Jumping stringbean

Our nickname for Hana is our little stringbean because she's so tall and lean. I think the legs to our jolly jumper were misplaced in the move, so I put her in the jumperoo the other morning. She really likes all the fun toys on it but doesn't quite have the jumping figured out yet. She's so little in it, but can last 20 or so minutes looking at everything. She does like to be in a standing up position and I'm sure she'll be bouncing in no time.

busy times

What can I say? life with 2 kids and a husband at home is busy. My blogging has suffered because of it but we are having fun and enjoying our time at home all together. What's new with us? Well, Eli is officially potty trained. I'm so proud of him, he's doing amazing. So, you'll notice in lots of our pictures that he's only wearing underwear and no pants. It's just faster for him to get to the potty that way when we are at home but makes for kind of funny pictures. Hana is 3 months old in a couple of days and becoming such a smiley little girl. She is starting to roll to the side and "talk" a lot when you talk to her. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

They are making the same face in this picture. It cracks me up!


Eli was rockin' out one night complete with rock star hair (if Ronald McDonald is considered a rock star)


Some of Hana's first smiles.


Basement hockey is always a good option when it's too cold to play outside. I forsee some holes in the wall in our future.

Back at it

You see that little jogging counter on the right hand side of my blog? It's been inactive for a long long time, with good reason of course (although maybe not the entire time). I never took it down because I wanted the reminder that yes, I used to run and heck, I ran 10 K!

This week I hopped back on the running bandwagon. It felt great. This time instead of distance my focus is on my speed. With 2 little kids, I just don't have the luxury of long slow runs anymore. I'm doing the couch to 5 K program which takes you from lazy bones to 5K in 9 weeks and you can download podcasts from itunes for free. After that, I'll stick with the 5K and just try to increase my speed. Brent has even started the program and we are heading out for our first run together today! Last time he was plagued with shin splints so hopefully he can stick with it this time around. I prefer to run without the kids but when that's not an option, I'll push Hana in the stroller, and Brent will push Eli in the chariot. He's got the much harder job, I think Eli is 33 lbs now. Wish me luck!

Halloween

Just a couple pictures from Halloween. Eli really had fun this year and could not believe that we were going up to peoples houses. When we were finished at a house he would point to the next house and say "And that one?" in disbelief and excitement. He especially liked if people had a dog. He would talk and talk all the way up to the door, and then go mute when people talked to him and asked him questions. The only thing he would say is "thank you". Our neighbour had quite a scary house and Eli was talking about it for days. The downside is that he was waking up at night for a few days afterwards scared of Vampires.

I dressed Hana up for a very unhappy 5 minutes. Her costume was a beach bum. She hated the sunglasses. I even had a novel and martini glass set out for props for her costume but she disliked it so much that I never got to take a picture of the whole thing.

One super happy Astronaut and one very unhappy beach bum.

Still smiling after a long night of trick or treating.

Backyard fire

Brent and Eli have been having fun building fires in the backyard. They even ran out to the grocery store for marshmallows one night. Eli of course, loves the roasted marshmallows and they both enjoy the "guy time" by the fire. I can picture them already, camping together, fishing, sitting by the fire.

Using his very own roasting stick (supervised of course)

The boys

The marshmallow aftermath

Here she is!

Hana had newborn photos taken at 8 days old. Michelle Wells took our photos for us and had her work cut out for her. Hana woke up that morning with a blotchy face and was awake for most of the session (which is not what we wanted). She did not like to be naked and made lots of grumpy faces. I remember Eli slept through his entire newborn session and it was so easy! Michelle still managed to get lots of great pictures though.

Here's our sweet girl:

LOVE

Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words. This one is Eli and his Dad to a T. I absolutely love it.


Photo credit: Michelle Wells Photography

Big news in a little package

Our daughter, Hana Kathleen Nancy was born on September 13th. She weighed 7lbs 15 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She was born at 6:21 am. Everything went really well and she is perfect and healthy. I got to come home from the hospital the same day and have had a nice easy recovery. Having Brent home has been wonderful!

Eli is in love with his little sister and adjusting very well. He just loves to hold her and tickle her hands.

Hana will be 2 weeks old tomorrow and she has already outgrown her first sleeper. I find myself wishing time would just slow down. I know this newborn phase doesn't last very long so I'm trying to soak up every minute. She's a very easy baby so far and I *think* that some of my genes might actually show up in her features. I know newborns change a lot so I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I think there is a chance that she might at least resemble me a little bit!

