Emotional

These past few days have been rough. I've pretty much been crying off and on all week. I'm trying desperately to put a brave face on and have fun with the girls but the sadness eventually comes. The other day was beautiful and sunny so I brought the girls in their wagon to the park around the corner from our house. They had an absolute blast. Harper was so excited to go down the slides and to swing on the swings. Ella even loved going down the slide with my help of course. They both had the biggest smiles on their faces going down the slide.

Harper loved walking up and down the stairs like a big girl. She was so proud of herself that she could do it on her own.

She wasn't opposed to stopping to pose for me - she's pretty used to me always taking pictures of her!

Ella bells pretty much hung out with me for the most part since the climbers are surrounded by wood chips - there was no way I was putting her down so she could attempt to eat them, me and my OCD tendencies.

I attempted to put her in the baby swing but would not let her go, she is still so stinky tiny that she looks like she would flip right out of it. She wasn't a big fan anyways. Instead I took turns sitting the girls on my lap to swing on the big swing. Both loved it!

On the way home, Harper always likes to walk part of the way holding my hand, while we pull Ella in the wagon. She gets so excited to hold my hand which always makes me melt. 

Yesterday was especially emotional for me. Ella was having a rough day from the fact that she has two big teeth poking through the gums on the top. She was super attached and would scream out of no where in pain. She spent half of her nap time sleeping on my chest during which I quietly sobbed the entire time. It makes me sad that I won't be here to do that with her next week. If she's not feeling well, I won't be there to snuggle her to sleep. I won't be able to sooth her. 

I get excited about going back to work and then out of no where I'm so sad at the idea of it. Monday is going to be hard for me, I know it will be fine - that they will be fine - but I am going to miss them so much and will be looking forward to seeing them at the end of the day. 

The rest of this week is super busy with finishing up Etsy orders when the girls are in bed, finishing last minute things for Ella's birthday party on Saturday and organizing the house for my return to work. At the end of the day, as long as we are healthy and happy, everything else will works it's self out. There are people who are struggling with much harder things than the dreaded return to work - so I will suck it up and get things done!

Fun outside + Birthdays

We have been having a blast outside playing lately with all of this gorgeous weather we are having here in Canada. I want to enjoy the sunshine and my girls as much as I can before I return back to work in the next three weeks - insert the water works.

Harper Lynn is OBSESSED with going outside. The first thing she says when you are changing her diaper in the morning is "outside after". She is totally an outdoor baby and I love it. She doesn't even need toys to entertain herself. All she needs is rocks, leaves, pine cones and dandelions. She loves to collect little things and walk around the backyard.

Ella is obsessed with playing in the water and with this Little Tikes cozy coupe car. We got her the smaller version that has a handle for her birthday but now I'm thinking I need to get another one of the coupes since the girls are starting to fight over it. And so it begins.

These girls would stay outside all day if I let them.

I'm super excited because my birthday is this Friday. We're going to bring the girls to Storybook Gardens in the morning and then Fraser and I are going out for dinner and to do a little shopping. 

I'm still planning the last few things for Ella's first birthday party. Usually I would have it all done by now but its been a little hectic over here with small renovation projects, gardening and just our normal routine. How do people juggle work, babies, errands and projects? There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done. Somehow we make it work! xx

Don't forget to add me on Instagram @aliciaseveryday

Ella's 10 Month Update

This post is about three weeks too late, but hey! Where do I start with this little fire ball. Ella is finally crawling correctly. She's been doing the army crawl since she was about 7 months old and come to think of it Harper did the exact same thing until about 10 months old. Next is going to be walking and I'm not sure I am ready for that. Ella is so tiny and petite that I think it will freak me out her walking around, looking like a little doll.

It is finally safe to say that we have sleeping at night under control. It has been about a month and a half of her pretty much sleeping through the night. She does still get up at around 4:30/5am to nurse, then goes back to sleep until 7am. I'm totally okay with this. I've said in a previous post, that I am not ready to give that up yet, not until I'm back to work at least! Right now she is teething like crazy and is having a rough time. Her napping is ALL over the place. These past few days she does not want me to put her down..ever. Today after three attempts to put her down in her crib to nap, which normally isn't a issue, and having her scream her head off - I caved and let her nap on my chest. I felt awful for her, that she was so uncomfortable that the only thing she wanted was me. Ugh, I love her. I always try to remind myself during these times that even though it can be frustrating, I will seriously miss the days of her needing me. So when Harper is napping, if Ella wants to nap on me, I'm all for it! After she snoozed on me for about 30 minutes, she was crashed and I was able to slip her in crib where she slept for another hour and a half. Poor babe. Teething must suck which is probably good us adults don't remember it.

Watching these two babes interact together is one of my favourite things ever! They love each other so much it's ridiculous. Harper is always looking out for Ella to the point that it is cuteness overload. 

Ella has learned "more" and "all done" sign language. She knows how to use Harper's magnetic puzzle, which is baffling. She remembers things like crazy, just like her big sister. They are both little smarty pants. 

Ella still nurses in between meals. She isn't giving any signs of wanting to wean off anytime soon, which is fine with me. I nursed Harper until she was 19 months old (right up until I went into labour with Ella) so I'm fine to keep going for as long as we can.

I'm officially at the end of my maternity leave. I return to work June 13th which is both exciting and very sad for me. I'm going to try to soak up every last moment and memory with my girls until then!

Outdoor Fun

The weather has been pretty amazing the past few days with the sun peaking out and the snow finally melting away. Yesterday was so beautiful and warm, I had to bring the babies out for a walk. I loaded up our beast of a double stroller with all of the necessities and out the door we went. We went for a stroll around the entire neighborhood - both babes all snuggled up with a warm blanket. Harper was so excited she could hardly contain herself - yelling, "doggies" every time she heard a dog bark. Ella had a rough afternoon, fighting her naps like it was her job (thanks teething), so I was hopeful she would fall asleep on the stroll, no such luck.

After our stroll, as we pulled up our driveway, Harper said "again!" and I immediately dreaded a full on melt down as I attempted to bring her inside. So, we played in the backyard for a little while. Harper ran around in her raincoat and rain boots, stomping through the muddy grass while my OCD self hoped she wouldn't fall on her bum getting her cute pink pants all muddy. Since it wasn't nearly nice enough for Ella to crawl around in the grass, I walked around with her all bundled up in a warm blanket. She held onto a "leaf" that her big sister gave her to play with, such a thoughtful little lady. 

Harper does not require any toys while playing outside, since she is still obsessed with collecting pine cones, leaves, rocks and any other small thing she can find and hold. She seriously has a complete blast trying to hold as many things as possible in her little hands. 

I prepared Harper for the inevitable, telling her "okay baby, two more minutes and then we have to go inside". She obviously has no concept of time yet but I wanted to warn her rather than just bringing her in and surprising her. We have learned that she does not care for coming inside after having so much fun in the backyard. Surprisingly she did really well! I got a little container for all of her findings, to keep them safe for next time we play outside. 

Once I managed to get the girls and the stroller inside, I found Harper like this on the couch, with Ella's headband on. Such a fashionista, haha. Overall it was an amazing day with my girls. I'm glad the weather is starting to warm up, so I can have several more days like this with them before returning to work. Insert sobbing.