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 11 Month Update

Oh my sweet Ella baby. I cannot believe she is only a month away from turning one. Where has the year gone?! It makes me want to hide in a corner and cry a little. She's our last baby so I'm literally holding onto every.single.moment with her. All of the "baby" moments like how she still curls her legs and feet up to her chest when I change her bum, as if she's still crammed in my tummy! Waaaahh.

Ella is FULL of personality still. She always has been. She is full of laughs, giggles, screams - always making noises. I call her a menace because she's always into everything. Every time I turn around for 30 seconds, she's doing the mad dash into a cupboard or drawer - and the best part is she will see you looking at her and she will make the biggest and cheesiest smile ever. Love it. 

Sleep: Ella has been doing amazing this past month and a half with her sleeping at night. For the most part she sleeps through the night with the exception of waking up at 5:30am some mornings to nurse and then going back to sleep until 7/7:30am. She has also dropped her morning nap and only napping once after lunch when Harper also goes down. This has actually been amazing. She naps for 2-2 1/2 hours which means I get a nice break while the girls nap.

Nursing: Ella still nurses 5-6 times within 24 hours. There's a few nursing sessions that will obviously be dropped once I'm back to work (the countdown is on). 

Eating: For the most part, Ella's a really good eater. She will try almost anything and very rarely spits anything out. However, like her sister, she doesn't care for too many veggies - apparently they take after their momma! Fruit though, holy moly, I cannot cut fruit up fast enough for her.

This monkey is the light of my life along with her sister. She is one of the funniest babies ever. She is so smart it's scary - always watching her sister do things and trying to do it as well. I give her until the end of May and I think she will be walking. She has been pulling herself up on everything and walks with her walker toy. I don't think I'm ready for her to walk, she just seems too tiny!

I am almost done collecting everything for her 1st birthday party, including some things I make myself and sell on my Etsy shop: photo garland  , cupcake toppers , place cards/food cards , favour tags.

I just want to slow time down, my babies are growing up so fast and I want them to stay little forever and ever. 

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! xo

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!

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.