On Your Fourth Birthday

Oh my gosh. I feel like I was just writing my post about your third birthday. That was the fastest year I can remember. We have been living here with grandma for exactly one year now. You still talk about your "old house" it's funny. I didn't think  you would still remember enough about it to bring it up. Funny the things we remember.

You experienced an entire year of being a big sister. I must say, you have blown me away. That boy adores you. He loves you with his entire heart. He lights up when you come near, he screams for you, he stares at you with such love in his eyes. And the best part to me is that I can tell the same is coming from you. Thank you for making this past year of learning how to be a mommy of two so easy and beautiful.

You became one whole year older too. Before my very eyes, but until I stop and think about it, I tend to forget that you're growing up! You are so smart. You learn new things every single day that blow my mind. The other day you were playing with your toys and told me you were planning a big party. "The Centennial" you called it! how does a little one like you know what a centennial is?! So hilarious.

We have such a great birthday week/weekend ahead of us! Just today(/yesterday) you had a birthday party with Tracey! I managed to be able to have the day off with you for your birthday, so Tracey celebrated with you a day early! She is very good to you guys! And now tomorrow (/today) is your actual real birthday! You are officially 4 years old! 4! I have a 4 year old child! You are registered for kindergarten in the fall! Before I blink you're going to be in high school and telling me where to go! ;) - We are going to see Christina at Swag Hair Studio tomorrow to get your hair done! Aside from your bangs we have never cut your hair! We are going to have a fun girlie time :) Then, once your hair is all cut and styled we are all going out for dinner! THEN on Friday you get to go to London for a sleepover with Nana and Grandpa! And THEN you have TWO birthday parties this weekend! You are going to get CRAZY spoiled! Haha

I love you Hannah :) I hope you have the kind of birthday that makes you excited for the next one :) You deserve the world and I hope someday I can give it to you. But until then I will give you unlimited love and support for as long as I live. Thanks for 4 amazing years. I can't wait to see what you have in store for me. Well, I am a little nervous for what you have in store for me actually :)

I LOVE YOU BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!

I blame work

I can't believe I managed to neglect this blog for so long - I loved blogging a lot (even if I didn't have much off relevance to talk about) - I guess I just never expected to lose so much time.  Between working about 45 hours a week and trying to be there for my kids and spending time with my hubby, I hardly have the time to sleep. 

I would like to make more of an effort again. .. maybe I could promise to post once a week. .. I think I can handle that :)

Life has been good though, despite the busyness - my kids are amazing. .. max is hilarious. .. he is almost 15 months old and has such a personality.  And Hannah is turning 4 in less than two weeks! She is all registered for kindergarten in September :) I can't believe it,  but we are pretty excited for her.

I would like to start doing more for myself.  Even if that means staying up later than normal to do something I enjoy - I think I should take advantage of that.

Signing off for now - hopefully I can go back to keeping up with this blog - at least do better than now!

A letter to Max.

Dear Max.

I can't believe you are one. One year old. My second child is One.  My little baby boy.

You have been such a pleasure to be a mommy to. I cannot imagine a sweeter little man. Thank you for making me smile on a daily basis. Your relationship with your sister touches my heart. You sure do love that girl! And boy,  does she ever love you!  I know it is inevitable that your relationship will change over time and you won't always get along,  but I am cherishing these moments. I know they are fleeting.

You overcame the challenge of your injured skull and we got to feel real fear. I am so thankful that you came out of that as happy and healthy as you did.

We had a rough first year of lots and lots of nursing and little to no sleep. Who would have thought I could keep up with that appetite of yours! I am proud that we did so well together :)

You are cuddly,  snuggly, hilarious, handsome, adorable, happy,  giggly,  wiggly, hungry, healthy, sweet... I could add to this list all day. I just want to thank you for being you and for completing our family. I dont know if you will ever be made a big brother, and if not we are so happy and satisfied that we got you to make us a whole :)

I cannot wait to see the crazy things you will come up with in your second year - we love you Max . .. happy birthday big man xoxox

Me Poorsta

This rage comic describes my existence. I spend way too much time falling in love with way too many things online with $0 to pay for them lol... oh well... gave me a laugh, at least others can relate!

xo

Obligatory New Years Rambling :P

2012 was a great year, and probably the fastest one that I can remember (which says a lot when the year has a whole extra day!) - the best part was completing our family when Maxy was born! That started the new year out just right :) It had it's bad moments (like our nightmare with Max's skull and most recently with the passing of our friend Codey :( ) but I try to focus on what made it great!

