happy early birthday!

We celebrated Caleb's birthday with our families last night because my sister is visiting and because some family is going on a winter holiday this week.

Tasting the cake before the guests arrived...

Showing you that the neighbour's house is for sale (Anyone interested?)...

The birthday boy and his mommy...

Eating cake for the very first time...
And just being a really cute birthday boy...

Sisters

Flashback Friday

Don't you just love sisters?
I do.
This is my sister and I.
I'm the older one.
Aren't we adorable?
I just hope my two little boys are as close as my sister and I.

I am so excited because she is flying in tonight!
Yay!

PS My e-mail is working and I had 13 new messages thanks to Susie's Question of the Day!

E-mail not working today :(

If anyone tried to e-mail me today, it's not working. This is what they told me:

We have been having problems with the e-mail server today.
It has been down for most of the day.
We are hoping it will be back up and operating again shortly.

So I'm not mad at you or being rude, I just haven't seen your e-mail yet.

If you didn't e-mail me, then don't worry about it.

But you could e-mail me. Because I like getting e-mail. Don't you?

I am hoping that when it is all fixed, it won't say "no new messages".

a conversation with a two and a half year old

Matthew: Caleb is my big brother.

Me: No sweetie, he's your little brother.

Matthew: No, Mommy. Caleb is my big brother.

Me: Actually, you're the big brother and Caleb is the little brother.

Matthew: Caleb used to be little, but now he's big.
He's my big brother.
You have two big brothers, Mommy.

:)

Pride and Joy

Pride and Joy.

Joy and Pride.

I think I have been the proudest and most joyful since becoming a mom. Don't get me wrong, I had a healthy self-esteem before becoming a mom. I am proud of my childhood, my accomplishments, my education and my relationships. But the moments of pure joy and deep down pride that I have experienced with my boys have been such blessings. (trying not to sound too cheesy-sometimes they drive me crazy, but I'm feeling extra sentimental today so bear with me)

Some of my proud and joyful moments so far:

• Delivering Matthew who happened to weigh 8lbs 15 oz. Very proud that I was able to do that! I guess I really didn't have much choice at that point. Also very joyful that my second baby, Caleb, came three and half weeks early and only weighed 7lbs 4 oz!

• When Matthew told his grandpa, "Jesus loves you, Grandpa!" So proud that he is already spreading the Good News (at the age of 2!) Such joy to know that he has already learned such an important lesson in life.

• Today...when Caleb took his very first steps. Such joy in his face as he balanced himself, and very unsteadily took three steps towards his daddy. Such pride in himself. Our sweet baby becoming a toddler. A special moment, to say the least.

Pride and Joy.

I feel it deep down.

Moments like these, that's what it's all about.

Guess who?

Flashback Friday (thanks Susie)

Guess who this is..












Give up? It's me.

1975
15 months

That's what it says on the back.
I definitely see some similarities with Matthew.
The eyes, the smile :)
Isn't that cool, when you can see yourself in your babies?
Or your babies in yourself?

Mommy & Caleb Day

Today was our day.

Matthew was dropped off at grandma's to do "big boy stuff" like drive Uncle Mark to gymnastics and go to McDonald's. Baby Caleb and I decided to go to the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Caleb is at such a fun stage right now; he enjoys exploring the world around him and takes delight in the little things we tend to take for granted as we get older.

It was such a wonderful experience to explore the gallery with an eleven month old. He started out in his stroller, but we soon realized that most of the exhibits are difficult to view from that vantage point. Out he came and he enjoyed being carried around to look at the different sculptures, smile at them, wave to them and then point me in the direction of the next one he wanted to see up close.

Our favourites were the life size baboon by David Gilhooly, the cows by Joe Fafard and the preserve pantry by Vic Cicansky. The Vic Cicansky one's are particularly interesting since he is Rick's Mom's cousin and we actually got a piece of his artwork (the pickles pictured at the top) as a wedding gift. All these were in the Regina Clay exhibit.

We came home, had a quiet lunch, then watched Baby Neptune together.
*Please note the extra bulky sweaters--it's FREEZING today!*

Now he's napping and I'm thinking about joining him :)

a happy day

A happy Valentine's Day here...

roses from my hubby,

chocolate covered pretzels from my mom,

chocolates for my hubby (from me of course!)

books for the little ones,

a playdate with a sweet little friend,

and a few toys and treats from grandma.

Not so great photos...

Caleb smiled, but not Matthew...

Matthew smiled, but not Caleb...

Nobody smiled...

They both smiled silly goofy smiles...

Better luck next time Mom :)

one thing

So I was filling out Matthew's preschool registration (which my husband and I think may be longer than our university applications were!) and this was one of the questions...

What is one of the things you like most about your child?

Tough question. What would you say? It's so hard to narrow it down to one thing when there are so many little things and just as many big things that I absolutely love about Matthew (and Caleb too, of course) Where do you begin?

This is what I wrote on the registration form:

Just one?!? We like the fact that Matthew enjoys learning new things. He is like a sponge, soaking up new information everyday. We love that.

Somehow it doesn't feel like I said enough...

Hello

Hello.

My name is Caleb.
And today I am eleven months old :)

Everyone says I look alot like my daddy.
But I also look a bit like my big brother and mommy.

I still don't have very much hair.
But it's starting to come in and guess what?
It might be curly!

I getting so smart too.
If anyone asks me where the teddy bears are,
I always point to them with my finger and smile my cutest smile.
Some people swear they have heard me say "bear" in my own baby way.
I'm glad someone can finally understand me.
Ask me what a bunny does, and I'll bounce up and down. I know.

I'm starting to get sick of that mushy baby food. I much prefer toast, peas, canteloupe and teething cookies. And I can drink out of a sippy cup too.

