The Ups & Downs of Life

will return

2010-05-03T09:32:00.001-04:00

I have been baking but blogger hasn't been letting me upload pictures.. :)
I will try again today and hopefully it works..

Day 10 - Banana Bread

2010-04-27T10:20:00.004-04:00

dh's friends at work were bugging me for Banana bread. So I decided what the heck. For this I used the bread machine but you could just use the oven as everything is mixed in a mixer. :)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp white vinegar + milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 or 3 bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cups walnuts (optional)

add vinegar to measuring cup and fill to 1/4 cup mark with milk. set aside

In mixing bowl (or food processor) add sugar, butter and bananas. Mix until smooth

Add dry ingredients and milk mixture
mix well.

Add to the baking pan. You can layer it with walnuts if you would like.

Set it to bake for one hour at 300 using the bake setting. Let sit in pan for 30 minutes.

Id love to show you a picture of how beautiful this turned out but I cut myself a piece promptly and ate it. sorry about that.. Something about freshly baked banana bread.

Verdict: soooo yummy.. It was moist and very flavourful. I added cinnamon to it but that is up to you.. Oh so good..

Day 9 - Cake pops

2010-04-22T21:14:00.009-04:00

Usually when I make cakes I end up having a ton of extra pieces left over. When I worked at the bakery, we would use them to make rum balls or a coffee cake filling. (No Plastico I am not making coffee cake right now) Im not really a fan of rum balls so i looked around in my saved links and found the bakerella site. That gave me the idea to make a Mickey/Minnie mouse head.. So i went to search for ideas and happened to scroll down and she had just posted how to.. lol. it was meant to be. :) you can find the full directions here.
Here is my breakdown of what I did.Ingredients:
1 box any flavour of cake (or left over pieces like i used)
1 can of frosting. any kind.
Chocolate to coat cake in.
Mix the cake so it is crumbly.
Add 3/4 of the icing and mix.

Mix until it is nice and soft.
scoop or roll into balls

put in fridge until firm so that it is easier to dip in chocolate.

While that is chilling, use a round cutter to cut off part of a chocolate melt. These will be the ears.
dip end of lollipop stick into chocolate and insert in cake ball
fill a piping bag with a bit of melted chocolate onto the cut part of the ears. place 2 on each ball.

put back in fridge until you are ready to dip them.
dip in a single motion to totally cover the entire thing. pull up and let the extra chocolate drip off. (you can colour your chocolate black but i decided not to.)

once the extra chocolate is off, put the cake pop into a styrofoam holder to keep them upright.

you can leave them like that or add 2 heart sprinkles to represent a bow. :)

Verdict: These look awesome and are pretty easy to do.. Lilly was very excited. I was thinking that oreo balls would be fantastic for this as well.. yummy. the cake was super moist and it was a nice bitesize treat. Lilly wants to take one to her teacher, so that is where they are going. :) I love when things turn out the way i want. :)

Day 8 - Birthday Cakes

2010-04-22T17:01:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a day full of birthdays.

My aunt Liz turned 36 yesterday. As a treat for her birthday, I invited her to booty camp. I think she enjoyed it and her expressions were priceless.. :) Well worth it. Hopefully she wasn't too sore for her birthday. At her work, they are supposed to bring a treat on their birthday. Liz had seen one of my strawberry and cream cakes that I made for Markus, so she requested that. I didn't take pictures of how I made it, so I apologize, but it is easy enough to do. :)
Yesterday was also my sweet little "niece's" birthday. Whitney turned 1 and lives in Florida. Due to her being so far away, she obviously couldn't order a cake from me but I still wanted to surprise her and her family with one. Her theme is princess which is fitting since above her crib it says "and she lived happily ever after" and the fact that she lives by the princess castle. :) I had a blast making this cake and it was definitely a challenge.. It isn't perfect but i was VERY happy with the outcome and I hope Whitney was too..

Day 7 - Brown Sugar Fudge

2010-04-20T13:59:00.006-04:00

I've been looking for a simple fudge recipe and came across this one.. I can assure you that this one is going to someone else.. Im betting it is super sweet and I am just not interested. :) So any takers??? anyone?

Ingredients:
1 can (300 mL) Regular Eagle Brand® sweetened condensed milk
2 cups (500 mL) well-packed brown sugar
½ lb (227 g) butter

Place ingredients in a 2-quart (2.2 L) micro-wave safe mixing bowl, and microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Beat with mixer for 5 minutes.

Spread mixture into a parchment paper-lined 8 x 8" (2L) square pan

Chill to set and cut into squares. (or do something fun with cookie cutters. Lilly loved that i made fudge into her name. :) )

Verdict: This was super easy to make. you can't really go wrong with 3 ingredients. I think this would be perfect to put in little baggies as a gift for someone. It is sweet but most fudge is, right? I was going to send all of this to my sister to take to work, when dh yelled downstairs that I couldn't because he loves fudge.. :/ 10 years and I'm just finding this out? And on top of that, brown sugar is by far his favourite.. So I gave a few pieces to my sister and the rest stayed for dh.. I did not enjoy it as it was way too sweet for my liking.

Day 6 - Chocolate Caramel Shortbread

2010-04-20T13:35:00.012-04:00

I was asked the other day if I am going out and buying all these ingredients or if I am using stuff in my cupboards.. The answer is both. I'm trying to use up my cupboard since I have THREE cupboards stuffed full of baking stuff. So I would like to use it up instead of buying new stuff.. :)
So if you are here looking for a healthy treat, than keep on looking. Today's treat is NOT healthy, not even a little bit. :) While looking online for recipes on eaglebrand.ca, I came across this recipe and as soon as my sister Kelly (HI Kelly and her friends at work who are looking at this instead of working) insisted that I make this and give it to her..

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) butter, softened, divided1/2 cup (125 mL) sifted icing sugar
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) all purpose flour
1 can (300 mL) Regular or Low Fat Eagle Brand® sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp (45 mL) corn syrup
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
3 squares (85 g) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Beat 1 cup (250 mL) butter, sugar and salt until fluffy.

Add flour; mix well.

With floured fingers, press evenly into greased 9" (23 cm) square pan. ( I used a 9 inch cheesecake pan)

Bake in preheated 350°F (180°C) oven 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly.

In 2-quart (2 L) glass measure with handle, in microwave oven, melt remaining 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter on High (100%) 1 minute. Stir in Eagle Brand and corn syrup. Microwave on High (100 %) 6 to 8 minutes, stirring after each minute or until mixture turns a light caramel colour. Stir in vanilla
Spread over warm shortbread.

Drizzle with chocolate.

Chill until firm. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature.
Verdict: This was super easy to make. A few extra steps but i think it was definintely worth it. The cookie was nice and light and the caramel was sweet. I would make this again to take to a get together.. Definitely only need a small piece.. Yum! Did I mention how yummy this is? lol Go make it, now.. :)

Day 5 - Chocolate Elegance

2010-04-18T19:18:00.006-04:00

Again from the Kraft website, I knew this would be yummy. Since I had leftover cool whip I decided to make another cool whip dessert. This one was sure to please everyone and was super easy to prepare. I know everything I've made has cream cheese but that is because I have 36 blocks of it in my freezer so I'm trying to use those up.. ;) I promise non cream cheese recipes this week. :D
Ingredients:

1-1/2 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping, divided
6 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

BEAT cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended.
Stir in 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip.
spread 2 cups onto bottom of 8x4-inch loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. (this will leave very little in the bowl.. that is ok)
Melt 3 chocolate squares. Add to remaining cream cheese mixture along with pudding mix and milk. Beat until blended.
Spread over layer in pan. Refrigerate 4 hours.
microwave remaining chocolate and Cool Whip in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until blended. Cool slightly.
Invert dessert onto platter. Remove pan and plastic wrap. Spread dessert with glaze. Add Almonds. :) Refrigerate until glaze is firm.

Verdict: Although this tasted wonderful and had the perfect balance of chocolate in it, I was a tad disappointed. The chocolate didn't set like i think it should have. It seemed too runny which made it difficult to cut into and serve.. It was more the consistency of pudding which makes sense.. Either way I may try this another time and perhaps change it up a little bit to see if it works.

Day 4 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Ribbon

2010-04-18T18:42:00.008-04:00

As I was searching for different recipes to try, I came across this one on the Kraft website.. I knew I needed to make it soon as you can't go wrong with Peanut Butter and Chocolate.. :D I loved how simple and light it looked.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Oreo Baking Crumbs, divided
2 Tbsp. non-hydrogenated margarine, melted
1 pkg. (250 g) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Kraft Peanut Butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
2 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, cooled

BEAT cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended.
MIX crumbs and margarine. Reserve 1 Tbsp. crumbs for topping; press remaining onto bottom of foil-lined 9x5-inch loaf pan.
whisk in Cool Whip

Remove 1/2 cup; place in small bowl. Stir in melted chocolate until well blended; set aside.
Spoon half the remaining cream cheese mixture over crust

Add chocolate filling.

Add remaining cream cheese mixture.

Now you can leave it like this and freeze it right away or you can add a design on it to make it look a little nicer.. I decided to add one to mine.

FREEZE 4 hours or until firm. Invert dessert onto plate. Remove foil; invert dessert, crumb-side down, onto serving platter. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Cut in small strips and serve. You do not need a big piece.

Verdict: I originally thought this was going to be a light dessert. It is light but very rich. I would definitely make this again and serve it to guests... or keep it for myself. It was super easy to make and full of yummy peanut butter and chocolate flavour. I can already think of many different ways to decorate this and/or serve it. Dh and his friend said it was a definite hit. :)

Day 3 - Oreo Balls

2010-04-17T21:25:00.004-04:00

Yummy. I don't remember how I came across Oreo balls but I wish I had long ago. They are so easy to make and yet so delicious. I can't get over how much of a crowd pleaser they are. You can do them any way you want and be as simple or fancy as you need. Dh had planned a BBQ last night for some guys at work last minute, so I was happy that I had all the ingredients to make this. I didn't do them fancy as I was making them as the guests were in my living room. If you haven't tried these than it is a definite must even if you aren't a fan of Oreos like myself. :)
Ingredients:1 box of Oreo cookies
1 pkg cream cheese
Candy Melts (or chocolate of your choice)
Place the Oreo cookies in the mixer and mix until crumbled fairly fine. I try to break down the chunks as much as possible.
Add the cream cheese when the cookies are crumbled to your liking. Mix until smooth. You will need to scrape down the bowl and try to refrain from licking the spoon afterwards. ;)
Once it is mixed put it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes so that it can harden up a bit and be easier to work with. Once cooled, use a scoop (or your hand) to make small balls and place on a plate or cookie sheet with wax paper.
If you are not in a hurry I'd suggest putting the balls back in the fridge for 30 minutes so they firm up. It makes it much easier to dip in chocolate. I didn't do this as I was in a hurry and it is definitely more difficult to roll into chocolate.. so I ended up drizzling mine for the most part.
You can use any colours you would like and feel free to add two colours for a sharp contrast.
Serve right away or put in fridge until ready to eat. (I actually prefer to eat these when they are nice and cold but some people prefer them soft. If you are serving for a party you can keep some at room temp and some in the fridge.. your call)
ENJOY..
Day 4 is chocolate and peanut butter ribbon. A quick simple dessert that tastes wonderful..

Day 2- Coconut Banana Cheesecake

2010-04-16T13:38:00.007-04:00

So I obviously make lots of cheesecakes but often it is the same kind over and over again.. So as a treat I decided to make Coconut Banana Cheesecake.. I sent it to work with dh so that he could share with his coworkers..

Ingredients:
2 pkgs cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream of coconut (i used coconut milk)1/2 tsp vanilla
2 medium size bananas
2 eggs
1 prepared graham crust

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cream of coconut in mixer until smooth. be sure to scrape down sides. Once smooth add in the bananas. I like to leave small chunks of bananas in mine for more flavour.. But you can mix it until smooth if you would like or puree it before adding it to the cream cheese mix.

Add eggs and mix only until blended. Scrape bowl and mix again for a minute or so.

Prepare a graham crust by mixing margarine with graham and adding a bit of sugar. I mix it right in the cake pan.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pan and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.. I usually set the clock for 20 minutes as sometimes it cooks quicker. I didn't use a water bath.
Remove from oven and place on cookie rack to cool. Be sure to run a knife around the edges so that when the cake cools it doesn't pull from the side and crack.. Once cool place in fridge overnight and than decorate. I decorated at 5am and would normally add whipped cream but dh used it all up so he had to settle for just coconut on top.. BORING but dh's fault. :)Verdict: although I didn't taste it , I was told that it was really good.. The flavour was perfect and the cheesecake itself wasn't overly sweet.. :)

Tomorrow... OREO BALLS

Day 1 - Cheesecake Brownies

2010-04-14T16:19:00.007-04:00

So after telling my plan to dh, he insisted that I should start today.. LOL. Seems like a plan to me since I probably will be too busy to bake the Friday that we leave. So here is day 1.

I am making Cheesecake Brownies. I've wanted to try them out for awhile but never got around to it. I got this recipe from Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cookbook.. if you don't have it and love to bake, I highly recommend it. :)
Ingredients:
1 pkg brownie mix
1 pkg cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
I decided to mix the cream cheese part in my mixer first so that I wouldn't have to clean the bowl in between the two mixes. In a mixer mix the cream cheese until soft and add sugar. Mix well and be sure to scrape down the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix just until blended. Put aside.
Mix Brownie mix as per directions on box. Pour into a greased 13x9 inch pan.
Add Cream Cheese and spread over top. With a knife or your finger, swirl the chocolate and white together.
Put in oven for 20 minutes and check on it. if the knife comes out clean if not than add another 5-10 minutes. Do not overcook..
Let cool and than cut into squares. I decided to add a swirl of icing to it but you can sprinkle icing sugar over it or leave it as is..
ENJOY

Verdict. I thought they were ok. That being said I am NOT a fan of cheesecake so that could be why it was just ok in my eyes. Dh thought they were really tasty and helped himself to two.. I personally wouldn't make them again but dh said I should

Sweets & Treats Challenge

2010-04-14T14:23:00.002-04:00

Our road trip to Florida and Texas is 31 days away and EXACTLY 1 month away tomorrow. I am super excited to meet wonderful friends and of course the mouse. It seems the days have dragged by and I find myself looking at the same sites over and over again.

I decided that since I need to be in a swimsuit and am not getting the results I want quick enough, that I needed a new plan of action. This is where my Sweets & Treats Challenge comes in. In an effort to plump up others that are going on this trip, I am going to challenge myself to bake a sweet (or treat) every day starting tomorrow until we leave on Friday May 15th. So 30 days of sweets to come up with.

