Has it really been so long?

This Friday, my baby will be 18 months old. She's healthy, sleeps mostly through the night, and gets into everything! My oldest son, who will turn 14 years old next month, says she is such a trouble maker now because she will be a goodie-goodie later... we can only hope. :)

She has us all wrapped around her pinky, even her big brothers. At first, her older brother thought she would be just the same as any other baby he's seen. He has since realized that her personality is one-of-a-kind. He is crazy about her! He will go out of his way to be goofy, or do anything to get her to laugh. She has such a great laugh.

All the smiles make up for the trouble she gets herself into when asserting her independence. She has learned so well (like her brothers before her) how to climb up on things she shouldn't. She climbs up on the dining chairs, but refuses to climb from the front - always from the side... today she found the consequence of that when she found out she was just heavy enough to make it tip over on top of her. Poor thing. :(

She has also learned how to climb over the baby gate, just like a fence. I can't believe she would put her little toes into those small holes and dig in, but she does. None of the other children I've watched have even tried to climb that high; but she does. Emma will climb up high enough that she can fall onto the other side, but doesn't go over - she just yells out to anyone who will come and rescue her and act like it was our fault for letting her climb up on the gate! I'm going to have to get one of those baby gates with the plexi-glass sides so there is nothing to grip her little toes on.

Then there's the table, both under it and over it. Emma likes to hide under the table, but is always trying to stand up straight when she's underneath. Then screams when she hits her head on the wood, or the holts underneath that hold the extension leaf together. I'm always reminding her to stay out of there, but curious minds will explore... and yesterday she decided to climb all the way on top of the table and sit right on the edge with that proud smile of hers. She sure knows how to get my heart racing!

Having three beautiful children is full of both blessings and sacrifices, as any parent can tell you. There are days when my life is so fulfilling that I'm 100% content to have my complete identity be "mom". When watching all the little things my children do is worth giving up (or putting aside) all my hobbies, accomplishments, or things I would still like to accomplish for myself... like my photography, scrapbooking, volunteering, or just sleep. Even those little things like household chores get put aside if I'm needed, then keep piling up. I was so blessed this weekend when my old college friend came by for a visit - she stayed the whole weekend and helped me sort through the children's outgrown clothes to give away. It feels so nice to get things done, especially after feeling like I've been drowning in housework. Not that I'm complaining, it's such a funny way that things have gotten undone. My little Emma likes to help with all the chores. When I'm unloading the dishwasher, she likes to help by passing me dishes. Of course, when I'm loading the dishwasher, she still likes to unload and pass me dishes... same thing for the laundry. She follows me around and likes to unload all the clean, folded laundry out of the laundry hamper before I get a chance to put away the clothes. She has so much fun with that, you should see how she giggles when I say, "No Emma!" and then she tosses the clothes out of the basket.

But there are times when I feel so tired, and really miss doing something for myself. I haven't finished (or started) a knitting project for so long... but I'm determined to get back some of

'me'. I was inspired by my sister, who is mother to my adorable nephew! She gets up every morning before he is awake to do some Wii Fit exercises. Since it feels like I don't have a waking moment to myself, I decided to do the same thing by claiming some time before anyone else is awake in the morning. I bought a new Nintendo Wii system off Ebay (great deal, I was happy to save some money) and a fitness program for it called Jenny McCarthy's Your Shape. I think the term "Wii Workout" would have been more catchy and fun, so that's what I call it at home. Well, it's been only one week since we've had it, and I feel great! I don't mean that I've lost any weight yet, but I feel like I have more energy, and I'm happier. It feels nice to do something for me again.

And tonight I'm going to a beginner Zumba class at the Community Centre... I keep hearing how fun these classes are, so I signed up for a summer session. I'm not going to put pressure on myself to do all the moves I know I can't do yet, but I will be going there to have a good time working out with other moms. As FlyLady says, "Progress, not perfection".

Burk's hidden gift

Would you believe it? My little boy has gone from toddler to teen! He's now 13 years old!!!

When my big sister was visiting us last, she gave me a gift to hide until Burk's birthday.

I thought carefully about where to hide it. Somewhere Burk would never look... and decided to put it in the bottom of our baby's diaper bag. There it was, in almost plain sight to anyone who might check inside there to get something for the baby. A few times I've asked Burk to go get me a diaper from Emma's diaper bag, and he was always in such a rush to get this task overwith that he barely look in there. In fact, he'd usually just reach in the bag and pull anything out that was closest to the top. Now and then I'd asked my 5 year old to help me out by bringing me something out of the bag, and while he was a very good helper he never did get to the bottom of the bag. Now don't get me wrong, my older boy can be an excellent helper when needed, but he has an aversion to diapers or anything related to them. I wonder if it's genetic, and if he get's it from his father? And I wonder if there is a world record for the person who has changed the most diapers? I'm sure it would go to one of the caring ladies who has worked in an orphanage most of her life. But for someone to claim that title they would have to actually keep track of each diaper change... not something I would have the time to do.

Emma's first spoonful!

