The big one!

Pin It Now! I blog so infrequently that when I actually do sit down to write I feel almost overwhelmed by what I haven't said yet.
So let's see....in the last month we:
Bought a house
Sold our house
Ben got sick
Liam turned one
Kirk went to Minneapolis, San Fran and Vancouver
I went to Vancouver
I became an "auntie" twice

Baby Layton born April 25:

Baby Avery born April 1:

My computer died and we lost everything on the hard drive (thankfully most pics we have backups for)
Yup - a lot happened.

I flew into Vancouver to meetup with Kirk and had a day to myself.  Like literally a 24 hour period when I was there all alone.  No kids, no husband, just me.  It was seriously awesome.  I was so happy to get home to see the boys and happy to see Kirk once he got to Vancouver and yadda yadda but having that time to myself, to just process my own thoughts, to eat dinner with two hands, to shower without feeling like a ninja with my foot on the door to keep little hands from crawling in - it was so nice.

I had a 2 hour spa treatment and it was all about my Dosha - find out yours if you don't already know (there's an easy test you can do online) but it is scary how accurate mine was.  Made me sort of realize that I do sometimes need to slow down a bit.  I like to do things for myself that I enjoy outside of the kids but being away made me also realize how my normal routine lacks time to just relax.  I find I don't often just sit and watch TV anymore because once the kids are down there's always just stuff to do - but I realized I probably do need to do that a bit more for my own sake.

Anyway - my babesters turned 1.  That sort of makes me sad a bit, I mean even though he's still a baby look at him a year ago:

Eek.  So small.
This is him this morning.  Now he's sort of in between the size of himself as a newborn and the size Jonah is now.  Weird!
(merman pose....sometimes he wakes up with both legs in one side of his jambes)

Liam at 1 is all of the sudden developing a personality - he's just so vocal, ready for more - always wants to be touching things, doing things just on the go.  I remembered the same thing happened with Jonah around this age.  It's like they go from being that picture you think of when you picture "baby" to tearing around the house (which I guess is kind of what it means to be a toddler!)

His fave foods are: eggs, strawberries, milk, peanut butter and meat sauce.
He loves to play with Ben, play with Jonah and Daddy.
He likes doing tricks (up over the air on our feet)
He snuggles with his stuffies at night and when he's tired
He's starting to get the hang of "blowing kisses" but I think he thinks he puts his head on your mouth vs. putting it on his own
He is big into clapping his hands.  Clap clap clap.
He's great at standing and crouching down.  Really has zero desire to take a step forward unless he's got furniture for support.
He loves pressing buttons - phone, cellphones, light switches, TV flicker - gets really mad if you try to take these away when he's touching them
Loves to eat everything he finds - kleenex, paper, dog food etc.
Sleeps with his bum in the air
Just got his first haircut

Is a bit of a hair puller.  It's a bit of an issue when we go for a walk :s

Says bababa and dadada and mamma but not really in the right context yet
Goes by Liam, Ian - Lili has sort of faded as a name
Happy FIRST Birthday - we love you!

Oops

Pin It Now! Since Liam turns 1 in 8 days I figured now's a good time to do his 11 month update :)

I remember life getting crazy when Jonah was about this age too - it's like they go from zero to fast in no time flat....he is still crawling but is now like a magician, I'll turn my head for a second and he'll be gone.  POOF!

These two are little balls of energy and keep me on my toes

@11 Months Liam:
Moves like the wind.  And often has a toy in his mouth as he goes so he ends up looking like a little puppy.
Loves to clap his hands and laugh.
Has started to try to make us laugh by putting things on his head (bowls full of food is a current fave
Drinks normal milk (no more formula - yipee!) and eats pretty much everything although much prefers feeding himself
Is slowly shifting to one nap a day - which is fine except for the days when I can't get him to nap at the same time as Jonah....those days end up being long
Loves to "make out" with his stuffies in his crib, he has a collection of Jelly Cats and will rub them into his face as he's falling asleep and snuggle with them at night.  Cute

Jonah is 2 years and 5 months (I can't stop to figure out how long that is in months b/c I am already a month late at posting this)
He is all of the sudden so super affectionate, it's so sweet.
Gives us a big warm "MOMMY" or "DADDY" and then the best hugs and kisses ever.
Calls Liam "Ian".  So now we do to.
If he is sick of Ian he just tells me that Ian needs a nap.

