Table Tootsies

Elliotte has decided that she is now grown up 

and too big to sit in a baby high chair any longer. 

She insists on sitting in a booster seat,

just like her big sister.

I'm not one to give in to my kids desires,

just because they scream,

but honestly, this high chair/booster seat fight

went on for way too long.

Every meal, every snack, every day for a week.

I caved.

I still have a headache and my children are semi-benefiting from it.

They're smart

and are realizing that I am starting to give in to them

if they're loud enough.

I need this headache gone,

so I can regain control of my household!!!

In the mean time,

the only reason I wanted to keep Elliotte in the high chair

is because she's still a messy eater.

Having her contained to one space made things easier for clean up.

Now that she has her own space at the table...

let's just say we have to budget in more time for cleaning.

Blue is loving it though!

He's getting more and more handouts

as more and more food (and beverages) hit the floor.

I love you and your determination Miss Elliotte Paige!

Piper thinks this is all hilarious by the way!

Oh and speaking of Piper,

she had her first encounter with Santa in the mall today.

It resulted in her attaching herself to me like a Koala bear

and losing her lollipop....

which we later found stuck to my back.

In hindsight, perhaps I should have warned her that he'd be there!

xo

xo

Classy lady!
This one is ready for some Five Star restaurants. 

Here she is sticking mashed potatoes to her fingers
and shouting "Ta Da"!

Piper is still in her "act serious for photos and then demand to see them straight away" stage.
I'll be happy when her smiley face returns!

Santa Claus Parade 2015

Piper was beyond excited about the whole thing.

Elliotte was not.

She was tired and wanted to go home. 

It wasn't until the parade really got going

that she decided it might be okay to stay.

She was content to sit with mommy for a while,

but then insisted on sitting next to Piper, Sylvie and Caitlin on the curb after that.

SUCH a big girl!

Piper was waving at Santa and yelling out "Hi".

That's a huge improvement from last year.

We may have a standing chance at a decent photo with Santa after all. 

xo

xo

I bundled them up, even though it was 10 degrees outside.
That's quite a bit warmer than the other years,
but the wind was a little cold!

Family photo + Sylvie.
She's just like family, so why not!

My failed attempt at a photo of all four girls.

Zachary and his mom and dad came out too!
Oh, and his little brother that is growing in his momma's belly!

Ho Ho!

A Bin of Cuddles

Piper and Elliotte love each other.

Sometimes they show it.

Sometimes they don't.

This day they did!

xo

xo

Elliotte hasn't been feeling well this week...

so her big sister put her in the lego bin with every blanket we own.

Ball Pit Peepers

The girls find new ways to play with old toys all of the time.

This ball pit is still a new gift from 

Uncle Bill and Aunt Debra,

but they've already managed to make it a bed,

boat, tent, and basketball net.

Who knows what's next.

xo

xo

See, Mark! We need a third to poke his/her face through the third circle! 

This little ham followed her daddy around all evening
waving her little hand at him and saying "Hi Mark".
Piper started it and Mommy's laughing made it continue.

Secret Santa to a Senior

I took my girls to a local pharmacy,

so that we could choose an ornament to be a 

Secret Santa to a Senior.

We took our time reading the different bulbs,

which listed the name and interests of the seniors involved.

Piper was very excited about it.

In the end, we chose to be Santa to "Nana Gloria"

who likes to knit and crochet.

I figured that we should be able to fill a pretty basket

with some nice wool, needles, patterns, chocolates, etc.

Piper had other plans.

Apparently she was thinking about this whole thing all day

without me realizing it,

because during supper she announced 

that Nana Gloria needs a cat.

From the Pet Store!

And sunglasses.

Yes.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I inferred the same thing from "likes to knit and crochet".

In three year old that means: needs cat and sunglasses.

That kid!

xo

xo

This Santa would probably be fired on her first day!

Cupcake Surprise

One of the mommies in our play group is expecting.

On Friday, she found out the gender of her baby.

I proceeded to make two dozen cupcakes.

I filled 12 with pink icing and 12 with blue icing.

With the exception of a couple that I kept for my girls,

I gave the rest to her and asked her to reveal baby's gender 

to us Mommy friends

at a restaurant the next night.

(She was going to tell us anyway,

we just thought this way would be more fun.)

And that's why I never got the chance to blog last night.

I was out having a "mommy play date"

as Piper would call it.

We are all very excited to find out that there will be

another baby boy to join our play group!

His big brother Zachary is very proud.

xo

xo

The basic cupcake.

Remove the core.

Insert the standard gender identifying icing.

Hide said gender identifying icing.

And add a little extra mystery.

I gave my girls two random cupcakes.
Piper was aiming for pink, but found blue.

As did the littlest one.

The big reveal came during dinner with the girls.
Jen left all of the pink cupcakes at home
and served the blue ones to us!
Eeeek.
Another boy.
We couldn't be happier!

Dinner Date

Our little PEI family is growing.

And it's getting cuter and cuter by the child.

Piper and Elliotte had two little friends over for lunch this week.

Meet Stanley and Lianna.

How lucky are we?

xo

xo

Cheese!!

Six is a Crowd

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure

of babysitting two of Piper and Elliotte's little friends.

Little did I know that there were going to be

SIX little girls to look after.

Thankfully the biggest girls

took care of the littlest girls,

while the in-between girls go their silly on!

xo

xo

Count them.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Piper even took over at one point
and entertained all five of the littler ones
with a Jack-in-the-box.

Thanks Piper.
And yes, they all wanted to get dressed in fancy dresses and tutus.

