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 :)