Twas Two Nights After Christmas

In the time it took me to upload these photos I have become quite tired. I went to the gym yesterday to work off some of my holiday turkey and the workout was quite strenuous and some nasty fatique has hit me tonight.

We made it through Christmas and we all still have smiles! It was delightful to be at home for the first time and to spend Christmas with our family. The boys were really excited (David, for no reason other than the fact that his brother was totally keyed up!) and had so much fun on Christmas morning. For the most part they were troopers, visiting and doing the holiday thing from the 22nd up to today. They were well behaved and did not make us cringe . . . too often ;-).

When Pete got out of bed and saw the tree with all the gifts, his eyes were as wide as saucers. He looked stunned. It was at least a half hour before he was ready to open the gifts!

Here David takes a stab at opening some of his stocking gifts (usually Pete was so helpful he ripped David's paper open for him!):


Pete opens his stocking:

Rudy opens his gift from Cash!!!

Pete just in awe that there are several more little wrapped packages in that stocking!


Dad puts together the shopping cart Granny bought for the boys . . . (they love grocery shopping and taking the food they bought to their new kitchen!)

David shakes up his LeapFrog maracas!

The Fisher Price Preschool Learning Center I went to Syracuse NY to get was a big hit (thanks Lauren and Mark). It has a music center and then flips over to a learning center where you can write and draw and it teaches you letters, numbers, phonics, etc.

My very small dining room table managed to fit 6 comfortably with kids at a smaller table. I got too busy and never took a picture *with* people seated or the turkey on the table!
My cousin Stacey and her husband and their kids came over for Christmas dinner. George helped with the turkey - b/c we were turkey virgins. Thanks for the rosemary tip!!

Here is their daughter Emily:
Michael tries out Peter's new plasma car from Steph and Chris. *ahem* Actually, we ALL tried out the plasma car :-)!!!!
At the last minute David decided I just hadn't cleaned enough so he wanted to get the dustbuster out . . .

Mmmmmmm, yummy appetizers . . .

Yummy treats I baked (mostly all my grandmother's (Gurney) recipe) . . .

The family hanging out after dinner . . .
Stacey and George brought their dog, Zues. Ironically enough Zues is Rudy's brother and they were the two pups of my uncle's litter that had the most similarities - it's kinda hard to tell them apart!

More relaxing, Paul even concocted some heavily-nutmeged eggnog for us!

Stacey and Stephanie

Paul and I dressed a couple nights before Christmas to go to our friend Kathy's Christmas party. We looked pretty good! I finally got my flatiron from e-bay in the mail and here is my first attempt using it.

My bouncing boys

I'm starting to grasp the realization of how serious Christmas is when you have two children and a number of relatives who love them very much. It is only December 21st and already we have three large gifts. It's insane. Paul's mother is leaving for Vancouver today to spend the holidays with her daughter Stephanie and her husband Chris. So she wanted each boy to open a gift last night since she won't be here for Christmas day.

As much as I'd like to fight the commercialism of Christmas and cut down on the amount of plastic and *stuff* in my home, nothing beats the grins and the laughter from two happy boys with their new toys.

David got the Fisher Price Bounce and Spin Zebra. It's a big hit!!! Both boys absolutely adore it and are bouncing their way through the day.


Peter got the Little People garage, another big hit. The boys played with it all morning!


I caught Peter on the zebra first thing this morning . . .

Twas the week before Christmas . . .

OK, I finally got a good nighttime shot of the Christmas tree!! It's hard to see but you kinda get the picture. I ordered my turkey yesterday, so it looks like Christmas is really happening at our house this year. My cousin Stacey and her family are coming for dinner Christmas day - they're terrific cooks so I have a lot to live up to!

When my parents were visiting this weekend they brought up the boys' big Christmas gift!!! It was so large it was easier to give it to the kids early. Needless to say it is a HUGE HIT at our house. Both boys absolutely love playing with it. Pete makes tea and cooks for us, while David loves opening all the doors and putting things in the oven, fridge, cupboard, etc. We haven't even had time to add all the real-life looking stickers to it yet, it should be pretty cool looking once I put them on. We don't want the boys to see us putting the stickers on, or else we're pretty sure they'll be peeling them all off!!!

I was worried briefly about a toy kitchen for two boys, but I suggested this one b/c there are lots of little things to play with and it's NOT PINK!!! The kids love it so much, and they will be very happily surprised on Christmas morning with a few gifts that will *compliment* their new kitchen!

David is totally into lego these days. He loves to pour the box and out and throw them all around. It's a fun activity b/c it's actually something the boys are starting to do together. Pete will build buildings and towers and will allow David to *help* him! It's adorable to watch.


My poor little Peter spend part of the other night in the ER at the hospital. Peter had had a cold for a week or two and he seemed particularly miserable this weekend while my parents were visiting. I felt so bad for him, he was so whiny and upset - not really like him at all. So Sunday night he started crying and screaming around 8:00 p.m. and it didn't stop . . . at 1:30 a.m. I caved in and took him to the ER. I *knew* something was wrong, he was complaining his tooth hurt and seemed to be really rubbing his ear (he did just cut a big old molar in the back of his mouth, I felt it this a.m.). I kept saying I was pretty sure it was an ear infection, b/c I had them as a kid and it hurt so much it made me scream. Paul was saying Peter was "playing" me with all the screaming b/c he wanted attention and didn't want to sleep.

