Off to Another Party

These kids have a way better social life than I do.

Thankfully, they still "take me with them" 

where ever they go,

so it gets me out too!

They were off to their little friend Georgia's birthday party yesterday.

It was quite a bit of fun.

It would have been more fun

if we weren't all so exhausted from extreme lack of sleep.

Thankfully Piper has an appointment to see a doctor on Wednesday.

We hope to have some answers and

maybe some solutions soon afterwards.

This momma is only barely holding it together.

One of my very good friends has a 5 week old

and is already getting more sleep than me.

She always cringes when she tells me

when her wee one sleeps for long stretches.

HOURS at a time.

Really?

Kids do that?

Someone PLEASE tell Piper!

xo

xo

Off to the party!
Piper is still into the poses!! 

A certain policeman had to work,
but did take the time to make a special appearance at the party!
The birthday girl (aka Elsa) was very pleased,
but not as much as Piper!

Lots of toys in the house,
but my girls were captivated by a lunch box!

Elliotte couldn't even wait to take off her boots or jacket
before checking out her goodie bag/bucket. 

Sorry

I'll start blogging regularly again...

if my children ever let me get more than 

a 2-3 hour stretch of sleep at a time.

For now, 

I'm only barely surviving.

It's worse than when Elliotte was a newborn.

xo

xo

This little one loves the sandbox.

And this little one just loves the mud!

New Home Sweet Home

The girls have a new home

and they're very proud of it!

Thanks to the lovely weather we've been having,

they've been able to spend lots of time in it over the past few weeks.

It's scarcely furnished,

but visitors are still welcome!

xo

xo

This little one 'helped' her mom with the assembly of her new home.

You'd never know it from their faces,
but they really do like it!
Especially the doorbell and telephone!!

Very first houseguest!
Piper wasn't without her manners,
as she offered her first guest a popsicle refreshment!

Two Black Eyes

Piper has had a rough go with bruises on her face over the past month.

Five to be exact.

On her FACE!

I'm very thankful that there have been witnesses to causes of three of the five,

or else I might have started to worry about people talking!!

Her poor little face.

The first bruise resulted from swinging in her toy kitchen 

and putting her feet in Elliotte's toy wagon. 

This bruise was foreseeable!

The second bruise was from the latch on our patio gate.

She swung the gate open (hard apparently)

and whacked herself in the forehead.

That one bruised nicely!

The third was from tripping over a stump in our backyard,

only for her face to land on another stump.

What are the chances?

Both stumps have since been removed from the ground.

(Thank you, Daddy!)

The fourth bruise landed in the exact same spot as the tree stump bruise,

before it had even disappeared. 

It was from a collision with Elliotte's head while they were playing with a balloon.

And the fifth,

and hopefully final bruise for a while,

was the result of a collision with a little boy while at Active Start last week.

This one occurred on her left cheek,

while the right cheek is still green from bruises three and four.

Fun times for Piper's face.

Fun times indeed.

Elliotte's face has remained bruise-free for the time being,

however you will find her with red puffy eyes each night now.

My littlest has gone from loving and begging to go to bed,

to screaming for an hour during each bedtime. 

After our bedtime routine,

she will point to go in her crib and make you think that everything is fine.

Then the minute you try to walk out of the room,

she will stand up and beg for more kisses and hugs.

Then tell you to kiss and hug Piper.

Then as for hugs and kisses from Daddy.

Then more from Mommy...

When we tire of this game, 

she will start to jump in her crib and scream.

SCREAM!

If you pick her up she stops.

Put her back in and she screams.

If you leave the room,

she tries to climb out of her crib.

(We watch her on the monitor and catch her when she's straddling the top rail.)

It has been a very very rough couple of weeks. 

Piper has only slept through the night once since Christmas. 

She's now getting up between 3-5 times a night.

Elliotte is exhausted after her screaming fit, 

but will wake me at least once and refuse to go back to sleep

unless I take her in my bed.

I used to be able to fight them into going back to sleep in their own beds,

but extended lack of sleep on my part

has led me to give in.

There is only so much fight you can put up

when you are suffering from sleep deprivation.

Especially over such an extended period of time.

