7

Seven years ago.  Today.  That is when my life was drastically and irrevocably changed forever.  Around 7:30 a.m., when I heard a little squawk and cry as they lifted Ms. M out of me and I caught a mere glimpse of that slimy, squinty, most gorgeous little baby in the world.  She loves to hear her birth story and I love telling it, how the c-section delivery was planned so the atmosphere in the operating room was excited, relaxed and cheerful, the doctors and nurses quietly chatting as they prepped me for surgery.  How I was scared, nervous and excited at the same time, and all of the nervousness disappeared and was replaced with such excitement, happiness and love the moment Ms. M made her entrance and was pronounced healthy.  Undisputably one of those moments in life that is etched into my memory in all of its most minute details.

And now that little squishy, cuddly bundle is a seven year old girl.  Wow!  She turned from the lovely cuddly baby into an adorable, feisty and incredibly smart toddler who had memorized all of her books and had a huge repertoire of songs, then a cautious, curious and lively preschooler, followed by a confident, social, smart and fun Kindergartener who then morphed into this fabulous seven year old girl.  She is a  kid now, not a little kid, and while I will always look back wistfully at how cute she was in every stage of her life and how she is growing up much too fast, I am so proud of her and loving this stage.   I love the way we can share humour now, the way she comes up with such grown-up insights it blows me away, the way she looks after her little sisters.  I'm so proud that she is adventurous, open to travel and other change, thirsty for knowledge, not defined by being a girl in her interests (Barbie, Dinosaurs and all things Science are all the rage right now), how she is effortlessly bilingual and thinks it's no big deal, how she comes up with quite ingenious arguments when she wants something (she'll give her lawyer-mama a run for her money), how she still wants to be exactly like me and that she still loves to hold my hand.

Today was a family day - with the Birthday Bash to follow in a couple of days!  We spent the day eating all of Ms. M's favourite foods, watching a movie and going to her favourite ceramics decorating studio where she selected, true to form, a soccer-ball to paint.



Happy 7th Birthday, Sweetie!

Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving was six weeks ago.  It really is mostly related to great big helpings of food.  Is a public holiday but nowhere near as big of a deal as American Thanksgiving.   But once American Thanksgiving comes around, we are inundated with TV shows and other media focusing on it.  Makes me want to join in.  I figure that there is no such thing as being "too thankful" and any reminder to think about all the things we have to be grateful for is a good thing.  

I'm thankful for all of the usual: my wonderful husband and partner in life, my fabulous little girls, our health, our home and our wellbeing.  They are "the usual", and also by far the most important things I am grateful for.  They are the foundation from which everything else flows, all of the other good things which are just the icing on the thankfulness cake.

I am grateful for the most amazing year we have had, much of it spent travelling with our three very patient and adventurous little girls who would probably be just as happy playing at home but put up with their restless and crazy parents who dragged them all over the place.  F and I really needed to get some of our "travelling crazies" out, and the time away has served its purpose: it has allowed us to see and experience some wonderful places but also to really enjoy digging in deep at home and to savour the everyday routines which are so welcome after spending time in places that are not home.

Three sisters, at home:



Kissable cheeks



I love this age - what a privilege to be the center of her world



Morning walks while big sisters are in school



Amusing ourselves in front of the school while waiting to pick up big sisters



It's ALL good!

A Fall Walk ... (October "Catch-up" Post)

Not only has October flown by with lightning speed, but here we are well into November and I have barely stayed up to date with October.  Time for a few quickie catch-up posts.  

We were incredibly lucky with October and early November weather in usually rainy Vancouver, with  many sunny and relatively warm days.   Some of the things we did was enjoy family walks in the park

The Pipsqueak stopped in wonder to admire a kite

And enjoyed harassing the local wildlife ...

We take many breaks on these wanderings

Dolls usually have to come along - their little buggies always slow us down to a crawl and we invariably end up carrying them - there's got to be a "cross-country" version of these (a Christmas present idea maybe?)  ...

And we happened to run into a dragon-boat racer carrying this amazing mask

All in all a lovely little outing

I Heart Faces | Tickled Pink

The Pipsqueak loves her pink bow







This photo was entered in the I Heart Faces photo challenge www.iheartfaces.com

Puddles and Poodles

It's that time of year - puddles galore.  Time to get the gumboots out and do some splashing.  Since this is the first year that the Pipsqueak is walking, she is in puddle discovery mode and loving it.  Equipped with her new pink booties, she spent a long time during a walk in the park just staring down at her feet and marvelling at the fact that her feet were immersed in the water.



After a while, she picked up speed and ran from puddle to puddle




"Can't Believe they let me do this!"

And even big sisters M and E who were initially occupied with collecting leaves and sticks and playing with a Poodle aptly named "Chanel", couldn't help but rediscover their love for a good puddle once they saw the Pipsqueak's excitement.






I love these two together!

And no puddle-splashing walk would be complete without the requisite baby-sitting-in-the-middle-of-the-puddle episode, not captured on camera due to immediate rescue of the baby by camera-toting mama, followed by the tuckered out baby back in the stroller.


For lack of a blanket or dry pair of pants, we substituted a fleece hoodie - put the legs through the sleeves and flip the hood up in front - et voila!

Loving FALL!