Our weekend recap

I typically don't share all of the details from our personal lives, but this weekend was such a nice weekend that I wanted to do a recap.

We were expecting family on Saturday but due to our nephew getting a nasty bug, our visit was cancelled. We face timed on Sunday morning instead so the cousins could see each other :)

 I had a three day weekend which is always nice. Friday morning Max became Picasso and made this masterpiece for the playroom gallery wall. We used dots a paint and covered the canvas with saran wrap for him to squish. 

In the early afternoon Max and I had a long overdue play date with my friend and her adooorable sweet baby girl, and then we took our pup Charlie for his annual check up.

We then went to Wal-mart where I picked up these gems (adorable popsicle floaty), and the kindest gentleman followed us all the back to our vehicle to give us Max's rubber boot he blew somewhere along the way. Funny thing though, I'm one of those who comes out of a store and NEVER remembers where I parked, so I'm pretty sure the man followed us as we zigzagged through rows of cars and from one end of the parking lot to the other. Friday night I finally got to watch the lastest episode of Game of Thrones. My husband had given up on me and watched it by himself earlier in the week, but he was good enough to watch it again with me :)

Saturday morning we went to parent and tot swim. It was daddy's turn this week and they had so much fun. We then stopped by the farmer's market for some fruit and veggies, and from there we headed to a family birthday party where one of my husband's cousin's children turned one! The theme was rainbow and it was adorable :) You all know I love a good theme ;)

Saturday afternoon hubs headed to work, and Max and I headed to a friend's for the afternoon. Max climbed a small plastic outdoor jungle gym and went down the slide by himself a gazillion times while I sat on the patio. It was hilarious to watch him do it all by himself. He flew down the slide, and loved it.

Sunday morning Max, Charlie and I went for an early morning wagon walk. That is by far my favourite time of the day to go for a walk with the boys.. when it is quiet out and there is a slight breeze. By the end of the walk I was carrying a pinwheel, plastic shovel, one croc and the dog's leash in one hand and the handle of the wagon in the other. This was due to thes items going airborne constantly out of the wagon. I think we back tracked about five times to pick up overboard items that I did not initially see. Ugh.

In the afternoon Max and daddy played outside while I went to see Pitch Perfect 2 with a few of my girlfriends, including a friend who is expecting her first baby in September and is making carrying a baby look fabulous. The movie was too funny, and I definitely recommend it!

I hope everyone had as nice of weekend as we did :) Now back to the grind. Boo.

~ K

Say cheese!

When I was little, one of my favourite past times was looking through our family's photo albums that my mom kept updated with fun times we had and special events. Even today, I could sit and look through our online albums for hours. I'm totally part of the club that sits and looks at pictures and watches videos of my little guy after he goes down at night. I just can't get enough. I love looking back at last years photos, thinking "this same time last year, this is how he looked!..." We are so lucky to have him :)

There are so many fun ideas out there for taking pictures with your kiddos. Last summer while we were outside enjoying a sunny warm day I snapped this picture of my son playing in his exersaucer. I love this picture so much I ended up framing it in our home. I have received comments about not being able to see his face in the picture, but to me that's what makes the picture. Without being able to see his face, your eyes are drawn to other aspects. Like his sweet chubby hands :)

This past weekend we brought out a new water table with Max. I had originally planned on getting him a sand box, but after much consideration, and visions of hand in every crevice of my home and Max's body, I decided to wait until next year when he is able to follow direction a bit better ;)

Max LOVES his water table, and eventually after about fifteen minutes of solid play with it, he took out all of the toys and climbed right in. I should have known he would do this. So a year later, here is the second faceless picture to my series of Max playing on our back deck. He is taller, and while those hands still have some extra chub to them, they are definitely not as juicy as they were last year.

What pictures do you love taking of your littles?? Do you have a specific picture you take every year to mark their growth or changes?

Completely unrelated side note- check out the super cute print I bought for the playroom gallery wall. I think it's hilarious.

~ K

Max TM 16 months!

Max is 16 months this Wednesday. His first birthday party theme truly was the most perfect theme.. as time continues to fly. 

The other day I had a conversation with a friend about the way we assign our little one's ages to them. In the second year of life we tend to cling to the word "months." I suppose at this point I could easily round up and tell people who ask, that Max is 1 1/2 years old. I mean two months from now will be here in the blink of an eye at the rate it's been going since he was born! But there is just something about using the word months that lets us cling to that last bit of idea that your quickly growing toddler is still a baby. Who are we kidding thought, let's be real... they will always be our babies :) So in short, I will be THAT mom who tells you my child is 23 months ;)

Everyday we look at Max and think he looks older than he did the day before. As the older gentleman who lives next door tells us every single time we see him often "he's really coming along!" insert broken record. 

