Madeline Christine

Grace and Anna are so pleased to have a new cousin! Auntie Murr finally had her baby (I say finally because it was a running joke all throughout Murr's pregnancy that this baby would be late and, sure enough, 11 days after her due date she made her appearance). I know it was a long time coming for Murr and Matt especially, but I felt like Murr was pregnant forever! I couldn't wait to find out whether I would have a new niece or nephew and couldn't wait to meet him or her!

Madeline was born at 10:06 am on Friday morning, December 20th. She weighed in at 10lbs 12oz! Making her the biggest so far of all of the cousins.

It makes me happy that the girls have cousins so close in age! Brian and I have been so lucky to gain two new nieces this year.

Here's a pic of cousin Kamryn too! She doesn't seem so little anymore...

An Update: Potty Training Success

I wrote about potty training back in June when we were a few days into it. I realized I never mentioned it again on here and I might want to look back on it when the time comes to potty train Anna!

Potty training with Grace was ... incredibly easy! I still can't believe how easy it was. One day she said she didn't want to wear diapers again and she never looked back. She went about a week wearing a pull-up overnight and when we went out, then we started going without the pull-up for short trips. Once she started waking up dry for a few days in a row, we stopped using a pull-up at night.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say she was day trained pretty much immediately. She has never had a poop accident, and only a few minor pee accidents, which were mostly just her peeing a little bit in her underwear while she told us she had to go and was running to the bathroom!

Since we were potty training in the summer, we were out a lot. A lot of what I had read suggested to camp out at home for days or a week to make sure the child really got the hang of using the potty or toilet. I didn't want to spend a week of our summer stuck at home, so we just did our thing. Grace had no problem using public washrooms (although she is not a fan of loud hand driers, and had an incident with an automatic flushing toilet that flushed while she was still on it that freaked her out a bit). She was quite excited to use the outhouse at the camp, and didn't even mind using the little outhouses at the ball field when we went to watch Daddy's games.

We're so proud of Grace! She potty trained like a champ! I am pretty sure it won't be this easy with Anna, but we'll see...  

Dora!

I've been so behind on blogging, but last month Grace saw Dora Live! Zilla bought 3 tickets when they went on sale in the summer and since Daddy wasn't too keen on going, Zilla, Gracie and I went and had a great time! Grace was in awe throughout the whole thing. She was so excited to see all her favorite characters come out on stage. "There's Boots! There's Isa! I see Benny!" Zilla got a little emotional and teared up a bit seeing how happy and excited Grace was (and, I'll admit, I did too!). She was pumped to see Dora, but was even more excited when Diego made an appearance after the intermission. Before the show, Zilla told Grace she could pick something from the merchandise stand; she chose a blue Diego t-shirt. Every time she wears it she talks about seeing Dora and Diego on the big stage.
We had a few tears from Grace during the show - there was one part where Dora asked everyone to jump up and down to help her and Boots open a door. Grace was jumping up and down and holding on to the seat in front of her and bonked her chin! She cried but only for a few seconds. She watched the rest of the show from Zilla's lap but still loved it all.
The three of us went out for supper after the show. It was such a great afternoon and evening! This was Grace's first big show and we will definitely be keeping an eye out for anything else coming to town that she will enjoy.

Waiting for the show to start!

This was her face throughout most of the show. So attentive, taking it all in!

Interview with a 3 year old

How old are you?
I'm three

What is your favorite color?
Purple

What is your favorite toy?
Um, a car
Which car?
The purple car

What is your favorite thing to eat?
Oatmeal

What is something you don't like to eat?
Medicine

What is your favorite animal?
A giraffe with a long, long neck!

What is your favorite song?
Dah da da dah da (Howlin' for You - The Black Keys)

What is your favorite book?
Grumpy Bird!

Who is your best friend?
Maddo

What is your favorite thing to drink?
Milk

What is your favorite thing to do outside?
Rake some leaves and jump in them!

