Thankful Thursday!

we had a really busy week!

it was also a very very fun week :)

this week i am thankful for:

-the "big mess run" with great work friends and miss Meggie!

(we actually did the Run or Dye)

-small crafty art projects inspired by a Hallmark bag

-Annie! who helped me shuffle our upper cabinets around for a more open feel

(even the ridiculously gigantic square shaped hole made me laugh when we found it!)

-funny "to do" lists

-dinner with faraway friends

Thankful Thursday

this week i am thankful for:

-camping with friends who love our kids (and our kids lu-urve!)

-watching my uber-cautious daughter becoming more brave than i was at her age

-s'mores and this girl (even when she wakes up at 4:45 am!!)

-this dad and his small girls

-sunny summer days and sunsuits

-early morning time spent with Isla and in the Word

-love this girl so so much!!

today we also had a goodbye party for my friend Kerry.

she is a lovely co-worker/co-nurse of mine who initially replaced me on my first mat-leave.

she is moving to the states in a few weeks and we are all very sad.

i am so thankful to know her and to have worked with her.

i am also thankful that we were able to bless her with a lovely surprise present.

a little Pandora bracelet with some meaningful charms.

it has been a lovely week indeed.

and i am super thankful to be off to the spa with my girl Becky tomorrow!

woop!

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

-being back at blogging :)

-Isla attending a morning of Junior Kindergarten (how did that happen?!?!)

-voting with these ladies

-these lovely Toms from a thrift store! Holla!

-morning runs in sunshine

-and cutie cute tiny boots

Thankful Thursday

this week:

-watching Isla fall in love with puzzles!! girl after my own heart!

{all by herself!}

-having my mom visit this past weekend

-talking to Auntie Rozzy on speakerphone and having Megan shouting "HI! HI! HI! HI! HI!"

       (we love our Auntie Rozzy!)

-family day pyjama day dance parties!

-my job

-having my lovely friend and co-worker Becky babysit last night... and i totally forgot to leave any kind of putting Isla to bed instructions... whoops! she feels like such an old friend that somehow i just assumed she knew the bedtime routine... even though it was her first time at our house! Sorry Becky!

-date night that turned into free meal date night because they forgot our order in the kitchen! i have no problem spending an hour chatting with my husband and get a free meal for it!!!

Thankful Thursday

this week I am thankful for:

-these lovely lasses. sigh.

-a 30th Birthday weekend away (for my bestie!) with 6 ladies and a baby: 

time to sleep in, eat good food, laugh, shop and reconnect

-Olympics!!!! Yay!!

-My mom coming in on the train today

-Isla. Here are some things she has said this week:

           "look, my breathing is dusty"  (in the cold)

           "Mommy? When I'm a woman, can I drive your car?"

           "You know everything don't you?" (to her Gramma Kiki)

           "Uncle Ryan is silly, huh?... And Uncle Noah... And Mike"

           "You came back!" (to me after I was away for the weekend)

         

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for:

-friends celebrating Thom turning 30 this past week :)

-Sunday mornings with rowdy worship and dancing and fun fun fun!

-seeing Isla run over and sit with Isaac and Auntie Mary on Sunday morning

-cuddles on the couch later in the day with my girlies

-getting out running after an almost 3 month hiatus! 

-also thankful for no longer blistering frostbiting-ly cold temperatures! sheesh!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

-a great retreat with the young adults last weekend--Megan and I joined them and had an amazing time, we laughed, we cried, we ate some good food!

-Megan doing awesome on the drive! Our first trip with someone other than Thom... Thanks to Uncle Noah for braving the drive with us!

-the school we chose for Isla to attend in the fall-- and the way God confirms decisions by having pt's rave about the school... total divine appointment!

-Breakfast date with Isla before going to check out her school

-New friends

-dinner out with my co-RNs-- love working with those ladies!

-and last but certainly not least! that my nephew is awesome.

yup, that's an 18 month old on skis.

no big deal.

Thankful Thursday

ahem.

excuse my little absence. no real reasons. just life ;)

thankful this day for family, a lovely Christmas, a new year and good friends.

thankful for this past year:

-old friends with renewed friendships (or first "real" friendships)
-watching Meggie and Isla become closer and enjoy their sisterhood and friendship
-growing closer to Thom, seeing our friendship and love get stronger and tackle more
-my wonderful job and co-workers
-new friendship with a "destined-to-be-friends" friend
-becoming a runner
-losing 30 lbs (say what!?!)


life is grand!

Thankful Thursday

so very thankful this week for:

-date night! (and baby sitting swaps with friends who also have littles)-

-strong legs to take me running-

-Megan learning to say thank you all by herself-

-brunch on Saturday with the "Ladies and the Babies" (this is what Isla called it)-

-finding some cute pair of velvet skinny jeans and a polka-dot dress 

for Isla for a total of $5.23 at Value Village-

-Isla's first day of Sunday School *sniff*, she's in the 3-5 year old class, 

graduated from the nursery, where oh where did the time go?-

resolution update

back in January i resolved a few things to happen over this year.

here is the updated list:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
update: well, they aren't being bitten, it's been about 2 months i think, but i go back to work next week, so we'll see if they last til then!!

