Poor Hannah...

Hannah is so sick right now... she has had a bad cold for about 2 weeks now and yesterday she woke up from her nap and her eyes were swollen and just pouring mucous :( She was running a fever and was really dehydrated. Dave took her to the walk in clinic and the Dr. started her on some antibiotics... she has an ear infection and an eye infection on top of her bad cold. Hopefully the medicine makes her feel better soon... she is just miserable.

Thumb Sucking

OK so we are REALLY trying to crack down on Hannah and the thumb sucking. We bought some bitter tasting nail polish that is made to stop people from biting their nails and we have been painting it on Hannah's thumb. But here is the problem... she doesn't care! She thinks it tastes 'yucky' and she fights us when we put it on BUT it doesn't stop her :( She just continues to suck her thumb despite that disgusting taste!

Any suggestions???

Bubble Bath

Now that Victoria is getting older and is sitting on her own we have started to bath both girls together. It makes bath time a little quicker! Plus Victoria really enjoys the attention that Hannah gives her in the tub. Hannah likes to help wash Victoria's hair and Victoria likes to splash Hannah :)

Here they are tonight having a bubble bath together...

Hannah's Visit to the Dentist

Hannah had an appointment with the Dentist this morning. She did really well! Getting there was a bit tough... Hannah wanted to wear her Dora pajamas to the dentist and of course I said no. So she had a huge meltdown and was refusing to go to the dentist if she couldn't wear her 'jammies'. I managed to convince her to get dressed by letting her send Christy some dancing characters on MSN... thanks for sending Hannah some back Christy, it got her to forget about the Dora pajamas!

Dr. Rai was really good with Hannah... he checked all of her teeth and gave her a talking to about sucking her thumb (the same talking to that he gave me when I was Hannah's age!). She is starting to develop a bit of an overbite from all her thumb sucking! He told her that she is going to have 'yucky teeth' if she doesn't stop.... hopefully someone other than Dave and I telling her to stop will work!

The dental assistant, Debbie, was great with Hannah. She let Hannah ride up and down on the chair, watch cartoons with the head phones on and use some of the dental equipment. She filled up a cup with water and let Hannah use 'Mr. Thirsty' (the straw suction) to suck all the water out of the cup. Hannah really liked that! Afterwards Hannah laid back on the chair and let Debbie clean her teeth using all the equipment that she had showed her. Hannah was really good the whole time... I was shocked. Maybe Debbie and 'Mr. Thirsty' can come and live with us since Hannah likes to behave so well for them :)

Debbie took Hannah's picture to post on the 'No Cavity Club' wall. Then Hannah got a new Disney toothbrush and she got to pick a toy out of the drawer... she chose a Cinderella sticker instead of a toy and she was so excited that she ran all the way out to the waiting room to show Buggy and Victoria :)

Just a reminder... clicking on any picture on my blog will enlarge it :)

Hannah's Going to be a Flower Girl!

My cousin Dee is getting married on May long weekend and she has asked Hannah to be a Flower Girl :) Hannah is excited... I showed her a picture of the dress she will be wearing and she is calling it her 'Princess Flower Girl Dress'. She is really into playing dress up with her dress up clothes right now so I think she thinks this fancy dress is the bomb :)

Swimming Pictures

Victoria had her swimming lesson this morning.... Dave and Hannah went to the public swim while Victoria and I were in her lesson. Hannah was excited to get to go swimming... she has been out of lessons for over a month and I think she misses swimming.

We all had to be at the pool, changed and in the water by 9am when Victoria's lesson started... ugh! It was so difficult to get everyone organized, fed, dressed and out the door on time despite the fact that I had packed all our swimming gear last night. Hannah always decides to be difficult when we are in a hurry!

Victoria's swimming lesson went well... she got to try out a life jacket this week and she was very relaxed floating around in the water with it on. This week we worked on getting the babies to sit on the edge of the pool and then lean forward and fall in to mom's waiting arms. Victoria did well... she wasn't afraid to lean forward and get in on her own.

Hannah was doing well swimming with Dave at the other end of the pool... all I could hear all class long was 'Mommy, look at me! Victoria, look at me!' Hannah was trying really hard to get our attention :) After Victoria's class was over we let the girls play in the water together for a little bit and then we all warmed up in the family hot tub before getting changed and heading home.

Dave took a couple pictures of Victoria in the pool for me before he took Hannah in swimming. So here is our new little fish...

7 Month Update

I'm a bit behind... Victoria turned 7 months on Monday :) She is growing like a weed! She had her shots last week and she didn't even cry! She just kept smiling and laughing the whole time :) She is really a pretty easy going baby which is a nice contrast to her high maintenance big sister.

Victoria has been teething for a little while now... drooling and chomping on everything she can get into her mouth. Today she woke up from her afternoon nap and 2 little teeth finally popped through! I think two more are almost through as well as I can see the little holes in her gums. Poor baby getting 4 teeth all at once :( But she has still been a happy girl despite it all!