What do you like to take to bed with you?
Teddy bears (Didn't mention blankie, even though it is a bedtime necessity!)

What makes you mad?
When people take something

What are you scared of?
The spider at the mall (Auntie Murr and I took Grace into the Halloween store at the mall in October and there was this big spider that jumped up when you stepped on the sensor. Scared the crap out of her).

What makes you happy?
When we sing Twinkle Twinkle. That makes me happy. And watching videos

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to go to school

Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I have a sister. I don't have brothers and sisters. I have one sister.

What's her name?
Anna Banana!

What do you like about being a big sister?
Playing with Anna

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Dear Grace,

Today you are three! These past three years have flown by and you've grown into a smart, funny, caring young girl. You are such a joy to be around and you always make us laugh. You have such a big heart. You are very caring and very in tune with people's feelings. You notice if someone seems upset and are quick to give a hug or a snuggle.

I love waking up to the sound of your little footsteps coming into our room in the morning. Most mornings, you're dragging your stinky old blankie behind you and carrying one of your stuffed animals.Daddy and I love our morning snuggles with you. We usually try to get Anna to snuggle in with us too, but she thinks it's party time when she's in the big bed. It's fun to watch you be the first one to go into Anna's room in the morning - you can see the love in her little face when she looks at you; it's so sweet.

You are an amazing big sister. It is so lovely to see you and Anna play together and you are (almost) always patient and gentle with her. It's so fun to see you helping to teach Anna new things and you're always proud when she does new things like say a new word, or start walking.

You're a smart cookie and you're always surprising us with what you're going to say. Your vocabulary and comprehension is amazing and you've got a great imagination. You tell great stories and love to joke around and be silly.

Gracie, you are one incredible little person. You bring so much happiness and laughter to our lives, and to those around you. You showed me what unconditional love really is. Although in some ways I want you to stay little forever, I also can't wait to watch you grow.

Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl! I love you more than you will ever know and I am so lucky to be your mama!

Christmas Spirit

It's not hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Grace is fascinated by all things Christmas and is just loving everything about it! We don't have a ton of decorations but Grace was pumped to see some around the house when she woke up yesterday morning. We decorated the tree this morning and it was so much fun. I loved watching Grace pulling ornaments out of boxes and how excited she was with each thing she found.

Pictures with Santa!

Maybe I'm a "mean mom" but I love pictures of kids crying or screaming on Santa's lap. They're hilarious! I was actually slightly disappointed that our photo with Santa turned out so well this year.

Hanging out with the polar bear while we wait our turn

Not sure what's about to happen ;)

Our first successful Santa photo!

I must admit, I like this one better.

November = Blog Fail

Evidently, I failed at blogging in November. Not a single post. And now we're almost halfway through December! Seriously, where does the time go??

We've had a lot going on and we've been pretty busy and I just haven't found the time to finish any blog posts - but I have several started! There's also been a lot of sickness running through out house over the past month. A urinary tract infection (Anna), colds (all of us, at different times), ear infection (Anna), and the stomach flu (me). It was rough.

I'm determined to make more of an effort going forward. I have a lot to write about! I often feel guilty when I don't post much because the whole point of this blog is to record things that happen in our lives for the girls to look back on later. I will post more in the coming days/weeks! I might even backdate a few posts so they're in the right spot when we look back at them later on.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Our littlest girl is one! This past year has flown by, even faster than Grace's first year. Anna is such a beautiful, happy, strongwilled little person.

At one:

• Anna has 2 teeth on the bottom and it looks like a few will soon be making their appearance on top. 
• She can stand independently but has not yet tried to take any steps. 
• She's a pretty good eater and is obsessed with Cheerios. She point to the cereal cupboard and will ask for "Chee! Chee-o's!" every morning. She takes after her dad and is a big meat eater. 
• She signs "milk" and "all done" and says Mum and Daddy. She is good at communicating what she wants by pointing and yelling!
• Anna loves to be barefoot and is always pulling her socks off. 
• She is still not a big fan of napping, but sleeps well at night. She goes to sleep by sucking her thumb and rubbing her blanket on her face - kind of like her big sister!
• Our little Anna Banana has the most beautiful, chubby cheeks and roly poly thighs! I just love 'em. 
• She weighs around 23lbs and wears 18 month clothing. 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our little dinosaur and macaw!

