High Five Friday

Phew, we survived the week!!  And by we, I mean I kept my toddler alive and most of my sanity, but not much of it!!

Not sure what got into him this week, but he has been a challenge.

Emilya also went for her first swim this week and loved it!! 

Speaking of crazy toddler... Funny story - sort of. 

I finally heard from the specialist for Emilya this week and while oh the phone booking the appointment,  Noah was found in the bathroom when I got off of the 3 minute phone call "cleaning". He meant well at least, however cleaning with febreeze doesn't quite cut it! But my bath mat smells good! So note to self, bring toddler out of the bathroom during important phone calls and what used to be safe on the counter from reaching is no longer safe! 

My cousin from out west is down with her daughter for a week and they came by Wednesday. It was soo much fun seeing Noah and Briar play together now. The 6 month age gap isn't as obvious and now they are just chatting like crazy and finding all sorts of fun and trouble to get into! 

Can someone please tell me how such a small child needs such big stuff?? I know they don't NEED it, but it sure makes life easier. We put away the bouncer, since Em can catapult herself out of it, and have the bumbo, which she can also plank out of. So I also brought out the highchair. Luckily ours reclines a bit, so she can sit comfortably at least. She seems to really like it!! 

Let's talk work out, I ordered Country Heat yesterday by Beachbody and can't wait for it to come in!! I have 7 stubborn pounds of baby weight to lose and I'm hoping this is a program I can do with the kids, since Emilya likes watching us dance and Noah loves country music and dancing! Not mention there are no weights to get thrown around! 

This weekend is going to be soo much fun!! We are hosting a family BBQ on Saturday! My Dad and Cindy come down tomorrow until Sunday! We were talking about canning some pickles, but that won't be happening this weekend. We will hopefully go through the storage stuff and get rid of stuff to a big yard sale. 

Emilya - 3 Months

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Eating: We are still breastfeeding and things are continuing to go well! Emilya is nursing every hour to two hours still, aside from over night and naptime. She continues take a bottle well over night with M or throughout the day if we are on the go! She does not do well with nursing in loud environments and is easily distracted in that regard. I still get up and pump for 10 minutes sometime between 2AM and 3AM, which we use for overnight feeds and outings, as well as freezing. Em gets a 4oz bottle overnight. 

Sleeping: Emilya is still rocking this subject. IF she gets up at night, it usually just once and between 4-6 AM. She is going to bed around 9:15 every night. She does insist on being rocked to sleep, just like her brother did and doesn't actually put herself to sleep at all anymore. She is napping in the mamaroo and we converted her to the pack and play in our bedroom instead of the bassinet. We still have a wedge under half the crib, because she doesn't do well with laying flat. Emilya will nap typically once a day between 12:30 and 4, ranging 2-4 hours in length. She will sometimes have a short nap in the morning but tends the stay awake in the evening until bedtime. Em sleeps best when swaddled. 

Clothing: Emilya is out of her 3 month sleepers completely. She is starting to outgrow her 3 month onesies, but the pants still fit, it just appears to be one pieces and her tshirts that she has outgrown. She's not quite in 6 month sleepers, so we had to rummage through her brothers 3-6 month sleepers! She is wearing size 2 pampers swaddlers. 

Bathes: Emilya is now bathing in there regular bath tub, because she is just too long for the baby tub!! So we bought a little bath sling seat to prop her up a bit to make bathes a bit easier. She still loves her bathes and has one every other day. Her skin has completely cleared right up. 

Skin and Hair: Emilya lost quite a bit of hair in the top of her head, but it has started to grow back and is soo light in comparison to her hair in the back of her head!! She will still wear headbands without much of a fight, same with her sun hats. Her skin has cleared right up and her eyes are very blue so far! 

Weight:   3 Months: 13 lbs, 14 oz

Her Length is still around 25 inches!! She is soo tall!!

                                        

What The Doctor Had To Say: Emilya handled her needles like a champ, however she wasn't feeling soo hot that evening and just really needed yo be cuddled and held. But there were no concerns at her check up. We see the audiologist in a few weeks for a recheck and are waiting to hear back from the ENT. 

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Emy, Baby, Little Miss, Littlest Squish, Baby girl, Baby Bunny

Big Brother Update: Noah continues to be such an awesome big brother. He really likes to play with her when she is on her play mat and still insists on holding her often. He kisses and hugs her everynight before bed. I love watching the two of them interact together.

Likes: rolling around, her play mat, her Muslin blankets, her lovey, her brother, being read to, being outside, bathes, a few different toys, being carried in the baby bjorn. 