They keep me on my toes all day but I swear every night once they're asleep I peek in at their little chubbo cheeks and sweet little faces and I want to wake them up (for a split second!)

Life is a blur but in a good way.

I am:
LOVING that there are Targets open here now.  Amazing!
Busy doing trunk shows - I've been doing about 4 a month and that's worked great for our schedule with Kirk being so busy at work
Living in Gap Jegging jeans.  If you don't have a pair go and buy one now.  I have 3 pairs now and basically rotate between the 3 (warning - they fit big so you'll prob need a size smaller...which always is nice b/c you'll feel skinny wearing them!)

Also April is Autism Awareness Month - check out the special shop item's we've got or message me to book your own show.

xoxo

Blog Your Heart

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I have followed Stephanie's blog for a long time now.....since before I had kids.  I love her posts and particularly her Blog Your Heart series...here is the how to straight from Stephanie: 

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.

3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)

Since I'm long overdue for a post I decided to play along....so here goes: 

1. I have tabled this before here but this continues to overwhelm me in a weird way.  I love social media, the internet, and all it's goodness.....Blogging, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook etc....but in a way I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I gave up Facebook for a few years all together because of it but now I'm back on and for the most part I love it.  But sometimes it still just overwhelms me in the silliest way...like how to organize it all and keep tabs of it all and just keep up really, it just sort of seems like too much.  For example: I'll have a random thought like how I still get Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel confused...and then I think...is this a tweet?  A Facebook Status update? and then sometimes instead of sharing I just don't because I don't know where to put it. I know his is a total #firstworldproblem  but it's the truth.  I'm also sort of bad at social media in general.  I enjoy it - but I feel like I look at all these blogs that are formatted so perfectly and have all these cute little tabs etc and I just feel like mine is sort of piecemeal and also I have things on it that I wouldn't know how to remove if I tried (like the pin it button on each post :))...I don't actually think people would want to pin my posts but added it one day when I was trying to add a "follow me" button and now I think it's there for good because I have no clue how to remove it.  Then I will actually spend time trying to fix it and it won't work and I'll get frustrated that I wasted time doing something that seems so silly.  On the flipside I'm happy that I have girlfriends that I can go to to make comments like the one above....but I still love the idea of capturing things somewhere that's a bit more permanent as a record of sorts....it's why I love scrapbooking and blogging in the first place...just a place to document and really stay present, and for me allows me to have an archive of what to be thankful for and also an outlet and a way to stay positive about things.  

2. I have recently been thinking a lot about aging.  I think part of it is that having kids has made everything feel like it's moving at warp speed.  I also have been thinking lately how age besides the distinction between being a kid and being an adult doesn't really matter much.  I used to make excuses for people that were younger than me....and in a weird way sometimes for people that were older than me - but more recently I decided that is sort of crap - and I don't know if you've noticed this but it so true that there is "ageism" out there....like b/c I'm now 31 I feel like I totally remember 20 like it was yesterday...but then I go to talk to someone who is actually 20....and they look at me like I have two heads....so I hope on the flipside that I don't do that to people who are way older than me...but I'm sure I do and should probably be more careful not to.  I also have this bittersweet relationship with my age right now.  Up until the last few years I felt like my life was just getting started or just about to start, like there was lots to come....and now all of the sudden I feel like this is it and it's actually happening.  I'm a grown up.  Adult.  And that is SO strange to me in so many ways. I know that people that see me see me as who I am, a lady with two little kids, a dog and a husband....but in a weird way I still feel 23 with a gaggle of girlfriends and not a care in the world (except that at the time I had SO many cares...everything was very dramatic).  I don't care so much about getting older - like it doesn't bother me to talk about my age or anything like that - but I know that right now this blur that is my life is the stuff that I'll look back on with such fondness and that sort of breaks my heart a bit.  Like how small and sweet the babies are - it's like I've already forgotten how cute and small Jonah was just a year ago - at the time I always feel like I'm taking lots of pictures but now when I look at pictures of him as a baby or even last year I wish I had a million more so I could remember everything about him like his fat little legs or the way that his stomach stuck out and his back sort of warped forward.  And every day I smell Liam and he just smells so wonderful.  Like a mix of strawberries and milk that's a bit sour and it is such a delicious sweet smell that if I didn't write down I would be sure to forget.  

