day 77 - happy st. patty's day

St. Patrick's Day is a good reason to wear green and have chocolate cupcakes with green icing!

I got the girls matching shirts from Old Navy about a month ago. They were pretty excited to wear them today. But the green icing I was making was more exciting and yummy to eat! LOL

 Cayla is a little charmer for sure!

 Alyssa was the first one to taste the cupcakes. I even put smarties on top of hers!

 Cayla isn't much of a cake and icing fan. I don't think she ate one of them, just a couple bites of one.

 

We were blessed with exceptionally beautiful weather!! I can't say I remember wearing shorts this early in March! It's supposed to be warm all week!

 After the park and bike ride the girls enjoyed a freezee on the deck. Is it really only March?

Tonight we had a visit from our friends, Jeff and Aimee and their little guy, Elijah.

Alyssa was VERY happy to finally hold Elijah! They weren't here more than a few minutes before she asked to hold him. So cute!

 Even Cayla wanted to hold him. Wow, our baby girl has sure grown up, especially to see her holding a baby.

 Both girls just adored Elijah. They kept rubbing his head and trying to hold his hand. It was super cute to watch.

 Elijah even had some smiles for us!

 He almost looks like he wants to be rescued from these two girls. LOL

day 28 - baby elijah

Today we got the pleasure of finally meeting baby Elijah. Our dear friends, Jeff & Aimee were blessed with the arrival of Elijah back in November. He was a month and a half early and was only 2 lbs. He is now up to just over 6 lbs and is doing great!

Alyssa could not wait to meet him! She LOVES babies!! Cayla, as usual was right beside her sister doing exactly what she was doing, but not quite with the same excitement. There were a few times I would catch the look at Cayla's face and it was as if she was thinking, "Why are we looking at him, he's just sleeping, big deal". LOL

 Once Elijah woke up, Alyssa was following Aimee around, even to watch him get his diaper changed. She was the exact same when when Cayla was a baby, she wanted to be right there watching me do everything.

 Finally, it was my turn to hold him. He is so tiny and precious. He was hungry, so I didn't get a chance to hold him that long, which means I'll have to go back soon to snuggle him longer.

 

Jason also had a turn holding him. The only one who didn't was Alyssa and she was quite upset about this, but it was Elijah's feeding time, so we had to go. We told her we would come back again soon and she can be the first to hold him.

Besides meeting Elijah, my other reason for going today was so I could capture some beautiful family photos. It was my first time taking photos like this for anyone and I think I did okay. It was easy to photograph a family little family. These are just some of my favourites.

 

 He has the most tiny hands and feet.

While we were at their house, which is only a couple streets over from our house, we were being dumped on with snow! It's a good thing we didn't live far!

day 186 - a kid free meal

Tonight, I had the pleasure of having dinner with my good friend Sandy!! We have been planning a little get together for months and finally the night came!! It was just dinner after work, but that means a lot to two Moms!!

When we sat down, Sandy said, "I promise, I won't make you cut my food". Perfect!! Because I can't remember a dinner where I wasn't cutting food that I wasn't even going to eat!!

She also commented how I would actually get to eat my food while it was still hot! Another very good point!

This evening out was long overdue!! That's probably why we were there until 7:30, the time we had told our husbands we'd be home! LOL Ooops! We had lots to catch up on!

Besides being the greatest friend a girl could ask for, she totally gets me! Because as we were leaving, I started pulling out my camera and she didn't even question why! She knows me so well. But it wasn't until she noticed our shadows at the same time that I did, and even commented on it, that I knew that not only does she get me, but she's a friend for life...not that I didn't already know that!

Sandy, I know you're reading this, because you always tell me how much you love reading my blog posts :) I want you to know that I truly enjoyed our evening out and thanks for always being there! Wish we could do this more often!! We obviously need to get out more often :) I know I do!! LOL

Day 288 - neighbours

We are so lucky to have Jeff & Aimee as friends and now neighbours!! They sure know how to brighten a week where nothing seemed to be going right!! When they offered to bring dinner over tonight we couldn't resist :) Aimee made an awesome lasagna and brought a yummy dessert! It was so nice to not have to worry about making dinner for two nights, as we had leftovers too!! It was so great to sit and chat with them!! Now instead of being 20 minutes away from each other, we're less than a 5 minute drive!!

