All Five Things Together

It is so incredibly rare that the five of us are ever photographed together, that we basically have no family pictures at all. Having three young Things so close together in age literally leaves me breathless and constantly feeling like I am running behind a train trying to catch up. A family photo shoot has been on my mind since we had Thing 3 (almost TWO years ago now) and we finally had a chance to make my wish come true this weekend.

The very talented Anna from Anna Epp Photography joined us for a fun and relaxing morning of picture taking. I was so pleased that the entire morning was effortless and non-stressful. Other photographers in the past have been very hung up on posing and requiring that we sit still for minutes at a time - completely unreasonable for us with three children five and under. Anna takes a very natural approach and prefers to capture her shots while everyone is at ease and candid.

I'm completely happy with our photos! You can preview more shots from our family photo shoot at Anna's photography blog.

Get Ready for a Few Extra Minutes of Sleep

Ever wish you could grab just 10 or 15 extra minutes to sleep each morning? Is your baby an early riser? When Thing 1 was a wee little thing in his crib, he liked to greet the mornings far too early for my liking. You know what I mean - like, *way* before the newspaper hits your doorstep. I used to wonder what I could do to just have him either a) sleep a bit longer so I didn't have to get up before dawn, or b) find some way to for him to remain happy and occupied in his crib for a good chunk of time.

A mom-to-mom chat with my good friend Kelly soon left me a changed woman. She offered me the gold nugget of parenting tips.

And I am about to offer this tip to you. Drum roll, please.

Find yourself a small container with some sort of clip or edge that will enable you to attach it to the edge of a crib. Those plastic cleaning containers work well (the ones that carry your cleaning bottles in it) although I found this composting container for a couple dollars at Zellers and really liked its sturdiness and size. It also happens to fit perfectly on our crib.

Each night after Thing 3 goes to sleep, I fill up her "crib bucket" with surprises for her to find when she wakes the next morning. I usually include a couple books, her favourite Little People . . . anything small and safe for her to play with on her own in her crib. In the picture below you can see I've also included her Auntie Steph's Monchichi, and our Playmobil pterodactyl.

Later in the evening, when I tuck her in as I embark on my own bedtime routine, I clip the bucket to the edge of her crib so it will be there waiting for her when she wakes up. In the morning, she opens her eyes and is pleasantly surprised by a bucket-full of goodies with which to amuse herself. She pulls out different toys and books each morning, keeping her occupied for a good 30 minutes or so before she begins to call out for me to come get her! I rotate the toys/books quite often, almost every night if I remember, because that seems to be key to keeping her excited about the bucket - the fact that there are different items in it each morning.

I try not to put the bucket in the crib with her at bedtime when she falls asleep, because it does seem to foster a little too much "playing" at bedtime and her crib is strewn with toys and books as she pulls all the items out. Be very careful which items you place inside the bucket - no sharp edges or dangerous toys of any kind. I never put in any books other than board books, as I wouldn't want Thing 3 to rip paper pages and potentially chew on them or choke. I sometimes put in several chunks of Lego, as she just loves putting four or five pieces of Lego together.

Yes, this little trick worked for all three Things. As babies, they grew to really look forward to their "buckets of fun" and ended up being very content and happy each morning as they woke up. Rarely did we ever hear fussing from our babies in the mornings, and to this day they are still all content and cheerful when they get up in the mornings.

I do not recommend adding the bucket to the crib of a younger infant. It is too dangerous until a baby is able to sit up on their own very well, hold toys, flip through the pages of a book, etc. I did not use the bucket for any of our children before they were at least nine or ten months old. And it is perfect for ages 15-20 months, when they are very curious and love reading books and are beginning to play with toys on their own.

So there you go . . . grab yourself a crib bucket, fill it up, and grab some zzzzs (or an early morning cup of coffee!) before your little one gets up.

Wordless Wednesday - Leaf Extravaganza

Is it Christmas Card Time Already?

I can hardly believe it is that time of year already. It seems like just yesterday it was summer and the Things and I were dipping our toes in the frigid Atlantic Ocean. But alas, reality has hit and Halloween is behind us (which wasn't very exciting around these parts as two of the Things were quite sick with bad colds, hence the lack of photos), signaling the green light for retailers round the globe to deck their halls, decorate their winter wonderlands, and inaugurate the never-ending rotation of Christmas advertisements that we will inevitably be forced to endure over the next seven weeks.

That being said - I do love the holidays! The festive season, the baking, the traditions, trimming the tree, late nights wrapping gifts and, of course, the Christmas cards. I am selling a few of my cards at a small craft fair here in Ottawa later this month, so I've been trying to come up with a variety of different styles that will suit everyone's needs. And I'm experimenting with some different "non-traditional" holiday colours, just to be different. A couple of the cards I made at a class a few weeks ago. My days are so busy lately, I really hope I can complete enough cards . . . and maybe even manage to make enough for us to send out this year!