She's Back!

Our elf is back! The original plan was for her to come the day after Grace's birthday, but as I was wrapping the girls' Christmas books (for them to open one each day leading up to Christmas, a tradition we started last Christmas) I thought it might be fun for the elf to bring the books!

The elf was waiting for us on the window ledge when we got home from picking Grace up at school yesterday. Grace was so excited! We opened the first book right away, the Elf on the Shelf book, and read it several times yesterday. Grace was calling the elf Sparkles all day and insisted that was her name. I kept reminding her that we named the elf Fancy last year (after suggesting at least 50 names before Grace agreed to that one) and eventually found out that one of Grace's friends at school has an elf named Sparkles at her house. Grace was adamant about changing the elf's name, and Brian admitted that he wasn't a fan of the name Fancy either! I ended up telling Grace that if she really wants to change the elf's name we can, but she needs to think of a new name herself and we can't use the name of her friend's elf. She was still talking about changing the name this morning and we threw around some different names on the way to school. We'll see if she actually decides to change it in the next couple days!

I don't really care what the elf's name is, the girls like her and love to look for her in the morning. Grace likes to remind Anna that the elf is watching, and did so while Anna was throwing a tantrum last night when she didn't want to come upstairs for supper. I had to try not to laugh, Anna couldn't have cared less about the elf at the time.
Maybe we'll start a tradition that each year Santa sends a different elf, so we have to name him or her each time... that could be fun!

Wordless Wednesday (Grace's School Picture)

Birthday Celebrations, Round 2

We spent last weekend in Cape Breton, celebrating the girls' birthdays with Brian's side of the family! It would be fun to have one big party with both of our families, but it would be hard to pull off. Doing it this way has its benefits too - the girls get to see lots of family on both sides and get to have two parties!
It was great to see everyone and we had a lovely dinner. Chantal and Alvina brought over all the gear to make milk carton snowmen with Grace; she loved it and they turned out so cute! They also made up some goop for her to play with, which is always a favorite (Anna wanted nothing to do with it, of course). They surprised the girls with an amazing Frozen cake, complete with Elsa and Ana dolls in it! Anna was a little off, from the long drive and then missing her nap. She was cranky at suppertime but Uncle Rob won her over with some Frozen videos on his phone. She wasn't even interested in opening her gifts! She just wanted to snuggle with him and watch a movie. We're so thankful for all of the lovely, thoughtful gifts the girls received and for being able to spend time with our wonderful families.

Family Photos

We had some family photos done a couple weeks ago and got them back last night. I am so pleased with them, especially because I was worried we wouldn't have any decent pictures of Anna because she was so cranky that day (darn teeth!)
Here are a few of my favorites:

This one pretty much sums up how Anna was feeling throughout most of the photo shoot

We didn't quite get the timing right on this one, but the girls loved it!

Trains

Earlier this year we put the train set away because Anna and Lennan just wanted to take the tracks apart, which made Grace extremely frustrated. We put all the trains and track away and just kept the table in the playroom and used it for building with Lego and playing with cars.
Last night Brian brought all the stuff out of the storage room and he and Grace set up the track and played with it for a while. This morning after dropping Grace off at school, I brought Anna and Lennan downstairs to play for a while. Lennan was pumped to see the trains and the track set up again, and the two of them started playing with it right away. They were playing so well, actually pushing the trains along the track and not fighting over who used which train, I decided to go upstairs to tidy up a bit and throw on a load of laundry. When I came back down, just a few minutes later, the train table looked like this:

Sigh. There were a few pieces of the track over at the play kitchen, and on the floor too. Oh well. Anna was quick to place the blame on Lennan but I'm sure he didn't act alone! 

We Remember

We took the girls to the cenotaph for the Remembrance Day ceremony today. It was a beautiful day and the place was packed; it was great to see such a big crowd there. The girls were amazing! They were respectful, quiet, and well behaved. They both even stayed quiet during the two minutes of silence.
Uncle Johnny, Baby Jack, Uncle Mike and Maddox laid the wreath for Grampy this year. I couldn't help but tear up a little remembering how incredibly proud I always felt watching Grampy march in to the cenotaph with the other veterans every year. We also couldn't help but laugh about the wreath falling over - last year our wreath had a broken stand and the boys had a hard time getting it to stay in place when they went up to lay it.
The girls were getting restless as more wreaths were being laid, so we left to go to the cemetery to lay our poppies on Grampy's grave. This has been our tradition since he passed away, instead of laying our poppies at the cenotaph after the service. Grampy was such a wonderful man and I am so thankful to have had him in my life.

Birthday Bowling!

We celebrated the girls' birthdays yesterday with a family party, it was so much fun! It was Anna's birthday but we decided to celebrate her and Grace's birthday at the same time because we're busy the next few weekends, and then once December hits, it's hard to get everyone together. We'll still have a small celebration on Grace's birthday.