Here's Aimee dishing out the lasagna.
















And here is the yummy German chocolate cake we had!















They not only brought dinner, they brought a house warming gift too! They really are the best!! Love you guys!






















Before having them over for dinner we had a busy afternoon. We took Alyssa to preschool, the first time she has gone since we've moved, since she was too sick on Tuesday to go. While she was there we did our groceries. We weren't sure if we'd like our new grocery store, but so far so good. The best part is some things were cheaper than our old one!!

When we picked Alyssa up I wasn't expecting to see her in tears! The past couple time she has been super happy! But today it appears a boy pushed/hit her near the end of the class. Although the teacher didn't know what happened until Alyssa told me as I was getting her ready to go. The hard part about this is that as upset as Alyssa was, she tends to bring that bad behaviour home and acts out!! We've noticed that the few days after she has gone to preschool she acts very aggressive, very much like a boy! Not that there is anything wrong with boys :) It's just that boys tend to be more aggressive than girls and since we're not use to it, it can be quite troublesome, especially when she is hitting us and her sister! The problem is there is mostly boys in her class, I believe there are 11 boys and only 4 girls. And as the teacher said today the boys were quite wound up and pushing/shoving, etc. In the moment it upsets Alyssa as she's not use to being around boys, but once she's home she tends to act out the behaviours she has seen. It's frustrating and no matter how much we try to get Alyssa to understand how she didn't like it when it happened to her, she still continues to act out! In a few weeks I'll get to see first hand how she is at preschool and how she interacts with the other kids because I'll be doing my first stint at "duty parent". Based on the schedule I received, I'll be doing it twice a month instead of just once. Hopefully all goes well. I want preschool to be a good experience for her and not a negative one. Only time will tell.

Day 149 - visit with friends

Tonight we visited with our good friends Jeff & Aimee at their house! Thanks for having us over and for a lovely dinner guys!

It has been a long time since we'd been at their house, so it was a really nice change. If we move they would be only a few blocks away from us!! That would be so awesome!! At this point we're still waiting to hear back from the builder on a few things! Hopefully that will be tomorrow and then we can start the process of making an offer!

It was a nice day today, but as we were eating dinner it got darker and darker and the wind picked up and then the rain started! Here's Alyssa checking out the rain. She gets very worried when it rains, especially if she hears thunder. When it started to rain she said we had to go home, quickly!! Then later she said we couldn't leave until it stopped raining!






















Cayla stayed awake almost the entire time we were there and had lots of smiles to share. She even let Aimee fed her, even though she wasn't that hungry and didn't finish her cereal for the first time since I started giving it to her! Oh well! She was more interested in hitting the bowl and spilling it on the floor and then rubbing her hands in it and all over her face! LOL















Here's Alyssa & Jeff playing on the floor. Alyssa laughed non-stop the entire time! She was a completely different kid from the one who hid her face for 20 minutes when we first got there! She takes her time to warm up, but once she does, look out! She had a blast!






















We were late leaving their place, so the sun was already starting to set. Now if we only lived a few blocks away it wouldn't be a big deal!! Hopefully soon enough we will :)

Day 117 - friends

Today one of my best friends Sandy came by to visit with her two kids. We haven't seen each other in almost 5 months!! That's not a long time, but Sandy and I were once neighbours and saw each other ALL the time until they moved :(

We have been planning to get together for months but something always seemed to come up, like a winter storm!! But finally today was the day and I wasn't going to let my sore throat stop them from visiting (feeling much better now though)!!

Sandy is one of those people that I feel like I've known my whole life! The funny thing is it took us over 3 years before we said more than just hi to one another! We lived two doors down for each other for that long before it took us to actually start a conversation other than the polite hello you say to your neighbour (well at least some neighbours...LOL) I'll never forget the moment either. Jason and I were out for a walk one night and I believe she was out walking their dog and she stopped to congratulate us on our upcoming bundle of joy! I was about 8 months pregnant with Alyssa at the time. It wasn't long after that brief little chat turned into a friendship that I cherished SO much!! Sandy, I know you're reading this...so let me say how great it was so see you guys today! Lets not make the next visit so long from now :)

This is us with our kiddies!















