Happy Easter Weekend

We still have one more family get-together tomorrow with Kenton's side, which means more cute Easter photos and another egg hunt for Wren!

It's been a relaxed weekend of playing and getting outside...

Ellie loves unloading all of the items from the doll house and chewing on them. Wren likes to tell Ellie what to do. This morning they were playing Doctor. Wren tried putting the toy stethoscope on Ellie so she could be the doctor but Ellie just pulls it off which is very irritating to Wren. "Ellie doesn't get it!! She just takes it off!! Urrrrghh."

Wren's expectations might be a little high.

We've been making up for lost time by going on a few walks too...

River Valley Road is just about the only place we can think of to walk with the stroller that isn't covered in melting snow and ice chunks. And Wren loves the blue LRT walking bridge. 

She loves it so much that she...well, catches her zzz's apparently.

Easter eggs had to be made today as well...it's tradition!

2011..Wren was trying to get over the flu and definitely more interested in coloured spoons than colouring eggs.

2012- Very good helper with making marbled eggs. Complete with apron and silly face.

2013! Very methodical this year, careful and knows what colours she specifically wants on each egg. 

Purple. and pink. Favourites.

This year Wren understood that mixing colours produced a new colour. However, she often wanted to mix green and red, or other less-than- ideal colour combinations. But we managed to make a bunch of sweet looking eggs...

 (Peace signs? Number 2? I don't know what she means here.)

Notice my attempt on the right side to make a row of blue ombre eggs :)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Early Easter egg hunts and a bit of a photo dump

Does anyone else's kid fall asleep with half the house in their bed?

On the weekend Wren hit up the Home and Garden show with her grandparents and got her face painted... She loved it and didn't want even the last smudge of purple rubbed off her eyebrow when all else washed away.

We celebrated early Easter with my side and went to Aunty and Uncle's house. 

Great Grandma and Ellie read some Happy Easter Charlie Brown...

And Grandpa sneaked a pic in with the girlies.

Wren found Easter eggs around the house ..(and made 400 outfit changes if you noticed). 

Ellie still isn't quite crawling- she can move backwards a bit, but she loves to stand by herself. I mean, look at the pure joy on her face!

She has acquired a couple of other skills too. First, she likes to 'blink, blink!' at you with both her eyes, and we figured out she can wave 'bye!'

The warmer weather really is a lovely change lately, but Wren has managed to get out and play with her neighbour friends which has made things easier. There isn't any preschool this week because of Spring Break, which I might be missing more than her! haha.

What women want in a man...

Yeah I know, I've whined about how crystal clean Kenton likes the house to be. I could live in a little filth for a while okay? I mean, he cleans before it needs to be. I wait until things require a cleaning...and maybe a little longer..

However, a husband that cleans is great, but Kenton takes the initiative on cleaning and getting most things done around the house which is amazing.

To prove it, I actually snapped a photo of him vacuuming with baby in arm. Um, wow. 

I couldn't find the original Pioneer Woman post, but she talks about the whole husband-with-baby-in-arm thing in a far more humorous way than I could- see it here and here.

I'll take this sight over flowers any day ;)

Take notes guys, take notes.

Friday.

It's snowy outside but also super sunny! We are a mess of colds over here so not a lot is going on for us this weekend. 

Here's some sweet bath tub photos to smile at...

A bubble smooch..

The sweetest little face..

A bit of hair pulling..

Claps!

Trying to make a funny hair-do..

Climbing out..

Trying to "grab" the water from the faucet..

What Wren said during the bath:

"Ellie! You ruined da bubbles! Who do you think you are!!"

What Wren said while playing with memory cards:

"Deese are a message from da lord."

me- "Who's the lord, Wren?"

"Gwampa is da lord."

Oh they make me laugh!

Have a great weekend :)

When we were babies...

A friend of mine (see blog here) recently posted photos of her and her husband over the years. It was so sweet to see how much they changed and matured over time from when they were first together and now as parents. 

Kenton and I have certainly changed over time, although it's still not unusual for a waiter to ask to see our ID!

Here are some photos of us since we met..

(Taken in Jasper 2007 when we were dating. I do have earlier photos from 2006 when we met, but they're not on the computer and I'm too lazy to scan/upload/etc.)

(Engagement photo in 2008)

(At a wedding in 2009)

(Vacation in NYC in 2011)

(Family photos in fall of 2013)

(At a wedding in 2013)

You don't really notice the changes until you put photos next to one another!

That's just after 6.5 yrs together total. Wow.

(1st and 3rd photos are mine, 2nd and 5th from AG Photography, 4th taken by our friend Bryan, and last is by Julie of Papercastle)

Kid's artwork on the wall...in the hall...

