{2 Years Old}

H turns 2 today, or I guess she turned 2 today.. at 12:48 this morning. I'm still not sure how the past 730 days passed by so quickly. I truly feel like I blinked and my baby turned into a toddler.

Every parent claims that their child is the smartest, funniest, cutest, prettiest, specialist kid alive. I'm no different. I could brag about this girl until people around me started dropping dead. She really is our everything. She's smart, funny, cute, pretty, special a pretty cool kid, and it's been amazing watching her turn into her own little person.

H was late with her talking.. well, maybe not late, but later than some of my friends' kids. She was about 18 months before she really had much to say, and even then it was poorly pronounced and words were more gibberish than anything else. Then, out of nowhere, at about 21 months she started talking and has never looked back. 4 word sentences are not uncommon and she has no issue communicating what she wants. She's still working on the pronunciation of some words but it's coming along more and more every day. 

Pronunciation I don't want to fix:

Slog - Frog

Bebe - Gibby (our puppy (!!) - you would know about her if I ever blogged, ha!)

Bibson - Gibson (our puppy's real name)

Nenna - Makenna (her bestie)

Nuggle - Snuggle

Sersy - Thirsty

Moke - Milk

Shoost - Toast (who knows!)

She's getting very good at recognizing letters and knows what goes with them (H is for Hadley, D is for Daddy, etc.), she knows ll of her colours and 99% of her shapes. She can count to 6 (when she feels like it), do summersaults, and dance like nobody's watching! She has been potty trained for over a month now (except for nights when she wears a pullup) and LOVES being a "big girl". She adores drawing, painting and stickers. LOVES playing with her babies, and enjoys pestering the cat and teasing the puppy. She has zero patience and wants everything done RIGHT.NOW.... and with that comes attitude and tantrums. One of her favorite things to do is to snuggle on the couch. Occasionally in the middle of the night I hear "MOM, 'nuggle on couch!?".  

H's manners are amazing. One day, after what felt like 10928310982 years of trying to convince her that Please and Thank You need to be said, she started saying them. She blesses people when they sneeze, says excuse me when she burps or toots - and even most of the time when she wants your attention and has to interrupt you. She said "pease" and "thanks" (sometimes Thank You, but mostly just Thanks!) 90% of the time without having to be prompted. She also says "'scuse me from the table, thank you for dinner" when she's finished eating which is something I used to have to say when I was very young and I think it's precious. I swear it doesn't get much cuter than a toddler with manners! 

She has started swimming lessons. 

We had her 2 year checkup last Wednesday and the Doc said she's perfect. She is doing lots of things "at a 3 year old level" and he has zero concerns. It's always nice to hear stuff like that.

Two Year Stats:

Weight: 26lbs 2oz - 40th percentile

Height: 33.5" - 30th (ish) percentile. She used to be tall and now she's short!

There are days when I look back and want to cry. I remember trying to get dinner ready or do laundry while she followed me around screaming and hanging off my legs. Now I find myself wondering what she's doing while I'm in the kitchen and she's playing with her dolls in her room. I don't remember the day where her independence started to shine through.. where she finally decided it was okay to do things on her own and didn't need me 2 inches away at all times. It makes me a little bit sad and a whole lot happy at the same time. It's nice to know that we're doing okay at this parenting thing. We're raising a tiny human and she's turning out smart, funny, cute, pretty, special perfect. I couldn't be more proud. 

Happy 2nd Birthday, H! I love you more than you will ever know xo. 

{School}

Hadley started "school" today. It's actually just daycare but we call it school so it sounds cooler - you know, because that's where all the cool kids go. Ha!

We have fulltime family care but we had decided that we need to get her out and socialized a bit more with kids her own age. I found a lovely little daycare fairly close to home and outrageously reasonably priced (according to friends with kids in daycare) that just happened to have a spot open on Mondays only... which was exaaactly what we were looking for! It was meant to be.

I went there an hour early to hang out with her and let her get used to it. She has been extra shy and clinging lately and has started crying when I leave these days. I preferred the old goodbyes where she could care less! The crying breaks my heart.

We started off playing play dough with the little girls and soon enough she was sliding down the slide and running around with all the boys (that's my girl). I snuck out without saying goodbye and had a tear in my car before I pulled myself together and went to work.

