Weekend Rewind

It happened, we saw the white stuff for the first time this season! Noah was pretty excited, me not so much...But let's rewind all the way to Friday, when it was 20 degree and gorgeous out!!! We decided to take advantage of the weather and hit up a new park we found, just a shirt drive away.  It's a brand new park in a new subdivision and even with it being a PA Day, it wasn't too busy! It was an awesome park, only down fall was that it had no big trees yet! An added bonus was that Noah was able to see all the big machines working! It had a zip line, spinny seats, swings, a teeter totter, 2 different jungle gyms, a merry-go-round type of thing,  a rock wall, and monkey bars! Noah had a blast and Em really loved the swings:

 

 

After nap we pulled out the bouncy castle since it was 20 degrees and likely the last time to use it this year, and of course Noah had no complaints!!

 

 

M brought home dinner and then last minute we decided to check out Wondernite at the church. It's an awesome program the church puts on for the kids in the community, they do activities, sing songs, have dinner and play!! Noah had a blast!! They do this once a month, so we will likely go back to check it out for the full program next time! 

 

Saturday morning was gymnastics and apparently Noah lost his listening ears before we went... he participated, but job st wasn't listening the best. Let's just say we didn't find his ears for the rest of the weekend. But we still managed to have some fun anyways. After gymnastics, we braved Walmart with the kids, grabbed lunch and headed home! 

 

Noah has been really interested in the cats and Lux has been brave enough to visit in small spurts! 

 

We decided last minute to goto the Santa Claus parade in town, it was cold and snowing, but it was fun! Noah love it!! He was pretty excited to see Santa, but the little trucks were his favorite!! 

 

My phone died, so I had to use M's phone, hence the crummy quality. 

 

Noah refused to keep his mitts on, so he was not happy when it came time to get in the truck with his freezing hands... hard lesson t learn perhaps??

 

 

Sunday we went through Noah's toys, since my sister sent some hand me downs. We may be turning into a toy factory... we managed to make a box to donate and a box to hand down to his cousin, but we still have soo much and only more to come, so perhaps after Christmas we can do it again! 

 

I ran into town quickly to pick up a few gifts. It was such an unpleasant trip... I spent 30 minutes in a store choosing the perfect gifts and their debit was down, so I thought well I have a gift card I can use... nope that wouldn't work either. It's been down all morning and they don't know when it will be back. Well they could have put a sign up!! Then I went to Canadian Tire And a lady tore a strip off me for "driving too close" to her parked car... telling me I almost hit "her" car. Even after explaining I know my vehicle and reassuring her I was not going to hit her vehicle... "but you could have..." but I didn't and when she told me where to go AND how to get there...The part that ticked her off the most was when I smiled said "Thanks, Merry Christmas". 

She even had her boyfriend wait for me to come out of the store and then parked in front of my car to give me the finger... Then I watched a car almost hit an elderly lady crossing the parking lot because they couldn't wait for her to finish getting across. People are just soo rude this time of the year instead of joyful. This is why I shop online....

 

My Dad came over shortly after for dinner and to help me with making Emilya's growth board

 

 

Noah wanted to help, so we let him color while we painted. Well he wanted to look like Grandpa, so he drew his own beard and goatee...

What a kid...

 

The mostly finished product: 

 

We need to add some gold sparkles still! 

 

The fun didn't stop there... Mike's parents came for dinner as well!! Noah and M made apple crisp for dessert, which was delicious! 

Yes, Em stayed in her pjs ALL day! It was cold and snowy!! 

 

After we got the kids down, M ended up heading into Emerg because he kept getting major swelling on his hands and feet randomly for a week now and it was itchy. Turns out it is his body's way of fighting this virus we all have and they gave him some antibiotics. 

 

So it was a fun weekend nonetheless, but I am looking forward to decorating for Christmas this weekend!! 