Wren took a 9 week art class at the Alberta Art Gallery (as a gift) and came home with some really great pieces. 

The classes were fun, and were geared for ages 3-5 yrs old. I would argue they'd be better for say, an 8 year old because of the complexity of many of the projects, however, a parent had to stay with each child so it was doable...That being said, we didn't technically make her art, but we definitely had a hand in lots of it, haha.

SO, what to do with the art after? Well, since some was actually quite nice, we decided to start a wall where we'd hang it up- disclaimer, this is by no means a new concept in the world, I realize. 

The two pieces on the left are from her art class. Those got mounted onto foam board (from Wal-mart) to make them look a little cleaner once they were hung. A painting she did at home was framed with an Ikea frame.

We look forward to adding more over time. Kinda fun, hey?

Food Colouring Jars

Typical. Just before the season should change, winter reminds us that it can come back whenever the heck it wants. 

Normally, I'd be super annoyed. But, because it's March, I know it just can't last and I keep dreaming of wearing my Sperry's soon. 

Can I just say, I'm thankful for preschool? I would be crazy right now if Wren and I didn't have that 2 hours apart once in a while. 

Okay so since we are inside again with the impending dump of snow, we have to get creative or die. Just how it is. I like to allow Wren some independence in the kitchen when I can. Food colouring and jars of water it is! 

(Yes, she is wearing tights as if they were pants, and you can see her underwear through them. She cares little about this. Why yes, you do see little chocolate hazelnut muffins that are gluten free on the counter. Recipe here.)

She enjoyed watching the drops of colour fall into the water and make swirls. We tried mixing two colours to make a new colour. 

I showed her how to dump out the water and fill it with fresh water and start again.

Wren got really good at making green...a lot of green.

And this activity kept her fairly busy for a while. As most toddler activities go, eventually more water ended up on the floor, the food colouring containers became empty and it was time to move on.

Um, meanwhile this was happening...!

Because it's so cold and white outside, don't be surprised if you see another post from me today. 

I will embrace the weather today...by staying inside and watching Salmon Fishing in the Yemen with Kenton tonight. Seen it?

11 Months Old for E.J.

As usual, I forgot that today marked 11 months for Ellie Girl. 

For a total of 5 minutes, Wren wore her Sesame Street tee that matches Ellie's onesie. Then Wren complained it was too "chilly" and proceeded to put on a dress...Yeah, I don't know either.

(Sheesh, the cuteness of this photo kills me.)

Ah, what to say, what to say about Ellie. She...can sort of crawl backwards? This only seems to ever happen when she's on the rug but near the couch. 

(Ah-ma-ga it's sucking me in!!)

Honestly, I just don't know what is new with her. She is still working on her purees, still kind of just hates most food, still kind of loves bottles of milk the best. 

(Put down the camera Mom..put.it.down.)

She is definitely way more playful than ever. It's like one day she woke up and cared about the adults in her life, not just Wren. Although Wren is still the one person that can make Ellie giggle like crazy. 

If you are holding Ellie in your arms, and someone runs a bath and she hears it, hang on to your hat because the baby will lose her mind with excitement and practically jump out of your arms. 

Like Wren, Ellie also loves music. Throw (yeah, literally throw) her in the jolly jumper, put on something with a beat and she will jump for joy. We may have two tiny dancers on our hands. 

If this does become either one of their primary interest in the future, I'm not sure Kenton or I will have much knowledge or wisdom to offer them in this area of dancing. 

But I would be pumped. Not joking. I totally wish I could dance like Britney what's her face from Glee.   But I digress. 

It's hard to believe she's 1 year old next month. Partly, because the year has gone by faster than any year of my life. Secondly, because Ellie still sort of seems like an 8 month old to me in her...skills. Haha. But hey, I love snuggling, kissing, and squeezing this chubby munchkin every 3 seconds of my day so I'm not ready for her to be a full fledged toddler or anything yet. She can just take her time..

This is what 11 months old looks like. Love you Ellie. and Wren. 

Good one, Wren.

Funnies from Wren, lately.

1)"I want to listen to 'Ogre Face'!" She means Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face'. (She references everything around Shrek, apparently.)

2)Trying to get out of bed time:

Wren-"Um, I haf a question! Da question is...um...uh..."

Me- "You don't actually have a question do you. Good night."

Wren- "But..but..but but but!!! Wait!!"

3)At dinner time:

Wren- "'Member da North Pole??"

Me-"Yes, where Santa lives, right?"

"No. Dats where da twain lives."