3. I have a really weird relationship with television shows.  I feel like I am friends with the cast of Girls and Parenthood, like the characters themselves and I'm pretty convinced that if I met any of the actors in real life we would be friends.  I just love both of those shows so much.  I also love Adele and Katy Perry in the same way.  I.e. I sort of feel like they are my friends in real life and want to have them over to my house to drink wine and watch TV.  Same with Ellen DeGeneres. 

4.  My life took a big turn this past summer.  I left a job that I had been at since...well really for my entire adult career.  In retrospect this likely was the best move for our family as a whole but professionally I struggled with the decision and what it meant for a while.  I'm still processing it all to be honest.  I feel like the last few months have been sort of up in the air in terms of what I was going to do - and really my identity alongside it and it is just recently that we've made the decision that I am going to stay at home for a while - I was off work this past year but really since it was part of my maternity leave it always felt like there was an expiration date on it.  Now that we've made the decision that I will be home I sort of just feel relieved - like I have this weight off my chest.  It was not an easy decision by any means.  I will miss working.  I will miss that shared perspective that Kirk and I had that came from us both being in high pressure fast paced work environments.  And I think to be a mom is tough regardless of if you work outside the home or not because if you stay home you miss out on your own life at work and to work you miss out on life at home - so there really is no perfect answer and you just have to figure out a way to navigate the best way for your family.  For us, for now this is the best thing - and I'm looking at it as a blessing that I get to be with my kids.  There is so much time in the day that we are together just us and that is such a special and nice thing to have.  I one hundred percent get frustrated and feel isolated and cut off but I do things to try to stay connected and in those moments of feeling really overwhelmed with crying/whining/messy babies I just put on YouTube and we have a dance party.  

Now for the quick monthly kid check in: 

Liam @ 10 Months:

Is faaaaaast at crawling.  

Puts EVERYTHING into his mouth.  Today it was a crayola marker (open....and purple in case you are curious).  Yesterday it was a Cars Sticker.  I saw him chewing on something so scooped him and didn't feel anything and then a few minutes later he was still chewing away so I lifted him above me and sure enough shiny metallic Cars sticker from the dollar store.  The day before that it was the fooseball ball...and the only reason I knew is that Jonah said "Mommy - Liam eats Ball" (thank goodness).  Other culprits include Ben's food (all. the. time.) and any type of fluff or material he comes across on the ground. 

Is pretty mellow and laid back.  The only time he squawks is when he's hungry or tired...and then he sounds sort of like a choking dinosaur...Kirk said that it hurts his throat to make the noise that Liam makes.  ha.  

He'll sit now in the grocery cart but after a while gets tired and sort of tips to the side or looks straight back and then starts to tip back (ha). 

Jonah @ 27 Months: 

Is so funny.  We have this little bag of random toys that were either mine when I was smaller or have been collected through the years when other peoples kids have been over...anyway he discovered it recently and loves digging into it and playing with it.  He found a mini-skateboard this week and has taken a liking to it.  He calls it "my skatingboard".  I love hearing his little toddler talk and how he's starting to put words together.  

Will now call my name about a hundred times and then when I answer say "What doing?".  Ha. He's cute. 

Will fall down a lot but always gets right back up and says "AhhhmmmOkaaaayyyyy" 

Got into Kirk's hair gel the other day and totally did his hair.  Twice.  Was super greasy but so sweet and hillarious.  

