Family outing.

What a great day. Sean and I had an amazing Saturday together with our girls and some old friends.

The day started off by us getting ready to go to Red Deer to meet up with some of my friends from high school. We went to Bower Ponds to play at the park and Jenni met a new friend.

Then off to lunch with our friends.

After lunch we parted ways from our friends and went to the mall to get some summer stuff for Jenni and Maria. Maria got her first pair of sunglasses and let me tell you.... So stinking cute. But I don't have pictures yet.

Sean and I went to Tim Horton's on our way out of town for and icecap and Jenni was fast asleep in her carseat. Poor little thing was so tuckered out after such a great day.

After we got home from the city we had our first BBQ of the season. Yummy. Sean did such a great job of grilling.

Lastly, we went to the pool to meet up with some other friends and both Jenni and Maria had a great time. My mom got Maria this cool floaty thing and we brought it to try it out. Success.... Maria loved it. So that is great.

After the pool we put the kids to bed and then Sean and I watched this cool documentary on WWII.

So, all in all, a great day. PTL

Life as we know it

So, here's the dealio. I just got this new phone and I have been having lots of fun with it. So, that being said, there are lots of pics to post and there are some fun things to share.

To start, I am in a cover band called Kick'n Around. It is lots of fun and I am learning so much. Here's a sweet pic of the band members.

Also, spring has finally arrived here in snowy Alberta and so there have been some firsts for my sweet beautiful Maria.

Jenni has been rockin out on her trike and is just so happy about being able to go out to play.

Hubby is in school, which sucks... But... It is almost the end. 6 more weeks and he gets his ticket. Wahoo.

So, enjoy the pics and keep reading.

My new mug that rocks my world!!

Silly faces!

Cute shoes for spring!

Look at me mom.

Crab hunting with my dad. Jenni still talks about it.

Easter dresses for the girls!

Jenni and Maria

So, life with two kids.  Woah!!  It is harder than I thought it would be, but easier too.  It is hard to explain. 

First off, I hate Nursing.  It hurts!!!  And I now am being treated for Mastitis (an infection in a milk duct) and I get blocked ducts all the time.  Seriously.  I mean, I guess it could be worse, but, for reals.  Can't I just have a little easier time?  Please??

Second of all, I do believe I have postpartum depression (ppd) again.  With my first baby (Jenni, obviously) I wanted to run away all the time.  I didn't want to be around her at all, and so I just always wanted to leave the house, with or without her.  It was a bad syndrome of "the grass is greener" because I wanted to have a baby so bad before I had one, and then after she was here, all I wanted to do was give her back.  Hormones, eh?  This time though, there have been lots of tears (mostly about nursing) and I DON'T want to leave the house.  I have no problem with people coming here, but for me to leave the house is such a hassle, I would rather cancel all my plans and stay home.  Home is where I am comfortable.  This is not normal for me.  So... that being said, there are different symptoms, but I think that I am going to have to up my meds before Sean goes back to work or I am going to have a very hard time with adjusting to life.  And, of course, it just gets worse when I am tired... and when your baby is up 2-3 times in the night, that is how you live... tired!  So... here's to hoping!

BUT, it is easier than I thought too.  The biggest hurdle I thought I was going to have to jump was Jenni adjusting to her new baby sister.  This was not a hurdle at all, but more of a piece of string to jump over.  Jenni LOVES her baby sister.  She gets excited about seeing Maria in the morning, and she loves being mommy's big helper.  We have a chair by the change table so I Jenni can get up on there by herself (no lifting for mommy), and she loves to help change the diapers.  She is our little scrub nurse.  "Wipe, Diaper, Cream".  She is so helpful!  She also likes to bring me fresh "boobie pads" and my "boobie cream".  So, other than the fact that Jenni is 2 and likes to do things her way every now and again, Jenni is a lot less work to deal with than I thought she was going to be.  

