From Deep Within Princess Territory

It's still all about princesses.
Uncle Max came and spoiled us all rotten a couple of weekends ago. We hung out, ate out, and he set Violet free in a toy store, telling her to get anything she wanted. This dress was what she wanted VERY MUCH, and she's been wearing it every day since. Jem got something too....his very own vacuum! But, seriously, why can't they make these little replicas work? Our floors would have been immaculate by now.

My little scholar

"Mom, I don't want to to go pre-school today"
"Why not? You always have a good time"
(sighs heavily) "It's all the singing, and the learning, and the 'what day is it?'... I just don't feel like that anymore".

More cuts

A few days ago we all went for a walk to a neighbourhood hair salon. Jesse, Violet and Jem all got a hair cut. I only get my hair cut by Rick in Toronto. Jem's hair was growing into a mullet, so it was time. As UV and Jesse were sitting in the chairs, Jem wandered around the salon. He picked up a hand mirror, looked at himself and said "Jemmy!". He looks so adorable with his little boy hair - although I might still let it grow long like Celine Dion's son. Haven't decided yet. Even though I wasn't going to ask, the Lebanese hair dresser insisted on saving a lock of his baby hair for me, and I'm glad she did. Of course, I keep forgetting to take it out of my coat pocket, so I keep pulling out this little envelope of hair everywhere I go. After a most excellent Christmas, we happily took the tree down this past weekend. It was getting pretty tiring keeping Jem away from it. He was very happy to vacuum the needles up. My boy loves to vacuum.He even gets under the couch.
Losing focus a bit here...
Happy New Year!

Angel

"Violet, tomorrow you're going to be an angel in the Christmas pageant!"
"I don't want to be an angel, I want to be the God."
So, we're going to be pretty busy over the holidays...mainly because we now have
ROCKBAND II!! Yes, you can come over the play with us. Bring brandy beans.

Blues Man

Guess who can play the harmonica? Really feelin' it. I mean, you wouldn't understand, man. It's deep. This thing doesn't taste so good anymore.

Talking to My Children

_______
"Violet, what did you talk about in school today?"
"....umm...lava...and titans...."
"I think that's from the movie Hercules"
"Yeah...."
"So what did you learn in school today?"
"Nothing".
_______
"Hi Jem"
"HI! HI! Mmamma! NUHSE?" (pointing to the comfy chair were I usually nurse him).

Bilingual

"Mom, how old are you?"
"I'm thirty-two. How old are you?"
"I'm thirty-one"
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure you're three, Violet"
"Yes, but in French we say THIRTY-ONE".

Two Words!

Jem put his first little sentence together!
"Bye, Mama", and then made kissy noises as I was leaving for work a couple of days ago.
He's getting used to my leaving in the morning - and it's not hard when it's Oma I'm leaving him with.
He likes to sit in chairs. That sounds weird I guess, but it is quite the accomplishment for him to haul himself into a chair and get himself turned around. Of course, this has also meant a lot of falling off of chairs, but he's a sturdy guy, and he always tries again. Still a reader too...

Happy Hallowe'en!

The very talented sewing skills of Teta Peach brings you....
Alice in Wonderland and The White Rabbit!Violet wasn't in the mood to be photographed, and Jem was having issues with his ruffle, but they looked positively darling together. After we went to the first house Violet said "let's go home now", but as we turned to make our way back, she'd say "one more house, and then home". This is how an hour flew by. When it was really time to go, she asked "is it going to be Hallowe'en again?".
So cute it's scary...

Foot & Mouth

Jem is walking! He also seems to like wearing Violet's hair clips, obviously secure in his masculinity. Violet put this outfit together herself. Hat, vest, sunscreen accessories and varied footwear (both on the wrong feet). Jem looks intrigued.
Yesterday she told me "when I was a little baby, I used to sit in a nest and eat bacon!"
Jem wisely tries to make an exit...
In other news:
Well, I'm back to a 'real' job again (although part-time, since my design/photography business is doing fairly well).
You'll never guess what it is.
I'm the Parish Coordinator for St. Matthews church! Apparently they didn't mind that all the holy water started boiling when I entered the building. Yeah, I'm going to have to get all the blaspheming out of my system this weekend, because I start Monday.

Pinecone...pinecone...pinecone...

Dinner at Lauren's new apartment

"Hey, Violet, come see this cool thing, it's called a Chia pet. His name is Hippopatame."
"I WANT TO SEE THE CHEETAH HEAD!"

Firsts

There have been some big firsts around here lately.
First day of pre-school!When I asked her teacher how she was on her first day at pre-school she said
"Oh, she was fine! She asked a lot of questions."
THAT'S IT?! C'mon, lady, I need details!
When I asked Violet what happened at school she said
"I put stickers on things and played in Tigger water".
Any additional attempts to pump her for more information has been met with the rolling of eyes and "I already telled you!". So, now she has a bit of a life of her own, away from me. She loves school, as we all knew she would. When I pick her up from school she seems very happy, but I notice that her drawings and paintings looks like generic kid scratching. At home she's painting faces with hair, teeth and ears, and family scenes with sun and water. Also, since school started she now has a running commentary explaining things and teaching to her dolls. It's hilarious. She seems so grown up.

aaaand....

