Skating

Olivia looking after Lexie. They like to hold on to each other but they're doing that less and less.

The girls have been skating alot lately. They've got lessons on Sunday, gone to a couple public skates with Daddy and just went to a birthday party this weekend that was at at skating rink.

Check out those teeth! She's got 8 in all. There was a time when she was biting me- BIG TIME! But it has thankfully stopped.

Cassidy got sick first and has had a loud cough. She's been sleeping fairly well. she'll do a nice long stretch of 7 or 8 hours but then has trouble getting to or staying asleep after that. One night she had been up for a couple hours and i guess she just felt wide awake b/c she started to get very animated and happy. It must have sounded like there was as party going on in her room! She was squealing, cracking up and chatting very loudly. I lay on the twin bed in her room and she just climbed all over me. At one point I had kissed her on the cheek and she started cracking up so loudly. I was so exhausted but all I could do was laugh too.

And speaking of exhausted I must cut this short and get myself to bed....

You've been Mii'd....and flingflocked too

These are the words of the week at our house and I swear I'm not making those words up. When Olivia first said "flingflocked" I thought what a weird word but that's the norm around here. Olivia and Lexie are always making up words. But then Olivia showed me her Explorer and what it meant to be flingflocked. I'm not entirely sure what it is but it's during this game where their pets jump over water and when they fall in that's when they're flingflocked.

Then there's the Mii characters from our Wii system. The girls have discovered how to make new characters and boy have they had fun doing it! If you are in our immediate family you most likely have a Mii character. I totally apolgize in advance for any misrepresentation my children have made of you. But they love playing under other people. I personally like to play under myself so that if I get the high score it's got my name and not someone else's ;)

My big moment on the Wii was when they measured me. Instead of getting the little "dun dun" music with an "overweight" coming out at me, I got pretty music with "normal". Woo hoo my Wii called me normal!!!! That means a lot. I like my Wii, it's so smart. And sensitive too. It asked me about Dan and how he's doing.

Off to the spa tomorrow!

Trying to do a post just about Mama

So I'll start with pictures of my cuties but I'm going to try and write a post exclusively (okay mostly) about me. This'll be hard...So I've been working out on the Wii. We've got the Wii fit where we do fun balance type games & also yoga. But recently we got EA Sports Active 2 and let me tell you it's kicking my butt! I am determined to lose the 10lbs I never lost with Lexie and the 10lbs I still need to lose from Cassidy. I hate weighing myself so it'll be awhile before I know how much I've lost.

The thing that's been on my mind is going back to work. Yuck. I so don't want to. I really like the people I work with but I wonder how I'll function at work with such little sleep. I live in a fog. Some days I can't seem to get the littlest things done. I mean, HAVE YOU SEEN MY HOUSE???? I get so overwhelmed and then get nothing done. I'm in a nice routine right now. Breakfast, drop Lexie off, put Cassidy for a nap, hang out with Olivia, pick Lexie up, lunch, drop Olivia off, put Cassidy for a nap, hang out with Lexie, pick Olivia up then it's dinner bath night night. Exciting right? But it's routine and it's comfortable. I don't have to think much and thinking just hurts right now.

Something good coming up for me: Spa Day on Saturday!

Getting fresh air

One of my resolutions this year is to get more active with the girls. Last Saturday we all bundled up and went to Central Park and fed the birds. It was just a gorgeous day- a little chilly but super sunny! The pond was mostly frozen and there were alot of seagulls & a few ducks. We walked around the pond feeding the birds. The girls quickly ran out of feed but continued to enjoy themselves checking out all the things we adults find mundane. Dan and I were getting a little stressed out as Lexie would get near the pond edge. She even stumbled a couple times. As we neared the playground, the squirrels started to approach us. Check out the first photo to see how close those little suckers got to us. I mean seriously, we could have pet them. I think that if I hadn't stopped them, Olivia and Lexie would have pet them!!! They were super fat too.

Cassidy having a little rest:

Whenever this baby sees a pillow on the floor, she lays her head on it. (You'd be surprised how many pillows end up on the floor all around our house!) It's just the funniest thing to see. I wonder what goes through her little mind? It's not like she has a pillow in her bed. She just knows what to do with it.

Piano Lessons

I took piano lessons for about 10 or so years as a child. To be honest, I don't remember liking piano very much. I would have to say that soccer and softball were my favourite after school activities. I really liked my piano teacher though. Peggy Morrow would come over to my house once a week (maybe Wednesdays?) for half an hour. She was kind and patient. She kept her stickers in a metal tin that once held mints. I loved the look and sound of that tin. It felt darn good to earn a sticker. Since my piano bench is overflowing I decided to go through it. Looking through all my old work books and songs I realized all my memories of piano were good. Mabye I did like it afterall. There were my Leila Fletcher books and my "Dozen a Day" warm up books. I looked through the books and saw the little shiny stars next to each little exercise or piece I had finished.