Shorter and Sweeter

Piper went on her very first trip to the hair salon today!

It's her second haircut,

but her first time in a salon.

She now thinks that she's a big BIG girl

and was sure to state that Elliotte is not allowed to go there

until she turns three. 

She really does enjoy the big sister privileges. 

While we were at the salon,

Elliotte went tire shopping with her daddy.

She was not one bit impressed.

She was a little happier when we stopped by the Christmas section

of the local Home Hardware though.

I sat her up to have her photo taken with Santa

(Piper wouldn't go anywhere near him).

Elliotte was totally okay with it,

until she realized what was happening and how close she was.

I have a feeling that this year's real photo with Santa

will include Mommy.

xo

xo

Snip snip snip.

This is as close to a smile as I could get.
She was shy,
but in the end she chatted up a storm.

Ho Ho Who's behind me????

Mini Mommy

For every moment that I get frustrated with my kids fighting,

there is at least one moment when my heart melts 

from watching them care for each other.

Since Elliotte has become obsessed with the potty,

Piper has not once gone to pee without inviting her sister to go with her.

Then she patiently helps Elliotte wash her hands

when they are finished.

It usually ends up being more work for me,

but seriously, it's sweet.

Then today we dropped Piper off at preschool.

Elliotte cried and cried after her sister.

It's too adorable. 

They really do love each other.

But I love them more!!!

xo

xo

Piper is usually such a great help when it comes to Elliotte.

A Turtle Sundae!

This is what you get when you cry because your big sister is at preschool.
Mommy and Daddy time AND ice cream.

Lunch and Lobster Looking

It's very expensive to go to the cinema

and we're on a tight budget.

So today we took our kids to the grocery store,

gave them a banana each from the free healthy snack bin

and let them look at the lobsters.

The kids were happy enough.

They'll never know what they're really missing out on.

Who needs a theatre and popcorn?

Hahaha.

xo

xo

This is SO much fun mom!

They look content enough, right?

I kinda think Elliotte is catching on that there might be bigger and better things out there,
but she's still not quite sure.

Potty Partners

There is now no less than 30 minutes of each day

that Elliotte insists on sitting on the potty.

And then another 30 minutes of screaming because 

I've taken her off of the potty.

This one must have the spitey redhead genes. 

Holy moly!

Piper thinks it's hilarious.

She can't figure out why Elliotte would even want to sit on the potty

if she's not going to do anything in it. 

Little girls!

xo

xo

Having some serious potty talk here.

Oh Mom!
Some privacy please!

Purple Princesses for a Cause

A very good friend of mine's father passed away

from pancreatic cancer.

With today being World Pancreatic Cancer Day,

people were asked to wear purple to help raise awareness.

So we wore purple.

Neither of my two complained at all.

Purple is very popular in this house!!

xo

xo

My purple princesses.

Feasting Foes

I have a headache.

I've had one for about two weeks now.

That makes it hard to stay on top of disciplining my children.

It makes it hard to accomplish anything actually.

So tonight when Elliotte decided to eat an orange crayon 

the moment no one was watching,

I didn't scold her.

Tonight when Elliotte decided to stick her fingers down her throat,

gagging herself until she threw up said orange crayon,

I didn't scold her.

 Tonight when Elliotte decided to paint herself with mashed potatoes,

I didn't scold her.

Tonight when Elliotte decided she would rather sit on the toilet

than get in the bathtub,

I didn't scold her.

Tonight when Elliotte cried and screamed at me for 30 minutes

for removing her from the toilet,

so that I could scrub all of the mashed potatoes

out of her hair, eyelids, ears and bellybutton,

I didn't scold her. 

Tonight when Elliotte tried every trick in the book

to get away from me while I blow dried her hair,

I didn't scold her.

Elliotte should be very very grateful that her mommy has such a bad headache.

And Piper somehow turned into a dream child.

I think she somehow sensed that one more thing

just might break her mother!

I think she was right.

xo

xo

Messy messy little girl!

Piper's new thing is to refuse to smile for the camera,
and then demand to see the photo the moment that it's taken.

There was only one in our household that enjoyed Elliotte's potato explosion!

I let her sit for 10 minutes.
Then listened to her scream for 30 more for taking her off. 

Swinging Siblings

With daddy starting a string of 4 night shifts,

we will be trying to get out of our house as much as possible 

to let him sleep.

Today we went to the playground,

even though the wind was just a little bit too cold. 

No one complained until we were back in the van

and on the way home.

Hopefully the fresh cold air will help them sleep through the night tonight.

It's been a rough month for sleep.

xo

xo

Rosy cheeks.

Can someone please tell Elliotte that she is not three.
Every part of that tiny girl wants to be just like her big sister!

We were lucky enough to have some friends meet us at the playground to play!

I think Piper needs a new hat.
She was racing Georgia down the slide,
but I don't think she could see if she won or not. Ha! 

Two slides were super fast.
The dismounts were hilarious!

Yep. Hilarious!

Bye-Bye Buttons

Piper came bursting into my bedroom one morning,

saying, "Mommy! Mommy! Elliotte took her pajamas off!"

I froze in fear.

All I could think of were the horror stories

that I've heard of babies taking off their pajamas during the night

and 'painting' their bed with the contents of their diapers.

FEAR!

Thankfully, this is what I found.

Half naked,

but fully clean.

Thank goodness!!

xo

xo

Our little Houdini has figured out how to undo the buttons on her sleepers.
Looks like she'll be wearing zippered pajamas from now on!

Big sister thought it was really really funny!