Jem's first birthday! My sweet baby boy is one!
We celebrated with a small family dinner (even though he really wanted to go to the casino). He seemed a little unsure of the cake and singing at first. Violet had picked out the candle and had put the sprinkles on.
Warming up to it quickly...
Cake for everyone!He's got quite a few words already, and can do a barnyard full of animal noises. He still loves to read, spending a lot of time sitting and flipping through a pile of books and laughing. Such a lovely boy!


In other news:
As you may have noticed, a year has passed and I still seem to be at home even though our beloved Oma has returned to look after the kids during the day. I'm giving my own freelance graphic design and photography business a shot, and it seems to be going well...even though most of my business has been family so far. Good thing I have a huge family.
It's a good life.

I'll try to stay on her good side

This morning I took Violet with me to the grocery store. As we were walking across the parking lot she looked up at me sweetly and said "I'm not going to kill you because I love you".
Um, thanks.

In other news:
Shameless self-promotion is now featured on this blog.
Hey - a little bit of flair looks good!

A Good Summer

It might by winding down, but we still have a couple of weeks left. Violet is looking forward to starting a pre-school and gymnastics, and Jem took his first shaky steps a couple of days ago!Boundless energy.
This is his little scrunchy little Jem-face.
I'll start writing regularly again in a couple of weeks.
Toodles!

Porch = Awesome

I must tell you about this porch that Jesse and I built. WE BUILT IT GOOD!
It's all, like, level and sturdy and stuff. We had no previous building experience, but we figured it out by copying the existing porch (but made it longer and wider and way more awesome). Honestly, we are fairly surprised by the good result. We even got along the whole time.
I don't have a good 'before' picture, because Jesse rudely tore it down while I was at the park with the children. I was pretty upset about that, having been fantasizing for weeks about dealing some round-house kicks to it's rotten railings. Maybe it's better I didn't get to do that.




In other news:
I called Violet a "sweet pea" this morning. She replied "don't call me sweet pea, Nana calls me sweet pea".
"What should I call you then?"
"Meat pea".

Summer Hours

Both Jesse and I are off for the summer. I know I update sporadically at best, but I'm going to take it even easier over the summer. For those of you that need their fix, I will continue to post photos on my Facebook page regularly. Add me as your friend if you haven't yet!

Violet is still talking, talking, talking - always shouting "watch me, mom!" or "look at this!" as she spins around and somersaults. And I better be looking. I know she's ready for some structured dance or gymnastics classes. She's also always asking me questions like "what happens if I don't cut my toenails?", or "what happens if I don't brush my teeth?", or "what will happen to me if you leave me in the car?". I find it hard not the abuse my power.
We went to the beach yesterday and she got a leech on her ankle. I had to fight the urge to scream obscenities, but she was totally cool about it. I managed to walk calmly over to the lifeguard and ask for some salt, and then we all laughed about how it squirmed away (shudder!) when the salt touched it. She's so cool.

Jem, that sweet snuggly boy, is cruising around and climbing up on everything. He says mama and dada, cat and hi! He eats more then Violet. It's so nice to have a kid that eats.
I started to try and wean him, but it's going to be a long road. He is very attached to me (although he's much less shy now), to nursing, and refuses to suck on a bottle.

So, that's were we're at. Looking forward to tackling some home improvement projects that our marriage might not survive, a week at a cottage, more family reunions and enjoying our time together.
xo, and hope to see you this summer!
Nadia


Oh yes -Shout out to my cousin Emma. I hope she's written that thank-you card!

Three

Three years ago today, at 3:33 pm (isn't that neat?) Violet was born. I started hyperventilating with joy when I heard "it's a girl!". The doctors and nurses had to tell me to calm down because my blood pressure had shot up alarmingly.
I don't think I have the right words to describe what she has brought into my life, but I feel enormously grateful to have this amazing person as my daughter. She is awesome.

I tried to capture the many faces of Violet -



My darling daughter, Happy Birthday!

All About the Dresses

A magical fairy arrived from Qatar yesterday bearing the most amazingly over the top dresses for Violet!Tomorrow we celebrate her third birthday!

Update interrupted by tragically short naps.

Violet reading to Jem. Books are his favourite thing. He has an amazing attention span when being read to, and really loves the books where he can flip things on the pages.

Jem started saying "Mama" (usually as a whining crawl towards me). I'm pretty sure he can say "cat " too. He adores himself in the mirror, smooshing his face against the glass. He's 9 months old today!

This One's for the Ladies

Jem loves a bath. I usually get into the tub with him (he will no longer stay put in the baby tub), and it's all I can do to shampoo and soap up a slippery wriggling eel that won't stop splashing.
He's pulling himself up on everything (including Violet), waving hi! and bye! (especially at himself in the mirror) and will say "da-da" if you ask him to say "ma-ma". TYPICAL.

In other news:
Violet explaining to me it's time to return the movie:
"We have to uhh...go to the movie store and....you know...unrent the movie".