The other morning as I was carrying Max downstairs after taking him out of his crib he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. WITHOUT BEING PROMPTED. Best.moment.ever. This child is going to grow up thinking any miniscule task he accomplishes is comparative to winning an Olympic gold medal, because seriously, we lose our minds cheering and clapping at everything he does. OMG did you see him walk backwards (clapping and cheering), I think he said squirrel (more clapping and cheering), guess what I asked him to kick his feet AND HE DID!!! (crying and clapping and cheering). It is a very good thing there are not cameras in our home. 

Max also has mastered the two puzzle he owns. I'm pretty sure this skill was taught/learned/conquered at daycare, since he does not pay enough attention to his puzzles here to have mastered them. But since he is used to doing puzzles at daycare he caught on quickly to his at home. I still want to buy him the Melissa and Doug latch puzzle. I think he would be really interested in figuring it out. 

Max also has an obsession with carrying his toys around as opposed to playing with them. He will carry his bag of Lego around until he trips, a few pieces fall out, he picks them up and puts them back in the bag and continues walking around the basement until it happens again. He also likes shutting doors, parent and tot swim time, and pushing his popper toy for the dog to chase him. He is one busy little boy. 

Outside Max likes to walk around and look at the wheels on people's cars. Picking up rocks is also a fav., oh and also trying to climb up slides, which caused the largest meltdown in our town's history when we decided to leave to the park after taking him off of the slide fifty times. He loves to climb.

Meal time is hit or miss. Some days I will make him what I think are the yummiest meals with all four food groups, and it will end up on the floor in a matter of minutes. Other days he will clean his plate. Meal time some days is definately a source of frustration and dare I say annoyance.

I also find myself constantly going through items in his room and packing up baby items that there are no longer a need for. With this, I find myself starting to dream up the style of his next bedroom. I have looking at lots of barn board headboards and  metal pipe shelving. Like his nursery was, there will more of a vibe then there will be a theme, if that makes any sense at all. Hmmm.. I feel another idea for a post coming on :)

Take care everyone!

~ K

Your mid-week giggle

For the last couple of months we have been finishing the lowest level in our home. My husband had plans for a "man cave" but of course... this has changed since our little guy entered the picture. It was not too long ago that he cringed at the thought of the space being "kid friendly" but now he cannot wait to smack pucks around with Max in the new toy room. Sometimes I wonder who enjoys playtime more ;)

We are at the final stages now, painting and installing the flooring. After that my imagination will take me away and I will start to decorate! Yay! The painting process has been sloooow. It is a big job and I am doing it myself, so I have been doing a little bit here and there when I have the time. For those of you that follow my Instagram (@kimmieflo) I posted a picture of a bunch of paint chips a couple of months ago. I did go with these colours in the end, and I painted a striped accent wall on the back wall of the room. This picture makes the paint job appear crooked. I promise it is straight. I must have used the level a gazillion times to make sure. I am pleased with the result :) The other walls are light grey which really makes this wall pop!

Okay... so now the giggle portion of this post. I have been keeping this to myself for a couple of months now. It's embarrassing but at the same time friggen hilarious. So you know how I made the teepee for Max for Christmas. The one that I put so much time and effort and burned hot glue fingers into!? Well a couple of months ago when my husband was shoveling snow in the driveway and Max was napping, I decided for whatever reason to sit on our window ledge to watch him outside. Somehow :( I lost my balance while sitting on the ledge, and before I knew I was falling off the ledge. Guess what broke my fall? Yes, it was the teepee. It was like slow motion as I tried to get my barrings while all I could hear was pine snapping all over the place. Honestly, I felt like crying but I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of this happening to me. So alas, the teepee has never been the same and is probably a safety hazard now. It is still strategically standing in the living room, but if it is even touched in the wrong way you better run for the hills because you are about to have a teepee on your head. So when you see the teepee in the finished basement post in the coming month(s) you can have a giggle to yourself knowing that it could kill us at any moment :) lol

and with that, I hope I made my readers smile today :)

~ K

Snuggles, speeding and self-reflecting

Tonight is one of those nights… since returning to work I’ve only had one of these nights once before. It involves me wanting desperately to climb in to Max’s crib and cuddle with him until I fall asleep. These nights seem to come when I have had to work late and the day has been a long, emotionally exhausting one. Unfortunately on both of these nights my husband has been MIA. Tonight he is playing poker, ah the life ;) Tonight I unexpectedly had to work until seven, so my husband had to pick Max up from daycare and take him to his parents, and I picked him up from there. I then went through Tim’s drive through to buy dinner. I had not eaten since noon, so I indulged in a Tuscan sandwich, sprinkle donut and large chocolate milk. I had planned on waiting until we got home to eat but somehow by the time we pulled in the driveway there were only crumbs left .. yum. We passed on bath time tonight so we could have extra time together playing. Max loves to be chased. After crawling around on my knees until he grew tired of the game, we headed upstairs for story time. Max is great at bedtime. We are lucky. I know this. He falls asleep easily and loves to cuddle with his blankets. I then shut his door and immediately missed him already.