My real reason for doing this is to challenge myself to think outside the box and make things that I have been either wanting to try or to put a new spin on things that I already do make. Some things will be repeats of what i have done already as I have an order for that particular item. :) Each day on my blog I will post what I am making, how it is made, the recipe, as well as pictures so that my trip buddies can drool over and make themselves (therefore plumping them up. ;) ) I will also taste and review a small piece as well as the family. Than the other half will be shipped off to neighbours, friends and family. Ill randomly pick someone each day. :) So i do apologize to everyone for plumping you up too. ;)

So please follow along, post comments and help me to meet this challenge. If you have a suggestion for something I could attempt, please let me know. Something you've been wanting to try but it seems impossible or you don't have the time, send it along.. Can't wait to do this and have you guys follow along with me..

See you Tomorrow.. :)

princess day

2010-03-10T19:21:00.002-05:00

today at lillys school is Royalty day. Here is princess Lilly.....

Disney

2010-03-01T13:47:00.003-05:00

I'm sure that I have mentioned that we are planning our first family trip to Disney World in May. Our vacation is going to be jam packed with meeting online friends that I've known for many many years. On our way up to Florida, we will be stopping in SC to stay with the Baker family. After our brief but fun filled stay there, we will continue on our way to stay with the little Whitterbug and (the Bass Family). After a fun visit there, We will make our way to Disney to stay at the Grand Floridian hotel. While at Disney we will meet Emily, Kaylee Beth and their families as well as meet up with Shannon and Kat again.

We decided to do 3 days at disney. 2 days at Magic Kingdom and than 1 day at Hollywood studios. Lilly is sooo excited and asks all the time when we are going. I can't wait to see her face when we actually see the Castle. May seems so far away. :)

After Disney we will head back to Kat's house for a pool party with great friends. Time to celebrate! I don't think any of us will want to leave.

Following our stop in Florida, We are going to take a 15 hour drive to Texas to visit Sarah. :) We will probably just hang out but it will be a blast. Hoping our driving goes smoothly.

Anyways my plan was to make an autograph book for my kids and some of the other kids going with us. While I was looking for ideas, I came across an Encyclopedia with all the characters. I read some of the reviews and ppl said they used them for autograph books. So, I ordered the last one in stock and it came today. I love it and so does Lilly. She hasn't put it down yet and is just getting more excited each page she turns.

So with that, If you are planning a trip to Disney soon and would like one of these books, write in my comments what you are most excited to go to disney for. I will randomly draw for one of these books on Wednesday, so don't wait. :)

Hot Mama Tuesday Blog #4

2010-02-16T10:08:00.005-05:00

This week Brittani picked our topic. For our upcoming Disney trip she decided to get us into the spirit by picking our top 5 favourite Disney movies. I have so many favourites, so this should be difficult.

#1. Beauty and the Beast. One of my absolute favourite movies. I don't remember any real memories of it as a kid but I just love the story line. A true fairytale that comes true. Upon meeting dh, I learned that it is his all time favourite Disney movie.. :) I love watching Lilly watch this movie too. She isn't scared of the beast but instead embraces the whole movie. I could be bold to say that it is one of her favourites too. I love that as a family we can watch it and all be into it. :)

#2. Monsters Inc. LOVE this movie. So cute. The monsters just have that ability to draw you to them. I have laughed so much in this movie and I always have a smile on my face while watching it. This was actually one of the first movies Lilly watched and it continues to be on her to watch list. I love Boo in this. I remember this movie coming out and I wanted to see it in theaters but wasn't allowed. I bought it the second it came out.

#3. The Little Mermaid. My favourite princess. :) As a kid, I watched this movie A LOT. My little sister Kim was in love with it and had everything of the Little Mermaid. She had a blanket of her and any chance that I would get, I would steal it. I remember Kim being so little and watching it. I guess the fact that it captured her imagination and the smile on her face is what I remember the most about the movie. Maybe that is why it became one of my favourites. I still love to curl up on the couch and watch it except now instead of watching my little sisters face light up, I can watch Lilly's face. It is definitely Lilly's favourite princess too and I know she can't wait to meet her at Disney. (maybe as much as me. lol)

#4. Lilo & Stitch. What isn't to love about the little alien dude and of course Lilo. That little girl reminds me of Lilly. Such a sweet little girl who knows what she wants. The original is the only one that I really liked. I don't really have anything else to say about this movie besides that I really do love this movie.

#5. Tinkerbell. LOVE LOVE LOVE Tinkerbell. Seriously my favourite character of all time. I may have passed that on to Lil but oh well. haha. As soon as I met Lilly, I went out and bought a Tinkerbell border for her room. That is the one thing I miss about my old house. :( If I could have brought it with me, i definitely would have. I had thought of doing her room the exact same but figured Lilly would outgrow it quicker than I could put it up. I was probably more excited than Lilly was when Tinkerbell came out in her first movie. lol. The second movie was great too and I can't wait for the 3rd and 4th movie to come out. There is just something about Tink that is so magical. She's a fighter yet so darn cute. :)

Weekend Update & Meet my Bug!

2010-02-14T19:51:00.008-05:00

This weekend was a crazy busy weekend. It was my brother in law's birthday, so I made a spiderman cupcake for him. I wasn't thrilled with it so I refuse to show pictures. Lol. I made a jungle cake which turned out better than I thought I was able to do. I was so proud of myself. :)
Before we get to that, let's start with Friday!

Friday we had ordered some food and had cake with my brother in law. Lilly picked out a card with Mickey Mouse on it. Can you tell she is excited for Disney in May? lol. She told me she wanted to write her name, so she did with a little bit of help. (I had to show her the letter first)After she wrote her name she wanted to write Uncle Matt, so again with a little help she wrote his name:
So proud of her. :) When we were at my mom's house, she asked what shape the table was and when we told her it was a rectangle she said "a rectangle? It has 4 sides" I couldn't believe it. She seriously surprises me all the time.

On Saturday, we went to my cousin Kaden's birthday party. He had a jungle theme and requested a cake with a lion on it. This is the cake I made for him:

He had a great birthday. I can't believe he is already 3. Time really does fly.
Lilly had a blast and I love seeing how she is with other kids. I always thought that she would be too shy but she jumps right in and claims that everyone is her friend. I love that she is so social. I anticipate a lot of phone calls from school. haha.

After the birthday party we went to grandma and papa's house so that she could go snowmobiling.. She LOVES it. She asks about it all the time. I feel bad that I didn't realize that she liked it so much and that the season will be over soon. I hope that she can get a few more rides in. I ended up buying her a helmet so that she could ride on the trails with papa. I was trying to be practical and buy a blue colour so that Lukas could wear it afterwords but they only had her size in pink, so I took it as a sign and bought the pink one. :) She went out saturday night and kept telling papa to go faster. tehee. Makes papa proud!

Sunday was more snowmobiling for Lilly and Papa. Lukas and I hung out with grandma. He is getting 4 molars at once so he has been a bit of a handful lately. I'm just trying to snuggle him and help him to feel better. teething bites. ;) I'm always excited to get home though and see dh. We went out to get pitas and than came home to watch some Olympics. Soo much more exciting when it is in Canada. :) GOOOO Canada. :D

I'm looking forward to Monday. It is a new holiday called Family Day. Everything is closed but I'm looking forward to just hanging out with the family and playing some games. Wohoo!

Hot Mama Tuesday Blog #3

2010-02-09T20:07:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Beth for picking this weeks Hot Mama Topic. She decided that we should pick our 5 favourite quotes and explain if we would like to. :) This is going to be a hard one for me I think..

#1. The one who makes you cry isn't worth your tears. The one who is worth your tears would never make you cry!

I love this quote. I have used this quote for as long as I can remember. It came in handy when I was in the dating game in school especially when friends got their heart broken. I also used it for myself when friends would burn me which surprisingly happened way more than it should have.. People suck sometimes and I think that I should probably follow this quote more often.

#2: Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the number of moments that take your breath away.

This is my mom's favourite quote. I had never heard it before but I think it is beautiful. It really just reminds you to enjoy life to the fullest and make every minute the very best that you can.

#3. Life is like a dick, when it gets hard, fuck it.

Sorry for that one but one of my really good friends put this in my grade 8 yearbook and it just makes me smile and laugh. I don't think I can really go into much depth with it.

#4. I love you

The best saying EVER. I still remember the first time dh said it to me, the first time Lilly said it to me and I can not wait to hear Lukas say it. It doesn't get any better than that. :) Life is good..

Thankful Thursday

2010-02-04T09:58:00.006-05:00

Today I am thankful for the usual things like my family, amazing friends, roof over my head, food on the table etc etc but todays post is about things that I am thankful for that have helped me stay sane with fussy babies. :)

First of all is the ocean wonders swing. This thing was a lifesaver with both kids. Lilly would only sleep if she was on my chest or in the swing. We would constantly carry it upstairs and downstairs, that dh almost had me convinced to buy a second one. Lilly used it until well over a year. Lukas enjoys the swing as well but definitely not as much as Lilly did. He does still use it though when he is having a hard time sleeping or if he just wants to relax and get away from the twins. :)

Secondly, my carriers. I got my very first carrier for our trip to Germany when Lilly was 6 weeks old. It was a life saver at the airport and on day trips where a stroller was more of a pain. I loved it and was hooked. I've had many other carriers and used many of them with Lukas and the twins as well.
Lilly thinks babywearing is great too when her babies are fussy:

And of course I am thankful for the ultimate comforting tool.

And the fact that Lilly loves it too:

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T19:02:00.004-05:00

All about my sweet little Lukas. :)

Hot Mama Tuesday Blog #3

2010-02-02T14:52:00.003-05:00

Today Amy picked our topic: Top Ten Pet Peeves. I'm not sure I can think of 10 but I will try! This is in no particular order.

#1. SLOW DRIVERS: I can't stand it. If the sign says 60 than PLEASE go atleast 60. Don't pull out in front of me and than drive under the speed limit. No I am not in a hurry most of the time but I refuse to drive under the limit. AND if we are driving on the highway and there are 3 lanes, do not drive your slow ass in the far left lane. (also known as the FAST lane) Move your butt over to the far right lane, known as the slow lane. ugh.. Not that hard.

#2. Boogers: If you see that your kid's nose is running down their lip, grab a kleenex! I've seen way too many kids licking their lips and it just drives me crazy. It is not hard to keep a kleenex close by. And the dried up ones, don't even get me started on that.

#3. Onions: I know that seems silly but it is a huge pet peeve that people have to ruin a good dish by putting onions in it. My mom used to always say that I couldn't taste it but obviously i could if i mentioned that it tasted like onions. I'm not overly picky but don't add onions to sandwiches or deviled eggs or anything else for that matter.. I get that it gives off a flavour but it is one that I will pass on. thank you!

4. Foreigners who refuse to stand for our national anthem. So disrespectful! If you wanted into our great Country than show your pride in the fact that we let you in. I remember in school there were kids who didn't have to stand for the national anthem, instead they put their head down on the desk until it was over. RUDE!!! If you don't want to be respectful than go back to where you came from. (and ps. way to go parents on teaching your kids such wonderful manners!)

5. Parents who don't care: I just don't understand this. It is simple, If you don't want to put your kid(s) first than please just do us all a favour and do not have kids. If you think that your kids only need you when you say they do, you are wrong. If your baby cries, please just pick her up and snuggle her. It's not hard and the laundry or dishes can wait. Cherish every minute with those kids, you never know when your time is up.

6. Be on time: seriously. If you know that you are late all of the time, set your clock earlier! I can't stand to have the kids by the door and waiting when you are going to be 10-15 minutes late. It makes for a cranky mommy and kids.

7. Pants pulled up past your belly button and shirts tucked in when pants are that high.. It looks silly! Please don't do it to your kids and definitly do not do it to mine. Enough said.

8. Chain Letters.. I can not stand these!! I will not die if i don't send in 10 minutes to 20 people. Please don't waste my time. Although please send me emails that are pictures of your kids and a letter.. i love getting mail about my friends/family.

9. People who always take but NEVER give: I'm a giver and do not expect anything in return BUT when i do you favours all the time and than ask you to do a favour for me, I would love it if you could help me out. I don't like that when I need something that people aren't available or they think I should pay so and so to do that when i did the exact same thing for them a month ago for free!!!! Just be considerate and if you don't want to help others out than don't accept help.

10. Assumptions: I can't stand it when people assume things.. It drives me CRAZY. Don't assume that i did such and such or that so and so said this. If you don't have the facts than don't waste your breathe assuming something happened. :)

WOW. sorry for the rant but I mus say it felt great to get that out there.. Now that I am at 10, I can think of a bunch more. :)

Weekend Update

2010-02-01T20:05:00.003-05:00

What a fun, crazy weekend we had. I decided that I needed to take a weekend away from the computer to spend some quality time with family. I think it was the best thing that I have done in a long, long time.

So Friday after signing out, Lilly and I did some baking. We made homemade brownies and Oreo Balls. While they were cooking, we watched a movie together.. We all cuddled on the couch and ate some baked goods.. It was lots of fun and very yummy! We went to bed at 8:30. After the kids were asleep in the tent, it allowed dh and I to have a nice long talk about priorities and what we both needed for each other. A VERY needed talk.

On Saturday, I dropped Lilly off at MIL's house for a little visit while I went to the mall with my sister and Lukas. I bought a cute pair of Gap jeans for $12.00.. (YAY) I'm sure I bought other things but I can't remember.. lol. We went and got groceries and than headed home to look at some houses for MIL. Eventually Lilly came home and we just hung out with one another.. Lilly and I sat on the couch while Lukas slept, and just laughed SO hard. (dh was at the gym) I haven't had that much fun with her in a long time. It was nice to just have one on one time with her. I think we need to do that more. :) We ended up in bed again, early. Dh ended up getting Lilly to sleep for once which was definitely nice!

On sunday we woke up and went to toys r us to buy some games for us to play as a family. Lilly picked Hungry Hungry Hippo and the other version of candyland. thank goodness since the newer version has soo many pieces to it that do not stay together well. so we played those games more times than we could count. Dh went and bought Chinese Food that was sssssssooooooo yummy. we ate that and watched Aladdin. My first time ever watching it. it was super cute. We were in bed again by about 8:30

Kind of a boring update to everyone Im sure but it is a great one for us.

Wordless Wednesday on a Thursday

2010-01-28T10:51:00.007-05:00

All About Lilly today. :)

Hot Mama Tuesday Blog #2

2010-01-27T18:58:00.010-05:00

What has been your favourite vacation?

Oh gosh. Im not sure what my favourite vacation is. I haven't been to many places in my life but I hope to travel around a little bit more to see places that I have always wanted to see.

I think I'll pick a few cuz i don't have pictures of all of them.

#1. Dh and I LOVE Montreal. We haven't been since having the kids but we used to go every year. I love the history there and just the atmosphere in general. It's just a charming city full of life. And really how can you not love a city where every other store is a sex shop. :P I hope that I can go back there very soon and recommend that if you haven't been there, to go there. You won't regret it!!

