7 Months

There are no words to describe how freaking cute this angel is. I'm pretty sure I'm not just being biased! She's adorable, and that little smile, with her scrunched up nose is killer cute. She is quite a quiet baby, and doesn't squeal or laugh all that much. But she's oh, so happy almost all the time, and shoots those little smiles out like it's going out of style. She's starting to really love her food. Yogurt is a big favourite, and she also loves suppertime. Shockingly enough, she so far much prefers savoury over sweet, and still gags often at her fruit! 26 1/4in, 15lbs 7oz

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Canada Day was a little low key this year, simply because it happened to fall on a Sunday. But we still had plenty of fun in the evening. We went over to our friends house, ate dessert, and played some games, then headed out to Henderson Lake for the fireworks. Cameron loved them! He talked for days after about all the different colours he saw in the sky. Tegan slept through the whole thing! haha. Just as well though, since it was a late night for all of us, and we weren't home until close to midnight.

Father's Day

Hard to put into words how lucky my kids are to have such a wonderful Dad. He is so patient and loving with them, it's no wonder they are so excited to see him after a long day with me! :D He is so concerned for them, and really honestly wants the best for them. What a lucky pair they are. I've one-upped the traditional Father's Day tie, and the last couple of years have bought Cameron and Clark a matching set that they can wear to church. This years edition was a grey and yellow striped skinny tie, and they both looked super handsome in them!

The Incident

When a friend asked me to paint her toes, I was more than excited to. Little did I know that a simple task would turn into a night at the emergency room! As I tried to open my newest bottle of neon polish, the whole thing split in two! I knew immediately as I pulled the skin apart to look, that it would need some stitches. I looked at it, looked at my friends, and said, don't freak out guys, but I will likely pass out.

Clark walked me over to the sink, and I proceeded to fall into it, then onto the ground as I lost consciousness. And despite the warning, there was still some freaking out as I came to. haha. I could hear them whispering about how bad the cut was, and I kept telling them I was hurt, not deaf!

I finally got up, and Clark drove me to emerg. Our friends stayed behind, and watched our kids until we got back home. We were finally back around 4am, with 6 stitches in my right hand. The next few days were pretty uncomfortable, and I still had nail polish everywhere, though I tried my best to clean it.

Half-way to 1!

The little lady is growing...though at a much slower pace than her brother did! She is a petite peanut, but I just eat up the chunk she sports on her thighs! Love this girl. She is sitting up very well all by herself now, and is really trying to move around on the ground, getting her knees up underneath her occasionally. She is starting to eat her solid foods better too, and seems to be getting back into a routine where she sleeps better at night than she has been! Thank goodness!

Crafting

I love it...hubby hates it. Thankfully Pinterest has offered up some amazing suggestions of things I can spend time making that will actually be constantly used. I discovered this link, and my world has opened up in the way of personalized crafts! http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.ca/2011/08/p-is-for-personalize.html After figuring this out, every cute wooden craft I see, I know I could make myself, and for cheap! I started out with these two boards for our parents. After painting, and staining the wood itself, I used the iPad, to look up fonts online. The website will allow you to "test" out a phrase. When I find the style I like, I enlarge it to the size I need, and take a screen shot. I cover the iPad screen in a Ziploc bag, and trace the outline with a sharpie. I then arrange the words on the board, and tape them down. Using a ball point pen, I traced over the outline with as much pressure as possible, indenting the wood itself. I removed the plastic, and had faint dented lines to paint inside with acrylic.

I used a 2x4 for these next few. They were a little tougher, since the wood is harder than the pine I used for all the other boards...so indenting it to paint is trickier.

Wall Ruler. Another Pinterest find! I used the same idea as before; stained the board first, then googled Times New Roman Numbers to trace. To get all the lines as straight and accurate as possible, I used a measuring tape to pencil mark each inch, and taped them all off with painters tape to paint.

Look What I made! I spotted something similar on Etsy. I immediately thought it was such a cute idea, and knew I could put something like this to good use. Cameron, like most kids his age, loves to colour. He makes a new "picture" in Nursery every week, and is so excited to show us. We take it home, and a couple of hours later it makes its way to the garbage! So I made a board for each of the kids to hang artwork. It will get more use I'm sure when they hit school age, but for now, there is still always something hung there! I used the exact same process as before, and glued some little clothespins I found at Michaels.