Too Much Information...

I had to share this story... (it involves poop, so Brad you may want to stop reading here.)

We are working really hard with Hannah right now on her potty training. She is very consistent with peeing on the potty and has been for quite sometime but pooping on the toilet is what is holding her back from being 100% trained. We have made a sticker chart and she gets a sticker every time she goes and after she gets a whole row of 7 stickers she gets a little present. I have a little stash of new books for her 'potty presents' and she is very motivated to earn stickers and get a new book. She is getting better each day but she still isn't 'making it' to the toilet in time when she needs to poop. What I mean by getting better is that she at least is going into the bathroom and saying that SHE went poop in her pants instead of trying to tell us that the cat or the dog went in her pants not her. What can I say she has a vivid imagination...

Tonight just before bedtime Victoria was sitting on the floor and she was 'grunting'. Hannah rats Victoria out... 'Victoria's going poop! Mommy! Victoria's going poop!' She then tells Victoria to 'run to the potty' which is what we are drilling into Hannah's head. So I take of Victoria's diaper and sit her on the toilet... and Victoria sat there and actually pooped on the potty! Hannah was so excited and Victoria was laughing and giggling (I was even a little thrilled... one less diaper for me to change!) After Victoria got off the potty Hannah informed me that Victoria needs a sticker and a chart too. I think I have created a monster with the sticker chart... now Hannah is trying to use Victoria to get stickers!

Our New Front Door

You know you are old when you are excited about getting a new front door.

This new door has been such a fiasco... Dave ordered the door at the beginning of September and they said it would take about 12 weeks. Since then we have had the wrong size door delivered and sent back twice and now it is January and finally the correct door has been delivered!

My Dad came over yesterday and helped Dave install the new door and sidelights... thanks for helping Dad :) So now at long last we finally have a new front door... (Dave still has to finish installing the casing around the frame... baby steps) and I need to do some new mailbox shopping... it is time to replace the old rusty one ;) Plus I need to see if I can get Dave to spring for a new door bell to match....

Next up for Dave now that the door is finally installed is going to be removing all the tile in the foyer and replacing it with laminate to match the living room. One day we will finally have everything done around here... then it will be time to start all over again!

Victoria Loves the Water!

Victoria had her very first swimming lesson today and she LOVED the water! She was trying to blow bubbles in the water but it looked more like she was licking the water. Her teacher said that was a good start because most babies don't like to put their faces in... Victoria thought it was fun to put her face in and she was laughing up a storm. She was even trying to kick her legs but she isn't very co-ordinated yet and she looked like a worm wiggling around. Maybe she has been paying attention when watching her big sister's lessons??

I wanted Dave to come along and take some pictures of Victoria and I in the water but he had to stay home and wait for The Home Depot to deliver our new front door. I think next week he is going to come and take Hannah to the public swim while Victoria and I are in lessons... so I will try to get him to take some pictures then.

Dave is hoping to get our new front door installed this weekend... if he gets it in I will post some pictures. It is very pretty (as far as doors go)!

Hannah's First Date - The Backyardigans

Hannah went on her first 'date' tonight... with lots of chaperone's :) My friend Tammy and her son Ryan had two extra tickets to 'The Backyardigans' show tonight at the Bell Center (her parents were supposed to go with them but her mom came down with the flu). So they invited Hannah, Victoria and I to come with them to the show. It was so nice of them to think to ask us :)

Hannah had a really good time! She was waving at the characters and dancing in the aisle in front of her seat :) Ryan enjoyed himself too, and Dave will be happy to know that they sat 3 seats away from each other with two parents and a little sister in between so there was no hanky panky going on on their 'date'!

Victoria was bouncing away to the music on my lap and seemed to like all the colourful costumes and lights. She was pretty tired afterwards and she fell asleep in the van on the way home.

Hannah was still pretty excited when we got home... I bought her a 'Pablo' doll at the show and she took it to bed with her tonight. I was very impressed with Hannah tonight... she listened very well and was on her best behaviour. I guess she was trying to impress her date :)

A Big Thank You to Tammy & Ryan for inviting us!!

Too Funny...

I had to blog about this...

A few weeks ago my friends Samantha & Denis had an entertainment center that they wanted to get rid of but they didn't know anyone who wanted one. I told them they should list it on Craigslist and someone would come and either buy it or take it away for free. Denis heard all about my Craigslist addiction from Samantha so he called me and asked me if I wanted it to try and sell. Initially I said ' No way' because I have have enough stuff of my own I am trying to get rid of and I really didn't need their stuff too! But Denis was persistent and really wanted to get rid of it (he said he was going to chop it up into firewood!) So I agreed (reluctantly) to take it of their hands and Denis had it dropped off in our carport in half an hour... he was motivated!

