Tis' The Season

Willow went to go and get her photos taken with Santa which took a couple of hours (as to be expected).

 We waited and waited and waited for Santa and we were finally at the top of the list. Then Santa(s) shift was over had to get freshened up so we had to wait another half hour. Willow at this time was getting pretty impatient. So by the time she got to meet the "Jolly old St.Nick" she was pretty unimpressed. I think Santa had other things on his mind too because he did not want to be there. lol so this is the photo we got.

Willow and Santa the convict

After being at the mall for way too long we were happy to get home and visit with Willows Great Grandparents, Grandparents and her "Aunties & Uncle". Willow got very very spoiled by all of them. Seriously the amount of presents she received was insane. Soooo blessed to have so many people love and spoil my little babe.

J along with our best friends and I headed over to a pals house to enjoy a couple of cocktails.

After a couple of drinks we all moved on to our local watering hole. We continued to drink way too many beverages.

We all have the creepiest eyes

  After we danced to a couple of songs, laughed a whole bunch and told enough stories we went to another after party. For people without kiddos this would happen quite often. Well we don't go out to party to much so I was feeling way extra silly. We had so much fun and I felt like I did pre-Willow. Spending every single waking moment with Willow is the greatest thing on this earth but I enjoyed having a free night to let loose. Thanks to all who I blabbed to and a huge thank you to my momma for babysitting.

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas was extra special this year as we had a special addition to our family. The holidays seem to have that special spark when there are kiddo's around to spoil and love. As Willow grows and becomes more aware of how spoiled she is it will be that much more fun! Maybe she will even have a new brother/sister or cousin(s) to share the goods with (I'm not pregnant).






For Christmas Eve we drove out to my parents to spend the afternoon with my dads side of the family. Willow hadn't met anyone except for my Grandma and J hadn't met any of my cousins yet.

Willow chilling with her cousins

Grandma, Jon, Mom & Edith

We had a night full of Wii playing and baby adoring. Oh and mom made a huge delicious feast which was devoured in minutes. Grandma brought so many presents as prizes for all of the winning Wii players. I am terrible at things like this so J did all the winning for Willow and I. I should have taken more pictures, whoops.

After the fam left we decided to open up our prezzies because we had to get moving early in the morn on Christmas day.

Daddy looooovin' his new shirt

Every family has the present hoarder. She collects all of her presents and waits until the very end to open them all. My mom has that title in our fam :p

My broski

Cute lil momma

J loving his new read

I come by my weirdness honestly

Girls Nights

We just had the greatest week filled with soooo many family and friends! It all started with a little girls night Willow and I went to at an old friends house. It was so nice to reconnect and see all the new little additions to our group.

The next night a group of girls and some of our moms went out for a fabulous dinner and than headed to The Nutcracker Ballet. I have always wanted to go and was super excited when my girlfriend Bre tossed the idea out there. We all had such a fantastic time and it totally got us in the "Christmasey mood".

Amanda, Bre & Kim

Sister in laws Kasha & Amanda (and baby K)

Debbie and Bonnie

Bonnie & Me (momma totally photo bombing in the background)

The crew minus Debbie and Me

My mom and I

The ballerina's :p

After the ballet my best friend Bonnie, her mom Debbie, my mom and I snuck away to Baked Expectations and devoured some late night coffees/lattes and cake.

We probably over did it and felt like barfing after words but we had too much fun chatting and filling our faces.

We Took A Little Road Trip To Saskatoon

Last weekend J, Willow and my sister in law Sarah went to Saskatoon to go and introduce Willow to her Great Grandma & Grandpa, Great Auntie & Uncle and cousins. I had a feeling my heart would melt when Willow first met her Great Grandpa Henry...

Willow & Great Grandpa Henry

And it did. He is so proud of his very first Great Grandchild. We went for dinner in his retirement home and he beamed with pride while holding her out for all to see. I think everyone in the room turned their heads to watch the glowing gramps with his sweet Great Grandbabe. We heard lots of ooohs and ahhhs and Willow got very many compliments about how cute and well behaved she is. So adorable.

After dinner we headed over to Willows Great Aunt & Uncles house. Willows little cousin Anna had been waiting for weeks to get to play with a real live baby!!

Willow and cousin Anna

Between Willows adoring cousins Jesse & Anna and her Great Grandpa Henry I don't think she was left alone for a second. She loved every second of it!

Willow, Cousin Anna, & Cousin Jesse

The next day we went for lunch at Great Grandpa's place and then made our way on over to Great Grandma's home. Great Grandma loved meeting her Great Grandchild too.

Great Grandma Cora, Daddy and Willow

Auntie Sarah and Willow

Great Grandpa Henry, Ginger, Auntie Sarah, Great Grandma Cora, Daddy & Willow

I turned to mush the moment Henry took Cora's hand and walked down the hallway with her. It is so nice to see such long lasting true love, it's pretty rare these days.

After a nice day with Great Grandma & Grandpa we went to Auntie Julie and Uncle D's house for some din. We then relaxed and filled our bellies with slurpees and pounds of candy. We digested while adoring Willow.

