Disney on Ice

I figured I would try something new tonight and post about an event on the day it actually happened:)

Today I headed to Disney on Ice with Kyra and our friends, Shauna and Kezia. It was so much fun!

Ready to hit the road

Seeing the princesses. Can't remember her name but she's in a new movie I think.

Waiting to see Cinderella

Here she is!

Just had to pose with her baby

Ariel's dress

Waiting for the show to start

Kyra was so excited to see Mickey

Mater

Look mommy! Lightning McQueen and his friends!

Lightning

Ariel and the fish!

Kyra being silly

Lion King

Tinkerbell - This part of the show was amazing and Kyra definitely enjoyed it. We even caught a piece of the "flower petals" that flew down at the end of the show.

Thanks for being our dates Shauna & Kezia!

Seattle Trip Finale

On our way home from Seattle we needed to find somewhere to have supper. On the way to Seattle I remembered seeing

so I suggested we take the kids there and see what all the hype was about it. (Yes, the pizza was that greasy but boy oh boy did it taste good.)

The kids loved it. We got this package deal with pizza, drinks and tokens to play the games/rides. The nice thing about Chuck E. Cheese is that every game is only 1 token. We got 40 tokens which means we got to enjoy their favorite rides, many times.

Chowing down at supper time.

They had Chuck E. Cheese TV playing during dinner and at certain intervals, Chuck E. Cheese would come out and sing songs(a mechanical version). Kyra and Jayce loved it and Kyra had a hard time eating her dinner.

This is a video I got of her enjoying a dance with Chuck E:)

They had a blue screen that you could stand in front of and you would actually be on the Chuck E. Cheese TV. Kyra had lots of fun with that and so did I actually. Blue screens are fun!

Blue screen

On TV!

Jayce on his all time favorite ride - Bob the Builder:) He went on there 4 or 5 times.

Checking out the Fun Bus which wasn't as thrilling for him. All the rides did the same motion, back and forth gentle rocking, but Bob the Builder was the one he stuck to.

Kyra enjoyed it too:)

Sliding fun:)

Kyra keeps asking when we can go back to Chuck E. Cheese. I think there's one in a nearby town so maybe we'll have to do that one evening with the kids.

With that I finally conclude our adventures in Seattle. It was such a great trip and Kyra still talks about it. I'm glad that she has wonderful memories from our first family trip as 4. I am definitely looking forward to more trips with our kids and am itching to go on another one right now. Yes, it rained, yes the hotel wasn't exactly what we were expecting but the only feelings I get when I recall that weekend are positive. I know Jayce won't remember it, but I know he had fun too. Thanks for sticking with me as I took such a loooong time to document this. Good night all!

Rambles

I am tired tonight. Really tired. The last 2 weeks have been so busy. It's all been good stuff but it's making me tired. I'm itching for another family vacation where we can all be together and relax. But that won't happen again for a while so I'll enjoy the relaxing evenings we do have. I am contemplating a day trip down to Seattle. Kyra keeps asking to go back and since we get in free to the zoo, I don't see why that couldn't work. It would be a long day but it would be so fun. Just something I'm imagining. I haven't mentioned this to Eric yet so we'll see what he says when he reads this:) Yup, Eric reads every single one of my blog posts. I love that. Sometimes I'll change things or adjust them based on what he says. I really think he should write another post one of these days. In fact, I think he should write a blog post about his time with the kids when I was in Seattle. If you're friends with him on facebook, lovingly bug him about it:)

Right now I'm wrapped up in one of Eric's sweatshirts . . . so cozy. I totally stole one of his sweatshirts and took it back to bible school with me when we were dating:) I don't think I washed it the rest of the time I was up there because I didn't want to lose his smell:)hehe Ahhhh . . . . dating days. Such fond memories. As you can tell this is another random, rambling post. What are some of your fun memories from dating? Did you ever steal your boyfriend's sweaters?

Kyra's still awake. Due to her having another nap today. She takes naps when she's sick and both kids have colds right now. Jayce is on the verge of another ear infection which is concerning. It would be his 2nd one and it reminds me of when Chrystal was younger and she had so many ear infections. Not fun. I'm already wondering if this is going to a chronic thing with Jayce or if it's just because of winter . . . .who knows. I'll have to wait and see I guess.

