1 more sleep...

... until my parents arrive!!! YIPPEE!

Alia's First Pony Tail

It's no secret that for the 1st year of their lives our girls have no hair on their heads! That's just the way the cookie crumbles for our offspring, I guess!
Needless to say I was SO excited when we were able to make Alia's first pony tail the other day!!

She won't be winning any long hair contests... but it's a start!

All afternoon Alia would keep checking to make sure her pony tail was still there! And if, for some reason, she didn't locate it right away she would keep asking (in a panicked voice) "Where'd pony dale doe? Where'd pony dale doe?"

It's a big deal in our house, can ya tell?!

Princess Alia

I have been blown away with the generosity of family and friends with the birth of Larren! Not only have they spoiled her, but Alia as well! Alia has received bubbles, coloring books, crayons, balloons, puzzles, purses, nail polish, baby doll accessories, bath toys, books... no wonder the "baby is here to stay" transition has gone so well! She must think this is great!!

The other day we went down to the States to pick up a baby gift, and sure enough there were some goodies for Alia! I decided to take pics of her opening it, since I hadn't been on the ball with previous gifts received! (Sorry!)

Trying out her new wand and high heels!



Notice her new pink tutu? She was pumped and thought she should add the necklace for extra bling! (She's admiring her reflection in the oven door!)





Ya can never have too many diamonds apparently... we had to add some earrings!


Back to that beautiful oven door reflection!


All dressed up with no where to go... but her crib!


Larren just looking on, captivated by all the sparkles!


Thanks again everyone for your thoughtfulness! Wow, what a blessing each of you have been... thanks just doesn't seem like enough!

It never fails...

... just when I think Alia isn't playing with a certain toy, and I plan to move it to the basement, she becomes quite interested in that particular one! I never tell her the toys fate... she must have figured out that if it starts collecting a few specks of dust, than it will disappear the following morning!

BONK!

I wasn't able to get the before pic, but here's the bonk in action.

And here's the "Hey, I'm pretty sure she just hit me" pic!


Despite bonks, cries, and wiggles, Alia LOVES to hold Larren any chance she gets! Today Daddy let her "carry" Larren up the stairs. My she got a kick out of it... I just kept saying the whole way up "You can only do this with Mommy or Daddy. You can only do this with Mommy or Daddy!" Ole' Mom just takes the fun right out of everything!

Gramma and Grampa, Mom and Dad, Mom and Arnie...

this is for you! After reading Rochelle's blog I realized that it was possible for ANYONE to make comments on each post. So.... now you can write what's on your mind without having a google account!
More connection is always a good thing! Love ya!

She's a Big Girl Now

It's true. With the big #2 birthday approaching she is getting more and more independent by the day. Goodness... so this is what my parents have talked about all these years! The ever classic "They grow up fast!" is so so true!
I know most kids do most of the same things around the same time... but it's still mind boggling when it's your own child! The other day, as Alia was eating her breakfast, I just looked at her and thought "Hey... when did you learn to do all this stuff?!" It's happened in the blink of an eye!

Taking Pics Should Be Simple... Right?

All I can say is... there's SO MUCH to learn... and I love it! I feel like a sponge just soaking it all in! I have a grasp (a very weak grasp!!) on the basics but am constantly adding to what I know. I didn't even know my camera had a light metering indicator (or if that's what it's called!), but I do now... and that makes me happy! I am so blessed to have a couple friends with mega photography talent to glean off of. They haven't told me to get lost yet... so I'll take my chances and ask a few more questions!
Hopefully in the future things like THIS won't happen!


As of now my camera is officially on manual and I'm hoping not to turn it to auto again (unless Jon is using it... although he's getting to know the basics too!). In the next few weeks I'm planning on learning a new editing program and ideally these pics will move up a notch. As of now my editing consists of cropping and messing with highlighting and shadows... that's it! In today's world there is just SO MUCH more than that! Isn't this exciting?!?
Now, I just need a little extra dose of creativity... I've never felt quite endowed in that area!

One Last Hurrah

SPRING is on it's way! Or so I hope... MB weather can be a little tricky to predict! At any rate, the snow is melting! I seem to be the only one in our household happy about that fact though! I've said it before and I'll say it again... ya can't miss who the REAL Canadians are around here!

Jon decided it was time to shovel the remaining snow off our cement pad and he had a little helper with him every step of the way!!




But what would a morning with Daddy be without a little fun mixed in?!

Larren Pics!!

Here they are folks! The baby pics that my friend, Tara, took of Larren! Little Larren had NO intentions of sleeping, so she definitely made Tara work a bit! Sleeping babies are so much easier to take pictures of than flailing ones!
Tara posted a few of Alia when she was a babe, and surprisingly I see some similarities between the girls!
Take a look and see what ya think... http://tarawytonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/03/baby-l.html

Thanks again Tara!! You are such a talented photographer and a blessing to our family!

Larren's Favorite Spot in the House

... or so I hope! On any given day this is where you'll find her... snuggled up in her bouncy chair.