I called and checked in on my lunch break and the "teacher" said all was well and she was having a wonderful day behaving nicely.  A huge relief. When I picked her up it was like she'd aged a year. She had big hugs and kisses, told me how she used the potty (and showed it to me!), gave me a "pretty picture" she drew and put on her own boots to "go home, see daddy".

It's only one day a week from 745-515 (though we will NEVER get there at 745 because we're still sleeping, and I'm sure I will pick her up far before 515 every time) and yet it still breaks my heart. I know it will be good for her, and that she'll have fun and learn new things but I just wish I could be home with her all day, every day, instead.

{Carving}

We carved pumpkins last night. I love pumpkin carving! Mine is the one that resembles Frankenstein, it turned out well. You'll notice there is no pictures of Hadley... it's because she thinks "punk'on's are yuck. Ew stinky. Gross".

Kids these days!

{Thankful on Thursday}

Heat - I hate winter

An amazing Husby - He's one of the good ones. I could write an entire post about how awesome he is (most of the time ;))... Hmm, maybe I will. 

Bribery - yup, you heard me right... we used bribes to convince H that using the potty is what "all the cool kids are doing" and it worked. One more day and we've been diaper free for 2 weeks! 

My job - I complain daily about it but as I've said before, I am lucky to be employed. 

This face -

{(not so)Wordless Wednesday}

This never happens. Ever. Ever. Ever. For reals, the last time this precious babygirl fell asleep in my arms was well over a year ago. I enjoyed every single hot-sweaty-arm-asleep moment... especially the 45 minutes I lay awake, afraid to move, while she lay perfect and sleeping. Listening to her sleep noises, sniffing her sweaty baby soap smell, and wondering how she got so big so quickly. 

I've been working extra hard lately at enjoying every moment with her - and she's been making it easy. She's a joy to be around these days and though there are times when I want to scream, I love who she's becoming. I even love her attitude... except for the times when I don't. Ha!

I fall more in love with her every day.

In her own little way she is constantly reminding me that she is not a baby anymore and somewhere, when I blinked or sneezed or something, she became a little person. A little person who can "do it meself" and who is "sooooo beeg!". 

Someone should tell her that she's never too big for sleepy snuggles with her momma.

{Numbers}

Tasha has done a few of these posts and I always enjoy reading them... Today seemed like a perfect day to do my first "numbers" post, so here it goes:

10.5 - Hours spent on the computer
12 - Discs that now have pictures and/or videos on them
3 - Discs that f'd up and made me mad
1 - Amazing nap from an amazing toddler
2587 - The number of pictures that needed backing up
89 - The number of videos that needed backing up
4002 - The number of crap pictures deleted
1.5 - years... since I last did this (gasp!)
1 - Macbook restored to factory settings
7 - Overdue software updates
12873028370483423 - Times I wanted to scream
4 - Times I actually DID scream
1 - Amazing BBQ'd steak dinner cooked by my Husby!
123987123 - Times I wanted to stop and give up
3 - The time I started this godawful escapade
130 - AM. The time I finished this godawful escape
8 - Hours until I have to be at work
1 - Very tired Wifey

and last but MOST importantly,

1 - Vow to NEVER LET GO THIS LONG AGAIN!!!

{Be Yourself}

"Your children will become who you are;

so be who you want them to become"

                                           - anonymous 

I've said a million times that if H turned out to be just like my sister I would be one happy momma. She is such a kind hearted, loving, thoughtful person. I think the world of her and even though she is 7 years younger than I am, she's one of my best friends. 

Lately I've had multiple people tell me how much she reminds them of me. There isn't many things you could say to compliment me more than that. 

So that brings me back to that quote... I suppose if I want H to be just like my sister and my sister is just like me, then I'm being who I want her (or, maybe them both) to become - and that makes me smile. 