We did a spur-of-the-moment trip to the zoo this morning. The sun was shining so brightly and it actually felt a little bit warm when we walked out the door. The kids had a doctor's appointment this morning but after that we picked up McD's and headed to the zoo. We rode the train today and it was the first time Jayce actually sat still on my lap. He loved looking at all the animals. The train ride made us all a lot colder though so we headed into the Vivairum to warm up and then it was back outside to play. Unfortunately it didn't make us totally warm and my poor kids hands were so cold. Tonight we made a trip to Superstore to finally buy some gloves and boots for them. We also bought some cute Christmas pj's. Can't wait for them to wear them!!

My loving husband is making me a hot chocolate with bailey's and whipping cream. Mmmmm . . . . . one of my favorite drinks in the winter time. I have some new books that my mother-in-law lent me to read so after I'm done writing this blog post I'm going to cuddle up next to Eric and lose myself in one of the books. Does anybody else out there have far less time to read? I miss reading. I could seriously book a week long vacation all by my lonesome where I would have a book in one read and a drink in the other and read my days away. That sounds heavenly. Okay maybe a week is too long by myself, I would definitely want some company at some point. Anybody want to go to the Bahamas next year?:D

Now I think I should sign off because I'm not sure how interesting this is for other people to read and I'm running out of things to ramble about. Oh! If you haven't done so yet, head on over to Lisa's blog and make a guess on the gender of their baby. Their ultrasound is next week to find out what they're having and I cannot wait to hear whether my kids will have another girl cousin to play with or if Jayce may be getting a break from all the estrogen in the family:) Yay for new babies!!!

Have a good night all. Thanks for *listening* to another ramble. Hope your weekends are relaxing!

Shopping Trip

I love shopping - especially when it's technically not my money I'm shopping with. Tasha's friend gave her a gift card to Suzy Shier and Tash was kind enough to pass it on to me. (Thanks Dania & Tash!) So off we went today, during the kids naptime, for some fun shopping. I have to say I'm enjoying shopping more and more now. Especially since we're done having kids, it's nice being able to re-stock my closet for my new body shape and size.

It was a quick shopping trip, just over an hour I think, but very successful. I bought this new jacket

that I have desperately been needing and searching for. I love red.

I bought a new black sweater, a new shirt/vest thing and this little beauty

Definitely a successful trip. Thanks for coming with me Tash!

Baby Girl

My baby girl is no longer that. She is nothing close to a baby anymore. She's going to be 3 next month! How did this year go by so fast? When did Kyra get to be such a big girl? I wrestled with putting her in preschool in this year, I really did. Now I know that we made the right decision. She is enjoying it so much and loves to perform her songs at home. It's often the first thing she requests when I tell her I'm turning on music.

This picture was taken after her first day in preschool and she still has a big smile on her face and is ready to show off her backpack. I cried that day. She had a great time.

This energetic little girl

certainly keeps me busy. She's always asking "where are we going mommy? Can we go out today?" Maybe that's partly my fault, I hate being stuck at home too, but I really believe she was born raring to go. This firstborn child of mine fought sleep like I didn't know a baby could. After I would feed her for the last time at night (around 11:30/midnight) Eric would stay up with her until 2/2:30 in the morning until she finally fell asleep. Forget a nap schedule, she didn't really take naps. She never wanted to be held on your shoulder, always had to be facing out, able to take in the world.

Now she's doing that on a grander scale. She keeps up a constant stream of chatter

wherever we go and I do mean constant. Silent car rides are a thing of the past and it's very hard for Eric and I to have a conversation when we're driving with the kids. There are some moments where peace and quiet would be muchly appreciated but for the most part I love it. I love that she is so inquisitive and wants to know everything.