Parental Leave

As of today, Brent is officially on parental leave until January 10th, 2011. Right now he's at Home Depot with Eli and then they are going to the bottle depot. I am laying in bed, relaxing! Hopefully I can get a little more R&R in before our newest addition arrives. I'm feeling a little bit like a ticking time bomb that could go off any minute. It's hard not to expect the delivery to go like it did last time. At this point in pregnancy with Eli, I had him in 4 days from now but I'm showing a lot less signs of impending labour this time around. I am still a week and a half away from my due date, so I'm trying to enjoy the last days of pregnancy as much as I can.

We are looking forward to the family time together. Our zoo passes will get lots of use! Eli and Brent are also signed up for gymnastics and a sports classt his Fall. Hopefully that keeps them a little bit busy as the weather turns colder. We are excited for Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas this year. Our only major project is cleaning out the garage. We still can't park 2 vehicles in it because it's full of stuff. Last time Brent was on parental leave he was renovating a basement and doing landscaping, so it will be nice for him to not have any big projects on the go this time.

On the vehicle front, we just bought a minivan. It will replace Brent's car. I can't believe it, but I'm actually looking forward to driving it. It will be nice for longer trips and fitting in all the stuff that goes along with 2 kids.

Hopefully my next post will be a baby announcement. Wish me luck!

Great find!

Brent got a package delivered in the mail the other day and opened it after Eli went to bed. He left it out and the next morning it took Eli about 3 seconds to discover the box. He had lots of fun playing in it with his "buckets". Being two must be so much fun!

I love the mischief face he gives me when he dumps the foam out of the box.

Getting ready

I've been pulling out all of our baby equipment over the last week. Trying to get it all cleaned and organized, all the batteries in things, making sure things work. Eli doesn't remember any of it so he's been having fun exploring everything. The other day I walked into the baby's room and there was Eli, swinging in the swing. He was pretty proud of himself that he got in there, too bad getting out wasn't as easy!

Sprained Ankle?

Eli has had a rough month. He had a hospital visit for a gash on his forehead, got his bottom two 2 year molars, had hand foot and mouth disease and now, today, he woke up complaining that his foot hurt. At first I thought that it was just asleep but he was still complaining 45 Min's later so I knew it had to be more serious than that. I took him to the Dr. and looks like he's sprained his ankle or foot somehow. He had an x-ray today so we'll hear from the radiologist tomorrow but the tech said she didn't see a break. Eli won't walk on it at all and is back to crawling which is funny to see since he's been walking since he was 10 months old! Needless to say he spent more than a few hours in front of the television today. With me being 32 weeks pregnant and him weighing 31 lbs and immobile it doesn't make for much activity.

Morning couch session

Mid morning couch vacuuming

Getting grumpy. Isn't it supposed to be nap time Mom? (his Dr. appointment fell right smack dab in the middle of nap time - of course!)

Getting a reacquainted with the floor

He's two!!

Eli turned 2 a few weeks ago. The past year has just flown by. He's gone from a baby to a little boy in the blink of an eye. We had a little party on the Thurs before his birthday at home, then a big family party to celebrate both Evelyn and Eli's birthdays at the Rex's.

Here are 10 things about Eli at age two:

1. He's becoming quite the performer. He loves to make people laugh and his current favorite is making funny faces to strangers in line behiend us in grocery lines.


2. Every little scrape needs a bandaid and not a small bandaid, but the biggest one possible.


3. If he could be naked all day he would be.


4. He loves to copy his Dad. If Brent says a word or makes a face during a meal, Eli says it. He pretends to do whatever he is doing. He dances like him, he laughs when he laughs even if he doesn't understand what is funny. He asks for him first thing in the morning and gets SO excited when Brent comes home from work.


5. He asks for more before he's even finished whatever he's eating or playing with.


6. Trucks, airplanes, motorcycles, diggers, dump trucks....you name it. If it has wheels, Eli will like it. He stops to watch the neighbors mow the lawn because of the lawnmower. He's got the boy truck obsession!

7. He loves the water. He's not scared at all of it. He loves waterslides, the bigger, the better. The waterpark and especially the big bucket at the southland leisure centre is his #1 favorite thing to do. Even just pouring water from one bucket to another in the back yard can entertain him for quite a while.

8. He loves having company over to our house. The more people to play with him - the better.

9. He can ride a tricycle all by himself.

10. He always pretends to be cooking Eggs. If he's into the pots in the cupboard, or using the play kitchen, if you asking him what he's cooking, it's either Eggs or "hot coffee".

