A few pics!

Well, it has been a long time since last posting... I was having some issues with it for some reason and then never got back to it! But I thought I should put up a few pictures of our little cutie pie!

 She likes to play around on our bed obviously!

 Here she is, konked out after a late night out apparently! This is a hand me down from her cousin Via that we loved!

 She also got to wear some of my baby clothes, so here she is modeling one of my favorites!

 Momma's little helper!

 Those thighs - gotta love them! And yes, she has mastered going up the stairs (a few months ago now)... the coming down part less so! She is working on walking and standing... not so confident with it yet, so Davis' hoped for early walking at 7 months never happened!

 Snuggling with her daddy!

 She loves music - she will kneel or stand and rock back and forth to the beat when there is a song playing!

 She also loves her little lion that she received as a present, getting very excited when it is given to her, waking up still holding it... basically dragging it around with her all day... :)

 She's becoming a little poser (and her hair is a little to long to stay down now, so she gets a cute little ponytail!

 And we got this picture of her and Via modelling their adorable matching dresses! Love them!!

Easter 2014

Happy 4....in this decade!

We had a great time celebrating with pie...coconut cream, banana cream, lemon meringue and strawberry pie with whip cream.  It was also a real treat to be James, Elizabeth and Daina Melody with us.

March/mid April update

Here are the long awaited pics of Kayla and her new specs! We found out just before her birthday that she has a severe astigmatism so she needed glasses and has to wear them all the time.

We ended up having to order in special frames for her because her face is so small! But I think they turned out pretty cute:-)

The glasses seem to have helped alot of her clumsiness...and I guess what remains we can blame on genetics (I blame Mark...he blames me...my family knows who's right. Lol).

She really does see a difference though as she herself does not want to go without them. She's always loved doing her schoolwork but since the glasses, I've seen a huge change in her ability to focus for longer periods of time and also not hovering over the books etc. Probably helps alot when you can actually see it!!! So she is progressing academically in leaps and bounds - making the move from tracing to forming most letters all on her own (including writing her name!) and also going in her free time and picking up simple books like Hop on Pop, Bob Books, etc and reading them all on her own!

And of course the main reason she probably likes them...they are a built in fashion accessories which helps to complete her outfits;-) She is always about the accessories and can never let someone's jewelry, shoes, or outfit go unnoticed!

In March we also took care of the hair situation for this not-so-little guy...I thought he might have shed a pound or two but a visit to the scale this morning shows that this was not the case. He is only 3 pounds lighter than Kayla (she weighed 34 lbs for those interested)! She was off the charts for her height at her 3 year old check up at 40 inches tall (but scarily he is only 2 inches shorter than her!!!).

In the first week of April, we transitioned Canaan into his big boy bed. We figured since he is the size of a 3 year old...the crib probably wasn't the most comfortable place to be! He loves his bed, and has been behaving great in it! No getting out yet (fingers crossed!) - but with the bed rail on, it helps!:-)

This pic makes me think of that Sesame Street song..."one of these things just doesn't belong here...one of these things just isn't the same!" What a face!!! Lol...but Canaan's new bed acquisition meant that Mattea got upgraded to a double! She was very excited to help pick out a new comforter for her bed... I was somewhat less excited to have to rearrange her entire room to accommodate it (perhaps because having a picnic table and an outdoor cottage in your bedroom is just a design nightmare! Lol). But after several different arrangements (which of course Mark just loved doing:-P) we managed to fit it all in quite nicely. Her cousins were quite impressed that we were able to MOVE a HOUSE! The big bed has been really nice though and we all pile on it to read together every day..."Dear Jesus, thank you for Mattea's new bed" makes it into Kayla's prayers every night:-) (that followed by "help me to be the good girl I always have to be..." - taken from Frozen:-P) Lol...

Mattea is still plugging along with her schoolwork and is excited to be finishing her Gr 1 spelling this week! She also is doing very well with her piano and theory lessons and played in her master class this month. She's played in one master class previously and her recital in December and doesn't seem to get nervous. The night before her recital she was wiggling away in bed...and said "oh Mommy I just can't sleep! I'm way too excited! I get play on the big stage and I'm going to get to bow and everything!" Lol...

