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:

-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

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?-

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.

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!!

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 11: three years ago today

it seems fitting to be remembering on this; Remembrance Day.

 

my Poppa was on the HMCS Gananoque.

Albert Van Impe

we had a visit with him and my Gramma today.

it's nice to be able to spend time with them.

They have 8 children, 17 grand-children and 8 great-grand-children.

I am very very thankful for all that my Poppa did for us, in the war and in his family to give us the family and life that we have to enjoy.

 

as for me, i'm not sure exactly what was going on 3 years ago today, i know that i was close to quitting my job at the hospital, that we were still in the 6 month waiting period after my molar pregnancy, and i was in School of the Word Canada.

 

i like that you can look back on facebook and find out what was going on, it definitely helps when i think that Megan should be sleeping through the night, but then see that Isla was not at the same age.

on November 11, 2009 i found this:

 

Oh, thanks Kate!!! It's my great honor to be a friend of yours.

Thanks for your voice that encourages me a lot. Thanks for everything! Praise the Lord.

it is from my friend Gwanggil.

he's nice.

 

i'm not really sure what it was in regards to, but it sure was a nice thing to read!

 

Day 9: a close up of my day

basically this is my day right now :)

 



Day 8: three inspirational quotes

 

 

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!

By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.

I say to myself, "the LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. 

Lamentations 3:22-25 New Living Translation

 

Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what.

If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.

 Catherine M. Wallace

 

 

i've been working through quite a few things since becoming a mother of two and a mother of a toddler.  love and discipline and grace and consequences. on living in the moment and planning for the future. schedules and free for alls.  it's been a big learning curve, figuring out this new stage; one that has it's difficulties but truly does have more joys that outweigh the difficult moments.

i've been speaking with friends and reading books and praying.

these quotes and verses have stuck out to me.

 

that verse from Lamentations is actually one i shared a preach on Mother's Day two years ago when miss Isla was first born.

 

image source.

 

 

 



Day 7: a song for the day

well, my current playlist involves a lot of Kindermusik, Raffi and Sesame Street.

having a two year old kind of dictates what kind of music we listen to.

the nice thing is she also likes Snow Patrol, Karen O. and the Kids (from the "Where the Wild Things Are" soundtrack), Mumford and Sons, and Metric.

so that helps :)

we've been doing a bit of driving these past few days -- we drove to Hamilton, and then today we drove an hour each way to a butterfly conservatory which was actually an amazing place for a toddler!

anyhoo, in the car we've been listening to a Raffi cd that Isaac got Isla for her birthday as well as her Kindermusik cds.

I think that the song that seems to however stick out the most is "Down in the Valley"
Thom used to sing it (and still does when we visit) to his younger brother Matthew who has Down's Syndrome, and now he sings it almost every night to Isla while tucking her in.

I so love to hear it over the baby monitor when I'm in another room with Megan.

But this week we are away, so I've been singing it.

It's a lovely way to end the day. 

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow dear, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail
Birmingham Jail dear, Birmingham Jail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail

Build me a castle, forty feet high
So I can see you, as you ride by
As you ride by dear, as you ride by
So I can see you, as you ride by

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

(lyrics slightly changed from the traditional American folk song)

hi there!

this is what miss Isla can be heard saying pretty much every time she see's Mommy or Daddy.

we love it!

sorry for the hiatus!  

we've been a little busy this summer.

July has been jam packed.

July 6-I turned 30

July 7-we moved into our very first house!

July 8-we celebrated 6 wonderful years of being mr & mrs

July 17-we became auntie & uncle & cousin for the first time!

and the most exciting for us:

July 23-we welcomed a 4th member into our family

miss Megan Elaine!

we are completely smitten by her,
even her older sister can't seem to get enough of her!
(which frankly is a big relief!)

we are loving life as a family of four,
and are adjusting very well.