I don't even want to begin totaling up the hours she's spent here. It saddens me that I don't snuggle with her as much as I'd like to. But... we're pouring on as much love as we can and thankfully she won't remember the quality time she spent with her Nuk and her chair. She'll remember all the "nose kisses" from Mommy and Daddy!

Spring Cleaning

Believe it or not... Alia loves to clean. Now... I hear ya, "she doesn't know she's actually cleaning," you might say. True... but I'm not going to stop a good thing!
That being said, it might be getting a little out of hand! If you're in one spot for too long there's a chance she'll take the feather duster to ya!
Just ask Larren... and the poor thing can't even help herself!


Daddy doesn't know it, but he's next to get spring cleaned!

Camera Hog

Lately it's gotten harder and harder to take pictures of Alia. This is what I get on a consistent basis!

She'll pose for .0045 seconds and then dart over to me as fast as her little legs can carry her to see the image!

Crossing the Threshold

Jon and Alia's daily snowmobile rides are sadly coming to an end! Since the snow is melting like mad, they've been riding any chance they get! As Jon was starting the sled the other night, Alia waited in the garage. I was watching her out the window and realized that she wouldn't cross the threshold! She didn't want to miss anything that was going on, but kept her feet planted firm as could be! She's gone in and out of the garage a hundred times, but on this particular night she was staying put!

Headbands

have never really been part of our girl's lives. Jon just kiboshed the idea from the beginning, and I've never quite cared for them either!
BUT... Alia spotted a headband the other day with one of Larren's outfits and just HAD to put it on! Although she looks pretty cute, I still stand firm in our decision!!

Sisters Share Clothes

Right? Crazy enough... the girls might be sharing sooner than I expected!
This is Larren's hoodie. I would have never thought of putting it on Alia, but Daddy did. So there ya go!


Proof that it is actually part of Larren's wardrobe!

Praise the Lord... for sleep!!

Yeah! We're finally working through Larren's "stomach issues" and our nights have been SO much better! I've added another feeding in the evening, and that seems to be helping. Maybe the poor girl was just extra hungry so she ate extremely fast, sucked in lots of air and got gas as a result. I'm not quite sure... but we're so thankful that our nights are more enjoyable! (And that I can eat dairy again!!)
Last night she slept through the night from 11 pm - 7 am. I woke up in a panic, but made sure was breathing... and rejoiced for both the sleep and a healthy babe!
By no means am I saying that she's officially "sleeping through the night" or that this is even a new habit. Just sayin' I'm SUPER PUMPED about sleep!!!

Generations

Nothing like a Brisk Stop at the Grill

I know... most people don't grill in the middle of winter. Especially not in Canada where the temperatures are known to be considerably less than friendly. But - when one wants farmer sausage... one must have farmer sausage! And no, no... it wasn't this slightly hormonal mama that had the craving - it was Jonathan! And since he was the chef on that particular day, there was no arguing!

** I forgot to adjust the white balance on my camera, so the pics are pretty bad. Hopefully I'll remember next time... and Alia won't be so blue! **

I was in the other room and returned to the kitchen to find Alia camped on TOP of the table so she could keep a close eye on the supper prep outside.


UGH, I get cold just looking at this picture!


"What's Daddy doing Mommy?"


"Oh... just being friendly to the neighbors hunny!"


Alia must get her snitching honestly... look at this, caught red handed!




Alia has learned that if she taps on the window then Daddy will wave "on demand"! It's her new little game, I guess!

I Could Never Get Tired of This

Birthdays just aren't as much fun

when you get older! Since I was a leap year baby, I used to get spoiled rotten! I mean, as a child I thought it was normal... but now I realize just how much my parents and grandparents did to make my day EXTRA special!
Fast forward a few years to life with 2 kids, and birthdays just kinda get put on the back burner! Ya know what our excitement was on my b-day? A nap. Yup. That was our main focus!
To Jon's credit, he was planning on taking me out for supper... but the girls just didn't cooperate. By the time Larren was fed it was already 6:30 and with bath/bedtime looming I just couldn't justify going out that "late"!
Our biggest celebration was the "jello jigglers" that Jon and Alia whipped up earlier in the day. Jon put a candle on, they both sang "Happy Birthday"... and that was that!


(Jon doesn't "believe" the recipe for jigglers and added more water than it said. Thus the reason it's more of a blob than any particular shape!!!)

Afternoon Tea Party

Alia LOVES "meows"... as she likes to call them! It's a daily, if not hourly, ritual to look out the garden door and scan the horizon for a sighting of one! But, every once in a while, when she's lucky... our neighbors cats will make their way up on our verandah and have a peek in!
On this particular day Alia was ready for them with her tea pot and tea cups in tow!

I'm not sure if you can tell... but she is shocked, thrilled, and delighted to come face to face with her most favorite of "meows"!


First, a hand shake...


then an offer to stay for tea!



Eventually her tea party got a little on the boring side, and she started goofing off instead.


The kitty must have noticed the lull in conversation as well... he just couldn't resist a yawn! (Seriously... he yawned! Hilarious!)