Here are a few of my favourite things!

It's no surprise to anyone that knows me, that I'm a dessert fanatic. I really do enjoy baking the finer things in life, and would secretly love to have my own little bake shop with cupcakes and other amazing desserts! First up....Chocolate-covered cheesecake strawberries.

I found these on Pinterest a while back, and decided they were a cute idea for Mother's Day for Clark's Mom. The recipe I came across said that you can buy cheesecake filling at the grocery store, but I have a feeling that might only be a U.S. thing. In any case, I made my own no-egg cheesecake with a cup of whipping cream, an 8oz package of softened cream cheese, a little vanilla, and about 1/4 cup of sugar. (Taste as you go with the sugar...since it's personal preference as to how sweet you want it!) Hull out the strawberries. The bigger, the better in this case. Melt milk chocolate chips until smooth, and dip your strawberries. Place upside down on parchment, and place in fridge to chill. Meanwhile, whip up your cheesecake filling. When the dipped strawberries are cooled, you can pipe your filling in, and lay them close together on their sides. Melt some semisweet chocolate chips until smooth, then pipe skinny lines over all the strawberries. Cool in fridge. Let sit out for 10 mins before eating. Soft Pretzels.

Though not a dessert, I thought I'd throw this recipe in here, since I have had a few people ask for it. It's usually something I make after breakfast for a mid-morning snack. Cinnamon/Sugar are my family's fave, but you could try whatever you like on them! Dissolve 2 1/4 tsp yeast in 1 cup of warm water. Once dissolved, add in 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 1/2 cups of Flour. Knead into a soft smooth dough. (I use my stand mixer.) Let rise in warm place for 30 mins. Cut dough into 8 even pieces, and let rest while you microwave 1/2 cup of water with 1 Tbsp of Baking Soda for 1 min. Roll each piece into a long rope, dip into baking soda mixture, and loop into a pretzel. Place on greased baking sheet, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix. Let rest on top of your oven while it heats up to 475 degrees. Bake for 8-10 mins. Then brush with melted butter when they are hot out of the oven. I don't even know what to call this one! Let's go with Chocolate raspberry parfait.

A couple of weeks ago, our ward had a scout fundraiser. Lots of things were being auctioned off, but the youth were all told to make a dessert to auction off too. There were some chocolate parfaits that looked mighty delicious, so that's what I told Clark I wanted! $100 later, we were the proud owners of not only a yummy dessert, but also the parfait glasses it came in! Mothers Day was a week later, and I was determined, having never made any sort of parfait before, that I was going to come up with something good to fill these glasses with for our Mother's Day dinner. Layer 1: Cake! I actually had some extra unfrosted oreo cupcakes in my freezer that I used, but I suppose any chocolate cake would be just fine. After it's cooked and cooled, crumble it up, and your first layer is good to go! Layer 2: Chocolate Cheesecake. Since I kind of made it up as I went along, I am going to do my best with exact recipe amounts! It's similar to the strawberry filling above though. A package of cream cheese, 2 cups whipping cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, a little vanilla, and about half a bag of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips. Layer 3: Frozen Raspberries! I used frozen since when they thaw out, there is a lot more juice. They are crammed between the cheesecake and the whipping cream simply to try and contain the juice...to keep it away from making the cake crumbs soggy. I made these a good 24 hours before they were eaten, there was a little leakage, but they survived just fine kept in the fridge. Layer 4: Whipping cream. Whip it up, add in a little sugar, and vanilla to your taste. Layer them all for a second time. I used my vegetable peeler on a big bar of Dairy Milk to create chocolate curls for decoration on the top dollop of whipping cream. Be warned...they are extremely rich, and depending on the size of your parfait glass, you might not be able to finish the whole thing! But if you're into chocolate, cream cheese, and raspberries, they are seriously as delicious as they look!

Mother's Day Mug

I've totally been digging Shutterfly lately. I took some cute photos of the kids, and ordered a mug for my Mom for Mother's Day. What a cute change up from the regular flowers we get her every year, cheaper too. It came with some chocolate, and she loved it!

  Chocolate Mug

Creating Christmas cards have never been this easy.

View the entire collection of cards.

Mother's Day 2012

Thanks kiddies for making me one proud Mama!