 

The Baby Niche

Bows, bows and more bows, how could we possibly need anymore bows??
Well the funny thing is, there is no such thing as TOO many bows right?? Okay, don't ask my husband, he may have a different opinion.   
 Today I want to talk about one of my favorite Canadian shops that I order from much too often, but they just keep coming out with more and more adorable bows!!    The Baby Niche is a shop based out of Alberta, we all know I love Alberta and if our business wasn't based here, we would totally move! It is the home of some really amazing shops and of course great friends and we can't forget the mountains!  

 

Meet Nysha, the momprenuer behind the shop, a mom of 3 littles and a hair dresser!! 

Her shop offers real leather bows, vegan bows, felt bows, nylon headbands, leather headbands, your choice of clips or headbands and guess what? The clips actually stay on, thanks to the grippy on them! The shop also offers leather soother clips, silicone and wood teethers. Nysha was kind enough to send a few extras to review with my first order and although I can't report on clips yet, I know soon enough she will be able to wear them!! 

So what can I report on? Well obviously the bows, both vegan and leather, both clips and head bands and honestly, the quality is amazing, heck they even withstand Noah taking them, stretching the bands and guess what they don't wreck because of the nylon bands! Em doesn't quite have enough hair for the clips yet, but I cannot wait to start accessorizing with them when she does!! I can also report on the amazing customer service offered. This shop is great at communication with you, which makes ordering again and again very easy. 

We also have a leather soother clip, along with the little grey fox silicone teether and wood ring teether. Em loves the fox teether the most and it is just the perfect size for her hold on to. The leather braided clip is great, although she doesn't use a pacificer, but I have been hooking the silicone teether to it for in the car and that way she can't lose it!  

Now I could post a whole lot of pics of Em wearing the headbands, but instead I will pick a few!! 

Like our family photos: 

And for some holidays:

It's seriously a happy mail day when they come:

And of course for everyday wear:

They also really work great for our monthly photos:

I'm soo happy that headbands and bows don't seem to bother her at this point!! She rarely rips them off at this point!! I know that will likely change soon enough, so for now, she will wear all the bows haha! 

Sooo if you have a little girl you NEED to check out this shop and maybe you need to buy a gift for a little girl? Well let this be your goto shop!! 

You can't beat her prices, especially when she has her amazing sales and specials!! 

You can find her shop HERE

On Facebook HERE

And search "thebabyniche" on Instagram

Happy shopping!! 

Weekend Rewind

Well it is official, we are all down with the cold and it sucks!! Yes, this means I ended up getting it too, just as I suspected! What I will say is that it is a challenge getting Noah's attention with no voice!!  Friday was pretty low key, soo low key that I can hardly remember what we did.  Saturday morning I cut the boys hair, and ended up using the wrong blade on Noah, so his hair is much shorter than I would like, but it will grow!!!!Noah had gymnastics in the morning and he did soo well!! He actually did the flip on the rings without letting go. It's crazy how much he learns and improves each week. We had a nice family nap in the afternoon. The boys worked outside afterwards and Em and I worked inside on laundry, etc.    

 

It was homemade pizzas for supper!! And it was also right around this time we realized the kids both had fevers!! 

 

Of course we had a couples night out planned with friends, so we were ever hopeful their temps would come down and we would still be able to go. I think had we booked the babysitter instead of Grandma and Grandpa, we likely would have bailed. Noah hardly touched his supper, so we let them play a bit after supper and then it was in the tub at 7:00 and they were both up and in bed by 8. Em went to bed rather easily and Noah took a while to settle out on his own, but we felt comfortable leaving. We were home by 11, so it was not a late night whatsoever. 

 

Sunday morning the kids actually slept past 7 AM, M was ever hopeful that they are finally adjusting to the time change, but I think it  is because they are sick!! Although they both slept in past 7 today too! 

 

Noah and I made cake, he has only been asking for cake for a month, however he also told us that he was going to blow the candles out, so clearly we need to find someone with a November birthday lol. 

