8 months! May 29

My baby gets less and less baby everyday! 
Today she is 8 months old. 
She's my little doll and I find it hard to put into words how special she is to our family. 
A few picture to share. 

She loves being tipped upside down! 

Hops - May 27

We've had hops growing in our backyard for 4 years now. They grow so well in the location we had them in, literally like weeds. We put clear netting on our deck railing so they'd have something to grow on. It worked as a great privacy shade from our "kind of too close" neighbours dining room window.
If you haven't felt hops before, it's like very fine velcro. It sticks to everything and that's how it grows. It twists around itself and can grow 4-5 inches in a day. 
It's crazy! 
We had been talking about keeping it under control this year. 
Usually we do well at keeping it controlled, then it rains for a few days and when we get outside again, it has taken over our pathway. It sticks to your clothes, scratches your skin (I'm allergic so it leaves marks for weeks on me and now Jude too) and hides BIG spiders!  Once it's that big (mid July usually) I don't go anywhere near it. I'm afraid of spiders and it narrows the pathway too close for my liking. 
We decided last night to just rip it out. 
Easier said than done. 

There was NOTHING here before we left for 5 days to Canmore. 

Not even a tiny bit of green, I checked. A little bit of rain, a bit of sun and BOOM. Hops explosion.

C digging them out for me. 

The green is what was left above ground when we cut it down. 

Look at those roots. It was like pulling out a tree by hand!

Amazing. No wonder they did so well. 

Rainy Zoo day - May 24

I thought, looking at the forecast for the week before our trip, that our zoo trip was going to be rained out. Even the day before our zoo trip, the forecast was for rain, rain, rain in Calgary.  We made alternate plans in the event of a rain out. 
I checked the web the morning of, rain in Calgary... they had a "poor weather discount" coupon on the zoo's website. We printed it off and hoped for the best. 
It was a GREAT day. No one was there and we didn't get rained on. Maybe 30 seconds of drizzle once, that was it. 
There was no one there, we had the place to ourselves. J was able to run ahead and not get lost. 
You can really see the difference in the animals behaviour with so few people. They were right up at the fences and glass, sleeping or just hanging out. 
Such a treat. 

A little chilly so the doors were closed.

Bundled

Lions sleeping right inside the glass. 

I can't imagine ever being so close to a zebra again.

All four elephants inside

Despite the worrying whether we'd get rained on, we really couldn't have asked for a better day. 

Teeth! May 23

This little girl now has four teeth. Four, very sharp teeth!


While sleeping, her fourth front tooth came in. 
I'm so impressed with how well she has done so far teething. I remember many more choppy nights sleep with J.  And J didn't get any teeth until 9.5 months.
E has had a few nights where she'd rather stay up visiting than go to sleep but luckily (and while I knock on wood) no crying.


Not sure if it is the amber teething necklace we have tried with her. Maybe it's helping, maybe not but two of her four front teeth have been surprises and I had no idea they were even close to coming in. 
If it's not actually helping, it was a pretty $20 necklace. 

May Long weekend - May 22

Another unexpected beautiful day meant we spent the most of the day outside! 

We had a great time on our walk to and from the park in Canmore, downtown near the river. 

J very excited to cross the river. I don't think he'd ever been across a bridge for more than just a stream. 

I remembered this slide being huge...

Taxi driver

Touching the Bow River water.

Teething.

Dinner at the Flat Bread Company. So yummy! Pricey, but yummy!. 

Park just down from the Grandparents house. E slept in the car, I played paparazzi from the car window. 

I can't believe how fast he has taken to "big kid" swings. 

Sometimes I wonder if Dad's think these types of life lessons totally through. 

Phew! Busy day!!

Baby Hawk Mei Tai - May 22

The Monday before we left, I found E's first top tooth. I was playing with her, tipping her upside down, and there is was staring back at me. I almost dropped her I was so shocked. It's one of those big ones you don't realize is so big until it is coming out of someone's tiny baby mouth. She had been fussy and wanted to be held almost constantly (now it made sense!).  I knew no trip to Canmore was going to be fun for me if I had to carry a baby around the entire time. 


I loved my first Blue Celery baby carrier when E was born. She was so tiny, it made me feel good she could stay close and warm while I still had two arms free to wrangle J. Now she's getting bigger, my first baby carrier was starting to get a bit small for her. 
I had already decided I wanted a Mei Tai style carrier next. According to YouTube, they seemed easy to put on and take off. I had very briefly considered making my own but realized that was pure insanity pretty quickly and set off to find one in the city. 
I found a brand I loved (Baby Hawk) at a store just inside Edmonton (The Birth Source) and it wasn't even crazy expensive. I LOVE IT. LOVE! 
It is simple to put on and E goes to sleep (on my front) almost immediately and can look around and still relax when she's on my back. 
It was a life saver on our trip this weekend. 
I was able to carry E most of the time when we were out and I even gave J an hour long ride through the Calgary zoo. 

Both kids seem to really enjoy being carried in the wrap. E's a bit small to be able to see really well on my back but she doesn't have to crane her neck to see, she leans against one side and chews on the straps. J's taller so he's out of the body part and can see well. He's a bit heavy to have in it on a regular basis but it worked great on our trip. 

May Long Weekend -May 20-25 May 21

We headed to Canmore to stay with Grandma and Grandpa 21 for the long weekend. Hubby C took an extra few days off work so we could make it an extra long weekend and take the kids to the Calgary zoo on a work day.