{PinterTest}

This weekend was my birthday and my besties came to PR from The City to help celebrate. We had a wonderful time and we tested a bunch of things! We made:

these - which were AMAZING. All of us were quite disappointed that we didn't buy enough Coronita's for more than one each. They were seriously so good. We put them in beach buckets to be more festive.

these - Which we altered slightly as they were a last minute decision and I didn't have ground ginger or ground red pepper. We added chili flakes and more garlic and omitted the cashews. We served with a homemade peanut sauce and another thai style sauce. SO yummy!

 this - which sucked.

 these - Another one I will make again and again. It was delicious. So easy to make and so easy to drink. We added far more vodka and a couple extra beer than it called for and you still couldn't taste any alcohol. A huge hit with all our guests. (I also got to use my new punch bowl to put it in!)

 these - YUM! I heart mojitos. So summery and they go down quite nicely.

 these - They were good. Very sweet but they were a nice drink to sip on while we were getting ready for our night out. We all only had one and I'm not sure I would have been able to drink a second due to the fact that they were so sweet.

 these - My bestie made these for my bday dessert. They're amazing. I know she used regular limes instead of key limes and her own cream cheese icing but either way they were mouth watering. They were recommended to me by Tasha so I requested them when R asked me what kind of cake I wanted.

I also made these last week for my Father In Law. He has recently become Vegan (not by choice) and was really missing his sweets. I was super surprised by how good they were and how you couldn't taste the beans or anything! You can tell they're Vegan. They're definitely missing the egg and milk etc., but still completely edible (and even enjoyable!).

It's been a busy week of cooking/drinking with Pinterest! What have you been PinterTesting lately?

{PinterTest}

Welcome to PinterTest.  After learning about Pinterest some months ago and becoming severely addicted, I took a break. I didn't pin for about 2 months and this past week I signed back on. Big Mistake! I can't stop, again. SO I've decided that if I'm going to spend countless hours laying in bed pinning away, I am going to actually test the pins. See if they actually work/turn out/are as easy as they say! Every weekend I will try/do/make something new and then I will pin about it on Mondays.

*we all know how terrible I am at blogging - it's been weeks since my last post - so hopefully I can keep this up!


First up is THIS PIN. I despise soap scum. We have shower doors and they are forever foggy with soap build up. I scrub and scrub and scrub and I swear to god it takes a good hour to get them clear again. It's a job I hate doing about as much as I hate looking at them. I seen this and figured I'd give it a go. To start I just sprayed one door. I left it for 1 hour and went back and it pretty much wiped clean (right door). I couldn't believe it. I used a wet sponge and zero elbow grease, so easy!

I then sprayed the remaining door and took the sponge to it immediately (I didn't feel like waiting the hour). I figured it would take a bit of effort due to my lack of patience but it didn't. It wiped clean instantly as well!! 

Before

After

I tweaked the "recipe" a little bit because I didn't have Blue Dawn. I read a few different pins and they all said to use Dawn (specifically the Blue one). I'm not sure what difference it makes but if it makes it better I will be amazed. I used the original Yellow Sunlight. 1 cup dishsoap to 1 cup hot vinegar. To make the spray I put 1 cup of vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, I then heated it in the microwave for 1.5 minutes. When I took it out I added 1 cup of dishsoap to it and poured it into and old (washed out) Shout container. Simple as that!

Score 1 for Pinterest!

{Wordless Wednesday - The "F.You, Bear" Edition}

{Friday Night Leftovers}

• My mom and stepdad are in town!!!!!! It's so nice to see them. It's been too long - 8 months, to be exact - distance sucks. 
• H's new obsession is colouring. She can't get enough and would lay on her belly and colour for hours. She freaks out when it's time to put them away. 
• Summer... where the F are you!? It's still freezing over here in Beautiful British Columbia.. the provinces to the right are looking more and more appealing as the days go on!
• Speaking of other provinces.. in case you missed it earlier this week, H and I are going to Lethbridge to visit Tasha at the end of the month!! We're so very excited. While we're there we're going to visit C's sisters and stuff in Calgary, too. 
• I'm nervous about the flight with H... any tips? 
• I'm finished my training at work. This week was my first "casual" week. Only 3 days. It was lovely! The paycheques won't be as lovely but oh well, I can live with that if it means spending more time with my baby!!
• Speaking of that baby... she's missing. She's a totally different kid these days - and I say kid because that's exactly what she is. The baby is no longer. It's a bit sad but in the same breath it's amazing. She is so full of wonder and amazes me daily. I can't get enough of her. 

That's all for today - head over here for more leftovers! 

