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For the long weekend, we headed out to Oroville to spend sone time at the lake with my parents and brother. We had a great time relaxing and having fun. Morgan and I even snuck out for a date leaving both kids at the cabin. We had a two hour window to try and find some fun in a very small town. We had to pick up a few things from the grocery store before we headed down the main drag to find a restaurant to have some dessert. After enjoying some cake, we checked out the new development before heading back. It was so nice to have some time together alone.

Leah loved to watch the boats and ski-doos on the water. When Leah saw my uncle backing up his van into the water, getting his back tires wet while launching the boat, she said, “no, no, the van can’t go in the water”. There was lots to see and explain. She was also worried about people on the boat going into the water as well as the girls who were going tubing. When she saw a skier bail, she worried if theirs eyes were closed. Leah didn’t want to leave her viewpoint until the couldn’t see any boats anymore.

Last year, Leah was not a fan of the boat. This year we started slow and she even wanted to stay on to watch my cousin and brother ski. She started asking to go back to Grandma so we headed back to the cabin and then I went out on the boat for a bit with my cousin and brother. I even went for a ski. I adore my kids and love spending time with them but it was also so refreshing to have some time not being concerned about dirty diapers, tantrums or crying.

While in the boat, Leah wanted to be very close to Morgan or I. Here is her uncle Trevor skiing.

After work relaxing on the couch takes on a different feel after having children.

Monkey see, monkey do.

Leah loves to hang out on the deck. Joel was sleeping inside so I asked her to tell me if Joel was crying while I cut the back lawn. I reviewed the instructions, asking her what to do if Joel cried. She responded by saying, “put the soother in his mouth”. I reviewed the instructions again saying Joel would be hungry and she passed the test the second time. Then she was concerned she might not hear Joel through the screen door. I reassured her that the screen door wouldn’t be a problem. Joel was only about four feet away.

I knew I would be able to hear Joel cry within half a minute of him crying as we have a rotary mower and a small back yard but it was awesome seeing Leah taking her job so seriously. Every once in awhile she would call loudly to me saying Joel’s not crying yet mommy. I would stop cutting the grass, ready to run upstairs when she would repeat herself while I silently hoped Joel would sleep through her yelling.

I told Leah she needed to wear a hat now that the sun is out and summer is coming and she insisted on wearing a toque. I eventually convinced her of the merits of a ‘new’ pink hat. She also told me today while I turned the water on full blast for her to wash her hands at the bathroom sink that it was too much water and I was making the fish sick. She has got the conservation part down now, just need to work on the education.

Joel loves hanging out with his sheep. He is so smiley now and coos when he is happy. He also loves staring at his fist when it happens to be in his line of sight. Good times!

Leah is now three years old and proud of it. She reminds us almost everyday that she is a big girl. We are blessed immensely to have her in our lives and love her so much.

Getting ready for her party…eating breakfast while Joel gets cuddles after a morning bath.

I made Leah a sunflower cake with cupcakes as the petals.

At Grandma and Grandpa’s house enjoying dinner and opening her presents.

Last year at the lake Leah declared my dad’s low-rider lawn chair to be hers so my dad searched high and low to find another chair like it for Leah so he could have his chair back. My dad has never visited so many stores in his life searching for this chair which is a testament to how much he loves his granddaughter (and to how much he likes his beach chair). Leah also got a pretty spiffy bike but hasn’t quite figured out how to pedal. She is a pro at her tricycle though.

I never knew how hard the job of being a mother is until Leah joined our family. I also had no idea of the depth of joy that being a mother entails. I like how this poem describes a day in the life of a mother and I adore the artwork that Leah made to go along the poem, especially her drawings of people.

If you aren’t familiar with the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, grab a snuggle with the nearest child and watch this before reading the rest of this post.

If you give a mom a muffin,
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she’ll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring.
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie

I’m so grateful for an awesome park so close to our house. Leah knows where all the good puddle jumping spots are in the park. She brought her baby scrunched up in her carrier to the playground and pushed her baby on the swing. Good practice for pushing Joel.

Hanging out before breakfast. One of my favourite mommy moments is watching Leah making Joel smile.

Leah and Joel.

Last Tuesday we went to Crescent beach to meet our friends. Leah had a great time throwing rocks into the water and playing with her shovel while my friend and I compared notes on ages and stages. Leah has a bunch of friends who were born within a month of her and it is crazy how they act so much the same even though they rarely see each other. Certain milestones I expect to happen around the same time but different quirks and mannerisms I thought would be more individual. For example, Leah likes to have all the doors closed in our house and will go around to shut them if I’ve opened them, just like some of her other friends.

It has been such a great support and encouragement to have friends raising children similar in age. When Leah is going through tantrums or other tough disciplinary stages, it is reassuring to know you aren’t the only one and that there isn’t something dreadfully wrong with your parenting or child that is causing it.

No, she hasn’t been hanging out with older kids in the neighbourhood or negative influences at the park. Leah has spent some quality time with Uncle David at our last family get-together.

Joel laughed for the first time yesterday with his daddy. And for the record, I weighed him yesterday with clothes on at the doctors and he is now 12lbs 5oz.

Here are some recent stories and quotes by Leah.

I was trying to get Joel to smile again one day and Leah kept on saying that he had already smiled, interrupting my efforts with her determination to get me to stop. I asked her if Joel could only smile once a day and she emphatically said yes.

She always like to check if Joel is eating and still reminds me often that Joel didn’t want to eat at the hospital. Their first meeting must have left quite the impression as she keeps bringing it up.

When some people were leaving our house after a visit they said, “Thanks for having us” which Leah replied to saying, “Thanks for having you” a couple of times.

“Joel can’t walk because he is not wearing shoes.”

me: “What do big sisters do?”
Leah: “Big sisters wear big sister t-shirts.”
me: “What else do big sisters do?”
Leah: “Big sisters play with beans.” (She has some dry kidney beans she likes to ‘cook’ with)

Leah quite often refers to Joel as the baby and to me as his mommy when talking about me in relation to Joel. She will say “Joel is smiling at his mommy”.

We were out and about and Leah was thirsty so I told her I don’t have any water for her. She responded by asking, “you only have Joel’s milk?”

I was reading Leah some bedtime stories when I said, “Leah, turn the page hun” and she replied saying, “I’m not a hun”. I asked what she was then and she said, “I’m a Leah”. (I think she has heard me call Morgan a hun so she thinks that hun refers to daddy, not to her.)

When Leah combs my hair, she points out the knots, combs my hair and then exclaims, “all your knots are on the floor mommy!”

Leah thinks dinner is the only meal that makes her teeth dirty because we brush her teeth at night.