Christmas Weekend Unwrapped

I hope everyone had a great Christmas weekend, I know we certainly did!   

 

                 As I posted on Friday, we went and picked up our secret family surprise! I am hoping to do a whole new post on our deciding factors, meeting her for the first time, etc. But I will say it was a big decision and was very heavy on my heart. I'm happy to say the decision has turned out to be a good one - no regrets.

                   

 

We named her Maggie and she is lab/shepherd cross. I will say she is fitting in just nicely.                 

 

 

 So Friday was spent getting to know Maggie, teaching Noah how to handle the jumping and nipping - which he does great with and just playing with her and spending time as a family! It was great!                 

 

We failed at getting Christmas Eve jammie pictures! This is the best we got: 

 

 

Saturday morning my mom and sisters family came over to celebrate Christmas. Christmas Eve is always soo busy, so we decided on an early gathering to accommodate and it was great. Noah was just kind of spun and overexcited, so he wasn't on his best behaviour, but we worked through it.                 

 

 We tried a different church service, because of its earlier convenient time, however it wasn't as good as our regular Christmas service. For this year, it was exactly what we needed, because it was super short and once again, Noah was overexcited. He did pretty good, but a later and longer service wouldn't have gone over well.               

    

 We picked up pizza for supper on our way home, took our traditional Christmas photo, played for a bit before leaving cookies and milk (and a carrot) out for Santa, and started the bedtime routine.                 

 

 

 

 

 

After the kids were in bed, we got everything all set up for Christmas morning. Little did Santa know that he got Noah a firetruck that actually sprays water... great job Santa!! 

 

 

I'm really disappointed in myself, because I do not have a whole lot of photos from Christmas Day at all. I started off taking pictures and then M told me to use the video camera instead!! Well I think I will set the tripod for video and still take picture, because I love the pictures more. 

 

 

The kids woke up around 7, they came into our bed, watched an episode of paw patrol with their milk. I pumped, made a quick batch of banana muffins and then we let the kids come out to see what Santa brought! Noah was soo excited, not to mention Santa preloaded the fire truck with water!! Emilya was happy with her flashlight toy as well. So they played for a bit before Grandma and Grandpa came over and that is when the chaos began. 

 

 

 

 

We had wrapping paper everywhere, toys scattered, a break for breakfast, a break after a couple of toys to open them and play, Em had a nap. Let's just say we didn't finish opening good gifts until noon!! But it was fun!! It was a great day and of course I wish to do it all over again since I didn't get all the pictures I wanted, including the kids sitting in front of the tree on Christmas morning, but I will make them wear the Christmas jams again and sit in the chair together at least!

 

My Mom came over just after lunch, both kids had a nap while us adults had some down time and got dinner going. It was perfect. Supper was great, we had turkey and goose, along with all the fixings and lemon meringue pie and raspberry/elderberry pie. We were all soo full!! 

 

 

Em didn't even cry once the whole day. 

 

It was honestly a great day!! Christmas is soo much more fun with kids!!

 

Boxing Day we had a visit with Carrie and Steve and then headed to a family Christmas in the afternoon.

 

 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and here is to a fantastic New Years weekend!!! 

 

 

 

 

         

Introducing.....

Our secret family surprise is:

 

A puppy!!! Gracie has a new best friend!!! 

 

 

Introducing Maggie:

 

 

Merry Christmas friends!!! 

 

 

Wednesday's Weekend Rewind

We will rewind all the way back to Friday! 

   We were about the get hit with yet another snow storm! We seriously have soo much snow!!! I wanted to run into town and finish up our stocking stuffers, however, last minute we decided to make it a family affair - what was I thinking?? Taking kids out into chaotic Christmas stores... but whatever. We survived. We enjoyed a nice little dinner out, and finished up at Walmart! Little Miss Em enjoyed sitting in the cart for the first time!!   

   The roads were quickly getting crummy, but we made it home. Noah thought we needed to shovel before going inside. Bless his heart:   

 It was bath and bedtime and then wrapping time for Mom and Dad!   

 Saturday morning shovelling was not an option. We got dumped on! So the boys were back at it again while I troubleshooted with our TV provider for our PVR. The solution was a new one.   

 We had our family business Christmas dinner at The Keg that evening and the kids actually did pretty good - Emilya loved the bread.    

 Our drive home was slow and scary at times with how slippery it was, but we made it home in one piece. 

