Monday, April 22, 2013

Family date night

I am sure you all know I love a good deal....but there is no better deal than FREE, so I have been super excited to get Alexis to as many events as possible while she's under 2 (aka free admission). So obviously I was stoked when the hubby came home with two free Canucks tickets! We had a slight hesitation before deciding to bring Alexis. I was worried about her ability to sit in our laps for that long. Now that she can crawl and stand....would she really be ok just being held for 2 plus hours? In the end we decided that now was the time, because if we had to leave early it's not like we were out any money because the tickets were free! It's the perfect opportunity to give it a try and take her to her first Canucks game. So we bought her a Canucks shirt for $10 and went in with an open mind, knowing that it was entirely possible that she may not last past the first period....but thinking it was definitely worth a try. I am so glad we went. She was such a little rock star. Clapping when they scored....cheering with the other fans and just generally loving the excitement of the game. I am not going to lie....around the third period, she did get a little bored.....but nothing an empty water bottle wouldn't fix (I swear I have no idea why we buy toys for children when random household items are what they prefer anyway). 
Now I know she'll probably never remember it, but we had so much fun watching her react to everything going on around her while cheering and clapping her little heart out. 
It was such a great family night out! Here are a few photos of her first Canucks game: 
♥ Lindsay

Friday, April 19, 2013

Longer out than in...and a few of our favourite things


If you've been wondering what we do all day.....here are a few of our favourite things lately:

Unloading and loading our bookshelf has been a big part of our daily routine. Over and over and over again. Then when Alexis tires of that.... she hands me a book pats it and looks at me longingly. So we read it. Then I put it down. She picks it back up hands it to me and signs 'more'. How can I say no?!?
And so, we read it again. And again. And again. Until she hands me another book and we read that one. She has also started to read the books on her own and I sometimes hear her 'talking' as she reads or doing the things that we do when we read together like kiss the puppies noses in her puppy book, or stick out her tongue like the cat in her cat book. I mean really.....how cute is that?!? Bottom line is....she loves her books!!


Our new place has a window with a ledge that sits at a perfect height for Alexis to stand and look out. She stands there and sings or talks about whatever her little heart desires. She points at the birds that fly by and says 'bir' (does that count as her first word?!?). Recently she has started pointing at random things and saying 'wassat'....it's so cute it melts my heart! 

We try to get out of the house everyday....either to go to the swings or walk along the seawall. I can tell she loves these outings because the girl sings the entire way as she waves to everyone she sees! I get so many comments from passersby about how 'someone is happy' or 'what a pretty little voice she has'. I wish I could get it on video but I swear she has a sixth sense because whenever i take my phone out and get it ready she stops then I put it away and she starts again. You get the picture. So I haven't gotten it yet....gotta keep trying! 

Also we have passed a fairly big milestone.....as of April 11th Alexis has officially been longer out than in. Yes that's right friends, I got bored the other day and calculated her age in weeks and discovered she is 41 weeks old.....which is as long as she was cozied up in her mama's belly! 


This revelation got me feeling a little reflective on how far we've come. Now don't get me wrong I have loved every stage and tried to be as present as I can through the sleep deprivation and hormones etc, but I have to admit that 9 months seems to be the most fun so far. Alexis is communicating more and more every day. We are teaching her sign language ( I think we are up to 8 or 9 signs that she can do and understand) but she also adds her own flair with hand gestures that may not necessarily be by the book, but they certainly get her point across.  She's such a happy baby (most of the time)....which makes me a pretty lucky mama! She brings out the silly side in me because everything I do is funny....and it's so much fun to make her laugh. She thinks it's hilarious when I put her bunny slippers on her monkey and gets that good baby belly laugh when I blow raspberries on her neck (or she returns the favour for that matter). It's the little things. Overall she's a pretty awesome baby.  I'll have to remember this next time she wakes up ready to play at 4am or when we are in the midst of the next round of teething. 

♥ Lindsay

This is the new normal

So you may have noticed I have been MIA for the past few months. What's new, you ask? Well in short; A LOT!! Our lives have been filled with painting, packing, decorating....and all that comes with moving. Add to this a nutso work schedule for the hubby, a baby to take care of and to top it all off a 5 day taste of life as a single mom (much love and respect to all you single mommas out there) while Ty was away in Mexico for a Bachelor party. Let me tell you at the end of it all I could have slept for a week....now that I think about it...a week long nap still sounds pretty good! We are now in our new house which means a new layout to get used to and  learning how to use a whole new set of appliances. A new neighbourhood which means new routines, new parks, baby groups, and of course a new starbucks.....that's a lot of 'new' for this creature of habit!
 The other gamechanger moment in our lives came on February 4th when baby girl learned to crawl.....and she hasn't stopped moving since. Not only is she crawling.....but also pulling up and cruising on anything she could get her little hands on. She is still trying to figure out what will hold her and what will buckle under her weight, so I anticipate a few bumps and bruises as she tests her limits! Now don't get me wrong, I am so proud of my sweet girl, but must admit I secretly wished she would have waited until after the move to get mobile. I would have gotten things done a lot faster if I wasn't constantly having to pull her off of teetering stacks of boxes or repack boxes that she so 'helpfully' unpacked as soon as I turned my back. It was a challenging few months and I just couldn't wait for things to get back to normal! Time just kept flying by and for awhile I fell into the trap of 'if I can just get past this, then I will be able to get back to doing the things I enjoy'.....then something else would happen to throw me off again. Like finally getting all the boxes unpacked and feeling like I could get some time to relax and having the washer not working, the dishwasher leak and having a week of dealing with repair men visiting and restoration fans and dehumidifiers going 24/7.....which in turn threw off Alexis' sleep schedule BIG time (she couldn't possibly sleep and miss watching the plumber repair our supply line to the dishwasher.....that's exciting stuff, don't ya know?!?). 
"Uggghh....there just always seems to be something that throws off my routine. It's so frustrating! I just want things back to normal" I said to Ty last night. 
His reply was something like this...."Of course there is always something. That's life. Things are constantly changing, there is no 'back to normal', you just have to deal with what comes your way and adapt. Then it will change again and that's ok, you figured it out before and you will do it again"
Sigh.....there's a reason I love this man. So rational....especially in moments when I am SO not rational! 
He helped me come to a huge realisation;

This is normal, this is life and we are living the new normal. 
So I need to adjust expectations and adapt to these changes. Rather than giving up on doing the things I love and miss...I have to find time to fit them in! So I am starting here, with a blog post that I may not be able to write start to finish in one sitting with no interruptions like I used to, but hey....that's what the save button is for right?!? Just because I can't finish a blog in one sitting doesn't mean I should avoid doing it altogether! So it may take me a week, or I may luck out and be able to finish in one naptime....who knows?! But, as all things do.... it will get done. And finding balance in life will always be challenging, but all I can do its try my best and remember at the end of the day how lucky I am to see this smiling face every day!
♥ Lindsay
(For the record; this didn't take me a week, or one naptime. It was somewhere right in the middle....and that's just fine!)