Newest Etsy Find

We are decorating Eli's new room in an airplane theme which he just loves. My newest Etsy purchase is this world map for his room by Marley Ungaro. I just loved all the details on it and thought it would not only look great, but be educational as well. I ordered the biggest size possible. I can't wait to see how it looks in his room.

Third time is the charm

Three clogged toilets in just as many days. It's time for toilet locks at our house. Eli even clogged the ensuite with half a box of q-tips, fun times. At least he's not afraid of a flushing toilet!

Still no camera to be found...it's like finding a needle in a haystack around here.

Hold hand, come downstairs, Daddy.

We are moved in, and in the process of unpacking. We looked like hoarders for the first week with stuff in every single room. Slowly, we are getting through it all, but I think it's going to take a while. The new house is great, I even soaked in the hot tub outside last night which was awesome. That's the nice thing about having your own hot tub, you can turn it down to pregnant lady temperature.

Eli is loving the new house, he says "hi new house" and "bye new house" whenever we are coming and going. He's made big strides in the language department over the past week as well. He can almost put together full sentances and has started using the plural form of many words ("three lights mommy!). Yesterday he wanted Brent to go to the basement with him and he said " Hold hand, come downstairs Daddy" - no denying what he wanted with that one. It's fun to see his language developing and exciting for me that I can actually have somewhat of a conversation with him, it makes my day a lot more pleasant when I can talk to someone else. Even if it is about trucks and birds...better than nothing!

Our video camera and camera are packed away somewhere and I have not been able to find them (along with our shoes, I had to wear flip flops in last weeks snow) and I've missed quite a few good photo ops. Hopefully they turn up this week.

We said goodbye to the old house on Friday, and it was so strange to see it empty. I hope the new owners like it as much as we did. We're feeling like it was a really good decision to move. So far our neighbours are very friendly and we found out that our street has a yearly block party in August including bouncers and monster trucks. Sounds like fun!

Packing up

Well, one week and counting until we get possession of our new house. Packing and organizing is in full force. Luckily we have a week of overlap between the two houses, so if we are not totally ready by moving day, we've got some wiggle room.

Eli's been 'helping' to pack as well but unfortunately that means more undoing than doing. I hope he finds it to be an adventure.

Model Train Show

Last weekend Eli and I checked out the model train show while Brent hit his first round of golf for the season. Yes, Golf season is here! I've seen a lot of Lake Bonavista men decked out in their golf gear this week.

I couldn't believe how busy the train show was. I had no idea it was such a popular hobby. We just went for something to do, and because Eli is really into all forms of transportation right now. The displays were very intricate, I'm sure I have no appreciation for how much time must have gone into them. There were steam trains, bullet trains, c-trains, lego trains, mini trains, large trains. Eli enjoyed watching them all, although it was hard on my arms because everything was at adult level so I had to hold him for most of the time.

My favorite - a mini Tim Hortons display. I think it would be more realistic if the line was about 10 times longer though.

This entire display was made of lego.

Bus ride

Our plans fell through this morning, so for fun we decided to go on a bus ride. We walked to the bus station and took a short ride. We stopped at Tim Hortons (or "Bortons" according to Eli) for some timbits to go, and walked home afterwards. Eli loves the bus, so I knew he would love to ride on it. When it was our turn to get off, as I was unloading the stroller he shouted "more!" and ran back to our seat. It was a fun adventure, I think next time we'll try a longer route.

Waiting patiently at the bus stop, he was very excited.

He requested to sit at the front

He said "uh oh" every time the bell for someone to get off rang, and said "bye bye lady" as each woman got off.

Butterfield Acres

We headed out to Butterfield Acres last week. I hadn't been there since I was in elementary school. It sure is different than I remember it being. What a fun place! There was so much to do from Pony rides, to petting animals, tractor pulled wagon rides, playground, even 2 huge sandboxes with lots of trucks. They had free wagons, so Eli got to cruise around while I pulled him, I think that was one of his favorite parts along with all the tractors and trucks to see. All in all, a little bit chilly but a very fun morning.

Who doesn't love to pet a lamb?

If only his feet were a few inches longer.

Woah!

Driving the tractor - he didn't want to get off.