   Sunday we tackled the to-do list. I finally put photoshop on my computer and got some of Em's printables done for her room, although I am not done yet! 

We deep cleaned the bedroom, cleaned the mudroom and worked on the Christmas stockings.   

 The kids did pretty good while we worked to get all that done, which was nice because it doesn't always go that way.   

 Monday I had my dentist appointment. Ugh I hate going to the dentist, but I did it, I survived and came up with a plan to help me love my smile without the use of braces!   

 Hope everyone had a great weekend. I can hardly believe Christmas is THIS weekend!!

Emilya - 7 Months

Eating: We are still breastfeeding and Em is eating 3 meals a day. We have also introduced juice, however she is not fond of it unless it is warm or water unless it is warm - crazy girl. She is pretty much the pickiest and disliked anything green to begin with, but she's come along. Em gets a 6 oz bottle when she wakes up and then nurses before her morning nap, then she won't nurse again until before her afternoon nap and then after supper and before bed. I am pumping when I wake up in the morning and that is about it. 

Food she has has tried this past month: 

Yogurt Green Beans Peas Avocado - HATED it Puffs Peaches - not a fan, which is crazy since I lived off them when I was pregnant with her - it's all I wanted. Blueberries Oatmeal with Chia - not a fan of the texture Mango 

Sleeping: Emilya is still a great sleeper. There are no complaints in that department!! She naps twice a day, sometimes 3 times, but twice is consistent. I still strive to nap the two together at the same time in the afternoon and then Em will take a morning nap as well. Teething has caused a few wake ups here and there, but we are not giving her a bottle over night anymore. She loves sleeping with her blankets though. 

Clothing: Emilya is wearing 6 - 9 months in most clothes, with the exception of shirts, which she is wearing 12 months bottoms she is wearing 6-12 p, a few 6 month and mostly 9 month pants. Sleepers are all 9 month and a size 3 diaper. 

 

Features: Emilya has blue eyes and blonde hair still. Her dark hair at the back is slowly fading out to blonde!! 

Weight: 6 Months: 16 lbs 13 oz  - 28 inches long

             7 Months:  17 lbs 12 oz 

                             

                    

What The Doctor Had To Say: Emilya is healthy and doing great! Her second urine test came back negative, so no infections! We got her hearing aid and she does great with it! We keep it in most mornings lately, but with this stage, it's hard to keep in all day because of nursing and her rolling around which both cause feedback. But overall she isn't phased by it and will keep it in. We have all had horrible colds this past month which have not been fun at all. 

 

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Ems, Emmy Baby, Little Miss, Littlest Squish, Baby girl, Baby Bunny, Emilya Hope, Sis

 

Big Brother Update: Noah is such a great big brother! I find myself in awe of the bond that they truly share. He is just soo considerate of her and her feelings and is always wanting to play with her, help her, be with her. He is just soo proud and I love that. I think my favorite right now is when I put her in her high chair and he pulls his chair up to it and says "you need to use your listening ears", followed up by singing some Luke Bryan. Too funny!! 

 

Likes: rolling around, Nemo, her Muslin blankets, her lovey, any blanket, her brother, being read to, being outside, bathes, various toys, music, being carried in the baby bjorn, the jumper, being sang to, her brothers toys and dogs. 

 

Dislikes: her face being washed, her brother scaring her. I'm happy to report car rides are much better now, with the odd scream fest, but that's better than everytime!! 

Personality: Emilya is pretty much the happiest baby. She is very laid back about most things. We celebrated Halloween this last month dressed up as a unicorn, however she slept through trick or treating!! We had a baptism to goto and some family get togethers. She also went to her first Santa Claus parade and experienced snow for the first time. It was a fun packed month, but man is it ever going fast!! Sitting still for pictures is overrated (as you can see the blur in some of the pictures - like the one below) 

 

Hey Friday

When did finding time to blog become soo challanging?? I keep saying I will get it done in the evening, but then we are wrapping presents, have plans, working on DIY projects, or Christmas presents... it's just soo busy!!! Not to mention I'm behind on Emilya's monthly posts, so stay tuned for a catch up on that!! The crazy part is that I look ahead and it's just gong to busy busy for the next couple of months. Maybe when we get home from vacation, it may slow down?   

 

 Anyways, moving on, because clearly I did not intend to spend a whole post writing absolutely how hard it is to blog... what have be been busy doing???            