2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a 
tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
update: we went out a bit. proof: 

on this day Isla refused to let Megan sit on her lap

so she sat on Megan, then as we were coming home, the sled tipped, Isla barely fell out but cried like she was dying, and poor little Meggie basically did a starfish face plant into the snow, a poor little old man walking down the street jumped over about 3 snow banks and almost fell down to try and pick her up, small babies stuck face down in the snow i guess are a little alarming! anyway, when i picked Megan up she just blinked at me. This is a pretty accurate demonstration of first-born vs. second-born. 

just a little snow this winter

3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
update: after a few fits and starts, we've been back on full time with Megan when she's not at daycare and with Isla during naps.  Yay!

4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all. 
update: sewed some amazing bunting for a friend's little nursery, and started a quilt! oh, and made some little face or bum cloths, hurray!

5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.
update: just finished my 13th, i would probably be further on if it weren't for the longest most disappointing finally give up JK Rowling book. 

thoughts on potty training

so.
we've been attempting potty training for about 3 and some months now.

it went awesome the first few days, than poorly then well for a month and a bit, then poorly and then very poorly.

what i mean by this is that Isla always did well when we asked her if she had to pee, but probably only told us she had to pee a handful of times.
she also has very rarely pooped on the potty.

this has been a frustrating time, lots of pees all over the place: our house, outside, and at friends's houses.

i found myself starting to be angry with her.

i was rethinking the whole potty thing when the last thing that happened was 2 visits in a row at the same friend's house she first pee'd on the couch and then the next time pee'd all over her friend's room... that was covered in toys. oy vey. (to be fair, the second time i told her not to pee on the couch, i wasn't specific enough...clearly)

i think the main thing was that i almost felt a social pressure to punish, and not that anyone was actually pressuring me... but, you know.

so i took a step back, and then this showed up in my facebook newsfeed.

toilet learning vs. toilet training.

i'm going to go ahead and say that i won't necessarily do all these things, but what stood out to me the most was this checklist

(source)

in reading this list i realized that she had not been doing a lot of these things, and in fact still wasn't.

i also needed to check myself, and if my reactions always seemed frustrated and angry, we had to change something.

so here's the thing i think, if she's not ready, she's not ready.

so starting Saturday we put her back in diapers (mostly cloth-yippee!)

and told her that she could use the potty if she wanted to, but she didn't have to.

we had a much more relaxing weekend, with a few trips to the toilet or potty,

and this morning she asked to wear a pull-up and has been pretty much using the potty on her own (go figure).

so we'll see how this week progresses, but i'm happy to not be stressed and very happy to not feel frustrated  or about something she can't control.

live and learn.

poor first born trial children ;)

I don't feel ready for this!

these two.

are off to daycare together this morning, for the first time.

Isla has continued for one day a week this past year, and today Baby Megan is joining her.

how did we get to this point? 

this year has been crazy and emotional and a little overwhelming at times,

but it's been an amazing journey to walk through and to see the bond these girls have already--i'm glad they are so close in age*

Thom is dropping them off, and i'll pick them up.

Isla did amazing on her trial days when she was 1, and i'm sure Meggie will do great as well.

i'm glad they are going to such a wonderful home daycare. 

i felt in my gut, when Isla was little, that this was the right place for them, 

and to this day i am so thankful to God for bringing Kattie into our lives.

*just to say, that i'm glad they are close, but if we have another one we will wait a weeeeeee bit longer in between.

veggie garden

i swear, i've been trying to snag some final pictures of the completed bed, but it's been raining on and off for the past few days!!

come out sun!

here is a little about the process:

i used all cedar and bought it all at Lowes

4-2"x6"x12's

1-2"x6"x16' cut into 4 pieces

6-2"x2"x48" balusters

as i mentioned before, i was inspired by Miss Mary Mary's cedar bed, so i pretty much just followed along with her plans.

i dug out holes for the posts, and then my mom and i carried it over to it's spot.

i put down a thick layer of cardboard first, 

because there were lots of weeds back where the old garden was.

and then it took a lot (i mean A LOT A LOT!!) of dirt, manure (i used sheep manure) and peatmoss to fill it up.

the one thing i would change if i could do it again is that the screws i used were 3" so the ends stuck out a little, which meant that i couldn't put the screws in from the inside... for some reason i was really worried that the 2.5" screws wouldn't be long enough, but i wish I would have used them because then i would have been able to hide most of my screws.

also, because i had my end pieces cut at Lowes, they were slightly off, so while i still always wish i had my own saw at home, it worked well enough to be happy with the finished product. i probably could have asked for more specific measurements if i had been super concerned about the final product.

once that sun starts a shining, i'll get a pic of it and the rest of the gardens my mom pretty much did all on her own!!

