December Randoms

My cute baby.

Liv checking out my homemade chocolates

I learned how to make chocolates this year, thanks to Gma Bennion.  I also learned that it is really easy if someone has pre-made the fondants (thanks Gma)  and I feel that it is a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be.  I EVENTUALLY learned that home made chocolates need to be given away immediately, otherwise one can risk eating WAY too many!

She's reaching for my chocolates!

Liv got quite the little shiner in December and it took weeks for it to go away.  Brooklynn accidentally squished her cheek in a drawer.

Brooklynn hanging out with two of her favorite buddies :)

Busy months call for simple dinners.  Minnie mouse pancakes are a hit around here.

My littlest helper as of lately.  Please note the old backsplash and counter top because I'll be posting updated kitchen pics soon!

Jason has recruited two newbies to give him 1massages.  Check out that elbow kneading!

What a great team they are :)

This is random...  Liv's fav activity on the old fridge was playing with magnets.  She can't do it on the new fridge because it's stainless and the magnets scratch.  This picture was also taken during another one of Brooklynn's tutu phases.

Bye- Bye magnets!

We were invited to Amanda's work Christmas party but it snowed that morning so she brought Santa's gifts to out place.

And last but not least, The Ginger Bread House!

Not a great picture of me but I think Brooklynn is hilarious and I love how Liv is totally caught up in her big sister as of lately.  They are so fun!

Anyways it goes without saying that December is busy but I love how much fun we have had and we are really enjoying the holiday season in a bigger place. 

Hooray for Our Little Liv!

She took a wobbly set of three steps tonight and then leaped/ fell into my arms.  We were both so excited and both so proud.  She jumped up and down in my arms with excitement.  It was SO cute!

She is growing up so fast and while a lot of people complain about their kids walking and getting into everything- I LOVE it!  They are so much happier and excited about the world once they start walking and as long as we're baby proofed and teaching her certain boundaries, I think it's awesome having your little one take off on two feet.

I hope I have my camera ready the next time she does it- she totally made my day :)

Somedays...

The things I do seem so in vain.  I had a rough couple of mornings this weekend.  Liv is teething.  I KNOW for a fact it's teething.  She is gumming everything, has red cheeks (both sets) and wakes up in the night because she is just so uncomfortable.

Anyways, yesterday morning started just GREAT with a wake up call from Liv @ 5:45am.  I let her cry fr a bit.  She keeps crying. I go get her and bring her in bed with me but she is fussy beyond belief and keeps tossing and turning.  I'm SO tired and Jason is now irritated with me for bringing her in our bed.... Brooklynn has been woken by Liv's crying (it's now about 7:30am)

We head downstairs (me and the girls) to get a bottle for Liv and Brooklynn wants to watch "little girl" shows.  I am almost convinced she knows that she can win with me on mornings that start too early and I'm clearly looking a little "off beat"- she gets whatever she wants because I don't have any energy.  This being the 3rd day of early wake-up calls... I'm a zombie.

I turn on shows and let her snack on some goldfish crackers that were left out...  I attempt to feed Liv breakfast.  I HATE the burden of trying to get her to eat when she is teething.  Sometimes she screams at me the whole time and if I don't get her to eat she just gets more irritable and it affects her ability to get a good sleep later on.  I somehow accomplish this task by letting her gnaw on a pretzel and I shove spoon fulls of rice cereal and applesauce in her mouth when it is slightly opened (she loves to fight with me and keep her lips pursed).  By the end she is an absolute MESS and reeeeally needs a bath.  Brooklynn was in dire need of a bath too.

So I go upstairs and run a bath.  It seems like the best idea because Liv will sleep real good after a bath and a full tummy and they love to play in there forever! (we all win right?)

Liv drops a dookie after 5 minutes.

I saw her face go beat red and knew exactly what she was doing so I hauled Brooklynn out immediately and wrapped her in a towel and then grabbed Liv.  I grabbed her before she was "done" so a mess got on the floor and all over the towel.  Brooklynn's hair was full of shampoo still...great.

That little nugget she dropped in the tub was the straw that broke the camels back.

I quickly dressed Liv and put her down for a nap- thanks goodness she napped!  I put on more "little girl" shows for Brooklynn and crawled back into bed.

I am SO glad Jason was home that morning to take over.  I don't know what I would have done!

My Girlies

I keep looking at our girl's lately and my mind is boggled at times with how much they have grown!  Maybe I'm more aware or actually able to observe them better too- life has slowed down a little now that we are getting more and more settled (why does it take FOREVER to get unpacked?)

Both my girls have had doctors appointment's recently.  So I was able to see where they are at physically.  They are quite average stats wise and pretty much have been from day one.  Liv's head was a little larger for her weight, and Brooklynn was a little heavier for her height but they've both leveled off nicely.  I'm so thankful for healthy growing girls.

