Our Littlest Little is 7 months :)

Time flies when you're having fun! Especially this past month... we have been down in the Phoenix area staying with my hubby's parents and thoroughly enjoying the sun and relaxation. Jeff's mom is a pro at helping me out with laundry, dishes, entertaining kids etc. and I haven't had to work very hard at anything.

What I mean to say by all of this is that we've really had a lot of opportunities to relax and enjoy our kids. I've been thoroughly enjoying Elena's seventh month of life and am so very thankful that I have not had to work this past year. I really do regret not taking much time off when I had our second, Hudson, and am reminded daily that I have made the right decision this time around.

A little about Elena right now:

• She smiles with her eyes
• She has the most adorable baby chuckles 
• She is very rarely unhappy
• She falls asleep on her own (thank goodness!!)
• She has been a terrible night sleeper for the past month.. ugh!
• She has been eating solids for two months now and I need to introduce more foods
• She loves mum mums
• She just fell asleep in the stroller for maybe the first time in months the other day. 
• She adores her brothers, especially Landon who loves to play picaboo, tickler her, zoom her around on mats, cuddle with her. Hudson loves her too but shows it differently :) 
• She has been rocking back and forth on hands and knees for about a month.. ready to crawl soon!
• She can almost go from laying down to sitting up on her own. 

Even though these last few months have been very trying with this little munchkin (I wouldn't dare try to add up the number of hours I've vigorously bounced this girl to sleep), we are so very very glad to have her in our lives and couldn't imagine it without her.  I feel our family is complete and am so excited for 2014 as it is the first year that we are all here together. Our first year as a family of 5 :) 

Thanks for reading :) 

The Big 3 0 !

My exciting twenties are coming to an end today. I think back to when I was maybe seventeen or eighteen years old and 30 seemed OLD! Back then I also thought that turning 30 would be a big deal.  I'm a little surprised that it doesn't feel like a big deal at all. I'm really happy with how my twenties unfolded and I'm excited for my thirties!

 I've done a lot of neat things over the past 30 years, met a lot of interesting people, learned a lot, and hopefully have become a more empathetic, helpful, caring and understanding person because of it. I know I still have a lot of growing to do and hopefully I can achieve some of that in my thirties :) My focus has changed from being on me to being on my family.. I have three littles to care for now and need to provide experiences for them that will help shape them as little people.

Anywho.. here is a little list I wrote up of a few things I have done over the last 30 years. They are in no particular order at all and i'm sure I have forgotten a thing or two...  I have also begun a list for 30 things I want to do in the next 30 years.. if you think of anything exciting that should be on that list, let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Thirty Interesting and Not so Interesting things I’ve done by 30!

1.   Went hang gliding over CopaCabana beach in Brazil and paraglided in the Swiss Alps

2.   Traveled to six of seven continents - twenty three Countries! Maybe Antarctica one day? 

3.   Had three beautiful babies - experienced a Cesarean and then two natural births

4.   Found and married the man of my dreams on the internet!

5.   Rode an Ostrich in South Africa

6.   Went to University for five years, two degrees! 

7.   Became a teacher!

8.   Ran a daycare out of my home, five kids three and under at one point

9.   Backpacked across Europe for four and a half months with two girlfriends

10. Gained and lost 45lbs three times

11. Became a stay at home mom to three kids - very busy and crazy at times, but oh so amazing! 

12. Learned conversational Spanish and French

13. Lived in Quebec for six weeks

14. Became a green thumb; created many flower gardens around our yard. 

15. Walked ten kilometres in the middle of nowhere on the Great Wall of China and zip lined off of it

16. Traveled 30 hours on airplanes with a four month old baby strapped to me (And went crazy doing
     so)

17. Went tent camping in Mexico and stayed with some locals

18. Experienced Iguazu Falls up close and personal

19. Have only broken one bone(my arm) when I fell off the monkey bars when I was four

20. Backpacked across South America with Jeff

21. Got proposed to on the top of Table Mountain, South Africa (I said YES!)

22. Won a trip to Cuba on the radio to a five star resort

23. Ran a 10km and 8km race (10km is as far as I’m ever running)

24. Took a helicopter ride around Sedona, Arizona

25. Hitch hiked in Italy

26. Petted some tigers and cheetahs in South Africa

27. Swam with sea turtles, penguins, and dolphins!

28. Moved from Rosedale to North Van, to East Van, and then to Victoria where we bought a house!

29. Ate my own weight in gelato on my trip to Europe!

30. Met a lot of amazing friends over the years and enjoyed spending quality time with our
      families

Can’t wait to see what the next thirty years brings!