Peter is a child who goes to bed every night with NO problems and sleeps for 12 hours. So I got up and got dressed and took him to the hospital. It took forever to see a doctor, but it did turn out that he has a really bad ear infection. They gave him antibiotics and something for the pain, and we headed home (at 4:14 a.m). It was totally not fun, Pete was miserable and freaking out when the doctor touched him and looked in his ear. I think his screaming woke the newborns up on the other side of the hospital, lol!!! He was such a trooper and was pretty miserable yesterday, but seems to be feeling a bit better today.

Paul felt quite guilty when I told him I was right and it was an ear infection. Not to mention I hauled my butt out of bed out in the cold to take Peter to the hospital while he went back to his warm bed and cuddled our dog. I think he owes me pretty big ;-). There better be diamonds under my Christmas tree. Or a trip to the spa.

Here's my sickie, that's the best photo I could get. He's wearing his groovy new outfit his nana bought him at Gymboree this weekend!!!

Welcoming the holidays . . .

My parents were visiting this weekend from Nova Scotia. Normally we alternate each Christmas between Toronto or Nova Scotia. It's really hard for us to be traveling every single December, and with two little ones this year we decided it was best for us to just stay in Ottawa and celebrate our own Christmas as a family together! I'm really excited to be here. We've done lots of decorating and I've started lots of baking too. The only strange thing is the weather - unseasonably warm here. No snow, no ice, not even cold weather! I guess I'm a Canadian girl at heart, I want my snow on Christmas Eve!!! I guess I still have a week to wait . . .

So the grandparents came to visit, hang out with the boys and drop off Christmas presents from themselves and my sister and her husband. While mom and dad were visiting we took Peter to see Max and Ruby at a live show. It went very well, although the show was a bit slow moving and it was hard to keep a lot of the kids there entertained and happy. Pete did very well, considering he has a bad cold and is cutting a big two year old molar - OUCH! He was tired too as he didn't get a nap. He really had a lot of fun. My mom (his nana) got far better pictures than I did, so I'll post some of hers later on when she sends them to me.

Here are Max and Ruby (big bunnies, brother and sister, for those of you who don't have a toddler and don't have your TV constantly tuned to Treehouse):

Peter sitting with nana and granny, enjoying a sucker before the show:

Pete thought his seat was very cool, esp. since it kept flipping up b/c his butt wasn't heavy enough to hold it down!!!

Mommy and Peter before the show . . . yes I took that myself. The grandmas were too busy wit their own digital cameras! Oh, how times have changed, huh?

David will be fourteen months soon. His new favourite thing is emptying the toy baskets and climbing in them. You can see our dog Rudy at the bottom of the photo, inspecting this whole scenario carefully.

Dad says enough is enough and David is removed from the basket!

Paul caught me in an off moment, in my pjs with my morning coffee, reindeer antlers and all. The boys are watching a DVD. Can't live without my crocs, I'm telling you!!!! Comfort with a captial CCCCCCCCCCC!

I went crazy with the Christmas decorations since we will be home this year!! Here is our mantle over the fireplace:

Our beautiful tree that Paul chopped down himself last weekend in FREEZING cold weather, way before our warm spell hit! I had to take the boys back to the van and sit there with the heat blasting while poor Paul trudged around looking for our tree. It was worth it!!! What a looker this thing is! I took a few pics at night with all the gorgeous white lights glowing, for some reason none of them turned up on my camera.


Here are a few more on top of our bookshelf. Notice a theme here - everything high up where the kids can't touch them???? By some miracle the tree has remained unscathed. David touched a couple ornaments today lightly but got pricked by a needle and seemed to stay away from it again. One week down, no holiday casualities with a 14 month old and a 33 month old running around my house!

Grandad reads to David:

Nana reads to David!:

Pete completes his skating course

I've been a busy girl again lately and not up to date in my blogging. I'm sure things will slow down again after the holidays. Later today my parents are arriving for a few days to visit with the boys and bring them up their Christmas presents. The boys have colds so I hope it goes smoothly. David is much better, but still kind of hanging on to this cough he's had forever. Pete is coughing now too and has a runny nose - not too fun!

Well almost a year of growing my hair is slowly starting to pay off. I got it cut this week and here is my new style . . . I'm getting very anxious for it to fit in a ponytail and I'm almost there!
I haven't had my hair in a ponytail since high school - and let me tell you, that was a LONG time ago!
Pete finished his ten weeks of skating classes. He did exceptionally well I thought, for a two year old! The last day he really made strides and was shuffling all over the ice by himself. I was really proud. So he's completed the City of Ottawa Frosty Blades program. Here are a few pics:

Pete trying desperately to figure out where the zamboni went . . .

Hey look at me! I'm really doing it by myself!!!

Wait a minute, maybe this isn't so fun after all . . .

And down he went . . .

After Christmas we start gymnastics . . .