This little girl has a heart of gold. She likes to help us cook dinner, do dishes, do laundry, load/un-load the dishwasher. She'll break up pieces of whatever she's eating to give to Jayce. If I give her a breakfast bar in the morning, she'll say "it's okay, I can share this with Jayce mommy". It's her way of checking to see if there's strawberry in it or not. She's very aware of his allergy already. She's into asking now "Does that make you happy? Are you happy now? Will that make you happy?" She's very big on all of us being happy right now. She usually has a big hug for me when I pick her up from preschool and big hug for daddy when he walks in the door after work. If I tell her we're going out in the evening she just has to make sure that daddy and Jayce are coming too. This little girl melts my heart.

This little girl is all girl in some ways. She is sensitive to smells(she gags when she poops and runs away when I change Jayce's diaper), she loves dresses, pretty shoes, putting on nail polish and chapstick. When we go shopping she always asks if we can go try on shoes. When we go into a store she holds a piece of clothing up and says "oh it's so cute! Can I get it?" Yup, I'm in trouble already.

This little girl has no problem getting dirty though . . .

:D

This little girl is smart beyond her years and that scares me. How do I keep with that? How do I continue to challenge and teach her as she grows?

This little girl loves her daddy. Tonight she made me want to cry when after supper she asked "Daddy, will you dance with me?" I don't think there's a sweeter question a little girl could ask of her daddy. And dance they did. I chose to enjoy and savor that moment, rather than photograph it.

This little girl is my little girl . . .

. . . and she is loved.

Kyra and Lucas

Where have they gone you may wonder? Well, nowhere actually. Since Leanne decided not to go back to work this semester(due to having a cutie baby boy, Owen) I am not looking after Lucas anymore. We miss him lots around these parts. If I ask Kyra what she wants to do during the day one of her favorite answers is "go to Lucas' house". We do all still get together though plus Kyra & Lucas get to see each other a lot at preschool & sunday school. Here are some pictures I've taken of the 2 of them but hadn't posted yet.

This picture was taken back in January. Look how young and cute they are!

Coloring together in sunday school

I asked them to turn around and say cheese. This is the picture I got:)

They started playing this game where they would stand at opposite sides of the room, run full tilt into each other . . .

hug . . .

. . . and then fall over:)

I think in this picture they were getting chastised by their teacher. I thought it was funny to watch them and was taking pictures instead:D

These pictures are from mall date Leanne and I had in August. A bit of a crazy day since Owen was only a month old. I took these pictures of the kids while Leanne was feeding/changing/tending to Owen, that's why they aren't in any of them.

Playing with Jayce

Such excitement and care-free fun

"That's Lightning McQueen, Kyra"

Making up their own version of peek-a-boo with an advertisement stand. "Where are you? Are you in here?" they would say. (Oh, the reason I cut the video so abruptly and start to call Jayce's name is because the cup in his hand has strawberry juice in it.)

Hope you enjoyed this snippet of Kyra and Lucas together. They still truly enjoy being with each other and Jayce is also excited now everytime he gets to see Owen and Lucas. Lucas can get Jayce shrieking and laughing with just a glance and a "grrrr"(Lucas likes to growl at Jayce):D Guess the titles will have to change to Kyra, Lucas and Jayce. When Owen gets older he'll be added in this chaos too:) Love you Lucas and Owen!

16 Months Old

My baby boy is 16 months old today.

This standing-on-table

banana obsessed

truck lovin'

blue eyed, curly haired wonder

is 16 months old.

Only 4 short months ago we celebrated his 1st birthday. Where did my time with him go? I love our tuesday/thursday mornings now. I love being able to spend time with him, wrestle with him, blow bubbles for him.

This adorable face

melts my heart.

This smile

makes me smile and feel better no matter what I'm feeling.

This joy-filled

copycat

little boy has captured my heart in a way I couldn't dream possible. I couldn't imagine loving another child the same way I love Kyra. I couldn't imagine that after all I had gone through with her, all the alone time we had, another child would fill my heart the same.

But he did. He moved on in and stole the part of my heart that was reserved and waiting specially for him.

This boy now weighs 30 lbs.

This boy can out-eat his sister any day of the week.

This boy's vocabulary includes: tractor, da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba(bottle), bubbles, woof/woof, cracker, please/thank-you by ASL, Kyra, book.

This boy has the most squishable, kissable cheeks.

This boy has the deepest blue eyes I've ever seen.

This boy completed our family. . .

. . .and he is loved.