Mia's New Trick

Well little Mia is certainly growing before our eyes...crawling, babbling, eating, and now escaping. She has figured out that when she is tired with her bib all she has to do is slip it over her head... here is a demonstration:

step 1: take hold of the bib

step 2: pull upwards

step 3: wear bib like a hat and laugh with everybody

It's pretty adorable. She has such an infectious little smile, gums and all!

This past week I purchased my first sewing machine and have undertaken the fun of sewing matching dresses for Ada and Mia for their Grampy Clayton's wedding in July. Here is my new toy!

Our Angel Dog

The past eleven years, my home in Saint John has been watched over and loved by a furry little red headed girl with a wiggle of her bum and wet little nose. Brandy was our sweet golden retriever and she has left our home better than she found it. On Friday, Brandy was put to sleep and is now well remembered as our angel dog. I still remember the summer of '98 when mom brought her home... that first night I couldn't stand the thought of her being upstairs by herself so I brought her down to my bed with me. We are better because we loved a dog. She was a loyal friend and comfort to my mom all those years and will be missed. I tribute this post to that little girlie and the warmth her presence brought to my home. Till we meet again girlie.

MORMON MOMMY BLOG GIVEAWAY

Hey friends... I found this wonderful Family Home Evening Blog yesterday (Family Home Evening) in preparations for our own Family Home Evening (ended up getting the idea to paint some prayer rocks for our lesson on "Prayer"). On the Blog was a link to Mormon Mommy Blogs which I checked out for the first time and found some awesome things including a colossal giveaway! So check it out at Mommy Mormon Blog and see if you can't be the next winner! I sure hope I will be!

here are our prayer rocks...Jason's, Ada's and mine.

A Birthday Outing

So I turned 28 this past week and had a wonderful birthday... Jason worked so I decided that instead of staying home all day with no car, I would drive him to work and the girls and I would have some fun. We went to a beautiful beach that is just minutes down the road from where we live - Saints Rest Beach. It was pretty rocky, but I brought a big blanket and we had a picnic. The tide was out so we walked down to the shoreline and we squished out feet in the mud and it felt so good. It was a gorgeous day and it was so peaceful out there... barely a noise. We had the entire beach to ourselves until some fishermen showed up... but they were at another part of the beach altogether. There was a lighthouse too.... I love living in the Maritimes! It's amazing.

Mia and Ada enjoying the sand...

Mia enjoying it a little too much!

The tide is out...

And so am I for now!

N.C. loves L.B.

This is a great big weekend for my family as we will see my little brother get married to his darling fiance, Lauren and we are just so happy for the both of them. Their's is an uncommon but not unheard-of story of: couple dates, boy goes on mission, girl waits, boy comes home, couple dates, couple gets married. It was funny because my mom and I would talk about them after Nath came home, "Are they going to get married? Whats going to happen?" But never did I really ask Nath or Lauren about it. Then I got the call on Christmas Day "Lauren and I are engaged!" Tears and joy! And when we picked up Lauren in Salisbury on our way through to Saint John on Boxing Day I felt as free as a bird to ask whatever question I wanted. I am thrilled for the both of them... they're so cute!


So Friday night we are staying at the Four Points by Sheraton in Halifax with Mom, Dad and Nath. We'll go swimming and hang out, helping Nath to enjoy his last night of bachelorhood! Saturday we are heading to the temple for the big day and it is supposed to be a BEAUTIFUL day!! Then I will head to Saint John with my parents and my girlies for a week of fun and preparation for the reception. Unfortunately, Jason does have to work and we are leaving him behind.... boo hoo! But he'll join us at the end of next week. We love you Jay!! XOXOXOXOXOX

This is Jay doing something that I refuse to due to it's disgusting nature. I won't mention what that might be! I post this great picture as a tribute to my man, my hero!

I also have to say that I love it when Ada wants to take pictures of her toys with our camera. It brings back memories of myself when I was a little girl and I got Ski Fun Barbie for Christmas. I brought her out to my Nanny's on Christmas Day, set her all up on the sledding hill in her ski gear looking ready for the slopes and got my Dad to take her picture. I think it's the funniest thing! Here is a picture that Ada had me take yesterday of her Lion King toys:

One more thing.... I recently purchased from my friend Kendra some baby shoes that she made herself and they are adorable (as seen below!) She is so talented! You can check her out on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6714146

Ada's Crash

Ada has turned out to be quite a dainty, sensitive and sweet little girl. She rarely wipes out as you might expect most 2 year olds do. She has always done very well walking up and down stairs, almost never falling, because she has always been so careful. For the most part we have been accident free!
Well last Wednesday she was running full out around the outside of the church when for some unknown reason she falls off the curb right on her face! Poor little girl! Everything was fine except for the fact that she got a nasty scratch under her nose and two little ones on her nose and forehead. By now it has turned into a gross scab. The funny thing is that she hardly realizes it's there. People keep asking her what happened to her face and it wasn't until Sunday that I realized why she just looks at them like she doesn't know what they're talking about. We were at church in the washroom and she looked at herself in the mirror. Then she touched her face and asked me "What's this?" I told her that is where she fell down and that it would go away soon. She didn't even know it was there. She hasn't picked at it yet... so far so good!

The Little Things

Well, there was not much fooling for us on April Fools day. But it turned out to be such a refreshingly beautiful day and me and my girls took a stroll around the church across the street.
Ada brought along her dolly and her stroller. She loves to eat snow and ice and she took advantage of the last piles of snow lying around.

Mia-moo was so good that day and looked so fresh and pink in her little hat and fuzzy suit. Her sweet little personality fit right in with the weather that day.

The past 7-8 months have proved to be very interesting for us with cars. We bought a '98 Neon in 2005 and in October it began to have serious problems. Being about 8 months pregnant at the time and living 40 minutes from town we feared we might run into some problems. But some members of the church were so generous and lent us a car they had and weren't using. We ended up using it for quite a while and we are so indebted to them and their generosity. We needed to return it though and our little green Neon had kicked the bucket, so we decided to take up an offer we were given around the same time we borrowed the other car. A couple in Truro GAVE us a car; a Ford Taurus Wagon. To this day I feel like I owe them something. Not sure how to say thank-you other than....saying thank-you. If anyone has any ideas you can let me know!

Well, that car had less life in it than we anticipated and began falling apart this past month. So we turned to some invested money for help and are in the process of purchasing the above lovely 2003 Hyundai Elantra. We had a few problems getting the Elantra and weren't sure what the outcome was going to be and how much longer our Taurus could get us around, not to mention the MVI was up in March on it and it wouldn't pass without major repair and cost. After many prayers and hopes that our Taurus would hold out, we drove the one and a half hour drive to Dartmouth in our Taurus to get our new Elantra. As we exited the highway, it began chugging and as we turned up the street the dealer was on, I began to feel overwhelmed with the knowledge that the Taurus was not going to make it all the way and that Heavenly Father really loves us and tears came to my eyes. The car didn't make it up the street. Jason pushed it over to the side and as we took our babys' car seats out of the car to walk the rest of the way, I said to Jason "Sometimes Heavenly Father lets your car break down to let you know He loves you." I know Heavenly Father was with us through this whole process. People have cars break down on them frequently and so it's not an uncommon thing. But sometimes it's the way the whole scene plays out that makes you realize that Heavenly Father has his hand in the little things.

Happy Easter everyone! We will spend Good Friday enjoying the extra temple sessions, Saturday we are having our first annual "Spring Day" at our house and Sunday we will attend church in Dartmouth with Jason's Mom and enjoy the day with his family. It looks to be a great weekend ahead.