Maybe tomorrow night...

xo

xo

My little girls balancing beanbags on their heads again. 

Piper is fabulous at this!
Must be all that practice being poised at ballet.

This little one has trouble staying still long enough to balance the beanbag.
Plus she likes to show it to everyone,
especially mom and dad!

Here she was insisting that Daddy balance the beanbag on his head
while she wore his hat.
I seriously LOVE this photo!

Soccer time!
It's easy here to see the double-bruise on Piper's right cheek.

The light made it hard to see the right cheek bruises,
but you can see the bump and start of the left cheek bruise
from the collision with a little boy just 20 minutes before this photo was taken.
Ouch!

Super Sisters

Both of my girls have been SUPER lately.

In different ways,

but super none the less.

Piper had an appointment at the dentist,

for her first official checkup.

She's been to the dentist before,

but only for quick counts of the teeth 

and to get her a little familiar and comfortable with the clinic.

She was always a little timid in the past,

but not this year.

She really proved to us just how much she has matured.

When the dentist came to see us in the waiting room,

she sat down in the same chair that Piper and Elliotte were playing near.

Both girls were excited to talk to her

and very VERY curious. 

Dr. Geri asked Piper if she would like to go with her,

so that she could check her teeth. 

Piper happily agreed and trotted off hand in hand with her dentist,

barely glancing over her shoulder to day goodbye.

That's when little Elliotte started to howl.

Heartbroken tears rolled down her cheeks

as she stood in the middle of the waiting room

watching her sister walk away.

Dr. Geri quickly turned around and invited Elliotte to go too.

Once again the little sister managed to get herself invited 

to one of Piper's big girl events

by using big tears and loud sobs. 

She's a pro!

The rest of the staff and other waiting patients

thought it was adorable.

I thought... yep, she tries to cry to get her own way at home too,

but this mom has a tougher shell to crack!

Both girls did great for the check up.

By the time the dentist came back to find me,

Piper had had X-rays, a full check up and a flouride treatment.

Easy peasy!

Elliotte was also SUPER recently!!

She has fallen in love with the Paw Patrol.

Move over Dora and the Bubble Guppies!

Elliotte now loves the famous team of rescue pups!

So when I saw someone selling a second hand costume

for one of the pups,

I couldn't resist.

My plan was to hide it from Elliotte until Halloween,

to be sure it stayed in great shape until then,

but the sneaky little thing found it and 

insisted that she try it on!

That was it.

She spent the rest of the day wearing the costume

that is miles too big for her.

It was quite a challenge to get her to take it off to eat her supper

making me dread trying to convince her to trade it for her pajamas at bedtime.

She keeps running around saying,

"I Syke, Mommy!"

"Wook me. I Skye!"

She's SO proud of being Skye!

This mommy defiantly won some point with that purchase!

xo

xo

Best patient ever!!

There's Skye taking her baby and Dora for a ride in the wagon.

Who knew Skye would be reading stories to Dora and Baby?

McHappy Day 2016

Our little family feels very strongly 

about supporting McHappy Day each year.

I have two friends who have very recently had to use the

Ronald McDonald House in order to stay near their sick children.

The thought terrifies me,

as I'm sure it does most parents.

This day gives us a chance to help out.

We ended up visiting McDonalds THREE times!

Excessive? Yes.

But not so much when the first time was for coffee,

the second time was for a small coffee

and a cookie for a little girl that just peed in a cup for the doctor

and the third time for an actual meal.

On our second visit,

the girls received a pair of McHappy Day Hero socks each.

They were more excited about the socks than they were the cookie. 

But not when I tried to take a photo.

You win some you lose some!

xo

xo

I don't want my picture taken!!!!!!!
AND I don't want to wear these socks.
(She was mad that I took off her Oona Bubble Guppie socks for these!)

Piper trying to make the same face as her "happy face' toy
that she found in her Happy Meal. 

Happy 90th Birthday Poppy Cee

April 18th was a big day in our family.

A HUGE day.

Poppy Cee turned 90.

I was at a loss at what I could give to him 

to celebrate such a momentous occasion. 

