firsts

:: wearing her new rain slicker

:: trying her hair in a pony tail

:: trying out a whole pile of new to us shoes from Scarlett, even party shoes

:: attending her first 4-H achievement day

:: asserting her independence and doing it all by herself, all-the-time

:: passing swimming lessons and is now a sea turtle

:: putting two words together....'bye,bye Dada' 'all done choo choo' 'anna ready'

:: much singing on her own 'row, row, row' which starts into a round of row your boat

:: turning 19 months old tomorrow

this moment

Date night at Cavalia! - awesome show, highly recommend it.

the colouring is getting really good

We now have lots of interest in colouring and 'making' something of her own. Needless to say, we sat down and I asked her to draw some of the animals we saw at the zoo. There were some great circles, choosing of colours and then pointing and talking about it afterword, it's getting really good.

a room full of beauty

We took advantage of a rainy day at the zoo yesterday and managed to avoid all crowds and have the entire place to ourselves. My absolute favourite spot was the butterfly conservatory, unfortunately after this part our camera ran out of batteries. But that's okay, as we got to really enjoy lots of other sites. Anna seemed to really like the guerrilla's, partly because the baby (he's around 3 years old) was running and wrestling with his Mom. Going to the zoo on a rainy day is the best because all the animals are awake and very active. I volunteered here for a few years and remember the crushing crowds of a sunny day and how up close you can get with the keepers and volunteers on a slower day. Stew tells me his favourite area was the Canadian wildlife section, there were lots of bears, a wolf, moose and even a cougar.

We saw lots of beautiful butterflies (many Postman as well as the Owl Butterfly, you'll see their large eye spots on the tree) and it was just after 9:30am, so they were having their fruit breakfast, Anna noticed that part right away.

summer lovin'

Based on the sunburns that both Stew and I are sporting today we soaked up as much summer as we could yesterday. From gardening to pulling out the tent and finally going on a bike ride and stopping for an ice cream at our favourite spot. I was very excited to find the time to put in some new perennials in the front while Stew and Anna cut the lawn - the best part, we can enjoy another full day tomorrow, I love long weekends.

to a happy long weekend

finding our rhythm

A bit of a challenging week here, the 'cold' has hit our house, so both Stew and I have been trying to get to bed early and rest so we can kick these sniffles and sneezes. Anna has been abit of a grumpy Gus, and we are not sure why. Her teachers think it's the addition of two new little kids, she's been the 'baby' for 6 months now, and they think these younger additions might be an adjustment for her. She has also been pointing to my tummy and saying 'baby?', we gently try and tell her, but don't think she can understand. Overall, we are finding the days easier and looking back, we think about how much we've grown as a family over the past few weeks.

To try and keep some rhythm for us all, we've been (or mostly I anyway) doing what we know and are familiar. Making breakfast biscuits in the morning, tackling our backyard gardens with great gusto, making plans for 'build' day and starting our seeds off inside. And when I say 'inside' both inside the house and in Anna's tummy! - Stew and I found her eating the peas and bean seeds out of the packs. We also had shoe fairy Sharon drop off some new sandals for Anna, and we are all pleased as punch. Especially me, as I'd given up my search trying to find a simple, comfortable, practical and affordable sandal for her.

A couple of random notes:

Our friend Crystal sent us a link for their local school fundraising project and I think this is the best idea ever, got mine today, and they are smart!

I found my new favourite go to meal for busy nights that is super easy and very tasty.

I have joined a book club and I'm very excited for our first read: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua

funny tree droppings

Our trees are dropping all their spring tendrils this week, does anyone know the technical term for these funny things, I believe we have poplar trees on the side and out front. Answer! - thanks Aunt Kate, they are called catkins, the flower off the poplar tree.

When we were in Ontario, Anna and I went to our favourite kids store in Port Hope with Grammy, and while we were there she spotted an item she really liked. When I saw it I remembered that I had ordered her one for Easter but it had not yet arrived (Easter seems like months ago now...)....well, guess what arrived this week, just in time for her to clean up all those tree droppings.

You see, Anna doesn't play with many toys (yet...) - her favourite things are to hold small bottles of hand sanitizer, baby powder, or even her calculator. She carries these bottles around all the time, and even sleeps with them at times. Well, that all changed on Thursday when we opened up this package and now her dust pan and broom go everywhere. They've been in the bathtub and after a few squabbles of wanting to sleep with them, I agreed to set them beside her crib so she can play with them when she wakes up. She sweeps up everything, I'm not sure if its because she sees her teachers doing it at daycare so much, or just wanting to help herself, either way, I love it and this purchase was worth it.

this moment

a mother's day gift

As you can see we have returned home from a much needed trip to the farm. Not only for some rest and relaxation, but to celebrate Tompa and Mother's Day. While I was recovering from a flu bug on Mother's Day (and in fact after this trip it looks like 7 out of 8 people caught the same bug and are now resting, oh goodness, sorry about that) I had a chance to reflect and think about my second Mother's Day and how I've grown from last year. I thought about how I've changed, in fact, grown...become braver, stronger and even wiser and more confident. I thought about all the Mom's that have helped me become who I am.

I have been thinking about this role of motherhood of late, probably because of the loss of the baby, the month of May and the holiday itself and a few dear friends that have just welcomed a new life into this world.

I think about my Mom (Grammy) and all the things she's done for me, especially this past week and my role as a new Mom over the past 18 months. And I think out of everything she's done for me the best gift she has given me was to listen and not really say much. As a very type A person who thinks, researches, questions and worries about things over and over (and very often out loud) she has never questioned (and still doesn't) how I parent, what I feed Anna, what we read, what we do as a family....she just listens. If she does say anything, she just reassures me that I'm a great Mom - and really, that's all you need to hear.

Thanks so much Mom for unconditional love and support. I hope I can do the same for Anna.

this moment

Celebrating 60 years young with family and friends all weekend.

more little things

:: reconnecting with 'kit-ee', these two were side by side almost the whole day

:: morning sun, and some piano after breakfast

:: watching the buds come out
:: getting back on the swing, and going even higher
:: finding the lady bug house