Trick or Treat?

We went to CB this weekend to visit Brian's family. We brought the girls' Halloween costumes since they won't get to see the girls on Halloween night. Grace didn't want to wear her costume but we managed to convince her to put it on a couple times. We went trick-or-treating aunt Great Aunt Yvonne's house and the girls got some chips and candy. We went to Memé and Pepé's house for lunch and Grace agreed to put her costume on again. Grand Memé gave Grace some new jammies and a coloring book. Grace looked at her gift and said "this is not a treat!!" She looked like she was about to cry but Grand Memé saved the day by giving her a little box of Smarties. I think that's the tough thing about Halloween - we strive to make sure Grace (and Anna) know that Christmas is not just about presents, but Halloween is pretty much just about dressing up and getting candy! At least she's really good about saying thank you (usually!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful for these two little beauties

Ladybugs

I can't get over how many ladybugs we saw at our house yesterday. We were outside with Auntie Murr in the afternoon and we noticed a bunch of ladybugs on the side of our house. I started counting and there were at least 30. By the time Brian got home, there were hundreds! Literally! It was pretty cool. Brian did some googling and found that they were probably trying to soak up any heat they can get now that the cooler Fall weather is here (our house gets a lot of sun and it was a beautiful day yesterday). A friend of mine said they might not have been ladybugs but another type of beetle, but they did look like ladybugs. Most of them took off as the sun went down but there were still a few stragglers out there this morning!

This is just a small section of  our house. They were covering one side of it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

When Grace woke up this morning, I told her it was my birthday. "Now?" she asked. "Yup, right now!" I told her. She promptly sang Happy Birthday to me, complete with "and many more!" at the end, it was so sweet. Grace said and sang Happy Birthday to me many times throughout the day, and Anna was trying to say it too! Every time Grace would sing it, Anna would clap and say "ahh-pee" clearly trying to say happy! I had a great day with my little family.

More Adventures in Baby Wearing!

I don't wear Anna as much as I used to but I've had her in the Beco a few times this week, then I was informed that it's International Baby Wearing Week!

11 Months!

I realized a couple weeks ago that I forgot to do a 10 month post, so here's what's new with Anna over the past two months!

• Anna has started to sign! She's been signing "milk" for a couple weeks now. It's really motivated me to keep up with signing because I haven't been as dedicated to it as I was with Grace, but Grace has been helping me and signs to Anna all the time. She is also signing "all done" but not with as much consistency. It's funny to watch, she flails her arms all over the place.  
• She's using anything and everything to pull herself up to stand. She's also started cruising around the furniture. 
• She loves to bring us stuff. She will pick up little toys, socks, cups, or whatever she can get her hands on, crawl over and hand them to us. She always looks so proud of herself and will wait for us to say "thank you" and then she'll give us a big smile. 
• She is officially a thumb sucker. This girl would never take a soother, so we're glad she can self soothe. Generally, she only sucks her thumb when she's tired. 
• Anna is a pretty good eater. She is very independent and refused to be spoon fed from the start, but she will usually let us feed her yogurt. 
• She loves water. She will easily drink a whole cup with a meal. Of course, she also loves to throw the cup on the floor and point to it until we pick it up and pass it back. 
• She likes to play hide and seek. She will often crawl into her room and go into the tent castle that Zilla gave to Grace. As soon as I peek in and say "Where's Anna?" she comes barrelling out laughing her head off. It's so cute. 
• She's a great sleeper at night, but still not the greatest napper. She has pretty much dropped her morning nap and afternoon naps are inconsistent. I don't mind too much as long as she keeps sleeping through the night! 
• Still absolutely adores her big sister, and follows her around all the time. 
• She loves playing with books, tupperware containers, and anything Grace is playing with. 
• She's growing out of her 18 month clothes already. The pants are tight on her waist and thighs, but still too long!

