Wordless Wednesday

Thankful

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada, and I am feeling especially thankful. I've been blessed beyond measure, especially in the past few months. We've gotten a new (FABULOUS) house, I'm getting so many opportunities in regards to my lactation consultant practice, Hubbyman and I are doing great, and Princess and Tobes are both growing up to be such fantastic people. Tobes is really starting to become his own little person, with his own likes and dislikes. I forgot about this stage from Princess. And Princess is imaginative, and I can barely keep up with her on the best of days... ;) I could go on and on about what I'm thankful for. Between family, friends, and my life in general, I have a long list!

But today I decided to switch it up a bit, and get a guest blogger in - my very first one! She is someone I am incredibly thankful for, and I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without her. Instead of me list off how thankful I am, I thought she'd have a really unique view on this weekend, and that we'd both have fun with this. She's an expert with words, though not as fabulous with the computer, so I'm here to help her along. Without further ado, I present my guest blogger, Princess.

 P: "Hi!" *giggle*

Me: "Did you want to tell the people on my blog a bit about you?"

P: "No thanks!" *to be fair, I am interrupting her coloring with this interview...*

Me: "What about telling them how old you are, or what you like doing?"

P: "No thanks! You can tell them!" *she looks up at me, smiling*

**Princess is 4. She loves to color, dance, and "read". She also informed me the other day that she no longer loves princesses, but she does still like princess movies, books, dresses, and tiaras.**

Me: "So Princess, this weekend is Thanksgiving."

P: "I know, I know, I know!"

Me: "Do you remember what Thanksgiving is about?"

P: "You thank people for all the stuff you have"

Me: "Well you don't have to just thank people for gifts, you can thank God for all that He's given you, and just be grateful for all the blessings we have. Do you know a blessing is?"

P: "What?"

Me: "It's like a gift, but you can't always see it. Like your family, or your friends. So what are you thankful for?"

P: "I'm thankful for... um... 1 minute!" *puts down her crayon* "I'm thankful for my princess cash register, and my baby brother Tobes, and for you and for Daddy!"

Me: "What else are you thankful for?"

P: "I'm thankful for all of my friends!! And our new house!! AND MY PINK ROOM!!" *at this point, Princess is dancing around my kitchen*

Me: That's a good list!

P: "I'm thankful for dance, but I need new shoes. Oh! Once you buy me new shoes, I can be thankful for that!"

Me: "Yes, you can."

P: "Mommy, I love you... Can I color now?"

***
I guess that ends the interview ;)

7 Years

 In 7 years,

• We moved Hubbyman in after 7 months of planning and waiting and watching the house grow from literally a hole in the ground into our very first home.
• We got married, and spent our wedding night in this house. I officially moved in that night.
• We spent the last half of our honeymoon setting up our new home.
• We welcomed our first furbaby, Sophie.
• We celebrated our first holidays and birthdays as a married couple in this house.
• We celebrated our promotions, and new jobs in this house.
• We started developing the basement, dreaming of the children who would one day play in the rec room.
• We found out we were expecting our first child.
• We spent months preparing the nursery, including the Winnie the Pooh murals Hubbyman painstakingly drew and painted.
• We brought Princess here, to her very first home.
• We celebrated Princess's firsts - her first holidays, her first smile, first words, first steps...
• We found out we were expecting our second child, but lost shortly after.
• We celebrated Princess's second birthday in this very backyard. All those we loved best were there.
• We found out we were expecting our third child.
• We finished the basement as much as we could to make room for our newest addition.
• With the birth of Tobes, our family was completed.
• We brought Tobes home here, to his very first home.
• We've celebrated his firsts - his first holidays, his first smile, first steps...

We have had many celebrations, hosted many friends, and our families over the past 7 years in this home. We've had our share of happy and sad memories in this house, but all of which important to who we are now. We became a family in this house, and have made this house our home.

Goodbye house. You have been so good to us <3

It's About to Get a Whole Lot Louder...

