Recent Pictures

Lately I've been trying to find a blog template that I like that I can use within Blogger but I've been having a lot of trouble with it. Since Blogger changed there aren't that many xml templates out there (at least that I like)...so I've decided to just stick with this for now.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. I know I need to take more pictures of Aidan, but Keira's just so darn cute!

The everything-must-go-in-my-mouth phase has hit with a vengeance!

Absolutely everything!

If you surprise Keira by saying 'boo' or playing peek, this is the look you get right before she breaks into a huge grin

Michael was working security at a Storm game recently, so I packed the kids up to go watch the warm-up. Keira wore her snow suit for the first time and it fit a whole lot better than it did a couple months ago, but it's still got lots of room!

Last year I bought Aidan a Storm jersey which he loves to wear. He's growing up so much - physically growing out of all his clothes and in every other way as well! I've bought a few workbooks in anticipation of Kindergarten and whenver I get my act together we sit down and learn to write letters and do other exercises.

Is this not the sweetest face ever? We had just gotten home from her 4 month shots and she had fallen asleep in the car and kept sleeping when we got in the house. When Aidan was a baby they let you comfort the baby between the shots but now they get you to sit the baby facing forward and go poke poke poke and then you get to cuddle them. Keira doesn't cry after the first one, but she got the second and third shot and cried and then she turned to the nurse and gave her a big huge grin. Silly girl.

I was going through her too big box and found this little Adidas hat. It has the Adidas logo and then beside it it says 'My First Three Stripes' So cute!

She still loves to stand, but in the past few weeks she has started stamping her little foot. It is sooo funny, and it's always the right foot. She doesn't only do it when she's excited but also when she's upset. She's also started kicking and when she's lying on the change table she kicks her right leg as if she's trying to stamp it and does this high pitched squawk. It's quite piercing and thank goodness she only does it when she's getting changed. It must be the highlight of her day because she is always happy and laughing and talking and kicking and squawking on the change table!

Just lounging around

This little teddy bear suit was the very first thing I bought for her once I found out I was pregnant. I bought it at Old Navy (clearance of course :D ) and picked white because we hadn't found out whether we were having a boy or a girl. I had packed it away with the other 6-12 month size clothing and only recently remembered about it. Good thing I pulled it out because it fits her just right! It's so soft and cuddly on the outside and perfect for this cold snowy weather we've been having. I put her in it when we go out and then use the zip up carseat blanket and she's good to go!

I put her on the couch today and she was very excited, waving her arms around

I stood her up, leaning against the couch, but by the time I picked up the camera and focused it, she was on her way to falling over

Here she's lifting her foot to stamp it, but it looks like she's walking right towards me

As of Monday the 26th she was 18.5 pounds and 25" long. As of Saturday the 17th she was 17.14 pounds so she had a good week!

A Tale of Two Dishwashers

As I have mentioned before, I've been able to upgrade a few of our appliances with ones from Freecycle and the latest one was the dishwasher. When we moved in I was so excited to see it - I thought my days of endless piles of dishes to wash would be over. However that was not the case. The dishwasher was probably as basic as they come, there were 4 options altogether - light or heavy wash and then cool or heated dry. The first load I did, only about half of the dishes were cleaned. I was sooo frustrated - what's the point of a dishwasher if it's going to make EXTRA work for me?? And waste water! In time I learned how to space the dishes out and the ratio of clean dishes went up, but only to about 80%. It was getting really annoying to unload the dishwasher and make a pile of dirty dishes to rewash, so when I saw the dishwasher on freecycle I emailed right away and was very excited to go pick it up.

We got it all moved in, but Michael and Corey both took a look under the sink and at the dishwasher and decided this would be a job for a professional, so I called a plumber. When we lived behind the church they took care of everything, so we didn't have a company we had used previously. I picked a few out of the phone book and left a few messages and then got through to a guy who said they could come the next day - at the time I thought this was great, looking back I should have maybe been suspicious about their open schedule, especially in this town. The guy came the next day bright and early and did his thing and then when he was all finished and went to try the new-to-us dishwasher, it didn't work! And what's more, he basically said 'Sucks to be you, I'm done'. Oh, and he was going to charge us an arm and a leg for swapping out the dishwashers as well.

Needless to say, Michael and I were not very impressed and Michael made a call to this guys boss. He explained the situation and then I talked to the boss and the guy said he would send the plumber back to fix the dishwasher he had installed and get it working for us at no extra charge. Well apparently there was a lack of communication there because this plumber comes back ready to uninstall the dishwasher and haul it away to the repair shop because he doesn't do repairs. I got back on the phone with the boss guy and apparently he had forgotten everything he had promised me including the free-of-charge part. We exchanged words and I got off the phone so mad I was shaking.

Fast forward two weeks (during which I have been doing dishes daily, casting dirty looks at this new-to-us dishwasher that should be working) and our tenant downstairs has her friend stop by to take out a random sink that was in her room. She asked me if I wanted some pipes cut off or not so I went down to take a look and saw her friend down there too, looking at some pipes with some tools by his feet. I said 'Are you a plumber?' and he said 'Sort of' and I said 'I have this dishwasher upstairs...' So he comes upstairs to look at it, pokes his head under the sink, twists something a couple times and voila! a working dishwasher!

