building blocks

All 3 kids have been really into building blocks lately.  They were using our Jenga game, but Jeff was worried some pieces would get lost (what?!?  in this house? not possible).  Now we stick with using actual building blocks. 

 I think Leah is a future architect...she designed and built this all by herself.  Who wouldn't love a building balanced on top of a narrow column?

 

And down it goes!

(and I have to say, she managed to get it taller than I thought she would based on the design!)

Leah's new baby doll

On Leah's Christmas list was a new baby doll of her own, preferably with yellow hair.  And so this little cutie was under the tree on Christmas morning.  Leah has named her baby Rella.  The doll's actual name is baby Stella, Jillian has a cute bald version of baby Stella and we have quite a collection of the accessories so baby Rella fits in quite nicely.  And wouldn't you know Santa even brought Leah and baby Rella matching nightgowns!

Birthday girl

At the end of December, just a few days after Christmas, Jillian turned 6.  Six years old.  Where is the time going?  It seems like just yesterday I met this little person...

Our night in the hospital was so peaceful and is one of my absolute favourite memories.  With both Kyle and Leah I was a full room with 3 other moms (all 3 times in the hospital I requested private/semi-private, and all 3 times there were none available).  With Jillian, even though I was put into a large ward room we were the only ones in there.  I remember we were at the end of the hall so it was relatively quiet, and because Jillian was my second baby and we were doing fine the nurses pretty much left us alone.  It was really nice.  Just me and my sweet baby girl.

And now I see this beautiful face every morning (when I pull back the covers that is...she tends to hide in the morning when she hears me coming!)

Jillian is such a sweatheart, everyone from neighbours to friends of mine to her teachers seem to think so as well.  She is a very determined little girl, who puts all her effort into school, gymnastics, being a good sister and friend and her hobbies like arts and crafts.  She is an excellent student at school, especially this year as she is in grade 1 and started french immersion.  Jillian is picking up french faster than I could have imagined...she loves it.  In the past few months she has learned how to read in french, ice skate and gotten her ears pierced.  Even though she is getting older, Jillian is still my girly-girl who loves dresses, pink, sparkly things and all things princess (although Barbie seems to be coming up a close second these days).

According to Jillian here are her current favourites...
colour: pink
tv show: princess shows
movie: Tangled
class in school: activities, specifically cutting and gluing
game: princess games, dressup
things to do outside: patiner, construire un bonhomme de neige et faire une fort (answered in french so I typed them in french...skating, build a snowman and make a fort)

To celebrate we had a birthday party at the gym where we do gymnastics.  Jillian had a lot of fun with her friends (and Leah who joined in the action). 

Aunt Chris and Uncle Sam were at Jillian's party (along with my future niece/nephew!)

A barbie cake was requested so I tried my very best and here is the result.  Jillian was thrilled, that's the important thing!

Overall a very successful day.  Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!!

my favourite Christmas present

This is the best Christmas present I received this year.  Jeff bought me a Pandora charm bracelet, and not only did he pick a beautiful charm for me but he let each of the kids pick one as well.  I wear it every day and it makes me smile every time I look at it...I'm looking forward to eventually (far, far in the future) having a full charm bracelet full of memories.

Here is what each person picked out for me:
Kyle - snake (because snakes are cool)
Jillian - flower with gold insert (because it's beautiful)
Leah - heart (because she loves me...awwww)
Jeff - black and white enamel flower

growing up so fast!

I can't believe how grown up Leah is these days!

* fully potty trained during the day (we don't even use pullups at naptime anymore)
* goes to the bathroom all by herself most of the time, I made sure to put little stepstools in all the bathrooms so she can reach everything
* gets dressed all by herself sometimes...socks, pants, shirt...the whole deal.  And outdoor stuff too (gotta love the toddler coat flip!)
* fine motor skills are progressing, now she draws circles with dots for eyes and nose and a line for a mouth, sometimes even adds arms and legs!  And she's started doing some tracing of her name, I do the dots and she tries to trace (we are still a long way off actually making the letters legible, but she enjoys trying which is great)
* gets her own snacks from the snack cuppard
* is going to bed much better than before (still room for improvement mind you, but at least now she'll stay in bed by herself for some time without me laying down beside her)

There's also some funny things, which are mostly due to her being a 3rd child with siblings who are a bit older.  For example I was told by her preschool teacher she must leave her silly bandz at home (she must have put some on before we left and I hadn't noticed, oops).  Also, Leah requested some "skinny jeans" just like Jillian and I couldn't resist so she has a pair of cute jeggings which are comfortable and super adorable on her (much more fun to dress my girls than myself...they look good in everything!).  So yeah, I am now that mom with the 2 year old at preschool in skinny jeans and silly bandz.  I always hated when I saw little kids dressed beyond their years but now I realize I shouldn't have passed judgement because when there are older siblings around sporting the latest trends, the little ones pick it up too.  However most of the time she still looks like a sweet young preschooler, which I love.

seriously?

Kyle has lost a few items at school over the years, including an entire binder of pokemon cards which he left on the bus.  Some items have been found (a book left on the bus was returned by the bus driver).  And others are lost for good.  Despite this Kyle has still chosen to bring beyblades to school ("because everyone is playing with them Mom").  Well, they are his own toy and also relatively inexpensive so I said okay.  And things have been going fine until today, when Kyle came off the bus quite upset because he had...wait for it...lost a beyblade.  As much as I hated seeing him upset, I also think it was a good life lesson.  We had several discussions about how things sometimes get lost at school and it was his choice to bring them despite the possible consequences.  He also knows I will not be replacing the lost beyblade.  Yes, a good life lesson.

Or so I thought until about 10 minutes ago when Kyle came to me and asked if he could take his Nintendo dsi to school.  His $150 dsi.

What I wouldn't give to live a day in the life of Kyle to see what exactly goes on in that super smart but puzzling brain of his!

waking up

I am not a morning person.  At all.  Not even a little bit.  So it's no surprise this was passed down to at least one of my children.  I had this conversation with Jillian, my 16 6 year old...

me: time to get up Jillian!
J: *groan* and pulls blanket over her head
me: I know it's tough to wake up, but it's time to get up for school
J: NO
me: ok, how about you stay in here for a few more minutes while I have a shower?
J: ok
me: and then you'll get up when I come back
J: maybe (in a very grumpy voice I might add)

But by the time I returned she was ready to get up and dressed.  I've found giving her this few minutes to stay in bed after the initial wake up call usually helps.  She's even gotten better at making her breakfast decision and sticking to it once made (we had a few frustrating mornings of tears when I put the requested breakfast in front of her, only to learn she had changed her mind...too bad, so sad sweetie!).