Time flies, eh? Emma is now 6 and a half months old, and time for
her to start baby food. So my friend came over to watch Emma take
her first taste of baby food. Ok, so she's already tried a Farley's
biscuit to gum on when she was teething, but this was her first spoon-
fed baby cereal. We made it very thin, and didn't give her too much.

She loved it! Hubby took photos while she tried it out. Her first
bite was interesting. She waited for the ta.ste to sink in, then
tried to grab the spoon!

Then she went down for a good nap.... zzzzzZZZZZ

Here are some of the photos.

By the way, I'm STILL not finished my table runner yet, but at least
I did finish the crocheted hand towel.

Two very good friends of mine are coming over on the weekend to help
me do a serious de-cluttering of my house! One to help me sort, the
other gets to play with Emma while we sort through the junk into give-
away and throw-away piles. We try to donate to both Cerebral Palsy
and the Canadian Diabetes foundations on a regular basis through
their clothing pick-up program. It's an easy way to pair down on
your closet - if you can't actually walk through your 'walk-in'
closet, just grab a large garbage bag and start tossing things in
it. Then either drop it off to your local Value Village store, Sally
Ann box, or call for a clothing pick-up. Don't worry if you think
your clothes are out-of-date, anything they can't use will get
recycled or turned into other things through one of their many useful
programs.

Newbie Geocachers

Looking for something fun to do on a budget this summer? Why not try
geocaching!
This outdoor hobby is becoming quite popular, and with a handy
website database, you can participate all over the world.
As most kids like to go treasure hunting, this makes for a great
family adventure, with fresh air and good exercise to boot.

Some people go out and purchase a GPS device specifically for this
purpose, while others just use their iPhone, Blackberry device, or
the GPS on their portable navigation system like TomTom, or Garmin.
From what I've heard from the people I've bumped into on our
adventures, the Garmin is the way to go. I can't tell you how many
times my TomTom has been off course, even though I had just updated
the coordinates or satellite. Mind you, as far as driving directions
go, my TomTom is awesome! We never get lost! But when you are
trying to find a treasure in the middle of the woods, you don't want
to be off by 40 feet, or it makes it exponentially harder to find.
Some caches (treasure) we managed to find even being off course,
though it took several tries. Other times we were spot on.

The last one we went to, we were so far off that the family who hid
it offered to help us find it. I'm glad they did, it was no where
near where we were looking! We had a good time exploring through the
woods. One thing I like about the Kitchener-Waterloo area where we
have been geocaching, is that the other geocachers are very friendly
and helpful. And each forested area we visit seems to have it's own
character, so it's never like going to the same place twice. If you
are into nature walks, bird watching, or any type of nature study
then geocaching would be a great hobby for you to try out.

My kids like to search for new and interesting bugs while we are out,
and we take photos of them to research when we get home.

My Little Artist

This is Evan, my 5 year old. He is so crafty! He will stay up waaay
past bed time inventing craft projects if only his little eyes would
stay open all night.

When he found out that there were no Transformers trading cards, he
decided to solve that problem right away by making his own. He has
folded a paper several times to make it as sturdy as a real card, and
then stapled it (with a child safe stapler) to make sure it stays in
place. He has several of these that he gives me, and others that he
brings to the park to make sure there is enough for anyone else who
is needing some Transformers to play with. His favourite ones are
Optimus Prime, and Megatron. I'm sure these would do perfectly well
for a Flat Stanley project. Maybe I'll look into that..

Emma's first bite

We were at the park with the kids and a friend of mine was sharing her crackers.  I was offered some, and before I could put it in my mouth, Emma reached out and grabbed it with both hands!  I thought, she's just about ready to dolids now, so I let her taste it.  She stuck it in her mouth, and after a few jabs she took the tiniest little bite!  The rest didn't really make it to her tummy, though she did enjoy gumming at it and watching it crumble in her fingers.

dogs on Thursdays

I found this blog from a dishcloth KAL that I had joined back in April.  You wouldn't believe how far behind I am...  anyway, this lady's blog has a dog on the top of her blog that reminds me of mine, so here's the link if you want to see a funny photo.

Daddy's Little Girl

Daddy's Little Girl 

You're the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold,
You're daddy's little girl to have and hold.
A precious gem is what you are,
You're mommy's bright and shining star. 

You're the spirit of Christmas, my star on the tree,
You're the Easter bunny to mommy and me.
You're sugar you're spice, you're everything nice,
And you're daddy's little girl. 

You're the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold,
You're daddy's little girl to have and hold.
A precious gem is what you are,
You're mommy's bright and shining star. 

You're the treasure I cherish so sparkling and bright,
You were touched by the holy and beautiful light.
Like angels that sing a heavenly thing,
And you're daddy's little girl. 

You're the treasure I cherish so sparkling and bright,
You were touched by the holy and beautiful light.
Like angels that sing a heavenly thing,
And you're daddy's little girl. 

Bobby Burke and Horace Gerlach

New Recipe: Puffy Popovers

Puffy Popovers

This recipe I found over on baby center

We like to try new things, and this looked like something simple and fun to try out.  

