I had to...

Umm, this is just too funny to get lost in the mix of FB.  Liv, I'll make sure to pull this picture out the day we need to have a serious talk about "future girl things" P.s. Stay outta my purse ya' monkey!

The Girls

Brooklynn:
She is more responsible than me lately.  She is ALWAYS reminding me to buckle her in just as I am about to drive off somewhere.  I know it sounds bad but it is true.  Today I explained to her that I am so proud and so impressed with the wonderful example she is to her sister, and the great helper she is to me.  She then replied, "Mom, and I almost a human? When I get to be a human can I stay up all night !" Ha- I know she meant grown-up NOT human.  Cute girl.
She is so adventurous, capable and smart-- it blows my mind.  She quotes Disney movies non-stop. Loves to push herself, has an enormous sense of humor like her daddy and keeps us laughing non-stop.  I can't believe she is starting preschool this Fall.  We have a "meet the teacher" night at the end of August which only only boggles my mind with the question, "where did my BABY go!?!"

Alivia:

Well for starter, I combed Liv's hair for the first time after her bath the other night.  Yup, she is over 19 months old and I am pretty positive it was the very first time I ever bothered running a comb or brush through it.  I didn't even need to but it's finally getting the teeniest bit of length and the hair would at least move with the brush strokes :)  She is cuter, and sassier than I can explain in words.  Her most popular word these days is "sorry".  Her favorite thing to do these days is carry around baby dolls, teddy bears and diapers.  She is always saying, "awww poo poo- yuck!" as she proceeds to rip off a diaper from one of her toys, pretending to change it (wiping and all) and frantically begging the closest adult around (usually me) to put it back on, and then she repeats the same phrase and rips it off again.  It's a very consistent cycle of changing diapers over here!  She is trying so hard to keep up with her sister.  She is loving the summer and her exploring, learning, and playing has been non-stop.  She's a total water-baby just like her sister and now that they play together more things have been a lot of fun.

Birthday Dunks, Cake and a little bit of Wasa :)

I just downloaded a plethora of photos I had requested my sweet sister to send to me.  She sent me a bunch of "goodies".  She ALWAYS has her phone out and  is ready to snap at the right time!  Aren't camera phones so awesome?  Like, seriously?!  It sometimes blows my mind how much of my life and my kid's life gets documented with a photo!
 However,  I'm a little behind with my "documenting" and some of these photos might be mentioned or re-posted when I have some time to better recap our summer.   But before you look any further I have to say how grateful I am for having my sweet sweet sister's around and for my darling husband.  I feel like I have been treated like royalty lately.  My sister's are SO awesome with my girls and I have had so much fun and freedom with them around.  Not just freedom from getting away from my kids but just having more ease to do things that are fun with them and doing the things I need to get done while having them around.  Not that I would EVER want to entertain the idea of polygamy but I definitely see the appealing side to having multiple woman under the same house and managing all that needs to get done together while having the best company, chit chat and fun through it all!  Okay okay, maybe I'll just say I'm grateful for sisterhood and a husband I am to greedy to share- ha ha!  Jason spoiled me with a fun party (like SO FUN) and dinner on my birthday.  He worked his butt off cleaning and planning and my sister's were baking up a storm.  It was a great and definitely eased my hesitation with embracing the BIG 2-8. 
                 

Jason rented a dunk tank for my birthday.  Here I am waiting to get DUNKED. 

 I got heckled for keeping my face and hair above water...but who are we kidding? I still did it and kept my make-up and hair decent for MY party, that's a win-win.  What happened to NOT be a "win" is the magnification of my thighs through the dunk tank window...

 Above: Jason doing his signature "speedo stretches"-- the dunk tank was a huge hit. Neighbors started to flock over and get in on the action (pretty sure we are a lot "cooler" in their eye's now) and a BIG shout out to all those who were "dunked"; Blake, Dallas, Cam, Logan, Rowan (neighbor kid) Jay and last but not least, ME!

 

This was the cake we had the night before on my actual birthday.  When Jason and I returned home from dinner my sister's had balloons, presents and cake waiting for us.