{Wordless Wednesday}

{For REALZ!}

It's official... we're leaving, on a jet plane! The flight is booked & paid for. Calgary/Lethbridge here we come!

{Wordless Wednesday - Another Oldie}

{Wordless Wednesday - The "Turn Up Your Volume" Edition}

{This&That}

My mom comes in 18 days!!!! I'm seriously so excited. I can't wait to see her, or for her to see H. She has changed so much in the past 7 months. I only wish my mom and stepdad were closer so they could see her, and us, more often. 

It's almost summer, enough said.

My Birthday is on a Saturday this year... the big 2-5. I'm ancient. I don't exactly know how I feel about turning 25. I had a huuuuge issue with turning 20 but I'm feeling pretty good right now. In the 5 years since I turned 20 I've accomplished quite a lot. I moved away from home, partied my face off, started dating C, moved to The Okanagan, moved to Vancouver, got engaged, got married, went to school (AND graduated with a diploma as a Medical Lab Assistant), got pregnant, moved back home to PR, had a baby, kept a baby alive (so far ;) ha!), and started a new job at RBC (which isn't exactly doing what I went to school to do, but it's work - and it's pretty decent!). I like to think that even though we don't own a house yet, and I've got student loan debt coming out of my ears, we're not too bad off. There are people who are 25 and have nothing to show for it - I think I'm doing pretty good. Come to think of it, I could live in a box as long as I had my husby and babygirl. I have high hopes for 25.

There is a plan in the works (hopefully!) to head out to see a good friend in Lethbridge next month. I hope it works out because I'm awfully excited and I would hate to be let down! Fingers crossed for time off. 

My littlest of sisters graduates in June. Again, I'm ancient. Grad gift ideas, anyone? It's gotta be something special - she's one of the good ones. 

I don't exactly love this new blog format. I know it'll grow on me and before I know it it'll be just like the old (and then they'll change it ((like FB)) to throw me off again)... I feel like the other set up was easier to find your way around. On a different blog note - I updated my design - I'm not so sure I love it so I may change it again. Ha! 

And 1 super random fact before I leave you for the day - I have 6 duvet covers and I just bought another one... who the F needs 7 duvet covers? I just get so bored of them so quickly! 

{Some Things Will Never Change}

I got my first horse when I was 11.. she was pure black, she had a bad attitude and she was a wee bit crazy. I loved her. We sent her to her retirement home (a nice farm where she was free to roam and eat all she liked) quite a few years ago and she recently passed away.

Though I will probably never own my own horse again, I am lucky enough to have a mom and sister who still have theirs. I still love them and I'm grateful that I can visit with them whenever I'd like. Recently H has shown a very strong liking to "Orses". She's basically obsessed. 

We went to my moms this weekend and had a great time hanging out in the hard. H even got to sit on Casey for her very first time. She was in heaven. 

Wether I have horses or not, I'll always love them.. and it looks like H will, too. 

1 year ago

Yesterday

{Friday Night Leftovers}

• My mom is coming to visit April 4th... I'm counting down the days like a 12 year old going to Disneyland. I miss her so much. I always miss her as I don't get to see her very often, but since I've had H, I find myself missing her more than usual. She hasn't seen H since September (aside from Skype, of course)!!! 
• I LOVE Kinder Mini Eggs - seriously the best chocolate egg you will ever eat. Buy a bag (Walmart) I dare you. 
• Dear Tax Return, thank you for paying off my new tires and my credit card, buying me new pants, and also taking a huge chunk of my LOC. Do come again next year. Love D. 
• We have been washing H's clothes with our laundry detergent for a few months now and her cheeks an arms have been super dry. I bought baby detergent again to see if that's what is making the difference. As I poured it into the washer my ovaries started to spit out eggs, pretty sure. It was like a flashback of a newborn. Oh how I love that smell. 
• Speaking of laundry - I've done about 30 loads today.
• 2nd week of work, over. 4 more weeks of fulltime training and then perhaps I can have more than 20 minutes a day with my babygirl. I miss her :(

Head over here and check out some more! 

