Visit with Great Gram

We went up to Barrie recently, after many weekends of someone being sick and our trip being post-poned. It was great to see her and visit.

 Gram was excited to see us, and of course the girls.

 Yay a picture where everyone is looking.

Audra opened her princess tea set from Christmas, and she spent almost an hour playing tea party with Gram. It was so sweet. I think they both had a great time.

It was a great visit. Always good to spend time with loved ones.

And it begins all over.....

 Oh feeding. Another child learning to eat. Lots of messes, food everywhere, all over you, all over us. Starting Miss Eleanor on foods a little sooner then the 6 month mark in hopes that maybe a bit extra will fill your tummy, calm you down, help whatever is bothering you. So far, no change.

 Started out with the regular rice cereal, not a hit. Switched to oat cereal, you couldn't get enough.

 We introduced sweet potatoes and peas. Neither were favourites, but when we mix them with the cereal, you'll eat it. Apples were next, and being a baby and liking sweet stuff (apparently breast milk is sweet) they went over really well. Personally I think because you are a Firman, you have a sweet tooth! lol.

 Farley biscuits and arrowroot cookies have been hit and miss. Somedays you gobble them down, other days, couldn't care less. Gwen throughly enjoys the cookies, because half the time they end up on the floor.

 And a baby sippy cup to get you started. Meh, you could care less for it. You enjoy chomping on the cup much more then actually sipping.

And the mesh bag fruit holder is also hit or miss at this stage. You much prefer mom holding a piece of fruit and sucking on it in my fingers (yucky and slimely!)

Month 39

39 months, or three years and three months. A month with lots of threes.
Time as usual just keeps flying by.

 We went out to Westfield Village, hoping to see a little more maple syrup'ing, little less village, but we had fun. You enjoyed visiting the general store and getting a rock sugar sucker. Didn't leave your palms the whole visit.

 My little princess, how you love to dress up. It is the best. Anything sparkly, shiny, and resembling princess attire, you are all over it. You are so sweet. You love tiaras and tutu's, and crowns. I got you a little pink princess outfit for our trip to Disney on Ice.

 You were a little sick the day before we went to Disney, thankfully better for the show. Still a little off, you sat in my lap the whole time, but it was nice to sit and watch and cuddle. We had great seats, nice and close. Worth the ridiculous amount I paid for them. I thought for the first time seeing it, we should have good seats, and they didn't disappoint. The skaters were great. I felt bad for them though, all the little kids don't get the clapping for the jumps. They did get applause at the end of their sets.

The sets were great and costumes were fantastic. Reminded me of March breaks and going to see Disney on Ice when I was young (a very long time ago!). It was great to be able to share it with Audra. A mommy date.

 Always the little ham. Some of the stuff you say kills us. What you repeat and what you know and use, priceless somedays. Smile for the camera, and you hide. Little monkey.

You are getting so big, so quick. You are hilarious some days. Some days you drive us crazy, but that's what being three is all about. You want to help with everything so I try and let you. Potty training is finally going really well. There have been no accidents and dry underwear constantly! YAY!!!!! You make us laugh all the time. My favourite is when I tell you not to do something, and you go and tattle to your dad, and say "Mom told me not to do.....(pick one of the many things I tell you on a daily basis not to do!)". Then Jamie tells you "Mom is your boss. Listen to her and stop tattling!"
You help with Eleanor in your not so gentle way. Can't wait til you both can play. Right now it's a bit challenging convincing you to share your toys. Wait til Eleanor is on the move and will take everything around her. You don't know whats coming. 
Meals take forever, one of these days dinner will be less then an hour and a half. You are a good eater, just really slow. Half the problem is all the talking through meals.
You are always up for an adventure. Love when we do crafts and create.
You want to know everything, always, and it's never quiet in our house. Or the car, or wherever we are with you. It's not just 20 questions, it's a million questions with you. But you are a little sponge and it's great to see you so interested in everything. Love seeing how you little brain works and everything you absorb. We are working on days of the week. The day of the week underwear are proving helpful. lol.
I wish I could stop time because this is a fun age for you. It's a fun age for us with you. But time marches on.

Rolling, Valentines Day and birthdays

My little honey bee is rolling. All the time now. These pictures were of the first few couple times, and she would get stuck and not be able to get those arms out. Now is an old pro and rolling from one end of the living room to the other!

Looking cute for a day of love.

 A little heart shaped dinner.

 Some beautiful flowers from my love,

 and a table full of valentines day goodies for everyone. Audra, as usual, got spoiled. And the crazy little knit sheep that Jamie got for Eleanor was a huge hit. She loves it!!!

 My little valentines.

 For daycare and friends we bought cars for the boys and the sign says "I Wheelie like you", the camera didn't pick up the I very well. For girls we made kool aid lip balm and for the little girls we did marshmallow hearts. Audra had princess valentines to hand out to daycare friends and preschool friends and came home with quite a few herself.

 And happy birthday to our first baby. We believe she turned 8 this year. Wow time has flown! Its not the huge party we used to have, but Gwen still gets a little celebration. She gets plain donuts and Audra helped her blow out her candle this year.

 Polishing off a few donuts. Happy birthday old barky dog.