Before I even knew Sandy, I watched as her and her husband played with their son in their back yard...little did I know 5 years later we'd be sitting on my front porch with all our kids! What's even funnier is that her son is going to school in Jason's hometown!! Such a small world it is!

It was such a beautiful and warm day today. It got up to 26 degrees. Besides it being really windy we enjoyed being outside. The kids wrote on the sidewalk with chalk, blew bubbles and played ball.

I love this one of the girls. Alyssa is practically flying in the air she is so excited to have a friend to play with. Only ten months separate these two. It's so funny to see them running and playing together now :)

And of course we can't forget the newest edition to this group. She had just woken up from her nap to make her grand appearance. I can already tell how much I am going to love spending the summer with this little munchkin face...those little chubby arms & legs poking out are just too much!! Love it!!!

These were just some random shots I took of Alyssa while Jason was barbecuing our dinner. I love how the wind caught her hair the first one, and there's just something about her poking her head over the side of the deck.

She's starting her school fund early. It may be pennies now, but one day hopefully it'll be lots more! Oh, the post-it notes are supposed to be money...in case you didn't figure that out :)

I couldn't end without more pictures of this little cutie pie! Could she seriously get any cuter!

Yes, she can! I just love that she has finally discovered she has feet! It took her a lot longer than I thought, but finally she grabbing a hold of them. She has looked at them a few times and had the look of curiosity on her face, but just recently started to grab hold of them. They haven't made it to her mouth yet, but I am sure it won't be long.

Day 44

This is Alyssa playing with her new found treasures; which consisted of a wicker basket, two old pictures of me from high school and Jason's old licences. She found all this in Jason's nightstand. I doubt she is the only kid who does this, but I still find it odd. Once she finds these little treasures she totes them around that entire day, sometimes for an entire week! If you remember, a few weeks ago it was some old jewelry of mine. Before that it was a bag of batteries and just this week it was elastics. I also have to note that she is wearing her sunglasses in this picture too, you just can't see them. Also when she found my high school picture she brought it over to me to ask who it was :)






















Here Alyssa is attempting to feed Cayla her bottle. From the look on Cayla's face I doubt that it was going so well :)


















Here she is toting that basket around while trying to walk in my slippers.






















This is her discovering a picture of herself on my cell phone. I have to admit, it's a very old picture of her from well over a year or more ago. I guess I should take a new one!























Our friends Aimee & Jeff came over for a visit and to meet Cayla for the first time! They are two of our oldest and dearest friends. Jeff and Jason have been friends since Kindergarten and Aimee and I have been friends since college. They were our maid of honour and best man at our wedding. Which is where they meet for the first and shortly after started dating and have now been married for almost six years!






















As you can see, both girls took to them right away! In the past Alyssa has been very shy of Jeff, but not today she wasn't! She had a blast playing with him. Alyssa was over the moon happy to have both of them to play with. She was showing them all her toys and showing them her house. The entire time talking a mile a minute and saying the most cutest things! At dinner she kept asking them if they were done their tea. Because earlier I had said that she had to wait until everyone was done eating before we could have dessert. So I guess she figured everyone had to be done their tea before they could go play! Then when Jeff got out of her sight she asked, "Where'd the boy go?"















Jeff & Aimee came bearing gift for the girls too. For Cayla they gave her a little outfit (onesie, jeans & socks...sorry no pic of it, but it's super cute!). They even had a little something for Alyssa. That little something turned out to be the most perfect gift for Alyssa. It's a little knit purse and three hand painted bracelets! Alyssa was thrilled when she opened her gift and toted it around the rest of the night! Right before dinner she lost one of the bracelets and wouldn't sit down to eat until we found it. Jeff & Aimee came to the rescue and found it!! Thank goodness or we might still be waiting to eat dinner :) She took her "purson", as she calls her purse to bed with her. She will occasionally say purse, but when they were here she kept calling it a "purson".
























They didn't just bring gifts, they brought this fabulous dessert. It's called "Chocolate to Die For". It's chocolate cake, mousse, whip cream and skor bar. It's SO delicious!!

Jeff & Aimee, I know you're probably reading this, so thanks again for the wonderful visit, the girls gifts and of course the dessert! You guys are the best!!