Now, I figure, most of you reading my posts are going to want to see pictures of these two beautiful little girls... so here you go.  Pictures!  Enjoy!  

Jenni and Maria in their Christmas PJ's at Maria's first photo shoot.

What a little Princess

Us Three Girls

Sister Snuggles

Seriously, could you be more cute???

Mommy so proud!

Look at those eyes...

Love giving kisses 

Gorgeous lips

Jenni wearing Wings 

Maria wearing Wings 

So mischievous

Jenni holding Maria 

Mommy moning snuggle time

Daddy snuggle Time

Tummy time

I'm cute and I know it!

Lynn Dietz Christmas Bible stories with all their Grandbabies and their 3 boys.

Sister Tummy Time

So precious!

Happy New Year everyone!!

True Christmas

Today I was challenged about what I wanted to make Christmas for my family.  Yes, I know it is only November 8th, and this is not usually a topic that comes up until after Remembrance Day, but I was still challenged.  So, I decided to blog about it.

What is Christmas Tradition?

We spend our time, especially as mothers, making our December INSANE trying to make Christmas for our family.  We want to have our houses decorated nicely with a Christmas Tree, and other various decorations, we want to have our cupboards filled with yummy baking, we want to have presents under our tree for our children... and we make ourselves CRAZY trying to make the "perfect" Christmas for our family.

What is perfect?

Perfect is unattainable.  There will always be something that goes wrong.  Someone will get sick, one ingredient will be unavailable, vegetables will be forgotten in the microwave, cookies will burn, the family pet will get into the tree... there is ALWAYS something that can go wrong.

So why do we do it?

Back to the original question, what is Christmas Tradition?

Well, that really depends on where you come from.  Different Countries have different traditions, and each family has different backgrounds.  So, truly we make our own traditions.

For me, growing up, we always had Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve at my Oma's house, and then went to church.  I don't remember when I was really little, but I do remember that my Grandpa would take us Christmas light hunting after Church so Santa could come and visit my Oma's house.  We would then have a lot more food, and open presents at Oma's house.  After everything was opened and our thank you's were said we would go home and put out our stockings.  Christmas Morning, we would be allowed to open our stockings (after we made Coffee for mom and dad) and go through the loot that was in there.  Then, my mom and dad, and I would start making breakfast of Eggs Benedict with Champagne and Orange Juice (I would usually only have orange juice until I was significantly older.)  After breakfast was done (and cleaned up) we would sit in the living room and my dad would hand out the presents one by one until they were all gone, so that it would last longer than a little while.  This was always very special to me.  In the afternoon all the family would start showing up again, and my mom would make a GIANT turkey dinner, and we would spend more time together.

My husband had a completely different Christmas Tradition.  First of all his birthday is on December 23rd, so that kind of got mushed into Christmas.  Sean remembers either driving on his birthday the 13 hour drive down to Yakima, WA, USA, to have Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead (maternal grandparents)... OR... They did the 13 hour drive on December 25th because Sean's dad, being a pastor, would have to preach on Christmas Eve.  Christmas for him, was not about the traditional food, or the decorations, or anything like that.  For Sean the most important part about Christmas was to just be with his Family.  (Also, when his family did open presents, they opened them all at the same time, and Christmas was over within minutes)

So, then, what do I have to work with???  Do I make myself crazy to make a "traditional" Christmas for my children or do I do what I can with what I have??

