bedtime stories

We're definitely a family that gets excited about books and we're a family that reads.
For as long as A has been around, reading before bedtime has been part of our nightly routines. & now we're able to share our love for reading with Sadie-Q. I love love that Aiden is able to "read" the books we read to him, to his sister ... it simply warms my heart.

Our current bedtime favs include, but are not limited to ...

What are some of your favs? We'd love to add more to our growing collection :)

list series: short random snippets

1. I should sleep, like right now.

2. This ear infection that I have (first time getting one, ever) has got to go away. I'm feeling so imbalanced. & I'd really like to be able to hear again, thanks.

3. Ryan took this Sunday off, I think I'm happier than he is.

4. Can't our laundry just do itself?

5. What? That was the season finale? Now I have to wait until summer to watch more Suits, bummer.

6. I've been highly obssessed with home organization and storage bins as of late.

7. I need a good read.

8. My kiddies rock my socks. I love being able to spend so much time with them. I have anxiety just thinking about the day when I won't have all this time with them anymore ...

9. Winter, we're breaking up.

10. I will not devalue what I do - this is my craft, my passion.

11. When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Sadie Quinn: 7 months!

Wow. Seven. Already.
& yes, yes I'm running late with again ...
But get ready, this post is photo heavy .. I figured it would be nice to include some of your day-to-day shots plus a few of my fave during month seven. Photo bomb Sadie-Q begins now ... :)

Sadie Bean, Sadie Bear, Sadie Dades, Sades, Sadie-Q, Sades McBabes, Sadie Daydee ...
the list truly goes on & on, lol.

It's been 7 months & I'm still in a bit of shock that we've been blessed with a beautiful / healthy baby girl. You have brought such joy in our lives.

Waking up to you every morning (with that sweet smile of yours) reminds me how much I love being a Mama - your Mama. Your sweet smile also always makes me forget the lack of sleep I got at night, whomp whomp lol. I'm calling them "newborn nights" ... but now that I think about it, you slept waaaay more as a newborn. Hoping this is just a phase, it's just a phase right?

Right now you love playing with Sophie, your taggie blankie, your picnic basket and pretty much anything that you can either chew on or bang on. Oh and of course, you love your jumpy jumpy. You're still trying to figure out how to use this that was Aiden's & why Daddy was so excited to give it to you.

You're also very fascinated by my hair & when I'm not looking ... you eat it. Hm.

We listen to a lot of music. Blackbird being one of your favourite songs. I'm convinced that you're singing along with the lyrics. You love to sing. I start with a tune (usually la-la-la, lol) and you try your best to follow suit. You're super talkative when it's just you and me & start to get all shy when others are around. You're still our little show baby and very well-behaved when we're out in public. In your car seat though, that's a different story. You're starting to get used to it a bit more, but usually cry bloody murder (while arching your back) while we attempt to strap you in the damn thing.

You continue to be determined. You've started to pull yourself up pretty much anywhere you can - in your play pen, crib, on chairs. Getting down, well you haven't quite mastered that part yet. You usually just call out, "Mmmmmmmm" - which of course means "Mama, help me!" I love how you throw your arms up in the air when you want me to pick you up & how when I say "You ready Sadie?" or "Come Sades" ... you turn my way and simply come (I hope you listen to me that way always, hehe). You are also very determined to never let me cut your nails ...

You love food. Maybe as much as you love bmilk.
We started right around the 6 month mark. The beginning was a little rocky but you were eating like a champ in no time. 3 "meals" a day - typically cereal in the morning and then veggies for both lunch and dinner. Then one day, you didn't number two. & you always number 2, you number 2 almost 3-4 times a day! So the lack of poop alarmed me ... you were constipated! Ek! Naturally I searched google for answers. Lots of people suggested prunes or prune juice or diluted apple juice. Then I came across a post that said something along the lines of "baby was never constipated when her diet consisted of only bmilk ..." true say! & since bmilk is a natural laxative, win win win. So for two days, we skipped the solids and your mustard poops starting coming back and with a vengeance, yay! We're slowing easy back into solids again & really letting you take the lead on this one. We're in no rush. There will be plenty of food for you lifetime :)
We're still nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and 1-2 times at night depending on the night. Your sleeping habits are rough sometimes - We've started some "sleep training", for you know, sanity's sake (I kid, well, kinda). It's night number three and we've had some serious progress (yay). All about small victories, right?



You also love your big brother. You love when he reads you bedtime stories like this one and he's the best at making you laugh. I love watching you both interact & play with each other. I can't wait to see what kind of relationship the both of you will have.