They are starting to play together and it's so cute I could die.
xoxo

old time friends

Pin It Now! there is just something about friends that you've known for a long time.
friends who you can interrupt and go off on a tangent with and talk about a million things and nothing all at once.
i am so lucky to have so many great good "gold" friends in my life.
friends who've known me since i was a girl and vice versa.
sometimes i find this whole adult world a bit lonely - don't get me wrong...i'm happily married and love the kids, loved my job when i was there....but there is just something i miss about being younger.  i think it's the constant socialization. my girlfriends were my total lifeline.  we were just always together.  skipping classes, going shopping, talking on the phone the entire evening, watching shows together while talking on the phone.  today's world is so "connected" and for that i'm thankful (i love that i can stay up to date with so many of my girlfriends that live abroade becuase of social media but there really is something to be said for a good old fashioned visit)
i am lucky enough to be one of those people that loved high school.  every single minute.  looking back i think we were exactly the crowd that you'd want your own kids to be in...."good girls" who got into a little bit of trouble but just the right amount, not the girls that were too popular that they did things that left them stuck because of bad decisions but just popular enough to be able to enjoy every minute.
i already worry about peer groups for my own kids...that cruel maze of social ranks that ends up making so many kids just hate their high school experience.  i hope my kids have the same type of experience i had growing up - and i think really all i can do is work with them to be kind and then when the time comes let them find their own way with some gentle help from the sidelines.
i had a visit with one  of my oldest and truest friends today.  she really is a keeper - such a sweet soul and goodness knows we've been through it all together....i just love her for it.
i still cannot believe we have kiddos of our own (and multiple at that), was so great to see meag and hazel today.....i mean look at these two?  melts my heart how adorbs they are.  seeing meag is a reminder of those "good old days" when life was really so much simpler.  we had no responsibilities so could spend the whole day together just being young and silly.

The cutest little couple! 

so thankful for a great visit today
xoxo

Currently

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I decided to mix things up a bit for this month and capture things in a slightly different format: 

Currently

Jonah's version (@26 months): 

Watching: Lorax, Buzz and Woody, Dora. He also kind of likes Finding Nemo but I had no idea that it was sort of scary.

Loving: Building things.  Stacking blocks, legos, starting to get into imaginative play - it is really cute.  Chooses a different stuffy almost every morning to bring downstairs to come and have breakfast with us.  

Going: "Dee-ice" (downstairs) - always wants to go "dee-ice" and "play hockey", also always wants to go skating and sledding (MORE!) Truthfully he's going everywhere all the time.  Has started asking me "Doing Mommy?" when he wants to know what I'm doing.  

Making him happy: Helping out around the house (he helps make the beds by passing me the pillows), putting back food into the pantry after meals, mopping the floor.  

Liam's Version (@9 months):

Watching: Jonah and Ben.  

Loving: His newfound freedom of crawling! 

Going: To daycare!  Just one day a week so I can focus on school but I think he's ready for it and he seems to like it so far.  

Making him happy:  Food!  Finally.  

Currently

My version: 

Watching: The Bachelor and Parenthood and that's pretty much  it.  Parenthood is seriously the best show ever.  If you haven't seen it you need to start watching it, it's like funny and serious and realistic all in one.  I just love how relatable all of the characters are.   

Loving: Stella & Dot.  When I started it was because I wasn't ready to go back to work full time but wanted something in the meantime to keep me connected with people.  I just love how surprised I've been with how much I've enjoyed it so far.  I've met some great people and I'm seriously in love with all of the jewelry.  

Going: On a date night once a week.  This is seriously the best decision we've made in a while.  It's been totally worth paying a sitter once a week to just have some time with Kirk and I just the two of us.  We're so lucky that we have so many great people in our lives but combine that with the kids and we just never really got time the two of us to hang out.  We're both liking our weekly pizza nights as just a casual and fun way to stay connected.  

Making me happy:  All of the exciting adventures coming up for me this year.  I cannot WAIT for all of the trips planned.  

Making me sad: I heard sad news that my mom's dog died last night - hurts my heart for my parents because they are such dog lovers and he was such a young dog.  So sad for them.  

12.12.12

Pin It Now! Today is a special day as it marks little Liam's 8 month anniversary.  And reaffirms that I only blog about my children.  There is lots going on around here - I wish I could capture it on a more daily basis like this blog or this one - but whatev's at least I blog once a month right?

This month Liam is all of the sudden a chunk.  He just seems so substantial, can pretty much sit on his own now (with the occasional sad topple over and cry).  He's finally starting to eat some foods other than formula but this has been a veeeeeery slow process.  I joke that its because the poor thing is always just on the go as part of this family of four that he doesn't really get the time devoted to eating but then the reality of it is that that's probably really not a joke at all but the truth - he seems pretty happy though so that's great.  His latest trick is blowing noises to people and waiting for a response.  So cute.  He's a champion sleeper at night, normally the second one up (after Kirk, before Jonah and I) and I can't imagine a cuter start to my day.  He loves fluffy blankets and brushing his teeth.