30 Things after 30

1. Go skinny dipping - Can't believe I haven't done this yet :-p

2. Live abroad with the family for a year

3. Take a ballet class or two

4. Travel to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand

5. Try wake surfing

6. Become a teacher again in an elementary school

7. Run 10km under 50 minutes

8. Take the kids to Disneyland

9. Volunteer in the kids' classes

10. Become a soccer mom.. or hockey mom, or whatever the kids choose :) 

11. Achieve a super organized and highly function house

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Our Family of Five

I know it's been a while since i've posted anything. There have been so many moments that I have wanted to record, to write about and always be able to look back and remember sweet moments with our munchkins. However, I am flipping busy and definitely tired! I've tried to snap more photos lately of moments instead of just those fake cheesey smiles (even though I love those too). Anyways.. here is a bit of info about what's going on in our lives right now :)

Our Summer was busy but sweet. We did a lot of lovely things with friends and family that I will hopefully remember though photos because I was a tad sleep deprived to remember them otherwise.
The kids and I spent a week at my parents, we all spent a few weekends at Jeff's parents cabin, we attempted camping with a very young baby at Port Renfrew and failed miserably.. well.. I thought so at least. Lots of cute little trips to the beach, petting farms, sprinkler running, picking berries from the garden, bike rides to the park, and tons of time in the backyard pool where Landon learned to swim!

Since Summer ended we have been getting back into a routine just as most families do I assume. Landon is back at preschool three days a week and has also started Judo lessons once a week. I have also been taking Hudson and Elena to Music Together class once a week. Jeff has been playing Ultimate Frisbee but definitely not as hardcore as he was this past Spring and Summer.. thank goodness! It's so nice to have him home more often in the evenings.  I've also started this super fun DnaceFix class that's very high energy and makes you sweat like crazy! 

On to our little baby girl - she's a sweetie pie with an adorable smile. The boys love her and enjoy holding her every once in a while. As she grows and changes they become a little more interested in her. However today I told them that she would soon be crawling around taking their things and they didn't seem too impressed.
Hudson is at an adorable age where he is slowly moving out of the tantrum phase and becoming a good listener, helping clean up after himself without being asked, and often asking for hugs! I love it!
Some cute Hudson sayings as of late:
- There's a tummy ache in my throat
- Talking to the someone broken tv he says 'come on TV! You know you can do it!"
I knew I should have written them down :( More to follow! He says the cutest things.

Landon is one bright little boy who definitely does not let on to everyone around him that he is. He's been very physical lately, lots of crazy sounds, and definitely acting out a bit. However.. It seems that this is pretty par for the course in terms of 4 year old boys :) He has also been showing us his very sweet and thoughtful side lately. He has just started to get a bit excited about learning to read, learning new information, and learning French.

Oh right... I did also just go on a big trip to Australia to visit with my Sister and her partner Nev. Elena and I went for 2.5 weeks and left all the boys back at home to spend lots of precious time with Grandparents.We went to Melbourne, explored the city, spent lots of time with my sis, saw where she lives and works, and overall had a lovely time :)
And yes they are expecting their first baby in January! I wish she lived much closer but I know she is happy there and her and Nev have a wonderful life together. I can't wait to hear about the arrival of my little niece or nephew! It was such a treat to be able to see her pregnant and also bring her lots of maternity clothes and baby paraphernalia :)

I suppose that sums up the basics of the past 5 months or so :-p  Life is good.. it's fun, it's silly, it's special, it's frustrating, it's a little chaotic at times, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world :) I definitely wouldn't mind for time to slow down a bit. 
 Maybe one day i'll be a fantastic writer.. but until then you will have to suffer through my crappy writing :) Thanks for reading!

 

   Off to Summer camp!  

 

                                                               Trying on cute outfits

                                                              Me and my three munchkins :)

                                                        One of many ice cream moments

  

The boys love lying in the crib with Elena

                                                                  More crib cuddles :)

                                               Loving the matchy matchy at the water park

 

 On our way to preschool one morning in September - Hudson is in the front seat  

 

                                        Elena chilling out at our camping spot in Port Renfrew

                                                    The boys on a ride at the Saanich Fair

                                     Jeff wearing the sweet baby sling while eating :)

                                                 Baby bed for the weekend at the cabin!

                                            Lazy pool afternoons.. I think this was one of my most favorite moments from the Summer. I must have snuck in about a dozen of these with the boys while Elena napped. It was especially nice during a hot spell we had when the pool temperature rose to 90 degrees.. hot tub fun in the sun!

Buddy Bear at the pumpking patch with his preschool Puddle jumping!  

Adidas track suits are back in!

Happy Halloween 2013!

                                                              The Great Ocean Road!

                                                A day at the races with my sis and Elena :)

 

Our little five month old! Where did the time go!?! Oh right.. I spent it bouncing and patting this little difficult sleeper to sleep :-p Thank goodness she seems to be turning in to a pretty good sleeper as of late :) 

 

                                                                   Our family of five :)