#2. Florida. My grandparents have a time share in St. Petersburg/Clearwater. I have been 3 times I believe. I love the beach there and of course the heat. The shopping really helps too. :) Even though we've been to Florida 3 times we have never left that area. :( When Lilly was about 21 months, I flew there to meet my family. ( I was 3 months pregnant too :P) It was one of my favourite trips because i got to see the excitement in Lilly's face. She loved seeing the dolphins and that was definitly the highlight of the trip.

#3. British Columbia. We went here in June to surprise a friend for his wedding. that in itself was worth the scary plane ride full of bumps and mechanical issues.. In addition to a wedding, we were able to see some scenery. I loved seeing the waterfalls and rain forest.
We made a bunch of great friends in BC that actually live close to us. They are really great people and I can't wait to see where our friendship will take us.

And of course this little guy was the star of the show. (sorry Lauren, you did look great though)

I KNOW that i can repost this blog in May and tell you what my favourite trip is. :)

Monday Update

2010-01-25T16:31:00.004-05:00

Another weekend has flown by. Why is it that the days that you look forward to the most, always fly by so quickly. I really could have used another day. I'm in a funk and not quite sure how to get out of it.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday we hung out as a family watching movies and playing games. I think that is my favourite time. I really need to capture more pictures of us together doing the everyday things. It is on my to-do list.

Saturday Lilly and I went out and about while daddy watched Lukas. I always love having my one on one time with Lilly.. every time we do it, I insist that we need to do it more. I'm looking for a red hang bag for my stroller but no such luck yet. After that I searched for nursing tanks, cart covers and really anything to make me smile. lol. At one of the stores we say Lilly's picture from her first birthday on the changing room wall. She was soooo excited. It made me smile too knowing that she was so happy. She played while I shopped and even cleaned up when i said it was time to go. The lady was so impressed with her. (as was I) So we left the store with a nursing top and a cute pair of squeaky shoes for Lukas. Lilly was upset because she didn't get anything and Lukas did.. ugh.. bad mommy. So we went to the toy cupboard and she picked out a carseat for her dolls. Really cool and if you have a girl you must get one. :) After that Lilly went to grandmas house for a bit while i rushed home to nurse Lukas. Dh and I were able to curl up and watch some stupid movie and I got to talk to a really great friend who learned some new things about me. I'm not as perfect as I seem, people :P

Sunday was a lot more fun. I went out and bought Lilly a bed frame.. She saw it online and loved it and I really really want to encourage her to sleep in her room. Hopefully this will help. I may be more excited than her about the bed. Why is it that 3-4 weeks seems like an eternity? lol. I got the one on the right for her.
After buying the bed, dh and I went and tried to look at cars but it was closed.. boooo :( Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday we can go and check out our second vehicle. We are on the fence right now but are leaning towards getting a Mazda5 which is a mix between a matrix and a minivan.. I can't wait to have a car during the day or while dh is out at the gym.

So now it's back to a week of babysitting. I love that I get to spend so much time with my nephews but sometimes it is really draining watching after 3 one year olds and a 3.5 year old. They usually get along really well so that makes it easier, I guess. I tried to take pics of them and they didn't turn out so well but I fell in love with this one:
anyways with that, I'm off to the dentist.. ugh.

Thankful Thursday & Winner

2010-01-22T14:48:00.003-05:00

Thankful Thursday:
I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, Markus. Not only does he work hard so that i can stay home with our beautiful children but he also is so understanding and easy going. If he comes home from work and the house is a mess, he doesn't freak. He understands if it has been a busy day and doesn't push the fact. He really has made me a stronger and better person. Love him so much.

With that I am sure it is a given that I am thankful for my children. For as long as I can remember, the only job I ever wanted to do was be a mom. I wouldn't chose any other kids to be a mom to. Sure they have their moments but most of the time they make me pretty damn happy and proud. I'm so thankful that I have the knowledge and resources to make the best choices for my family.

Today the last thing I am thankful for is grandparents. I love that my kids can be so close to them. I remember going to grandmas as a kid and it is such a wonderful memory. I love that they are close by and are always willing to help. I love it even more to see the happiness that my kids bring to them.

WINNER OF THE COOKBOOK IS......
Kaylee. Congratulations to you!! It must be your lucky month ;)

thanks to everyone who entered. be sure to send me your favourite recipes.. lol

Giveaway!!

2010-01-20T15:31:00.003-05:00

Ok, so whenever I talk to people about food, I always recommend this recipe book called "Make it Fast, Cook it slow." I am in love with it. She makes everything from apps, to side dishes, to main dishes, to dessert. Who knew you could make cheesecake in a slow cooker? This whole book is a spin off from her making a new years resolution to use her slow cooker everyday for a full year. The recipes are easy to do and taste sooo good.. I have yet to find a recipe that i don't like. Ive made shepards pie, mashed potatoes, a pork dish, a cream cheese chicken dish (yummy) and many more.

Since I love this cookbook so much, I want to share it with everyone who loves to use their slow cooker, or who would like to use their slow cooker more. So I'm going to giveaway this amazing cookbook. This girl also has a blog with a ton of recipes: http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Enter for your chance to win. Deadline is Friday January 23 :) GOOOOOD LUCK!!
To enter: leave your name below with your favourite thing to cook!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T15:27:00.001-05:00

Hot Mama Tuesday Blog

2010-01-19T15:46:00.002-05:00

Every Tuesday we will have a topic to write about to encourage us to keep up with our blog.
Today's topic is What would you do with $50,000.00

I'll be honest in that I wouldn't do one reasonable thing with it. The first thing I would probably do is buy a car because we are planning to buy one anyways. After that I would plan a trip for dh and I to go on an Alaskan Cruise. I'd also do a trip with the kids to anywhere they wanted to go. That's probably my $50,000 right there but I would make sure to send my mom and dad on their dream vacation. They deserve it!

Dh on the other hand would spend a little bit and than put the rest in a savings account! He's boring that way. :)

Update Monday

2010-01-18T12:45:00.002-05:00

Since it's been awhile since I blogged, I'm going to take today to go through each family member and update on them. (plus my weekend was pretty uneventful)

So lets start with Markus:

There are some big changes happening with Mark. His current job as a butcher is just not the job for him. He has been sick and the repetitiveness of the job is taking a toll on his body and health. It's not a good place for him to be. Im sure some of you have heard me talk about Mark returning to school. Well we are almost positive that he is going to return to school to become a firefighter. It's been something that he has wanted to do since before we met. I told him in the beginning that no way could I do it. I've grown a lot in the past years and feel secure enough to be on my own for long periods of time. So with this, Mark is moving ahead. He has currently joined a gym to help him to get into shape. He has a long ways to go but I know that he can do it. I'm so proud of him for working as hard as he is so that we can have a great life.

Next up, Holly: (sorry, I have no pic of me)
While I haven't been doing anything exciting a lot has changed. In the past week or so, I've grown a lot. I've realized what is important and that I need to learn to balance life better. It's so easy to get sucked into the computer and neglect the rest of the "world". My new goal is to not turn on the computer until lunch is made and everyone is eating. Than they all go to bed for a nap which is when I can work out and enjoy some time on the computer. Today was the first day and it went very well. :) So if you don't see me in the morning, that's what is going on.

I've also started up booty camp again. Im so ashamed of myself. My weight and inches have gone up since i did Booty Camp in October. What a shame. I worked my butt off to lose those inches. So im more determined than ever to knock this weight off and KEEP it off. Along with the working out, dh and I are really watching what we eat and are being sure that we eat a well balanced meal every day! I'm excited at the thought of all of it and I'm hoping that i can shed lots of fat before our trip to florida.

Next up, Lilly:

Oh my sassy little girl. Lilly has been busy. I love how everyday she gets more and more vocal about what she does and doesn't want to do. i try to let her pick the things she does, and work around it. I find she engages more if she helped. She continues to amaze me everyday. Lilly's favourite part of the day, is when we do a craft of some sort. It may just be colouring or painting or even making a dessert. She loves it when we hang the stuff up on the fridge.

She is loving her preschool. I know that she'd love for it to be longer but she always runs to me to hug me when its time to take her home. She has learned so much there that I couldn't have even imagined that she would understand. She has a ton of friends there and tends to be the social butterfly. Her "boyfriend" is Jakob. Im not sure what that entails at 3 but hopefully not much. haha. When she is not at school, she is pretending to play school. I'm always called teacher Julie..

Aside from school and the home life, Lilly is in gymnastics. She continues to love it and is doing very well with it. She tends to wander away and do her own thing at times but she's really understanding how each piece of equipment works. The session is almost over but she has decided that she would like to continue. She moves up to the next level. We aren't doing anything else but are hoping to start swimming lessons up again, just in time for Florida.

Last but not least, Lukas:

Oh sweet Lukas. This little boy is seriously the most sweetest human being I have ever met. the way he looks at you just melts your heart. He has so many different expressions of cuteness that I don't think I can ever be bored of it. His big blue eyes just sparkle all the time. He is 13 months now and isn't "on the move." He scoots around on his bum but doesn't move very quickly or go very far. He only rolls around in bed. He refuses to be on his tummy at any point unless he's sleeping. He now likes to walk holding onto our hands. It took awhile for him to do that but that's ok. He will move when he's ready. At his appointment he was 19 lbs 15 oz. My little peanut. He says Mama, dada, hi, itty, and more. He likes to point to get what he wants, which i am hoping that he learns to not rely on the finger. Other than that he continues to grow and amaze us.

As a family: we have a ton going on. We have planned a trip to Florida in May. I'm so excited to go. We are making our first stop at Walt Disney World and I cannot wait! We've book a Mickey Mouse dinner, a cinderella dinner in the castle and a special trip for Lilly to go to the Boutique to be made up like her favourite princess. I'm looking forward to the whole thing but I know i MUST go on the tower of terror. It is one ride that i want to go on and I'll probably add splash mountain to that too.

In addition to our trip, we need to buy a second car. I rely on my mil a lot and I always feel bad. Right now we are trying to decide between a Mazda5 or a Toyota Sienna. I think we are leaning towards the Mazda5 since a van may be too big for my liking.

Well i'll see you all tommorrow ;)

I'm coming back full force

2010-01-16T09:26:00.005-05:00

I have to come back. Where else can I vent and bang my head and actually have a place to brag about my kids and family where I won't be judged. At least I hope that it is here. So watch out for a week full of blogging starting on Monday.

In the past few weeks in my break of blogging, so much has gone on. I've thought about blogging about the different events in my life, but couldn't find a way to blog about it and get it out. Looking back now, I think that it probably would have helped to get it out and off of my chest. In the end though all of these things have just made me a stronger person and continue to shape the person that I am becoming. My kids need a mom who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in or who surrounds herself with negative energy. My ultimate goal of 2010 is not to lose weight, or to save more money, but it is to be a more positive person. I want to spend less time thinking about what isn't but more so what is. Im going to cherish every single moment and be thankful for all of those moments that I have. So I think instead of focusing on my house being unorganized and toys everywhere, that I should focus on the fact that I actually have a beautiful house to call my home. I wonder if I can get dh to look at that positive aspect too? lol. Probably not. I think I may need to take a more positive outlook on cleaning too. Im working on it and I'll keep you updated. ;)

Until Monday I leave you with this cuteness:
Lilly at her concert:

Lilly picked out this outfit and insisted posing:

playing with my camera and learn to take pics in b&w:

Lukas loves his Cozy Coupe when he can actually play in it.

Everything is a phone.. He picks it up and says Hi hi hi

Lukas, Aaron & Brennen in bathtime.

Nephew Brennen: hehe

Lilly in the snow:

Lilly in her george jammies with book and doll from a great friend who sent them:

Winner of bows!

2009-12-05T16:32:00.003-05:00

Instead of Lilly picking a name out of a hat, I did a random number generator online. Since there were 12 people it was between 1-12.

The lucky winner is #3. Please Contact me to discuss your prize.

Because I am feeling extra generous today, I decided to pick one more random number to win $10.00 that can be used for any bow you'd like.

The second lucky winner is #11. Please contact me to discuss your prize..

Thanks everyone and good luck next time when we have a draw that boy mommies can participate in :)

List of my favourite baby things :)

2009-12-04T10:12:00.002-05:00

Since many of you know how much I love shopping, I thought it would be fun to do some feature items. I'm always looking for some great things for the kids. :)

Stroller:
I've had many strollers. Graco Travel system which was great but rather bulky. I do miss it though. Ive had the Joovy Sit N stand which i hated. There was no room for Lilly to sit on the back and I had no way to keep her strapped in. I had umbrella strollers that were just too low and never held anything. After biting the cost of the stroller, I finally bought the Phil & Teds stroller that I had always wanted. I Love this stroller. Compact, easy to use, drives like a dream and fits one kid or two kids. Lilly loves being able to pick to ride in the top or bottom. When she doesn't want to ride it gives me a nice big basket :) Would recommend this over sit and stand and any stroller for that matter.

Carseat:
I LOVE my britax carseats. Im not willing to buy any other ones for a few reasons. 1. Ease of installation. I can get that thing super tight with little effort. 2. Love that they can harness longer. 3. Comfy. 4. Solid seat. 5. Safety standards surpassed 6. sylish
they are pricey but imo you can't put a price on safety!! I now have 4 of these seats which will work out perfect for the twins when I get my van and can transport all of them :)

Carrier: I Love my carriers. I have a cuddlywrap, mei tai, solarsling, mamaas milk, beco, angelpack and a mayawrap sling.
My favourite is the Angelpack. its light, wasy to use and has just the right amount of padding. Lukas and lilly both love being in it.

till next time have a great day :)

Blog Giveaway #2

2009-12-01T18:28:00.003-05:00

So since i've been slacking on my blog again, I decided to do another giveaway to show you how terribly sorry I am and that I will never let it happen again. hehe.

So the last giveaway was a book that is a favourite in our house. Congratulations to Mandy for winning that :) This time Im giving away BOWS by Girly Girl Creations. She is a friend of mine in Texas that I've known for 4 years. Her bows always amaze me and I love the quality of them. Definitly not what you get in stores. If you have a little girl, you must have these bows. :) The other great thing is she can take an outfit and custom make a bow for it.
You can check out many many different styles of bows at: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2842851&op=1&o=all&view=all&subj=24648727917&aid=-1&oid=24648727917&id=657422923#/group.php?gid=24648727917&ref=ts

Here are the bows that I have purchased for the giveaway :) Please remember that you pick which clip or pony you want it on. You can also change the colours of them if you would like at no cost whatsoever. :)

#1: Boutique Bow

#2: Flowers

#3: Basic Bows with Korker

In order to participate please leave a comment with why your little girl would like to add these bows to her collection or to start a collection. The deadline will be this Friday December 4th. the draw will be done randomly on Saturday December 5th so that you can get the bows in time for Christmas :)

Good Luck!

