Preview of 2014 calendar

I wasn't planning on making a calendar this year because we are trying to be more frugal as a family since I don't have a job… However, your Toronto grandparents were asking me last week to make one and I know your Vancouver grandparents will also be disappointed if we don't do one this year. So, I gathered all the photos I took of you guys (not too many this year sadly…) in the past week and here's a sneak peek of what's to come. Isn't the cover so cute?

The classic kissing sibling shots

I think every family has a shot where the parents took photos of their kids kissing each other. I know I  have one where my mom dressed me up as the 'girl' and dressed my sister, Jessica, as the 'boy'. It's actually a pretty twisted shoot because Jessica is wearing our dad's army jacket and aviator sunglasses and I'm wearing a pretty dress with a flower in my hand. We are actually kissing like we are 2 lovers in love!

I didn't go as far as dressing you up as lovers, but I thought it would be cute to shoot some shots of you guys kissing. 99% of the time you guys are fighting, but there's that 1% when you are actually pretty sweet together. 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

We've been having an unusually warm fall. It felt almost like Summer today. I hope it never ends!

We took the opportunity to go check out an apple orchard not too far from where we live- Country Apple Orchard. It was the first time we had gone to an orchard so we didn't really know what to expect. Turns out that everyone else had the same thing on their mind because it was packed with people! However, I was able to get some great shots of you guys and I think you guys really enjoyed it. That's all that matters.

The orchard had many different varieties of apples. I wasn't able to find any that I love to eat, but I thought
this sign was super cute. 

It was near the end of the season because most of the trees were picked over.
The house far in the distance is the family house. It was gorgeous.

We got a bag to pick our own apples. 

Kendall was so excited to go outside. I feel bad for her because we don't really go out much with her since
she is a lot harder to take care of than when you were her age.

One of my favourite shots. You look so adorbs!

I spy with my little eyes… something that is RED!

All the fallen apples. Such a waste…

My sunshine boy.

And my princess.

Sunday at the grandparent's

Since Auntie Jessica and her family are living at Toronto halbi and halmi's house, we've sort of made it a thing to visit every Sunday afternoon. That way, you can play with Emma (who you love) and I can see halbi and halmi. 

Today, halbi took you and Emma upstairs to his bedroom. You and Emma love going upstairs to lounge on his bed while watching cartoons. When I went up to check on you, I saw the three of you side-by-side lying on his bed. It was so cute!

Smallest to biggest.

All wearing funky panama bottoms.

Tktktktktktkt

Problem solver

We have a tradition of borrowing library books every 2 weeks. It's a good tradition, but we tend to borrow at least 10 books at a time when we go to the library. Having all those books stacked on top of your dresser was becoming quite an eye sore. It also didn't help that you are a little bit of a hoarder and you tend to bring scraps of paper from school/daycare and you have it strewn about. Then you sometimes bring your toys from from the basement- whatever is the flavour du jour. What I'm saying, is that the top of your dresser was just too cluttered with crap. I've been thinking about it for a while now and I decided that a basket would be a good solution. It would keep all the books together, while keeping them hidden. And the basket would be a nice decor accent in your room. I told daddy about and he said if I saw something I liked, then I should just get it.

I happened to go to the mall today to buy Auntie Sara her birthday present and I stopped by one of my favourite decor places while I was there- Chapters Indigo. I had seen their woven baskets a few months back and I had it in the back of my head. Now that I knew we needed a basket, I wanted to check them out more closely. They had several different styles of baskets, but I settled in the one below. It was bigger and had a bit of weight to it. There was a smaller basket that I initially thought I was going to buy, but once I put some books in it, it started tipping over from the weight of the books. I'm happy with the one I got. Plus, I used some of my points so I got it for just over $20. Score!

For now, I have the basket beside your dresser. It's a beautifully woven basket. I would like
to get more for other spaces in our house. 

I only have 3 books in here, but it can fit a whole lot more.