"The train? Ohh, the Polar Express?"

"Ya. Da big twain, Polar Expwess."

4) When I spill my coffee in the morning:

Me- "It's okay, everyone makes messes."

Wren- "Daddy doesn't make messes."

She is currently big on skirts (actually just one skirt as pictured above), helping Ellie learn to crawl, and the book- I Want My Hat Back.

Little mover and shaker

I don't like time changes, they mess up my otherwise awesome daily routine for about a week. 

I also don't like that transition from a stationary baby to a mobile baby...they figure out there is soo much more to do now, so why nap??

Ellie hates napping, rolls out of her covers, can't fall asleep after she's unwrapped herself and rolled onto her stomach. People, I am going a little crazy. We know crying it out works and she will get it eventually if we leave her to figure it out, but I also don't like that either.
I know, I know, the phase will pass. 

I DO like that she will fully crawl soon though, and the big sister will have to help me keep watch on Ellie's adventures around the house.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who checked out Kenton's finished cabinet! I don't think a single post has ever had that many page views in my blog's history :)

3 going on 13.

Depending on the day, a nap can look like this:

A few days ago, when she woke up from a nap, she whipped back the covers to show me that she had put shoes on while she slept. She is fairly proud of her sneakiness.

The age of 3 is a really different world than 2. 

When she was just a little baby, I used to think of the years ahead, mostly fearing that day I'd be in public and she would have a meltdown with tons of strangers staring at me and judging me and my tantruming child...

Now that happens like, every other day. Okay not really. But variations of that scenario happen so much that it barely phases me. Well, in the moment I'm usually super frustrated and trying to self- talk myself into keeping myself calm and the situation under control. I can feel people staring (like in the mall, haha) but can manage to block everybody out and just do what I need to do.

Examples of the most common melt down situations happen when we have to leave preschool and she is playing and doesn't want to get it in the car.

or

We have to leave a friend's house and she doesn't want to go home.

or

She wants to keep watching her show on the computer but it's nap time.

The list goes on.

You think to yourself, "She's 3! She's so independent, so big, she says long sentences and tells funny jokes. How can she still be crying like an infant when she's grumpy, annoyed and doesn't want to do what I say?" When that big, mad cry comes, she looks exactly how she did when she was tiny. 

Three has put us in our place so many times. We weren't planning on using "the spank". We didn't predict the back talking happening this young. We never really thought about the little attitudes that spring up like they are 3 going on 13. 

Because these things and more have caught me off guard, my response to it all has been delayed. I've had to sort of back track and toughen up more than I had been previously. I've had to set firm boundaries and rules in the house, and follow through with appropriate consequences when they're broken or else this little person was going to be the boss of the house instead of Kenton and I. (This book has helped us a lot, to our happy surprise.) This all sounds obvious to some I'm sure. I thought it was too when we first started out with her. But somehow this new phase of parenting crept in that we hadn't anticipated or prepared ourselves for and we got a wake up call when we realized we didn't feel in charge anymore.

That being said, we still don't do things perfectly. There are SO many moments where Wren does or says something that I'm not sure how to respond to. I think to myself, "Am I doing this right??".  I find myself hoping people around me aren't judging my parenting style too harshly. Now, I'm not posting this so people think better of me and I feel better of myself. I just know I enjoy reading posts like this that are honest and open and remind me how we are all fumbling around in our lives as parents (or just our lives in general) trying to figure it out, and that is okay.

And then I remember that we will go through it all again with Ellie...crap! ;)

Kenton's Cabinet

The cabinet was delivered to the excited owners on the weekend!

Kenton was thrilled to hand it over after months of hard work put into it.

Here are a few photos from start to finish...

Solid walnut is cut into pieces and labeled.

The wood is jointed then planed (and probably a lot of other details could fit in here but I don't know the process exactly with all the technical terms so bear with me).

All the prepared pieces are assembled and glued together. Sanding happens. Shelves are put in. A drawer, sliding door and slatted door are being made. 

Everything is put together! The piece just has to get oiled..

The cabinet is oiled (a few times in total) and a proud daughter helps.

The cabinet is delivered to it's new home...

Hand cut dovetail joint...

Whenever Kenton uses walnut, my favourite part is after he oils and you can see the beautiful grain of the wood. The side piece shown here has amazing blonde streaks in it.

Sliding doors.

The grain is incredible.

A really beautiful piece. 

There will be professional photos taken next week which I will also eventually share, but I just couldn't resist giving you all a look right now!

This is the first custom piece Kenton has designed and made of this scale and size. I'm incredibly proud and happy for him and I'm glad I could share it with you today.