 

 

Of course Noah had a monster nap before we went to the farm and he had just enough time to go for a kobota ride with Grandpa and they went to see the tractor and combine across the street! We managed to get Noah to eat a pretty decent supper, but I think knowing there was cupcakes after helped!!   

Someone was pretty excited about the cupcakes and silly Grandpa left is his ice cream unattended and came back to half of it gone... he learns from the best!! 

 

This little miss is teething like crazy, plus with this cold, she is hit and miss on her mood!! She did pretty good, but we knew when it was time to go home!! 

 

We also realized that our new routine needs to be started, the kids NEED to be in the tub by 7 and up in their beds by 8! They go to bed soo much easier!! This will also allow M and I to get our work out in at 8!  Today we are stuck at home again, although I will run into town tonight for some meds and a few groceries. We just really don't want to spread our germs or catch new ones at this point!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday's Thoughts

Our family is down with another cold... Well so far it's Noah and M, but my throat was semi-scratchy this morning, so I'm sure we will all end up with it. Pretty positive this one is from Grandma and Grandpa!

So Noah had a rough night, but on the positive note, he slept in until just after 7 today! I was happy I went to bed early last night!! 

I've really gotta get M going on the fix again, because guess who sucks on their own?? ME!!! I mean I'm part of the challenge group, but I missed a work out yesterday and although I felt guilty, I know that for the first week, getting into a routine is the most important! My ultimate goal is to get in 5/7 work outs in a week to start! So I really just need to make that happen. I also need to get better at the clean eating and portions again! So if M would just do this with me, it would just be easier. I'm not using him as my excuse, but I just know how smoothly it was before, granted now we have 2 kids and our time management sucks... I need a routine!

I'm loving my new area rug!! We wanted a bigger rug with Em scooting around, but I didn't want to
bring the dark one in. This one is just the perfect pop of color, yet subtle enough to work in our space. It's really hit the redecorating bug in me. My mind is all like - feature wall in the foyer, new coat rack in the foyer, gallery wall in the great room, paint for the mudroom in addition to the new closet, dining room storage area, get the walls decorated in the basement, Noah's room, and Emilya's room. It never stops right?? And we can't forget Christmas, granted I'm not a huge seasonal decorator, but I do enjoy the Christmas tree being up. 

Mike and I also need to get Em back on the self-soothing train. We are creating another monster. She sleeps, thank the Lord she sleeps, no complaints there, but getting her to sleep involves bouncing her, just like her brother and guess what? I don't have time to bounce her like I did with him. Because while I am attempting to get her down, Noah is downstairs on his own, usually the TV is babysitting, which I don't love! He's pretty good for the most part, the worst he has done is given Gracie a whole
bunch of treats, but luckily she's trained enough to not eat everything the toddler gives her.

I will say Noah is OBSESSED with Paw Patrol all of sudden and when I saw obsessed.. I mean obsessed!! He even knows all their names!! Also, I tried watching The Good Dinosaur with Noah, and well we made it about 15 minutes in and all he was asking was where did the Daddy dinosaur go? Well I am not about explain death to my 2 year old at this point in his life. So we tried s bit longer and eventually Paw Patrol was back on... 

Let's talk puppies for a minute... Yup we are going there, the time is coming and it leaves this mama anxious, not anxious about another responsibility, but sadly, it just reminds me that Lily is gone and she is NOT replaceable. I can't fill that void with another dog, because they won't be HER. We've lost dogs before, but with Lily it was different, I don't know if it was the special bond I shared with her, or the fact that I had her since she was a puppy, or that she died in my arms here at home suddenly. But the puppy talk has started. It started at Gracie's last vet appointment when the vet suggested maybe it was time, because Gracie is still depressed. It has been on the back burner for months because we had a newborn and well puppies and newborns at the same time is crazy. Puppies and toddlers and babies is crazy too, but a crazy I can get through. But first I need to find a new space in my heart to accept another dog, it doesn't sound all that complicated I know. Something about puppy breath, popcorn feet, puppy snuggles and play, it's pretty easy. But I need to drop the expectations for them to be just like Lily. So that is what I am going to work on over the next few months, I'm going to work on getting my head in the game and leaving the past in the past. Let memories be memories and bonds be bonds, but individual bonds. It's going to be an exciting time in our lives after all. 