Princess loves Glee (the music). I love Glee. We listen to a lot of Glee in our house. Princess has been singing along since the beginning. Sometimes she whispers it softly, sometimes she belts it out - with or without music, or even correct lyrics.

One song she's currently obsessed with is "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, performed by the Warblers. We were out driving the other day, and Princess started an impromptu concert for me... And Tobes joined in at the end. ("Hey, Hey, Hey") ... It sounds like coincidence, right? Mommy and sister are singing, I'll make noise too. Fun. Nope. He very much joined in for the "Hey"s, and very much stopped to listen while we sang the rest of the song, joining in again once we got back to the "Hey"s.

:S

"Meticulous" feet...

I am one proud momma this week. Princess started dance again on Tuesday. This time she's in the "big kid" class (with only one other kid from her Tiny Tots class... I don't know if that means the others quit, or are still in Tiny Tots). This time she's in an actual competative class, and I think she's the youngest one there!

We've "practiced" over the summer, which has basically meant that we'll either both spontaneously break out into dance in the kitchen, or I'll randomly ask her to show me a "jump-2-3" during our day. Most kids go straight into the class she's in now if they start after the age of 5, so I knew that ANYTHING she did this summer would just be bonus.

But her teacher told me that she's "meticulous" with her foot position (something that has been 100% her doing) and a very good listener. And that just has me beaming. Almost as much as catching her practicing her "jump-2-3"'s on her own in her room on in an empty kitchen ;)

I keep saying that I'm a dance mom, but not one of THOSE dance moms. At the end of the day, I just really, REALLY hope she'll love dancing as much as I did. Seriously, that means more than any title or championship she could ever win...

(seriously, I caught most of the first episode of that show, and that is a whole other rant for a whole 'nother day. Scary. Just scary.)

Well Articulated...

My daughter is many things. My daughter is intelligent, hilarious, adorable, and beautiful. And of course I'm biased. I'm her mommy, and I'm incredibly proud of her (most of the time). I hope most people who meet here agree, but not everyone might.

But ultimately one thing that I think pretty much anyone who has ever met her (and those who even haven't but have heard stories) can agree on is that she is one well-articulated little girl. Very rarely do I have any issue knowing what she is thinking or how she feels.

I don't get told that she "hates" me, and she doesn't even call me yucky anymore (those with toddler/preschoolers know what I'm talking about!) Instead she tells me that if I continue to tell her to stop/be quiet/etc., that it will "make [her] mad" or "make [her] mad at me", and that she "doesn't like it". She will yell and scream, but generally it's about how she's feeling, and how she wants me to stop whatever I'm doing (correcting her behavior, sending her to time out, taking away a toy, etc).

And I'm actually ok with that... Don't get me wrong, I hate the attitude - it's a constant struggle to correct her behavior while being respectful of her feelings and her needs, but I am kind of proud that when she's angry, she can articulate it so well. She can tell me EXACTLY what's wrong, and EXACTLY how she feels.

She is one well-articulated little girl.

Parenting From 16 000 KM Away

(That's 10 000 miles for my friends south of the boarder)

Tobes is freaking out at me this afternoon. He's up and down off my lap, he nurses and then doesn't. He's a non-napped, played-out baby. I am also non-napped, and a little played out. He finds the cordless phones, and hands it to me, squawking and screeching. I take the phone from him and he looks at me expectantly. I call my mom, put her on speaker phone, and both he and Princess have been happily occupied for the last half hour, leaving me completely alone!

It's kind of fantastic, and it took me way too long to think of it.

On one of Greg's recent trips away, I was trying to put Princess to bed with an over-tired Tobes. I called Greg (in China) just to vent. Tara begged to talk to him, and he ended up "reading" her a story, praying with her, and even gave her a count-to-ten snuggle while I nursed and put Tobes to sleep, all from 10 000 miles away!

I know it's bad to let the TV baby-sit your children, but what about the phone...?