boy!

At the end of the show, everyone joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and have cookies - this was the highlight for Bean. As we left, she kept repeating "Happy Birthday Jesus"! Too cute

Getting Ready for Christmas

6 months

Angel Baby is 6 months old (already...).

Here are the stats:
Weight - 15 lbs 5 oz (25-50 percentile)
Length - 24.75 (10-25 percentile)

Some other interesting facts:
- she has TWO teeth - both emerged over the past week!
- she is starting to eat solids (pears and rice cereal so far)-
- she is napping much better (yeah) and still waking up one time during the night to eat.
- favourite toys are her jumper-roo and rattles.
- loves other people. She will give everyone a smile and grin (and if you are lucky, a big cuddle)




It is amazing to see her personality come alive!

Little Minnesota Girl

Angel Baby is sitting....


almost!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

A visit to Santa, Elf arriving, playing in snow, being good and much much more!

It is amazing to see how much Little C is into the Christmas season.

Wishing upon a star

What I love

I think all 3 of my kids are at great ages.

Little C - I love the way he negotiates. If you say he has 2 more minutes, he replies "how about 5 more minutes'. If you ask him to have 5 more bites, he will say how about 2 more bites. Other times, he is not such a good negotiator - Little C, you can have 5 more minutes of play and he replies, Mom I want 2 more minutes.... Too funny

Bean - she LOVES to dress up and play drama. Last weekend, she HAD to have her shoes that click clack on the floor. She needed to wear a dress and have her hair "pretty". All day she twirled in her dress, and made extra noises with her shoes.

Angel Baby - I love the smile on her face when you enter the room and when you pick her up she gives her special hug - usually a big smile, a little giggle and her face snuggling into my neck. All I want to do is gobble her up with more hugs. This makes my day!

I love you my babies....

My new coat

Bean in her new fancy coat - thanks Grandma

 

oldies

A few oldies I found. The first is Princess Bean and the second is Little C. They both look about a year in age. It is amazing to look back at how much they have grown, developed and changed.

5 months

Angel baby is officially 5 months old... How fast has time flown.

Here are a few things about her.
- is a happy happy girl who has smiles for everyone. She takes after her dad with an extroverted personality
- talks A LOT!
- likes to play with her feet, and is just starting to grab things with her hands
- loves to watch her brother and sister. She is in total awe when they play with her
- still is NOT sleeping through the night. Most nights she is up twice to eat and then back to bed. Other nights she is up more often for a pacifier and a tuck in. As another friend says - good thing she is cute....

Home Sweet Home

I missed my kids!

I missed their bright smiles in the morning - the greetings of "goo moring mommy" from Princess
I missed cuddles from Little C each night
I missed their laughs
I missed their stories

I am home now and happy to be reunited with my beautiful children. I was blessed with the alone time with Angel baby yet am happy to be back and being a mom of 3!

which one are you???

Little C was quick to note that his baby sister and the picture were in the same outfit. All day he kept telling me that the picture was Angel baby and not Bean. I guess they do look a little similar in the same outfit.

All I can say - I have the cutest girls in the whole world!!!!

All Girl....

Oh how she loves her dresses - the frillier the better. If she could, she would wear a pink tutu everyday!

Cute...

Angel baby loves to watch big brother - and he has been known to lay down beside her, stroke her head and talk with her. It is so precious to watch him smile and take care of his baby sister. And in turn, his baby sister loves to watch him run and smile and laugh.

Pre-Halloween

Today, Little C and Bean invited their neighbourhood friends over for some Halloween fun. They had a great time playing ghosts & mummy, hunting for pumpkins, and of course decorating cookies.

What are we up to?

It has been a while

Little C - is adjusting to the school schedule. After a rough start of not wanting to go to school, he now loves it.
A conversation a few weeks ago:
(Me) How was school today?
(C) It was fun. I cried. It was fun.
Still loves Thomas the Train - anything Thomas, he loves. He now requests his Thomas PJs, reads his Thomas books at night, and loves to play his Thomas game on the computer.
His memory amazes me - when talking about Halloween he remembered that he was dressed as Thomas and Bean was a pumpkin!