A few more tid-bits on Brooklynn:

• Loves "little girls shows", Team Umizoomi, Dora, Cat in the Hat, Mickey Mouse Club, and Disney movies.
• knows almost every theme song to the shows she likes off by heart
•   Is so quick and has the sharpest memory (she sure didn't get that from me)
• Loves bed time stories
• sleeps with all her "little guys" every nap and bedtime
• fav primary songs are,  I love to see the temple, I am Child of God, Away in a Manger, and I am trying to be like Jesus
• loves to yell at Mr. Sun lately for being to bright in the car, "go away Mr. sun- get lost, you are a butt muncher!", she screams, over and over!
• Obsessed with princess things (crowns, dresses, makeup, movies, stories etc)
• has been asking me lately if I bought her... to which I reply, "No.  I prayed to Heavenly Father for you and he sent you to us."  She asks me this all the time though!
• Loves to play on my Iphone, and is really good at puzzle and number games.
• wants to be a "big helper girl" and put soap in the dishwasher, load it and unload it but other than that she doesn't want to do anything else in the kitchen
• is manipulative
• loves nursery
• loves Kodaly and I'm positive she is and fully KNOWS she's a teacher's pet. 
• Has mastered brown nosing
• loves Justin Bieber songs, and Maroon 5's "moves like jagger"
• can finally rock two pig tails nicely
• is always hunting around for change to put in her piggy bank
• eats lip chap
• loves to color and stick stickers everywhere
• is destructive
• loves her little sister to pieces and has been asking for another little sister, not brother or both... and then sometime says, " I don't want another sister, I just like Liv"
• will come up with any excuse to get us to stay in her room longer and longer when we put her down for bed (again, she's manipulative)
• loves hide and go seek
• is ALWAYS hiding
• can sing the entire A Whole New World song.
• loves to shake her booty (literally) when a good dance song comes on
• mooned me this morning on purpose and laughed about it
• wants a smoovie (smoothie) every morning for breakfast
• obsessed with dips- she will eat anything is she can dip it in something or pour dressing on it (works for me because I can get her to eat lots of raw veggies :))
• ate half a tub of hummus the other day when I wasn't looking
• loves to throw things in the shopping cart when I'm not looking or even when I am looking...

Oh I could go on and on about this girl.  She cracks us up and keeps things soo entertaining.  She is as sweet and gentle and she is hilarious and crazy!

A little about Alivia lately:

• Has almost tripled her birth weight (she's 20.5 lbs) and will be 1 year old next month
• is a firecracker
• she is feisty
• likes to cuddle in the morning or at night- during the day she likes to grab my face or pull my hair
• grunts and growls at us all the time (but in a humorous way...)
• likes to say, "whoa whoa whoa"
• loves the jolly jumper and saucer
• loves to bounce on anything and everyone
• loves to throw things and say, "Uh Oh!"
• Say's "dank u"
• her hair has grown approximately 2mm since birth...
• is beautiful
• has 6 teeth
• loves to dance
• loves to jab her fingers in your mouth, ears and nose
• loves to pinch your arms or cheeks, or scratch your face
• loves broccoli
• loves cheese
• loves noodles
• loves cucumber
• sleeps really well
• loves her blanky
• is flexible beyond belief- we find her in really awkward sitting poses and doing the splits often
• loves her big sister
• gets really excited when her dad gets home
• likes to cuddle dad 
• loves to ride in carts
• loves wind, rain or snow on her face
• loves to play the xylophone
• is growing like a weed
• was the cutest Tinkerbell for Halloween
• tries to follow me everywhere
• loves having picture books read to her
• loves to be walked around
• loves to play "patty cake"
• claps all the time
• loves to pull her socks off
• has the cutest dimple on her right cheek
• is pulling herself up on everything
• has found her balance on two feet a few times
• loves to laugh 
• makes a weird alien noise in between laughing
• can climb up stairs now (not down yet)
• is always pointing at things
• has lots of nicknames, Yiv, Yiva, The Yiv, Yivsta, Yivvey, Livvey, & Liv (when Brooklynn
• is crawling around everywhere
• says, "da da" all the time and has said, "ma ma" (a few times)

I can't believe this girl is having her first birthday so soon.  She is such a joy to have, and her little personality keeps things very entertaining.   She has brought so much love in to our home and has been through a lot at a very young age (lived in three different homes) and lots of travels. 

