Introducing "Miss" B

I can't believe it's been two years already. My baby days are pretty much over...

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Party of Insanity and First Day of School

So. I'm not sure what got into me but for some reason planning Miss A's fourth Birthday Party turned me into some sort of crazy person. It all started with the booking of a wonderful lady who I hired to come to the party dressed as the Fairy Godmother. She brings with her tons of pretty dresses, shoes, gloves and jewelry. She paints their faces and does a magic show. All this for $60! Anyway, I kind of took that theme and ran with it. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

















King Edwardo and Princess Rainbow Cinderella



Helping perform the final magic trick by dancing around a pot where candy necklaces magically appeared for her friends!





And yesterday she started the first day of her last year of preschool! Ack! I can't believe it. I can't believe the difference in her in only one year. Frightening. It was strange going back even for me as the parent, with so many different kids in her class and therefore different parents to sort of get to know. I'm excited for her though. I think it's going to be an amazing year for her. Her teacher already told me today how smart she was. Which is, you know, always nice to hear.

And There Goes Another Year

I just finished editing my profile to say I am a THIRTY THREE year old Mama. Yep. Another year older today. This is what Mama D at 33 looks like.



I don't believe I've ever done it previously but I took holidays this week. So we are all having a lazy dazy day. My sister is babysitting for us so we can go out for an early supper (LOBSTER!!!) and then I will be heading to the Y to attend a Zumba class followed by a class to learn to teach it.



Miss A is having a sleep over at her Grandma's tonight so we just have the night owl with us tonight. I think it's going to be a really nice day.

Umm... This is Late

Baby B was ONE on Friday. As many of you know I like to make montages of photos from the year. The first year always seems so extra amazing. I totally procrastinated this year and then when I really needed to get it done I ran into some technical difficulties. In any case I stayed up FAR too late last night finishing it and I believe I barely completed it before the day of her birth was through. Not that SHE cared but I did. Because I'm a crazy.

Anyway, it's been a crazy year. I simultaneously can't believe how big she is now and how small she was only one year ago. I also can't believe a person can survive on so little sleep for an entire year and not go insane. Yay me. I'd like to say it's better. I'd like to. I won't because I don't want to jinx the miniscule improvement that has been made in the past couple of months. Let me just say that five hours of uninterrupted sleep is pretty sweet right now and it's becoming more consistent all the time.

Sleep habits aside, she is the sweetest little soul. She is incredibly easy going most of the time but when she finally loses it, she really loses it. She adores her big sister and wants to do everything she does. One of her favorite things to do is wrestle with her and she gives Miss A a run for her money. She's very sensitive, her feelings are easily hurt but we can also make her smile or laugh with very little effort. I never tire of watching her change and grow every day.

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Weeeeee!!!!

My belated birthday gift.



This one is my favorite. Bella is all, yeah I'm just hanging out with Edward Cullen.

The Perspective of a Three Year Old

I mentioned that we were giving Miss A this camera for her birthday. Score 10 points for mom and dad because she LOVES it. Like, really loves it.

So here are some of the photos she has taken.

I have a feeling there will be a lot of pictures of our bums.



The picture quality is not excellent but seems to be further hindered by moving, being to close to the subject or facing a sunny window. As seen in this photo. I think she was also dancing while she took this one.



I'm thinking that her sister is going to appear in her photos often. I like the last one especially because her eyes stand out more than anything else.





P.S. What is it about the postpartum period that makes me feel like my heels have been bashed in with a hammer when I try to walk. I remember this happening with A too. Especially when I would get out of bed to feed the baby. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it the calcium being depleted from my body or what?

Three? Three!

My baby is three today. Wow. She is so not a baby anymore.

We had her party yesterday. All of her little guests were boys. Not counting her cousins. This presented me with the issue of not wanting to have a girlie, girlie party. We had yellow balloons and a Dora cake. (I opted out of making the cake this year. A coworker of mine makes fancy pants cakes as a hobby so I hired her to do it. I think I'm entitled to be lazy since I have a newborn.)



I planned a craft and a scavenger hunt. (for stuffed animals hiding in the backyard) We ate a healthy and nutritious meal of hot dogs, chips and pop. Woo Hoo! Hey, it's birthday food.

I believe the party was a success. She seemed to have had a good time. It may be a little confusing to her that today is actually her birthday but our celebrations will be less exuberant. She will be receiving this gift from us. I love how in one of the pictures you see it bouncing down the stairs. And the one where it's sitting in a puddle of milk is pretty funny too. Not that I'm planning on testing that one out.

And this evening we will travel to Peter's mom's for our first away from home trip since having Baby B. My anxiety level about this is currently low but could change at any moment. Such is the delicate balance of a new mother's hormones. Whee!