{Wordless Wednesday}

{Sleepless Nights}

Since I've gone back to work H has stopped sleeping. I don't know if it's coincidence or if it is some sort of separation thing - either way it's both exhausting and heartbreaking. She went from sleeping 12-14 hour nights to sleeping MAYBE a broken 6 hours and not even napping. She's so tired it's ridiculous. 10-15 wakes in a night has been the norm, and she's ended up sleeping in our bed, wrapped around my next neck and holding my hand, for 2 of the past 5 nights. We've decided to try a night light in hopes that maybe that will help.. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please cross your fingers for a good nights sleep!

{Friday Night Leftovers}

• It's FRIDAY!!! I have successfully (by 6pm) completed my first week of work. Longest. Week. Ever. 
• Speaking of work, it's going well. And by well, I mean it's going as good as it can for being away from my baby all day, every day. There is a tonne to learn and my head is spinning, but I think I'm really going to like it!! 
• I need a 36" inseam and so I have a really hard time finding dress pants but recently I was informed that if you order off the Ricki's website you can get 36" inseam! I ordered a pair of pants on Sunday and yesterday I got an email that said all pants were 40% off... $#&%!!!!!
• I ordered a second pair, obviously.
• My besties come this weekend from the city. Unfortunately their grandmother passed away so the nature of the visit isn't the best, however we are having birthday celebrations on Saturday night and we will have a blast regardless. I haven't seen them for a couple months (when I had a baby free weekend in Van *gasp* in January) and they haven't seen H since September! I'm SO excited and I can't wait for them to see how much she's changed. 
• Want some random H facts?
• Eyes, ears, knees, toes, belly, button (belly button), boobies, head, hair, and mouth - theses are all the body parts she currently knows, recognizes, and attempts to say - some sounding better then others. 
• She also knows the sounds that a kitty, puppy, duck, cow, and horse say! 
• She's obsessed with hand cream and chap stick.
• She has a mullet. We're tossing around the idea of cutting it but we go back and forth. It's just so precious.. and funny! 
• I painted her toes! She loves them and says "oooohhh niiice toooesss".
• She doesn't do her stink face anymore (thank god!) but now she does the "who-face" (from who-ville!).. I'll have get a picture of it, it's pretty cute. 

That's it for today... head on over here to check out more leftovers. 

{Thankful on Thursday}

So I'm working full time right now... it sucks. I'm exhausted.. I feel like from the second I wake up until the second I lay down at night it's go, go, go. A wirlwind of lunches, shopping, laundry, cooking, dishes, pickups, dropoffs, baths and bedtimes. It's lacking time. Time to spend with my baby, and my husby.

I hate that I have to be away from H all day. I hate that someone else is feeding her breakfast and lunch. I hate that she gives someone else hugs before and after her nap and asks someone else "is it?". I loved being a "stay at home mom" and I hate this new routine.

So what am I thankful for?

I'm thankful that I got to be a "stay at home mom" almost an entire 16 months. That's more time than most women get to stay home with their babies.

I'm thankful for my mother in law - she is that someone that gets to spend the day with my babygirl. She is the someone who answers her questions and keeps her safe.

I'm also thankful that I have a job. Even though I'm bitching, complaining and kicking my feet the whole way there in the morning, I'm lucky to be employed (and also, the job isn't so bad either ;) )

{From The Mouth of Babes}

Me: "Hadley, what does a duck say?"

H: "Cock, cock, cock"

... oh good god.

{Reeeewiind}

December 30th, 2011.. That was my last post. Awful, right? I had starting writing out a "New Years Resolutions" post and I was stressing about finding the time, the energy, and the desire. I sat back and thought that perhaps the new year should start of with a blog break. I needed to find the ability to enjoy it again. I've never been a consistent blogger, though I go through phases of good and bad, but somehow I began to find that I was always worrying about what I was going to write about and if people even read it. It felt more like a job than anything, so I quit - for awhile.

I guess in a way it is a job. This is my "baby book" for H. I have a box of momentums as well but I don't have a written out book like many other people do. For this reason, and this reason alone, I feel guilty for taking this break. I especially feel guilty because in the past 3.5 months H has changed from a baby into a little girl. She is blowing our minds on an hourly basis.

I'm hoping that this go around I can fall into some sort of blogging routine. I know the next few months are going to be a bit crazy as we have lots coming up including renovations, a move, and a brand new, full-time job(!), but I am going to give it my best.

Hope you all missed me ;)