A Simple Day but One Worth Blogg'n About

We've been at home and inside a bit lately but I don't have other options right now because it is crunch time to get this house done already.  I finished sanding the kitchen cabinets today- finally! HOORAY :D !!! (yes we have been living in a kitchen with no cabinet doors for a month and I feel like Jerry Seinfeld sometimes)
I have loathed working on them for so long now and just as the end was in sight I had this new burst of energy all of a sudden and now they are done and they can be painted.   I think they will look really good.  I must admit though, I HATE honey oak.  I hate oak trim, cabinets, and anything that resembles that yellow, grainy, shiny oak wood colour.  Its the hardest thing to strip and update you home's look with.

So back to the "being inside lately" part.  Well today was just that and not only have we been home all day, we've eaten breakfast foods for all three meals! I had planned on making stir fry for dinner but Brooklynn wanted banana pancakes instead.  She won!

This morning started off on a really sweet note- literally.  Brooklynn went into Liv's room when she woke up because she heard her crying.  Jason and I were still lying in bed when all of a sudden Brooklynn bursts out singing "I love to see the temple"!  My heart melted (and Jason's) as we heard our oldest girl sing her little sister a primary song to make her feel happy and got her to stop crying by doing so.  I could hear them laughing and giggling together and then Brooklynn said, "bye bye Liv!" and then she started screaming again so Brooklynn runs back in there and starts singing "I am a Child of God" and then tells Alivia to put on her happy face- that made us laugh!  I just can't get enough of seeing these two interact together. I LOVE having two girls.  Having sisters myself made me so exited to find out we were having another girl.  Seeing them develop a relationship so young really makes me excited for the type of friends they will be as time goes on.

Where we're at!

I'm alive.  A LOT has changed.  We have been in the house just over a month now and life is taking structure slowly but surly.  My parents, Matt, Jenn and Justin came and left too (soo great having them here) and it was nice to be able to host everyone under one roof, even if we were still in construction and had like NO furniture!

Jason is now 27.  We went Edmonton and saw the The Immortal Cirque du Soleil show- incredible!  It was a great date :)


Brooklynn has been sick and on antibiotics which hasn't been fun.  Poor girl.  I HATE giving them antibiotics so she is on a probiotic at the same time and eating lots and lots of yogurt.

Alivia has been on the move like crazy, the other day she had waundered into the bathroom and was in the middle of pulling herself up to the toilet bowl- yuck!!  We have to be sure to close all doors becase she is into everything.  She still looks like a vampire but the other top teeth are finally coming down more.  A lady at the grocery store saw her on Halloween and asked if I did that on purpose... really?!  Lol

I'm off to the Urology Centre at Rockyview soon to get some tests done.  They are tryingto figure out what to do with this silly cyst.   SO annoying but I hope we can find some resolve.

Pics to come soon! 

Sumthin has Worked for ME- Finally!

So lets just say I fluctuate in my weight like crazy.  It's not a good range either.   I got bigger in my last pregnancy with Liv and I lost a lot when I started nursing because I had to eat so strictly - this girl had colic at a whole new level compared to Brooklynn!  However, once my baby isn't So sensitive I start to sneak back foods that I have missed and between being so hungry and having to nap a lot because I'm so tired I put on a few again.
Even when I got pregnant with Liv I wasn't liking my weight at the time and I had actually JUST started eating really well and exercising regularly at the gym and was slowly but surly seeing results BUT than I found out I was pregnant! I can't work out when I'm pregnant, I just DON'T have the energy, nor the desire.   I still do a little, like low impact cardio and love walks but my gym membership was a complete waste.
This summer was a write off for me to be able to eat well.  I have a hard time controlling how I eat when I am not organized and in my element.  I was ALL over the place and every summer we spend time out at the cabin I gain like 10 pounds, I HATE it!  So much fat and carbs, candy and sugar everywhere and nothing to do some days when the weather is crappy except EAT.  If I'm bored- I LOVE to snack.  SO I get a little bitter out there thus putting my in a down whirled spiral even more because I am eating for my frustrations.
I haven't been in my own space for 5 months and finally I'm about to move into a home for my family where I can get settled and back on track.  I'm looking forward to it :)
So what did I do to prepare myself for this new chapter of life?  I got ready and I went on a strict diet.  At first it SUCKED I was so hungry but the pounds where shedding instantly and the motivation grew and grew and my body adapted to eating well and it all became pretty simple.   I would get cravings but the thought of weighing less in the morning when I jumped on the scale over ruled.   I kept telling myself things like, "That cookie ISN'T worth it!"  or "Nothing tastes better then gett'n skinnier!"  haha ( I sound SO vain)  But it's what worked for me and I stuck to it.

In a matter of 3 weeks- YES, 3 WEEKS! I have shed over 16 lbs and lost inches everywhere!  I have SO much more energy, I sleep better I'm happier and have a lot of old clothes that I having been longing to get into again back in my wardrobe.

Oh and I CAN'T WAIT to go shopping!!!