A baby visit and some new shoes

It rained today and was really yucky outside. The boys and I headed out this morning to pick up some stamping supplies I ordered and then we headed across the river to la belle province to visit my friend from teaching, Tiiu, who just had a gorgeous little baby, Hayden. The boys were superbly behaved, although they left their *mark* on her house, of course. I even held the baby and neither Peter nor David seemed too upset or jealous by that.

Here is baby Hayden - he only weighs six pounds!! What a cutie . . . with significantly more hair than David too!

Peter munches on a snack and is enthralled by something Tiiu is saying . . .

Here they are visiting with Tiiu and Hayden:

And Tiiu wanted to do a silly pose:

I bundled the boys up for a cool fall walk the other morning - David looked so cute I couldn't resist *another* picture - loyal to his fans, as always ;-).

And our big walker got his first pair of shoes this week - pretty darn cute. He still wears his THREE pair of Robeez in the house but now that it's cooler outside it's nicer for him to walk around in the little baby boots. Who are the geniuses creating these ADORABLE kids shoes? Someone's makin' lotso money too - these fine puppies set me back $60. EGADS!

Rainy Wednesday . . .

So the boys are napping - yes BOTH at the same time - and it's raining and there are a million productive things I could be doing: cleaning, paying bills, creating more bills, completing my Masters degree, watching said children sleep . . . but here I am again providing useless information for the masses :-).

We all took a family trip to Home Depot last night and bought an area rug for our living room. We've been looking for one for three years and haven't been able to find something we both like and agree on. Well, we love this one and we bought it right away, for a great price I might add!! It was timely b/c we are having the whole main floor painted in October and we need to get moving on choosing paint colours. This new rug will help us for sure!!!

Here's our new baby:


I was lucky enough to have some time to myself this morning to get my hair cut. I've been growing it for months and it's getting much longer! My MIL Brigid took care of the boys for a couple hours so I could sit and enjoy my coffee while being primped :-) I have some caramel highlights leftover from the summer so my hair is a nice, fun shade for fall. Very different for me but I like it a lot!!

David starting to walk!

Carrots . . . and cute!

With all the teething and sore mouths I gave the boys a couple carrots to rub on their gums . . . they loved them but they both look a little *drunk* so maybe there is something in carrots I am not aware of ;-)?

And this one of David at playgroup was just so cute I couldn't resist . . .

Our week of rain . . .

Well, for the life of me I can't figure out how to post a video clip here, and I know it can be done b/c I've seen it on other blogs. Anyway, I took a few shots of our new little walker. He can walk right across the room now! Excuse the pacifier in all the pictures, he's NEVER touched one and grabbed one this morning off the floor and stuck it in his mouth for a few seconds.

We had another LONG week of rain and teething and the boys ended up having colds - nothing major but made for a few nights of not much sleep. They are getting better now. David is standing and walking all the time, it's so funny that one day he was just crawling and now he's just walking! Crazy how time flies. With fall approaching we are back to a more regular schedule now, heading out to playgroups and other activities to keep our mornings busy. Peter starts Duffer Doo (a preschool program one morning a week) in a week and a half and I pray it goes well. He's still having separation anxiety and is not keen to be dropped off at a place where mommy will be leaving him. I'm hoping after some initial crying that he will end up liking it. The good news is that there are some friends there he will recognize.

Mommy is doing particularly well after having TWO nights out this week. Yes, WITHOUT boys in tow! Tuesday night I went to a stamping workshop which was really fun and I was able to learn a couple really cool techniques. And last night I met my friend Karen for coffee and the biggest piece of carrot cake I've ever seen. We had fun catching up and enjoying our treats. She braved the real coffee and I stuck with decaf . . . I have enough things waking me up at night as it is.

They're (meaning, they who work for the City of Ottawa) ripping up our street to replace all the watermains and put in a whole new water system. Fun and entertaining for Peter with all the tractors, backhoes, and other big "diggers" around, but less fun for mommy when she wants her kids to nap in the afternoon. And let me tell you, these guys must be dedicated b/c they start right at 7:00 a.m. Today they broke the pavement in front of our house and dug a hole several metres deep. It was insane - the house shook a little bit. They informed us they will turn our water off for a bit "next week", which I felt was a little vague. Hopefully it won't be mid-shower . .

