Fall 2016

I've been wanting to sit down and write a blog post for ever, but of course working fulltime, chasing after two babies and running an Etsy shop while also spending time with the hubby - prohibits me. It is officially fall and we could not be more excited. This is probably our favourite season with the cooler weather and beautiful fall leaves. It's so nice being able to bring the girls out to play without the crazy hot and humid weather we get in the summer time.

The girls are completely obsessed with going for a walk and playing at the park around the corner from our house. We will usually pull them around in their wagon for a while and then stop by the park for the girls to run around and play. Ella tries her hardest to keep up with her big sister, going down all of the slides (with help). 

We have been so busy with my Etsy shop, small house reno's and normal chores - we have to make a point to bring the girls outside to play at least once a day on the weekends. I want them to enjoy this perfect weather while it lasts and before all of the snow comes along. We have so many exciting projects coming up with the house that are going to keep us very very busy, so we're trying to enjoy the quiet right now.

 

  I can't stop taking pictures of these sweet babes. I feel like they are both changing so so much and it's so exciting and sad at the same time. Harper is a talking machine - full sentences. You can have a complete conversation with her now. Fraser and I don't know when that started. I feel like she went from saying single words to full sentences over night. She loves to sing and knows several songs off by heart. You will put her down for a nap or bedtime and she will sing herself to sleep. Her favourites right now are "Jack be Nimble" and "Old McDonald".

 

Our sweet Ella is so full of personality and has been since she was a tiny baby. Weighing at only 23.5 lbs at her 15 month appointment, she makes up for her stature with her energetic personality. She will let you know just exactly how she is feeling (gets that from me) but is the sweetest baby sister ever. She absolutely adores Harper and follows her around like her little shadow. She copies everything Harper does which is absolutely adorable and hilarious to watch. Although Harper has gone to the dark side and has become a daddies girl, Ella is still very much a momma's girl. If she falls down and hurts herself, she wants her mommy. If she wakes up and isn't feeling well, she wants her mommy. Although it was challenging at the beginning having another baby so soon after Harper was born, I wouldn't change it for the world. It is so amazing to watch the two of them grow up together. 

 This past weekend was Thanksgiving. We started off by bring the girls to Apple Land Station for the first time and they loved it.

We trucked around looking for some pumpkins - but ended up grabbing one's that were already picked, because lets be honest that is so much easier and less messy - haha. 

 The girls ran around playing with the toys they had out and checking out the animals.

We went through the corn maze and got completely lost and ended up coming out the entrance - that's what you get for letting your almost three year old navigate. 

 By the end of our trip, the girls were completely exhausted.
I am super excited for Christmas - so much so I've almost finished shopping for the girls, eeek! Now to get Halloween over with so I can start pulling out Christmas decor ;)

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!

Things kids say..

Harper is at the funniest and most frustrating age right now. She is one month away from being 2 and a half and most of the time I wish I could freeze her at this age forever. Other than being the biggest sweetheart ever, she is also one of the funniest kids I know. One of my favourite things about this age is some of the things she says. For instance, when she tells us she loves us, she always says "I love you too mommy". She adds the "too" even though she is saying it to you first. If she says it to me, she will immediately tell Fraser she loves him, Ella and even the dog.  

When Harper's about to get a treat or we're going to do something she loves, she will say with the biggest cheesiest smile ever "I'm exseeded (excited)". Makes me heart melt every time!

Another favourite of mine is when I ask her what she wants for lunch or dinner and she replies with things like "cupcakes" or "jellybeans" or "farties" (smarties) or her new one "faghetti". The fact that she pronounces anything that begins with the letter S with a F is completely hilarious. She will also randomly mispronounce words like the dogs leash as "douch" or racoon as "fuckoon" - which has Fraser and I covering our faces because we are trying to contain the laughter.

I love the cute ways she says certain things or how quickly she will pick up new words and will use them in the right context. She is so darn smart and I want her to stay this age forever and ever. Except of course when shes having a full on meltdown because you've asked her not to do something for the bazillion time.

Ella's First Easter 2016

This Easter weekend was amazing. I was so excited that this was going to be Harper's first Easter finding eggs hidden around the house. Last year I hid a few eggs in her playroom, but she was still too young to grasp the concept of actually looking for them.

We started off the festivities Saturday night by getting the girls dressed into these adorable BabyGap bunny jammies after their baths. I had to snap a few pictures and the results were amazing. It is so apparent how much these two love each other.

After we got the girls to bed, Fraser and I got the girls Easter gifts ready. Fraser built their new little tent while I rearranged their gifts and hid all of the eggs around the house. I could not wait until they woke up the next morning and of course everyone slept in!

Harper immediately saw the Easter basket sitting outside of her room with a trail of eggs going down the hallway. The second I put the first egg in her basket, she started running around collecting them all. It took her a while to find them all since I hid about 80 eggs around the house, no exaggeration.

The last few eggs were hidden in their new tent, both girls were excited to crawl in and find them.

After the egg hunt was done and the girls started playing with their new toys, I started getting everything set up for our Easter brunch. I didn't want to do a big dinner since we entertained for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I figured a brunch would be easier and something different. I baked homemade banana bread the day before. We got bought some freshly baked croissants and fruit to put out. I also prepared a french toast bake the night before (it has to sit in the fridge overnight) which I popped in the oven about an hour before family arrived.

I took some pictures of my littlest bunny and I since it was her first Easter. Gosh I love this little girl so much,

After family came over for brunch and the girls had a nap, I couldn't help but get the girls dolled up to take more pictures. They turned out so good! Probably my favourite pictures of them together. Shortly after my little photo shoot was done we brought the girls for a cruise in their new wagon from Grandma and Grandpa. The weather was beautiful and the girls loved it.

After our walk, everyone was pooped, hence Ella's not so thrilled expression above, and we were eager to hit the hay. We are so thankful to have such an amazing little family and to get to celebrate the true meaning of Easter with those who we love. Hope everyone had an amazing weekend.