And the sun finally came out at the end of our trip :)

My boys

I can't resist posting this. A cute picture of my boys :)

Two little monkeys

Eli and Evelyn are so lucky to have a cousin the exact same age. They are always very excited to see eachother. We took a bike ride to the park a few weeks ago and they had lots of fun!

Sharing pretzels in the chariot. It's cozy in there!

How often does the person on the other side weigh the same as you?

For Brent

Today Eli and I headed downtown to pick something up at City Hall. Eli enjoyed the train ride and Brent didn't want to miss out on seeing Eli on the train, so here you go Brent...just like you were there! Eli even had a little conversation with an intoxicated man, luckily he only rode the train for 1 stop. Eli must have sensed something wasn't quite right because he sure snuggled right into me while the man was talking to him. The picture above is Eli in front of one of the old centre street bridge Lions, I didn't realize how huge they are.

Phew!!

We have had quite the week around here. We decided a few months ago to sell our house. I know, I know...we did ALL that work. However, after weighing all of our options, moving meant me being able to stay home with our family for longer which is important to us. We'll be sad to say goodbye to this place, but I know our next house will be a home in no time at all.

I think we may have gone through one of the fastest house sales ever. Our realtor listed the house last Friday at 11am, and we had an offer by 3pm! We took the offer and conditions officially came off this past Friday. I was so happy to not have to show our house for very long. It's a lot of work to keep this place show home clean with a busy, messy toddler around.

Also, we found our new house! We went house shopping this past Friday, and found "the one". We were not expecting to find it on our first day out looking, but when you know, you KNOW. It's in McKenzie Towne, so a new neighborhood which will be an adjustment for all of us (including our families). It's a 2 story vs a bungalow (our house now) and has a finished basement and all the landscaping is done ( but needs some fine tuning by Brent). It's on a very pretty street and there are tonnes of amenities around us. I'm looking forward to the house, and feeling a little nervous about the change in neighborhood. Brent and I have both grown up in our little bubble of the SE/SW so this is all new to us. Best of all, this house needs zero work, we don't even have to paint if we don't want to. Plus, it came with a hot tub!Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Here are a couple of pictures of the main floor of our new place

I've always wanted a front porch

The living room is bigger than what we have now

Lots of cabinet space and a window overlooking the back yard. Also, spot for the wine - important!

Dining area with windows on all sides. Can see the fire pit and garage in back.

Words

I can't believe what a difference 3 months has made in Eli's vocabulary. He only started talking at 18 months, and now at 21 months he can say almost any word we ask him to. He's constantly making us laugh with his pronunciation and requests. He definitely knows his food words, and asks for toots (treats) and juice about 30 times/day.

Tonight our bedtime conversation totally made me smile:
Me: What are you going to dream about tonight?
Eli: Football
Me: Football? That sounds fun, anything else?
Eli: Hockey
Me: Oh, hockey, your favorite.
Eli: Popsapa (popsicles)
Me: Popsicles!
Eli: Tookies (cookies) and Daddy

Sneaky bugger

We've been super busy these days around our house. Trying to get all of our clutter put away and the final projects finished to list our house for sale. Eli is also a little bit sick so he's been fussy and clingy - can't blame him really. He's also been getting into more mischeif. The other day I couldn't find him anywhere and was starting to panic when I walked into our bedroom and saw one of the lamps turn off out of the corner of my eye. Eli was under the bed, turning on and off the power bar!! I caught him on film and he just looks so happy to be under there. The dogs however are not so happy because that used to be their safe from Eli spot, until now.

Caught red handed

This is awesome!

He's also started to like to eat his food under his picnic table. I sense fort building in my future.

Sesame Street

The sesame street website is Eli's new favorite to watch on the computer. I love it because they have a lot of videos and you can choose by character and theme or do a search. I personally love all the celebrity videos. If you decide to head over there with your kids, right now Eli's favorite include: Octagon with Jack Black, Alphabet song with Ray Charles. Counting to 4 with Feist and counting with James Earl Jones(below):

V day *

We had a low key Valentines day this year. After Eli went to bed, Brent and I made our most favorite pizza. It's homemade crust topped with mozza, shrimp, pesto, mushrooms and sundried tomoatoes. It is amazing. We made two so that we would have one for lunch the next day. We watched a movie and ate our pizza, it was a very relaxing evening - perfect!

Homemade dough is the best

Brent's attempt at heart shaped pizza

Ready for the oven

YUM!!

*Brent and I are big True Blood fans. We are anxiously awaiting the next season to start in the Summer. Calling this post V day is a reference to the show for those who watch it.