Day 11 - Family dinner

This is how we had family dinner 'together' tonight......I laughed the whole way through it. I think you can see why.  Incase you can't, notice 'larger than life size head' at end of table ;)

Day 10 - Morning sunshine

Day 9 - Constantly in Motion

Constantly in motion and smiling. 5 words that describe this boy perfectly.

Other words that also describe him are, 'don't love getting my picture taken'. So blurry and all, I'll take what I can get.

{pics taken at our traditional holiday 'kinda gym' day today.  It never gets old}

Day 8 - Love

Pure Love

10 weeks 3 days

What we know about you so far........

You sleep through the night from 8:30pm to 6am

You LOVE LOVE LOVE having a bath

You are super relaxed 

You live by the baby motto 'sleep, eat, play, repeat'. Awesome. 

You love to lye on your play mat and look around

You throw up all.the.time (but this is getting a bit better thanks to infacol)

You smell like a little piece of heaven (when you first come out of the bath and don't have spew all over you ;)
 You put yourself to sleep
You sleep on your tummy during the day
Sometimes you like the dummy

You feed from me and the bottle
You are turning into a butter ball (love it) 

You love play time
You like being on your tummy (unlike Jazzy who did NOT like tummy time at all)

You make us smile everyday. 

You are LOVED! So loved!

oh and I'm pretty sure I'm your favourite :)

Day 7 - Free Range.....

at the farm on Sunday afternoon

What she left in. Not what she arrived in :)

Day 6 - Late night reading

My favourite spot in the house.

Chad-Dad

This is how her little face lights up when she's talking to you on (camera-less) skype........

 so cute watching her excitement!!

5 year old style

This is what Zahn wore to school yesterday........

I won't lie. There was a time that I would NOT have let him wear this little ensemble to school (the photo REALLY doesn't do it  justice - it looks quite hilarious). Especially since it's too small in all the wrong places (think one-piece people), it's the fluro-est green you've ever seen, and it doesn't even reach his ankles (I at least made him change his bright red stripy socks he tried to wear with it :) Oh, and it's spandex. Nice ;)

But how can I deny such an innocent happy face. And he really is both of those things. Innocent and happy.

I was sitting in the car laughing so much as I watched him dance his way to the school gate thrilled with his 'Pirate Skeleton' costume (with Michael Jackson socks exposed) for his kindergarten 'sound day'. It made me laugh even harder when I saw other parents walk past, look at his outfit and start smiling (you know the smirking kind of smile that says, 'wow that's some outfit'. Then one of the mums I know saw me and as our eyes met she gave me a knowing chuckle like, '"yeah I know what it's like to send your kids out in public when they dress themselves"......

One day he will look back on the pictures I took and ask WHY? WHY? Just like I do when I see pictures of my 5 year old self with the biggest fringe imaginable and bright blue corduroy pants (love you mum :)

As I drove home I thought about all the things I learn from my kids. Like how something as simple as letting them choose their own outfits not only 'keeps the peace in our home' but also gives them confidence in the decisions they make. They help me to realise that it's more important to give THEM the 'power to choose' rather than make all their decisions for them. Even if it's not what I would choose.

They help me to appreciate individuality and to recognise what is most important.

And my son going to school feeling happy and good about himself is way up there on my list of important things!!

Day 5 - While the cats away.......

the mice play......

Or in other words........While the boys are at school Jasmin gets into all their things :)

Day 4 - Independence

......Who needs to wait for mum's help when I can help myself to uncut seconds.....

These pictures crack me up because unlike her brothers (who want all their fruit cut up and will wait for me to do it ) Jasmin is happy to help her little self to whatever it is she fancies while I'm fixing Lily up in the other room :)

Love how intensely she's scraping every last bit of melon off that skin!

day 3 - Finished

I've always thought the idea of silhouetting your kids and putting them on the wall was a really cute idea.

Now that I've actually done it for myself I no longer think it's just 'cute'. I think it is the BEST.idea.EVER and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE them.

