ONE ROUGH MONTH!

I LOVE this picture! How could I not? Ryder is smiling.
He's so stinkin' happy here and when he's happy, he's soooo much fun!!

Unfortunately ever since Marty took a raisin from the box after helping Ryder open it, (that's right, I'm gonna totally blame Marty, not the fact that Ryder is an irrational three year old,) the smiles have been upside down in frowns more frequently than usual.
Ok, if I'm being honest, the frowns are more like open mouthed, high pitched instruments that never stop being played at top volume.  The song is one that is on repeat. One you wish you could turn off. One that is NOT happy!! 
Ah, the melt down...Ryder is mastering it, however as he gets better at his epic melt downs, We seem to be running out of strategies to effectively handle them...if there is such a thing. I take solace in the memory that when Ryder turned two the meltdowns were frequent (and often kinda funny, to Marty and I, though we never let Ryder know that) but they ended after a few short months. He seemed to have given up melt downs for a while...then Marty took the raisin and things have not been the same since! Ha ha! Ofcorse I know it's not Marty or the raisin that caused the frequency of tantrums to increase, it's the fact that Ryder turned three and he has red hair! ha ha!!  At least that's what I thought the problem was...then we discovered that he had a huge, gross skin infection under the band aid he refused to take off for weeks! Ummm ewwwww! Thank goodness Grampa discovered that. Now I'd like to think all this crankiness has been due to his poor little body fighting infection...except his on medication and the tantrums have not fully stopped.....

Anyway, I am days away from Spring Break and am so looking forward to regrouping. :)
In between tantrums (mostly they happen in the evenings, isn't that what they call the "Witching Hour?) we've had a lot of fun, despite me being back at work!

We've done some biking.

 He has a pedal bike but still prefers his "strider bike"

We've been enjoying meal times though still no teeth!

 After dinner hair!

 It snowed today, but the sun has shone a little bit, so we've had some adventures outside.

 Payton follows Ryder everywhere!

 Grampa came to visit and he brought a Super Hero Cape from he and GG!

 

We started gymnastics..unparented!!! Ryder wore his cape there ofcorse!

 We've played in the yard!

And, thankfully, Grampa discovered this gross skin infection under Ryder's beloved band aid!!  I took him to the walk in clinic (it was a Sunday) and now he's taking medicine. This wasn't one of the fun things, but we got donuts after the doctor's and that was fun!
I hope the meds clear this up, it sure stinks and looks awful. Doesn't seem to bother Ryder at all though, thank God!  
Here's hoping once his lil body is done fighting this infection, he'll be a much happier kid, like he used to be!! :)

It's been a rough month. Lots of changes in routine, but we are slowly adjusting and figuring out just how we are going to make all of this work!!

In a month where our city has seen it's worst Mass murder ever (5 college kids stabbed to death) I can appreciate that tantrums are minor and I am soooo greatful to only have that to deal with. I will take tantrums over any of the other more serious issues we could be dealing with! Thank you, God!!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and remember: this too shall pass!

IT'S APRIL!

April 2nd was Marty's Birthday. It fell right in the middle of my first week back to work. I'd had no time, no paycheck and no sleep for a whole year, but I needed to muster some so that we could celebrate "Daddy."  Even though, Marty and I had already decided to celebrate both our Birthdays together at the end of the month (after I get paid and our Family gets comfortable in our new routine) but I wanted to do something so that Ryder and Payton could celebrate Daddy too....

Ryder picked out a Hockey story book to wrap up as a gift for Daddy and he and Payton helped me pick some Donuts at Tim Horton's to bring home for a Birthday surprise treat.  Ryder was so excited to stick a candle in the sprinkle donut. We sang at the top of our lungs and helped Daddy open his cards and gift.

Marty's Birthday was a highlight in a busy week!  Being back at work after a wonderful year at home with my babies, was a harsh reality.  Don't get me wrong going back to the school was actually kinda fun...but I did miss my own lil ones and I'm still not used to the fact that I only get to see my own kids for 3 or 4 hours before they go to bed...but Spring Break is only 2 weeks away and my first pay check in a year is only 3 weeks away!!!

When I get paid, we can go to Costco again!! I freaking love that place!!

