fat lip

Uncle Kev and Esme are visiting! The girls are getting along like a house on fire, and Ollie is doing his best to keep up. We have been spending most of our time indoors, as there are forest fires to the south and west of us, blowing their smoke into Prince George where it seems to lose its momentum. We have been shrouded in campfire smoke for the better part of two weeks, now.

Yesterday, we did brave the poor air quality for a little lakeshore picnic at nearby West Lake. We had a nice time, despite the thick smoke and even thicker wasp invasion. Kids and picnics equals a lot of greasy, tasty fingers, faces, and pantlegs. It was only a matter of time before someone got stung. Poor little Ollie was sitting proudly up on Daddy's shoulders when all of a sudden his face dissolved into a huge howl of pain. Why little Ollie??? Not that anybody deserves a wasp sting, it's just that Ollie really is just the sweetest soul and shouldn't be exposed to the harsh realities of picnicking at such a tender age! He cried for less than a minute. He probably would have actually cried less than that, too, except that I was trying to shove ice in his face which he was vehemently against.

My little bruiser:

wishbone

Me: Izzie! Our wishbone from the other day is dry and ready for us to make our wishes!
Izzie: OK, Mama!
Me: Ok, here, you hold this end, and I will hold this end. Don't pull, yet! Now you think of a wish. That's something you want very much. What is something you want, Izzie?
Izzie: A penguin.
Me: Ok. I wish to see a rainbow.

Izzie won!

Farmers for dinner

Yesterday we took in a bit of local history and headed down to Barkerville! Somewhere along the way Izzie mistook "we're going to Barkerville" for "we're going to have farmers for dinner." Even though we started to correct her (after giggling the first 50 times she said it), she continued to insist that we were going to a place to eat farmers.

We headed up the main street and visited the school, the general store, and a few other neat spots of interest. Izzie got a jawbreaker, of course!

Corey and I goofed around a bit in the schoolhouse!

Mother's Day

Izzie, holding up her glass of orange juice during our Mother's Day breakfast: "I would like to make some toast: Happy Mother's Day!"

untitled

Ok I realize almost a month has passed and nary a post! But It's not like I haven't been thinking about it. Once in a while something really funny or really touching occurs and I think "I need to make a blog entry about that one!" but then life happens and within minutes we're onto the next thing.

Where we're at in time: My new site has just launched and while I'm still ironing out the wrinkles here and there, it's like a ton of bricks has been lifted off my shoulders. I am so relieved to be finally working with a site that is reliable and user-friendly on both sides. Phew! Corey is a little less light on his feet these days, though. He's actually at work at this moment (8:36pm), having come home just for a quick supper, change of clothes and walk to Dairy Queen for dessert. He's got 9 days left of busy season, and then we kick off lackadaisical season starting with Izzie's birthday.

For weeks now Izzie has been wanting a blue monster cake. I keep trying to get her to consider other ideas (as last year I made Elmo, and frankly a blue monster is really just a blue Elmo in my mind), but she won't budge. So I've been scouring Etsy for really creative non-Elmo-esque monsters and I think I've come up with some cute ideas. Now to put them into icing and we're gold.

Ollie is really excited these days. He has figured out how to pull himself to a stand, and not only that, he pushes his support object forward and then shuffles his feet to catch up! Not really cruising yet, but almost there. Today he stood up holding onto the back of one of our kitchen chairs, pushed it forward, and then fell backward right onto the back of his head. Worse, he hauled the chair down with him so it bonked him on the forehead and he ended up being stuck underneath it! One big goose egg and about 30 seconds later and he was right back up again, looking for other places to stand. He loves to look out the window. Our living room windows are low enough that he can stand up and look out just above the sill. He stares and stares. I wonder what he's thinking.

A world of magic

Isabelle had an eyelash on her cheek this afternoon. I touched my finger to it and held it up to show her. "This is very special, Izzie. Whenever you catch an eyelash that has fallen, it will do its best to grant your wish. You need to make a wish and then blow it away so it can go make your wish come true! What do you wish for?" Izzie looked at me quizzically. "Ok, what is it that you would really like to have?"
"That eyelash."
"Well, you already have that eyelash. Now you need to make a wish. What do you want more than anything?"
"I want my eyelash."
"Ok. Is there something you would really like to have for your birthday?"
Izzie's eyes got really wide and her whole face just lit up at the mention of her birthday, something FAR more magical than a silly old eyelash that can grant wishes. "Oh! I would like a REINDEER!" She blew that eyelash right off my finger.

Breathe now!

Ok I know it's been ages since the last time I posted something. Here come the excuses: busy, busy, busy! The days are jammed with the regular stuff - lots of laundry, dishes, meal prep, naptime, cleaning up, tidying, arranging, sorting, and all other ways of moving STUFF around. And then there's all the extra stuff: PG WAHM Tradeshow, The Great Naphtali Stomach Flu Epidemic, Corey's busy season, bathroom remodeling, and working madly on the new Cozy Bums website which is in the final stages of editing before it is launched and it takes over the old site. How naive I was to think it would be a mere 6 weeks or so to update my website. We're going on about 10 months now... I've been fairly occupied these days!

