Where rain comes from

I have to start blogging more often. Miss J and now Monkey are saying the cutest things and I don't want to forget!!

(also I'm back in school and the craziness will begin - so I need to be able to look back when this masters is done to see what we make it through!!)

So it was raining SUPER hard yesterday on the way to swimming. As in - I could hardly see through the window and I was driving UNDER the speed limit.

Miss J was kind enough to provide Monkey and me an explanation of where this rain was coming from:

Miss J: Mommy, see those clouds up there? They drank up all the water in the pie. When the clouds get full of all the water from the pie it throws it all up and it comes out like rain.

Me: So its raining now because the clouds are throwing up all the water they got from the pie?

Miss J: Yeah, they got a lot of water from the pie.

SWAGGER WAGON

To all my friends who have succumbed to the mini van....

Breakfast Time

Scene: Daddy making boiled eggs, toast and coffee for himself. The girls had already had their breakfast with Nanny and Poppy.

When its just about ready he turns on the TV : "Its the only way to eat your breakfast in peace around here." (we'll call that foreshadowing!)

Daddy brings his toast, eggs and coffee to the table. Girls are watching TV. Moments later, Miss J comes to stand next to Daddy, and Monkey, not to miss out on the action, brings a step stool to the table to stand at his other side.

Miss J: Can I have some eggs?

Daddy: This is Daddy's breakfast. You've already had yours and Daddy is starved to death.

Miss J: Can I have some eggs?

Daddy: No

Monkey: Can I have some eggs?

Miss J: Can I have some of your eggs?

Daddy: mock crying. I just want to eat my breakfast

Monkey is sticking her fingers in Daddy's toast

Miss J: I'm going to go get my own spoon....

Daddy shared his breakfast while Poppy sang the songs to them from In the Night Garden playing in the background.

P.S. - When Miss J first got dressed this morning she the white shirt under her dress was actually a royal blue butterfly print. She agreed to change because we were going to church.

Miss J's Fashion File Vol. 5 - Accessorize

So Miss J is still wearing dresses and tights, picking out her own clothes and matching only occasionally. Sometimes she changes it up a bit with a skirt! And she actually voluntarily put on a pair of pants she found lingering in the closet - that was short lived but I considered it progress.

Her latest fashion trend is accessories. Last week it started with her 'best friends' necklace, giant "fashion rings" a-la loot bag and ALL the bracelets in her dress up box.

This week we've moved on to and argyle patterned belt, 2 necklaces, mis-matched dress up box clip on earrings and 5 pairs of clips around her cute little pigtails (oh, yes, pig tails......). That's 10 clips. In my follic-ly challenged girl.

But she looks so sweet!

Uninspired

So Lately I've been feeling uninspired. First it was the rush of trying to finish my course all around the same time Dad had surgery and my big bro came home.

But it all got done, dad is doing well and we even had a few days of spring. I started to think of blogging again, but spring was apparently just an illusion and now we have been facing the likes of this:

Tonight

• 0°C

Fri

• 7°C

Sat

• 6°C
• 4°C

Sun

• 6°C
• 3°C

Mon

• 6°C
• 3°C

Tue

• 5°C
• 2°C

Wed

• 5°C
• 2°C
• 40%

So can you really blame a girl for feeling so blah?

Hair Cut

Miss J asked me the other day why she hasn't gone to have her hair cut lately........

(her first and most recent trip to the salon was almost 10 months ago)

How would you answer ;)

Our baby is 2

Something crazy happened on Monday. Our little Monkey celebrated her 2nd birthday. I still think she's a baby. Even though she is doing many little girl things like talking, playing dolls and throwing the occasional tantrum, she just doesn't seem like she can be 2 yet!

We celebrated with a birthday party complete with an Elmo cake.

And she was a big fan!

How much did she love her Elmo cake? Well for the next 2 days she kept asking to see Elmo - or what was left of him which was most of his eyes and some red icing on the plate!

On her birthday Gramma and Papa came to visit and brought chicken and fries. Monkey LOVES fries and sat in her high chair, fists pounding the tray, chanting "fries, fries, fries" until she was served.

Then we all shared some "Frosty the Snowman" cake with Miss J and cousin Julia. (After this we must become a cake free zone!)

Even Uncle Tony came which totally made her day. She just gets so excited when he visits!

And what has Monkey taught us in the last 2 years?

- That babies can go to sleep on their own if you lay them in their crib awake

- That putting pony tails in a squirming toddler is easier said than done

- That its OK for 1 year olds to play with Barbies and other toys you'd never let your first child play with at that age

- That 3 am cuddles should be treasured as they won't last forever

and

- That you CAN love a second little girl just as much as the first

Happy Birthday sweet Monkey

Almost a Halmark moment

While making supper the other day, Miss J jumped up from the table to run and give me a big hug and said "I Love you Mommy!"