You're also so curious about your surroundings. Eyeing everything and everyone around you. Maybe this means that you'll have a good judge of one's character. You're happy to be carried by just about anyone and happy to play around by yourself too. But when you've had enough, you sure know how to let us know!

You are growing up way fast baby girl, slow down a little won't cha?

I can't believe how much you've changed already!

happy valentine's day!

 

Check out the drool on Miss Sadie, we're slowly waiting on a chomper to appear!

Today, I am thankful for the company of my two love bugs & giving them extra kisses and snuggles. Especially since Mr. Lover Lover is hard at work - he left at 8am this morning & I will probably see him tomorrow ... lol.

Today, I am happy to see so many of my friends and family post on social media networks messages to their loved ones. Happy to know that there's a whole lotta love going around & a little reminder goes a long way.

Today, I was excited to see Aiden's face as he sorted out his Valentine's. He also said that he had a blast at the Valentine's dance party, hehe.

Today, I attempted to build the Expedit that I have been longing for (reminder). But I've given up and I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave it smack in the middle of our living room - since I didn't anticipate it weighing like a beast. I'm in need of my husband's muscles ;)

Today, I am going to hop into bed ASAP & maybe eat some of my vday chocolate while I'm there - ok, not maybe - definitely.

So really, just another day for us here.
Happy Valentine's Day, hope your day was just splendid! :)

Bye for now ... she's practicing on perfecting her wave  :)

DIY: oh my valentine!

Being on maternity leave definitely has it's far share of perks.
One of my favourites is having the time to do fun creative things with A for his classmate - especially to celebrate the holidays. I originally found the idea on Pinterest - go figure. I thought heck, this looks easy enough - because we all know how sometimes DIYs turn into frustrating disasters. But this was right up my alley. Take a simple photo (with a A's Valentine's suit - lol), adjust the sizing & add a banner in Photoshop then using an exacto knife cut slits to make the illusion of holding the lolly. I also left the "from:" part of the card blank so Aiden could continue practicing writing his name x30. This is such hard work Ma! But I'm sure my friends are hard at work on their Valentine cards too. (amazing). So happy how they turned out! Even Aiden couldn't get enough of them :)

& nothing like a little photo bomb from Prince Charming himself ... with some chocolate on his face and between his teeth, lol.

So what are your Valentine's day plans? Did you make anything crafty? Do you go all out?
It's always super quiet here, since Ryan works 5864 hours that day to cook for all the lovers on their romantic dates, hehehe. But that's ok, we share 364 other days of love (cheeseball, barf - ok, I'll stop now).

Enjoy tomorrow!

the obsession continues ...

& now for the boys!

one. two. three. four. five. six. seven.

I got the A approval on all the pieces, score!
I know most people think that it's much more "fun" to dress little girls, but since day one, I've always had a blast dressing A. I also like to think that he loves fashion and loves shopping with me for new threads (LOL). But since he's started school, I try not to have him wear his "cool" clothes. For obvious reasons (rips, stains, disappearing to the land of God knows where, etc). Except this guy refuses to wear sweats to school or anything remotely comfy ... um, Aiden - you have gym today, you have to wear sweats. Negative. He will not leave the house unless he's wearing skinnies - yes skinnies. We usually pick out his clothes together the night before and he's always agrees with me on the outfit selection (even when sweats are chosen), but come morning time ... a pair of his skinnies creep onto his legs and off to school he goes. He knows he'll get away with it because I'm still zzz-ing with Sadie-Q while Daddy takes him to school & as if Ryan will scold him on his outfit selection (LOL). I may have created a monster - at least he's well dressed :)

there's no such thing as too many ...

stripes.

My closet is filled with stripes. I think it always has been. When I shop for A and even Ryan, I gravitate towards the stripes, 98 percent of the time. & now it's Miss Sadie's turn & I'm sure she'll have her fair share of the stripes! & they're so adorbs on little people clothes. Weeeeeeee!

one. two. three. four. five. six. seven.

Side note: because of my friend Rachel, I've now been stalking Gap Canada's website for their new arrivals ... daily. I just can't get enough! But have you ever tried to shop the sale section at The Gap?! Let's be honest - why pay for something at regular price when it'll go on sale next week? What a nightmare!, never again I tell myself, never again. So I've fallen in love with shopping online. Can't beat free shipping (on orders over $50), flash sales (like take an extra x% off all orders) aannnnd my favourite pro - my order arrives in such a speedy fashion! This could be a problem, lol.