But Spring has arrived, and with it a wave of fresh new energy! I brushed the dust off our outdoor things and took the kids to the park. What fun we had! This is Ollie's first time on a swing:

Pappa

Izzie makes wonderful connections with words and ideas. For some reason I mentioned Prince George the other day, and she lit right up and announced, "PAPPA is Prince George! Mommy, Pappa is Prince George! And Pappa drives a TRUCK!"

That just made my day!

Izz-ms

"Yay Candada!" (Canada wins Gold in Men's Hockey, Vancouver Olympics 2010)

"I will name my daughter Potty."

"Spicy food makes me drinky."

All about Ollie

I realize that so far most of my posts are about Izzie. Being two, she's very much on the front lines of whatever is going on. However, there is someone else who is always present, and every day he seems to have a bit more to contribute to our little happenings. Ollie! He has so much to say these days - he's always shouting out "Ga!" and looking around to see who is listening. If someone responds back to him in his language, "Ga, Ollie!", he thinks it's hilarious. His face lights right up and he gives the most gorgeous grin you could ever imagine. I'm sure every mother says it at least a hundred times per day, but seriously folks, this is ONE BRIGHT KID. Ollie loves books (just like Izzie did at his age) - he is enraptured by every new page and thinks it's hysterical when Mommy makes funny noises and funny faces to go along with the story.
Probably my favourite activity with Ollie is diaper changing, though. This is one baby who just loves getting a wet cloth wipe, right where you'd think you'd hate it most. He'll be fussing and fussing with a poopy diaper, and then as soon as that cold, soppy cloth hits his delicates, he starts to giggle. Every time. It's delightful.
Ok one more of my favourite Ollie moments: the other day we were on a walk (Izzie in the stroller, Ollie in the front-carrier) and he was bouncing with every step and looking out the side, and he suddenly looked up and saw my face right above his. You could see him suddenly realize that I was just above him the whole time, and so he spent the rest of our walk craning his neck to look at my face, giggling and giggling the whole time. I couldn't help giggling back at him. I just love that kid!

Daddy love

Izzie thinks all man/woman pairings are Daddies and daughters. We were just watching some Oympic pairs figure skating, and when the man lifted the woman up over his head in a big twirly spin (I'm sorry I don't know who was skating at the time), Izzie exclaimed "Oh look at her Daddy! Their dancing is so beautiful! I love to dance with my Daddy, too!"

When nobody's watching

Izzie was watching Sesame Street this morning, and when Jason Mraz came on and started singing his song, she was moved to get off the couch and start grooving to the music. She didn't realize she was being watched, and all I could think of was how I was witnessing true dancing from the heart - not dancing because you're expected to dance, but dancing just because it feels like the right thing to do. It must feel amazing to have such a carefree and effervescent spirit!

big bras to fill

"Mommy, you married, Mommy?"
"Yes, Izzie, I'm married."
"Oh. Daddy? You married, Daddy?"
"Yes, Izzie, I married Mommy."
"Oh. I going to get big bras, Mommy?" Izzie lifts up her shirt up to her chin to demonstrate what she means.
"Yes, Izzie, when you're older, you'll get bigger breasts like Mommy."

Such is the mysterious world of the grownup! Marriage and big bras/breasts!

knitting noodles

Izzie likes to knit with me. I gave her her very own ball of wool and two large blunt orange needles. She has picked right up on the lingo; she is often heard muttering "I'm off to do my knitting", or the rather odd "I'm going to sit in this box and do some knitting with my noodles." When she gets bored of knitting in her little rocking chair or knitting in her box, she walks round and round the kitchen-livingroom-entryway donut, wrapping the house in wool. She claims she is making pants for Ollie.

Tracko-tracko

I'll be sad when Izzie stops saying "tracko-tracko" for crocodile. She pronounces just about everything else perfectly, so it's particularly hard to keep a straight face when she tosses that one into one of her dialogues.

Ollie is starting to drag himself around, wounded-soldier-style. My last shred of freedom is officially gone. I now spend my last moments of free time running around, picking up choking hazards off the floor in case he gets there first! He has the best giggle in the world.

Little Dancer

"I going to be a ballnernina!"

(Izzie's response to me signing her up for Preschool Fairytale dance class.)

Starting in the Middle

I have been thinking about writing a blog for some time, now, and decided just to dive right in rather than waste time thinking about how to begin. The beginning is long gone, really. I would like to have begun this blog on August 29, 2006; the day I discovered I was pregnant with Izzie. I would like to have begun recording all the little things that morphed me into the woman I am now. Well, that would mean I would have to had started blogging on May 31, 1979, but that's just ridiculous. No, I'm talking about becoming a mom. A mother. I'm completely overwhelmed by the magnitude and fulfillment of motherhood. And as much as each day presents me with so many reminders of why I love what I do, I am terrified of the fact that I have already forgotten so much. Those funny or special moments you have that you think you'll keep with you forever as lovely little anecdotes. And then the very next day they're gone from your memory. I need to start recording these things. NOW.

Where we are in time:

Izzie, two years and 9 months old (tomorrow)
Ollie, 7 months old (in 4 days)
Chloe, the dog, 6 and a half
Corey, the dad
Me, the mom