Happy Birthday Sofie!

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My second child, who is actually the oldest, is 5 YEARS OLD!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOFIE!!!
You have made life so full of Joy!

full of Laughter!
full of a new kind of Freedom!
full of Cuddles!

and full of Beauty!
How did I get old enough to have a 5 year old?!
Good Morning Birthday Girl!
Instead of a birthday party we took the girls to the Aquarium! (We will have a joint 5th B-day party for the girls in June when we get them their trampoline…. shhhh! Don’t tell!) The Aquarium was wonderfully successful. We probably didn’t stay as long as some might necessitate because of how overwhelming it is for our young kids, but they enjoyed their time there completely. It was a good day to go… not as busy as I’ve seen it before. 

There was a lot to see and the kids were all over the place, jumping from one fish exhibit, to the penguins, to the frogs, etc. We kept costs down by packing a picnic lunch which was a fabulous idea on more than just a financial level. It got us out of the overwhelming space of the Aquarium and gave us some quiet time in the park. Sofie even got some music time during lunch. Perfect! 
Livi’s favourite part was seeing all of the fish! I liked touching the anemone and seeing how awestruck the girls were at first. And Sofie’s favourite part was probably the Tropical exhibit where she could touch the leaves and trees. Jon’s liked seeing the dolphin play with Livi through the window, which was really cool. It was following the stuffed animal up and down against the glass.
We got home quite expectedly tired but I tried to get a little birthday photo shoot of Sofie, as I do every year on their birthdays, while we blew bubbles and Jon cut the grass. She was done though, but I got a few 🙂

Dinner consisted of Mac n’ Cheese which is her favourite and chocolate cupcakes for dessert! 

Happy Birthday Sofie. You are amazing and I am so blessed to be your mom. 

It’s Been A While

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I’ve been gone from my blog for a while. No real reason. We are just busy with the day to day stuff of parenting three children and all that that entails. Nothing too exciting to blog about I guess.

We’ve been enjoying the days of gorgeous weather and have been taking the girls to the park regularly. Evie had her first ride in a swing. She didn’t really care about it either way. She is such a chill baby. Sofie has been playing a lot better at the park. She climbs and explores now. She goes down the big slides by herself and even started going on the regular big kid swings too. The regular swings still scare me because if she did happen to let go she’d get pretty hurt, but she keeps asking to go higher.

Livi is still completely adoring of her baby sister. She can’t get enough. She’ll say she “has to go smother Evie now.” As soon as she knows Evie is awake, Livi MUST go to her. Livi is such a good big sister. Sofie too. I’m kind of amazed at how wonderful they are with their baby sister.

Livi is a sponge for knowledge lately. She wants to know everything from how a dentist does a root canal to the anatomy of a sea star. She has started reading words too. I need to monopolize on this more  but I am failing a bit. I don’t seem to find the time, but I need to make the time. She can do the monkey bars at the park, turn around on the bar at gymnastics and ride the rope swing, all things she couldn’t do a few months ago. She is also “quite the negotiator” as her swim instructor put it. She likes to make deals and compromise on EVERYTHING! She is also the MASTER dawdler now. She finds eighteen things to do before she does the thing we asked her to do in the first place. Super annoying. She has also been pushing some of the boundaries again. I suspect it is still a bit of the upset from the baby coming and having two parents home while Jon is on parental leave. She is usually quite delightful, but when she’s mad, the world knows it. 

Sofie has regressed in her own way… she wants to do what the baby does, especially this past month it seems. She tries to get in the Exersaucer, wants to be held like a baby and has even tried to breast feed. All things that I’m actually enjoying since she never got that as a baby. Her language is taking off in spurts and she is amazing us with how much she is actually understanding, even though she can’t communicate completely. This lack of communication has become very frustrating to her and she breaks down crying frequently out of frustration. It is hard, but she is doing great! She can say little sentences now like “it broke” and “more eat please”. She has come such a long way in such a short amount of time!

Jon is enjoying his time home but I think maybe starting to look forward to going back to work. He has said on a few occasions that he feels sorry for me for when he goes back to work. It is nice to hear 🙂 Hopefully he remembers how hard being at home is when he is actually back at work!

As for me, I’m enjoying life. Jon is really wonderful at letting me sleep in a little in the morning because I’m up in the night with Evie. I usually still need a nap but it sure helps! A luxury I won’t have when he is back to work. I’m loving this family time. We go to the park. We play with the kids a lot. We cook dinner together or take turns. We let each other have naps when they are needed. We let each other get out with out the kids when it is needed too. Granted being home together does illuminate some of our frustrations with each other a little more, like the fact that I always put the coffee cup he is using in with the dirty dishes even if he is still using it, but we deal with it, try to laugh and hopefully do better the next day.

I am blessed.

Easter 2013

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This Easter had PERFECT weather. It was nearly 20 degrees the whole weekend! I felt so blessed.

Saturday we spent hours out in the sun in shorts and t-shirts starting our tans for the summer. If I want color I have to work at it. My two big girls turn brown at the slightest glimpse of the sun. I am jealous of their amazing tannable skin. It must be their gypsy blood.

We started the weekend at the clinic all getting diagnosed with bronchitis. The antibiotics had us starting to feel better quite quickly though. Saturday morning we dyed Easter eggs. It was really beautiful to see how much more engaged Sofie was this year. Both big girls had fun watching the eggs change color while Evie looked on from her Bumbo seat.

We went to Jon’s Mom’s place for the afternoon and played at the park with the girls, their uncle Tony, Auntie Lisa and Gramma. Dinner was delicious but it was the first time I’d eaten meat in nearly a months and I paid for it the next day!

Sunday morning Livi woke up just after 7 am as usual and found the trail of eggs that the Bunny dropped while he was hopping around the house. The trail leads to the baskets where they got a few chocolates, a kite each, and a shirt for Livi, skirt for Sofie and an outfit for Evie since she didn’t chocolates.

We also started a tradition last year that Livi was really excited about. We plant some Easter eggs and they grow in to candy or chocolate lollipops! Unfortunately, we have some racoons that spend some time in a tree in our backyard. Although the lollipops were wrapped in plastic, they ate them up! Thankfully, we checked before Livi saw them and Jon was able to run down stairs and steal some of the chocolate lollipops Marmee was going to give the girls. He got those in the ground and the mess cleaned up just in time!

Eggs going in the ground.
Lollipops grew with Easter Bunny magic!

We went to church then enjoyed a tea party lunch with my family! I even got a nap in the afternoon. All in all, a blessed Easter.

Happy Easter! He is risen!