We moved in with my mom which was a big adjustment, but I think things have been going well! We had a great summer with the kids, heading to Wonderland many times for some summer time family fun! We got to watch Maxy in his first year learn and discover this world. We got to watch Hannah make the beautiful transition from only child to a very proud big sister! Steve and I bot got promoted positions at work and we look forward to being able to save our money to get our home.

My new years resolution? To host next year's New Years Eve party in our OWN HOME. Can we do it? If we work hard enough I think we can.

For now, we will continue living this crazy life and enjoy each other.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Festivities!

I hate that I haven't gotten into a groove yet since being back to work. I can manage the shower, sleep, get up, go to work part just fine... and the come home, make dinner, eat, play with the kids, bath time, story time bed time part as well. But doing anything for myself? What's that? lol... in the couple of short hours I do have at the end of the day, my energy has just been so zapped that I cannot muster up enough to do more than watch a show. Maybe it was been to do with all of the hectic-ness that comes with Christmas time - thinking about plans, making plans, organizing gifts, shopping, wrapping... I guess that makes a lot of sense... December was a weird month to start work.

But it is worth it for Christmas. I love Christmas. Always have and always will. I will never understand the "bah-humbug" types whatsoever. I am sure it is hard if you do not have the means to give the gifts you want to give, or to get to the ones you love for the holiday though... I can imagine this time of year can be hard then. But you just can't shake the Christmas spirit in the air. Everywhere you go, everyone is bustling about. I just love it. I love the lights, the trees, the parties, the chance to dress up, the chance to dress down, the food , the laughs, the people. The kids! Watching a child as you get closer to Christmas is amazing. The wonder in their eyes, the magic in their heads. Anything is possible!

you can even turn a princess into a pirate...

We had an amazing Christmas - we spent the weekend before in London visiting our families down there -- Saturday was at Steve's mom's, and then my Dad's, and Sunday was at Steve's dad's. Our kids got so spoiled we honestly didn't think we would have been able to bring everything home! By the time we were done at Steve's dad's, we ditched our suitcase and squished all of our stuff into eco bags, every single toy had to be removed from it's box/packaging, and every inch of the trunk and available space between the car seats was taken up. It was un real. And Santa hadn't even been yet! 

Although I am a firm believer in Christmas being about giving to others and being with those you love, getting a new food processor, the books you wanted and killer new boots is pretty damn AWESOME!

Seeing my daughter's face when she opened her water baby made the day for me :) Santa listens baby girl :)

I hope everyone had as magical a Christmas as we did! Looking ahead to a new year full of possibilities!

Sunday Night

I am sitting here tonight watching the interfaith prayer service for the Connecticut tragedy. Everyone who knows me knows I am not religious, but I respect those who are. I am watching this and it is beautiful. Sometimes I wish I did believe in something. I think I would fear less, and find comfort in having a place to turn during rough and sad times. But, I don't. But faith sure is a beautiful thing. I imagine it is the only way someone can survive the loss of their child. How could you carry on? I am watching the slideshow of their beautiful and innocent faces and I am crying. They are all so perfect. I see my children in each and every one of them. I try to imagine what those families are going through. It must just be hell on earth. I cannot send my prayers, but I can send my love. I send them all of the love I can muster. I hope you all find the strength to carry on.

I love to hear Obama speak. He is right. We can't tolerate this anymore.

We need to make this world a better place for our children. They deserve to see this world as a magical place with endless opportunities. Sitting here, I don't know what we have to do. But I guess when we feel helpless we can start by loving. We need to love each other. We need to be tolerant of everyone's differences, and instill that into our children. We will never get rid of the bad people in the world, but we can do our best to keep love in our homes.

We have no way of knowing how much time we have with those we love the most. So let's spend it looking into each other's eyes and smiling. We need to tell each other constantly that we love them. There needs to be countless hugs and laughs straight from our guts. We need to respect and encourage each other. Always hope for the best for each other. We need to try and put aside differences, grudges and jealousies. I know that is not an easy task, or even a possible one, but we need to try to keep this in the back of our minds. Even if it only comes back to us once in a while, it is one more moment we are made to stop and appreciate each other.

We need to try and see the world with the innocence that the children do.