Usually I start decorating for Christmas on November 12.  But, now, because my daughter Maria is going to be born on December 4 (planned C-Section), I will start decorating on December 5th so that she does not feel like her birthday is lumped in with Christmas.  We set up a small tree, and a small winter village and stockings in our house for decorations.
Christmas baking has never really been a priority for me.  I don't particularly enjoy baking, and I HATE the cleanup afterwards.  My mother-in-law does sugar cookies and gingerbread men, and so she has all her grand-babies over for cookie decorating.  I'm good with that.  Maybe next year when I am NOT recovering from major surgery I will re-evaluate the situation, but as for right now it's not going to happen.
As for Christmas dinner, I think I am going to stick with roast beef and mashed potatoes, and yorkies.  Sean LOVES that meal.  He gets turkey with his mom and dad, and so there isn't really a point in making a turkey for just two people.
One tradition from my childhood that Sean was MORE than willing to carry on was Eggs Benedict on Christmas morning.  That is something that we will always do.  We also have our own little present opening time together on whatever day we decide to do presents.
I don't think my kids, or my family is missing out on anything.  We go to Church on Christmas Eve, and we worship the One True God who is the reason for the season.

So... Do I make my house look like it was cut out of a magazine, or do I work to spend the time with my children and my husband??

Well, I think that we need to look at the big picture...

Why do we celebrate Christmas???

We celebrate the season of Christmas because of Jesus Christ.  Am I right?  Did the birth of Jesus Christ really bring along with it pretty decorated trees, fancy meals, special baking and extravagant presents??  No!!

Jesus was born in a cave in a manger, surrounded by smelly animals, and I am sure lots of poop.  What about the wise men bringing gifts to Jesus, you ask?  That didn't happen for a few YEARS after Jesus was born.  He was, I believe, almost 2 years old before the wise men found him and gave him the Frankincense, Myrrh, and Gold.  The picture below is even a romanticized version of what really happened.

So, that is where I am at about Christmas, and the "traditions" that we make for our families.  I enjoyed the times that I had with my family growing up, not because of what we did, but more because we were together.  I enjoyed Christmas baking as a child because it was something that I did WITH my mom.  We did it together.  So, maybe as my girls get older our traditions will change because of what THEY want their Christmas to look like, but not because of what I was to make it for them.  Besides, they are so young this year, they won't remember what we did this year.  Jenni will remember her baby sister, and Maria will remember... well... nothing.

Maybe next year will be a different story.

Eviction Date!

The title for this post sounds way worse than it is.

I have gotten a surgery date for my delivery of my sweet, precious baby girl, Maria Solveig.  December 4, 2012.  I am SOOO excited!

See, when I first found out that my due date was December 16th I was dead set on having my baby on December 12, 2012... or 12/12/12.  However, God had different plans for me, and the surgeon's office called me and said they would do the surgery on December 4th and if I didn't like that I could go to a different hospital.

So, December 4, 2012 it is!

I have never been so relieved in my life!!!  I get to meet my baby girl 8 days earlier than I thought I would.  How is that a bad thing?  I get to breathe sooner, and basically feel human sooner.

So, in exactly one month today, I get to become a mother of two.

And to top it all off, I will have either my Aunty Brenda helping me or my wonderful husband home for the entire month of December so I have some time to get used to it!

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!

Winter

So, yesterday I was challenged.  While I was at bible study I looked outside and noticed that it was snowing.  My attitude right away went to GRUMPY!  And, it stayed that way for a while.  It was wonderful inside my nice warm house with a nice warm blanket but outside it was yucky!!!

Well, last night I had to run out to the van to get something, and it hit me.  The first snow of the year was BEAUTIFUL!!!  White everywhere, big fluffy flakes, and not too cold.  I couldn't help but fall in love with winter.

So, this morning, as I was walking to get Jenni out of bed, this is the view that I got to see.

Here's to a day of a GOOD attitude towards the beauty that is the 9 month winter season!

Grand Total!

So, the grand total of my grocery shop was a whopping....

$416.61

However... this is all my groceries for a whole month, and there are definitely two instances where we will be having people over to eat, and there is enough food for them too!  So, that being said... I think it is a pretty good total!  The meat was the killer... so expensive.

So, now that tomorrow is the first day of October, I will be (planning on, hopefully) posting pictures of each meal to keep myself accountable.  Please, if you are wanting a recipe, or anything like that, just ask, and I am more than willing to share!