Being back to work is hard. I like my job and like having a career but man, there are some days, especially like today when I drop him off at 8am and see him at 7pm I’m like WTF, this is insane. It is necessary obviously because we need to put food on the table so to say, but jeez it’s hard some days. Lately at work I have been completing a lot of training, which has me self-reflecting all over the place. While I think it is so important to self-reflect and constantly work on yourself, at the same time it can be overwhelming and exhausting. I like to see myself as a work in progress towards the best version of me. At the same time in my work I am exposed every day to people and families who are struggling to get through each day, and it is my job to support them and help them to see their strengths and believe in themselves. Do you see where I am going with this? It can be difficult when you are working on yourself to be that rock for others. Don’t get me wrong, I love to be that person for people, but at the end of my day sometimes it leaves me feeling like I’ve got nothing left. Poor husband :S So what is a girl to do. Live for the weekends. I don’t think I have ever loved the weekends as much as I do now. Don’t let anyone hear this, but  doing the dreaded Saturday groceries doesn’t even look that annoying on this Thursday night. 

So to you working moms, you are not alone. Watch videos of your babes on breaks, go buy them a cute shirt on your lunch (h-e-l-l-o retail therapy) and drive a little faster (but don’t get caught) on your way home from work to get some extra play time in. Oh, and don’t forget TGIF!!

I hope everyone has an easy work day tomorrow whether you are in an office, out on the road or a mama who has the privilege of being a stay at home mama :)

~K

Chocolate coma

I need someone to remove the chocolate from my home. Seriously. 

I also made the mistake of bringing a massive bag of mini eggs to work for my desk. Today I took them out while I was trying to multi-task, doing about four different things at once. Before I knew it I think I ate over half the bag. But they tasted oooh so good .. oh well ;)

We had a super fun Easter with Mr. Max. He loved his Easter basket which I was pleasantly surprised about. I thought he might still be too young to care, but oh my goodness you should have seen the smirk on his face when he saw his loot!!! It was freakin' adorable, and he made his mama oh so happy :)

I definitely should have re-thought the plastic carrot eggs filled with cheerios. Once he eyeballed those in his basket it was game over. I am still finding random stale cheerios in crevices I didn't know existed in our living room.

On Monday we were lucky enough to be all home together. We took Max to the park, where he went down the slide a gazillion times. It was so cute. He loved it and giggled every time he went down.

This week I am off work Friday so we are heading to the library for story time. I doubt he will be able to contain himself to sit and listen with the group.. but we will make the attempt. I will be the one who is up and down a million times wrangling the crazy 15 month old boy ;) Then on Saturday we are starting parent and tot swimming! We have not been since Max was about 11 months, so I think his kicking and splashing will be on a whole new level now. I am anticipating getting soaked. It is so worth it though :)

I hope everyone is having an easy week back after the holiday weekend. Hang in there.. warmer weather is just around the corner now!!!

~ K

Easter happenings

We are in full Easter and Pinterest mode at our house!!!

Last weekend we shared Easter cupcakes with our friends and family. My husband made a rare appearance on our weekly trip to the grocery store so he was given the exclusive privledge of choosing the cake for the cupcakes. He chose confetti cups of course... they never realllly grow up ;) But I will admit it was a good choice.. they were sooo yummy!

 

 (how long do you think it took me to pick out all orange and green M&Ms from the bin).. yes I'm that person.

This week Max took Easter treats to his friends and daycare and I made treats for my office mates at work, and Max's daycare provider. I have had these pinned forever and was excited to finally have the chance to make them. I had everything needed to make them already in my craft supply, so I only needed to buy the treats for inside. A very inexpensive, but super cute gift. And while I was at bulk barn picking up chocolate eggs for the mason jars I was also able to pick up the frosting baggies to make the goldfish cracker carrots. Again, I had the crackers and ribbon in my home already so another inexpensive gift for the little one's in your lives :) Makes a great addition to an Easter basket or an alternative for the toddler on your list who is not quite eating chocolate yet.

Max was a lucky boy this week and received a special card in the mail. He has had fun opening and closing it while he waits for his meals. He has also playing with a basket of plastic eggs this past week. He will fill up his basket and then shake it hard until they all come flying out and land on the ground.. and repeat.... a million times.

 

And of course, our chalkboards are festive and we have put out our fireplace mantle bunny banner (scrap booking paper cut in the shape of bunnies with cotton balls tails) and our framed bunny silhouette that I made last year.

I am very excited to give Max his Easter basket on Monday. I can picture him sporting his new shades while stomping through puddles in his new yellow rubber boots :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend spending time with your loved ones :)

~ K