enjoying the holidays . . .

We've been enjoying the Christmas break at home this year, and have been spending lots of time with the kids (can't say girls anymore, weird!). We spent three evenings checking out the light displays around our town, had a nice Christmas Eve at home where the kids opened their gifts, and had a busy and fun Christmas Day going to church and visiting with my family (but we all had a nice nap inbetween). Brad's had extra days off which has been great and we've managed to get a couple things done around the house too. And now we're looking forward to bringing in our fourteenth New Year's together this week!

a *little* bit of creating . . .

So I have spent very little time in the sewing room lately, it's definitely not going to be a homemade Christmas around here. But I'm not complaining, one day the kids won't want me coordinating everything in their lives and I'll have lots of time to sew and quilt. But I did manage to squeeze out a mini-sleepsack for Justin. The girls helped pick out the buttons and fabric to make it fun, and Justin even sat on my lap for part of the sewing because he loves to be held as soon as the machine goes on. I made it with buttons to close up the armholes with the intention of keeping his arms from getting out (he startles himself awake and is getting too strong for swaddling) but my design flaw was using fleece - too stretchy. I think I'll add some bias tape to the neck and see if that works. It was fun to make anyways, especially since the girls helped out.

We also made some teacher gifts for the girls teachers. We used this website for the recipe and printable gift tags and made M&M Christmas cookies (complete with red & green M&M's). A quick and fun idea. Today's plans include making our own batch :)

life revolving around the little guy . . .

So the title pretty much says it - my life has been mostly revolving around Justin lately. He's growing up so fast and right in front of us, that we're trying not to miss too much of it. We just had his three month pictures done the other day already! He's definitely a healthy little guy, tipping the scales around 15 pounds and not even giving me nights off from feeding yet. I tried a bit of rice cereal for the first time last night (after an exhausting day of feeding almost every hour), and he just gobbled it up and wanted more. I want to make sure his tummy handles it okay before I try again, he was a little bit extra gassy this morning. He still gets cuddled lots by his sisters, is starting to grab for toys, and loves to smile and laugh. Cloth diapering him has been going really well and it seems he has the same sensitive skin issues his big sister Alyssa had, so I'm glad that we're trying them out (and it is SO nice not buying diapers on top of every grocery bill for him).

Someone lost something . . .

Elayna lost her first tooth! It's been wiggly since she bit into an apple 3 weeks ago at Niagara Falls and today I noticed the new tooth was growing in behind it. So when we suggested tying it with a string and slamming a door, she thought this was the best idea ever. It gave it a good start and her Daddy pulled it out after that. So hopefully the new tooth will move into the gap now.

Butterfly Conservatory . . .

Another "fieldtrip" we went on was to the Butterfly Conservatory. Pretty exciting for the girls, especially Chantel who is the least timid with flying or crawling creatures.

Niagara Falls . . .

We took a family vacation out east this month for my sister-in-laws wedding. While we were there we visited Niagara Falls. It's pretty amazing to see up close, and a great fieldtrip for the girls. We took the tour behind the falls (the reason for the lovely rain covers) and it was pretty interesting with all the extra facts and stories on the walls down there.

little cuties . . .

This is a pic of Justin, with two of my friends' little ones - Lianna and Levi. The three of them were born within 6 weeks of each other.

an update . . .

So life is flying by over here as it often does when there's a baby around. Getting up for feeds in the middle of the night, and trying to function with not enough sleep doesn't help much either. Thankfully I have two extra willing sets of arms to give me a break on a fussy day when nothing's getting done otherwise. Our busiest little one is of course the toddler lately - but thankfully she's also the one that takes a two hour nap break every day. She's been showing lots of interest in potty-training (every Mom's favorite task :p) but I'm not encouraging it as much as she'd like since our upcoming holidays include plane rides - and taking a toddler to a little plane bathroom over and over again does not sound like fun to me.

But I should mention that for as busy as she keeps me, she's definitely a lot of fun. She's always full of giggles, and suprises us with her vocabulary daily. She can sing most of her bedtime prayer and some of the Lord's prayer at dinner too. She loves her dolls and copying what Mommy does with Justin, and trying to keep up with with her big sisters. This morning she thought that the dryer was a great place to hang out (just her size!) - I think I may have to leave a load of laundry in it more often to discourage this habit (not that I want to get out of folding it or anything).And just because I don't like posting about my kids and leaving one out, I thought I'd post this cute pic of Chantel with one of her friends from her birthday party a couple weeks ago. Notice them both biting their nails? Two peas in a pod.