Lots of love and fun on valentines.

Valentines Swap

 So I signed up for a valentines day card swap through Lyndsey's blog thestationeryplace.com. She paired us up with four other people in various locations and we had a week or two to make, create, and design valentines day cards. It was kinda fun to do. I was boring and made all four the same. But I did use a few different papers, stamps, fabric and of course sewing.

 A cute card from Emilee in Texas. She blogs over at thebirdandthebicycle.blogspot.com

Another sweet card. This one from Crystal out in Raleigh.

At this point still waiting on two cards. One from the Philippines and the other from somewhere in the States. (this is the problem when you blog a month after the fact) Hoping to see those cards, but if it doesn't pan out, no problem. Just hope they got mine.

Can't wait for next years swap!

Sofia The First Party

 All dressed up and ready to go to the Sofia the First Party at Indigo Bookstore. Sofia the first is a new Disney Princess, but young. Its a new show on Disney and you love it. A little girl princess. Indigo had a Sofia party we went to. We met our friends Lisa and Sequoia.

 You were very excited to have fancy hair, or curly-curly as you call it.

 I made a Sofia shirt, as she's still pretty new so finding any items with her is a little hard. So I printed out her picture on printable fabric and ironed and sewed it on. The shirt is a little small so I will have to pick Sofia off and put her on a new shirt, but it worked for the time. I also made a big flouncy circle skirt with a scalloped skirt underneath. You looked so cute and the skirt will definitely be used again.

 There was a Sofia book reading, where massive amounts of kids piled in and listened. There were a lot more kids then expected and not very well organized but you didn't seem to mind.

You and Sequoia, looking all cute and princess-y. The line up was long and no one was really impressed by the end, and this seemed to be the best picture we could get.

You had fun and that's all that mattered.

Month 38

Sorry my first love, Momma's a wee bit behind in blogging.
February saw you hit the 38 month mark, or three years and two months.

 You are a ball of energy most days. You want to include your sister in everything and I love watching you interact with her. When you are actually gentle, its great. Eleanor loves watching you and seeing what you are doing. Most days you can get a smile out of that fussy face!

 Preschool is done for now. You had a blast. I think it was a really good introduction to a classroom setting for you. You loved Miss Joanne, and meeting your buddy James there. You came home with art masterpieces for the fridge and some cute crafts. There was a teddy bear picnic in which Oso attended again. He is always a bit of a hit with the kids, as I guess he's not your usual teddy bear.

Hanging out at the library. One of your favourite spots. We split our library time each week between Dundas and visiting Aunt Kat down at Barton. Each one has lots of fun things to do and I love picking out stories for us to read. We have just started reading some of the Frog and Toad series. We recently borrowed a treasury with lots of old stories, and your new favourite is Caps For Sale.
 

A weird old story, but you loved it.  I have so many stories I want to read to you. So many classics, and wonderful tales. You aren't really thrilled with the no pictures yet, so some we have to wait on. But we'll get there.

Your dance/creative movement classes have also wrapped up. You loved going to dance. Definitely saw the change in listening and paying attention from class one to the last class.

Its a lot of running around like a madwoman, but everyone has so much fun. It was great to see the last class and filmed most of it. But apparently the only video I have uploaded so far is from my phone. Gotta love technology.

We have a week or two of downtime, then swimming starts. You are so excited for it. It will hopefully get you ready for summer. I think we are also going to register you for soccer this summer. I personally can't stand soccer, but figure it will be the easiest team sport to start you in. It will be 30-40 minutes of non stop running after the ball in a pack of kids, what could be more fun? And hopefully tiring. lol.

Oh my little girl, who is not so little anymore. You have hit another growth spurt, Its a good thing winter is almost over (well heres hoping) as your shirts are starting to ride up over your wrists! lol. The things you say and come up with are awesome. You can still be naughty and not listen to us, but that's typical of a three year old right? lol.
We love you and even though you drive us crazy, don't ever change.

4 Months

Well I figure I should post month 4 pictures before I need to get month 5 up here. lol

Month 4 passed in almost a blur. Eleanor, my love, not sure why you think the world is so exciting, but man, one of these days you need to get some sleep! You watch your sister like a hawk and she loves showing you everything. You love to sit and watch the action all around. Every night you sit in your highchair and lately have been eating dinner with us. You, unlike your sister, love the cereal. The oat one seems to be a big hit. We have also tried some sweet potatoes, which you eat but not with gusto, and apples, which you hoover back. Babies always love the fruit more then the veg.

 Your first valentines came and went. You looked so cute. We had our last baby massage class that day, so you got to spend it with your valentine Marcus. (why didn't we get a picture of the two of them together?) Audra made you a valentine bag for all your valentines. We will put them away for you to look at later on.

You keep gaining and growing, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly. You are already fitting into things that took your sis so long to get into. I love pulling out various outfits and remembering Audra wearing them. We have some great, cute clothes. I have been collecting my fav's as you grow out of them, and will make a quilt. Add it to the list.

One of these days you'll sleep more and I will be able to tackle the mountain of things that needs to get done around the house. Maybe reconnect with my sewing machine and make you girls some cute clothes and maybe even a few things for me! Oh to dream.