Hawaii…a little late

So I realized I haven't written anything about our Hawaii trip in December. Jance's parents went in with a bunch of people and bought a condo a little while back. So we were able to take advantage and go out there with Jance's parents and Caleb and Ashley. What a blast. I won't bore you with words, just pictures.

The Sun has Come Out!

Well the snow is melting! I know it's supposed to snow again, but it felt great to take Kinnley out today to ride her bike. The only way I could keep Kinnley going instead of riding in the stroller with Wren was to keep finding any mud or puddles for her to ride through. I took a couple pics but am too lazy to load them on the computer. Either way, I think we're all happy to get outside a little more.

In other news, Wren is almost 1 and Kinnley is almost 3! Kinnley is still a little princess who loves wearing dresses, having little tea parties, playing dress up, getting her nails painted, and doing "princess steps" down the stairs. She's a little ball of fire, but I feel like she's starting to get less timeouts than she used to? As in, we're making progress with her behaviour. I came to the realization that people have bad days. Whether you're 2 or 20, bad days happen. Maybe more for 2 year olds I dunno, So I think I'm slowly starting to lighten up a little too. I felt like I have been so concerned with wanting her to be this perfect, do-nothing-wrong child that it's turning me and her into a monster. No breathing room. No opportunity to have agency. So I'm trying to pick my battles and I think we're both happier. Oh and this girl loves to make faces. What a goof ball.

         

         

                                   

Wren is growing up so fast I can't keep up. Since my last post much has changed. She's a little motor constantly wanting to explore and fairly good at entertaining herself. She can crawl, walk along furniture, and babble. We even got her to raise her arms when we say, "She Shoots, She Scores!". And then she finishes it off with an applause. Sometimes you get lucky and can make out words such as bye-bye, hi, ball, momma, dadda. But they're not very common. She also can wave, and LOVES to roll her tongue. It is hanging out all the time. As well, she went from being a super picky eater, to the exact opposite. She's the loudest, lip-smacking hoover. Loves eating food until it's gone, not until she's full. So sometimes she's eaten until she's thrown a little up. Still a little pipsqueak though! 

 

        

 


    

I seriously love these girls so much. They make me smile. A lot.

PS…we're staying in Edmonton for another 5 years! Jance got into Orthopedic residency here. My husband is actually going to be a surgeon. Both of us think it's weird that it's actually happening. So proud of my handsome man.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Weeelll, here's another long overdue update. I find I have more time on Tuesday nights because there's not much for TV shows when you only have peasant vision. 

Being a mom of two has been great. Of course it's not easy breezy, but it's fun. Kinnley is slowly moving away from being a "lovingly abusive" sister to just a big sister (and all that entails). Mainly she has moments of pure sweetness where she tries to stop Wren from crying by dancing for her, bringing her lots of toys or just saying, "It's okay Wren". Other times it's more like a yell, "Wren! Stop crying!", like today for example. And of course she has to sneak in a kick or jab here and there before the day is done.

Last Friday I had a true moment of bliss. I find I tend to get out of the house as much as possible through the week just to make days go by faster and to keep my own sanity. Whether it's the indoor park, pool, or running errands, I need to get out. However for the last couple days last week I decided it might be a good idea to stay home and have Kinnley realize that we don't just get to watch TV all the time when we're home. She also had a nasty cough and was hitting other kids way to much, so it was time to just be home. I find from going out all the time that when we actually are home I just want to turn on a show, put Wren down for a nap and chill (aka waste too much time on Facebook, Instagram, and Bejewelled). So I needed to improve things. Baby steps I figure. So last Thursday and Friday was more work  WONDERFUL. I was able to crack the whip a little more with discipline in that the constant nagging of "don't do that...please stop...KINNLEY!" was less often and she wasn't talking back, screaming, and demanding as much by the end. Still a working progress, but it's amazing what happens when you actually spend time at home and work on change. As well, we were able to make play dough and play with it. I got some play dough stuff at value village and Kinnley played with that for quite a while as long as I did it with her. Then there were puzzles and books and lots of at home activities we did. Nothing too fancy or crazy, but I tried hard to keep her busy without giving in to a lot of TV. Of course she watched a little, but I was able to control it to a show while I showered and a show when Wren had her afternoon nap. The first day Kinnley asked fairly often to watch a show especially any time she had a snack or something to eat; but by the next day it went down significantly. I'll be honest, the days definitely dragged a lot more, but Kinnley's behaviour was improving.