Twinkie Tuesday

2009-11-25T09:48:00.004-05:00

Im a day late on this but dh and I had a date night so I wasn't on my computer all night :)

So since I have started watching the twinkies, i've decided to dedicate a whole day to them. Hopefully I can include pictures of them as well. thankfully they look sooo different that it is easy to tell them apart. when they were itty bitty it was really hard. The only way i could tell them apart was by their ears. Brennen has super tiny ears and Aaron has elf ears. :)

So lets start with twinkie A, Aaron.

Aaron is a feiesty little boy. I always thought he would be the trouble maker as he has that type of personality. I think I may have been wrong though. Since he has been here, he has been so laid back. he just does his own thing and is happy to just be on his own. He rolls all around the playroom to get what he wants. His favourite toy right now is the pink elephant that sings a song. He also really enjoys the piano. Aaron is the smaller of the two. I believe he was just 20 lbs at his 1 year checkup. I find he can be a little whiney but its to be expected every once in awhile. Lilly loves Aaron. She always asks for him first. She feeds him his bottles. I must say he is super easy to put to sleep. I just put him in bed with his soother and within 5 minutes he is out.

Twinkie B, Brennen
Brennen is the ham of the two. He's just one of those kids that you want to pinch his cheeks, which he's got plenty of. He is definitly the bigger of the two, by a lot. He's a tank. he has a very laid back personality and is just go with the flow. I thought he would be the easier one to watch but he seems to be a little out of sorts right now. Im assuming its just because he's confused as to why he is here. Im sure he will get back to himself. Im guessing it doesn't help either that he has some sort of cough and rattle in his throat. Generally though he is quite happy . Brennen is the mover. He gets up on all fours and is so ready to crawl. He has the idea of how its supposed to work but hasnt' quite got there yet. Im betting very soon he will just take off. :) I can't wait but I really hope he does it at home first so that Kelly can see it first. I don't want to take those first moments away from her. He also rolls all over the place and pushes himself all around. I love his hair. he's got so much of it and its blond.. super cute :)

I have some pictures of them but for some reason blogger is having issues and i can't post them. I;ll try again later..

Catch-Up Monday

2009-11-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

this one may be a long one. Things seem to be so busy these days. I'll break it up into groups.

Markus: Dh is currently on light duty at work. He has carpal tunnel in both wrists. It gets pretty bad. So they may have to do surgery on both wrists. Im hoping not but if it helps him than it is totally worth it. We know that this job as a butcher is not a long term job, so we are in the process of finding an actual career for dh to do. It may involve some more schooling though. We are tossing a few ideas around but firefighter is at the top of the list.. He's wanted too do it for as long as I can remember but I wasn't strong enough to let him do it. Now I know that I can't hold him back and that it really would be the perfect job for him. So we have a bit of time to figure everything out. Please pray that we get the guidence needed to help us find the perfect career for him.

Holly: Ive been busy driving Lilly to her events. Along with being a taxi driver, I have been baking cakes, trying to clean the house, planning Lukas' first birthday party (invites to come soon), preparing for the twins babysitting gig and then of course Christmas shopping. I've also been planning activities for Lilly's "homeschooling". I haven't really had much time for myself but thats definitely ok :) I am looking forward to starting boot camp again in January, even if I am going alone :(

Lilly: She is a busy child.. Always needs to be doing something. Right now she is doing skating for 30 -45 minutes on Sundays. She's doing pretty well. She gets frustrated and wants to give up but in a little bit of time, I know she'll be zipping along the ice. On Monday's she has gymnastics for an hour. She loves this. Her favourite still continues to be the uneven bars. The floor is also a favourite.. the balance beam is a challenge for her though. She got her recommedation for her next placement and they want her to go to the next level which is awesome. :) Im so proud of her and hope that she continues to enjoy it as I enjoy watching her! Aside from her commitments she enjoys doing crafts at home. I need lots of ideas for them, as she would do this all day long. Her creativity is awesome. She's still really enjoying school and is learning more than I could imagine. She surprises me so much. She is scheduled to start Junior Kindergarden next year but im not sure.. We'll wait and see on that :) She got her hair cut this week and her fairy pictures done. I must say I can't wait to see the final product!! I will be sure to post.

Lukas: Oh my blob :) I forsee that he won't be that much longer. He scoots around on his bum on hardwood floors.. Its really slow but he is moving somewhat. He can also turn himself around in circles. He still isn't saying much aside from mama and dada and Hi. He waves Hi & bye and has a smile that can melt your heart. He's laid back and just so darn cute. He loves to cuddle especially at night. If i move away from him, he scoots over to me. He loves to nurse and eat finger foods as well.. He doesn't play strange with anyone and loves to have all of the attention. I seriously can't believe that he is going to be 1 next month :( Breaks my heart but at the same time, Im so excited to see his personality expand to so much more. :)

We've had our first Family Christmas on the weekend. It was great. I love the holidays and love that we get to spend it with such a big family. We were also fortunate to spend some time at a friends house in Midland. It is so beautiful and sooo quiet out there. Definitely a nice break from the busy city every once in awhile.

Only 31 days until Christmas :)
Twinkie Update tommorrow :)

Work

2009-11-22T19:11:00.003-05:00

Tommorrow is my first offical day of work. Im going to be babysitting my sister's twin boys, Aaron & Brennen. It will probably be quite the challenge. I am assuming feeding time will be the worst.. They are great boys though, so either way it will be a lot of fun! I feel horrible for my sister that she has to leave her babies and go back to work. I know its super hard on her and probably just as hard on the boys. Hopefully she has the strength to leave the boys behind tommorrow. I hope that somehow she has comfort knowing that I will love those boys and care for them as if they are my own. I think it will be great for Lilly & Lukas to be so close to their cousins. So hopefully we can make things run smoothly tommorrow :)

So in an effort to keep up with my blog more, Im stealing some ideas from friends and having themed days.
Monday: catch-up Mondays
Tuesdays: Twinkie Tuesdays
Wednesdays: Wordless Wednesdays
Thursdays: Totally updated Thursdays
Fridays: Info & Venting Fridays

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T16:41:00.003-05:00

The kids had a blast this year! It was seriously so much fun.

Lilly loved saying trick or treat and was polite most of the time. We had one instance where someone gave her one piece of candy and she said only one? Im glad I wasnt at the door with her. lol.. i did pull her aside though and explain to her that they don't have to give her any candy. I told her it was very rude. She kept saying sorry mommy. So at the next house they went to give her lots and she stopped them and said only one. So im not sure if she meant to say only one in a give me more way or if she was just stating that she was getting one..

Can't wait to see how much fun it is next year for them.

THE WINNER IS....

2009-10-31T22:29:00.002-04:00

MANDY!!!

Congratulations. :) Please send me a message with your address so I can mail it to you.
As an added bonus, I decided to include Purplicious as well.
I hope that Brooklyn loves it as much as Lilly does. :)

For all of you who didn't win, sorry :( i wish i could give one to all of you! BUT this won't be the last draw I do.. So keep your eye out!!!

For the time being:
have a PINKERIFIC day :)

Didn't lose much, but gained a lot!!!

2009-10-30T11:42:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the final day of booty camp. She definitly didn't go easy on us. but it felt great.

My summery:
Booty camp was excellent.. I didn't realize how out of shape I was. In the beginning, I could hardly do 1 girly push up. Now i can do a set of 12. Thats after just 4 weeks.. Not bad id say. I also had a hard time with cardio and situps.. thankfully i can do both now. I can't believe the difference in how i feel. I feel like i have energy. I can roll around on the grass with lilly for a long time and not run out of breath so quickly. I can see a difference in myself and see that it really affected Lilly. We play tag all the time and she's loving it. I can't wait to start back at it again in January. :)

My measurements:
So I didn't lose much in terms of inches measurements and weight. Most of that stayed the same. My biggest lose was in the caliper measurements, which measures body fat.

Tricep before: 20 NOW: 16
Suprailium before: 18 NOW 16
Thigh before 18: NOW 18

Body fat % before: 22.5 lbs NOW 20.5 lbs (whichis in the high end of the athletes category)
Fat weight before: 32.4 lbs NOW 29.4
Lean mass before: 111.6 NOW 114.1

i didn't take pictures b/c i think i look the same :p

I think i expected to lose too much in the short 4 weeks. im goign to continue the workouts on my own though. Im going to stay committed to it. I don't want to lose this feeling of being in shape.

Turning over a new leaf :)

2009-10-27T21:54:00.004-04:00

I've come to realize that I need to be a better wife, mother and house wife. I tended to let my duties slip away and it was starting to show in my house. It was constantly chaos in my house. Dishes piled up, Laundry was out of control, toys everywhere, food crumbs all around and so on. (although my bathrooms were clean :P) If someone came over unexpected, i didn't want to let them past the front door. It was embarrasing.. So i knew i needed to do something to ensure that my family didn't suffer from the chaos.. I actually noticed that the rest of my family's mood had changed as the house got messier. :) So i joined flylady and devoted myself to keeping my house clean. Things get put away when they are done. At the end of the day, i never go to bed with dishes in the sink. I shine my sink each night. Dishwasher is started at night and put away in the morning before the computer goes on or breakfast is started. Im slowly working on a routine that will fit my family.

I can say that my house looks great. things are tidy and in its place. Its not perfect yet, and it still has hot spots but im working thru those.. I even organized my fridge :) Hopefully once things are in order I can unpack the rest of our stuff :)

I was also slacking in the cooking department.. We tended to eat out a little more than we should *bows head in shame* So i started making freezer meals and planning a flexible menu. Ive made 8 meals for my freezer so far and plan to make many many more, as soon as I clean out my freezer :P I bought a slow cooker that could hold the food and so far so good.. Ive made 3 amazing meals for supper. Ive also committed myself to making breakfast and lunch for lilly and I.

So far, I have already noticed a huge change in my family. Everyone seems more content and happy. Mark comes home from work and isn't met at the door with a mounting pile of stuff. He is able to come home to a clean house with an idea that he will get supper at a reasonable time. I think that its made a huge difference in our marriage. Im holding up my end of the deal at home.

I know this seems silly but i really truely can't believe the difference it has made and I am 100% committed to keeping this up. :)

Tommorrow i hope to take pictures of the house to show the progress I am making :) So come back tommorrow for Wordless Wednesday (thanks Kat!!)

PS dont' forget to enter the draw on the following post :)

Pinkalicious book GIVE AWAY

2009-10-22T14:51:00.001-04:00

My first ever give away.
We recently ordered some books from Lilly's book orders at school. She wanted Pinkalicious by looking at the order form so we bought it. http://cupcakesforall.com/pinkalicious.htm

It has become an Instant favourite in our family. Even daddy loves it. Its the first book that Lilly reaches for. It's about a girl who LOVES pink. When She eats too many cupcakes, she wakes up and is Pinkerbell. She loves it but keeps eating pink and turns red. She has to eat all the yucky green stuff to turn back to normal.. will she ever eat the yucky green?

If you want to be apart of this giveaway just comment on my blog about why you'd love this book (or your kids) and be sure to leave your name so that I can contact you if you are a winner.

FTR: this is being done out of my own pocket. I am not being paid or reimbursed for doing this. I just want to share our favourite book with everyone else. :) Good Luck. Winner will be drawn November 1st. :)

Green With Envy (Grobaby Video)

2009-10-20T19:46:00.003-04:00

thought this was cute. check it out :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW9navHC7Qo

Pumpkins and Online Groceries

2009-10-19T20:33:00.003-04:00

Holy smokes where have the days been going? I feel like I wake up and its time for bed.. lol. Not that Im getting any sleep at night though. It doesn't bother me much though. I know its only a matter of time before he doesn't need me anymore..

Today Lukas and Lilly and I went to the pumpkin patch with Uncle Matt and Grandma B. It was nice and there wasnt many people so it was great.. We picked 3 huge pumpkins and then Lilly picked a baby one for Lukas. Uncle Matt got his first pumpkin. :) I can't believe that he's 35 years old and that he's never carved a pumpkin. It was definitly fun but im glad it only happens once a year. :) I'll have pictures tommorrow.

I even got grocery shopping done today *snickers*. I ordered it online from grocery gateway. Before you think I'm lazy, try to understand. Its much easier to nurse a cranky little boy in the comfort of your own home while grocery shopping as oppose to pushing the cart with lilly in it (sometimes) while nursing lukas and picking out the groceries.. VERY DIFFICULT for those of you who don't know.. The other great thing is that i wasnt tempted to buy junk that i didnt need. It will be delivered tommorrow am.

I dont plan to order all the time but im thinking its great for the once a month big order. You know the ones with the heavy bottle of water for our cooler and the one where it takes forever to go up and down every aisle with both kids getting fussy.. ya that one. :)

Will post pics tommorrow of the pumpkins :)

GROBABY By: The Natural Baby Co.

2009-10-17T10:13:00.003-04:00

I recently enjoyed some grobaby diapers. My son is 10 months old and we have had one heck of a time getting diapers to fit him. When I heard about the Grobaby diapers, I immediately contacted The Natural Baby Co. and was on my way to try them.

My first thought were that the colours were stunning. They were bright and vibrant. They weren't like any other colours out there. I was loving it.

After inspecting the diaper, I noticed the awesome velcro tabs. Again it was much different than the other velcro diapers. I was giving up on velcro since it always pilled and snagged on things. Grobaby diapers velcro was not a stiff scratchy velcro. It didn't rub on my little guys stomach and best of all it didn't collect all that nasty lint and hair in the velcro. Ive washed it many many times and never have to yank it off of other diapers if i forgot to close the tabs. I think this is my favourite part about them.

Another option with grobaby are the biosoakers that I will get to try for free. The fact that i can use the biosoakers with this diaper is a HUGE plus. I do a lot of visiting family members and many of them don't like me to wash my diapers in their washing machine, so I always end up buying disposables for the trip. The biosoakers make this so much easier without having to compromise my commitment to cloth diapers and the environment. Being able to dispose of them makes it easier on everyone and I don't' have to tote dirty diapers around with me. You can find these amazing biosoakers : htt...p://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/gro-baby-biodegradable-soaker-pads-p-745.html

If you are looking for a great well made diaper that will grow with your baby and has many options, choose Grobaby.. You won't regret it. And look how cute they are:

Totally Lilly

2009-10-17T09:41:00.003-04:00

Im a little late on this ;)

Lilly is in such a fun yet frustrating age. I love watching her talk more and more like an adult. She says some things that I never even knew she knew about. She surprises me everyday. With this wonderful gift of talking comes the gift of talking back too. We are dealing with this but it is definitely difficult.

Lilly still has a love for books. You could read to her day and night and she would still want to read more. Such a great thing for her. Thankfully her school does the book orders every month, so I have made it a priority to build up our book collection by buying at least one book a month. Our newest book we got was Pinkalicious and it is a definite favourite. If you have a little girl you have to pick up this book. :) We bought lots of books for Christmas for her as well and my sister bought her the tag book system. I know she'll love it.

