Hello, I am Back!

Hey Blog & Blog Friends! Remember me? Probably not, because I win for being the worst blogger of the year. Truth is, life is busy. This whole working mom thing is exhausting and I don't even work full time. When I get Willow to bed at night I am ready to veg and be a fatty face on the couch while watching every terrible reality show known to man. On the weekends I want to just hang with my family at the beach. This is life these days. I am also in the process of growing my second babe which is tough work! My pregnancy with Willow was all lollipops and ice-cream, this preg is barf & exhaustion. But I am so so so so soooooo grateful and excited for this second pregnancy, so I try not to complain too much.

I thought the good old bloggy blog was in need of a Willow update. Because let's be honest, I don't like to talk about much else. (Yes, I am still one of those boring annoying moms)

Willow at almost 23 Months (almost two, holy poopsicle)

- She loves loves LOVES books and reads them all day long. When she is in her room I love to listen to her read stories to herself. The books always sound the same "mom-mom and diddy, diddy, diddy, mom-mom" in the most sweetest high pitched enthusiastic voice.

- Willow is trying extra hard to talk and is learning new words everyday. She is nowhere near stringing a full sentence together in english but she is an old pro in Willow language. Her fave kind of Englishy words which we hear daily are Diddy (daddy), Mom-Mom, Puh puh (Maple), Eee-EEE (Lily), Bit-Bit (Timbit), Peas (please), Dank ew (thank you), uh you (love you), BinkYYYYY, Ducky, eeeeel (eagle), Bo (boat), Pish (Gold Fish) elp (help) up 
- She is extremely affectionate. She is a great snuggler and smoocher

- walking is overrated, she runs everywhere

- still loves music and dancing 

- She absolutely despises anything on her legs. Getting her to wear pants is a HUGE struggle. I only let her wear her gowns on the weekend and she is obviously happiest then. If she isn't wearing a dress she wants to be bare nudie.

- Still a great eater, she will eat just straight up spinach for a snack. I hope this holds up... forever

-Pink Pink Pink everything must be pink

- The kid loves water and is happiest at the beach. As soon as she sees the ocean she squeals with delight and runs in no matter how cold it is outside.

- Our little Willow is stubborn as hell. Temper tantrums are more frequent.

-Lip chap is this girls best friend.

- She goes to bed so well and will sometimes run to her crib on her own when she is ready for bed

- She isn't a huge toy fan just yet. She likes to put her little people princesses in a little jeep and take them for cruises. And she loves her new Mermaid. But put this kid outside and she is happiest playing with pinecones, rocks, sand, slugs, ants, dirt, crabs & flowers.

- She is wearing size 4 & 5 shoes. 18-24 month and 2t clothes.

- She is still in diapers. Some days she is great on the potty and other days not so much. She will usually tell us when she has to do a poop.

- As soon as she wakes up she has to put on her tiara.

Willow is such a happy funny little girl. She makes us smile all day long. Her enthusiasm is contagious. When I look at her my heart honestly bursts, I just love her so much!!!

Sorry for the photo overload, they are all similar but I love them all!

Aquarium Fun

The aquarium in town opened up for the season today! What a great place to spend a few hours. It is a catch and release aquarium so at the end of the season they have a big party and release their friends back into the sea.

 Willow loooooves water and was definitely not afraid to reach in the tanks and touch the anemones, starfish, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers and all the other creepy crawlers that they have. 

We bought a family pass so there may be  more than a few pictures from this fab place. 

Bye Bye Berty

We had so much fun with Uncle Berty while he was here. He helped out so much and I really would have been lost without him. Jon just got back on Saturday night and he hasn't stopped moving since. I guess Bert and I didn't organize and clean up to his standards, whoops :p. I mean it was nice out pretty much the entire time Bert was here so we had to explore a little bit. Willow and I have now seen more beaches and trails than Jon so we will have to show him around after we finish organizing. 

The thought of moving again within the year exhausts me. NO we are not moving far, we are currently in a parks house and are looking to get our own place. :) 

The Backyardigans

My favourite times of the day around here are definitely dawn & dusk. The lighting over the water is so dreamy and the seals & birds are very active. We went out back the other night and the seals were on a feeding frenzy. The poor seals have to gobble down their fish so fast as the seagulls and eagles swoop down and try to steal the fish right out of their mouths. It's a constant battle.

Beets Carrots Apples Ginger Lemon

I am a huge fan of this juice, it is definitely a favourite of mine.

Ginger ~ 2 Beets ~ 1 Lemon ~ 3 Carrots ~ 2 Apples

West Coast Update

So I think it's safe to say that my house is 75% unpacked, yeehaaaawwww!!! I am feeling a little bit more settled which feels pretty darn good. J is still away on training so his brother Berty bear has been such a great helper with EVERYTHING. He calls himself the substitute dad and I am impressed by his mad skills. I am however unimpressed by his lack of substitute husband skills, I mean, where are my neck rubs and tickle backs? Everytime I suggest either of these his eyes couldn't roll back further into his head. He has gone on tea and chocolate runs for me so I suppose he deserves a mention for that.

I have already started my job as a preschool teacher in town here. I am loving it so far. I have such a great group of kiddos who are so eager to learn. It really doesn't feel like work. Willow goes to the daycare next door and she squeals with glee when we pull into the parking lot. The teachers at daycare say that she has really opened up this past week and wants to copy all of the big girls, so sweet.

Maybe this is premature but I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with this place. We are surrounded by nature, the coast is stunning, the mountains are majestic and the people are unreal. It seems to be such a wonderful place to raise a family. It is very community orientated, every Thursday they offer a free lunch for the community to come meet up and chat about their week. I thought at the beginning it was a food bank type thing but, nope. An amazing chef, cooks up a storm for anyone to come and enjoy. Such a great idea.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with a program called Strong Start? Willow and I went for our first time last week. It is put on by the province and it's a free drop-in program for children 0-5 years and their caregivers to go and play and socialize. They provide coffee & tea for the caregivers and snacks for the kiddos. The kids are free to play, touch, read & explore with anything throughout the room. We both had so much fun and can't wait to go back again next week.

Our home is surrounded by bald eagles. The two that come back everyday in the same spot I have named Sally Jesse Raphael & Maury. The juvenile eagle is named Bronx. The Heron that hangs out on a log by the dock is named Tamari. And there are just too many seals to name. Maybe one day I will recognize one, but probably not. I love love love watching the seals hunt and play but they are awfully noisy at all hours. Willow is finally sleeping through the sounds but sometimes they wake me. I mean there are other things to complain about other than being neighbours with the sea and some of it's cute inhabitants.

I have way too many pictures to share but I am still not familiar with my new computer just yet. Soooo you'll have to wait a teeny bit, don't let the anticipation mess up with your lives.