New Tooth

Little Alivia cut another today.  Odd enough it is on top and to the side of her middle teeth...  Lets hope the others follow soon so we can even things up a bit or our little sweetheart will have a goofy looking pumpkin face-you know those ones with a big smile and two random teeth!?  She is handling it all pretty well and I can tell there are two more right at the surface so it won't be long.  One is opposite to the other tooth on top and the other is her bottom middle!  Basically if she doesn't cut the top two middle soon enough she will look even more like someone who had there top two teeth knocked out- so funny!

New Teeth and Havin Fun

 First and foremost,  little Liv cut her first tooth today.  I was kinda expecting it- even hoping for it to explain the constant snot dripping from her nose and fussiness.  The middle part of her lower gums felt quite hard yesterday, as if there were teeth right under the surface.  Today there is a little sharp tooth that has finally cut through!  Brooklynn cut her first tooth at 10 1/2 months so Liv is a whole month and a half earlier than that.

 This morning Brooklynn asked me to put on glasses with her.  She thought we looked pretty cool!

I love her "kissy face".  Even if it makes her look like the biggest pouter ever...

Brooklynn at her best again.  Jammies and rain boots and locking her self in Nana's cabinet.  She asked for Alivia to sit right be side her- actually she pretty much demanded that Liv join her.  Alivia thought it was a lot of fun and was giggling the whole time I left them in there.  I think I left them in there for an hour or so... .. .  

Family Comes Together...

We spend a LOT of time with family.  More so Jason's side but that's because they all live in Calgary or somewhere in Alberta for the most part.  It's great being close to love ones.  It's great enjoying activities with cousins and sisters and brother's in law.  I love how much we can do with one another and have a good time.  It's great to have them around for more than the good times...  It's even more great to have family around for the hard times.  So amidst the laughs and fun there are struggles and those are when we REALLY see family come together- stronger and more loving than the good times would have us be even.
On Tuesesday we said farewell to Uncle Brant.  I have never felt so much love for and between family members - especially extended family members.  I don't want to go into home much sorrow and sadness I felt because everyone knows how hard it is to see someone close pass away.  It was sudden, shocking and heartbreaking the way he left but with all the hearts clinging to together for strength at such a hard time I felt a lot of peace.  I hope poor Aunt Marilyn, their children and other immediate family members find that peace too.  He will be missed dearly and I can honestly say I didn't know him all that well but did see him often enough at family gatherings and knew his family well enough to feel the affect/ emptiness of Brant leaving (not to the same extent of others) and with that I can try to sympathize with Marilyn because losing my husband would be one of if not the HARDEST thing for me, or losing my child (in Grandma and Grandpa's case), losing my father- I would be devastated... and a sibling?!?  ALL of the above are just/ seem to be too much to bare.  So we continue to pray and pray for those who have a gaping hole in their hearts right now because such a kind and wonderful person has left them for some time.
A lot of perspective hits you in times like this and that perspective is that families CAN be together forever. This is not the end.  And that possibility makes me want to work my butt off to be with mine forever and ever and to make the most of the time we have together in mortality.

Chizzling Away at Summer Photos

 We've been out to Wasa three different times this Summer.  Before and in between trips we were up to some things that were definitely worth photos.  It was Grandma Bennion birthday on one occasion... I don't remember how old she turned but she's looking as young and great as ever so let's jsut focus on that ;)

 We headed off to Calaway park one day with Auntie Maggie and her kids.  It was my first time there and it was SO much fun.  I can't wait to go again sometime.  Brooklynn was in heaven.  She was driving planes, trains and automobiles "alllll by herself!" (as she would put it)

Little Liv look'n so summery.

Happy Bday Grandma!

I remember having to almost scream her name
so she would look at me.  She was extremely
focused on driving that boat (in circles!)

I was sitting down near the beach on a blanket with the
girls and this photo was the view I had- gorgeous isn't it.

This was what I looked at behind me.
The property is breath taking.

My baby enjoying the shade.

My bigger baby enjoying the sand

Nap time.  I'd walk in too check on her every now and
then and would find her in some interesting poses!

She's flexible.

Dad was hard at work renovating the basement.
You would NOT believe how good it looks compared to
what it was.  It smells a lot better too as it was
quite musty down there.

My little Brooklynn taking a nap in one of her many
make shift beds.  She was moved ALL over
the place.  It was tricky trying to figure out where they
would nap and sleep each night but somehow I made it work.