We went bowling and then back to our house for pizza and cake. It was a blast! Grace has been bowling a couple times so she was really excited. It was Anna's first time and I wasn't sure what she would think, but she loved it! The only issue was reminding her to take turns, she just wanted to keep throwing balls down the lane.

The girls always love getting together with their aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great aunts and great uncles. It was a lovely day!

Lots of balloons to start Anna's birthday!

They had to have a "balloon jumping party" on Grace's bed

Birthday celebration attire

The pictures I took at the bowling alley didn't turn out because I just had my phone, it was dark, and the girls were moving a mile a minute so most of the pictures were blurry! Great Aunt Lorraine got this one though! Anna's feet look huge - the smallest size bowling shoe they had was an 8 and she usually wears a 5 or 6. 

Baby Jack had a little snooze while we bowled!

Anna was having a great time bowling, but once she got into the chips she wasn't interested in anything else!

Having fun on the little playground outside the bowling alley before heading home. 

Anna and Great Uncle Art throwing the balloon around

Korryn and Kam

I made this! Brian couldn't believe it turned out so well, he was expecting a "Pinterest Fail" ;)

Happy Birthday! Anna asked us to sing to her again as soon as we finished

Cutting the cake! Thanks to Great Aunt Lorraine, I actually get in some pictures when she's around!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Our littlest baby is two! It feels like she's always been here and I can't imagine our family without her, yet I can so clearly remember the day she was born. I woke up with contractions at 3am on the day of my scheduled c-section - she was ready to come whether we had a schedule or not!

Anna has filled our family with even more love, laughter, and happiness. She is smart, funny, and full of sass! Her vocabulary and comprehension are amazing; she has been speaking in full sentences for months. She has a big voice for such a little girl and yells everything. She can count to 10, knows most of the letters of the alphabet and knows lots of shapes and colors. She is also learning some French from her big sister and will say bonjour and bonne journée to Grace's teacher when we drop her off. I've also heard her yell "Ca c'est pas bon!" when Grace does something she doesn't like. She is a girl who knows what she wants and can be very stubborn! If she doesn't like something, you'll know it.

We've come a long way from the days when I carried Anna in the Beco for hours every day, just to keep her content and get her to sleep. She was not a great sleeper when she was little but is making up for it now. She always goes for a nap without a fuss; she will sometimes even tell me she is tired and wants to get in her crib, and will walk to her room dragging her beloved blankie, and wait for me to come lift her into the crib. She sleeps quite well at night too, but often cries out once or twice during the night, from what we think are nightmares (she's usually not even awake when we go in to try to comfort her).

Anna is a picky eater. We have a hard time getting her to try new things, and even getting her to eat things she is familiar with can be a struggle. I can usually count on her to eat a good breakfast because she likes oatmeal and fruit, but lunch and supper are hit or miss. She loves yogurt, raisins, pasta, and goldfish crackers. She is not a fan of sweets, like her Dad.

Perhaps what I've loved most about these past two years has been watching the relationship between Anna and Grace grow. Grace has been an amazing big sister right from the start. She loved to help me when Anna was a baby: passing me diapers or wipes, singing to her when she was upset, and getting the biggest giggles out of her when she started to laugh. Now, of course, they have their squabbles, but they never last long and they often hug it out afterwards without me even suggesting it. For the most part, they are the best of friends and have a lot of fun together.

Anna loves the water, whether it is in the bathtub or swimming at the lake in the summer. She likes playing outside, swinging at the playground, and watching TV. We really have to limit her screen time because she completely zones out when she's watching, and I'm sure she would watch for hours if we let her. She loves music and dancing. When she's tired, she will often ask me to dance with her and she'll rest her head on my shoulder and snuggle right in. She likes to draw and color with crayons or markers but is not a big fan of painting or anything that gets her hands dirty. She loves being read to and looking at books. She knows a few of her favorites by memory and if you come to our house, chances are Anna will get you to sit on the couch and read Sleeping Dragons All Around to her. She and Grace often sit and read together, it is the sweetest thing.

This picture makes me laugh because it sums Anna up perfectly. She is generally a happy, smiley little girl, but if she doesn't want to do something, you can't convince her otherwise. She did not want to hold the sign, so there was no way she was going to do it. She didn't want to even stand or sit near it, but eventually agreed to sit beside it and drink her milk.

Some things I don't want to forget:

• How excited she gets when Brian gets home from work. She always drops whatever she's doing and runs to him for a hug.
• The way she climbs up on the couch and says "I want to be cozy, Mommy!" which means she wants me to wrap her up tightly in her blankie.
• That she is still so snuggly and likes to be held or sit in my lap.
• How she insists on a hug and kiss from Grace when we drop her off at school. If Grace walks in without giving Anna a hug and kiss, Anna will yell after her "Gaycie! Don't forget hug and kiss!"

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