It's not too different from a basic muffin recipe, but with different proportions.

I'm posting the recipe, incase you might like to try it out sometime yourself.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

Traditionally served with roast beef, these light, airy popovers are a treat with any roasted food or simply served with hot tea.

Ingredients

2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus butter for greasing the muffin pan 

3 eggs 

1 1/2 cups milk 

1 1/2 cups flour 

Salt and pepper 

Preparations

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Lightly butter a 12-cup muffin pan. 

In a bowl, whisk the eggs. 

Add the milk and beat well. 

Sift the flour over the mixture (I don't have a sifter, so I fluff up the flour with a spoon before measuring - my Home Ec. teacher taught us this trick in high school and it works fairly well) and stir to create a smooth batter. 

Add 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and the salt and pepper. 

Fill the prepared tins about two-thirds of the way full. 

Drizzle the remaining melted butter over each of the popovers and bake on the middle shelf for 15 minutes. 

Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 15 minutes, or until the popovers are golden brown and puffed up. 

Makes 12 servings 

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knitted baby dress/sweater

Need a nap?

One of my favourite photos.

Our friends gave Emma this udderly adorable moo cow. It's so sweet!
When I was a little baby, my mother used to put a hot water bottle
wrapped in towels next to me, and I'd nudge right up to it.
She said it worked wonders for me. So I tried it with my boys when
they were babies, and it worked. I was always nervous, though, that
the end would come undone and then you'd have hot water leaking near
a baby. I've never heard of it really happening, but you never know...
So this cow is special - it's filled with lavender, and it's
microwave heatable up to two minutes. I find with our microwave,
that it only needs about 45 - 50 seconds to be cuddly warm.
I put it next to Emma when she falls asleep and she snuggles right up
to it! It was so cute when I saw her first grab on to Cuddles' ear,
and she held on to that ear for almost her whole nap!

Now, whenever she gets tired and starts to become fussy, all I have
to do is bring her Cuddles and she calms down so fast, like she knows
it's quiet time.

This cow is so soothing, so amazing! I love it, and I hope we never
lose it.
Maybe I should buy another one just in case... I did that for my
eldest son's stuffed dog, Tracker.
I'd hidden it deep in my closet, to keep it safe. One day, he came
running to me, almost out of breath.
"Mommy! Mommy! Tracker has a brother!!!" He had found the double. I
didn't know what to say. I was thinking, "Oh no. What do I do now?
Do I get 2 more of them, incase we lose these guys?"  We did not, and life went on.  We have since lost the 2 little doggies, but he remembers them fondly, and we did take photos of them for our scrap book.

Smiles Galore

Love those smiles!

My spider boy, with his own home made mask...

my nephew in his cute blue boots...

some of their favourite toys...

ahhhh... what a sweetie!

he can just fit those little legs under the bridge

and there's his daddy - they are playing chase!

ok, so that's not a smile, but such a funny face I had to include!

there's the smile!

and here is my twin sister holder her baby, my adorable nephew!  And her is her husband holding my adorable baby!  They are going to be such good friends, it's too bad my nephews live out of town.  

She's doin it!

After figuring out this week how to grab her own fingers, and knees,
Emma has now figured out how to grab a toy!!!

Ok, so this post was scheduled for the middle of May (the 17th) to be published, but wasn't.  After looking into it, I found out you have to hit the Publish button after post dating a post, not the save button or it will go back into the draft section.  But I'm posting it anyway, since it was so exciting!  Emma is really liking to hold onto things, but is not very good yet at aiming things into her mouth if they are an odd shape.  Poor thing, she bonked herself with a teething toy the other day and wasn't impressed.

Luci's Mudhouse

My boys and I went to Luci's Mudhouse, a.k.a. the Art Studios (I liked their old name better, so I still use it).  They have pre-fired pottery there you can paint, and then pick up after it's been glazed.  The boys each picked out a project, and they helped me make a travel mug with baby Emma's handprint on it.  I've been wanting a new travel mug for awhile now, and one that's not made in China, so this was great! 

Evan made this robot, he calls it his Transformer, and was a little disappointed to find out that it doesn't actually transform.  But he likes it anyways.

This is his robot and the one his little friend made.  We invited 3 other kids to come along with us, so it made for a good field trip.

And here is Burk's shark.  It's actually a secret storage box shark.  The top lifts off for you to hide little things in, like his chore money.  He's saving up to get the Playstation game, Little Big Planet, with that cute little sack boy.  I've downloaded a pattern for one that he would like for me to knit.  I think it's way above my skill level, but a friend has offered to help coach me if I need it.

And here is my new mug!  Emma's hand prints are on either side, within the painted heart shape.  They are a little squishy, but I think it's great!  Evan even painted the inside of it.

Sheltie & mini me sheltie

Here big brother is trying to get the attention of both Levi, and his
little sister. He sure knows how to make her laugh!
But she doesn't know what to make of it when Levi gives the webkinz
dog a shoulder ride.