The problem? The water wasn't connected!!! Of all people, you'd expect a plumber to be familiar with water connections!!

Letter to Santa

This is the letter we are sending to Santa from Aidan. He saw this camera at Costco and wanted it so badly - it's the one and only thing he wants for Christmas. He keeps asking about it and asking us to buy it for him (of course we did) so I think he'll be really happy at Christmas when he finds it under the tree :)

Pomegranates

I bought 2 pomegranates at the store yesterday. I've never had one before but Michael mentioned that he had so once I had someone to explain one to me, I decided to try it. A couple years ago I tried a mango and Aidan and I both loved them, and still do. So, emboldened by the mango success, I bought a papaya - and it was gross. It's completely possible I didn't know how to cut it up or which part to eat or whatever, but ever since the papaya (and a dragonfruit I bought recently which also bombed) I haven't been very adventurous with tropical fruits.

Anyways, I found the pomegranate very interesting. It took me literally 2 hours to eat the first half! It was like a treasure hunt, first of all trying to find the seeds and then get them out without spraying everything with juice. The seeds are so small it's hard to figure out what they taste like, so you just want to keep eating more and more and more - like those tiny super sweet strawberries. I let Aidan taste it but he said he didn't really like them, which was fine with me!

Round Here...

I'm finally better after being sick (AGAIN!) for the 3rd time in 4 weeks. So not cool! And of course the days I felt the worst, Michael was stuck out on a job. This time though, I have to say, I may have been partly to blame. Karen called me to ask if I would host an Arbonne spa night and I said yes and we set the date for a week later. Of course after that I spent the whole week cleaning the house and then trying to keep it clean. And I decided to try out a couple recipes I was thinking of using at Christmas which seemed like a good idea until I ran out of time to actually make them! Everything worked out - the house was clean, the baking was done (and turned out wonderful) and the party went well - and then I got sick :) So next time maybe I'll be less vain and let my house be a little more normal.

On the weekend I took Aidan to get his final flu shot and while we were waiting at the health unit I weighed Keira and found out she weighs 17.14 pounds!! I had thought maybe she would weigh 16, but she's a pretty solid little chunk! Lately though she's been cutting back quite a bit with her eating and I've been fighting with her to get her to eat. She seems to like to change her schedule in regards to naps and eating constantly and I've kind of given up trying to keep track.

Aidan started gymnastics last week and is going again tomorrow. He seemed to have a great time last week and still is excited about it so that's good. I stayed and watched him last week and my favourite part was when he got stuck in the foam pit and started yelling. I'm giggling just thinking about it - and maybe that's bad, but it was pretty funny. He wasn't really stuck and his teacher helped him out right away, but...I still laughed.

The other highlight lately is that we got new phones!! Our contracts were coming to an end soon - mine in December and Michael's in January and we were planning to switch and had started looking at phones, and then Michael's got stuck in the couch and the screen got smashed so we got our phones a little early. I got the LG Shine phone which I totally love!! It is soooooo much cooler than my last phone. My favourite features are the calendar where I can add events to days, the notepad where I can write little notes about where I need to go or pick up so I don't forget anything, the micro-SD card slot and the built in mp3 player. I gave Aidan my old phone and he is so thrilled with it. He can't call out, but he can use the camera and punch in numbers and the keypad lights up - everything else works on it. He's on that thing constantly and it's so funny. He can't leave the house without it and thinks it's the greatest thing ever, especially when I showed him how to put it in the case and clip it on his waistband.

And to finish off the post - some pictures of my cuties. We got Aidan's pictures back from Wal-Mart and they're really great. I'll try to scan and post them in the next couple days.

This is one of the little onesies that we got when we were down on the Island back in April.
Michael picked it out and calls her Little Miss DJ when she wears it
This is me trying to keep her warm while she watches Daddy play Halo3 while sitting in her Bumbo Chair
Aidan and Keira on the couch today
This is probably my favourite outfit for her lately

Look at those mouths - they must be related :)

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

I am hosting an Arbonne Spa night party tomorrow night and so I thought it would be a good chance to test a couple recipes for Christmas. I made these cookies last night and oh my goodness they were good! I don't usually post recipes but these were sooo good I had to share :) They're called Mayan Chocolate Sparklers and I think they are like a chocolate version of a gingersnap. They have lots and lots of cocoa in them and then chocolate chips on top of that!

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Cookies:
3/4 cup CRISCO® All-Vegetable Shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups Flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini dark chips but I think mini milk chips would work better because of all the cocoa!)

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Topping: Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping.

Cookies: Beat shortening, butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll in 1” (2.5 cm) balls, don’t flatten. Roll into cinnamon and sugar topping. Place on prepared cookie sheets, about 2” (5 cm) apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies should still be soft in centre. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Remove, cool on wire rack.

