sisters

For all 3 of my pregnancies we decided to keep the gender a surprise (it was hard sometimes but overall I'm happy we waited each time).  With Kyle and Jillian I had absolutely no preference of gender for the baby, and more importantly had no inklings/suspicions/general feelings as to boy or girl for either pregnancy.

But with the third pregnancy I had both.  I had a strong feeling it was a girl...but kept it mainly to myself since I figured I was probably wrong!  I also really wanted the baby to be a girl.  And not because I think girls are better and I wanted 2 of them, my preference was purely based on convenience and economics.   With Kyle being 7 years older than the baby and Jillian only 3 years older, I felt a little girl would fit into our family better.  Economically I knew having a girl would be better with hand-me-downs.  What little of Kyle's clothing was able to be handed down (he was rough on clothes!) had already been given away to friends with younger boys.  Jillian's clothes however were all sitting nicely in bins in my basement!

For the longest time in our house I referred to the "big kids" and the "baby".  But over the past year or so that has changed.  Now it's Kyle and the girls.  Jillian and Leah play together quite nicely, um, well most of the time at least.  Let's just say Jillian can be quite bossy and impatient with her little sister at times, but overall they are good playmates and great friends.  They both enjoy playing with baby dolls, barbies and littlest pet shop...they both love arts and crafts...and Kyle is now outnumbered when it comes to choosing movies to watch (barbie and princess movies are often voted on 2-1!).

Having a little sister of my own (hi Chris!) has made me appreciate the relationship Jillian and Leah share.  I can only hope they grow up to be great friends as well.

Having a sleepover in Leah's room

The girls decided to dress up a gymnast pirates (I don't know what that is either, but they had fun jumping around and saying "arrrrrgh")

April 2004 - Jillian meeting Leah for the first time with a big smile on her face...she was so excited to be a big sister!

traditions

It's always nice to have annual traditions.  One of ours is the Binder Twine Festival with my Mom, Aunt Jean and Aunt Dee.  This year Kyle wasn't able to make it due to a birthday party, a sleepover party...ah, the life of a tween where social obligations will begin taking precedence over family.  And Kyle isn't even my social butterfly, I don't even want to think about Jillian's social life as a tween/teen (it's still 3-4 years away, I'll just pretend it isn't going to happen until then!). 

We had our usual fun day, visiting my Aunt and Uncle at their booth and walking around enjoying the last of the warm summer weather. 

 Afterwards we headed to my Mom and Dad's house to visit with my adorable niece Alicia who was visiting.  She is growing so fast, sitting up all by herself now.  I can hardly handle the cuteness when I see her!  Only another few weeks until her next visit, I can't wait.

long weekend

We spent the labour day long weekend at the cottage.  At least most of us did...Leah was sick so Jeff went ahead with Kyle and Jillian.  Leah and I joined them on Sunday so we could all enjoy fireworks together.  Since the cottage is now sold, closing is the end of this month, this was our last weekend there as a family.  We will visit again later this month to clear out the rest of our belongings, but they will be short day trips.

 We went to nearby Wasaga Beach for fireworks, the kids happily entertained themselves on the beach while we waited for the sun to go down.  It was a great way to end our summer vacation.

First day of school

It's finally here...the first day of school!  My friend recently posted the following blog post about summer moms vs. back to school moms - I'm definately a back-to-school mom. 

Here are my two kids ready for a new school year - grades 2 and 5.  It's a chilly first day so the sweaters and jackets are out which is unusual, normally the kids go off to school still in summer gear.  After getting them onto the bus Leah and headed over to the school to join in the mass chaos that is the schoolyard on the first day.  I found both kids and am very happy with each of their teachers...I'm familiar with both of them and they are both great.  Jillian even has 3 of her best friends from last year in her class again (there are 7 classes in her grade so I wasn't sure how many friends from last year would be in her class). 

Leah and I headed home and got into our normal Tuesday routine which is a morning playdate with Leah's best friend who lives on our street.  I'm definately enjoying getting back into our weekday routine.   There isn't much relaxing ahead though, the week is already filled up with errands to do, playdates for Leah and volunteering at the school.  Which once again makes me question the title "Stay-at-home-Mom"...I'm rarely able to stay at home for a whole day!

3 years ago

I was looking through old pictures and found this one I took of Jillian 3 years ago while doing a beach photo shoot with the 3 kids.  I realized Jillian was wearing the same shirt I put on Leah for the photoshoot this year and found a very similar picture with each of them...

I see how grown up Jillian is now and I can hardly imagine Leah being just as grown up in just a few short years.  Even though I feel babyhood is well behind us, I still have a chubby little preschooler who cuddles with me on the couch and gives me lots of kisses and hugs for no reason and I love it.

I'm oh so excited for Kyle and Jillian to start back at school tomorrow.  And yet I feel like I'll be crying like a baby when it's time for Leah to start school!!  There's just something about watching the last baby get older that is very bittersweet.

Hop

This was one of the top items on Kyle's wish list last year.  Sure enough it was under the tree on Christmas morning and he couldn't wait to try it out.  But getting a fun outdoor toy in the middle of winter isn't too much fun so it sat in the garage for quite some time. 

Recently Kyle discovered it again and has been hopping away ever since.  He started out only being able to get a few hops in each time.  And now he's into the hundreds before he falls over!

self sufficiency

I've been quite impressed with my kids the past couple of days.  While I definately do a lot for my kids on a day to day basis, apparently I've also been able to instill some sense of self sufficiency as well.  I've been out of commission the past 2 days due to a bad cold that developed into laryngitis (which came along with flu like symptoms - fun!).  Last night I was laying on the couch, not able to get up and of course the kids started to get hungry.  Sure enough they all ended sitting together at the kitchen table, eating a meal of cereal and milk with fruit on the side.  Kudos to Kyle who helped his sisters with the milk (changing the bag and pouring).  They all enjoyed having breakfast for dinner.  I heard several suggestions as to what it should be named including Brinner and Deakfast.

Afterwards they entertained themselves nicely.  Leah made me some soup in her play kitchen and performed a lovely dance for me to the music of Fantasia.  Kyle and Jillian decided to make up a new card game (because the bazillion Pokemon cards we have in the house just aren't enough!).  There was some cooperation and some frustration based on what I could hear, but they ended up coming up with a neat concept and started making cards for their game.

I know the very whiny "I can't do that by myself" comments will persist in our house (most often when I ask for help with some sort of chore, go figure!).  But it is nice to know they are capable of being self sufficient, when neccessary.