Of course Dave comes home to see this big entertainment center in the carport and is... let's just say... not impressed. I tried to explain to him that I was just trying to help Samantha and Denis out (they just had a new baby and are trying to re-organize their house etc.), but he truly thinks I have an addiction to Craigslist... you may see me on the show Intervention ;)

So I posted the ad for $50 obo religiously every 3 days (the most CL will allow) for the last 2 weeks or so. Today I hit pay dirt! A couple came by to look at it and offered me $25 and said they would take it away right away. At this point I needed to get it out of the carport because the van won't fit in with the entertainment center stored there and well, Dave was starting to think that the firewood idea is a good one. So I told them they could take it.

This is the funny part... they put it on the roof of their old beater Mitsubishi van (about the size of a little VW van) and tied it down with twine!! The entertainment center was hanging over the sides of the van by at least a foot on each side. Then they got their teenage son to sit half in the van and half out the window trying to hold onto it while they drove! Dave would have been impressed if he was home to see it... it totally beats the time he brought the stove home in the back of the RAV. I seriously almost peed my pants giggling as I watched them load up and drive away from inside the house and I really had to resist the urge to get my camera out and take their picture! But I thought they might get distracted and drop it on their head. I have never seen anything like it... I am sure that everyone driving by them on the streets must have been laughing (and staying a good distance back)! I wonder if they made it home or lost it on the road somewhere....

So RIP old entertainment center... I hope you have found a new loving home, unlike the last one where they were going to turn you into firewood!

Here's the thing that ticked me off... after they left with the entertainment center I went upstairs and checked my e-mail. I had another response to the ad and they were willing to pay the full asking price! Darn it! But Dave will be thrilled when he gets home tonight and sees that it is gone :)

P.S. Samantha & Denis if you read this... just because I successfully unloaded your cast off it does not mean that I want any more of your stuff hanging around here! You're on your own!

Getting back into the swing of things...

I haven't really blogged in over a week... Christy is starting to get after me :) So I better catch you all up...

I don't have any pictures to upload today... I got the new Photoshop Elements 6 for Christmas and I am trying to use it to organize my pictures. I have now uploaded and then completely deleted everything twice! I am taking a break from the program because I am getting frustrated with it and I can't seem to get much accomplished when I only spend a few minutes here and there working with it. I think I will try and dedicate some time to getting it all sorted out this weekend when Dave is home and I have more 'free time' (yeah right).

The holiday season is officially over now and this week Hannah and Victoria return to all of their activities. Which means we are BUSY again!

On Monday Hannah started 'Totally Two' class again which she really enjoys. She gets to make crafts and play with all kinds of messy things that I don't want on the floor at home ;)



Today Tot Gym started up again which Hannah LOVES! She really missed it over the Christmas break. She got to burn of some steam running around with lots of her friends and my mom came with us today too :) Hannah enjoys getting Buggy to chase her around the gym.

Tomorrow Mother Goose starts... hopefully Hannah will behave herself and not run around like a wild animal the whole time! Wish us luck...

Friday Victoria will be starting her first set of swimming lessons!! I am so excited for her to have her own activity instead of always tagging along with Hannah. It will be nice to spend some time together just the two of us :) Hopefully she likes the water... I will let you know!

A New Look

I re-vamped the blog today... I thought some of our faithful readers (OK, well maybe just one faithful reader, Christy) might like a bit of a change :)

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we all went sledding with Tanya, Jeff, Tysen and Joshua at Burnaby Mountain. We all had lots of fun! Hannah's little Dora sled went really fast down the hill and Hannah loved it... as soon as she got to the bottom she jumped up and started back up the hill to go again. Dave had Victoria in the Snugli and she was laughing a giggling every time they went down :) Jeff, Tysen and I walked over to a bigger hill just around the corner and the second time I went down the hill I bailed off the side of the sled and landed on my head. It was almost like a cartwheel without using your arms... I saw a few stars after that one and we decided it was time to pack up and head home. I think I almost knocked myself out... I have a lovely lump on the back of my head today.

We all came back to our house afterwards and we ordered in Olive Garden for dinner... yummy! Then the kids all played while the adults watched the hockey game and chatted. Victoria and Joshua were in bed by 8pm, Hannah wasn't too far behind them at 9pm and Tysen almost made it to midnight but he crashed on the couch at about 11:30pm. We watched Dick Clark count down to New Year's and then we all called it a night. What party animals we all are :)

Tanya took some pictures for me of all of us sledding but for some reason the memory card isn't reading properly so I can't access the pictures! Grrr! I think the card is busted and the pictures are lost... darn.

But I did get out my DSLR when we got home and snapped this great one of Joshua all dressed up in Hannah's ballerina outfit... Jeff was less than impressed I think :)



Happy New Year Everyone.... We wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2008!