Dislikes: the car, diaper changes, a pacifier, being hungry

Personality: Emilya is super laid back with her personality, but brings out the drama when she is hurt, in true girl fashion. She loves chatting to anyone who will listen to her, even when I'm talking on the phone. She wakes up soo happy in the morning and it doesn't take much to make her smile! She thinks the world of her brother and loves watching him play. A day before turning 3 months, she took her first roll from back to front and now can roll right over in all directions from any position!! 

Weekend Rewind

And just like that another HOT weekend has zoomed on by!

Friday M was done works little early, so after I finally got Emilya down, the rest of us went for a swim! The pool was 80 degrees, which is my kind of temperature - I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to pool temps! We had a blast playing in the pool! 

Friday night I was brave and decided take Noah and Emilya down to the ball park to watch some of Daddy's game, since it was a home game. I armed myself with the double stroller, snacks, and toys. I knew he would be staying up a bit late and we were willing to forego the bath routine. 

He actually did pretty well. He played with another little boy, sharing his toys nicely. He cheered for the "blue Jays" - any baseball team is the blue Jays lol. He shared his snack with a little girl and listened pretty well. But of course I knew it was going too smoothly and just as I was giving the 5 minute warning because it was almost 9 PM, he fell off the bleachers. Luckily or not... He didn't fall too far and actually fell rather slowly and didn't end up hurting himself, but it did scare him. This was
not his first time falling, but I think he gets embarrassed, so you bet we left the ball park with a screaming kid and Emilya didn't take long to join in because she was getting hungry! Luckily it's just a short walk home! 

I will say he went to bed pretty easily after I wiped him down (from all the dust at the park), got him in his pjs and he didn't even want a book read, he just crawled int bed and was out like a light! His sister on the other hand was fighting sleep like crazy and was still awake when M got home.

Saturday morning we all slept in! I love how happy Em is in the morning, I mean she is just generally a happy baby, but her smiles are soo stinkin' big in the morning, that it just brightens my day! 

After breakfast, Noah and I had a little Mommy/Noah date. We decided to go shopping, one of his favorite things. It was soo nice having a little one on one time with him again - crazy how much I miss hanging out just him and I! I did let him pick out a new toy while we were shopping and he couldn't  wait to get home and play with it! When the kids went down for thier nap, I headed back into town to hit up the dollar store! Check out my haul:

Saturday afternoon M went and got the kobota to do some yard work with. He grinded down the tree stump on Friday morning, so we had all the shavings to get rid of. You bet Noah loved every kobota ride he had to the yard waste depot! Even I took him down to dump it and we went on a little tour! 

We had ribs on the BBQ with green beans for supper and it was soo yummy!! After supper went went for a family village tour! 

Before coming inside for bath time, we had an important task of dinosaur egg hunting... Aka rock hunting, but this time I had a fun plan up my sleeve! We put the rock in a container with water over night:

Sunday morning after another sleep in, we found a dinosaur in the jar!! He was soo excited, however M he isn't e a toy into dinosaurs, so maybe after we do this a few times, he will be? Boy just loves his trucks and cars! But he did seem to love the experience, so we will try it again this week! 

After a yummy pancake breakfast, the boys headed outside to do some gardening. We finally planted the front garden - for now. Here is the before:

And the durings:

And the after (taken this morning after we finally got some rain!!): 

While the boys were outside working, Emilya was rolling - literally around on the floor while I got the floors all cleaned on the main floor! Crazy how much she moving already and pulling her knees under herself! It won't be long before she is crawling! 

We attempted to put Noah down for a nap early, but it was a bust, he is just used to napping at the same time or later, but never earlier! When he woke up, we headed to a family BBQ to welcome my cousin home from Belize before she heads back out west in a few weeks. 

It was nice to introduce Emilya to everyone who hadn't met her yet and baby girl had soo much to say, she didn't stop babbling away and loved interacting with everyone, especially my cousins baby boy, who is a month older. Noah pretty much swam the whole time and did soo well!! He had soo much fun as do and really loved the cupcakes!! 

I just love how much fun we all had and I seriously just love these ages!! 

When we get home, I got Emilya settled, while the boys ran the kobota back to the farm and when they got home it was bedtime! 

We had such a fun weekend!! Soo much fun that we all slept in again, heck Noah didn't get up until 9!!

NINE

Wow, soo crazy to think it has been 9 years today that M and I said "I Do".

Nine whole years. It seems like it was just a few years ago that we were landscaping the farm for our outdoor wedding and picking colors, our wedding party, etc. And heck we were engaged for 2 years before we got married! 