Princess Bean - is a girly girl. She loves her dresses, and the frillier the better. Her favourite dress right now is a fairy dress from our neighbour. If she could, she would only wear this dress. She is also very determined and will only do certain things if she is in the mood. Daddy and I have become very creative on how to motivate her to do the things we want (ask her to go potty instead of just changing her diaper). She still loves a variety of foods and will try just about anything. She is also adjusting well to school - she sometimes does not want to leave us, but is always happy when picked up. Her favourite activities are playing in the gym (bicycles) and singing songs.

Angel Girl - is starting to babble more and more. And is she LOUD! She is definitely competing with her siblings on this one! She is starting to roll over and moves on her back. She still is not a great sleeper, but is much better than a month ago! I just love her big smile and the way she nuzzles her face into my neck when I pick her up when I get home from work!

Mommy - is adjusting to life as a working mom. Still working shorter days which I am grateful for. I am reading "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and enjoying it. I am also starting to run more and am about to sign up for my first 1/2 marathon - anyone want to join me?

Family

My dad is celebrating his birthday this year in Holland with his twin brother. All us kids are joining him - I can't wait.

The other day, I was telling someone that I was going to Holland for my dad's birthday. They asked "is your whole family going"? Simple enough question.... but the answer stumped me.

My first reaction was to say YES as all my siblings were going. Then I realized that the answer was really NO since only Miss Angel and I were going.

Family! I have 2 families. What an amazing concept in which I am very lucky.

SNOW!!!

Last Saturday morning we woke up to SNOW.... I could not believe my eyes (and neither could Little C and Bean!). The one good thing (and probably the only good thing) about a fall snow is that it was warm enough to play in it!

After breakfast, Little C kept asking to go outside and play snowball. Bean was still in PJs but was eager to join in the fun. They cleaned the deck of snow and threw lots of snow at one another.

Fun for a Saturday morning.... Now can we please have some sunshine and warmth?????

A Princess Breakfast

Picked by herself, here is the collection of things Bean ate this morning

• 2 pickles
• Icing off a chocolate donut (a reward for Colin for staying in his bed until 7 am)
• Yogurt
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

Yummy...

I miss summer....

In the midst of all this rain, I am reminiscing of all the fun in the sun we had this summer. This is in Muskoka - I miss everyone!

Changes....

October 1st brought some changes for our family.

First it was the change in seasons - fall is offically here. Coats have been pulled out, we are wearing pants every day (Little C keeps telling me they are too big and needs to wear his smaller pants - shorts). Summer is gone - we are sad....

I am also back to work full time..... I have been torn over the past few weeks in knowing that I was returning to work and that I love my job and what I do, but I also love my kids. I am truly blessed that I work in an environment that is flexible and family focused, but I also wish I could spend more time with my growing kids.

My biggest hurdle in coming back to work is how I might carve time out with each one of the kids. They need time alone with me, but with only 2 hours between work and bedtime- it is HARD. Over the next couple of weeks, I hope we can get into a routine that I can spend time with each of them.

4 Years Old!!!!

Happy Birthday Little C!

It is hard for me to believe that you are 4! It doesn't seem that long ago when I was sitting at our dining room table with daddy and Auntie Chrissy and my water broke. We were so excited that we were going to meet you that night!

When I first saw you, I was overjoyed. I cried. I held you. I kissed you. I didn't want to let you go - EVER! And now you are 4!

You are a VERY energetic boy who loves trains. You ask to go to the train store A LOT. This week we went to Choo Choo Bob's. I love bringing you since you are ear to ear smiles and laughs. You run around the store and check everything out. You love to watch the trains go around the tracks and guess where they are going next. I always giggle watching you since you are so happy and delighted to see the trains simply go through the mountain and come out the other side.

You also love dancing - your dance moves brings smiles to everyone. Your favourite tunes are "Move it, Move it" and "I'm a Believer". You ask for these over and over again. When the music comes on, it doesn't matter what you are doing (eating, playing train, whatever), you stop and start to dance.