Megan is slightly more noisy than Isla was in the cooing/grunting/crying department,
but she sleeps almost as well as Isla did at the beginning,
so no complaints here!!

blogging will return regularly as i can't wait to show pics of our family, our house, our yard
and what we've been up to these past few weeks :)

small style #52

week 52!  

a whole year has gone by since the original small style here at Katie Geranium!

amazing.

i was looking through some of the old small style pictures earlier this week and i thought that i would pull out some of my favourites from this past year.

but of course, let's start with the original small style post.

what the what.

can you believe how much this tiny has changed?

i seriously cannot.

i blinked my eyes and now she is a blond toddler who is about to become a big sister.

with Auntie Beth, learning to drink from a straw.

camping.

learning to climb 

(and getting blonder)

model pose.

chicken!

a sick sick winter :(

spring finally came for us!!

and most recently, we spend the may long weekend 

(Victoria day here in Canada)

at the cottage with many friends

oh yes, i'm that mother.

who fears the sun.

those sun suits are amazing and so far i have bought 3 for Isla.

one i paid full price

($40 eep!)

but the other ones i paid $3 or less at value village!

i am so much that mother, 

that i sent Isla down to the dock with Auntie Beth after putting on Badger sunscreen,

but when i got to the dock, 

realized that i did not rub it in.

at.

all.

i became the mom who puts zinc all over her child's face.

sheesh.

(i'm not actually that mother!)

sun hat: Joe

sun suit: NoZone, thrifted

don't you just love Isla and Isaac together?

they did so well this weekend.

(the last 2 cottage photos were taken by Noah Bright)

small style #51

Isla is having the most cute days lately.

she is saying so much,

she has started saying: "k mommy" when i ask her to do something

she also will say: "please mommy"

which i just love.

look at how big this girl is:

how can this one be from just a year ago?

she looks like an entirely different child!

pretty much 1 year and a few days from today!

what the what.

little baby is getting big.

this is where miss Isla started:

seriously,

little baby...

where did you go?

wee Isla, 

not so wee anymore.

boo hoo hoo.

from the top photo:

shirt: George

shorts: Old Navy, consigned

shoes: Sand N Sun

i can only imagine how quickly life will fly once there are 2 little girlies!!

small style #50

50! 

we are getting close to a year here!

I thought that I would go ahead and fill you in on this little outfit that Isla was wearing in last weeks post.

because,

well, 

it's a cute one!

and any excuse to put another picture of these 2 cuties on the blog is worth it :)

shirt/tunic: Gap Kids, thrifted

diaper shirt: Carter's

leggings: Gap Kids

socks: Old Navy

shoes: Pedi Ped

blankie: hand knit by Isla's Great Grandma-Mary

those two.

destined.

small style #49

we're working on the 'no' around here

lately, a lot of questions or requests by mommy or daddy is met with a très whiny "NO!"

this morning, trying to get a picture of my sweet Isla,

was met with many not so sweet nos

{no!}

ah well,

we are working on them.

so far time outs on the stairs seem to work fairly well.

{no!}

{maybe?}

needless to say,

we did not get a picture of her full outfit.

shirt: Joe Fresh, gift

diaper shirt: Carter's, consigned

jeans: Mexx, consigned

sure glad that we have lovely happy times in between the nos :)

Isaac and Isla

Isaac and Isla

little kindred friends from the start 

(mostly partly because their mommas made them be)

but they have an authentic little friendship that will be fun to watch as it grows

this is Isaac and Isla 2 weeks ago at our All Nations Church Sunday morning meeting.

they are both on Maryann's lap.

{altogether now: "aaaawwwwwww"}

this is them last Sunday before the meeting started,

sharing snacks,

Isla is usually not a good snack sharer unless she is the one being shared with

{let's put our heads together}

{not talking}

{Isla finally sharing}

{can you see that this is an action shot? that little orange fish is flying through the air, not sitting on her dress}

{best little buddies}

these 2 crack me up, 

they play rough, 

and often get a little miffed with each other,

but they are always so happy to see each other and give each other the biggest hugs upon greeting :)