 

Is this enough random thoughts for today?? I think it's all I can take the time to spill, because Miss Em is awake!! 

Weekend Rewind

Friday... Friday... Right, Em had an appointment in London, so we went to that and then hit up Costco afterwards, hello super full cart!!!

Good news is I got quite a few Christmas presents, bad news is it was an expensive trip!! We had dinner at the farm and then came home to get the kids in bed! 

Once the kids were settled, I decided last minute to attend a make up lesson party I was invited to! When it comes to make up I had no clue what I was doing - whatsoever!! The lesson was soo informative and my skin felt amazing even with make up on!! I don't think I have ever felt so comfortable in my own skin! The mom bags were gone... It didn't look like I was wearing a lot of make up and it was Arbonne products, so they aren't horrible for your skin!! 

It was fun and I am glad I went after all!! The aftermath:

Saturday morning we had gymnastics and then we stopped at Walmart afterwards to pick up a new car seat. Turns out the car seat was $50 off!! We are going to end up needing 3 new car seats total once Em is out of the bucket seat, one for each of our vehicles for her and then we are pretty sure the one in M's expires soon (we bought it used). The new one we bought is a 3 in 1 and will transition into a booster. I came home and was going to order 2 others online, but they were sold out! So I called the store and they had 1 other in stock, so I had them hold it! 

M and Noah were working outside, getting all the leaves cleaned up, going back and forth with the backhoe while Em was napping and I just worked on some housework. 

After supper Noah and Mike went to pick up the extra car seat in attempt to keep the kids up a bit late because of the time change coming. It was a fail, Em was not having any of it! So I ended up bathing her while they were gone and by the time they got home, I was nursing her to sleep! They came home with an ice cream treat to surprise me with!! Yum!

Once the kids were in bed, it didn't take them long to fall asleep! 

Sunday morning came early... 6 AM, which I know felt like 7 AM and the sun was coming out, but we definitely didn't gain an hour in our house! 

After breakfast M and moved things around in the mudroom. We have decided we need a closet in the mudroom for coats and boots instead of the wardrobe that just doesn't work for a family! So we moved the wardrobe to where we want the closet to see how the space will change, moved the washer and dryer down the wall and took the change table out of the room and we are very happy with space! So we will be building a closet in there as our next project - hopefully before Christmas! 

The kids actually co-operated in allowing us to get that done!! 

After nap, Noah went outside with M to finish up and I decided to give green beans a try for this little lady...

So far anything green has been a no-go! She hates it, but much to my surprise the green beans did not come back at me, she didn't gag, she actually ate them. I won't say she loved them, but she certainly didn't hate them!! 

After supper we took the backhoe back to the farm - this was not just my first ride in it, but my first time driving it too! Not the best time to drive something with a baby strapped to my chest and it being dark out, but we did it and Noah kept telling me I was doing a "great job mommy". Noah enjoyed an impromptu ice cream date with Grandpa and then we were off to bath time and bedtime! 

Monday we stayed home from play group because hand foot and mouth is going around right now and I really don't want to have to deal with that! Even adults are getting it! So we stayed home! I also decide I would start back up working out and trying to eat healthy! I joined a challenge group to help with that! So I am going to do a combination of Country Heat and 21 Day Fix and see how my body reacts this time! I started Country Heat almost 2 months ago, but my incision started swelling again, so my doctor told me slow down, which then I was unmotivated and just stopped. But I want my energy back! So we are going to try this combination and see how it goes! 