5 Months

25 1/4 inches, 14lbs 2oz. She's rolling over....and over....and over...and over! I love this stage. She's starting the get up and go process, and I love when babies become more active and mobile. Everyone said I'd regret it when Cameron started walking, but I loved it. I secretly can't wait for Tegan to reach that stage, though don't want to wish her little life away, as it is already going so fast! For now, I am quite happy just to watch her little body rolling all over the living room floor, underneath tables, and getting stuck under the couch! What a funny little peanut.

Laundry lovin'

It's as strange as it sounds! I have found lots on Pinterest these days...most of which are recipes, but I spotted this free download, and thought it would look cute in my Laundry room. I printed it at Costco, framed and hung it for about $10. It sure does help to brighten up a 6 load washing day!

4 Months!

Our pretty little princess is really starting to get a look all her own! She now likes to stand up much more, and is sitting well with help. She is just getting over her very first cold...it's so sad to see her all snuffly!

13 lbs, 25 inches

Photo Books

I was at a friends house a month or so ago, and noticed a family photo book on her table. It was so cute, and such a great idea. I am all about getting family photos taken, and often...some of which make it to the wall, but what do you do with all those other cute shots?!

A photo book is such a great solution! I used to be into scrapbooking quite a bit a few years back...but it can get very pricey, and it's such a mess if you don't have a room dedicated to it. I started with the newborn photoshoots of both Cameron and Tegan...then I decided it was also a cute idea as a yearly reminder for each of the kids. I made one for Clark and I too...so far, there's just the one, as I haven't quite decided how to organize ours yet!

I use Shutterfly. They often have coupons, and it's simple to use. You can do everything from scratch, or even upload your photos, and have them completely arrange the book for you if you don't feel creative enough!

Take a look!

Our Love Story: The Dating Years

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Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Cameron Newborns

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Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Cameron's First Year

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The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

Cameron's Second Year

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Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.

Tegan Newborns

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Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

3 months

Here's our pretty little lady at 3 months old!

She weighs in at 11lbs 15oz, and 23 3/4 inches. 50% for weight, and 75% for height.

She is a super smiley girl, and already LOVES to talk! She's her happiest in the morning, and a little fussier right before bedtime. Most nights are predictable, and she goes down to sleep between 9:00 and 10:00pm, waking for one feed around 6:00am, before sleeping again until 10:00ish. It's safe to say that I hit the jackpot twice with great scheduled kids who love to sleep!! Thank goodness!

The Princess at 2 months

Time really does fly by when you're not pregnant! Crazy to think that my little cupcake is already 2 months old!!

She now weighs 10lbs 12oz, and is 23 inches long. Almost exactly the same as Cameron was at her age!

In case you weren't already convinced!

Every day more and more people comment on how much Cameron looks like his Daddy, yet Clark STILL can't seem to see it! EVEN after looking at this picture! Here is Clark with his Grandpa...7 months older than Cameron is now.

Tegan's First swim

Look at this little cutie pie! Man is she ever adorable. I know I am biased, but I swear her little face gets sweeter each day! I found this cute swimsuit for her at Target this Christmas. It's 6-9 months, so still plenty big for her, but it still worked out!

She definitely enjoyed the warm water as much as Cameron did his first time. She was very relaxed, and lasted over an hour without even a whimper!

Here are both Tegan & Cameron with Daddy, right before their first swimming experience!

Photo Update

A new addition, and another photo shoot meant it was definitely time to update the photos in our home! Here are the new additions in our family room...

We also got a few of Tegan's photos printed off, and did her crib wall, much like we did when Cameron was born. I actually found the letters for her name on sale at Target while I was in the States this past summer. I painted them pink before we hung them!

Here is a reminder of what we did for Cameron's room...

1 month old Baby Tega

Cameron's vocabulary is just the cutest these days. I almost don't want him to talk properly at all! Tegan has therefore been dubbed "Tega", thanks to Cameron. What a cute little name!

Her check-up with the doctor was at just over 1 month old. She now weighs in at 9lbs 12oz, and 22 inches. They really do grow soooo quickly in the first year, and she's already close to outgrowing clothes!

Aaagghhh....we just love her so much! Cameron is so cute with her, and helpful. He really loves his little baby sister.

She is much more of a cuddler than Cameron ever was. She prefers to sleep right next to me, and it's taken a little while to get her into a routine. I have already had to move her into her own bedroom! She has just recently started to clue in though, and last night was our best by far with a 7 hour stretch.