In frustration, I reached out to an RCMP Spouses Support Group,

looking for suggestions 

on what I could possibly buy or do

that would help my grandfather understand 

how much we love him and how much this big day meant to us.

My friend Amy 

(who was posted in Fort McPherson the same time as me)

suggested that sending him 90 birthday cards would be fun,

and that she'd be happy to send one from her family.

Within seconds, 

another friend replied saying that it was a great idea

and that she'd like to send a card as well.

Within ten minutes,

my Facebook account had exploded with messages

and requests to be a part of the 90 card project.

Within a few hours,

we had well surpassed 90 cards senders

and Facebook had locked me from sending messages,

because it flagged me as possibly sending SPAM.

(That's a first!)

One the snowball started rolling and really started growing,

I started reaching out to many of my other friends 

who I met while living and traveling around the world.

Everyone was eager to jump on board and post a card to my lovely grandfather.

I had women ask if it was okay to have their family members send cards.

I had people talking about it in coffee shops, 

only to have the staff send cards.

I had people telling me about how excited they were to send a 'grandfather' birthday card,

since they no longer (or never did) have living grandparents.

Everywhere I turned, there were people asking to send a card!

One of my favorite messages came from a lady

who's grandfather would have also turned 90 this year,

but sadly passed away a while back.

Before he passed, she had purchased a birthday card

that was all about being born in 1926.

She said she doesn't know why she did, 

but she kept it in her card box over the years.

After reading my message about my grandfather's birthday,

she felt that she finally had her answer

and was so pleased to be able to dig out that card

and send it to our very own Poppy Cee.

There has been so much love involved in these cards!

More than my grandfather will ever know.

One fellow RCMP spouse even took the time

to hand-deliver her card to my grandfather on his birthday.

She enjoyed her short visit with him so much,

they we've both made plans to visit him together for a cup of tea

on my next visit to Newfoundland. 

SO much love!!

To anyone reading this that took the time 

to send a card and a little love my grandfather's way,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

xo

xo

Very happy to wish a special birthday to their great-grandfather!

Happy Birthday Poppy Cee!
We love you to the moon and back!

The Pope himself! 

A family group effort pulled through to make his house
the spectacle of the town for a day!
I love that he received so much attention on his special day!

And here's the man himself opening just a few of his mountain of cards!
xo

Elliotte Pee-A-I-G-E

So this happened!

On April 20th. 

Elliotte woke up (in my bed, ugh)

and decided that she needed to pee.

She ran to her bathroom and was calling out to me

telling me that she wanted to pee.

I went in there to take off her pjs and diaper,

but by the time I did, 

Piper had jumped on the toilet.

Elliotte was mad,

but settled for the little potty.

She didn't do anything.

But she did decide that she wanted to wear Piper's panties.

I got her a pair of her own and let her wear them 

while we waited for Piper to finish on the toilet.

(She was lingering for no good reason,

but I'm glad that she did!)

While we were waiting,

Piper yelled that Elliotte was peeing in her panties.

Yep.

She was!

I grabbed her and pulled off the panties and sat her on the little potty.

For a moment nothing happened,

but then it DID happen.

We heard rain drops!

Elliotte was SO proud of herself. 

We were all standing in the bathroom clapping and cheering

like she had just won a medal!

Hooray wee one!

Today was a BIG day for someone so SMALL!

(And she continued to rock the potty for a full week afterwards!)

We are a very proud family!

xo

xo

Rightfully applauding her big achievement!

And very VERY proud of her big girl panties.

Child Labour

This is what you do when you have two garage doors

that are in desperate need of a new coat of paint!

It was SO much fun.

All of the girls attacked this project with glee!

I've never loved my house more.

xo

xo

Doesn't Elliotte look incredibly grown up here?

I kind of felt like Tom Sawyer today. ;-)

We have the prettiest house on our street!

The big girls can write their names and are SO proud to do so!

Though it may look like I made the littles do all of the work,
here's proof that mom and dad have been hard at work too.
At least 70 yard waste bags have been filled with leaves from our backyard
and that 'hedge' on the opposite side of our driveway
is actually a pile of branches that we had to cut off of the trees
that fell and broke over the winter.