Sweet summertime

I am just finishing up the last days of my two week summer vaca. I wanted to write a post about it because we have had so much fun and I want to remember everything we did together. For a moment it felt like I was back on mat leave.. what a tease!! It has been so nice to have full, consecutive days with my little guy, and boy did we make the most of those days. My husband was even able to get one of the weeks off so we were together for a whole week! 

We visited the beach where we splashed in the waves, the zoo where we played in a ball pit and saw so many different animals, we visited the splash pad a bazillion times and thought it was funny to sit and step on the water spouts, we ate homemade popsicles, we went to our favourite drop in center and participated in “water day” with many other little ones, we tried new yummy recipes, we finished the playroom and had our first guest over to play, we wore our rubber boots to lunchtime and mowed the cement with our lawnmower, we took a ferry to the US for some yummy nachos, we had three hour naps every single day (little man, not mommy), we had family visit on two occasions, and we went on countless wagon/stroller/trike rides. Today we had Max's last round of immunizations followed by a play date and picnic with some very sweet and cute second cousins! :)

A few fun photos taken from the past two weeks..

WOW what fun!! It will be so hard to go back and get back into the swing of things, but such is life I suppose. So here is to the best two weeks we have had in many months! Living for the next vacation :)

What are you doing for fun with your littles this summer??

~K

Mud pies in the sun-day (dunk me in the tub please for brown kid tea!)

I am a lucky girl. My friends have many talents. I have a friend who makes the most adorable baby moccasins, a friend who is an amazing sewer and has made my son a number of beautiful items for his nursery, a friend who is a fantastic photographer and captured very special photos of my family last fall, and most recently a friend who is so incredibly artistic and started making story stones.

My friend E for some time has collected interesting and pretty rocks from the beach. She has found a number of heart shaped rocks which she has framed and made into beautiful pieces of artwork for the walls in her home. 

A short time ago she posted some “story stones” on her Instagram. Holy hidden talent. For real. I had one of those “you could totally sell those” moments. 

At the time our favourite book to read was Kid Tea by Elizabeth Ficocelli. Our favourite page is the painting page where it says “blobs of yellow, shake like jello” at which point we shake our heads back and forth. It is always good for a cute little boy giggle :) So when E offered to make a set of story stones to go along with one of Max’s favourite books, Kid Tea immediately came to mind.

We received our set of story stones this week and all I can say is wow. How cool are these right!? Not only does Max have a special set of stones to go along with a favourite book, but these are so educational; teaching him words, colours and sequence. Love, love, LOVE!!

                                  

(these are only about 1/3rd of the rocks E made for us).

Thanks E. You are the best.

We are now in full vacation mode in our home... complete with afternoon mother-son naps today.. Lovely :) We have a whole two weeks of summer fun ahead of us!

Happy weekend!

~K

I love a good theme

 This weekend we celebrated my nephew's fourth birthday. My sister-in-law always does it up right with awesome themes and decorations galore.. a girl after my heart :) She is a teacher to boot so she always has super creative ideas!

My nephew is at the age where he is starting to become interested in LEGO so the theme 'Turning 4 is Awesome' was a prefect fit. 

There was personalized LEGO art everywhere, along with fun 2D banners. The kiddie's lunch consisted LEGO shaped cucumbers, PB and Jelly Sandwhiches and cheese and crackers. So cute and fun! The birthday boy helped make his birthday Brownies and after the kiddos went to bed we decorated the brownies with dyed icing and m&ms. My sister-in-law bought LEGO men decal faces off of Etsy and we put these on balloons, cups, and snack bowls. An easy detail and really added to the decorations!

A perfect theme for kids this age and lots of neat ideas that you can make from supplies you have around the home. 

In other news. Max has had some more 'firsts' this past week. He found a wheel bigger than him, he had his first hair cut and took it like a champ. He went into the water finally at the splash pad, after many visits of just looking at the water from the perimeter, and he had his first freezie tonight while sitting on the front porch bench like a big boy :) He is such a toddler now! Happy 1 1/2 years today big boy! :)

In two weeks from now we have two weeks of vacation!!! We are looking forward to visiting family, going to the zoo, picnics and trips to the beach! We love summer! :)

~K

Ode to "dada"

I know, I know. I've been totally MIA this last month. In all honesty, my idea bank went dry. Time is passing by so quickly and lately I've had very little 'me' time. With no me time, I felt like I did not have much to talk about. I have three weeks off during the month of July so I'm hoping my creative juices start flowing again!

Father's Day is tomorrow. My husband doesn't read the blog, which is probably for the best as he gets enough material to tease me about just from living with me everyday... but especially for this post since I'm revealing Max's gifts to his daddy! :)

Max made a super cute t-shirt for for his dada with his face silk screened on it. It is hilarious. If you follow me on instagram you will get to see him rocking it tomorrow during Father's Day celebrations. 

I went for the homemade theme this year.. I made homemade protein bars and borrowed a cute idea from Pinterest. The bars are soooo yummy. I definitely recommend these. 

High Protein Fudge Bars

8 scoops of chocolate protein (I used four because the scoop was huge)

 1 c Oatmeal, quick oats

1/3 cup natural PB (I used regular)

3 tbsp honey

1/2 c milk (I used 2%)

3 tbsp peanuts chopped (I used walnuts)

Mix protein and oats together. Add PB in liquid form (microwave). Mix then add honey. Add milk, starting with less than 1/2 c until mixed together. Spread evenly in 8' pan (I used the center of a 9' pan). spread nuts over top. Mixture will be very sticky! Put in fridge 45 minutes then cut. Makes 5 (I was able to get 6.. I cut down the middle horizontally and then split each half into three. Wrap in parchment/wax paper and keep in the fridge.

50g protein, 36 g carbs

very sticky but delicious!

Max is such a happy boy. He has definitely moved into the toddler stage..1 1/2 years old next month! He still loves books and putting things into buckets and other containers. He is a very organized little guy. We are having so much fun with him :)

 I hope everyone has a wonderful day celebrating the special dads and father figures in your lives

~ K

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