The BIG day

Hard to believe we are less than a month away from our girl's first birthday. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for a healthy baby girl and a whole year off to spend with my children. I feel that our family is complete now that our girl has entered our world and am so happy that we had our big boy to share this experience with. Kaiden made me a mom and gave me the most important job I will ever have. I know that every mom gushes about their children and I will be no exception..I love these two little beings to the moon and back and will forever be thankful and blessed to be called mommy. We are in full party planning mode and cannot wait to celebrate our girl's big day. It might be cliche to say "it went so fast" but it sure did and I can't believe this time last year I was walking our neighbourhood over and over with Kaiden and Chloe in an attempt to move things along! What a difference a year makes!

A great day for sliding!

Geoff and I decided to take the kids sliding over the weekend and we had so much fun! Kaiden loved it and Avarie really enjoyed watching Kaiden and mommy come down the hill!

The big steps!

Our girl took four steps on Sat afternoon and we couldn't be more proud! She knew she did something great and was just as excited as we were! Kaiden kept encouraging her by saying "show big brother, show Kaiden" it was very cute!
Here is a photo of her practicing!

Milestone Mania

Our girl is growing faster than we would like her to but we are so proud of all of her accomplishments along the way! She is thisclose to walking and has been cruising around furniture and with her walker for a few weeks.

She has also been working on teeth and has a grand total of 15! Very exciting although it makes nursing pretty painful at times as she finds it quick amusing to bite me! Wouldn't trade it for the world though as I so much cherish snuggling my princess and providing her with Mamma's milk

Despite the denial that I have felt for the past few weeks..her first birthday is just around the corner so I have started to plan and am excited about several projects that I am working on for the big day. I will share as we get closer but will share her birthday party theme will be Strawberry shortcake which is special as that was my first birthday theme. I have the napkin and invitation in a photo album from my party. Kaiden is very excited for Avarie's party and asks pretty frequently how long until her birthday is here. We had mom come down over the weekend to take some photos for her invitation which turned out so great! The invitations are ordered and turned out so cute! I cannot believe this year has gone by so quickly. I have so enjoyed being home with my babies and will miss all week early morning snuggles in our bed. I am returning to work in February but only part-time so that I can continue to spend as much time with our kids as I can. After all they are only little once and I want to soak up as much of them as I possibly can!

The Joys of January

I used to find that after Christmas it was easy to slip into the "four more months of winter" funk and feel let down after the hype of the holiday excitement. This year I decided we are not going to do that..instead I am going to soak up every second I have left of my maternity leave and really adapt the "life is what you make of it" attitude. So we have been having jammy days and playing various games that Kaiden comes up with as well as taking on some fun art projects.

This game was "superhero butterfly"...Kaiden insisted that Avarie play and wear wings as well. In our house we are determined not to have gender specific toys..anything is game :)
Another project we took on was mixing colours to find out which colours would blend to make another..we then put our rainbow creation into the freezer and then that night brought the cubes into the tub to watch them melt and change the tub water

This month also marks the anniversary of the day Geoff asked me to be his girlfriend. 12 Years ago our lives changed in ways we had no idea! Who knew we were soul mates and would spend out lives together and bring two beautiful children into this world. Geoff is my rock and my bestfriend and it has been an amazing journey that I cannot wait to continue for many years to come!

First professional photo together August 2000..ha ha we have changed a bit!

Mom and Dad

Geoff and I are often asked about our decision to become parents and about the difficulty of raising children in a world that can be so negative and frightening at times. I felt inspired by  recent wonderful message I got about our parenting to write down our thoughts about being “mom and dad”. My first thought was how to you put into words what it is like to have your heart walk around outside of your body?  The answer is not a simple one but usually it goes something like this:

Having children whichever way they come into the world is by far the most challenging yet rewarding job you will ever hold. Of course there are moments when exhaustion and elbow deep diaper changes make you feel the need for a day off; however when you are about to throw in the towel and though a mommy size tantrum yourself a tiny hand will reach out for you, give you a slobbery gummy kiss or a superman hug and you will summon super power strength you never knew you had. There will never be a moment as a parent that you will have any regrets about your decision for you have never known love like this. Being called “mom” is something I have deamt about and will forever cherish. It is a privilege that is often taken for granted and a desire that so many would give anything for. I thank god every day that I have been blessed with two beautiful babies. From the moment I felt my babies move in my belly a love story began that will last forever. The first glance between a parent and their baby is a magnitude of love that words could never explain. When your first born is blessed with a sibling you may experience a fear that you will not be able to love another as much as you love your only child. How foolish was I to think that; for I didn’t have to even share my heart between the two..I simply grew another for my daughter.  

Although we live in a world that can sometimes be so depressing we can choose how our children see the world. We can create deams and hopes and raise them in a world with make believe and giggles and kisses and in sad times we teach them that it is okay to cry and wrap them in a bandaid of a parents love. You can teach your children to love everyone and that although we may look different we all are loved the same. Teach them that although apples come in different colours, the core is the same and they are all delicious and beautiful in their own way. We can show them that people grow and develop in different ways so that although someone may have legs that do not work the same or a brain that developed differently that they deserve the same love and respect that we do. Tolerance and manners are something that can be fun to teach your children and you will fill with pride watching them ask questions and being kind to strangers. We can teach them to give to others and the importance of sharing and loving one another. There is also an amazing ability that children possess to bring you out of any sadness that will surprise you. A “can you put my spiderman costume on please mom” can brighten my day anytime J

You will be amazed at the moments that will make you cry, such as a little face telling you he loves you and you are the best mom in the world or watching siblings giggle together.

So to sum up..our children are the best thing that has ever happened to us and when we are asked When will I know if I want to have children or are ready..we exchange a glance and wonder how to put into words all of these things that make up our hearts and have changed our lives in so many amazing ways. We often stick with, “it is a job that you will never regret and although no one can tell your how hard it will be..it is worth every second”.

Christmas 2011

 We have had a busy two weeks celebrating the holiday season with family and friends. We had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas eve we spent with my parents and two of my brother's who spent the night at our house. Kaiden left out Cookies, milk and homemade Elf "donuts" (made with melted chocolate, cheeries, sprinkles <I used "nerds">, icing sugar and coloured icing). We also went outside to sprinkle "Reindeer food" so Santa could find us.

Christmas morning was very fun, Kaiden was so excited to open his gifts as well as to watch us open ours. Avarie was excited as well although mommy had to help out with a lot of her gift opening :)

We headed out that morning to open gifts and enjoy a delicious breakfast with Geoff's parents, Grandmother, Sister and her husband and our niece :) The food was so yummy and we all had a great time! My mother in law cooked a delicious turkey dinner that night which we had at our house. All in all a wonderful day to remember!

New Year's eve was spent at home with our kiddies, my parents and my youngest brother. We played a trivia game and then bundled up and headed out to see the fireworks. Kaiden was very excited and Avarie didn't take her eyes off of them!