Note:Cookies can be frozen raw and stored in an airtight bag or container. If baking from frozen, add 5 minutes to baking time.

This recipe makes 5 dozen but they won't last - I only baked 1 pan last night and they're already half gone!

What we do for fun

It really looks like she's playing, doesn't it?

Crazy Costco Tires!

When we bought my car the tires definitely needed to be replaced and so after pricing out a bunch of places and having a couple small snowfalls I decided the time had come to purchase the new tires. Costco was the best price by far so I showed up at 11:30, but they were full for the day. They don't take appointments, just go by first come first served. That was Tuesday, so I figured no big deal, I'd just go early on Wednesday and wait until they opened. They open at 10 so I got everyone ready and we headed out and arrived at 9:40. There were already 16 people hanging around and as it got closer to 10 a couple more people arrived. I thought to myself 'They can't all be here for tires!' but they were!! The doors opened and like children, we all rushed and pushed and lined up at the tire center. It was crazy, I couldn't believe on a normal day with no special promotions there were that many people there! We waited in line for about 10-15 minutes and thankfully I got to drop the car off - and Aidan and Keira were understanding and didn't yell or cry too much. The tires come with lifetime balancing, rotating, repairs and lots of other cool stuff which I'm happy about - I'm just not happy about having to brave that lineup again!

This morning before we headed out Aidan and Keira were sitting in the rocking chair again and I snapped some pictures of them because Keira's grown a lot since I took one of them in the rocking chair.

Her shirt says 'Jellybean' but maybe I should get one that says Chunky Monkey - she looks huge in these pictures!

Happy Baby

Here are some cute pictures I took this past week:

I was trying to take a picture of the two of us but Keira wasn't cooperating...

Apparently I was no match for the Backyardigans!

Once the Backyardigans were over she agreed to have her picture taken but still no smiles

She's all pink cheeked because she just woke up from her nap (I love that skirt Rachel! It's so adorable!)

Just chillin' on the couch...

Startled by something

And back to chewing on her hand

Monkey

Keira's favourite toy is a little monkey that hangs from her Tiny Love gym.

She is so entranced by this monkey and stares intensely at it for long periods of time. I'm not sure what is so exciting about it but there must be something...

Appliance Shuffle

I was saying to Corey as we moved the latest appliance into the house that in 6 months we will probably have replaced every single appliance and maybe all the furniture as well! The only things we have left to replace to meet this goal is the washer and dryer (we're hoping maybe to get new ones after Christmas) and Keira's crib. When we moved in we bought a new bed for our room, a new dining room table (slash poker table that Michael just couldn't live without) and a new fridge. Since we've been here we've replaced Aidan's bed with my old bed, the desk, the stove, dishwasher and downstairs fridge with appliances from Freecycle, the upstairs couches with one sectional couch, the downstairs couch with an upstairs couch, and the TV with a new one because the old one died suddenly. Everything has been an improvement except for the downstairs fridge - well, that's not true. The fridge died suddenly so I suppose it was an improvement because this one works! It's just way older than the one we had so I'm working on getting one a little newer from Freecycle. It has been a little crazy getting and moving in all this new stuff but the living room especially looks a lot nicer. I love our sectional couch! It has 2 recliners, a built in mini place for drinks that covers a cubby for remote controls, and a hide-a-bed on the loveseat part. It's all part of our plan to improve the house so we can make some money when we sell it!

Today was Keira's first classroom visit with the Roots of Empathy program. It was pretty cute the way the kids were so excited to see her. Her picture was up on a bulletin board and the kids were all talking about Baby Keira. She was sleeping when we got there so then after she woke up the kids sang her the welcome song again so that she could fully appreciate it. It went 'Welcome Baby Keira and how are you, how are you, how are you, Welcome Baby Keira and how are you, how are you today?' Very cute. She lay on her back and was measured and then lay on her stomach and grinned at everyone and then was weighed and looked at some toys, had her picture taken with the class and then it was time to go. There's a baby doll that the instructor uses to show different things and I guess during the last visit Dawn had passed the doll around so all the kids could see it. Right as we were packing up a little girl comes up to the teacher and says 'Can we pass Baby Keira around?' Yeah - let's do that! That sounds like fun!

Pooh Bear, Piglet and a Tiger

Aidan and his friend Shaun, who was a Tiger

I am a victim of advertising

Namely, the intensive ad campaign for the new cream of broccoli soup! Aidan has seen the commercials on tv and every time one comes on he says 'Mmmmmmm, yummy!' or something along the line of 'I wish I could eat that for lunch!' So on Tuesday, since he slept so late (yay for 4 hour naps!) and I had to pick up some groceries before going to the Library for storytime, I took him to Tim Hortons for dinner. He said the soup was just as good as it looked on tv - actually, when we got there they have this little screen above the counter where you place your order and he saw the soup up on that screen too and got excited all over again. It was pretty good soup.

Now you know...

...this is why we call her Big Fat Baby!