Presents under the tree

Your Vancouver grandma bought a ton of stuff for you and Kendall when I took her Black Friday shopping. She asked that I wrap all your presents and put it under the tree. We didn't wrap Kendall's because we thought she was still too young to understand what it meant to open presents and we wanted her to wear the clothes right away. You, on the other hand, totally know what Christmas is now so you kept asking why there weren't any presents under the tree. Well, it's been so hectic with work and also having your Vancouver grandma here so I didn't have time to wrap the presents until now. I'm actually a little bit sad because when I was on mat leave last year I was able to take care in wrapping the presents and even did the whole Advent Calendar with you. I feel like I didn't wrap the gifts as nicely this year and I really didn't do much to prepare for the holidays. We didn't even do our annual Christmas photoshoot :-(

The gifts under the tree. We will be putting more as it gets closer to Christmas.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We decided to put the tree up before your Vancouver grandma comes tomorrow. You helped me put up the tree last year, but I don't think you remembered doing it. You were pretty excited being mommy's little helper.

Ready to pass the star topper.

Look at our beautiful Christmas tree!

Kendall doesn't seem too impressed seeing you flash your belly :-/

Now all we have to do is fill the bottom of the tree with Christmas presents. Oh brother…

Our complete Christmas tree- with the lights on and the lights off.

Happy birthday Jesus!

Well, it's finally here- Christmas!

I kept asking you every day whose birthday it was on Christmas and you kept saying it was God's. I guess you are not wrong, but I reminded you it was Jesus' birthday and that's why we celebrate Christmas. I was actually a little bit annoyed leading up to Christmas because you haven't been behaving well. You've actually been throwing a lot of tantrums and saying bad words- i.e., Hot Jesus (I think you learned this at daycare). I felt like you didn't deserve to open presents. Plus, with the tragedy that happened at Newtown I wanted this to be a more meaningful Christmas. I really want to do something different when you are a bit older and maybe get you to volunteer with me somewhere so that you realize there's a lot more to Christmas than getting gifts. What really bummed me out was when you said, "Mommy, can you get me more gifts?" after you opened all your gifts. And this was after you opened so many gifts!

Opening the first gift.

I can't remember who this was from, but it may be from Jenn and Ed.

Same with this book.

Kendall got a rattle from Jenn and Ed and a couple of other baby toys.
The Minnie Mouse kit is from Dennis' co-worker for Kendall.

Kendall loves her little toy and she won't let go!

From Dennis' co-worker, you got a Cars Crayola set.

Excuse your jjing jjing (grumpy) face. I think you were overwhelmed with all the gifts.
This Nativity scene set was from Auntie Jess and Uncle Wayne.

Look how happy Kendall is! She is my little angel.

I wrapped 2 gifts your Toronto grandparents bought you from their Asian vacation.
They bought a top and a blowfish that lights up.

The top is really cool. It lights up and makes music. It's quite loud so you are a little scared of
it. You kept grabbing the top to stop it from spinning and making loud noise.

Your Vancouver grandparents and Auntie Jane bought a ton of gifts for you that were pretty
good. Auntie Jane asked me what you needed/wanted so I gave her a few ideas and she went
with it. 

Because of you love movies, she got you a few DVD's- 1 being a Christmas Classics set.
I think you also got How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Mommy and daddy got you a key ring toy that makes sounds. You always drive your
Lightning McQueen car and you were using Kendall's teething ring to pretend that it was a key
ring for your car. That's why I bought this for you.

We also got you an addition to your Thomas the Train set.

And more from us- a Cars activity set. You absolutely love Cars so anything with Lightning McQueen
is a hit for you.

Kendall got a ton of clothes from Auntie Jane and your Vancouver grandparents. What a lucky
girl she is!

Your Vancouver grandparents/Auntie Jane also got you lots of Leap Frog books. They were all
Disney-branded books so I know they weren't cheap. Thank you!

Look how happy you are.

Mommy and daddy got you a microphone so you can perform your Gangnam Style song and
dance for us since that's what you love to do these days.

Already testing the microphone…

Last, but not least, your Toronto grandparents bought you a huge remote control truck.
Look how awe-struck you are!

You got gifts from Auntie Sara and Uncle Dan, but you opened it at our family Christmas party on Saturday so that's why it's not here. They got you a Cars drinking cup that you absolutely adore, a Thomas & Friends lunch box and the movie Rio. They got Kendall a baby toy that we can hang off her jumper. And Kendall also got something from Auntie Jessica and Uncle Wayne, but I must have forgotten to take photos of that. They got her a Peter Rabbit body suit that I've been desperately needing. I love suits that cover Kendall's head and cover her feet because it's so convenient to travel with and perfect for when I have to put her in the Baby Bjorn. Thank you!