 Jenny made this cake all on her own. It was almost TOO pretty to eat but it tasted delicious :)

Wasa Goodies:

 Cute shot of the girls playing :)

Another "goodie".  We had a ton of rain out at Wasa while we were there so baking became a popular activity for us.  Brooklynn was in heaven while icing the sugar cookies, I think it was almost as good as eating them when they were done!

 I have a lot more Wasa photos to come, but again, I just had to get the ones up from my sister's phone.  Thanks, Amanda!

Happy (be-lated) Birthday Post- Brooklynn is 3!!!

 Balloons, a BIG girl bike, and other goodies waiting for her on her Birthday. After presents we headed out to Cora's for a b-day breakfast :)

 I can't believe this is MY 3 YEAR OLD! Brooklynn, it feels like yesterday I was swaddling you in a receiving blanket and you were just my little baby... You are growing up so fast and I LOVE you mature, sweet, caring, and silly personality.  There were a lot of emotions going through my on your birthday- you are just so special and wonderful.  I hope you know that Brooklynn!

So Grateful and So Behind!

I fell off the radar just over 2 weeks ago when my family arrived from Ottawa.  My parent's and Matthew flew in together, and Jenn came 3 days later from Victoria for a quick visit.  It was lovely to have the company and help. I had to have surgery 2 weeks ago to remove a large cyst I have had for years.  I blogged about it in the past here and there, and for the longest time it was a "mystery case" because it was so large and even through countless ultrasounds and CT scan images the Dr's still couldn't quite see what it was attached to.  I had been seeing a wonderful Gynecologist and Urologist.  They both had me booked for surgery (which was laparoscopic) and as soon as they were able to determine what type of cyst it was, then they would know which doctor would lead the surgery.  I woke up a couple hours later, extremely sick from the anesthetic and tired beyond belief.  I slept for over 8 hours at the hospital.  Dr. Matatall (my o.b.) came into see me after it was done and told me it was a great success.   I'm glad it's over with, resolved and that I can simply move on from here. The "taken it easy"/ recovery seems to be the worst part now because I shouldn't lift anything about 10lbs.  That is tricky for a mother of two little ones!  However, I have had lots of prayers, and helping hands and it has made the burden seem lighter.  I have been SO incredibly grateful throughout this "medical journey" to have had access to such amazing doctors, and facilities here in Canada.  I feel so blessed to have had this dealt with and really not a dime come out of our pockets. Amazing.
I'm looking forward to being completely mended from all this and continuing to enjoy my summer.  We have had a blast so far with our Utah trip, Wasa lake, get togetherness with family and friends. I look forward to the adventures ahead! And, once again I really am SO SO thankful for such caring family and friends and an amazing husband who stuck by my side for 12-13 hours at the hospital- he really takes care of me and his girls.  I am SO lucky.
 

Today I witnessed how quickly hearts can be softened.  Fighting, pettiness and pride need to be swallowed and put a side to make room for compassion, kindness and patience.   More people end up happier when this is done.  I am grateful to gain a greater testimony of this today!  I am grateful for the people in my life who set such a great example of this too  :)  

5 years

I remember it like it was last week.  My fingers were frozen, I couldn't feel my toes, my hair was going flat, and my make-up was washing off.

We were all getting covered in rain and slightly freezing but we managed to get through and while some might think that rain on your wedding day sucks (it kinda does...) it made for some pretty cute pictures with the umbrellas. We continued to fight with the crazy weather that day...

My hair was everywhere and I almost lost my veil over a cliff in Waterton.  The wind in Waterton wasn't just crazy, it was INSANE!

Again, CRAZY hair.

I guess we could also say Jason is a little crazy too?

We were CRAZY in love...

And to be honest, I am still CRAZIER than ever about him.

Jason and I took off for an anniversary date last night.  We had dinner at Cravings and went dancing.  Yes, dancing! It was awesome and I definitely had the cutest dance partner there.  The theme for 5 years is wood and I think we put a great and interesting angle on it- we spent a whole hour learning the East Coast Swing together on a huge HARDWOOD dance floor!  We had a really good time, and I look forward to the next time and of course the next 5 years!