 If you haven't already done this (I'm sure many bloggers have:) you should. It would be impossible for you NOT to love seeing your babies captured this way. And If you do, you will then understand exactly what "Lucky Holly" meant when she said, "this is too special to be in my home". Her words could not describe more perfectly how I felt when I saw them finished.

ps) for the life of me I could not flip this photo on the.slowest.laptop.in.the.world that I am currently working on. When my IT guy gets home it will be flipped :) 

pss) to make the silhouettes it's really easy. I took a photo of the kids profiles (this part was not so easy ;) printed it out from my computer. cut it out. traced it onto black cardboard. cut it out again, mounted it on paper (I used a cream linen paper), framed it, and vwala! done.

day 2 - shifts

Morning shift

Ironing and lego play on the floor

Afternoon shift

Ironing and playgym time on the floor

Same task. Different time. Different girls.


One day these little girls might actually sleep at the same time :)

rain-check

Not as in let's check the rain outside....rain-check as in my computer is broken and Chad's not here to fix it (noooooooooooo) so I can't access any of my pics or editing software (noooooooooooo) which means my '30 days of the everyday" will have to wait (nooooooooooo)......

I will be back as soon as I can!!

ps) Chad - I didn't do ANYTHING to the computer......HONESTLY.....I just tried to turn it on and it wouldn't boot up.......haven't we had this problem before???? I wish you were here to fix it!!!!! How will I survive without   it  you ;)

30 days

With Chad off exploring the world (ok he's actually away working.....if you can call visiting places like THIS 'working' ;) I thought this was the perfect time to do a modified version of THIS project.

30 days of the everyday. Simple little things that are apart of my life. A moment that could easily be forgotten if not captured and recorded through the lens of my camera.

The first one is of busy hands playing with "lickstip" (strawberry chap stick from aunty Mely) and playdoh. Two serious loves and time fillers for this little girl.

Hats and beaches

"I'm ready for the beach now mummy. Got my bag and hat. Let's go" said in sweet voice with angelic face looking up at me.....

for all the feist this girl has been showing lately she sure knows how to flash her cuteness when she wants something. Or just when she's happy :)

Even when the answer was "not today, we'll go when the boys are home" she managed to keep smiling :)

 If however this conversation had happened between the hours of 5 and 7pm it may have been a different story :)

can't you just see the mischief in those little sparkly eyes!!

Pictures and a proclamation

“Whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children and you must hug your children and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house". home.

("Text of Mrs. Bush's Speech," Washington Post, June 2, 1990)

Thanks to a little bloggy inspiration from Chocolate on my cranium and her celebration of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, here's my rendition of a photo essay with words that I LOVE from the proclamation and pictures of my family!

It seems really special to put these two things together!

----------------------------

"Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children"

"All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God"

"Each has a divine nature and destiny"

 

"The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave"

"Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally"

"We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force"

"We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed"

"We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan"

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children"

"Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another"

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ"

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities"

"Fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness"

"Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children"

"Fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners"

 "The family is ordained of God"

Washing

All this from one night.......

3 x jumpsuits
3 x clip up onesies
5 x bibs
2 x wraps
2 x shirts (mine)
2 x pillow cases
1 x washer
1 x queen sheet

AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH (that's like a frustrated aaarrggg and not like a pirate aaarrrrgghh ;)

Who knew someone so little (and cute :) could make such a big mess. OK I did already know that from my previous babies but Lily definitely gets the prize for the best (or worst :) 'spewer' (charming word I know....but that's what it is :)

So, To my sister'n'law Leah, I lied when I said I would hardly use my new dryer because I 'like' hanging clothes out on the line. The dryer is my new best friend :)

Play time

Although I love teeny tiny newborns (especially when they sleep all day and don't have colic ;) I also love watching them grow and seeing their little personalities evolve. 

I love seeing the wonder in their eyes as they begin to discover the world around them and as they really start to interact and play.

 

 {curiosity} the desire to learn and know.

How appropriate for a baby getting acquainted with her toys.

Father's Day

This could be a post about how Chad is a really great dad. Or how he is WAY more fun with the kids than me. Or how he lets them do things that I don't. Or how he makes them laugh when they cry (which totally doesn't work for me). Or how all 3 of the 'big' kids fight over who is going to sit next to him at the dinner table EVERY night. Or how the kids don't prefer me over him (sniff sniff). Or how he takes Jasmin out bike riding with just the 2 of them because she LOVES it. Or how he has tea parties with her on her bedroom floor and gets her brothers to join in. Or how the kids all idolize him and tell me HE knows everything. 

But my time is limited so I'll just post a few pics and let them do the talking......

 Happy Fathers day Chad! Thanks for being the kind of dad I hope our sons grow up to be!!