Your favourite activity this summer was swimming. It has been great to see you put your mind to doing something and excelling at it. You have been taking swimming lessons for a year and have graduated 3 classes. You and your green goggles - only green. At grandma's this summer, you showed her your talents and started to swim all the way across the shallow end, go through the tubes and find grandma. It was amazing. You love it.

Then there is your bike. This year is your first one on a 2 wheeler. Once you mastered braking, it has become your main mode of transportation.

This year, your taste palette expanded. Your favourites are still Spinach Raviolis, macaroni, pork tenderloin (with mustard), pancakes and oatmeal. Your taste buds are mild and you do not like foods that are hard - no apples or carrots. If offered, you will choose pureed peas over the real thing!

This summer has been very special for us since I have been home. Most afternoons we would go on an outing - just the 2 of us. Sometimes it was fun things for you (park, bike rides, library), other times you joined me on errands. You LOVE to come to Target and the grocery store.

You are becoming quite the companion and helper. Many times we will go on a run together and you talk the whole way. You ask questions along the way and make lots of observations. You also remind me to stop at the stop signs and watch out for the cars! I will miss you lots when I return to work.

Four years ago, you completed me. You made us a family. Thank you!

I love you lots and lots. Happy Birthday

Motherhood....

The fun of motherhood - over the past couple of months, I have...

Said the craziest things about going to the potty -

• Little C, let's go wipe your bum, it will be fun
• Let's just sit here a little longer and read some books, maybe something will happen"
• Please don't pee on the road, pee on the tree.

Heard funny replies to my questions -

• Little C, did you have fun at school? Yeah, I cried.
• Bean, where are your shoes? On my head....
• Little C, please wash your hands. OOOOO KKKKKK!!!!! (said with the added sarcasm that only a toddler can add)

Heard funny conversations between Little C and Bean

• Can you help me take my dress off? Okay, let's play in the sprinkler.
• Bean, why you wearing your pants on your head? They don't go there....
• Bean, we want to watch Dora, right? Of course we do.

It has been a great summer, and I will miss hearing all the words, laughter (and screaming) all day long. A quiet hour will no longer be the same.

A new name

I have been ideating and thinking and then ideating some more. Miss O needed a new name for this blog - and the right blog name. This was hard. But why? I struggled with this.

As many of you know, I was not planning on becoming pregnant and was in a state of denial for a long time when I found out. I couldn't even tell Deric until 7 weeks let alone friends or family. Many people still say to me "I didn't know you were expecting". Not surprising....

Throughout my pregnancy I was confused - what would this bring, how will this change our family, do I have time for this, how will this change me? I wasn't sure.

Then June 8th came along, and you came to my life. You chose me! I was chosen.

I (we) have also been surrounded by heartache. In our circle. a girl born in February with the same name as Miss O was not born healthy. She has now gone to heaven. We have connected with other little boys and girls that also are not healthy.

You are healthy, and happy, and smiley. You brighten my day! My Angel....


In a few more weeks, I return to work. I will miss my Angel. More than you know.

School!

Today was a big day in our house.....

Princess Bean had her first day EVER in school - WOW! Her, Miss O and I walked to school and she was very content to play with her new friends and teachers. Probably doesn't hurt that 2 of her neighbourhood playmates are also in her class. Her teachers said she was very happy and playful all day. What a great day for her.

Little C was also off to school today. He started pre-K down the street last week, but today was his first day back at School #2 where he takes the bus! And boy, does he love to take the bus. His teacher just called and said he had a pretty good day. At pre-K last week he has been said and has had separation trouble - wanting Anna, daddy or mommy and just wanting to go home. His teacher said that today he was sad for a little while but came around by the end of the class. I just hope tomorrow will be similar and he won't be so sad at school!

Here are a few pics from our day.... Little C waiting for the bus and Princess Bean about to start her walk.

Who do I look like?

Many people have asked who Miss O looks like. Others have commented on how much she looks like Princess Bean - especially her facial expressions.

What do you think? Here is Miss O at 13 weeks old.
And here is Bean about 3.5 months old.

Looking at these pictures there is more similarity than I thought.

Also for comparison - here is Little C in month 3 as well. Not as much similarity as I thought.