This one:

just melts my heart every day.  Two years and one month old this week - he is a going concern.  I realized when I went to choose our pictures for this years Christmas cards and literally had one or two to choose from from the entire year of him smiling.  Because he just doesn't sit down long enough to catch a picture.  Loves Santa, snowmen and hockey.  All of the sudden really into playing with other people "Mommy play?" and totally onto me if I try to sit down and play "MOMMY - PLAY!!!" - so down on the ground with mini sticks I go.

I have loved seeing the way these two boys are growing together - Liam is under the weather this week and yesterday Jonah went up to him as he was crying and gave him a big hug.  Melted my heart.

I have had a bunch of great Stella & Dot trunk shows and have met some fabulous women through the process.  Becoming a stylist was just what I was looking for and actually has ended up exceeding my expectations - I'm really loving it.  I just finished a marathon session of watching the entire season one of the show Girls.  It was seriously so fabulous and well done.  But reaffirmed my feelings that I'm getting old.  That was a bit of a random ramble but have to go now Liam is up!

xoxo

Two

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Last week we celebrated two.  Two years old - from baby to boy in the blink of an eye.  I thought the first year flew by - but this year?  Literally flew.  I cannot believe my baby is two!

We had a fun day on Jonah's actual bday together.  It was a weekday so he played hooky from daycare and spent the whole day at home - with a special visit from Grandparents and some Facetime to Nana and Nono in Florida.

Trying to take his picture is seriously difficult. He is always on the go and a blur of energy.

I had ordered a hockey cake earlier in the week so the two of us went to pick it up in the morning and I got him two star balloons.  He loved them - carried them all the way to dinner and home again.  We hadn't planned on a big party for this year but luck would have it that our neighbours stopped in right at cake time so that made it more fun!

He LOVED his big gift - ministicks and two nets.  Ben ate the ball within the first hour or so so we replaced it with a few from the dollar store.

This one continues to amaze me with just how easygoing he is.  He is seriously a sweetheart.  At 7 months is not so into eating any type of food except for bottles and Baby MumMum crackers.  Will tolerate the odd apple through his mesh popsicle but that's about it.  Is a great sleeper and just loves life.  

Have a great day! xoxo

Ok so not to brag or anything

Pin It Now! ....but I'm pretty sure these are the best pumpkins ever!

I'm so happy with the way they turned out.  I can't really take any credit...this wasn't my idea at all... I found the initial inspiration from Interest with a Cookie Monster pumpkin:

Source
but it looked like the mouth part had been carved out and that seemed like a lot of work so I just used black paper instead! I LOVED how easy these were to make, and Jonah loved helping make them and now loves saying hi to Elmo and Cookie every day.

If you want to make these yourself all you will need is:
Red paint
Blue paint
A pack of styrofoam balls
A pack of styrofoam eggs
Orange paint
A paintbrush
Black Cardstock
Glue
(I had a few of these things in my art supply already but got the rest at The Dollar store)...then you just paint the pumpkins, wait for them to dry and then glue the eyes, nose and mouth on! The mouth was the hardest part, I tried a few different ones on each pumpkin but found these ones with the little dots at the side of each mouth worked best.

Also - I have some big news....

 I have been busy over here with a new project - I signed up as a Stella & Dot stylist and I am having so much fun!  I have 6 shows coming up and looking forward to each of them - I just LOVE everything about the company and am finding it a nice break from the kids that I can for the most part just slot in when I have some downtime.  It's perfect for me for now - if you are interested in learning more about becoming a stylist or hosting your own event let me know - I love to talk about it!

 These are a few of the new social media buttons that they made available to us - aren't they cute?

And just because I love to share - here are a few of the pieces I'm ogling today:

Serenity Stone Drops

I normally wear studs but thinking these will be a good transition piece for me to try out a longer style

Petra Bracelet

This is SOOOO gorgeous in person, looks like a diamond encrusted sleeve!  Will be perfect for the holidays.

Mercer Wallet

I LOVE this wallet.  I just got a new wallet for my birthday so a new wallet is the last thing I need but I can't stop thinking about this baby.  The fringe zipper?  The pink interior?  Sigh.  

Have a great day! 

xoxo

You guys...

Pin It Now! I can't even believe how my life is just a jumble lately - a good jumble but a jumble.  I realized I TOTALLY forgot that Liam turned 6 months old this past week.  Oops.  So official pics to come but also tomorrow marks Jonah's 23 month marker....he is almost TWO.  Bah.  I can't even handle it.