I love these moments (which happens often) when I look around and everyone is doting oh baby Willow. She is loved by so many

The Sunday we went back for lunch with Great Grandpa and then headed over to Great Grandmas to get as much visiting in as possible. Great Grandma was in such a great mood and played Willow her harmonica. 

 

We had such a fabulous weekend with the family and are very much looking forward to our next visit. I love that we have such a great family to make such warm memories with.

Teething

We are going through the not so fun phase of teething. She wakes up just screaming from pain and I feel so bad for my poor girl. One minute she is her normal over the top happy self and the next she is in misery. Poor little thing.

Little princess

This picture makes me laugh. Is that mean?

We are all looking forward to this phase to be over with but it's just the beginning! J & I have been extremely spoiled with such a happy little babe so to see her fuss at all makes us overwhelmed and sad for her.

Here's to happy gums this holiday season!!

Santa Claus Came To Town

It never ceases to amaze me just how cold winter can be in Manitoba. I have lived here for 20 something years and I just can't dress warm enough for the temps. Last weekend we braved the cold and took Willow to her first parade. 

Oh nooo, my husband is starting to dress like my father

The boys and I

Uncle Gorgeous

Aunty Houde and my momma

And last but certainly not least baby Willow! I think the poor thing was frightened as every float seemed to be a huge truck or tractor blowing their horns. I am sure she will be a little more amused next year :)

Dear Willow (5 Months)

Dear Willow,

I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to write you a four month post. In these past couple of months you have seen and accomplished so much! We moved half way across Canada from where you and your daddy were born to where your mama was born. It took awhile for you to adjust to the move, it was pretty chaotic but we are now fully settled into our new home. Well, maybe settled isn't a good word as we drive to your grandparents house every weekend. As the holidays approach we are very busy visiting with all of our families and friends. Speaking of friends you have met a lot of new ones! You are very likeable and people just want to be in your presence, can't blame them really.

We are having so much fun watching you grow. It's pretty amazing watching someone so pure and innocent explore everything for the first time. Daddy still has 3 1/2 months of parental leave so he gets to enjoy every single second with you! We are pretty lucky.

This month we get to celebrate your first Christmas!!! EEEE!!! Christmas seems to be even more special when there are little ones around to spoil. Come on Aunties and Uncles, we want some cousins to share your toys with ;)

At 5 months....

 - You have the biggest, most beautiful smile in the world. You always put your tongue at the roof of your mouth and smile with your whole face. It's totally contagious.

- Your laugh is hilarious. It might alarm some as it sounds like you are choking.

- You are extremely ticklish just like your daddy. You are most ticklish under your arms and underneath your chins.

- You love being on your back. You flail those arms and legs like nobody's business.

- You definitely have a daily routine. You wake at 9:30, daddy changes your bum and brings you into the living room to play with your toys on either your exersaucer or princess bed. Nap at 11:30 for a half hour to an hour and than play play play. You go for another nap at 3:30 and sleep for 3 hours. Than play play play. Your evening routine varies. You usually don't go down until 10:30pm, sometimes you want to just cuddle on the couch until midnight. And then bedtime! You wake twice for food, usually at 3:30am and 7am.

-For parents who said they weren't going to spoil you, you are sure spoiled. You run the show around these parts. You make up your own routine and we just work around it.

-You eat every fours hours, and are still exclusively breastfed. We tried to give you a banana rice snack but you don't like them much. Mama went out for a holiday party and daddy bought you back up formula but you would not drink it.

- You have 2 favorite toys, your donkey and some funny looking teething toy that Nate and B got you.

- You drool A LOT!!

- The next best thing to being in mama or daddies arms to fall asleep is definitely your swing.

- You are a huge fan of blankies and bring them right up to your face when you are about to fall asleep.

- We use the "stork bite" on your forehead to determine how tired you are. If you are really tired or upset it goes bright red. It kind of looks like you have unibrow.

- You wear 6 month shirts and onesies. 6-9 month pants.

-You wear size 3 diapers.

- At 4 1/2 months you weighed 15lbs 4ozs and were 29inches long.

- Bath time is definitely your fave. You LOVE being naked and splashing about.

- You are a very happy baby, you cry if you are hungry or over tired.

- you love looking at yourself in the mirror.

- You now roll over.

- You recently started playing shy.

- You are a back crawler. We have to be very careful now because you get around pretty quick on your back.

-You are kind of getting the hang of your jolly jumper.

- You tried baby yoga a couple of times which we really enjoyed and have had a couple of play dates

- You just found your feet and will not let them go. You find hands to be pretty interesting too.

- Lily and Maple make you laugh. Their barks are pretty funny. You like the feel of Timbits fur.

- You won't go to sleep without your soother unless you are in your mama's arms.

- You still can only handle three books in a row and than you are over it. They have to have lots of bright pictures!

- Glama & Pop Pop find the best way to get you to stop fussing is the tv. Bad habits already lol

- You are the best little traveler.

Willows little friends. Youngest to oldest

Ahhh life is good

We love you to the moon and back little Willow xoxoxo