Just another sunny day

I just came back inside from sharing a few minutes by the garden with my daughter. As first time gardeners,  We're starting small with easy plants to grown, and are learning with each step. Last year we planted peas on one side of the yard, they were very successful on their own. On the other side of the yard we planted a few different plants, which were all left to fight for their lives among the weeds that weren't picked. I was pregnant and it seems everyone else I asked ( Elijah ♥ ) were to busy to weed the garden. Needless to say, it didn't thrive on it's own like the peas did. This year, we let the peas garden grow over with weeds and we focused on our small garden on the other side. In it I intended on planting peas, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and carrots. Of these, i managed to plant all but the lettuce. Apparently I lack the talent needed to grow lettuce. They didn't even live to be planted. My yard is on a slope, and my crops seem to be thriving on a decline as well. The ones at the top are larger and the ones at the bottom...not so much. I think next year we'll be making  flat, even garden bed for them, and see if that makes a difference. My peas are delicious, with new ones ready to pick daily. My tomato plants have numerous little yellow flowers just waiting to turn into tomatoes. ( I must have planted late, I don't think they will be ready before the frost hits) my broccoli.. oh my poor broccoli. It's being eaten alive by little green caterpillars, which turn into beautiful little white butterflies. I'm really not looking forward to removing them, because I'm not one for bugs, but it seems that my little broccoli plants have more holes in the leaves that actual leaf left. There is no sign of the flower yet, so I'm beginning to wonder how long those will take as well. the plants are quite larger, and next year I'll be planting one row only, so that they aren't so crowded. My carrots didn't get planted until we left for vacation, but they seem to be doing well now that the front part has been weeded and they're not being starved of sunlight or fighting for nutrients in the soil. (I really need to re learn my English, I'm sure this should have been about eight different paragraphs by now)

After showing Katie the garden, and inspecting the beating my broccoli plants have taken, we picked a few peas and sat on the hammock to share them. To my delight, Katie loved them. Homegrown, freshly picked ... REAL FOOD.

It got me thinking about one of the reasons why I want a piece of land. I want my children to know where their food comes from and what it takes to produce what they consume. I want them to know the difference between  what store bought and homegrown food tastes like. Most of all, I want them to truly appreciate everything we take for granted in our modern world.

Peaceful moments

You know the feeling when the world just feels right? I've had a few of those lately.

One was while we were camping in Rockwood and i was putting Katie to bed. I pulled out her books and lay down beside her to hopefully read her one. She scooted next to me, snuggled up to me and let me actually read her a book for the first time. Then another, and another. She then sat up and flipped through each of them ( instead of trying to eat the books) by herself for close to 15 minutes.

Another was the other night, when i was trying to give her her milk in a sippy cup instead of her bottle, but she was refusing. She decided that snuggling with mom for near an hour was better than milk form a sippy cup. I know i should have just caved and given her her milk so she would sleep, but that nice, long, peaceful snuggle period with my daughter was very just so relaxing and needed.

I have been blessed with an amazing man as a husband, who has given me the greatest gifts i could ever ask for;
our child(ren) and the chance to stay home with them and watch them learn and grow.

Tomorrow is our "twenty week" ultrasound with baby number two. This one kicks and rolls around like crazy! I can't wait to see who's hiding in there ♥ no we won't be finding out the sex, but I'm very excited to get a glimpse of the little one and make sure he or she is healthy and growing well.

EC update

I had told Elijah that once Katie goes two weeks without a wet diaper at night, we would put her to bed diaper free. While on vacation, she was dry every night but one. That was the night after she had been up five time the night before. Her and Sophie went to bed early and woke up a little while later thinking it was a nap. It was a fight to get them back to sleep, and I think we may have put her to bed in a wet diaper :(. Anyways, she woke up for her first feed wet, and also in the morning didn't wake us up, just sat up in bed and played. So by the time we got up, she was wet. Aside form that night, she was dry every night for 19 days. That is, until we got home and I put her to bed diaper free. Our first night at home was a disaster. It was Katie's first day back on Alberta time as well as her first night sleeping alone since we left. She woke up for her first feed with wet shorts, thankfully the shorts took most of it, because I don't have a second set of sheets yet. Then I put her in bed with us, because she just wasn't sleeping. And the next time she woke, I told Elijah to make sure she didn't pee in our bed while I went to get the bottle. Simple enough instructions, basically, go hold her over the pee bucket until I get back. Apparently he didn't hear me and he was pretty grumpy when i returned saying how she peed in our bed. Oh well, not her fault. I ended up sleeping on a towel. Exciting. Anyways. Yesterday we bought another fitted sheet, of what I thought was a fitted sheet. turns out it's a flat sheet so I'll need to exchange it. We tried diaper free all night again. She had a pretty good sleep, back to her old routine of waking around 11, 130ish and 5. As well as once before we go to bed, just for a pee. She stayed dry all night and came to sleep with me after her 5 am feed ( a whole 2 oz) and slept until just after 7. Seems we're back on our old Alberta sleep schedule.