She is still LOVING school. She usually does all the crafts she can and just loves being around kids her age. She often tells me all about her friends and how she's so excited to see them. I just found out that her best friend is Jeff. She says its her boyfriend but that she won't kiss him. (where do they learn this stuff?) I didn't' start kissing tag till SK. :P She's also in the boys can't do this, only girls stage.. Its very cute..

We have continued to have Lilly in gymnastics. She loves it more than anything. They have started to wean the parents out from class and I find that she does better when Im not right there directing her. Its so fun to just sit back and watch her enjoy herself.

That little girl is amazing. I love her to pieces. She is such a kind hearted kid and loves to snuggle. Im cherishing these moments with her because i know the days are limited. I'm soaking it all up. :)

Totally Lukas

2009-10-14T09:14:00.004-04:00

Todays post is all about Lukas. Im going to try and devote one day a week to each kid :)

Lukas is now 10 months old (how did that happen you ask, Im not sure either)

Lukas has got to be one of the happiest babies I know. He is so easy going and just loves to sit on his own and play. If you make eye contact with him, he just beams from ear to ear. He loves being center of attention too. He will be playing and he constantly looks up at me to make sure I'm still watching. Then he smiles and goes right back to playing.

This little boy LOVES his sister. When he wakes up in the morning, he looks over to Lilly to see if she is ready to play. Usually this is not the case as she is my child that likes to sleep in. He almost looks disappointed when she's asleep. The minute she's awake though he goes CRAZY. he flails his arms and just laughs and smiles.. He wants to be near her all the time no matter what she's doing. I love seeing them interact.

His favourite word is mama.. he is always yelling it and always always repeating it over and over.. It never gets old. He also says dada, hi and tries so hard to say Lilly. He hates tummy time so im not really expecting him to crawl but he did get up on 4's the other day for the 2 seconds he was on tummy time..

He likes to stand and always tries to let go which results in a fall. I tried to catch a picture but he just got mad:

Naptimes are about 2 or 3 times a day. the first morning one he will only ever take in his swing. He doesnt' like to miss the action:

the afternoon nap he takes with Lilly and sometimes me. Lilly & him love to cuddle but i usually try to seperate them for now since lilly moves around WAY too much. Definitly in the future though, I will let them sleep together if thats what they wish to do. Maybe dh and I can have the bed to ourselves again :) This is how i found them the other day (they started to wake up because of the flash)

As far as food, Lukas loves it. He will eat anything and everything. He loves finger foods. We skipped baby food and went right to table foods. I love seeing babies chewing :) His favourite thing ever is peaches and applesauce. he could eat them all the time.. He loves those rice crackers. Pretty much everything we give him he'll eat.

He got some new blocks from Uncle Matt and he loves them.

Booty Camp Kicked My Butt!

2009-10-07T14:30:00.004-04:00

Seriously!!

As you know I was nervous leading up to it. As we drove there, I was even more nervous. Nervous that they would shout out my measurements for everyone to hear. (which they did do).
My little sister is doing Booty Camp with me, so it's nice to have that support. Surprisingly we measured in about the same in every department. Which I think is great because we can have a mini challenge between each other. Keep us motivated to do our best.

So my measurements are as following:
Arms: 10 inches
Chest: 37
Waist: 32
Hips: 36
Butt: 40
Thighs: 21
Weight: 144 lbs
Body Fat: 22.5%
Fat Weight 32.4 lbs

The actual Workout:
We started off with some intense warm ups. I was huffing and puffing for breath and my legs felt like jello, all within the first 10 minutes. Pretty bad eh? I haven't' worked out in a long long time, so i expected it to an extent. It was terrible. I thought a few times that I couldn't do this and that I should just give up. I stuck with it even though it was hard. VERY hard. We did soooo many lunges and squats. Our knees had to almost touch the ground.. And squats are good until you do like 50 in a row.

I was relieved when we got to sit on our Yoga mats for some push ups etc. it was almost like a break. Until we were told that we couldn't slack. I can't do push ups, never have been able too. I pushed myself and was able to do a few. I have to work on them.

Next we are informed its our lucky day and that we are doing ladders. (think the tires on most boot camp drills) we had to jump in and out and run with both feet going in each tiny spot. To add to it being difficult we had to go fast because you had the more advanced people right on your tail. We did this cardio for a long time, too long almost. thankfully it started raining, so we were given a quick break to put our stuff in the car. I had to sit on the seat for a minute to relax.. i wasn't in a hurry to get back. After the tiny break, we are back to Ladders. Seriously, Hell on the ground. ugh.

After Ladders, the rain is really coming down. We do standing abdominal stuff because of the wet ground. We do planks and a run because we weren't motivated enough. I know it has to be getting close to being done.. We finally get to do our stretches to cool down a little.. The magic words were said. "OK girls that's it for today" BUT be prepared for Thursday because I took an easy on you today."

ARE YOU KIDDING? I thought i was dying and that is being easy on us. OMG. I am not looking forward to Thursday. Today i woke up in soooo much pain.. I can hardly walk. It feels great in a sense though because i know its working that fat and muscle. I knew this would be a challenge and I know I'm up for it. I have to stay strong and just push myself a little bit more each time. If i need inspiration, I just look at the before pictures. (they are not pretty!)

PICTURES:
My before pictures:

Before the workout:

My Partner In Crime:

And my sweethearts to make this blog stay cute:

Little teapot:

BOOTY CAMP

2009-10-06T15:41:00.002-04:00

You've seen me mentioning this for awhile now. The long anticipated night is here.
Am I excited? YES! Am I nervous? ABSOLUTELY.

I don't know what to expect. Ive read things from past members who say I will loathe lunges at the end of it. I hear there is running and squats and everyother fun workout. I know this is going to kick my butt. Im pretty out of shape. The only working out I've done since having Lukas, is chasing them.. lol I need this bad.

I decided that I wanted to take before pictures, so i stood in front of the mirror in a teeny bikini that I used to wear before I had Lilly.. I tell you that the sight was not as pleasant as I once remember. Muffin tops were hanging over. As much as i love muffin tops, they are definitly not as appealing ON me. My thighs touch and its not a nice feeling. My tummy is flabby and looks like a butt. I will share this graphic pictures but not until the end of my boot camp training when i have pictures of the results. This way you can see that I've worked hard and that I really really stuck with this. This isnt just a temporary thing for me. It's a small part of a lifestyle change that I'm not willing to take lightly.

After tonights class, I'll be back to post the measurements, how it went, how I feel and what my thoughts on it are. :)

Rainbows

2009-10-05T13:58:00.002-04:00

Today we learned about Rainbows. :)
Our first craft was using fruit Cheerios to make a rainbow.
She liked it but got frustrated with the cheerios sticking to her fingers.

I decided to switch it up a bit using marshmellows. She loved this more than the cheerios.
It was much easier to stick them on. I think she enjoyed it so much because she got to eat them.

During this craft time Lukas was supposed to be napping but decided he wanted to watch instead. He was just laughing the whole time. Silly boy. He's working on his 7th tooth still and it's been a nightmare. He's not sleeping and is just cranky. Definitly not my little boy. :( Hopefully it will pop through and he'll be back soon.

Don't forget to check back tommorrow for my Booty Camp Details. It should be interesting to say the least. :) Im not looking forward to getting measurements done :) Here's a link to the booty camp.. So excited.
http://www.bootycampfitness.com/

Learning at Home

2009-10-04T16:49:00.002-04:00

Many of you know that Lilly started preschool. Its a great program for her and she is loving it. :)
Everyday she comes home with lots of crafts and smiles and asks if she can go back. This made me realize that maybe she needed a little more to do at home. I would just let her play by herself and occasionaly she would want me to play too. :)

So, I decided to start a "tot school" with lots of learning opportunities in the different things we do. Lilly loves crafts so anytime I can, I try to do a craft with her. We practice cutting, painting, gluing, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and just having fun while learning.

We bought some funfusion beads. She found this a little difficult at first but she really enjoyed it. She especially liked it when I ironed it together. :)

For thanksgiving we got a piece of paper and dipped the palm of her hand into the brown. Then each finger got a different colour. Carefully placed her hand on the paper and then i added the eyes, legs and wrote Happy Thanksgiving. We plan to give these to family:

Since I couldnt' find liquid starch, we made some Silly Slime. It was a HUGE hit. She loved it. We will definitly do it again.

Lilly loves cutting stuff up. She would to that all day if she could. So she cut up foam into different sizes and then we glued them onto paper. Of course we had to add glitter

and of course some lukas cuteness :)

Jeans

2009-10-01T19:06:00.003-04:00

Today I finally caved and went and bought some new jeans. Ive been putting it off as I wanted to lose another 10 lbs but i couldn't take the big hole in my 2 favourite pairs of jeans anymore. So I went and bought 2 new pairs. I tried on the size 10 which to my surprise was quite loose. :) I was so happy and pretty much ran to grab a size 8. The fit just perfect. :) If i can make it down to a size 7 then i am back down to my pre-wedding size. I still want to lose those 10 lbs and inches in my thighs, hips and get rid of those awful muffin tops..

I signed up for Booty Boot Camp with my younger sister. It is seriously going to kick my butt, but i am so ready for it. I need motivation. I will be blog about my journey through it and you will see the awful pictures to go with it ;) Brace yourselves. That wll all start on Tuesdays. So keep your eye open. Nothing but honesty on this blog. :)

Lilly & the dentist

2009-09-30T18:55:00.003-04:00

Today Lilly had a dentist appointment to have her molars filled due to deep groves in them. She has a much higher risk of cavities, as it has been proven. :( I always feel horrible for my little girl for putting her through this and wish there was something i could do for her. I brush her teeth 2 times a day and she only drinks watered down juice once a week or less.. i try to limit sweets and let her drink water all day long. there isn't' much else i can do.

So the plan was to go in at 8:30 and have her drink a drink that would put her into a light sleep. she wouldn't' be completely under and it is much safer. I was thinking this was the only way Lilly would go for it. The drink was HORRIBLE. Lilly spit it out and wanted nothing to do with it. So we had to go to the laughing gas. I was nervous that she wouldn't let them keep it on her nose. Thankfully they had strawberry smelling gas and she was so excited for it.

She did amazing and kept her mouth open most of the time and just let them do their work. i was so very proud of her. She was definitely happy. I was happy. I knew this was the better choice and that she wouldn't be out of it. They didn't get to fill the 4th tooth because she got restless but she did AMAZING. She jumped up and claimed she was a big girl. Right she was. :)

After all the staff was amazed at how well she did, she picked out 3 stickers. Then ran to tell gma and Lukas how good she was. Once the gas wore off, she was freaking out her mouth being frozen. she did not like it.. ha ha. can't say i blame her.

We left and took her for some frozen yogurt since she was hungry and couldn't eat food for 2 hours. After that she picked out a toy (which of course was a fairy). We went home and slept for a good 2.5 hours. :)

I'm just so proud of my little girl and honestly, I didn't' know she had it in her.. It really proves to me that i underestimate her and that she is capable of a lot more than i think. :) I love that little girl more than she'll ever know.

Our Kitchen Journey

2009-09-28T20:40:00.004-04:00

So i know many have seen that when we bought our house our kitchen was the first thing that needed to go. We searched everywhere for the best kitchen and price. The day before going to order the kitchen from a box store, dh found a guy on Kijiji that custom makes them. We hold off on the ordering and have this guy come in to give us a quote which holds us back a week or so. He comes in and can do everything and install it for less than what we could pay to install it ourselves.. As leary as I was we went with him. We were promised to have it done by August 10th. It was June 18th when we got our house.

We buy appliances that can be built in so we can't use them until our kitchen is done. We figure a little over a month is ok to eat out or go to mils house a bit. BOY WERE WE WRONG!! Very quickly we began to hate eating out, rightfully so. Lilly's birthday and the stress of unpacking kept us busy enough to keep our mind off of the no kitchen. Anxiously we awaited the August 10th date. We were excited, nervous and anxious to get this darn kitchen in.

Sadly August 10th comes and goes and no kitchen. As things start to look like they could happen soon, the kitchen guys wife is admitted to the hospital and isn't able to move. He needs to stay with his 2 young children while being there for his wife, so our kitchen is put on hold. Totally understand this. Next thing we know we are into September with no kitchen, no sink, no stove, no oven. All we had was a microwave and fridge. It was HELL.

Finally the kitchen peices come, one by one. Yet things still don't get done as promised. It will be done next week which comes and goes. Empty promises that we were counting on. Its hard to be understanding and patient when you have already waited well over a month.

During the installation process of our cooktop, it cracks. A $2,000 mistake. Right away calls are made to our appliance store and we are told that it is only under warrenty for 5 days after delivered. GREAT. We've had it since June 20th. We freak about it, worrying that we'll have to fork out that extra money that we clearly don't have. Thankfully Kitchenaid is a great company and sent someone to replace it free of charge. :) things finally start to go our way.

Today marks the day that our kitchen is FINALLY done. We have an oven, cooktop, sink, plumbing, drawers , countertops and everything else. The finishing touches are done and we can FINALLY unpack our kitchen after almost 3 months of it sitting in boxes. Life is good!!!!

Lukas Update

2009-09-26T20:32:00.003-04:00

Since the last post was mostly about Lilly, I thought it was only fair to have one dedicated to him :)

My little boy just melts my heart. I never thought i could ever feel the same amount as love that i have for Lilly but i do. it's amazing how much love one person can have for her kids. He is a total mamas boy and I love that. (Lilly was and still is a daddy's girl).

All day long you can hear Lukas saying mama. It is definitely his favourite word :) I didn't get to experience that with Lilly so I'm soaking this right up. Another thing that you will notice about Lukas is him signing to nurse. When he wants to nurse he signs over and over again until I nurse him. Its very sweet.

He is working on his 7th tooth. He is not crawling yet but we are definitely not pushing it. If anything i wouldn't be surprised if he never crawls. He HATES being on his back or tummy. He'd much rather sit and play with toys. His new favourite thing is to stand. He will hold on to the side of the couch and stand there forever. Hopefully he doesn't figure out cruising too soon :)

Other than that Lukas is a big flirt. He loves all the attention he can get and loves his big sister. I can't wait to see how he grows up into a little boy. I can already tell that he will be very smart. He loves to sit and figure out how things work. You can see his mind racing.

I am going to have lots to say soon regarding school, working out, baking and everyday life.. Keep reading :)

until then i leave you with my little cutie :)

I'm Back... Again

2009-09-16T22:33:00.003-04:00

Im dedicated to getting back into this.. I have so much going on that its nice to have a venting place. :)

Tommorrow marks Lilly's first day of preschool. I always swore up and down that I wouldn't send my kids to preschool, yet here I am doing just that. I thought that I could teach her all that she needed but its more than that. I thought that Gymnastics and swimming and dance etc, etc, etc was enough socializing but it's not. I had hoped to get together in mom's groups and hang out with moms like me but haven't found that group that I click with. I always feel like I'm an outcast because of the way I do things. Sometimes it's like i have 2 or 3 heads. I get frustrated when people put their needs ahead of the kids or make it seem like they are some huge pain in the butt. Maybe they are to them, but to me, my life revolves around them no matter what. I would drop everything to make sure they had what they needed (sounds like what we should do as parents but ive seen way too many moms that don't). It's quite sad and I personally have chosen to stay away from that. Why surround myself with people that are negative?

