One!

My little miss Stella turned one yesterday! At this moment, she loves putting on shoes, being outdoors, baby dolls, and hugs and kisses. She is such a little girl.

It's amazing to sit and think about this last year and all of the challenges we faced. There were little rocky times when I questioned my ability to be a good mother and there were moments of guilt when I realized that Jeremy and I can't do this all on our own. And there were tears. Oh my, lots and lots of tears. But, the year was also filled with moments of pure love and joy and little pockets of time that I would've loved to lock away and replay again and again, whenever I wanted. There were moments when I wished the girls would just stop growing and stay little forever, and moments of absolute happiness and even a few moments of calm. Watching them laugh and grow together just makes all those challenges so worth it. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am, how happy and how in love I am with these girls. If you are a parent - you get it.

We celebrated Stella's day with a picnic at the spray park. It was hard to get a picture of Odessa standing still. I think she was running the entire time.

Stella is getting quite brave now. Before she would just sit by my side and be content watching things happening around her. Now that she is walking, she wants to be right in there.

Jeremy and I, along with the help of family and friends, purchased this beautiful, wooden kitchen for Stella's first birthday. It was important to me to have something made of wood, as opposed to plastic, and something that would spark a lot of imaginative play. Of course, it is for both of them to use, and, so far, it has been a huge hit.

I made them each their own matching apron and oven mitt to go along with it.

Happy Birthday my little one!

{THIS MOMENT}

Posting a special moment along with soulemama :

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

Posting a special moment along with soulemama :

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Lake

Nice weather means lots and lots of day trips to the lake. Seriously, one of my all time favourite things to do. That, and camping....do we dare?

Crossroads

Where have I been these past two (!) months? Watching these little girls grow, and grow, and grow some more. There has been a lot of knitting/quilting/crocheting as well. Time is flying and I am trying to enjoy every minute.

I have also been at a crossroads lately. My maternity leave was up last month and I had been dreading it since January. Just because I had no idea what I wanted to do. Part of me wanted to stay home with the girls. However, amongst the dreams of being a homemaker, there is still a dream of going back to school and obtaining a career. So back and forth and back and forth I would go with my decision. Anyways, it's back to school I go and I am starting to feel really good about it. I am so grateful to live in a time and place where I am able to make this choice. Both girls love their dayhome (which happens to be Grandma's house) and I really think it is the best decision for our family. Seriously, what would we do without Grandmas?

Until school starts up in September, I am going to be busy:

planning and growing our vegetable garden

exploring

trying to enjoy spring snowfalls

picnicking

making our daily smoothies

and watching this little baby

become a little girl

My Morning View

I'm lucky to have entertainment with my morning coffee.

Odessa's Birthday

Well, she has now officially entered the terrible two's and I couldn't be more proud! We had such a wonderful little party to celebrate and I think she had a great time (except when we sang happy birthday - she made it clear she doesn't like that). Although our living quarters are a little cramped, we are so grateful we were able to have most of our friends and family together at one time. It was a special birthday weekend for our big girl.

Odessa helped me make the birthday banner. I'm hoping we can bring it out every birthday for years to come.

Yes, there are two photos of the cupcakes. They were very, very good.

Already trying on one of the many dresses. If you know Odessa, pants are not an option these days!

*************

I finished her birthday quilt just in the nick of time! I haven't been writing here lately because this is where all my free time has been spent the past two weeks. It is such an amazing feeling, finishing a quilt. Such a sense of accomplishment, and there is excitement to start something new.

I had it professionally quilted by a very talented man who works out of his home studio in Edmonton. He did such a wonderful job and I was so excited to find man who quilts! So amazing! I will definitely be going back.

Odessa loves it and I am very happy with it.

you blink, and they're two

It's coming. Odessa's second birthday is just next week and I'm starting to feel that gentle tug of emotions. I realize I'm acting as if I've gone through this numerous times before; celebrating your child's birthday, but I remember this exact same feeling creeping up on me this time, last year. I thought it was just because it was her first birthday. But no, here it is again.

It's hard to describe. It's happiness, joy, love, excitement, proudness and yet a little bit of sadness. Sadness only because she is growing so very quickly. Before I was a parent, I heard about how fast kids will grow, and to tell you the truth, I didn't quite believe it. Well, turns out it's true. Very true.

I'm trying to start a tradition of writing my kids a letter on their birthday every year in a very special card. I found Odessa's, this year, over at Sarah Jane Studios. I think it is very appropriate.

Favorite Photo Friday

Bread

We are trying to bake bread around here on a regular basis now (another new years resolution of mine), and Odessa insists on helping. I can't tell you how much I enjoy this time together. Of course, it can be a little tiresome; baking with a toddler. I'm constantly saying "don't eat that" and "please don't throw flour on the baby", but she really seems to enjoy it too. It always reminds me of baking with my mom. I remember her teaching me how to knead bread, level flour, and separate eggs - and I love thinking about it when I am showing Odessa the same things. I'm really hoping she loves baking as much as I did, and still do.

By the way - our bread bears turned out wonderfully!

Favorite Photo Friday

Favorite Photo Friday

I love this picture of Jeremy and Odessa so much. Although raising little ones is downright hard work - these little moments make it oh so worth it.

Alpaca Farm

We headed out to the Alberta Rose Alpaca Farm early Sunday morning to visit with the animals and check out the yarn and knitted items they had for sale. It was such a great morning! Odessa and Stella enjoyed watching the animals...at a safe distance, of course (apparently, they spit!). The alpacas are very, very cute, and they all had names - all fifty of them!

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the yarn they had for sale. I came away with a 100g hank of 100%, undyed alpaca yarn.

My mom also bought me this beautiful scarf which is so soft and very warm.

This kinda makes me wish I could keep some alpacas in our backyard. They would like that, right?

Birthday Quilt

Our family decided to give only handmade gifts to each other on our birthdays, so this will be my gift for Odessa. I wanted to give myself lots of time since Christmas falls right in between then and now, so I got started on it this weekend. I had purchased this fabric a while ago and was saving it to make something extra special, and I found the perfect pattern in a quilt book my grandmother gave me from the '70s. The color combination and prints remind me so much of Odessa; very fun and cheerful, yet delicate. I've decided I'm going to have to get it professionally quilted though, since I don't think my sewing machine can handle one this size.

Odessa always gets excited when she sees a quilt now. She likes to sit on my lap while I'm using the sewing machine and "help". This "helping" usually lasts for about four minutes and then she gets all squirmy and wants to get down, but it is really sweet. 

Favorite Photo Friday

One of the last pictures taken of Odessa and her beloved soother. It has been a week and a half without it now, and my little girl is getting along just fine. She even threw them in the garbage all by herself. Were there tears? Yes. Was it hard to get her to sleep most nights? Absolutely. Am I just a little sad she is no longer a baby? Of course.