I love exploring my environment. These are my favourite things in my environment:the toilet, the tv, my big brother's train table and the garbage can.

I am snuggly and sweet and so so smiley.

And today am am eleven months old. Nice to meet you.

What would you recommend?

If you were at the library for storytime and it was time to get your kids ready to go, what would you recommend?

Would you put your jacket on before you get them ready?

Or after?

Because if you put your jacket on before, you might be thinking "Now that I'm all ready, I'll just whip my children into their jackets/snowsuits and after a quick stop to check out our books and videos, we'll be on our way."

But if you put your jacket on before, you might also find yourself with a two and a half year old who has a tantrum in front of all your friends and Storytime Jane.

And if you are still wearing that darn ski jacket meant for a cold Saskatchewan winter, you could get very hot and sweaty inside that jacket, especially if the tantrum involves throwing himself on the floor and refusing to leave.

So what do you think you would recommend?

I would have to go with putting your jacket on after.

But that's just me :)

A rainbow

Forgot to post this yesterday....

It's a rainbow :)

Mommy and Matthew Day

In an effort to spend more time with the boys individually, I have instituted Mommy & Me Day (which is usually Wednesday) My mom watches one of the boys at her house and I do something special with the other one. And actually the other boy gets to have Grandma & Me Day (so everyone wins!)

Today was Mommy & Matthew Day.

First we went to the school where I used to teach to pick up a preschool registration form. Matthew enjoyed looking at the fish in the big fish pond and when I said it was time to go, he told me he wanted to look in some rooms first. So I took him on a mini-tour of the school. We saw the gym, the library, a few classrooms and some of my former students.

We came home and had a picnic in the living room. What did we pack?
pickles
cheese & crackers
juice
granola bars
and monster cookies

















Our tummies full, we went downstairs to play firefighters. We needed to get in character so we tried to find every firefighter book we own. We found three (I'm sure there are more, but oh well)
We read them all and then got dressed up in our new firefighter costumes (I bought them on sale after Halloween, but just pulled them out today)

I was the fire chief :)

We didn't know what to use for hoses so we used Matthew's toy golf clubs. Well what would you use?

After putting out so many fires, we did what all firefighters do: we painted and then had lunch.

Then it was time to pick up Caleb because he needs to nurse before his afternoon nap. So technically it was Mommy & Matthew Morning. But it was still lots of fun!

I have a question...

This morning when Matthew woke up, I asked him, "Do you know where we're going today?"

"We're going to the museum!"

We haven't been for ages and I'm sure he didn't remember so I explained to him what we would see at the museum: animals and dinosaurs (pretend ones, but they would be big). He was very excited.

Fast forward about half an hour to the breakfast table conversation.

"Mommy, I have a question..."

"Yes sweetie, what's your question?"

"Can I and Caleb ride on the dinosaur's back?"

I really just think he is the cutest kid. How sweet of him to think of his baby brother too. We did have a great time at the museum, but unfortunately we were unable to ride on the dinosaur's back!

Have you ever done this?

I was supposed to go work out this evening.

But I kinda had a headache.

Rick took Matthew out for ice cream so I could have some peace and quiet.

This is what they brought back for me.









My headache is gone :)

No workout + strawberry sundae = tight blue jeans

Giddy

Do you ever get giddy when you find a big sale?

I did.

Today I found 2 big sales.

Boy stuff. Clothes for my boys.

70% off and I am giddy.

They are set for next fall/winter.

And everytime they wear their little Tommy Hilfiger matching shirts, I will smile and say to myself "Some sucker paid $50 for these and I got them for 15!"

Music in our basement

Who needs Kindermusik or Music for Young children?

When you have a whole box full of instruments...

Sorry for the mess in the background (I didn't know that you'd be dropping by)

Yes, I realize that there are more photos of Matthew, but Caleb just kept putting everything in his mouth and I had to be careful he didn't shove it down too far. So I had to put the camera down to prevent him from choking. It was a safety issue.

I'm not usually this competitive...

Are you a fan of baby shower games?
I'm usually not too crazy about them.

But I went to a baby shower on Saturday for my friend who is expecting a baby(why does that sound so silly?).
And her sister announced the first game:
a baby food taste test!
Most of the guests were groaning in disgust as the hosts brought out paper plates. On each plate was a small sample of 6 different flavors of baby food. Each one was labelled 1-6. "This is gross", the lady next to me complained. "I can't believe babies actually eat this", said another. "Do we really have to taste it?", asked the mother-to-be.

But not me :)

Bring it on! I've been training for this game for the last two years. I know this. I can do this. I taste this food everyday. I test it on my lips to see if it's too hot. I finish off the fruity desserts if Caleb's tummy is full. I can beat all these wimps at the baby food taste test!

And I did. It was easy.
1) green beans
2) peaches
3) sweet potatoes
4) peas
5) squash
6) apricot dessert

Well, not that easy. They tried to trick us with foods that were similar in colour. But like I said earlier, I am somewhat of a baby food connoisseur :)

I came home with a baby shower prize (airplane size bottle of Bailey's, mm's and small hand lotion-not too shabby), bragging to my husband of my special skills. Later while feeding Caleb, I mentioned to Rick that this was the same food I had identified earlier at the shower.

"Was that the highlight of your weekend," he asked "winning the baby food contest?"

It was. Do you think that's sad?

What's my job?

The other night I was reading a book to Matthew called "What's my job?" It is a lift-the-flap book with various occupations: firefighter, astronaut, vet, etc.







When we got to the page about the baker, I explained that a baker bakes cakes, cookies, bread and muffins. That's a baker's job.


No Mommy, he said very seriously, The Muffin Man makes muffins.







(hee hee-how do you argue with that?)