9 months!

Is this winter ever going to end? We still get snow at least once a week and it makes for a long winter! I can only dream of spring and going for walks and visits to the park with the kids! 

Otherwise we've spent a lot of time indoors lately. Two weekends ago we were all home bound and sick with nasty colds and fevers. There are still a few lingering runny noses and coughs but otherwise we are back to normal. 

This is her new smile, face all scrunched and giving it all she has

watching Owen play outside in the snow

One project I did this past week is make a reading nook in the playroom. We love to sit and look at books and its nice to have a comfy spot to do it! I had some foam pieces that I layered and covered with a crib sheet and then threw a bunch of pillows on it. Its super comfy and I think you will even find me there from time to time... 

I love to switch things up so I took down the safari decals in the play room and put up the forest creatures that used to be in Owen's baby room. I'm always trying to think of new things for their playroom and love decorating it and doing new projects. I made the bookshelf from an old crate (cut in half) and painted it a bright yellow. I'm working on redoing an old trunk for their play clothes. Keeps me busy on those cold winter days I don't want to step foot outside.

eight months

Eight months with this little girl! She is always full of smiles for us but has a shy trait around others and will rarely smile for someone else. I was really shy as a kid so I am not surprised she gets that from me.

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just hanging around

I'm mainly putting these pictures up because every time I go on my blog to look at the blogs I follow, I see the Christmas pictures I posted a month ago- which really Christmas seems like so long ago so its kind of driving me crazy to keep looking at those pictures. So here are some new ones. Just of the kiddos from around the house.... 

 playing with dishes...

in the playpen, normally she hates it but we've been working on training her....

 she stays calm as long as she can see Owen

I love seeing this kid's imagination come out. He loves to dress up and find things to play with- things that aren't typically toys. Here he got into John's hockey equipment. He is wearing elbow pads on his legs, Emma's socks, John's helmet. 

And since he was all geared up of course I had to play hockey ball with him his favourite activity.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. We had a bit of snow and it looked so pretty on the ground. Heard a great sermon Christmas morning and ate lots of good food, spending time with the ones I love the most. I pray your Christmas was blessed as well as we remember our Lord and Savior!

We opened presents Christmas Eve morning and then my parents came down for a visit and we spent Christmas Day with them.

 Emma's first Christmas, I think she is wondering why Owen is opening her present..

found this game in the States, we've already played it lots and its great for his age. we love games! 

we all got spoiled! 

they love each other! 

 We were thrilled to have Grandpa and Grandma Douma over for Christmas! We had a great time with them and Owen got lots of attention!

3

Owen turned 3 today! I know every mom says this but seriously where has the time gone? He started off his day by puking all night but seems to be better cause he even was able to eat some cake! 

He got games and books from us but his favourite present was the big truck full of cars from Grandpa and Grandma! We had a doctor's appointment for him and Emma and he told everyone at the office all about his new race cars! 

Grandpa and Grandma this video is for you:

all dressed up

and Owen would like to say thank you to Grandpa and Grandma D for the box of lego! 

my two boys spend lots of time building towers, castles and racecars!

books

Books are huge in our family. I think most of the presents I bought for the kids for Christmas are books. We love to read, especially to the kids. I find it hard to find time to read myself but I try. I splurged and bought myself a new book. Its called "The Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp (author of One Thousand Gifts- if you haven't read that one its a must!) This new book is a devotional for the Advent season, starting December 1st until Christmas there is a devotional for everyday - a study of Christ's birth and the line of David. She has a different style of writing but I am enjoying this book and its really making me reflect this time of year. You can also go on her website and she has videos and more discussions about the book. 

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

My next review is a book series I discovered in Myrtle Beach. The author is Jennifer Adams and she takes classic tales and makes them into nursery primers for infants. Adorable! She has written two based on the classics by Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility." I bought these for Emma for Christmas. When I first found them I did not purchase them cause I was really hoping she had written one about "Emma" How awesome would that have been for my Emma's room! But no she just picked these two classics. So when I got home I ordered these off of Amazon. They are sooo cute! I definitely like the "Pride and Prejudice one better, its a counting primer but the other is adorable too. I can't wait to share these classic stories with my baby girl! 

The author has a collection of books, one based on Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Moby Dick, Jungle Book etc... I might be purchasing more of these in the future... Did I mention they are adorable? 

this is a picture of one of the pages from Pride & Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility

Did I mention they are absolutely adorable? Apparently they were featured on CityLine last week. I saw them first! :)