 

 Well we are all working hard on getting healthy. I think I am mostly over my cold, Noah is finishing up his antibiotics, and Mike and Em are in the middle of the cold. I'm not sure if we will meet our goal of getting healthy before Christmas or not, but we are trying!!           

 

 Just about all of our presents are wrapped, we are just waiting for a few to come in and I have to make a couple. Feels good to be pretty much finished. Now I just need to get my stockings finished.           

 We ordered a new mudroom door and kitchen window. We may just have a functioning mudroom sooner than later!! It's totally on the Reno list and by Reno I mean new closet, new door, new paint. The floors are still good obviously, we just redid them a few years ago!    

We also celebrated Grandmas birthday!!

 I received my gift from my Christmas blog swap partner Leigh and Lindsey were running. I was partnered with Deena and this is what I got:           

 

 So cute and that jam is a family favorite!!   

We are in for yet another snow storm this weekend - we have soo much snow!! But we don't have too much planned otherwise. Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!!           

Snowy Weekend Fun

Despite having a little guy who was not feeling soo hot at ALL... we had a great weekend, jam-packed with family and fun!!    

 Friday we started out with a trip to the doctors office. Luckily my mom was here for the weekend and was able to watch Emilya for me, so I could just take Noah. Noah did pretty good, of course we had a med student, which Noah was really co-operative for, but when our family doctor came in, he was not having it. Well it turned out he was getting a double ear infection, on top of this nasty cold he has had for over a month. So he was prescribed his very first prescription.

We had plans to bake that afternoon with him, but he had a super long nap instead, which was much needed! But Mom and I got the Christmas Crack done and then made nuts and bolts with him after. He was a big fan of pouring everything in. I really need to get the little squish an apron! I was looking for paw patrol fabric this weekend but didn't find any!!                     

This girl was a doll for Grandma, and even went down for a nap without being rocked!! Stinker - if only she would do that for me!! 

Noah has horrible coughing spells, to the point of vomiting, so he got to hang out with this bowl, but he made the best of it... I seriously need to take notes because he is the happiest sick kid I know!! 

Saturday was a super busy day! We started it off with breakfast with Santa! Prepare yourselves for the cutest Santa pic ever with Em:

It was soo much fun! Just like every year, my sister was there with the kiddos too, so we attempted a group photo of the kids together as well:

Noah was beginning to fade and of course we had his last gymnastics class up next with a recital. Poor guy was beginning to burn up, but he completed the class. He wouldn't give up because he had both Grandmas and Grandpa there watching! Proud of him! We will really miss gymnastics!! But we are giving swimming a go in January! 

We picked up some lunch and headed home. Noah crashed right after. He woke up feeling much better. My Mom and I ran out to pick up fabric for my stockings. I was able to get the best burlap - it has gold stitching in it!!! I made my mom sing a Christmas carol to get me 20% off!! Mom perks!! 

While Mom and I were shopping, I had Mike finish up a little project I was working on for the foyer! A new coat rack to accommodate all our coats until we get the closet in the mudroom! 

     

We just did left overs for dinner, because M had to head off to the fire hall to help with the parade! My Mom and I bundled the kids up, Mike's parents came over and we all walked over to the parade. Em was not loving being in the gigantic snow suit again. But overall seemed to enjoy the parade. Noah of course loved it:

Another snow storm hit Sunday, so my mom left early before it got too crummy out. Noah hopped in his sisters crib for the first time since she has been born. All we heard from downstairs was "help I'm stuck" and this is what we found... trouble!! 

 We headed to the farm to help Grandpa throw some wood in. Emilya ended up catching her brothers cold, so she wasn't the happiest of campers, but we made due! Noah of course had a blast between throwing the wood, chasing Grace, riding in the tractor and playing in the snow!! We had some lunch and headed home for nap time! 

 

During nap time, I busted out my Cricut and made a Christmas present and then started these:

After a busy weekend, I knew Monday was not gunna be all that fun with this guy. His listening ears were missing most of the day, despite me trying to keep him entertained. It was another snowy day, just as today is shaping up to be! Needless tos say it WILL be a white Christmas around these parts! 

 This little miss caught her brothers cold, so she was trying her best to be as happy as can be, but was needing some extra snuggles, which I happily handed out! 

 I headed into town last night to pick up a Christmas present, as well as a trip to the dollar store, however I can't share my dollar store haul with you because there are parts of gifts and stuff for the secret surprise.  Today is Grandma's birthday, so we were busy in the kitchen this morning baking!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!