Easter

There was a lot of excitement around here leading up to Easter. Most of that excitement revolved around Andre and I counting the days until our 4 day weekend arrived rather than Emilie being excited for the Easter Bunny. Thankfully she was still too young this year to fully understand the whole bunny thing. We had a lot planned for Easter weekend, and then Friday arrived and I woke up with a migraine and a sour stomach (which I thought was due to the migraine). I popped some pain relievers, prayed for some relief and we got the day rolling because we had an Easter Egg hunt planned with some friends that morning.

We left the house bright and early and headed to the hunt. Amanda and I stayed on the sidelines (it was a pretty busy event) and the dad's took the girls out to hunt for some eggs. Emilie found 5 little foil wrapped eggs, and by the time we found each other afterwards she had already started to enjoy her treats!

 

After a little visit we headed home and put a certain little girl down for a sugar coma nap. I also enjoyed a nap because I soon realized that the sour stomach was an unexpected stomach bug, and not due to the migraine.

Saturday was a blur spent napping, and trying to enjoy some of the beautiful weather. Emilie did get some much needed play time outside with her cousin Joshua though.

I wish I had gotten more pictures on Easter Sunday. Emilie looked so cute in her Easter dress, but I woke up with a cold and felt miserable again. I did manage to get some pictures first thing that morning as Emilie dug into her chocolate. Boy was that girl on a sugar high that day!

Enjoying her pre-breakfast treat.

Ohhh, the bunny brought me treats?

Yummy bunny ears!

Emilie were so excited to go to church that week. Joshua was going to join you and all we could hear all morning as we were getting ready was "Church, Joshua hummin (coming) too! Fun, toys, church!". Needless to say there is a lot of enthusiasm around church these days. I hope it continues for a few years at least!

We had dinner with my family this year. Emilie had very little interest in dinner since there were little eggs hidden all around the house. She was a very unhappy little girl when she had to go to bed. She was more than a little overtired, so I had to rock her to sleep that night. It made me think back to her first Easter, she was just a little over a month old.

Do you remember this?

Fast forward two years. We still have that doll. Emilie sleeps with "baby" every night. I kind of wish I had gotten two! Instead of that tiny little girl in my arms that night in the glider, I have my "big girl". She's so long now that her legs now dangle off my lap, but her head still snuggles the same place on my chest, at just the perfect height that I can still kiss the top of her head. I guess some things change, while others remain the same.

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Baking Cookies

I think every parent has that list in their mind of things that they want to do with their children one day. Some are lofty dreams, others are more everyday types of activities. Sometimes you just remember things that you did with your parents or grandparents, and you think to yourself I can't wait till I can do that too!

I remember baking as a child with my mother and my grandmother. I remember my sister Carrie and I waiting patiently as my mother scraped even amounts of leftover cake batter on to spoons so we could lick the batter. I also remember making Christmas cookies with my grandmother, and her using the cookie press. It's such a simple little thing really, baking with family, but can leave a lasting impression.

Emilie has become more and more interested in the goings on in the kitchen (especially if it has to do with bubbles in the sink), and I really wanted to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We had some time to kill before bath and bedtime, so I thought why not!

 I used to bake all the time before Emilie was born, but for the longest time if it didn't come in mix form it just wasn't getting made!

The kitchen was already a disaster, so what was a little more mess right? We washed our hands (she loves that part) and away we went!

Emilie loved it. She kept chanting "cookie, cookie, cookie!" while helping me dump the ingredients in the bowl. She loved watching the bowl turn around and around in the mixer, and listened really well when I told her not to touch the mixer. Her favourite part had to be spooning the batter into the cookie sheet. She never once tried to eat any of the batter, and for a child who sometimes hates getting her hands dirty she had a blast.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she wouldn't even make her "cheese" face for the camera!

I am sad to inform you though that she would not taste the fruits of her labour once they were cooled out of the oven. She cannot possibly get that from me!

Fall Fun!

One of the best parts of Fall has to be the big piles of fallen leaves. There are a bunch of maple trees in front of the house so there are never a shortage of leaves.

This November has been pretty mild so far so you've been spending lots of time outside with your Baba and your Auntie Carrie (and cousin Josh) while Mama and Papa are at work. Auntie was nice enough to grab the camera one afternoon and get some pictures of you and Josh in the leaves.

Josh raking the leaves.

Mack didn't want to be left out of the fun.

Can't leave home without "Bankie".

Helping Josh gather leaves.

Yay! Leaves are fun!

Auntie do you want some leaves?

Halloween

We had such high hopes for Halloween this year. You're walking, and love seeing the neighbours, especially when they have treats for you. It was going to be perfect!