Anyway. Here is the montage I created for year 3.

Realization

My birthday was great. Peter and I went to a rock climbing wall first and then for supper. The rock climbing was much harder than the last (and only) time I did it. Although to be fair I just had a baby six weeks ago and my ankle is still kinda sucky.

For those of you with a week stomach, don't look at the following picture. I had to get a photographic evidence of the amazing pukey baby. "Happy Birthday Mama!"



I was thinking about something this evening as I was rocking with the baby. From 8:30 (if I'm lucky) (and I realize some of you would be SO happy if their kids got up at 8:30) until anywhere from 10:00pm to 12:00am (or later) I am looking after kids without a break. I know that's what being a mom is all about, yada, yada, yada, but you know what... it's getting tiring.

I was used to having some down time after Miss A would go to bed. Now it's get her to bed then spend the rest of the evening settling Baby B down. At least we can still watch television or a movie if she's not too fussy. And for the past two nights she's slept a really nice long stretch when she finally does go down.

I know this isn't going to last forever. And I also remember being so much more exhausted, frustrated, angry, etc. when A was a baby. So really, I'm doing well. Still, I'm tired. But yeah, goes with the territory, I know.

One new thing that I have mixed feelings about - Miss A has learned to use the computer. Okay, I taught her. She was interested in playing computer games so I thought I'd show her this website. At first she couldn't really do anything. I would sit with her with my hand over her hand on the mouse, showing her how to move it and which button to click. Then she started doing it on her own. This was only a few days ago. Now she can navigate all over the site, playing different games, watching videos. It's crazy. When I show her something once, she remembers. I barely have to help her anymore. She requests to play often now and I am limiting the time she spends on the computer, but... it does allow me to get stuff done. And I have to ask myself if it's better or worse than watching a bit of television. It's more interactive, improves hand/eye coordination and the games are all educational. Do I sound like I'm making excuses? Honestly, I don't think it's so bad. Mostly I am just totally amazed at how quickly she has caught on. I hope everything in life is so easy for her to learn.

Another Year Goes By

So I'm 32 today. Yep. It should be a good day. Grandma is coming over for lunch. My sister and niece are coming over to babysit tonight so Peter and I can go for supper. The baby slept through the night for the first time.

And here is my gift to all of you today. A video we took one of the first times Miss A held Baby B. She attempts to feed her and well you will see the hilarity that ensues...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA D!!!

Today is my lovely husband's Birthday. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing much of each other because he works until 3:45, we kiss at the door and then I work until 9:00(ish). Miss A and I made a treat for us/him. Also, I thought the picture diary would be a cute present he could check out from work. Almost as good as spending the day with us.

This one was taken last night actually. Miss A was so pooped that she tipped out of her chair and crashed on the floor. It's a cute one of both of them.



And here are our cookie making adventures.









And as you can see Miss A is holding a special Birthday cookie with a candle in it!



We love you Papa D!

The Party

I can't really believe I survived it. Not just the party but the first 2 years of A's life. Actually I can't believe either of us survived the night before her birthday.

Being the moron that I am I stayed up until 2:00 AM doing that crazy montage of pictures. I intended to write a heartwarming post to go with it but... that didn't happen. I hauled my butt to bed and at approximately 3:25 AM A was crying. I took care of thing and put her back to bed. More crying which I ignored for a while thinking that she'd fall asleep as per usual. Didn't happen. We tried rocking. She wanted no part of it. I put her back down. No dice. Finally we went and lay on the couch and I put on Baby Galileo. (Most excellent for dozing while your child sits quietly, mesmerized.) I put her back to bed when it was over. (5:30 AM) She began to cry again a few minutes later. I was exhausted. We both fell asleep soon after but Peter accidentally woke me up a while later and I realized that I was dreaming that she still wasn't sleeping. We did get a bit more sleep and then began the hectic day.

I as so grateful that Peter is on holidays with me. He helped so much when I was feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff I had to do. I actually feel pretty relaxed now. The Elmo cake turned out pretty well. Having a special cake pan made it pretty easy. I was really hoping A would see the cake and say "Oh! La La!" but she didn't have a chance since her cousins piped up too quickly informing her of who it was. Still, she seemed to appreciate him.







Last year we just had a small family get together. This year I invited a few of her friends. It made for a much bigger deal as well as so many presents. Lovely presents but a new job has been created for me. Packing away other toys to make room for new ones...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today is my dear sweet husband's birthday.

Happy Birthday, my love. You are my best friend, a wonderful father and the hunkiest man I know.

A video from the Karaoke Revolution surprise party extravaganza soon to follow!