As you can see I am absent in EVERY one of these pictures.  I am sad to say they were all taken with my iphone too :S  I don't know whether it's that I'm lazy with a better camera or that my iphone pictures seem to satisfy me enough and it's conveniently with me a lot more...  I'm asking Santa this year for a GOOD camera and I want one of those flexible tripods so I can snap nice family photos everywhere we go.

Happy Faces

I taught Brooklynn or tried to teach her how to draw happy faces a while back.  This is what they've evolved too. They end up kind of sideways sometimes... Actually they've evolved even more lately so I might add another pic later (the newer ones have hair)...  They sure are cute and she draws them EVERYWHERE and with everything.  This morning she drew them in her milk that had spilled on the table during breakfast.  I think I could count on two hands how many times I hear, "Look Mom, a happy face!" each day.  She knows how to put a happy face on her mom each day (could count on two hands for that too) :)

Milestone for Little Liv

I have been trying to teach Alivia to clap recently.  She sort of got it a little while back but it wasn't the way she demonstrated it yesterday morning.  I always say, YAAAAAY!"  while I clap my hands.  Yesterday she was eating her food and I said it after she took a big mouth full and she started clapping.  She was even saying her own baby version of "yay" too.  She did this the morning after having a BRUTAL nights sleep.  I think she knew I needed something like to cheer me up.  It totally made my day!  Love you Liv.

Lately

For the past month or so my life has been all over the place.  I feel like I continue to rant about this but it's true and I'm still trying to deal with it all.  I'm out in Wasa right now at the new cabin.  I've been here for almost a week again and it's going alright.  It's very pretty but at times and all too often I feel like a single mom juggling way to much of an unorganized mess!  That being said, I feel like momzilla pretty often too.  My patience took off a while ago and I have been struggling to reclaim it.  Praying to get it back.  My energy feels zapped all the time and I just SO badly want to establish my life/ our lives as a family in a space and routine again.  Is that so much to ask?  It probably is... at least for a little longer.
We have been so blessed and I can't forget to share that.  The fact that we can live in Grandma's house while Jason is in school, for free is SUCH a blessing.  I can't think of another option that would have worked the way this will for us.  To have a yard for the girls, more space for our family (we were in less then 900 sq. feet before)  not having to lug my little girls up three flights of stairs anymore will be wonderful (my poor back!).  I would sometimes get a migraine if I strained myself.  I really have a lot to be excited about and maybe that's why I'm writing this  post.  I'm just all to anxious to have a "home" again.
Back to the "momzilla" stuff.  Last night Alivia just stayed awake and cried and cried off an on until almost 4 am.  It was brutal.  I was crying and was actually feeling mad/ angry and upset.  I just NEEDED her to stop crying.  I even told Jason I don't want anymore kids.  And I was serious.
Poor girl though.  Since she was a newborn our lives have been a flip floppin, unorganized and busy mess.  I never feel like she can be content with much because she's been dragged in every which way all over the place.  And with that being said she does do pretty well with it all.  The other night she cried for almost 2 hours before bed.  Other than that she goes down very well and sleeps pretty well too.  She is just sensitive and I only wish I could see her happier.
Jason thinks I'm crazy but I read The Sullenger's blog and another blog that belong to mother's who have lost their children.  I don't know why but I read them all the time and they make me very emotional.  I cry my eyes out sometimes just thinking about how much pain they feel and have felt.  I can't and DON'T EVER want to know what a battle that would be to have had your child die in your arms after fighting for their lives.
They constantly write posts about trying to remember all the moments they've had with their little girls.  How they wish they could relive every second they had with them. How they would never have taken any moment for granted if they had their time back.
It dawned on me tonight that maybe I read these blogs to help remind me/ keep me in check as a mother. All I want to do after reading their blogs is grab my girls and hug them, hold them, kiss them and tell them how much they mean to me without letting go.  I love my girls and love that I'm a mother to them, and that they are healthy and happy.  I can't ask for more in that respect.  I do like to know and read about these mother's and their lives and how they are coping but they really do allow me to feel and be reminded of how incredibly lucky and blessed I am.  I could go on and on with how blessed I am and how much they have enriched my life and changed me for the better.  So has Jason :)
SO yes life is crazy but I don't want to look back and think I took these moments for granted.