Anyways back to lilly's first day. My main reason for deciding to send her to this parent involved nursery school was because she kept asking over and over again to go to school. She told me she wanted friends to play with and it broke my heart. I felt like at that point that maybe i was holding her back because of what I believed. My other concern was that when I start watching my sister's boys that she will become bored and may not get the attention she needs/deserves. I wanted her to have an outlet. She''s sooo excited that she has been telling everyone about going to school. She has asked me every day when she gets to go. I know in my heart that it is time for her to go.

I love that it is only 2 days a week for 2 hours. They believe in a lot of play based learning which is fantastic. They have themes, and field trips and lots of other exciting things like that. I get a say in what happens at the school. I can ask as many questions as I want or see how things are run. I can be at the school with Lilly, if need be. They listen to our childs needs and do everything in their power to make it fun for them. I like that. Ive decided that ultimately it's lilly's decision as to what she does. If she wants to go, GREAT. If not than that is just as GREAT and I will not force her too. She knows what is best for herself.

I can't wait to see how her first day goes and hear all about it when i pick her up. Lots of pictures will follow tommorrow as usual. :)

10 days to go

2009-06-08T20:26:00.002-04:00

I seriously can't believe that moving has snuck up on me, yet I cannot get motivated to finish packing. I would say I have about half the house to pack.. I had better get a move on it.. LOL. I guess it doesn't help that Im pretty much doing it on my own and that we've all been sick for the past 1.5 weeks..

As much as i look forward to my new house, I also kinda dread it. I know that I'll have to unpack everything too.. that is NOT going to be fun, seriously. I think the hardest part will be trying to spend enough time with the kids well getting things organized.. Hopefully I can get a bit of help there..

Im really excited though to have the new house.. Its much bigger and it will be great to be organized. I love my current house and will be sad that this is where I brought Lukas into the world. It was also a place of many firsts for Lilly. :( There are so many little things to be done though which will be nice not having to worry about.. :)

Anyways, I should get packing so that I can move out of here on time.. Any volunteers?

Restarting My Blog

2009-06-02T12:10:00.002-04:00

So after months and months of not blogging, Ive decided to take a swing at it again. :) I have so much going on that it would be nice to get things out on a blog.. :)

So here's our latest update:

Markus (dh): Is still working as a butcher.. He is loving it which is great for him. Its hard to keep him interested in a job for very long. I think having 2 kids is the motivation he needed though. :) He's been amazing since having Lukas. He is helping out so much more now and I love it.. He's an amazing husband and dad..

Holly: Currently, Im sick. Not fun but it seems to be on the mend. It's amazing that you can be sicker than a dog, yet not even notice because you are too worried about the kids. I would love to say that ive been busy packing but really ive been busy putting it off :P I just can't get motivated to do it.. Ive just been enjoying the kids really. :) I love my kids, and hubby too :)

Lilly: got her very first ear infection. I must say that I could have done without it and can't imagine how moms handle cronic ones.. It was not fun.. She got no sleep in 3 days.. Thankfully with some milk in the ears, she is healing up just fine.. She seems more like herself today which I am VERY thankful for. :) Lilly is in gymnastics and loving it.. She loves doing everything but is more advanced on the uneven bars.. she is able to swing by herself and pull her feet up and onto the bars.. We are learning how to flip through our arms on it.. She loves jumping too and of course the foam pit.. Seriously though, who wouldn't love that.. :) She talks so much and loves the phone. SHe can count to 15 and knows most of the abcs.. She nurses here and there and still sleeps snuggled up to mine or dh's side.. Life is great.. She's very excited about moving and having a new room that will never get slept in.. haha.

Lukas: has grown sooo much. He is rolling both ways (has been for awhile). He's sitting up with little support and when he's on his tummy, he buries his head in the ground and gets up on his knees. Its scares the crap out of me.. Lol. i don't want him to be mobile too quickly since he is my last baby. He said his first word on saturday which was.... MAMA.. im soo happy.. Lilly said dada then kitty then night then good night before saying mama.. lol.. so i deserve this. :) He is such a happy happy baby.. He loves morning time and will just lay in bed laughing.. His biggest fan is lilly of course.. She can do anything to get a smile out of him, and its instant. He goes for his 6 month check up on the 18th of june.. 6 months??? can u believe that./?? He's kinda sick too but the breastmilk is keeping it at bay.

New House: Only 16 days until we move.. im sooo excited. I have only packed toys and some blankets.. yes i need to get started.. lol. We have to set up fire insurance and change all the utlities over.. we are also getting someone to redo our kitchen for us.. It will be nice to have a new house that doesnt need a whole lot done to it and has a LOT of storage.. i definitly need the storage.. we'll have a garage to which is huge but dh thinks a garage is for a car... silly boy.. lol..

more updates to come with pictures. :)

BUSY BUSY

2008-10-23T09:28:00.005-04:00

Sorry i haven't posted again.. lol.
Things just have gone crazy around here between Lilly, my sister and myself.

Lilly is growing like a weed. I had to go on a shopping spree because she suddenly got to tall for her 18 month pants. She was very happy to pick out new clothes. She is definitly a shopper. somehow though we came back with more shoes for her and she definitly doesn't need anymore. She's talking in sentances a lot more now and LOVES playing with her little people farm. it is by far her favourite toy. She also loves dressing up as a princess. She pretends to be a puppy and crawls around the floor panting.

She recently started dance class and is LOVING it. She does awesome and i love watching her learn new things. My favourite dance move is her star jump. if you saw it, it would be your favourite too :D Here's a few pics of my little princess. :D

://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/hburkhardt/?action=view&current=IMG_4569.jpg" target="_blank

This pregnancy is going well also. The baby is growing right on track and causing me a lot of painful
braxton hicks contractions. i must admit that my belly is much cuter this time than it was with Lilly. i am definitly bigger this time around. most people are surprised to hear that i still have to go to december. makes you feel good eh? lol. My midwife thinks i will go early b/c of all the braxton hicks contractions and how they are increasing in intensity. the baby may be laying sideways but we will find out next week. i hope he moves down soon.

Im starting to get everything ready for a homebirth. A good friend of mine brought me the birthing pool the other day. i need to set it up so that i can see where it will fit etc. I need to find a good list of things i need for my homebirth. I will have 2 midwives and 2 doulas at my birth. i am also hoping that my mom will be there. As you all know Markus will not be there. i will put him in charge of lilly and getting us anything if its needed. I was wanting Lilly to be there for the birth of the baby but i think its best to play that by ear. Im getting very excited for teh arrival of our little one. I am planning on video taping the birth adn am hoping to get lots of pictures.

Here's a picture of my 32 week belly picture.

Other than that everything is well. mark is loving his job at the meat place and seems to enjoy the work and the people he works for.. the money is nice too ;) He has been working overtime though as the prepare for the holidays. He's been playing a new video game which takes up a lot of his time but what do you do. He loves playing blocks with lilly and they are super close.. Lilly loves her daddy.. Their favourite thing to do together is definitly reading though. They read tons of books and if lilly had her way she would read all day long. I must say that hiding on mommy is their next favourite thing to do.. lilly is still learning the rules of hiding though. she likes to laugh and giggle which makes it easier for me to find her.. LOL>

anyways thats all for now. Look for new pictures soon of lilly in dress-up clothes, my 33 week belly pic. :D

She's 2!!

2008-08-29T20:51:00.003-04:00

Im a little late but my little girl is 2! Can you believe it?
She is becoming such a little lady and her vocab just keeps exploding. Her favourite things to do are dance, sing and play with her babies. She loves swimming and swings.
She is still nursing strong and we couldn't be happier. :D

Her birthday was wonderful. we made some cupcakes and then she got to decorate them and then of course eat them. Pictures to follow. :D

For her birthday party we had a princess theme. It turned out great and all of lilly's friends were able to attend. She didn't enjoy everyone singing happy birthday to her though and that brought out some tears. hehe. poor little girl. :P

Anyways here are the pics that you are waiting for and they are in no particular order:

so excited for her dress up chest

going oooo for her clothes

crying when singing happy birthday

blowing out her candles

this is how we keep our friends; on a short leash

cake mommy made

eating the cupcakes

grandmas gift was heavy

showing off her cupcakes

not impressed that im taking more pics

her pretty princess dress

2 years and loving her nin!

2 Years as a family

Wanna Win a Peas&Carrots Zippy

2008-08-07T13:08:00.001-04:00

Go to my friends photography site and leave a comment.
Here's the details.

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It’s CONTEST time!!
August 07th, 2008 Category: special/updates
Ready for another contest? I decided it’s been much too long since I gave something away, so here goes!
The scoop: Everyone who leaves a comment before tomorrow (Friday) 8pm CST will be entered to win a Peas&Carrots zippy! I have been a fan of Jessica’s boutique for a long time, and am so excited to share the love :) I will draw a name tomorrow evening and announce the winner on the blog Saturday morning. I have a zippy & I use it EVERY DAY. It goes everywhere with me…even Jessica when she saw me with it one day said “wow, you use that alot!”. Guess it was time for me to wash it, lol :)
The reason: My blog gets between 80-120 hits a day…but only a handful of comments. For all you lurkers out there…I’m calling you out! :) Plus, it’s fun to give stuff away!
The catch: your comment MUST include ONE of the following:
1) What was your favorite part about your experience with Summer Knobloch Photography?
2) What would you like to see offered in the future by SKP?
The bonus: An extra entry will be given to anyone who links this contest from their blog! Make sure to include a link to your blog with your comment so I can add that extra entry on for you
You do not have to be a client to enter…so tell your friends!
Good luck!!

http://www.summerknoblochphotography.com/blog/

post 2

2008-08-05T12:22:00.002-04:00

so im not as confident with this interview as the first one but we will see. she has a bunch of interviews today and tommorrow so im sure there is someone a little more qualified. Needless to say we will wait and see. Hopefully i hear something from one of them atleast by the end of the week.. December is coming VERY quickly. ill take what i can get right.

Keep your fingers crossed

One down....

2008-08-05T09:38:00.002-04:00

This mornings interview at Valumart went fairly well. We got the typical cheesy interview questions that make you sit there and think why the hell are they asking this.. lol.
The interveiwer was very nice and made things more relaxed.

They actually have a bakery position open for a lady who is on mat leave until january so it could work out quite well. the nice thing is its dayshift as well. If that doesn't pan out then i would get a cashier position for dayshift as well. so i would still have my evenings with my family. i think i got the job but i guess ill have to wait and hear.

my next one is at 11:15 and its the one im nervous for and don't think im qualified for but if it pays well and gives good hours then im all for it :D

Wish me luck :D

Sick

2008-08-02T20:53:00.001-04:00

No new post right now. Lilly has been sick with a fever which at points reaches 103.6 but comes down with tylenol. She has been having nightmares as well. She seemed to be fine last night but did wake up a lot with a bit of a fever. Today she was her normal self until about 8pm when she spiked another fever. I think if she can get a good nights sleep, all will be well.

I;ll post pictures tommorrow hopefully..

Busy

2008-07-28T22:03:00.002-04:00

Seems like life has gotten in the way again. Isn't it amazing how quickly that happens?

This past weekend we went camping. We had a lot of fun but brrr was it cold at night. thankfully Lilly gets so hot at night that she kept me warm. did i mention how much i love cosleeping :D
Although my little monkey woke up at 5:40am :O stupid birds. have you ever heard roosters in the morning? i haven't until this weekend. lol. hopefully i will never hear them again so early. thankfully after walking around for an hour lilly decided she was still really tired and we went back to bed until about 9 or so. :D

Lilly got to spend a ton of time with Papa and she LOVED it. he takes her on the go-cart and that is a huge hit. Yesterday we saw them sitting in the garden eating peas together. (i have a pic coming when mom sends them) its so sweet to see them interact with one another. they really do love one another.

Today Carson came over for the day. He is 3 and Lilly loved having him around. she even bosses around the older kids :P it was a really easy day though. They were both begging for a nap at 11 so we went to bed and had a 3 hour nap :O i was so impressed and well rested ;)

Tommorrow is a teddy bear picnic so we will be enjoying that. :D hopefully its nice out and i get some great shots of lilly. :D We are going to kiwanis park by grandma b's house. I hear there is a splash pool, park and a great area just to run. should be a lot of fun!!

Baby "B" is growing great.. i think im going to have to move out of my regular jeans. i have seemed to pop over the weekend. he is a hard kicker too and kicks quite a bit. i can't wait till lilly can feel her brother kicking mommy.

I have been keeping up with the 365 picture project but haven't had time to upload them.. here are a few from the past 10 days.. ill try to get better.

Million $ Family

2008-07-21T17:07:00.002-04:00

I guess thats what we will be in about 20 weeks.
Today at the ultrasound we found out what we are having.
Lilly was very excited as you can see:

We are excited and don't even ask about names because we have no idea and probably won't until the baby is born.

EAT EAT EAT

2008-07-17T18:58:00.003-04:00

I swear that is all Lilly wants to do these days. She is always asking to eat. i try to have healthy snacks on hand but what exactly is healthy these days. I gave her a thing of applesauce and she ate it up quite quick and then asked for more. so i gave her another one and it was gone in minutes. when she asked for yet another one, i had to decline. instead she asks for a cracker. sigh.

We decided to make some jello for later tonight. this is the very first picture i got

yep she tried to eat the jello mix. Here's the evidence (and her asking for more):

this is her apple sauce that she is enjoying. (don't mind the hair, the pool makes it go wild)

Im here

2008-07-16T21:58:00.005-04:00

and yes im slacking :D
Yesterday Lilly and i had a very busy day.. we were home for maybe an hour (not including naptime) We went swimming and for a long walk to pick out some of her birthday party favours. I went to the dollar store hoping to save some money yet i always come out spending soo much. so i don't think it balances out b/c im always like its only a dollar. LOL.

Today was my day off. Every wednesday, Paula takes lilly for the day. Its nice to get a break, if you can call it that. I usually take a nap which is a must :P But the rest of the time i generally spend cleaning. today was a good day for that. I managed to get 3 loads of laundry put away, both bathrooms scrubbed down including the tub/shower, cleaned the main floor, did all the dishes and then went thru the party favours and filled out the invitations. So hopefully tommorrow i can get some of those mailed off. :D so if you are immediate family be on the look out for them.