What I will say is that in these last 9 years, we have had some of the best days of our lives and some of the worst. But together, hand in hand we have accomplished soo much and we couldn't be at a happier state in our lives. Life these days literally feels like our dreams coming true. Having not just one
child now, but two is such a blessing. I know, I say it a lot, but sometimes I wonder when I will wake up from this dream, especially having gone through soo much to get to this point in our lives.

I couldn't be a prouder wife than I am these days. To have such a supportive and helpful husband seems to be a rare thing these days. Mike puts in 150% into our family and it shows. I secretly love watching him with the kids and seeing them enjoy him just as much as I do!

In 9 years, I have watched my husband become such a amazing and stronger man and maybe I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate all that he does for us. Life is beautifully chaotic around these parts these days and in a blink of an eye the day is done and I find myself wondering "did I tell him I love him", "did I hug him today", "does he know how much I love and respect him" or "how lucky I feel to have him as my husband"?

I think that is one of the keys to our successful marriage is respecting each other, knowing each other's limits and stepping up when each other needs that break. We work well as a team and have the same goals. I'm not saying he doesn't drive me crazy some days, because we of course drive each other crazy, but at the end of the day it is a good kind of crazy.

It's crazy to look back and see how far we have come. To see how we have faced our hardships and came out on top. 

These are the best days of our lives and they just keep on getting better! 

Happy Anniversary to my love, my partner in crime, my best friend. I know that I will never be able to put into words just how my heart feels, because everyday it is growing fonder and deeper. I am so lucky to have you, our children - yes, OUR children are lucky to have you and I just hope you know how loved and appreciated you really are to me and I am going to work harder at making sure you know that. Here is to several more years together!! 

I love you like crazy - promise promise.

Ashley

MANEV Summer Vacay - Week 1

I seriously think I might need a vacation from our vacation - vacationing with kids is no joke, especially when they aren't feeling well!!

As I posted last, our long weekend was pretty busy and we really just needed some down time, so we did just that! Monday and Tuesday we hung around home, swam in the pool and tried to stay cool! 

Noah learned how fun crushing cans can be - see Instagram for the hilarious video. But we also had some bubbles fun! 

Emilya decided she would roll over from back to front and now she just keeps rolling right off her mat, so she is officially on the move now, and never where I leave her anymore! 

Noah took the beer cans back from the long weekend and we let him keep some of the money from the return and instead of buying candy, he wanted to stop at the strawberry stand on the way home! 

On Wednesday Miss Emilya tried her exersaucer for the first time and loved it!! I can hardly get over how strong she is at just 3 months!! That's right, she is 3 months already, her post is coming up!! 

Wednesday afternoon, Greyson and Chloe came over for a play date and ended up staying for dinner! You bet I failed at photos! It's right after they left that things took a turn for the worst! 

Noah ended up with a fever of 103 - the highest he has ever had and he was not feeling well AT all!!! We have been soo lucky and have not had to deal with any sickness really with the kids, so this was a big deal for M and I. 

Thursday we had a fun day planned, but ended up cancelling it because Noah still had a crazy high fever and was super sucky. I had told my sister I would watch Hannah for her, as B had an appointment. Noah was super happy to have Hannah over and seemed to perk up a bit, so we allowed her to stay over night! The kids had lots of fun:

Friday morning I met my sister in town, we did a little shopping together, I managed to get myself some new sunglasses and a few shirts and some wall art for various places around the house, including the basement and Noah's room!! 

Noah was still sporting a high fever, but with no other symptoms! He is getting 2 of his 2 year molars, but has never had a fever this high before, so I decided since we were heading out on vacation that I would take him into the clinic just to make sure we weren't dealing with an ear infection or something. The doctor couldn't see anything of concern. 

Friday night we attempted to try out our new babysitter!! Noah was right out of sorts, but was excited she was there, so my plan was to show her the bedtime routine and then I would leave with Emilya to goto M's ball game. Well we got him up and in bed, I was just starting to pack things up and got the call from Mike that they were calling the game because of the the thunderstorm! Soo, I didn't make it out of the house, but we will try it all again!! 

Saturday morning Noah developed a cough to go along with his cold and was absolutely miserable. I had plans to be out of the house by 8 and well let's just say that didn't happen! 

I met my sister and my Mom at the Art In The Barn show. I was soo impressed with all the little shops our area has to offer and loved meeting some of the shop owners I have done reviews for!! My haul:

Saturday afternoon was spent packing and getting ready to head to the cottage.

We could have been there for 2, but made it by 8! Organization is not our thing and this was the first time we had rented a cottage and had no clue what we actually needed. Emilya didn't travel well at all! I ended up stopping 7 times in the hours car ride in attempt to give her a pacifier... 

More details on our week at the cottage to come! Stay tuned!