Christmas 2012

So I have been slacking to say the least. And I am about to post a bunch of pictures. Some will be from Instagram, so for those who follow me on there, sorry for the repeat....

For Christmas this year we head West to Claresholm.

 In our travels the doodle pad and iPad were our lifesavers. Honestly.

Stitch loves her Grandpa, they spent lots of time together.

 We had only just arrived then we packed up the kids again and headed into Colehurst to watch Hesston and Joey's Christmas Concert and to hang out with family.

 Magoo LOVED the dogs and cat, too bad the feelings weren't mutual. The cat even bit him... it's luck to still be alive (the cat, not the boy) ha.

 Hesston, Kendal, and Payton are so great with Stitch. We loved spending some time with them.

 The wanderer. aka Uncle Dally Wally

 Christmas Dress

 We loved all the time we got to spend with cousins and family!

 These are Jared's Granny and Grandpa (Hamon), we love them dearly. We helped them with their garden the summer I was pregnant with Magoo and formed a wonderful relationship with them. They are so loving, we love to visit them every chance we get. He just turned 90 this past year.

 Uncle Adam and Aunt Erin brought there dogs who are a little more use to kids they were great with our animal loving Magoo. Sadie (their weinhreimer dog) even let Magoo ride on her back for a bit.haha 

 Chirstmas Eve we all enjoyed reading the Christmas story by the fire, and singing hymns. I waited for my turn to talk to Riley. And the kids enjoyed getting into the Christmas Eve gifts and chillin with family. 

 Christmas morning was full of video calls to family and opening stocking and gifts. My Mom bought WAY too BIG pj pants, Robyn and Emily showed me the trick they could do... too funny! And Magoo got into opening presents a bit more this year.

Christmas Day family photo op... minus Magoo (you try to get him to sit still for a picture!). Stitch finally decided to join the gift opening party (she sleeps all morning.) Good thing Daddy had already done most of the work by the time she woke up! And Magoo spent lots of time giggling and playing with cousins.

Of course throughout the week we helped make yummy treat, and stuffed ourselves full on good food and good times. I love the family I married into and feel very fortunate to have them all in my life and my children's life!

It'll give you a Stitch in your side.

Stitch has never given us a full out laugh before, she's given us a few giggles here and there but no out right laughs. Until tonight. We were getting Magoo ready for bed, doing nothing to provoke it when all the sudden she bursts into laughter. It truly made us all in a really good mood for the rest of the night!

I got some video on my camera before Jared caught this, but its not as good of quality due to a crazy little boy, not to mention my annoying voice/laugh taking over the sound (don't you hate that!?) so I didn't add it. By this point though she had been laughing for at least a good 10 minutes, maybe even 15. and you can tell near the end she is getting pains because of the laughter. 

This girl is just such a happy one. We love her a lot.

The Boy who turned Two.

It's sad to me that blogging has fallen so far down on my priorities list, but thats just how life goes sometimes when you have two kiddos that need you. Plus I have been trying to devote a little more time to my body these days, and make it healthier so thats where a lot of my "spare time" goes to theses days.

But this post isn't about me this post is going to be about my Mr.Magoo! You see he turned TWO!

I really love my Magoo, he has adjusted amazingly well to having a new sibling, having to share my time and attention with her, and he has always been really gentle to our sweet little Stitch. He certainly has his moments where he lashes out at me or Jared, but never at Stitch luckily.

Magoo is my little helper/shadow and loves to be where I am... at all times. He gives lots of kisses and is into looonnnngggggg kisses these days, he will even hold my face with his hands in hopes to hold me in his kiss a little longer... haha. Must of got that off one of those movies I let him watch... hmmm.

Magoo loves the outdoors, and has definitely been feeling cooped up since Stitch arrived and since the cold rolled in. I have no problem taking Magoo out in the cold, but Stitch is just so little still, her snowsuit is still a little too big. And Jared is only home in the evenings and on Sunday's since school started and so I am having a hard time finding time to get Magoo outside just to play. One day I took him out while Stitch was napping, but only just in front of our door so I could check on Stitch, and she only let us play for 20 min before she needed us. But that is life right now. I hope that he always loves the outdoors.

Magoo's Birthday was on Wednesday, and on Tuesday night I decorated the house with streamers and balloons and a Birthday banner for him to wake up to. And just as I expected he loved it and was pretty wound up all day. I had a little party for him with a few friends. We colored Thank You/ Treat bags, played with some foam blocks, ate cupcakes, opened presents, and visited. The Mom's came too. I think it went ok. I wish I would have thought to do a singing game or something during the bit of nothing space that occurred. But really for being the host to my first kids birthday I would say it went just fine.

Jared surprised us all and came home a little early. it was so nice. He played with Kasper and his new birthday toys. I made Lasagna Roll Ups for dinner and had the Missionaries come as well. They had to leave quickly after dinner, so I gave them each a cupcake for the road. Then Jared and I sang a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday... haha, and Magoo successfully blew out the candles on his angel food cake the first time! And with such an exciting day he went to bed really well!

 (this would be his first non-family member girl kiss. And she fully participated, and there were more that followed...)

He is a pretty Stellar Boy and Brother and I think it's fairly safe to say that the three of us absolutely love him to pieces!

 Happy Birthday Magoo!

One, Two, Buckle my shoe.

Our little Stitch hit two months on Halloween, don't expect costume pictures though, we didn't even buy costumes for our kids this year never mind go out trick-or-treating. They are too young to even know they are missing out, it's cold out these nights, plus who needs all that candy? Perhaps next year we will. I didn't even hand out candy, haha.