HERE'S SOME PICS FROM YESTERDAY:

HERE'S TODAY WHEN HER PRINCESS DRESS CAME IN: excuse the boobies :P

New Outfit

2008-07-14T19:51:00.003-04:00

I got Lilly this adorable little outfit in Grove City PA. She really likes it, especially the hat!!
She loves her hats a lot. Not as much as shoes though. did i mention she has 10 pairs of shoes. :O She decides which shoes she wears for the day and if she doesn't want a certain pair on she makes it known.

here's pics of lillys new outfit.

DONT' FORGET TO READ THE BLOG BELOW TO VOTE FOR LILLY..

PLEASE VOTE FOR LILLY

2008-07-14T16:59:00.002-04:00

its for a local cover contest. also you win a camera with printer and a free local photo session http://www.weewelcome.ca/en/Cover_Contest you have to register but you can opt out of any info from them.. i would appreciate it please use any email addresses you have please. HER PIC IS CALLED LOOKING FOR DUCKS. you have to click where the pic should be to see it.. thanks
the highest vote is at 50 so far. i have lilly up to 10 lol
heres the pic: [IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/hburkhardt/IMG_2965-bw.jpg[/IMG]

Favourite Food

2008-07-13T18:20:00.004-04:00

Lilly's favourite food by far is pasta.. Anything pasta she loves which i think she got from me.
Im actually glad she loves pasta because it is one of the easiest things to hide stuff in. I always try to load it up with different veggies and sneak some meat in there since when there is pasta everything else gets missed. So its a win for both of us.

Here are pictures from supper today and yes she is still in her pj's.

Stay in this moment

2008-07-12T19:49:00.002-04:00

Lilly and I were playing with all of her toys. I decided to sit at my desk which has a rocking chair. Lilly comes over and asks to nurse which is fine. I look down and she is out of it. :D

so here i sit, rocking my sweet little angel in my arms. Her head resting on my chest and her tiny little body curled up on my lap. I love the sweet breaths she takes. Nothing better than kissing her little forehead over and over.

oops that moment is over as she awakes saying YAY.. LOL.
guess thats the end of my blog. :D

Sleepy Time

2008-07-12T17:23:00.003-04:00

Don't you just love that feeling that you get when your little one is sound asleep beside you? I love just staring at lilly and how peaceful she looks. After a long hard day of learning and playing, its nice to unwind.

I remember bringing Lilly home. Mark and I would just sit on the bed staring at Lilly while she slept. We didnt' expect her to do anything, but it was just how innocent she looked. Admiring her coos and smiles as well as what we created. Ill always remember those moments. I catch myself still staring. I snuggle up to her at night time just watching her breathe. It is that moment that you want to freeze forever.

Last night Lilly was very tired but was having a I want mommy moment. i wasn't ready to lay in bed so i pulled up a pillow on the couch beside me. she layed her head in my lap and asked for a blanket and baby. within a few minutes she is OUT. So i was able to capture the sweet moments last night. Enjoy these special moments.

A girl and her cat!

2008-07-11T22:39:00.005-04:00

Lilly absolutly loves her kitty Toby. She wants him to sleep with her and is always wanting to give him treats. She is always hugging and kissing him. Thankfully he is an amazing cat and takes a lot of it. She can pull his tail across the room and he doesn't mind too much. They are going to be best buds. Here are some pics of the two buddies.

Great to be Home!!

2008-07-11T19:04:00.003-04:00

I went to the USA without Lilly for 2 nights. it was the longest 2 days of my life. i was going to take lilly but didn't want to bore her with shopping all day everyday that we were there. So she stayed with daddy and grandma while daddy worked. I had a great time with my sister but nothing beats coming home to a smiling little girl. I thought she would forget about nursing but the minute we stepped into the house she was asking to nurse. i was never more happy to nurse her. Just holding her and snuggling with her was the best feeling ever. i missed my little girl and have vowed to not leave her again.. Last night i had to get up to change the sheets b/c lilly had an accident and i went to get a new blanket. i guess she thought i was leaving again b/c she jumped up and ran after me. She grabbed my hand and led me back to bed. She honestly held me the whole night. her arm was around me. It was so sweet. Even though i didn't get much sleep, it was such an amazing feeling that i didn't care.

Im waiting on pictures of Lilly from when i was gone but hopefully Uncle Matt can send them to me soon.

Here's a picture of Lilly's new bubble play house. She LOVES it and plays with it all day long.. :D

And here are her pictures of the day.. playing with her camera

Until tommorrow...

Ultrasound & Swimming

2008-07-07T22:59:00.004-04:00

So today was supposed to be my ultrasound but they called 1 hour before my appointment after i made myself suffer thru drinking water. It makes me feel really sick drinking water in the morning. I was pissed off (still am) but seriously i kind of expected it based on my phone call with them on friday. I was getting this ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby before going to the states so i could buy clothes for a specific gender. Since thats not going to happen, i think im going to go back to NOT finding out. I think it is probably a sign that im supposed to stick with my gut on this. so sorry that i have no update on sex and you all will just have to wait with me to find out, whenever that may be. But here's a pic of our cute little girl :D

In happier news, Lilly, daddy and I went swimming today. they finally have our pool open which is now heated and WONDERFUL. The minute that lilly saw her water wings, she got super excited and wanted them on right away. She pretty much ran to the pool and wasted no time getting in with daddy. Daddy was pretty proud of his little girl as this was the first time he saw her with water wings. she did such a great job and swam the length of the pool without us holding on. she did drink a ton of water but by the end she learned to close her mouth. Here are some pictures of her swimming. Im so proud of her. :D

23 months today

2008-07-06T20:25:00.003-04:00

Can you believe Lilly is 23 months. Only 1 month until my baby is 2.
She's getting so big. she is talking up a storm and repeats pretty much everything you say.
She's getting really good with saying please when she wants something and thank you when she gets something. its so very cute. she's trying very hard to sing her abc's . she gets to e and g and then stops but its a start. :D she can count to 5 as well as say some other numbers out of order.

she loves to do crafts and colour and loves her baby dolls. she has one baby that goes everywhere with her. Monkey is also another one that needs to go many places with her.

anyways here's our pictures from today

Look for tommorrows post :D

Family Update

2008-07-05T20:58:00.002-04:00

well ill update everyone since its been a long time :P

Lilly is doing wonderful. i can't believe she is going to be 2 in a month. we are planning a small princess birthday party for her at our house. it should be a blast. she loves dressing up and is such a girly girl. she doesn't like getting her hands or feet dirty. she also LOVES to read.. that is something special that daddy adn Lilly love to do. she has almost made it two years for nursing which is wonderful :D she has been a very happy and healthy girl because of it.

Daddy (Markus) is working at Aberfoyle Mills in Guelph. He is working under a red seal chef so he is hoping to get his hours in with them. He loves working here which is great. im happy that he is finding something that he loves so much. he has also been cooking a lot more at home which makes me happy :D he's been pretty good about making my cravings. If he continues to enjoy his job, i am assuming we will probably relocate to Guelph. Hopefully to get a house with a garage. we are running out of room. Im very proud of my husband and know that he will do great things.

Mommy (Holly) is still loving every minute she gets to spend with Lilly. im trying to enjoy it as much as possible as in July i will begin to look for a job to get some extra money before the next baby comes. Im sure you all know already but we are expecting baby #2. We are very excited. I am finally over most morning sickness but have gone to gettting headaches all the time. hopefully they don't last too long. thats pretty much all thats new with me :P

Baby B is starting to get quite active. he or she finally started kicking where i could feel it on the outside. i love that feeling. i can't wait to feel it more often. Monday is the BIG ultrasound. We are hoping that Baby B is not as stubborn as lilly and lets us take a peek at the sex. so check back for some big news :D

365 project

2008-07-05T20:50:00.002-04:00

ive decided to start a 365 project .. each day i will try to take a picture of lilly whether its eating, sleeping, playing outside etc etc. so check back here everyday to see new pictures :D here's the past two days.

Almost a Month Later..

2007-09-19T17:57:00.001-04:00

I have been so busy, that i forgot about this blog. First ill update you on Lilly

Lilly is getting to be so big. Her vocab is becoming clearer and clearer everyday. She says so much. With this though comes attitude. If she doesn't get her way she throws a fit. Ive tried not to give in but ive found it difficult. Im trying to stick to my word. She isn't walking yet but is getting so very very close. She is letting go and trying to take a step forward but isn't quite there YET! Im hoping soon because she is getting heavy and wants to explore everything. i don't like her crawling on the floor in the mall.. YUCK.
aside from developments, physically she is healthy and strong. and her hair is FINALLY starting to grow some more. I can't wait to put pig tails in. shes beautiful and i love her to death.

I am doing fairly well. Keeping very busy between visiting marks cousins from Germany, studying for a course, Scheduling trips and booking hotels for different courses, and just watching lilly grow. OH WAIT. did i mention house renos. LOL. we are still doing those. it never ends. i can't wait to be done but my husband is (how do i put this nicely) lazy!! i have to bribe him to get stuff done. its stupid. if i could do it myself i would.

aside from being so busy, i have been very moody and extremely tired filled with lovely headaches. Hopefully this will pass soon because its taking a lot out of me. Lilly has also cut down on nursing to about 3-4 times a day and usually once at night. hopefully this means returned fertility soon :D

I will post soon (i promise) with updated pictures with my little bug.

Busy Busy & Toys

2007-08-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever because my mother-in-law (MIL) has been keeping me very busy. We've decided to put our house up for sale in the spring, so we are trying to get everything in selling condition. It seems like every room needs something done to it and the more we do the more we find out we gotta do.

We took down a border from the kitchen today and realized just how bad of shape our kitchen is. In order to get top profit we figured we should completely demo the kitchen and start from scratch. Thankfully dh works in a home hardware store, so we will get some pretty sweet discounts. Hopefully that helps us out a little.

Along with the kitchen, our bathroom is in need of major help as well. So paint is on the wall and we are awaiting a bathtub estimate. Hopefully that won't break the bank.

Now i am willing to bet money that once we get all this done, dh will say "do we really want to move. we just did all this work and it looks nice." My answer is "YES I WANT TO MOVE!" i Hate having a stroller in the dining room and stuff falling out of closets with no where to go. In the winter im dreading the sleds and snow coming into my house. what a mess.

On a non-house related note: Im getting my newest toy on monday. I have a thing with technology what can i say. I like the newest, best toys out there. im sad to admit this but im worse then my husband. So here is my new pride and joy (after my husband and daughter of course)

ANd here's my Number 1 girl~

Sneak Peak of Lilly's One Year Pictures

2007-08-17T18:31:00.000-04:00

My photographer Sandy from Zaidababy.com sent me two preview pictures from Lilly's One year session. I can't wait to see them if they are as great as these two. Im very excited. I will post the rest of the pictures when i get them which should be early next week. For now enjoy these two.

Lilly's 12 month appointment

2007-08-16T13:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Lilly had her 12 month well baby check up. It went fairly well which really surprised me considering our last appointment regarding the delaying of vaccines. So Lilly weighs 20 lbs exactly and is 29.5 inches long. Shes below average on weight and above on height. SHes' meeting all of the milestones for her age. Once we were finished she asked me if i was still declining vaccinations. I said yes and she didn't give me any grief which i wasn't expecting at all. She said ok please just let us know when you are ready to go ahead with them. PHEW i was dreading that appointment for no reason i guess. Hopefully we continue to have good appointments..

With that i leave you with some pictures of my little beauty.

She never takes a soother and i turn around to find her with a soother in her mouth

Lilly's sharing skills are really good

Playing with Blocks

Her favourite thing to do is laundry

Caught wearing mommy's underwear

Playing with her Zebra

And her newest carseat.. Can i just say i love britax marathons.. :D

It's official....

2007-08-14T09:28:00.000-04:00

IM PREGNANT!!!! hehe just kidding and making sure you were reading.

After a lot of thought of how I could help dh with the finances. I realized that although i do LOVE baking, the money just is not in it especially with people so concerned about weight etc these days. So ive officially decided to become a doula. I have been so in to the natural birth for such a long time taht i want to help other mothers be able to do what their body was made to do. I love helping people and want to help welcome lots of babies into this world. i think that my main area of focus is going to be breastfeeding. we need to educate people on this as too many people know nothing about it. i hope i am able to help teens who need someone to be there for them. Especially with giving them resources on breastfeeding. I actually just signed up for a course from Dr. Jack Newman regarding breastfeeding. i am so excited about it. He is such an amazing person with such a great gift. Anyways ill leave you with that for now. But be sure to look for more blogs about my journey to becoming a doula.

The Life of a Diva.

2007-08-11T21:39:00.000-04:00

I don't know what it is but it seems that my once happy easy going little girl has turned into a diva. When she doesn't get what she wants she throws the biggest fit ever. I know that she's testing her limits and i have stayed pretty stern with her. I try distracting her with other things. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Now part of it could be she's still has Roseola but im not letting her get away with it. :D Anyways heres a pic of her after i took something away from her. She threw herself on the floor and was pouting. Of course i was laughing so hard and just as i took the pic she grinned. Don't be fooled she was throwing a fit.

here are some pics of our day today
after swimming and was crying cuz the water was too cold

more swimming pics

Playing under daddys desk (her one eye looks funny)

Playing a video game with dad.

Same look that Mark makes

A room fit for a girl

2007-08-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

Finally, Lilly has a room that isn't so bare looking. It finally looks like a little girls room and im totally jealous. i suppose i could sleep in there. lol.

We've decided its time for lilly to start sleeping in her own bed. she has become a nightmare to sleep with. She constantly rolls over or into me and kicks dh all night long. this has caused her to wake up numerous times throughout the night. so we've placed a double bed on the floor in her room and we will begin that process as soon as she is feeling better.

For now here are some pictures.

My sick baby girl

2007-08-10T23:07:00.000-04:00

The night before lilly's actual birthday i noticed she wasn't feeling 100%. she had a fever and was very whiney.. i put it off as teething. For the next few days she continued with the fever. Her photoshoot didn't go as planned since she wasn't 100% but it was still pretty good considering. So her fever finally breaks and i was happy thinking thats the end of it. NOPE it couldn't be that easy. We go shopping and she's still being a PITA and thats when i notice a rash all over her tiny little body. Turns out she has Roseola. Which is a viral thing and nothing can be done for it. It doesn't seem to be bothering her to much but she is just so clingy and fussy. Im finding it very hard to accomplish anything but those things can wait. Hopefully we only have a few more days of this.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl.

2007-08-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe my little girl is 1! Not only has she brought me so much joy to my life but has completed me as a person. Where i was before her, i have no idea. Life before seems like it never exsisted. How can such a little person, who has been here such a short time, make such a HUGE impact on my life? I don't know how but she has done it. Every morning when i wake up, i get to look at her sweet little face and wonder what new adventures we will encounter today. I love every minute with her even if we do nothing at all. I remember the day she was born, the day she came home, and all of her firsts like they were yesterday. When did time start to go by so quickly? Even though i miss all those precious tiny moments, i know that there will be many more new moments to take my breath away.