(please hold the Ohhs and Ahhs)

Then she said:

"Remember when I was 3 and I didn't love you? Now I'm 4 I love you all the time."

To which I said:

"Didn't you always love your mommy?"

To which she responded:

"No. When I was 3 I didn't really like you but now I'm 4 and I love you!"

Out of the mouths of babes...

Downtown

Hubbs and I went out. Downtown. To a bar. We had drinks, listened to a band, hoped to win some prizes for the fundraiser we were at, and of course we (or at least I and one of the friends who went with us) people watched.

Who'd we watch? Well, besides the usual cougars, and the plaid shirt guys at the end of the bar (not tuck in nice plaid shirts but more of what my friend calls "good woods shirts" plaid shirts), we watched pig tail girl.

While Brittany Spears may have made the pig tail school girl look appealing (if you're young enough and a guy...) the woman in her late 20's with 2 pig tails that I'm pretty sure she had braided to make them krinkly. This same girl was wearing a bit too small top that was not all that flattering. And was dancing like a crazy person with people who weren't quite as enthusiastic. And it was too early in the evening for her alcohol to have played that big a part in her behavior.

So while it was nice to go out in the world for a change, I'll take a few drinks at a friend's house anytime :)

She DOES Speak English!

So when people talk about Monkey, we are often at a loss about how to describe her except to say she is cute. Even her big sis will say "she's so cute!".

And chatty. Monkey started "talking" quite a while ago. Especially on the phone. "Talk too!" she'll say until you let her say Hi, and all kinds of other things no one really knows. Very animated and expressive but besides "Mommy", "Daddy" and "no" it made no sense. Over the past couple of months she has started saying more than the basics in English.

For a long time now we've been waking up to "Mommy, are you Mommy?" Daddy, Daddy? Are you?"

She says "hi" to all the people in the grocery store and calls every lady with grey hair Nanny or Gramma (even though neither her Nanny or Gramma have grey hair)

She now says "Bye Bye, See-ya" to everyone, even the dogs, at her babysitter's.

If someone has something she wants, usually food, she says "I too!" or "Some! Some! Some!", holding her hand out and opening and closing it. Then, when she thinks you're getting it for her she does a little dance and claps her hands saying "yay!"

If Miss J starts playing with her and she's not in the mood she says "no Miss J, no!"

She says "Peese" and "Nank You" at the right times (sometimes!)

And my personal favourite..... When I go get her in her crib she'll give me a smile and say "Mo-ning!" What better way to start your day?

Overheard at our house

Hubbs was in the upstairs bathroom with the girls running water for the bath.

Hubbs: Did anyone ever use that potty?

Me: No... why? (thinking the pee celebration was coming up!!)

Hubbs: Because Monkey just dumped her raisins in there and now she's eating them!

Kitchen Misadventures - Vol 1

Anyone who knows me knows that I can laugh at myself. They will also know that I am domestically challenged, especially when it comes to the kitchen (Although my BIL assures me that he likes his pizza, apple crisp, etc, burned). So for a while now I've been meaning to have a little blog series about my adventures (or Mis-adventures depending on how you look at it) in the kitchen.

Last night's supper reminded me I still haden't blogged about it. I'm hoping that by putting this stuff out there I'll look back on it someday and be able to 1. still laugh and 2. see how far I've come.

We were having hamburgers and fries. Simple. I called Hubbs and asked him to pick up some hamburger buns on the way home.

He called a short while later to say that he was held up at work, can I make something else for supper. Too late - everything was almost ready.

So I rummage through the freezer in search of something bun related (I just can't use regular bread, it gets all funny - although in hindsight it may not have been a bad idea)!

I found a package with a couple hamburger buns left. It would do for me and the girls so I defrosted them and served us our gourmet feast.

I knew the buns were freezer burned a bit but when I could hear Miss J's fork make a little smacking sound as it landed on top of her burger, well, that wasn't good. Its a good thing we have strong teeth to get through them (lol)!

This is just the beginning of my misadventures...... Wait until I get into this....

Time for a massage

Its been a long time. I used to always have regular massages and believed everyone should do the same for general body maintenance.

Then I had 2 kids. Went back to work. Massage time became a distant memory.

So yesterday morning, when Miss J was climbing over me in bed, the knees and elbows digging into my back actually felt kind of nice.

I think its time I made an appointment with my friendly massage therapist :) That's an appropriate way to spend a lunch break right?

Diaper Genie Ballet

I can now add this to the list of things I never thought I'd be doing before I became a parent.

Last night Miss J decided that the diaper Genie was her "sweetie". Her name was Miley. She tied a pink ribbon around it (which I helped with - in hindsight I should have run then!) and carried it around calling her sweetie, hugging her and bringing her to school. She indicated that Miley had hair, a mouth and feet.

