Saturday Night

It's 8:45 pm and I have so much to do before I can put myself to bed but I need a mental break. I keep going through my head all the things that have been such big changes for us lately and each is worth it's own post and collection of photos. However, I have no idea where my camera is right now (thank goodness for camera phones) and the rest of my life is mostly in boxes and/or strung across my in-laws house with the lacking motivation on my part to get too settled in and organized because we won't be here that long as it is.
Jason's parent's have been so helpful and sweet to let us stay here but because I know it is so temporary I just feel like I'm in massive limbo.
My kids love the extra space and yard to take advantage of but I DO feel isolated over here because we had soo many friends where we lived and I love them and miss being in that area all ready. The change is affecting them the same as me though, sleep has been a struggle. I'm constantly moving Alivia around in the night because mine and Jason's room is bright and warm and the room she shares with Brooklynn just gets too noisy when I have to put her down. She floats between the downstairs bedrooms, the small upstairs room and is now currently behind the bar in the basement! Lately Brooklynn has been putting up a big stink at nap time and bedtime which I'm not used to and both her and Alivia wake up multiple times usually starting at 5:30am (they usually wake each other up and I can't get both back to bed ever- it's killing me!) I'm assuming it's just because they've just had soo many changes in their lives. We have just hit that mark in life where we have outgrown one space and are transitioning to another bigger space slowly but surely.
Those are the few things that I've been trying to "deal" with lately. Oh, and I won't get into it but Brooklynn is DEFINITELY in the terrible two's- she's the craziest EVER lately. We see a lot of the funny and sweet little Brooklynn but she just goes crazy at times and is hyper beyond belief... I'll stop there :)
Okay, couple side notes here on OTHER exciting things... We get to go out to the cabin in a week, and see WICKED next Friday and Alivia started solids (this HAS to get it's own post.) We're on day#2 of solids and at first I didn't think she was all that excited but she is craving them like crazy! We've tried butternut squash, green beans and brown rice cereal so far- they're all a hit!! She is growing up soo fast, I just can't believe it. She loves to laugh at herself in the mirror and you can tell how much she LOVES to be talked too, and played with. She will laugh and laugh her heart out. She is my little ray of sunshine on some of my depressing days.
Brooklynn has learned a few new primary songs that she sings really well. I can hear her in the room next to me singing while I write this post. She is singing "I'm a Child of God" word-for-word! I'm blown away at her vocab sometimes and other time it seems like nothing outta the norm at all when I have full on conversations with her, I just always assume she "gets" what I'm saying and usually she does.
Jason has been so busy lately, He's renovating some Hamlet units for the most part and it's good because he's been steadily making an income with it and he enjoys that kind of stuff too... so it works for him. He is SUCH a hard worker BUT LOVES TO PLAY EVEN HARDER. I wish I could join him more often or have more opportunity to do some fun stuff together but it's hard to get a break... ( did I mention I'm itching harder than EVER for a vacation??)

I Need a Better Camera!

Clearly these pictures are fantastic. Lisa has such a talent and eye for capturing perfect and cute moments. So until I get a better camera and a little skill under my belt, she can take beautiful photos like this all she wants. Thanks Lisa :)

Celebrating

A cute family photo Lisa snapped for us one our way out to dinner as a family. We went to Earl's (LOVE Earl's), however I was disappointed for the first time EVER! We walked away spending $70 on rice + chicken for Jay (hunan), veggie+chicken quesadilla for me (okay they CHANGED their quesadilla and I was mostly disappointed about this- I had to pull way too many slimy mushrooms), a small bowl of noodles and apple juice for Brooklynn. All of that for $70 after the tip?! Brutal. I guess we'll be sticking to Boston Pizza where the kids eat free from now on and for a while. Actually let me re-phrase that- IF we ever eat out (grad school will make us pretty poor!!!)

Anywhoo, the service was good and I love the atmosphere there so those things made us still feel like we were enjoying the idea of making that day feel special :)

Oh Brooklynn

Her efforts in trying to be a BIG sister are really heartwarming and funny/ frustrating sometimes. More funny than anything though.
This morning we heard her frantically yelling, "wipes, wipes, I NEED a wipe!" She had unbuttoned Alivia's sleeper again and stripped her down. There was my little baby kicking and flailing her legs while Brooklynn assessed her. She peed all over the couch and Brooklynn was trying to put one of her swim diapers on her. It was a mess but easy to clean and a good laugh.

Jason's Convocation

It was a proud day for Jason and myself. I felt like we were both graduating even though it was only him walking across the stage and receiving his degree. He worked so hard and I felt proud to be by his side during that moment and sharing it with him. It's been quite the little trek getting to this day and I can't believe it's come and gone already.
The day he first started back to school was almost two years ago and I remembering writing a blog for it and it feels like yesterday. However, since that day we've gone through A LOT. To name a few: raising our now two year old- Brooklynn and six month old Alivia ( who was born smack in the middle of finished finals and Christmas!) Watched Jason spend some pretty looong nights that rolled into early mornings while he punched out essays and papers. I remember being HUGELY pregnant, staying up until midnight and writing out q-cards to help him study for his finals (those were the moments I couldn't WAIT for him to graduate!) And sending him off morning after morning with a Pb&J in his lunch box (which he ate sometimes...) He's been so diligent in his hard work. He's made some awesome relationships with people during his education, some valuable networking and really sought every opportunity to learn and gain as much advantage as he could from those around him. Jason continued to make honor role in his last 2 years and even flew to Regina and Reno, Nevada to represent MRU with papers that he wrote. He juggled being a YM's president during this time (and even though they just released him, he left some pretty BIG shoes to fill) I feel like I'm missing a couple other important items to dote about here but either way it would be hard for me to find the exact words to best sum him up. He is just SO fantastic, and I sure do love him! So cheers to checking off a big item on our checklist in life, and the end of a long chapter and begginning of another - exciting times are ahead.
The President of MRU spoke today and his advice and wisdom was simple yet profound... he quoted Yogi Bear, " When you come to a fork in the road, TAKE it!"
I feel like that's where we are together, at a fork with many new adventures and changes and we're moving forward together.

Last but not least I HAVE to give a shout out to my amazing sister who helped me this morning with Brooklynn (she even took work off) and Jen Low for taking Brooklynn to the zoo after so I could stay for the ceremony. You two are the BEST and I sure owe you one!