Go Canada!

I have a guilty secret.... I'm not all that excited by the Olympics. Maybe I'd be a bit more enthusiastic if it wasn't always on as soon as my husband comes home from work. Or, maybe if I wasn't inundated with Olympic updates/prayers every time I log into Facebook. Having said that, I'm pretty darn proud to be a Canadian woman right now. We are kicking butt! Seriously. Out of the 17 medals Canada currently has 13.5 of them went to the women. We're just showing those boys how it's done.

It's Official.....

We have a crawler!

Pretty Pink Stars

Do I teach my daughters to colour inside the lines and that stars are generally yellow, or do I step back and allow them to make the stars beautiful however they choose?

My Mirror

Victoria is my reflection. Today she was talking to her train (built out of pillows in her bedroom) and I very clearly heard myself. I'm not sure if I like this reflection or not.

Victoria yelling to her train: "I am so disappointed in you! You were supposed to go to the North Shore and you just didn't listen! We were having a very nice day and now by not listening you are making me mad and now the day isn't fun any more. Bad train! I need you to pay attention to me when I tell you to go to the North Shore. Listen to me! I am so not impressed."

Now Presenting....

I'm trying really hard (not always succeeding, but still trying) these days to be "present" with my children. I'm aiming to stay "in the moment" with my girls, instead of doing my usual multi-tasking mom stuff.

Right now I am playing on the computer, planning what to have for dinner and thinking about the cleaning that I have to do still. And Victoria is cuddling with me on the couch while she snuggles her toy elephant and enjoys some popcorn while watching a cartoon on TV. In light of my new presentness goal, I'm going to put the computer down, cuddle the heck out of my little girl and simply revel in how good it feels to hold her.

NOTE: After posting the previous I spent time being present with Victoria. We coloured, we sang, we played with her sticker book. She was incredibly sweet and well behaved. Actually, the rest of the day went really smoothly, with me remembering to stay in the moment and not trying to do it all, all at the same time.

Maybe there is something to this "being present" idea.....

Three's the Place to Be

Today my biggest little girl turned. Three. Holy smokes, she's three. TH-REE. 3. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was meeting her for the first time, holding her in my arms and wondering at how my life was going to change with this new little life. And change it did! I new that things would be different and I totally expected to love my little girl, but never, ever, could I have imagined the all-encompassing love I would feel for her. The depth of my love. I delight in her every small accomplishment. I feel her pain with every small scrape and bump and I cry along with her when her feelings are hurt. I feel that mother-bear protective instinct and have to hold myself back from tearing into anyone or anything that hurts her tender feelings. Even knowing intellectually that she is far from perfect, when I look at her my heart swells and all I see is perfection. She is my miracle in the form of a little girl

V-Day

I have been feeling a bit desperate to get out of the house without my little ones and tonight, thanks to my mother-in-law, my husband and I went out for dinner ALL BY OURSELVES. No kids. Now admittedly, our reservation was for 5:15 so it wasn't exactly a late night experience, and we spent lots of time talking about the little ones, but we dressed up, sat for a lovely meal that included wine, appetizers and dessert, and even went out for coffee afterward. I loved having the chance to reconnect with my husband and remember all the many, many reasons why I love him.

When we got home at around 8:00 (Caitlin still likes to eat every three hours and absolutely refuses a bottle) I was excited to see my little girl and was holding her above my head and kinda twirling her around. And she spit up. A lot. In my mouth. Happy Valentine's Day Mom!