The boys are off to Liam's fourth birthday party tomorrow. Peter is so excited, he can't stop talking about it! It's a Buzz Lightyear party so it should be fun for everyone. Did someone say CAKE???? Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Here David checks out "Muck", Pete's Bob the Builder tractor.

And says "enough of that, I'll walk across the room me thinks" . . .

And some more walking . . .

. . . and even more walking!!!!
Pete and I took in some painting during the rainy weather . . .

He made several works of art. And for those of you who think Pete doesn't remember you, he clearly made four paintings and said "this one is for Aunty Mary, this one is for Cathy, this one is for Grandad and this one is for Nana". "Can you please mail them for me mommy?"

I kid you not.


Hey, I don't think I'm supposed to be climbing the stairs!!!

But I will anyway b/c I'm so cute I can get away with it!

Yep, this is me looking cute!!!!

We have a walker on our hands . . .

Well, we figured it would be soon, and David took three steps on Sunday night!! Then yesterday morning he took three more for us at home. Sunday we went over to Granny's house for some yummy Indian food. It had rained all day so we were stuck inside. Little David took some steps on Granny's nice soft carpet. Not really walking I'd say, but definitely in the right direction. Then yesterday we were playing in the living room and he took some steps on our hardwood floor. He's very steady and standing a lot on his own in the middle of the room. I think he just needs a bit more confidence and he'll be on his way!!

On the less exciting side, both of the boys appear to be teething again. Peter is not eating at all and is pretty unhappy and cranky. He's not sleeping well, a sure sign that something is up b/c he is normally a great sleeper. David seems to be getting at least two new ones at the same time, if not more. We had a kind of stressful weekend trying to keep the two of them fairly happy and free of pain. We're praying these teeth come in soon so we have our little angels back!

Crocs and Storyland

After a long summer of looking EVERYWHERE for a pair of Crocs small enough to fit Pete, my friend Karla showed up today with a navy blue pair for him!!! He was thrilled! When I showed them to him, he said "are those flip flops really for ME, mommy?". It was so cute. He's had them on his feet since he got them, won't take them off. Of course he was acting like a little monkey when I tried to take his picture, but I managed to snap a couple of his feet ;-)

Oh yeah, baby, I'm one cool toddler!!!

A group of moms who usually go to the same Tuesday playgroup decided to head out of town to visit a local park called Storyland. It's full of fairy tale and story characters, playgrounds, tiny villages, a paddleboat pond, a splash park, mini golf and lots more. Aside from being on the coolish side, it was a really perfect day. We were a pretty big group and couldn't even all stay together most of the time.

Here is Peter climbing up one of the slides!

Granny, who came along for the day, assisting Pete on to a little toy.

Liam, much cuter than Cinderella, in Cinderella's carriage that whisked her home at midnight.

Taylor (Liam's lil sis) and David, soaking up some rays and checking out all the festivities.

Pete, pausing for just a brief moment.

Liam going down the slide!

Some of the kids on Peter Rabbit - that's Peter WAY at the left bottom corner, just couldn't convince him to get in the picture!!

Pete peeks into a little house to see a tiny fiddler playing music!

At the end of the park is a huge bounce castle. Liam and Peter spent a long time bouncing away their remaining energy!!

Take me out to the ball game!

We took the boys out to watch a few of Paul's softball games this summer - for the most part, they had a lot of fun!! They like to travel, THREE in a wagon built for two. Or I should say, Peter decided to jump in on top of David and Liam!

Go Daddy go!!! Paul's number one fan :-) Well, one of two, that is.

I'm so cute I even *look* like a baseball player!!

David catches an inning with Karla and his bud Taylor.

Liam and Pete think they better start practicing early . . . if they want to be as good as their dads ;-)!

. . . and David just thought Taylor was a little too cute in her Dora pjs!!

David was lucky to have a nice visit from his pal Joey and wonderful Kim brought me a Starbucks coffee and a scone. That puts her pretty high up in my books!!! We talked like grown ups. It was delightful.
Thought I should capture this restful moment on camera . . . not *my* restful moment, obviously!!!