Then you got sick. About a week and a half before Halloween you came down with a runny and nose and just weren't yourself, it wouldn't get better, and then the weekend before Halloween you came down with a fever. We hate seeing you with a fever. You just aren't your giggly, energetic self. The 31st was pretty much your worst day, your fever was slowly creeping up again, and you just wanted to be held, so back to the doctor we went.

You were a trooper, and sure enough you had an ear infection :( We were happy to finally get some answers, but sad that you had to be on antibiotics again. Your poor little tummy is just not the same while you're on it.

Papa carved the big pumpkin that morning, we decided that we would do a Thomas the Train design to cheer you up since you love your Choo Choo's so much.

When I got home from work that night you were still running a fever so I gave you some Advil in the hopes that you would feel good enough to put your costume on and visit a couple houses. Papa tried to snap some pictures before we left the house, but he couldn't get the camera to work.

It was rainy and chilly that night so you were bundled up under your costume. We brought your stroller and for most of the trip you sat in your stroller with a death grip on your little candy bucket. When we were done visiting a few houses we took you over to Baba's house so you could say good night. Outside of her house you spotted a little Doritos bag on the top of your bucket. Needless to say you wanted a treat. After a week and a half of hardly eating, I didn't really care that you were eating chips before bed!

When we got home all you wanted to do was eat your treat.

We got you relaxed with a nice bath and then you enjoyed some snuggles with your Great Baba before going off to bed. Not a horrible day, but I hope that you're healthy next year so you can enjoy yourself a little bit more.

Pumpkin Time!

Last year Emilie was still a little young for the Pumpkin Patch, so instead of doing a big trip and the hayride, we just took a little trip to Bennett's Apples, for a little photo op with some pumpkins. This year though we knew Emilie would enjoy a trip to an actual Pumpkin Patch.

I had done some research on some of the places in the area and what they offer, and we decided on Lindley Farms. They have a corn maze and hayrides every fall, so we thought that would be a fun place to visit this year. Thanksgiving Monday was sunny, and not too cold, so we packed up and went for a short drive.

They had pony rides, some ducks, goats, and bunnies that the little ones could feed, a slide, and other little attractions perfect for pictures and keeping the kiddies occupied while you waited in line for your turn on the hayride. Emilie was a little unsure of the slide when she first climbed up to the top, but after another trip up the stairs she was good to go.

We got on the hayride, and Emilie loved it. She cuddled on my lap for the first part of the trip, but then she wanted to sit on the crate in the middle all on her own. So we let her sit down, and Andre hovered over her to make sure she didn't get up and make a run for it, but she was good.

Family Picture Time!

Finally, they let me sit by myself.

 

Enjoying the ride.

Once we got to the pumpkin patch itself we just let Emilie explore and look at all the "balls".




She loved wandering around the pumpkins with her Mama and Papa, showing us all of the orange "balls" everywhere. We all had a great time, and did choose two pumpkins that we will carve just before Halloween.

On our way out we decided to stop by where the animal cages were. Emilie had such a great time with her Papa feeding the animals.

Next year we're thinking a Pony ride would be fun!

Dear Emilie (18 and 19 months)

Dear Emilie,

There is no denying it now, you are my big girl now. You are now officially closer to 2 years old than you are to 1 year old.

Even though you are a big girl, you're still my little big girl. You had your 18 month doctors appointment, and you were 21lbs and 11ozs, and 31.8 inches tall. You continue to be a tall little string bean. I think you are going to take after your Papa. You received your last two vaccinations. You were such a good, brave little girl that day. I think it helped that your Great Baba surprised you with a little treat after your appointment.

I won't lie the last couple months have been a little difficult for your Mama. You are no longer my baby, although I still call you that. You are a big girl. You run, and laugh, and talk and play. You throw temper tantrums, and go for days on end where I think the only word you will use is "Noooo!" Thankfully you still love your cuddles, and you think that every boo boo can be magically healed with a kiss. I hope that you continue to believe that for a really long time.

There were a couple months that I didn't know when you would ever really start talking. Now you talk all.the.time. You repeat so much of what we say, and pick things up so quickly. We have to be very careful what we say around you for fear of you saying something bad! You still use some of the signs that I have taught you, but you much prefer to use your words now. There are so many words that you use now I can't even remember them all. There have been a couple times you have put two words together in little "sentences" even though I know it is much too soon for that. You have said "Hi Mama!" and "Oh baby!". We're currently working on please and thank you. You have mastered please "pease", so now it's on to thank you.

You love your baby, and baby buggy, your Mega Blocks, your cousin Josh's talking Elmo, balls, pointing out your family in your little photo album, and your play kitchen. You are forever pointing out the "car car's" on the road, and when you're playing outside you will stop whatever you are you doing when you hear an "a pain" (air plane). You love air plane's.

As much as I will miss you not needing me for everything it is really fun right now. It's fun to watch to you play with you cousin and your friends. You are discovering so much about the world around you and desperately trying to tell your Mama and Papa all about it.