The last few times we had been to Canmore, we were plagued by sickness and lack of sleep for everyone, making us more sick and more tired. 
We had plans to go for Easter and then J was very sick. We wanted to help make this an extra special trip for him especially. He was very sad to miss out at Easter. 
We headed down Friday night after C was done work. This always seems like a good idea until we're on the road, planning on them sleeping the whole way and the kids won't go to sleep until it's actually dark outside. This trip that meant 10:30pm and Calgary! Just in time for them to get 90 minutes sleep before we arrive, wake them up, make beds and attempt to put them back to sleep quickly. I need to remember this! 
Our first morning was beautiful. The kids woke up at their usual 8am time despite the late night. The weather had been forecasted to be chilly and wet the whole weekend so it was a pleasant surprise to awake to sun. 
We headed to a park downtown we'd never been to before.


My camera batteries died, of course! Not before I got one picture of the playground. 
Such a great morning to be outside. 

It turned out to be quite a big park. Grandpa 21 and Daddy were on the phone to each other, looking for each other, only to realize they were both in the correct location but at either side of the park! 

Garden ready - May 18

My great guys braved the insane mosquitoes to prepare my garden for me. Armed with bug spray, jeans, long sleeves and hoods up, they added new soil and tossed it in so my garden would be ready to go. 
We are heading out of town for the long weekend and  with the weather forecast looking great for new gardens, I wanted to get it planted before we left for the extra long weekend. 

After they were done, it was my turn. I went "easy" this year with a wild flower mix in the flower garden. Just shake the big bottle over the soli, toss again lightly and water. Easy! 

My vegetable garden will be as easy. Peas, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, a few herbs and a zucchini. I was able to get most of them planted also. Hopefully this "so-so" weather over the weekend will be great for my garden! 

Kim

Baby love - May 17

My niece E loves babies. Loves them. It's like watching a tiny mom. 
When I see her at family dinners, she's carrying one (or more) around and has beds set up and blankets for them. She feeds them and kisses them. It is pure adorable! 
Having only had a boy and really only close experience with boys, I was and am really interested to see the nature vs nurture first hand. 
J loved cars when he was a baby. No one taught him how to play with them, he automatically made car noises and drove them around. He has never touched a "baby."  He has stuffed animals he doesn't even know exist, it's just never been his thing. 


E has a beautiful doll she got for Christmas this year. A bit young at the time but I wanted it around because I thought she might like it before her first birthday or second Christmas. 
She noticed it for the first time today (May 17). We walked past the book shelf where it was sitting and she almost jumped out of my arms to get to it. 
She reached for it and wouldn't let it go. I was amazed to say the least! 
She just kissed it over and over. 

My baby is growing up. Starting to pick up adult gestures. Adorable! I love seeing her personality developing. 

Backyard fun - May 16

We had a nice morning with my sister and her kids, playing in our backyard. 
We had the bubble machine out and the water table filled and enjoyed the summer weather.
We stayed up on the deck, away fro the mosquitoes and had a great time. 
Cousin I found J's fire truck walking aid and walked back and forth, over and over. She's loved it and she's getting so good at walking. It makes me sad to think Elise is only 3 months younger. I'd like an immobile baby for a bit longer! 

E giggling at the bubbles. She loves them!

W trying to pop them as soon as they came out of the machine. 

Walking!

Shade cuddles.

Love spending time with these kiddos when everyone is happy and not tired from a long weekend. Sunday's are nice but usually end in crying and tantrums. 

Kim

Windy Weekend Wedding - May 14

We went to a beautiful wedding this weekend! 
D&M got married out doors, a bit breezy but beautiful. 
M looked stunning!
There were lots of friends there I hadn't seen in ages. We all had a blast. It was nice to see everyone let loose. 
I brought my camera and practised getting some shots with the 50mm lens. 
Thought I'd share a few. 

A bit gusty!

Watching them steal glances at each other was so cute. 

Such yummy dessert. No cake, but a Cookies by George  

M dancing with her adorable niece.

P D.J'ing

Such a fun night. 

Congrats to both D&M! 

Smarty Pants - May 13

J got this book, and another similar one, for his birthday. 
My best friend A went to the store looking for a book for a 2yr old who could read .... She told me the cashier was confused. 
There is a white board pen inside and reusable activities. 
Until the other day, I hadn't let him used them. White board markers don't come off anything other than white board and J is notorious for writing on anything and everything. 
Today, I let him use it. For the first time. 
I turned around and saw this .... 

He amazes me. Always. He can do every page, correctly. All he needed was a pen :)

Montana's - May 11

Sorry, falling behind. Teething babies will do that to you! 
We went to Montana's for dinner last week. 
I kind of thought I wasn't going to try again. We had been once for lunch and although it was a great time, it took ages for our food to arrive. J luckily had crayons so we were fine. 
We tried again ... on a Friday night. Not a good idea! We had to wait almost 40 minutes for our seats. By the time we arrived, it was too late to try anywhere else in Sherwood Park. Friday nights at restaurants in Sherwood Park are crazy!! It took almost 2 hours from when we arrived to when we left. J was great again but 2 hours is ridiculous. 
We gave it one more try. 
On a Wednesday night. 
It went great. We got in right away. J ate well and coloured the entire time again. 
E was wonderful also. I brought her dinner along and she played quietly. 
At the end, as part of the kids meal, J got three mini ice cream cones. 
One for each of us. 
I decided to try to give E a try. 
She loved it! Devoured the entire thing! Cone and all. 
I got a compliment from a stranger at the table beside us that we had very well behaved children. My heart swelled! What a nice thing to say. They were very good but I did prepare well to ensure they were given the best opportunity to be good. 
Felt so good! 

I held it for her at first.

Then she took it from me. I didn't even get a bite.

J enjoyed his also. 

Licking off the chocolate.