Stitch also happened to get her first round of immunizations on that day and she did great, of course she cried and it broke my heart, but she recovered quickly. Luckily Jared was able to take a break in his studies to watch Magoo so I didn't have to bring him along.

 This little girl of ours is so strong. She loves her tummy time, and if she could just figure out how to get her belly off the ground I am positive she would be crawling, and honestly I don't mind it when my kids become mobile, my house is already "baby proofed" so I'm ready when ever she is, no rush though. She is starting to spin on her tummy and I sometimes find her facing a different direction then where I positioned her.

She also loves to stand and practice walking, whenever I am holding her so she can stand it will seem as if her legs are getting tired and she will start to squat/sit and then all of the sudden she shoots herself backup to standing, sometimes even making a little grunting sound because of the effort.

Stitch is a great sleeper, especially in the morning. Sometimes I get the feeling she is going to be my child that will be the hardest to wake up to get her out the door for seminary/school.  But don't think I am sleeping in while she does, Magoo is a morning person and so he makes sure I am being productive while she sleeps. (And boy have I been productive these days, thats to come in my next post).

She also sleeps with her mouth open pretty much all the time (she gets that from her Daddy). During the afternoon she usually sleeps right next to me, I "wear her" in a baby wrap. She sleeps best there and I can get quite a bit done without worrying if Magoo is trying to give her kisses and sharing toys while she is trying to sleep, he's a good brother.

At night she will normally start off in her own little bassinet (it also happens to be attached to the side of our bed) but by her first feeding she is in the bed, and we often end up cosleeping. And to be honest I don't think there is anything wrong with cosleeping. We are all happier in the day, and it's not like she will sleep with us forever.

Her Two Month Stats:

Height: 23 inches, 50-75 percentile

Weight: 11 pounds 13 ounces, 50-65 percentile

She loves bath time, hates her carseat, and is so patient with her brother. When she's awake she's super alert and loves to give me lots of smile. And I know she's very close to laughing already, I've gotten a weak giggle or two out of her the other day. She loves her daddy, and is best buds with her Mom. We definitely love this little stitch of ours! 

A Blessed Weekend

Last weekend was pretty awesome. I had been looking forward to it since we had Stitch. And now that it's passed it went way too quickly. We had family come to visit us for Stitch's Blessing. And it was so nice to have them here if only for a couple days. But I seriously miss them already and am trying not to count down the days till we are back in Alberta, for Christmas.

*warning: pictures overload. Some have been on Instagram and FaceBook, so some of you may recognize some of the pictures.

My parents and sister Arrived in town on Friday night. We kept Magoo up just to see them.

Saturday Morning we headed to the park. It was pretty darn cold out, but this was definitely one of my most favourite activities of the weekend.

 I love how my parents are so willing to play and have fun!

My Mom didn't think I could do the monkey chain things. I could, with a baby wrapped to my body. Booya.

 

Playing in the leaves and going shopping was our afternoon activity.

Dinner at AppleBees. Not the best restaurant in my opinion, but they had no wait and are super kid friendly. So they win.

Aunt Em's whipped up some super tasty and lovely cupcakes for Sunday. 

And Jared's sister Melissa and her husband got into town on Saturday night. Once again Magoo stayed up way past his bedtime...

Sunday morning getting ready.

Arriving at the church. I was SUPER tired. and had gotten very little sleep all weekend. 

I got little Stitch ready at the church so there would be less of a chance of her getting dirty before the blessing. 

     

 I absolutely love her dress. My Mom found in in Utah while she was there this summer.

It was kind of a neat feeling as I got her ready to be blessed by her Father. I felt privileged to be her Mom, truly I am blessed to have her. I am so grateful for the spirit she brings into our home, she is such a happy girl, always full of smiles. Jared gave her a beautiful blessing. She will be a great example to those around her as she grows. We love you so much Stitch!

Six Weeks Young

Well I thought I better get this post up since we are past the six week mark with Stitch and inching closer to the seven week mark!

Stitch's Stats at Six Weeks:

Head Circumference: 38.5 inches

Length: 23.5 inches (97 percentile)

Weight: 10 pounds 8.5 ounces (50 percentile)

 (courtesy of her Aunt Em's)

Stitch is a pretty happy girl. She always seems to have a smile on. She is starting to get a little fussier in day and really likes to be held while she sleeps. But I usually just wrap her to me when I'm trying to get stuff done and that solves that problem.

One BIG thing she started doing just this weekend was rolling from tummy to back! That is something babies start doing around 3 plus months! And she has done it 10 plus times since the first time so it isn't some sort of fluke. She has always been really strong. She's always loved standing (with support of course) and I wouldn't be surprised if she hits many milestones early.

Jared doesn't like her moving so fast, but I am torn. I kinda like it in some ways. I love little babies, but it is hard having someone be so completely dependent on you.

And if you are wondering on what ever happened to Magoo when it comes to posts on the blog, well he's around. He will be TWO next month! So you can expect a big post about him coming soon. He really is such a good boy and loves his little sister. He is always very gentle and nice and I am very grateful that I have been blessed with that. Of course he has things that test me, but non that involve his sister, thank goodness! If anything is overdone it's the kisses and being right in her face trying to give them to her, that or butterfly kisses (you know blinking eyelashes together) he thinks its hilarious.

Stay tuned, next post will be all about Stitch on her Blessing Day.