Chantel is 5!

Our second little princess turned five last week! Her birthday fell nicely on a Pro-D day which made for a great morning birthday with her friends. The weather was beautiful so there was lots of outdoor play and the girls all got along great. Chantel had requested a Barbie birthday cake, and was spoiled by her friends with toys, jewlery, and games. One of the Moms stayed to help and I think she worked harder than I did - thank you so much!! The girls stayed for a chicken nugget lunch before heading home and we had a nice quiet afternoon after.

The next day Chantel got a day out with her Oma which included a "high tea" complete with party sandwiches and mini pastries for lunch, and then shopping after - she came home with two new dresses, shoes, a purse, and hair accessories - thanks Mom! The same day, her grandparents arrived from out of town and stayed with us for the weekend. And Chantel got to go out and pick out presents from them and use up her birthday money from her great-grandparents - spoiled again! But our little princess has been very generous by sharing all her new stuff with her sisters.

update on our growing kids . . .

So we've been noticing lately that these kids are all growing faster than we can watch some days. School has been great for the older two but we don't get a chance to see them as much (bedtimes come a lot sooner than in the summer months!). Alyssa is definitely not a "baby" anymore and our little man is already starting to smile and taking notice of toys and music.

Elayna had "hat day" at school today and really wanted to wear her Dad's Canucks toque but we couldn't find it anywhere - but she was super-excited about this Barbie cap that I picked up for her while shopping last night (I actually got out of the house by myself for an hour, a first since Justin was born).

Chantel had a head cold earlier this week and missed a day of school, and she seemed to be over it so I sent her to school yesterday only to get a phone call that she fell asleep in the classroom. It was near the end of the school day so I picked the girls up and Chantel fell asleep on the drive home and we had to wake her up for dinner. I think she caught a cough/cold from her Daddy. I told her that I was keeping her home from school today but that she had to nap.

Alyssa has adjusted just fine to her baby brother, and is thankfully good at playing on her own and still loves her naps every day (usually she tells me when it's time and even gets the bottle out for me).

Justin has been growing like crazy. And I know it's been awhile since I had a newborn, but I don't think I've ever had one that eats, spits, and poops quite as much as this one - but maybe that's just because he's a boy :)

life with our little man . . .

So we're definitely moving at a slower pace around here lately. Earlier bedtimes, naps every day, and all with the older two girls in school so lots of quiet around here. Still trying to get used to the night-time awakenings, the spitting, pooping, and random peeing during diaper changes but loving the cuddles, itty-bitty clothes that he'll outgrow in a week, and how much his big sisters adore him. And I'm also loving that my belly has disappeared, my body is not aching anymore, and I can see my toes again.

our new set of wheels . . .

We're loving this stroller that we bought second-hand recently. It's a Valco Runabout with toddler seat attachment. The front wheel swivels which makes it super easy to handle or it can lock for jogging. The toddler seat is easy to clip on and off and the stroller has a bit more steps involved in folding it, but it's so worth it. So no more going back and forth between my single and double strollers or storing both in the back of the van and forgetting to take one out on grocery night. And since Alyssa doesn't use a stroller much anymore except for the busstop, it's great that I always have a single with me.

HE'S HOME!!

We got to take our little man home today! No more going back and forth every 3 hours to feed him, no more IV's and needle-pokes for him, his sisters get to finally see him again, and we get to be together as a family for the first time. Justin wasn't too pleased about being put in clothes for the first time, but he looked pretty cute in the take-home outfit that Daddy picked out for him. And he was a great traveller in his carseat - and already got shown off at his grandparents business and Daddy's work. Now just one more sister doesn't know that he's home yet, so she'll have a nice suprise when she gets off the bus this afternoon.

Off to school . . .

So today was the first time that the girls went to school together from our own house. So we took some "back to school" pics even though they're a week late. Daddy will be walking his girls most mornings since it works well with his start time at work.

Our little man is here!

Justin Peter joined our family on Sept 9th! It was pretty shocking to have a boy after our trio of girls and my hubby is super-excited and already wanting to buy Tonka trucks and a hockey jersey for the little guy. Soon after he was born, they realized that he was fighting a chest infection and put him in an incubator with oxygen and antibiotics. He's doing much better today but needs to finish off the 7-day round of antibiotics. All of his sisters got to meet and hold him before he got put in the nursery but haven't seen him since, so we're all a little eager to have him home.