Freeze-it Moments

When Emma was just little and Walker was a baby I made the mistake of hanging dozens and dozens of snowflakes over their bed and crib.  Since then our Christmas decorating isn't complete until their bedroom has been turned into a winter wonderland, complete with a gingerbread house I painted for them last year.  I'm sure it is a tradition that I will love once all of them are old enough to cut out their own snowflakes but with just Emma and I it was quite the endeavour.  We also added a little Christmas tree that acts as their nightlight while they are falling asleep.

Sometimes there are moments where one of my children says or does something and I wish that I could freeze them in that second so that I won't ever forget it.  Today I had several of those moments.

Walker, Lillian and I all look forward to 3:30 when Emma finishes kindergarten.  Not the snowsuits and mittens and hats and loading everyone in the van and waiting part but the part where she comes running towards us from the school.  Today as she was telling me about her day and was getting into the van she looked so beautiful and grown up.  Sometimes when she looks that way to me I feel like someone has an iron grip on my heart and is squeezing so hard I can't breathe but today it just made me happy and proud to be the mother of such a beautiful little thing.

 
Today for the first time in all of his little life Walker and I made a craft together, just the two of us.  We have made countless crafts with Emma but generally he ends up getting bored and leaving or just cutting a paper into a million pieces because Emma demands most of my attention in those instances.  He was so excited to sit down and work on something together without any big or little sister (Lillian was sleeping) to interrupt that it almost made me sad that I hadn't thought to do this with him earlier. 

We used 3/4 of a bottle of glue and half a bag of cotton balls but it was well worth it to listen to him whisper to himself what he would do next and see the pride in his little art project once he was finished.

Lillian has the sweetest disposition and makes all of us so happy.  In the last couple of days she has found her voice and her tongue so she spends most of the day looking like this...

and sounding like someone who has a tongue depressor in her mouth and is being told to say "AHHH"
She has also learned how to roll from her back to her stomach, something that the other two couldn't do until they were one.  We can already tell that she is going to do her best to keep up with her older brother and sister.

 

 Bridgett seems to be pretty excited about the prospect of having another little one to play with too!





Lights at the Legislature

Our family has FINALLY overcome our battle with whatever the crazy virus was that tore through our household.  We had a week full of normalcy with no hospital trips or vomiting or sleepless nights.

For Family Home Evening on Monday night Allan thought that we should take advantage of the unusually warm weather and take a trip to the Legislature building downtown.  The grounds were lit up beautifully and there was so much room to run and play.  The Nutcracker Suite was playing loudly over the outdoor speakers and it felt so magical to watch my very own little sugar plum fairies leap and dance from place to place.

One of the kids' favorite past times right now is shovelling.  The other day they spent half an hour trying to get our driveway cleared so that Daddy wouldn't have to do it when he got home.

Emma had her kindergarten Christmas party on Friday and it was my first opportunity to help out in her classroom.  It was so much fun to see how she interacts with her friends and teacher and to get to know them a little bit better.  Emma is such a bright little thing and loves to learn.

Emma insisted on having her hair curled and wearing one of her fanciest dresses

We were responsible for baked goodies so I made these cute cupcakes

Some Festive Fun!! and some not so fun stuff

Our little family has been recovering from one sickness after another it seems in the last week.  From ear infections to sore throats to croup, we've had it all.  The kids seem to finally be on the mend so hopefully we'll be able to resume our regular daily schedule.  While we were shut in the house recovering we had time to decorate the house for Christmas.  Emma decorated the tree almost entirely by herself.   Most of the ornaments are clustered in the center of the tree but she was very proud of herself so I resisted the urge to redistribute the ornaments proportionately around the tree.

Walker spent much of the evening curled up on the couch and slathered in Vicks Vaporub trying to recover from a very nasty, wheezy cough.

 Luckily a little later on the in the evening the Advil kicked in and he had the energy to open up the decoration that he was looking forward to for weeks...our train that goes around the bottom of the tree.  The kids LOVE this little train and it is so fun to see their excitement as Allan pulls each piece out of the box and sets it up.  Then they squeal with delight as the train makes it's way around the track playing Christmas music.

Walker's main contribution, however, was managing the boxes.  He spent a long time building this mountain out of the empty boxes our Christmas decorations were stored in.

We finished our decorating and the kids headed off to bed but Walker's cough only got worse and his breathing more labored.  We started to panic about the time his little lips took on a sickly blue color, so Allan took him to the hospital.  A short time later we found out he had croup and the doctor treated him with an oral steroid.  Allan said he was such a brave little trooper and even though he was tired and sad because he had to leave his bed and his Mommy he didn't make a fuss.  Luckily he was able to come home and sleep well and is on his way to feeling 100% again.

Walker being treated with the oral steroid.  He is pretty sure that he looks like a fire fighter.

And a picture of little Lillian because she's just so stinkin' cute!!

Dress-up Day



The princesses fighting over their prince

Walker and Emma have reached the age where play dates mean less work for me as opposed to more.  With one or two extra imaginations it seems that the possibilities for play are endless.  When Kendall (our niece) comes over it takes a matter of minutes for the kids to find the dress up box and transform themselves into the character of their choosing.  Emma enjoys being "the director" and telling her younger playmates what to say and do.  This will sound familiar to my siblings who had to endure my "directing" while we practised plays and news reports to be recorded by our mom.  I have to remind her regularly to be less bossy.  On this particular day their storylines of choice were prince and princesses and the Nativity story.  It's so fun to hear their little voices as they play throughout the house.

Our patient puppy was playing the part of the donkey

And speaking of our patient puppy, I don't think I've mentioned much about her.  We've had our Bernese Mountain dog, Bridgett, for 2 years this Christmas.  She's not the brightest crayon in the box but she is the sweetest most long suffering and gentle puppy we could have asked for.  She is Walker's best friend and partner in crime.  We love her!!



Putting up with Walker

Keeping watch over Lillian

Three Little Bears

When Emma was a baby we bought her a cute little teddy bear jumper to keep her toasty warm on our cold Edmonton winter nights.  It's about the only outfit that all three of the kids have worn.  Can you tell who's who?!

Emma Bear

Walker Bear

Lillian Bear