These are the two faces I miss all day while I'm at work!

 

Finally, the sun came out to play!!! We spent the entire morning on our patio watching Payton eat sand, splash in the puddles and wobble around in her rubber boots.  We laughed at Ryder who was sooo happy to have his sandbox open again!

 

We even busted out Ryder's birthday bike, though he is reluctant to give up his "Run bike." He's not sure about pedals, but we convinced him to give it a whirl!

 Payton changed outfits at least 10 times today. She kept finding ways to get covered in sand and water. She even dumped the entire dog water dish on herself. She was so proud and just sat there splashing around in it...I love my messy lil raggamuffin!

Look at this happy little cutie pie!!

Life as we know it is changing around here, now that I'm back at work. Here's hoping I get better at balancing everything...now I better get to bed, it's Monday tomorrow!!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and go ahead, eat some sand, drink from the dog dish...toddlers do it all the time!! LOL

MARCH IS ALMOST OVER?

What?? March is almost over?? I just I looked at my last post and it was in February!! Ooops!!! My excuse is that March is one heck of a crazy month for us, especially this year. It's a weak excuse, but it's all I got!
My maternity leave ends on the 31st of March. That is the end of my mat leave and my first day of work. We decided to put the kids in the Day Home for the month so that I could prepare for back to work. Prepare myself. Prepare the house. Prepare the kids for the routine. Prepare us all for being apart....but it didn't take long for Plan A to turn into Plan B. We ended up having to find a new day home a day and a half in due to the original Day Home suddenly announcing it was closing it's doors.  I spent the next few days doing nothing but researching and interviewing child care facilities until finally finding one we felt comfortable and happy with.  Both kids ended up getting awful colds and coughs, sleep eluded all of us, and it snowed, a lot, just when we all thought spring was here!

 Because it snowed so much, we took Ryder skiing across the road at the Olympic Park.

 We made leprechaun traps for St. Paddy's Day

 The Day Home had a fun St. Paddy's Day party!

 Payton really started loving books.

 She just started mastering her rubber boots when it snowed again...

 Is it Spring or Winter?? Just before it snowed I took the kids and Scout on a wagon/bike ride that turned ugly. Ryder made the poor decision to ride his bike through that huge icy puddle/run off lake. Ofcorse, I didn't stop him either, which seemed slightly risky and proved to be bad advice! ha ha ha! Yep, he fell in, right in the middle which meant I had to go in to knee deep, ice cold water to rescue him. While I was resucing him, Payton fell face first in the mud. By the time all was said and done, Ryder was naked and had to be wrapped in my sweater, my feet were freezing, Scout was tired of waiting and Payton was crying..I ended up calling the neighbour to come rescue us with his truck since Marty was away for the weekend. Quite the adventure! LOL

Our Family has four Birthdays in three weeks at the end of March, beginning of April and this year we had one BIG birthday, Payton's first!

 Ryder  2011 and 2014

 Payton 2013, 2014

Mom and Nic offered to make cakes for the kiddos. I was hoping for a "race cars and rubber boots" theme for Ryder's party. I wanted to have a bunch of mud and messy activities in the back yard. We'd all wear our rubber boots, get muddy and then come in for Race Car birthday cake.

 

It snowed though, so no mud party. Instead we went sledding, but we still had race car cake! Thank you Grammy and Auntie Dic for this awesome Francesco cake!


 For Payton, Pearls and Polka Dots was the theme. Something girlie and fun for her first birthday.

Because Mom and Nic were coming with awesome cakes, and because Payton's best friends are Ryder's buddies' sisters, we decided to have both parties on the same weekend, even though that would mean Payton's birthday would be celebrated a week early. With both parties on the same weekend, people only had to come to our house one weekend instead of two.

Both parties were a huge success and a huge deal because Nic, Mom and I love throwing big parites for the kiddos even though we know it's not necessary. It's fun!

I found this program that allowed me to make a really cute video montage of my favorite pics of Payton's party. Copy this link into your browser to check it out if you have time (it's short, I promise)

http://animoto.com/play/JyK09I43DSB95ARhEeIpGA

I am back to work Monday, but I promise to get back regularily Blogging because writing about these precious memories makes me happy and sharing our story with Family and friends far away makes me happy!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and throw a big party every once in a while!