Thanks Mom!

it's been a week of needing an extra measure of grace.

for myself, for my girls.

we are dealing with teething and first tempers and tiredness.

it's been a week of reminding myself that i can use all my own strength,
                                                             but it probably will give out at some point.
my strength to be patient
my strength to be kind
my strength to choose my words carefully and
my strength to show love

  have all given out at some point over the past week.

today as the sun is shining through my window, i am reminded of this scripture:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 
but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 60:1-2 (NIV)

and this one:

This is My command: be strong and courageous. 

Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, 

and I will remain with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (the Voice)

Thank you Lord. 

Thank you for your Holy Spirit and your strength in me. 

Thank you for second chances and new beginnings.

Thank you for your forgiveness and for your never-ever-ever ending love.

Thank you for being with me and
Thank you for choosing me to be the mother of these 2 little ladies.

Amen.

World Down Syndrome Day

my brother-in-law has Down Syndrome.

he is fun and loving and such a true delight.

he loves his mom and his dad

and puts up with merciless teasing from his three(!) older brothers.

as you can see my girls think that their Uncle Matthew is pretty much the greatest thing of all.

i read this article today:

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/columns/article/905852--down-syndrome-day-celebrate-being

Uncle Matthew will teach our girls how to care, how to laugh and how to love Jesus.

He will teach them to be thoughtful and caring towards people who are not exactly the same as them.

my husband is a more caring, considerate and patient man because he grew up with  brother with Down Syndrome and parents who taught him that every person is worthy of love and patience, and frankly, of life.

We love you Uncle Matthew!!

how little ones point us to Jesus

can i just say that i love being a mom?

an unexpected part of being a mom this time around was discovering again how much i need Jesus.

it's an amazing thing, this truth that i've always known...


but now.

now it seems even more evident.

little ones can test your patience, without meaning it, without doing anything other than what a little one is meant to do.

they ask a lot of questions, forget tasks, wander off, and make messes.
they take their time responding, and eat all the peanut butter.

it can be overwhelming, this take take take.

but this is what:

Jesus is bigger, he loves me, he loves my children and he matched us up.
I am learning what it means to not have control of my children, to give them grace, to let them grow.

just as God doesn't stand there, tapping (or stomping!--not that this ever happens in our house!) his foot as I am learning new things, he gives me guidance and patience and love.

another slightly more painful and a little gut wrenching is how God uses our toddlers to show our least becoming behaviours.

a few notes on that:
-we are teaching Isla to use nice manners, to speak nicely and ask nicely is a kind thing to do, and I've realized that I often forget to say please or thank you when I ask her to do something for me

-attitude! the other day Isla was asking for some juice, from the basement, while I was making dinner.
I asked her to come upstairs and ask nicely, which I'm going to hope she maybe didn't hear? a few minutes later this is what happened- she walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted: "I said, 'I want some juice!!'" and believe you me that 'I said' had some serious sass to it.
 almost like she was repeating a tone she had heard an adult say use before... strange that.  ;)


for me, God is gently pointing out the immediate reactions that I sometimes have when I don't get my way or when I feel misunderstood or unappreciated.

I am thankful so much for these moments in motherhood,
for the stretching and growing and light that it brings.

and the fun, oh the fun it brings!!

it's a new year!

wow.

2013.

it's funny to watch old tv sitcoms from the 80's where they think that by this time we will have hover-cars and robot butlers and all kinds of crazy "futuristic" things.

not so much!

i've been working out a small list of resolutions in my head, mostly i like to pick fairly achievable ones as i like to cross things off my lists :)

so in no particular order, here are some:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all.
5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.


so, those are a few of my resolutions... do able, but i also know that i have to be intentional about them all.

i like that.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

we have had a lovely little holiday

we spent time with family and friends

we gave

we received

we feel full

thank you Lord for family and friends and love and laughter and life.

thank you that you sent your Son for all of this.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross and that this is what you came to do:

to bring us into a relationship with you.

Amen.

Day 19: myself, a year ago

(can you believe how small this tiny is?)

wow.
a year ago seems like a crazy amount of time ago!
i probably either just found out, or was about to find out i was pregnant with Megan!
i had a fresh new one year old on my hands and I had been back to work for a couple of weeks.
what a difference a year makes!
now i have a 2 year old, an almost 4 month old and i have been on mat leave for 5 months
(seems weird considering i was just back at work at this time!)

we had just moved into the Dearing's basement
were getting used to life without Olivia and life with 5 other people ;)

Isla had just started walking more than crawling!

whenever i watch videos of Isla from a year ago, i'm almost uncertain as to whether it's the same girl or not!

Day 9: a close up of my day

basically this is my day right now :)