Jonah is just such a big old joy of a boy...
He knows how to play with things.
Zooms cars and trains.

Is super good at puzzles and sticker books

Loves to climb and play

In fact - if you follow me on FB you know this already but today was his first class at gymnastics.  He ended the class looking similar to the above photo.  Covered in sweat with his hair matted to his head.  The kid just LOVES to GO.  

Liam @ 6 months

Is super cute.  

He is getting so much more animated and "talking" - I swear he said "Hi!" to Kirk this morning when he was having his bottle

Has all of the sudden praise the Lord above started sleeping for longer stretches at night.  Till 6:30 or so - it is so great. 

Isn't so into cereal but we're trying

Has his 6 month appointment tomorrow so we'll get the stats but I'm guessing he's gained a lot - seems much chubbier then the last appointment

For me things are good - there have been a lot of changes around here as of late but none of them bad, just new routines and things to get used to - and also some exciting things that I'm working on that I'll share on here soon.  Scrapping has taken a back seat to business but I have an entire scrapbooking weekend coming up soon so am excited for that!

Have a great day!
xoxo

Little moments

Pin It Now! There are so many little moments in every day that I'm sure I'll forget.  One of the reasons I started this blog was to help to remember....it doesn't help that I'm bad at remembering to actually blog but whenever I look back on time it's the little things that I love to remember.

This is one of those little moments:

Mr. Blankethead.  Liam is SUCH a tactile little guy - always grabbing at things.  He finds it comforting to put his blanket right up to his face and smoosh it in.  I always peek in once he's down to make sure it's safely out of his way.  He used to only turn to the right but now he always turns to face his musical seahorse and settles right in on his side.

Every month

Pin It Now! Every month I have big plans for my blog.  To write more - to document more on here - and then by the time I get around to it it's time for the kids monthly updates...ha!  So for now that's fine - that's what this blog will be.  I would like to write more, to put more on here to share some recipes, some design projects, scrapbooking stuff etc but for now this blog is serving it's purpose for me which is an easy space to just ramble and collect thoughts.  I do miss writing more regularly and find that being home not working makes my brain feel a bit rusty so that's one of the main reasons I want to write more on here.  I also just love blogs.  I love to read others blogs.  It's one of those weird things though where if you try to describe in real life why you like blogging or blogs in general if people aren't into blogs themselves it's hard to explain.  But I don't have to on here because chances are if you are reading this you already kind of get it right?  I don't blog only so other people read it, but at the same time I enjoy sharing with others - know what I mean?

Liam:
So anyway - this month was a pretty big one for us.  Liam turns 5 months in a few days and he's such a bigger boy now than last month!  I was looking through my earlier entries (doing some scrapbooking journalling....see?  My blogging does come in handy ;)) - anyway I was marvelling at how restful he was back when he was a wee guy...it's not that he's a bad sleeper by any means now just that he's less restful than before.  It makes me laugh actually to look at the updates month/month with him because I feel like I'm way more "cut to the chase" with Liam than I was with Jonah's updates....with babies it's all about the sleep huh?  So I think it's funny how my updates now inevitably focus on that...but hey if baby is sleeping and happy then everyone is sleeping and happy right?  We had to do a bit of sleep training this past month (he was up almost hourly for about a week or so...ugh!) but now he's back on track with just waking once or so to feed and in the last week or so his wake-ups have been at very convenient times for me (around 11 or so and then up again at 5-6ish) - I'm good with that b/c then I get to sleep a normal "night" stretch which I find to be the biggest thing in feeling good the next day.  He is still our little peanut boy - weighs 16 lbs now, our dr was happy with the weight he gained since last month so that is good!  There is still no sign of pudge in his future, he is such a different build than Jonah but sooo cute, a little string bean.  He's super interactive now, loves to bouncy around in his jumparoo, sit in the bumbo and look all around and play with toys.  He also LOVES TV!  Ha - that makes me laugh but he does!  He'll max out in his swing for a while every day which is handy and all in all he's a very agreeable happy go lucky kid.  I noticed this morning his first tooth has cut through along the bottom - I haven't really gotten in to see it yet but I bet it's really cute ;).  I am thinking of starting him on some cereal soon because he has such good neck control and can sit up really well and has started to grab at food when we are eating so I think he's ready.  I can't remember when I started Jonah on solids...I think it was closer to 6 months.