So things are going well at night, but during the day is about the same. When she poops, she normally stops what she's doing and looks at you as if you say " Aren't you going to help me? " And we still manage to catch a few pees each day, although not nearly as many as i'd like. She sits on her potty to play sometimes, so at least I know she has no problems getting on and off of it by herself. As for signals, she's started to sign for more, and before we left, she was signing potty either after or while she peed. Unfortunately she stopped doing that and has gone back to fussing, which could mean anything coming from her :) I'm still hopeful that she'll be 100% diaper free come December. If not, hopefully practicing EC right from the start with baby number 2 will help as well.

On a side note, I currently weigh 153.5 lbs. I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow. My pre-pregnancy weight with Katie was 155. Wow I must have lost ALOT of muscle.

Vacation, over!

After a busy, yet fantastic two and a half week vacation, we're home. Although we didn't take a single picture while we were gone, I did manage to steal all of my mom's photo's, and my in-laws will be sending us all of the ones they took. Here's part of our vacation in pictures:

Playing with cousin Sophie. I think the saddest part of leaving was knowing they won't see each other for another year.

Playing at camp. Too many people to see, not enough time to relax as a family, but good all the same.

Meeting a new friend. Courtney and Nathan came to camp for a day with Avery. the girls got to play together for a bit.

Seeing old friends. Megan and Kyle came to visit too! Along with Meg's boy friend Chris. It was a good time.

THE PICTURE ROCK. The whole family at camp

Katie turned one while we were there. Tons of friends and family came to say hi and meet her :)

Lady bug cupcakes ♥ Next time I won't be rushed when making these.

We also had Nanny's 75th party the day we got there, we had dinner in London with my uncle Rory, Went camping for a couple nights with Elijah's family, went to the butterfly conservatory, and went on a date just the two of us. Overall it was jam packed but worth every penny spent of getting there. Next time we come home will be with two kids instead of just one.

Pajama Day

I love Sundays. I barely leave the house, and I can chill in my jammies all day if I want to. Lately I've been working on a scarf for Elijah. It seems like it's taking forever to make, so I needed a small project that I could finish in a day or two. I was thinking about our trip home coming up, and remembered that since we don't use sleepers with Katie, she would probably need something warm to wear at night while we're camping and at camp. I decided I was going to make her little Pajama pants from some our our old flannel PJ's. Below is my first set and I plan on making two more before we go home. I made them with a drawstring, and hemmed the bottom  up about an inch and a half-two inches, so there's room to grow.

The only problem i have is that I haven't tried them on with a diaper yet and she's not quite ready to go diaper free at night :) Here's hoping they fit.

Pink envelopes

Nothing cheers me up more when I'm homesick, then receiving a pink envelope in the mail. My sister writes the best letters. They're a mixture of words and drawings and always make me smile. She sends them in pink envelopes. I don't think I've thrown out a single letter from her. I have a few in my night stand drawer, and a bunch in my craft room. Every now and then they get pulled out and I read a few. I've been thinking of making a little book out of them, but I don't know what order they're supposed to be in, and I don't want to throw out the envelopes.  I received my latest one yesterday along with a picture of the prettiest little girl I know, Sophie. Eleven more days and we'll be home for seventeen. Our trips home are usually rushed and not very relaxing. This time we're going to try our best to relax while pleasing everyone at the same time. Even though we're going home for Katie's birthday, I'm more excited about going to camp for a few days with my family, and camping with Elijah's family. Between Flights, the Kennel, gas and spending money, we've managed to put ourselves back at what feels like the beginning of our total money makeover. It's frustrating having to start over again, but it will be worth while when we're done.

Watching Airplanes

We had planned to go the the pool for a swim last night, but forgot to pack Katie's swim diaper. I was a bit mad about that since I was looking forward to some family time outside of the house. We ended up going to the provincial park for a quick dip instead. It was slightly deserted, which meant we got a spot on the main beach. When we were getting ready to leave, an airplane flies quite low, over our heads and lands on the water. It does a giant loop, turns around to face us, looking like it will take off over our heads. The pilot turned the plane a few meters before the buoys marking the beach, opens the cockpit and drifts onto the sand like a boat would do. Gets out and ties his plane. What a way to travel :) It made up for not going swimming at the pool.