Emilya - 6 Months

Eating: We are still breastfeeding and have now introduced solids! Em is nursing every 2-4 hours throughout the day. The longer stretches are when she is easily distracted, but typically she prefers every 2-3 hours. I have given up the overnight pumping and just pump when I wake up in the morning and give Em a bottle when she wakes up. This gives us a little extra milk in the fridge to use for cereals or extra bottles. This month Em tried:

Banana - she liked, but not the texture soo much

Oatmeal

Squash

Apple
Mum Mums

We were still in the introductory stage and we're just giving her roughly an ounce of cereal and 1-2 tablespoons of fruit or veggie. I've been introducing a new food every 3 days or so, just like I did with Noah. So far she loves to eat!! She gets very frustrated when we eat and she doesn't. 

Sleeping: Emilya is still a great sleeper. She pretty much sleeps through the night consistently. The odd night she will wake, but usually it's because of a diaper change more than anything else and will go right to sleep. She has put herself to sleep a few times now at bedtime and will soothe herself to sleep if she wakes in the middle of the night, so we don't rush up unless she is upset. She is in her own room now and is loving it! She is sleeping much better for naps. Emilya is napping 2-3 times a day still. Usually after an hour of her being awake she is ready for a nap, then I usually get her to nap around 1:30 while her brother is napping and then she likes to have one around 4, depending how long her afternoon nap was. We have kind of put sleep training on hold for now while transitioning her into her room, but we aren't usually rocking her for more than 5 minutes typically. She loves snuggling a blanket when she goes to sleep, which is just like me, but man I'm not a fan of finding her head buried in it! 

Clothing: Emilya is wearing 6 months in everything. Her sleepers are starting to get short however, so I have started pulling the 9 month sleepers and putting away the 6 month ones. She is in size 3 diapers now as well. 

Features: Emilya has blue eyes and blonde hair still. Her dark hair at the back is still present as well. Her hair seems soo slow to grow and then all of a sudden she has more!!

Weight: 5 Months: 16 lbs 5 oz

              6 Months: 16 lbs 13 oz  - 28 inches long
                                                

What The Doctor Had To Say: Emilya is healthy and doing great! Some of her tests have come back and have been normal so far. She won't see the eye doctor until February. Her urine test came back normal, with the exception of a few white blood cells present indicative of a possible infection, so we are repeating that. Her ECG was normal as well. Emilya handled her 6 month shots much 
better this time. We had Emilya's ear mould made for her hearing aid and she did soo well with it! We are trying our best to keep her appointments as positive as we can, because she will have them often enough and so far so good!!

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Ems, Emy, Baby, Little Miss, Littlest Squish, Baby girl, Baby Bunny,  Hope, Sis

Big Brother Update: Aside from trying to micro-manage everything she plays with, he is doing great. He will share his toys with her, take away the dog bone so she cant get it, tries to help me feed her, entertains her when she is upset. His one downfall is waking her up, I would like to say that he does it by accident, but nope, he knows that is one button to push to tick me off, typically when he doesn't want to nap. But overall, he is really good with her!! We started going to the library program and a little girl took the toy Em was playing with and sure enough Noah told her Em was playing with that and that she needed to give it back and get her own. Secretly, I was proud of him for 
standing up for her, but in all reality, I told him it was okay and that he could get Em a different toy!

Likes: rolling around, Nemo, her Muslin blankets, her lovey, any blanket, her brother, being read to, being outside, bathes, various toys, music, being carried in the baby bjorn, the jumper, standing, and dogs. 

Dislikes: her face being washed, her brother scaring her,

Personality: Emilya is pretty much the happiest baby. She is very laid back about most things. I will say she much better in the car now! The DVD player helped with distracting her and now we don't even have to turn it on! Oh how the car is soo much more peaceful now! It isn't perfect everytime, but it is sooo much better!! Emilya has taken really well to her nursery and transitioned very well to sleeping up there all the time now! Emilya enjoyed her first concert - The Wiggles Live. It was crazy how much she loved it!!