Today as I look back at how she has grown, it gives me the opportunity to realize how i have grown as a person as well. Before Lilly, i was insecure and very weak. I let everyone walk all over me and take advantage of me without saying a word. Lilly has given me the strength to be strong, the wisdom to be knowledgeble and the hope to continue to grow. I stand up for what i believe in and everything i do, i make sure that it is for my family and myself. Thank you Lilly for making me who i am.

As Lilly continues to grow, her love for daddy grows too. I love to just sit and watch the way that the two of them interact. The way they look at eachother melts my heart. I know that Mark will be there for Lilly every step of the way and will never turn away from her. She is already such a daddy's girl and i know that Mark is wrapped around her little finger. He would do anything for her and she can probably get anything out of him. Im lucky that my husband supports me in every parenting decision that i decide to go with. I think i have the best husband and I love him more than he will ever know.

Since this is about Lillys 1st birthday I'll let you know what shes up to. Lilly is crawling, cruising, pulling herself up but is not yet walking. i suspect it could be any day now but to tell you the truth her balance is still a little off. i can't wait for her first steps, or maybe i can. She is very vocal. she loves to sing and dance. She says dada, mama, hey, hi, kitty, yes, okay, duck, ya, uh oh, was this, dere (there) and she is almost saying thank you (ank eww) lol. there are a few she will repeat but im not sure she knows it yet. We've been going poop on the potty since about 8 months. she is fairly easy to read as to when she is going so that makes it easy. she really enjoys sitting there and playing music. She loves reading to herself and when we read to her. She has many toys that she loves. Bouncing is one of her favourite things as well as balls. I anticipate that now that she has reached her 1st birthday that things will continue to come our way. Look for a blog soon about her first steps..

And now the pictures that my sister and I took of Lilly at the park today. Enjoy!

Party Planning

2007-08-03T18:39:00.000-04:00

UGH. did i mention how much work i have put into planning Lilly's birthday. I mean i think its just as much as i did for my wedding. I want to give her the perfect 1st birthday but i promise after this birthday she is having little ones. The 1st birthday is a big deal to me.. Its such a milestone. She has learned so many new things in such a short time.

I've named her party "Elmo Wonderland". Elmo is going to be everywhere. Lilly will be in Elmo heaven.. Speaking of which i have to make her cake.. Oops, i almost forgot. well i guess i am cutting this short. My next blog will be full of birthday pictures.

Cloth Diapers

2007-08-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

I figured that on the day of my friends grand opening i would write a blog about cloth diapers. My friend and fellow Hot Mama just opened a online cloth diapering store at www.greenplanetbaby.com I know how hard she has been working and the pay off is truly amazing.

How I got my start in cloth diapering. Honestly i thought it was crazy that people were doing it but i also had the misconception that it was still plastic pants and pins. Needless to say cloth diapers have come a long way. I went into a little store to buy a sling to go to Germany with. Once i got in the store i was blown away by the cloth diapers. After asking every little question there was about cloth diapering i decided to take the plunge. it was easy to convince my husband as they are always all about saving money. Also he wouldn't be changing any diapers anyways. Cloth diapering soon became an addiction. I was drawn into the world of all the different types of diapers, the cute prints and colours and knowing that i was doing my part helped as well.

People are always amazed when i say i use cloth diapers. U get a lot of mixed reactions from Eww to why would you waste your time etc. I thrive off of these comments. the biggest thing for me was how much i hate wearing pads for 4 days a month. i couldn't imagine having to wear them everyday all day like Lilly has to for diapers. Lilly also broke out in rashes all the time from disposible and has never broke out in cloth. I think that people need to realize how easy it really is and how if everyone did this that we would be saving our planet for our little ones. I hope that more people can do good for not only their children but for their planet as well.

A day in the Park

2007-07-27T17:11:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, Lilly and I went to New York state for a little trip with my sister and mom. We've been having a lot of fun. I will get more into it later about the messages i received but in the meantime here are some pics of Lilly at the park.

Prayers Please

2007-07-27T17:02:00.001-04:00

I just learned that my cousin Jakob, who is 5 is at the hospital right now. He had a fever last night and my aunt went to put him into the tub to cool him down. she got into the bath with him and as she was trying to cool him down, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he wasn't responding to his name or anything. She screamed and her husband called 911. She was terrified (as i would be) but managed to get him out of the tub and the ambulance was close by so they got there quickly. he needed some oxygen to breath. Last night he wasn't responding to his name or anything. They ran a bunch of tests and are running more today. Today he is back to himself and talking about his camping trip. he is supposed to get out tonight if everything is ok. please pray that it is nothing serious and just happened b/c of the fever as they think it is.. thank you so much ladies. ill keep you updated.

Gone Camping...

2007-07-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

Well tommorrow morning we leave to go camping. Im excited yet nervous as to how it will go.. We will be sleeping in a tent for 3 nights. Im hoping that Lilly will adjust ok to it. but who knows. We are going to New York so it should be fun. Im mostly excited about the shopping part!! Ive got my US dollars and im ready to go :D

Im also excited about meeting a fellow august mommy in PA. it should be GREAT!

Anyways look back soon for some pictures of our trip :D We should be back on thursday then we leave friday to go to a family camping reunion

Holly & Lilly

It NEVER gets old!

2007-07-19T10:17:00.000-04:00

Lilly had her first taste of a lemon. i didnt intend on giving it to her but she stole it off my plate and the reaction was too cute that i had to take pictures. Everytime we tried to take it away she would SCREAM at the top of her lungs so we let her play with it. Here are some of the pictures to entertain you.

Lilly's World

2007-07-19T09:58:00.000-04:00

I thought i would update you all on what Lilly is up to these days.

-She is pulling herself up and climbing on everything.
-She is running with her walker
-She is starting to stand for a longer period of time on her own
-She is started to walk with only holding on to one hand
-She pretends to talk on the phone to people.
-She has 8 teeth
-She is getting a pretty good vocab, her words are
-mom
-dad
-uh oh
-hey
-hi
-Yay
-Kitty
-Bye
-Duck

-She points to everything
-She loves to play catch
-She loves bathtime more than ever now
-She climbs stairs and cries cuz she can't get down
-She has been pooping on the potty for over two months (we've only had a dozen poopy diapers in that time. thats usually when daddy's watching her)

I think thats about it. SHe is going to experience her first camping experience so that should be fun. But we will write more on that later.

Birthday Plans..

2007-07-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Im sure all of you SAHM can understand how sometimes it just seems impossible to get on her and have the time to write. Ill try to be better even though im not sure if anyone is really following my blog but thats ok.

This week Lilly has hit the whiney stage. I sure hope this doesn't last. She whines if i put her down, whines if i pick her up, whines if i nurse her, whines if i dont. as you can see im not winning. Its hard to accomplish anything and ive really been trying to organize my house so that when Lilly's party, which is already approaching WAY too quickly, i don't have to spend the day before frantically cleaning and getting ready. Im hoping that Lilly's excuse for whining is either a growth spurt or teething and that it ends quickly.

As far as Lilly's birthday is concerned i am finally getting somewhere. I ordered my two-tiered cake for Lilly's birthday. Its the one on the bottom right. I ordered a 10" in a strawberry buttercream with vanilla cake and the top layer is chocolate buttercream with chocolate cake. i got strawberry as the bigger one in case there is any left over than atleast i have the kind i like.

Lilly is getting her own Elmo cake which i am pretty sure you have all seen but here is my first attempt at her cake. Im hoping to get a healthier version but if i don't get chocolate a lot of the guests will be made and will leave the party and get her a chocolate cake.

In addition to having the cake ordered i also booked Lilly's photographer for her 1 year portraits. i booked them for her actual day of her bday. She is amazing and does most of her portraits in black and white, which dh and i love. http://www.zaida.ca/

Other than that all i have is to confirm the guests, order some party supplies and get the food. Im so excited but i dont' know that im looking forward to it b/c that means my baby will be 1. Honestly where did the time go?

A Day @ the beach

2007-07-13T23:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Beach.. It was sooo cold, but we drove 2 hours to get there and decided to try and stick it out..

We walked along a pier and the waves were crashing up against the wall. it was awesome. Kim was afraid since she can't swim but she was in no danger. Lilly on the other hand, tried to walk off the edge many times.

After walking around we decided to try the water.

it was FREEZING, but being the good mom i am i didn't want to let lilly down so we went into the cold water. She wasn't impressed!!

After torturing my daughter i got out and nursed her and she went right to sleep. Poor girl was soo tired and didn't get to enjoy the beach.

After a long drive home we stopped at a princess store. it was amazing. i found a birthday hat with pink feathers that says 1st birthday. Id show u a pic but ill wait until her bday post for that!! So the beach was fun but could have been better. Next time ill have to go when it is super hot.. but we still have all summer..

Don't Call My House...

2007-07-13T14:55:00.001-04:00

My brother has been staying here (today is his last day thank goodness) and the phone rings off the hook like crazy.. Usually he answers it and i don't have to deal with all the stupid potheads. Anyways around noon today, i was laying down with Lilly and just got her to sleep for a nap after fighting her for an hour to go to sleep, the phone rings. She was snuggled right up to me and i didn't want to move. I answer the phone quickly so it doesn't wake her up and its some girl for my brother. SHe demands to talk to him.

Bitch: Is Craig there?
Holly: Yes, he is here but he is sleeping right now
Bitch: Can you give him the phone.
Holly: No, im not waking him up he is sleeping and got home late.
Bitch: i don't care that he is sleeping i need to talk to him NOW!
Holly: Im sorry but im not waking him up. (by this time i was getting mad)
Bitch: starts talkin about how craig was there last night and she woke up and he wasnt there blah blah blah and i need to talk to him
Holly: Im NOT waking him up and my baby is sleeping beside me and i don't want her to wake up
Bitch: Im getting up in half hour and if he hasn't called me i am coming there myself and wake him up so can u wake him up or i will do it.
Holly: Again im NOT waking him up. (Click; this is where i hung up and went downstairs and looked the door)

I mean this women is calling MY house and being a twat to me. i don't think so.. if she calls again she will get a piece of my mind

Why Bother?

2007-07-11T15:05:00.000-04:00

As many of you know Lilly's first birthday is quickly approaching. We decided to have it August 4th which just happens to be the long weekend. I expected some people not to be able to make it, just like anything. Everytime i try to plan something it always falls through or next to no one shows up. Yet i still try to host a party.

I sent out invites the end of june so that people would have plenty of notice. Already over half of the people i invited can't come. so far it looks like only one of my aunts (of 6) are coming and won't be bringing the kids. the first birthday is a big deal to me so i was going all out. I even rented a bouncer for all the kids to play in. Its not cheap!! im spending $125 on it for 3 hours for what the 5 kids that are going to show up.. Part of me wants to say screw it all but thats not fair to Lilly and to the kids that are coming and are looking forward to it. Ive already gone out and bought all kinds of things for the party but now im putting that on hold and actually waiting to see how many people are actually coming. i can't order the cake cuz i don't know how much to get and really i don't need to eat cake. so an event that is a big deal to me doesn't seem to be for everyone else. i am bitter about it but as long as i have Lilly and she has fun thats all that matters right. The ones that know how important this is will be there and thats all that matters.

So i get thinking that next year on my birthday it is 08/08/08 so i thought i would throw a big party and just have a good time but with my history ive decided not to waste my time. On my 20th birthday i tried to throw a party and invited about 30-40 people. only my best friend and her boyfriend were going to come so i cancelled it and spent the day crying. when anyone else has something going on im the first one there for them to support them. i guess that isn't the case with me. So instead of a party that will just be a disappointment anyways i have decided to go on a trip instead. Right now im thinking Walt Disney World in Florida since ive never been and i think lilly might enjoy it. id rather use the money to enjoy myself and be with my family. If anyone wants to come along or meet us there, GREAT but if not its your loss.

Favours.

2007-07-10T23:27:00.000-04:00

It always seems like im always doing someone else a favour.. I think that people take advantage of the fact that it is very hard for me to say no and if i do i feel terrible about it and end up doing it anyways. Ive tried to get rid of this habit but thats just me, always trying to help others.

Why am i writing this you ask? Well my brother is actually the one who is taking advantage and if you know my brother this is no surprise. A little background: My brother has had some tough obstacles to over come which has had him living with my husband and I 2 times. Both times he has not paid any rent, ate all our food and did some illegal things. After catching him into many lies we were forced to kick him out not once but twice. It broke my heart and he said a lot of hurtful things but ive gotten over it and haven't looked back.. FAST FORWARD to 3 weeks ago when he was in an accident that crushed his car. Once again he asks a favour if he can stay a week. Well a week turned into two and then three. During this time we have woke up at 6am to drive him to work even though dh had to wake up at 8 to go to work himself. We've helped him out with groceries etc. He makes $600- $800 a week.. meanwhile dh just went back to work after almost a year off and i am off work also. so we dont' have extra money to support him.

I give him $20 to put gas in the car because i know its on empty and the lights on. All seems fine and he is home an hour later. I need to car to get ingredients for my cheesecakes and I realize my gas tank is only at 1/4 tank. now ive had this car for 2.5 years and $40 fills it (its a 20 litre tank) so im curious and confront him. he swears up and down he put $20 in but has no reciept to prove it. . how convienent for him. since i can't prove it, i told him he needs to give me back the $10 when he gets paid. He agrees to that.

So my next stop is to grab some change from our change jar that we've been collecting for 2 years. we decided this would be Lilly's money for a car or whatever she wanted since her schooling is already paid for. Anyways i go to get some and there is NOTHING in there. i mean i dumped it all out and 1 quarter in the entire thing and the rest was pennies, nickels and dimes. We had loonies, toonies and tons of quarters in there. i guess he's been dipping his hand in there too.. I haven't approached him yet because i wanted to make sure dh hadn't taken it out but i do plan on it now.. i was wondering how the past 3 weeks he was getting to work *we;ve only driven him twice* so my assumption is he has taken the change for the bus ride.

Where do i call it quits. I mean i know he is my brother and i love him but he is ripping me off and taking advantage of me. im so worried that he will "disown" me that i always push stuff under the rug. How is that fair to me? i work hard for what i have so why shouldn't he.. he makes in one week what i made in two on a good paycheck. He doesn't have car payments, a house, rent or anything like that. how can he not have money. Im DONE. I can't do anymore favours. i have to put Lilly & Markus first.

Joinning Blog Land

2007-07-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

So ive made the leap to bloggers land. Why you ask? Sometimes it just feels great to get things down on paper and express what you are really feeling without having to worry about being judged. As so many things go on in life sometimes the small important things seem to slip by. My hopes with my blog is to remember all those quiet small moments and to share with you my views on everything that is apart of my life. You will get the inside scoop on whats going on with myself , markus and of course Lilly. I hope that through this blog you will get something from it if not i know it will help me.

Look forward to seeing you around.