The girls also started a new swimming session this month. They were also too excited to sleep for days leading up to this. Lol...Mattea was so excited for Kayla to finally get to swim (her broken arm had caused her to miss last session). So far both girls are absolutely loving it. We were worried about Kayla's obedience in the pool (she has a hard time sitting still etc) but so far she seems to be quite the little teacher's pet - the first one to volunteer for everything - including fearless leaps into the pool!

So there you have it! You're all caught up in the lives of our three musketeers! I'm not doing half bad for 2014 eh?!

How....

How tall Lehman & Maryn are at 16 and 14....

 How Lehman & Maryn look in their new glasses....

Kayla's 3rd Birthday!

Kayla (and Mattea) have been counting down the days for months now and it finally arrived...Kayla's turned 3! I think the main incentive for turning 3 was that she could start swimming again (she had to miss the last session because of her broken arm)! 

In other news for Kayla - she needs glasses! We found out just a few days before her birthday! I will have to post some pics of her new specs once she gets them. Now we'll find out if she truly is a klutz or if the poor child genuinely just couldn't see properly!

She has also started to read! We began about 2 months prior to her turning 3 and she is now doing quite well and is able to read little stories and sound out lots of words. More shocking than the fact that she sits still long enough to have learned this, is the fact that she even COULD do it, after finding out that she can't see things clearly! So proud of her, she's really growing up fast!

Here she was with her birthday cereal. It was not her first choice...but Lucky Charms are forbidden in this house due to the fact that I refuse to pay for an entire box of cereal of which my children only pick out the marshmallows. Reeses was a good default, and were consumed in their entirety:-) 

She chose Frozen as the theme for her party this year - all our kids are completely obsessed, to the point that Canaan thinks that the colour white is called "Let it go" and will burst into song if you ask him "what colour is this" - why? because his book has a snowman on the "white" page and clearly it must be Olaf;-)

I started hunting for Frozen items months prior to her party, but to no avail! I couldn't even find a paper plate with the characters on it, but she had her little mind set on an Elsa cake! I am no miracle maker so I knew if I couldn't find a toy figurine...it wasn't happening! I finally found a set online at Toys R Us and ordered it. It arrived at 4:30 pm on the Friday before her party! Talk about cutting it close!

I never did find any plates or napkins, but I got even better! A brother in law in the print industry who graciously printed posters and made placemats for us! Combined with my crazy scissor skills (or not!! lol), we managed to get some decorations up:-)

Here was the sweets table - oreos dipped in white chocolate and coloured sugar, marshmallows dipped in the same:-) and fun candy that just went with the colours:-)

And of course the cake - it always stresses me out to do it, but I was really happy with how this one turned out! The "ice" was homemade candy, and I used royal icing to make snowflakes to give dimension. And then of course - my figurines! Thank goodness they made it! Oh and in case you think I'm insane for making such a gargantuan cake...the bottom layer is fake;-) so really its 3 layers of 8 inch rounds, and then 2 layers of small rounds:-)

She was pretty happy with the end result:-) But to be honest...I think her uncle's placemats and posters may have trumped my cake...she is attributing all her party decor to her uncle. Apparently I had nothing to do with it. Tell that to my cramping hand after cutting out a million paper snowflakes!

 And the inside - my first attempt at zebra stripes. It looked better in the 3 layer part of the cake, but I forgot to get a picture and gave away the leftovers! Lol

All in all it was a great day celebrating our sweet Kayla!

February Update

I'm happy to report that February was a much quieter month than January was, and thankfully no more trips to the emergency room!

 This not-so-little monster turned 18 months old...

And on his 18 month checkup we found out that weighing in at 30 lbs, and measuring 38 inches tall...he is in the 50th percentile. For a THREE year old. He grew 3 inches in 3 months. That would explain why he already out eats his sisters! and why all his size 2 pants look like floods! He's a beast!

Maybe the 3 inches has to do with his hair?!

Sisterly love on Valentines day:-)

And Mattea finished another level of swimming!