Olivia is an active girl and enjoys things like swimming, running & gymnastics. When anyone asked about putting her in piano Dan and I would say "Oh no! Not yet" The whole soccer debacle will forever remind us of how we need to be careful what we put Olivia in. In case you didn't know we put Olivia in soccer b/c there was a soccer class at the same time as Lexie's ballet class. She told me she didn't want to do soccer but I thought she would come to enjoy it. For many weeks we endured painful classes where she would refuse to participate. So a few months ago Olivia brought up piano. It was sunny and there were too many other things she was doing so we put it off but I began my research. Now, you should know that when we're looking at something, anything, Dan and I research the crap out of it. I was excited to learn that piano lessons for young children have become interesting. It seems to have shifted to a more child centred activity just like our education system has. There were lots of choices around us too. One of my friends does Music for Young Children and it sounded fun but classes were at 9am on Sunday. The community centre does lessons as well but they're group lessons (4 kids per lesson). My friend (same friend as before) had walked by one class full of rowdy boys and said it looked like a nightmare. So we chose the place in the little shopping centre near our house- Campos Music. When the weather is nicer we'll even be able to walk over. Her first lesson was this Wednesday at 4:30. Olivia was so excited she even got herself dressed- in jeans! (not her usual leggings) Lexie decided she was coming too and wasn't taking no for an answer. Luckily she was easily distracted. So Olivia and I leave together for her first piano lesson. We leave the garage at 4:27 and still make it on time. We meet her teacher Kirsten and Olivia is shy. I ask the teacher if I should stay and she says it would be a good idea for the first lesson. I had brought my new Elizabeth George book but that will have to wait until next Wednesday. Olivia did great with her first lesson! Her little voice was so cute answering the teacher. I wish I could bottle it up and listen to it forever. She got her very own lesson book and as soon as she got home she taught Lexie all that she had learned. It was cute but super loud! I tried not to say anything b/c how could I dampen that enthusiasm? I have to admit that I'm pretty excited for her too. Next up I'm getting the piano tuned so we can practice at home.

Getting impatient for the snow

Mommy, is it snowing yet? Mama, is it snowing NOW??? Boy are we getting impatient here for the snow. We think we saw a couple flakes but maybe it was our imagination? So here's some pictures from past snow of Olivia:

Hello 2011! I am looking forward to you!

So I wanted to do a comparison of all the girls at 10 months. Cassidy will be 10 months on the 4th of January.
Top left picture: (pink zebra stripe hoody) This is Cassidy sucking her thumb. Neither of the other girls sucked their thumbs and I think it's so cute! She does it all the time now but I try to take it out when I know she's not sleepy.
Bottom left picture: (pink sleeper) this is Olivia at her first Christmas. She still loves climbing in boxes! We have the box from our new computer chair in our living room. She gets all upset even if she thinks Dan is going to recycle it! Pictures to come of Olivia & sisters in the current box.

Right picture: (pink onesie) this is Alexis in May of 2008. She did not like the feel of grass! It took her awhile before she would go on the grass on her own.

I loved 2010. I got to be pregnant one more time and we were blessed with little Miss Cassidy. I didn't think we'd have a third b/c Dan was so against it but God had other plans. She really is the sweetest little girl. I can't wait to see how the friendship between the 3 girls develops. I'm really looking forward to more of her firsts in 2011. But let me just back track a bit. This holiday season has been fantastic! First, we got a new dishwasher from Dan's parents. We rode the last one until it was on it's last legs. It was something like 17 years old and sounded like a lawn mower when it was running but it cleaned the dishes. That is until the last load where the water didn't drain and the dishes were still dirty when it was finished. Then we got the Wii & Wii fit from my mom. We're all loving it! The thing that bugs me though, is when you get a low score on the games part your little "Mii" character hangs it's head and is all sad. There's even one game where it drops to the ground and bangs it's fists on the grass. Dan and I were like "How did it know Olivia does that???? Spooky." I also got a cookbook from Mike & Bern called "Double Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. She also did "Deceptively Delicious" where you use veggie & fruit purees in things to boost the vitamins & minerals. I love love love this new cookbook! I've already made 3 things from it and I'm planning on doing about 3 more this week. Tonight we had a chicken soup with alphabet pasta. I called it Healthy-getti. Get it? Not Alphagetti but Healthy-getti cuz it's much healthier. Girls loved it and asked for seconds!!!

Boxing Day/Week- we actually found ourselves at Walmart on Boxing Day. What were we thinking??? It was a zoo. I popped into Carter's and picked up some Christmas pj's for next year as well as some leggings & tops for the girls. Olivia will only wear leggings these days. I wish she'd at least match the tops and leggings. I bite my tongue most of the time. I always pick up my ornaments for next year at this time. My biggest boxing day purchase was another baby carrier. (I used birthday money from my dad so it doens't really count to my overall spending!) I've been wanting an Ergo for a while and it went on sale. I got an organic one that is regularly $145 for $99. It's a sea green, not a colour I would normally pick but for that price I had to have it! Some of you are probably thinking "Don't you have carriers already???" Ya, I do. I have a baby bjorn but it is such a strain on my shoulders. I had to pack it away for all 3 girls around the time they get to be 15 lbs. I also have my Moby wrap that I used a lot when Cassidy was little. Oh the good times that were had in that wrap. Mostly by me b/c it was during a time when she wouldnt' nap in her crib but she'd have nice long naps in the Moby. It's supposed to go up to 30 lbs or maybe more but i've found that I can't get a good wrap with her now. She sticks out so much and she's just not tight in it anymore.

New Years' Eve- a total non-event at our house. We got sushi, got the girls to bed early and enjoyed a glass of red wine.

The good news with Miss C is that she's not getting up every 2 hours! And her cold seems to be going away completely. Unfortunately she's still up 2-3 times. She's totally shifted her naps too. Before she had a nap around 9-10am and then again at 1pm. Lately though, she's sleeping in and sometimes only doing one nap. But enough about sleep....Happy New Year everyone!