Family Day weekend was last weekend, but we are lucky enough to get to spend almost every weekend together, doing things as a Family.  The weather wasn't as warm as it was supposed to be, but we decided to head out west for a little drive. We ended up at the Nordic center where they have build a fantastic tobogganing area! They have several different groomed runs, some with jumps, some with bumps and some just smooth, fast ones, perfect for almost three year olds to hurtle down at top speed!  So much free, family fun!!!

  Lovin' his "McQueen" sled!!

 Helmet for safety!

 Daddy even took Payton down for a couple runs!

Tuesday, after Family Day Monday was a very exciting day for Ryder.  See, for over a month now, Ryder has been doing "chores," we call them "Family Responsibilities" to earn money. I know, I know, kids shouldn't be paid for doing things to contribute to the Family...everyone has an opinion on how to handle "chores" and "money" but we decided to get a magnetic "Responsibility Chart" and we decided to pay Ryder a quarter every night, if he completed his responsibilities.  When we started this responsibility chart, we explained to Ryder that he would be able to save his money until he had enough to buy whatever he wanted.  I doubt that when we explained all of this to Ryder that he had any idea what saving money meant, or how much it would take to buy anything, but he smiled and nodded and declared that he was going to save up to buy Ripslinger, a die cast airplane from the movie planes.  That was 40 days ago! He never changed his mind. He kept his eye on the prize and when he finally had 40 quarters all saved up, I took him to buy Ripslinger.  To help him have a visual of how many quarters he would need I created a cardboard chart with 40 quarters traced on it.  At the end of every week, we'd tape his quarters to the cardboard until he had filled in every circle!  When we taped that last quarter on the chart, Ryder was sooo proud!!

 It took 40 days, but Ryder learned to save money, to set a goal and he finally reaped the reward of that patience and hard work.
We ended up at the Disney Store as Walmart was sold out of Ripslinger and so was Toys R Us. Ryder immediately located Ripslinger. There were a lot of other planes and toys in the Disney Store, but Ryder was not tempted by any other toy.  He picked Ripslinger, and headed for the line to pay.  He had his quarters in a ziplock baggie and he handed the whole baggie to the clerk. He was sooo proud...and so was I!

When we got home, Ryder couldn't wait to show Marty his new plane and it has hardly left his hands since! Infact, Tuesday night, he insisted that Ripslinger and Dusty (the plane he got for Christmas) should be tucked into their bunks.  I asked where the bunks were. He matter of factly said:"next door with the towels." I looked at him confused and then followed him as he opened the linen closet and put his planes to bed with the towels! LOL  (He has actually done this every night since bringing Ripslinger home.) YOu should see him wake them up in the morning. He opens the door, starts singing, "Skinna ma rinky dinky dink, skinna ma rinky do, I love you" (that's what we sing to Payton when we wake her up) and then he asks them, "how was your sleep boys?" Hilarious and sooo sweet! This whole thing has been quite a positive learning journey for Ryder and for us. He has decided to save up for El chupacabra next. 

As for Payton, we are proud of her too!!  She is such starting to walk! She will let go things and just start walking! It's crazy!! She's not even 11 months yet! She walks best while she is clapping, so you can imagine how adorable it is to see a proud, chubby little toddler toddling along clapping her hands with a huge grin on her face!  I wish I could post a video, but that's not going to happen tonight......

 She is just so stinkin' cute!!! She's also a handful of trouble!!! She does not sit still! She is constantly on the move and if you happen to leave the lid open on any toilet, she will have her hands swishing around in it before you remember that you've forgotten to shut it! She will find any cup or glass of water in her reach and dump it all over herself and she insists on smearing her hair with all food!! She is full of spirit and independence and joy!! I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Both of my children are loud, busy and a little bit crazy! I love it! They are just like their parents! ha ha!!  My maternity leave is quickly coming to an end, and I will miss spending all day, every day with these busy little cuties, but if I'm 100% honest, I have to say, there is also a teeny, tiny part of me looking forward to going back to work, so I don't have to work so hard! LOL

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and keep those toilet lids closed!!!!!!!!