Now this moment of bliss…on Friday, there was a point where Wren was on the floor and Kinnley kindly gave her a couple toys from our nativity set to play with (in other words, didn't throw at her).  Kinnley was focused on stringing some beads from an old necklace. They both hung out side by side and it was SILENT. You could hear a pin drop, silent. I thought to myself, silence=heavenly. I sat on the couch and just watched them with pure joy. It lasted quite a while. AMAZING. Period. So that was my moment of bliss. It made me realize that I need to spend more time at home. Not everyday, but more than I have been.

So Jance has been all over the place getting in electives to put his foot in the door at a couple different schools and make his CV look good (and gain experience too). He spent a couple weeks in Halifax and a couple in Calgary (we joined for a week and got to spend some quality time at "Comfort Candy")., and a couple in Vancouver. While he did those things, I kept myself busy in the summer with my first sprint triathlon, Color Me Rad, and the Spartan Race (which Jance was able to squeeze in). I also snuck in a visit to see my new niece Erika Innis in Vernon, BC. Anyway, I'm glad Jance is with us for a while now until CaRMs interviews. Jance is in his geriatrics rotation, and he's learning lots about incontinence, delirium and dementia. He strongly dislikes loves it. Then next week he has a 1 week family medicine elective and then we're headed to HAWAII! Woohoo! Jance's parents have a condo on the Big Island and so we're going to pester them on their anniversary and give them zero privacy haha. The kids will be coming too and I'm sure they'll have a blast. I've never been, but Jance went when he was 14 to babysit his cousins for a couple months. Jance has been counting down the days for a while now, seeing that he hasn't had time off since Wren was born (if that even counts). We'll be gone for 12 days. It hasn't really even sunk in yet. So we decided to decorate early for the holidays and get the majority of Christmas shopping done. I could spoil my kids rotten, but have to constantly tell myself to slow down (and Jance is good at reminding me too haha). I told him he had to tell me a budget or else I would go overboard.

  

                                               
As for Wren, she's 8 months now! She is awesome. Sleeps 12 hours, naps twice a day, and is still an adorable pipsqueak. She's starting to say mama (obviously without comprehension of what that means, but I like to pretend she does). She rolls everywhere she needs to be and spins in circles. But her hobbies include nattering and sitting in one spot until someone moves her to the exer-saucer or jolly jumper or brings her things to play with. Still not much of a cuddler though and gets frustrated when she's on her belly and doesn't get very far. Right now she has caught whatever Kinnley got last week so she has a constant runny nose and nasty cough. She was pretty sad today which is out of the ordinary, and still doesn't have teeth so it could be a multiple of factors affecting her mood. She had a rough night last night similar to the first night she was born. Up every hour. Poor thing. And with food, she doesn't like to be fed. Wants to feed herself (but doesn't get to very often yet) and eat what we eat. She is definitely the picky eater thus far in the family, but is slowly getting better. Did I forget to mention she LOVES baths? (she cries when I take her out and get her dressed)



 
Kinnley is potty trained for the second time, but still has her moments. I usually have to just tell her when to go, otherwise she'll usually have an accident. And just yesterday, she finished off her halloween treats and thus has no more potty treats. So we'll see how things go over the next couple weeks. Every day is a different day on how she'll be. Goes in waves of pleasing and rebelling. She loves it when she can do something on her own though. One morning she went upstairs and came down fully changed and ready to go for the day. She was pretty proud of herself (and everything was on the right way!). It's a lot of fun now going and doing things as she is getting braver. She loves swimming with her little water wings and dancing like a princess. This girl is IN LOVE with Disney Princesses (and Barbie movies). Doesn't have a specific favourite, because her answer changes every day. Also, she loves wearing dresses. As soon as church is over and we get home, Jance and I are in sweat pants. Kinnley wants to stay in her dress. Last week, she wore the same dress three days in a row (and would have continued if I didn't make her change). She is a true girl. I'm sure she'll be picking out my wardrobe when she gets older, because I'm horrible with fashion trends. As for shows, the popular ones as of late are Bubble Guppies,Team Umi Zoomie, and Super Why. I can handle that.
 
So here's some glimpses from the summer and fall. We only got to camp once and that was in September. It was a little chilly I must say, but fun. We went to Ram Falls with Jance's siblings. Wren's first camping trip. Halloween included Princess Jasmine and her pet tiger Raja. And lastly, going out to enjoy the snow.