Gracie goes to the Dentist

Grace had her first visit to the dentist at the end of September. She did so awesome! She was patient and played quietly with Lego in the waiting room while we waited for our turn. She listened so well and did everything the dental hygienist and the dentist asked, and she wasn't scared a bit! They counted, cleaned, and flossed her teeth and she left with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and some stickers. Let's hope all future trips to the dentist go this smoothly!

Waiting

In the big chair!

Sporting the pink shades

Say aahhh!

Showing Grace what the tickly toothbrush will feel like

She was a rockstar!

Murr & Matt - June 28, 2013

Auntie Murr and Uncle Matt tied the knot back on June 28 (yes, this post is way overdue). It was a beautiful wedding - small, intimate, joyous and fun. Grace did awesome as one of the Flower Girls! Matt's niece Ava took the lead and Grace was happy to follow her along. Grace did great carrying her bouquet up the aisle and was attentive during the ceremony for the most part, but then we looked over and she was quietly smashing her flowers on the floor, it was so funny. Memé and Papa came up to take care of the girls for the night so Brian and I could stay for the reception and dance party afterwards. We had a blast! And, most importantly, I think Murr and Matt did too. It was such a lovely day.

The Bride & Groom

Gracie loves her Auntie Murr!

Fam Jam

The Sampson Fam

Anna wants that bouquet

Anna Banana getting tired...

Beautiful flower girls!

Sisters <3

Hats & Mitts

With the cooler weather we've been having, I've had to bring out all the hats and mittens! The girls have a huge collection of hats - mostly thanks to Zilla, who loves buying them cute, goofy, or funky hats. Yesterday was really nice but cool in the morning, and the grass was so wet I even had to put Anna's snowpants on so she could crawl around! Our backyard gets a lot of shade in the morning so it takes a while to warm and dry up. I'm not complaining about this weather, though! I love Fall! Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day. None of us were feeling very well, but the fresh air felt good. 

Anna had a hard time crawling in her bulky snowpants

Grace absolutely loves this red hat. She was very excited when I pulled it out of the bag of winter gear!

Colds

The girls and I have been sick all week. It seems this terrible cold is going around, because I know a lot of people who are sick right now. Brian has been taking good care of us when he's not at work, and he's been letting me sleep as much as possible while he gets up with the girls.
I hate to see the girls feeling miserable, but I have been enjoying Grace's squeaky, raspy voice all week. It sounds so cute!

Wordless Wednesday (How Many Teeth Do You Have?)

October

October is quite possibly my favourite month. I love fall - the changing leaves, cooler weather, wearing hoodies. And with October comes Thanksgiving and my birthday! Unfortunately, we're all starting the month with coughs and runny noses; our whole family has been hit with this cold. 

I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog so I'm hoping to post more regularly this month. Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday, Uncles!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Mike and Uncle Johnny! 

Drawing Faces!

Grace has started drawing recognizable faces!

Grace's First Haircut!

We've been talking about getting Grace's hair cut for quite a while now. I kept going back and forth on the idea and I was really indecisive about it. Her hair is very much like mine - very fine - and was starting to look a little scraggly at the ends. I almost got it cut before Uncle Robbie's wedding but decided to wait. So, last night Aunt Jam met us at Zilla's house and gave Grace her first haircut! Aunt Jam used to cut my hair when I was little and I was excited to have her give Grace her first cut. She brought a special cape for Grace to wear and showed her the different combs and her special scissors. We always loved getting cleaned up after with the tickle brush and Grace loved it too! She was still talking about the tickle brush this morning. Aunt Jam gave Grace a special treat for doing so well - a box of smarties! Thanks Aunt Jam!

Wordless Wednesday (Some Backyard Fun)