After school Miley had ballet class and I was the teacher. The class took place on my bed. Because I didn't want to stand on the bed I thought a class of ballet arm movements would work best. However, Miss J proceeded to inform me that I cannot teach arm movements to Miley as she doesn't have any arms. I'll have to teach feet (silly me!).

Picture it if you will.... all 5'8" of me standing on top of a bed teaching pointed toes and first position to a Diaper Genie. While trying to keep my balance (of which Wii Fit Plus tells me I have very little of!). Seriously.....

Miss J is 4!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to you!" (as sung by Miss J today).

She's 4 years old and with that apparently comes the ability to turn on light switches by herself (big accomplishment and a very big deal to her for some reason).

Miss J is so excited to be 4. She said, "Remember when I was just a little girl, when I was just 3? Now I'm 4!"

Yesterday we celebrated with a birthday party at "A really big gym" (the gym at the YMCA complete with a giant bouncy castle and other toys) and then Gramma & Papa came for supper and more cake. Today her cousin and Aunt and Uncle came with Happy Meals followed by cupcakes. It doesn't get any better than that!

Her baby sister "gave" her a Belle Polly Pocket with all the accessories (including a carriage and the Beast) for which Miss J gave her many hugs and kisses - it was a big hit!

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful 4 year old in our lives!

Miss J's Fashion File Vol. 4

Matching is optional. The past several months have taught me there is not point in arguing. Hubbs has been telling me that all along.

Last June I was semi traumatized when Miss J headed off to daycare in a black long sleeved T with "Ghostess with the Mostess" written in white and red, a bright blue skirt and fushia tights. This was after a spring when I thought she should be wearing pants instead of tights to play outdoors which made Miss J a very unhappy camper (it finally just got warm enough to not worry about it).

She is still wearing dresses. She picks them out herself. She briefly was into leggings but tights really are her preference. And for some reason the more they don't match the happier she is.

A couple of weeks ago Miss J chose her Polka Dot dress which is dark brown trimmed with pink and green polka dots, and grey tights with pink and purple stripes. I wasn't in the mood to have the "what matches" conversation so as she looked at herself in the mirror I said "What do you think?"
She said, as she smiled at herself ever so shyly, "Beautiful"

We just can't argue with that :)

Toddlerisms - Vol 3

Here are some oldies I had started in the Spring....

Miss J jumped off her chair at the kitchen table to follow Hubbs upsatirs.

Me: Where are you going?

Miss J: I'm going with my friend Daddy!

Miss J (to me): Mommy, when daddy is a Prince you will be a Princess

(too much disney princess?)

Miss J: Mommy, is Daddy your boyfriend?  

AHHH - she's 3 not 13 - help!!

Miss J: Accidents happen, no big deal 

(following just about anything that could be considered an "accident")

And a couple recent ones I had to add....

While visiting my parents, my mom was trying to explain something to my dad who just wasn't getting it:
Miss J - Papa is not undering stand!

After New Years dinner, Poppy was drifting to sleep sitting up on the sofa.
Miss J (leaning towards Poppy): Cock-a-doodle-do!!

I guess I now need to call them pre-schoolerisms
But I'm sure toddlerisms will be back as Monkey's cute expressive gibberish becomes more like English!

Non-Resolutions

Here I am.... after a hiatus from my blog. I'm not sure where the time went but as I was kindly reminded by a cousin over the holidays I haven't updated this blog since September. Not that there's nothing to blog about, I just really have no idea where the time goes. What a cliche but its true.
Before we had children I used to feel busy, but now I wonder what in the world I did with all my time!

So we enjoyed a busy (of course) and fun holiday season. Nanny and Poppy came to visit and we fit in a quick visit to the"mainland" to visit my brother and his family as well as some other family and friends in the area. Miss J is really getting the whole Santa Clause thing this year and Monkey continues to go with the flow and try to act like a big girl. It was great :)

With the new year there is always that underlying thought that I should be making a New Years Resolution. Because whenever I make them I never actually keep them I always just end up feeling bad about it. So this year I am not making any.

But.... If I were to make a resolution it might be:

To be more organized. I used to be organized. Now I am sort of organized in an "organized confusion" kind of way. Whenever I tidy and try to de-clutter I put things away and can never find them. I want to go back to my color coded day planner university days. I realize that at that time I only had a bedroom, school and my day planner to organize but I was on top of things. I knew where every cent went because I wrote EVERYTHING down. At a glance at my calander I know when I had a paper, presentation, exam, meeting...
Now that I have a whole house, a crazy busy full time job and an equally busy home life its just not as easy. And just for fun I thought I'd add a course on top of that. Outlook for super organization = not good! My closets will have to wait :)