Jonah:
My big baby is 22 months!  Now when people ask me how old he's turning I say "He'll be two this November" - I feel like that really is the mark that he is no longer a baby...no more telling people how many "months" he is.  He is doing so great, lots of new words and starting to string words together to tell us what he wants.  He loves to call out "MAMI!" and "DADDIEEE!" - literally a hundred times a day (or more!) It never gets old but sometimes I do have to remind myself to respond patiently and kindly when I'm responding to the same request in a 2 minute span ;)

These two together are SO sweet and cute.  They really do love each other - it is so evident and sweet.  We have been doing lots of fun summer things together like the splash pad, park, walks etc - I do NOT know what on earth we will do when we can't play outside every day....I guess we'll just end up spending a lot of time in the basement but I think we'll have to look into some classes for Jonah for once the weather is bad outside.  

  Have a great day!

Busy summer bees

Pin It Now!

I realize I'm the worlds most sporadic blogger but we are busy bees over here!  

I am amazed at how quickly this mat leave is flying by...life with two babies sure is busy.  

This past month was filled with lots of fun. 

Meeting new friends: 

Liam and Grace

We met my friend Lauren's baby Grace a few weeks ago.  It was so fun to get the babies together to play.  I've known Lauren for forever so it's so fun to see her as a mom.  She's a natural.  We got the kids together again today for a morning at the art gallery.  It was great, the kids all loved it.  We got home from the city at around 1:30 and it was just beyond time for Jonah's nap so he didn't have one today...he did great considering, even made it through Sushi dinner tonight out.    

We spent a week up north at the cottage a week ago.  It was great having company all week long and extra hands to help with the boys.  Jonah had the time of his life with such a big audience and I loved the week up there with lots of people to visit with.  I really love being surrounded by our extended family.  As much as I'd be so happy with the two boys it's weeks like that that make me want an even bigger family.  I will remember it as the week that Adam serenaded us with background guitar music, we drank lots of David's Iced Tea and Jonah learned to say "Mami".  

Kissing the duck

Dressed up for his lady friends

Add caption

Who are you looking at? 

Banana Boat. 

We came home and had my nephew's Christening on Sunday.  It was a great day - my brother and sister in law have an amazing big backyard full of fun toys and Jonah loved running around with all the other kids. 

Backyard paradise!

And now since I only seem to get around to blogging once a month here are the kids monthly updates: 

Liam @ 4 months
Is sweet as can be.
Still likes to be swaddled when he sleeps - and still sleeps quite well.  
Just started to like going into the excersaucer and bumbo chair - loves to stand/sit up
Into reading books and really likes photoshoots
Is so vocal.  "talks" a lot more then I can remember Jonah ever doing so at his age.  It's cute.
Still shrimpy compared to Jonah, 14lbs10oz, and 43 inches long.  We had his 4 month apt yesterday and he's a bit light so I started a prescription to increase my milk supply...I'm also going to supplement a bit in the meantime...ideally I would like to nurse for 6 months like I did with Jonah but I'm open to whatever is going to be best/easiest for us both.

Jonah @ 21 months
Is a ball of energy.  The kid is go go go all the time and loves every minute of it.
The park in our neighbourhood just got totally redone with a foamy floor and two new play sets so he is loving that.  There's also a lot of construction in our neighbourhood which is great because every morning he gets up and says "Cwanes?" and I just open his curtains and voila there they are!  We also go on daily walks to find "Diggas".
Fave YouTube videos are Diggers and Sesame Street Feist.
Learned to blow his nose
So good at playing on his own, getting so creative with how he plays with toys, likes to stack, make piles etc.
Has lots of new words and starting to use them in the right context and combine some words to let us know what he wants: Up, Down, Weee, Crane, Digger, Truck, Helicopter (Hopter), Water, Boat, Doggie, Giraffe, Owl, Want (this is a big one "want up" "want water" (waaataaa).
Is quite clever I think.  When we drive by my mom's exit on the highway he knows and lets me know by shouting loudly "NANA!?!" "NONO?!?!"

I have been trying to get back into my scrappy groove - I find I get little bursts of time here and there so I need to be super organized.  After a hiatus I re-subscribed to Studio Calico and am loving getting a kit each month.

Here are a few of my latest pages:

A two pager!  I never do two pagers but had a lot of pictures that all sort of went together

Have a great day!