MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
From our family to yours!
24 December 2015
4 December 2015
Friday Favorites
This past week seems to have gone by extra fast. We kept ourselves busy with crafts, gift wrapping, and snuggles all week. I'm glad the weekend is here though!
Two: My sweet friend Tawnya had her baby boy this week and I couldn't be happier for her! He is so sweet, and already the most stylish little guy I've ever seen! I can't wait to cuddle him next week!!
One: Ever since Saturday, sweet Charlie has slept through the night and when I say through the night, I mean 7-9 hours of glorious sleep, right through the night! How lucky did I get??
Two: My sweet friend Tawnya had her baby boy this week and I couldn't be happier for her! He is so sweet, and already the most stylish little guy I've ever seen! I can't wait to cuddle him next week!!
Three: Our Christmas Elf, Chippy, made his appearance last weekend. He arrived with some special ornaments and Christmas Jammie's for the family. Palmer excitedly looks for him every morning. now, our elf doesn't do fancy things, and he doesn't look like all the other elves, but she loves him and understands the idea that he is here watching her to send info back to Santa. She also understood that Chippy didn't come one night because the day before she was a total threenager and was a bad girl that day!!
Four: I had been watching Season 5 of Scandal on TV this year (thinking it was only season 3) so I have been binge watching it on Netflix to get myself all caught up! It's so good!! And, now that we have Netflix again, what are some other good shows to watch??
Five: Sweet Charlie turned 2 months on Monday, and she has her 2 month shots today, so I'm expecting all the baby cuddles today!
Happy Weekend, everyone!
3 December 2015
Becoming a Big Sister
I had no doubt in my mind that when it was time to introduce a second baby into our family, Palmer would embrace it with open arms. We are now two months into Palmer being a big sister and every day just gets better and better.
From the time we told her there was a baby growing inside mommy's tummy, she was the best big sister. She would sing to the baby, give the baby kisses, and include baby in anything we were doing. "Mommy, can we go outside with Mommy and Daddy and Palmer and Leafy and the baby?"
I talked up her being Mommy's big helper when baby came and she has slid into that role with pride. She is so happy to help me with Charlie. Picking out her clothes. Giving her a bath. Even "helping" to change the diapers.
That moment when my two babies met for the first time is something I will never forget. The joy and love already felt for baby Charlie by big sister Palmer was enough to make my heart burst. She was amazed by her baby sister and I know Charlie was amazed by her too.
Palmer simply adores baby "Charwee" and transitioned from the only child role into big sister seamlessly. I couldn't be more proud of Palmer. She has truly embraced every moment of becoming a big sister. With her coming up on turning 3, I know this was the perfect amount of time between our children and the perfect age for Palmer to be.
Although she shows a lot of attention to her new baby sister, Palmer continued on with life as normal. But the love Palmer shows for Charlie radiates out of her. She wakes up in the morning, comes to my room, and asks where Charlie is. She loves her hard (sometimes a little too hard! haha), and is giving Charlie kisses all day long!
This love, I know, will carry on for her lifetime and form one of the best relationships the two of them will ever have.
1 December 2015
Charlie Dawn: 2 Months
Two months already...I can't even believe it. Part of me feels like she is still so brand new, but the other part of me can't even comprehend how 2 months has gone by so fast.
STATS:
Length - approx 21 inches
Weight - I'm guessing around 12 lbs. She weighed in at 10 lbs exactly on her 6 week check. Friday we have her 2 month immunizations and will know her weight then
SLEEP: Charlie is taking after her sister and has become a superstar sleeper!! 3 out of 4 nights, she is sleeping 7+ hours at night! Can you say happy mama???
Our typical day is we all wake up around 7:30. We eat and play until about 10 when Charlie has a nap. She sleeps on and off through most of the day until around 5 or 6. Then she's awake and alert for most of the evening until about 10:30 when I put her down for bed. On an average night, she sleeps until around 5:30. I put her back to bed until 7:30 when we all wake up again for the day! Pretty sweet if you ask me!!
I have started to notice more of a pattern now with Charlie as she is getting older and staying awake for longer periods of time during the day. It's nice to have a little more of a schedule so I have a little idea of what to expect each day!
SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT: Girlfriend can roll from front to back (for almost 3 weeks now). Her neck strength is awesome too, and can hold her head up for long periods of time. When I am making supper, I will often sit her in the bumbo and she watches me cook. Her real smiles are more frequent now and its so sweet. She loves kisses. And this weekend, she had the best and longest smiles I've seen from her when she was playing with Daddy. It was so sweet!
FAVORITES: Charlie loves the bath. She would lay in there all day as long as the water was warm, I'm sure. She enjoys her swing (as Palmer did), and going for walks in the carrier. She mostly loves to be held and moving. She hates tummy time (as I think most babies do) but we are very conscientious of it because of dealing with Palmer's Positional Plagiocephaly and being sure to avoid it this time!
SISTER: Palmer has so much love for Charlie. It's so sweet. She has become the sweetest big sister ever. She always needs to make sure Charlie is ok. If she fusses for just a minute, Palmer is there checking up on her. She advises me when Charlie needs "baby milk" and will start singing to her if she is fussing for too long. The way her eyes light up when Charlie smiles at her could make my heart burst!
MY THOUGHTS: Charlie has been a dream baby, much like Palmer was. We lucked out with two mellow, easy-going babies. Our transition to a family of four has been perfect, aside from the fact that Mitch is away for work every Monday to Friday.
Happy TWO months, sweet Charlie.
24 November 2015
Cute Local Small Shops
One thing I really love about small shops is that you can find some really great, unique stuff. There are so many small shops out there on Instagram and Etsy but some of my favorites are local, which is even better. With the Canadian dollar being what it is, no better time to shop locally than right now!
We have talked about this one many times before and that's because we LOVE it. Urban Cowgirl is a local shop with the cutest pieces ever! Linnden makes infinity scarves for kids and adults (with a new prints just released Monday!), top knot headbands (which Palmer wore a lot of), and cute bows that can be put onto either a soft nylon headband or a clip. I absolutely adore the headbands for little Charlie. They stretch to fit any size kid head and they don't leave that horrible imprint like many headbands do. And the bows...too sweet. She has the cutest prints that choosing just a few is really hard!
Another small shop that we have recently started to love is 4Fold Slouchy Beanies, a brand new work-from-home company. Liat has the cutest prints, you will find something for everyone in your family, and with the very reasonable prices, there's no reason not to! I am a sucker for a kid in a slouchy beanie. Too cute!
I was attracted to this small shop because it was the first time I had seen this style of leather mini bows before and I couldn't help myself. This company is based out of BC (so almost local) and has stylish handmade headwraps and headbands for babes of all ages! The headbands area also made with the soft, comfy nylon so I have no worries about it on little Charlie's head. She can also put the bows on clips, which I love for Palmer.
What are some of your favorite small shops?? I love finding new ones!
23 November 2015
Our Weekend
We live for the weekends around here. That is when Mitch comes home and things are normal for a couple of days. This past weekend, we decided to meet in Calgary and do some fun things around there.
The girls and I left around noon and stopped at this really great Christmas market on the south end of Calgary. It was huge and had so many vendors! Palmer's favorite part was seeing Santa's reindeer! We had to go back and see them twice before we left. The weather was okay, but a little cool, so we only stayed about an hour before taking off. Lucky for us, some lady handed us a free gate admission as we were walking in!
We stopped at the mall for a bit before we took off to my sister-in-laws salon to meet Mitch. The mall had a Disney store and Palmer was going nuts!! "Mom, look at this one." "wow, mommy, look!" And she loved the magic mirror.
Friday night, we kept it pretty low key and hung around the condo.
Saturday we were up early to pick up Mitchell's dad and nanny at the airport then headed up to Cross Iron Mills mall to do some looking around. Then, was the part I was looking forward to most. The Zoo!
We had never taken Palmer to the zoo before, so I was excited to see her reaction to all the animals. Some of the animals weren't out and some of the exhibits were closed for the winter, but there was still plenty to see and I think she really loved it.
We planned the Science Centre for Sunday, and Palmer really loved that too. I had always thought the Science Centre was geared more for older kids and adults, but there are a lot of really great activities for young kids too. It was a great end to our mini weekend getaway!
Our weekend ended with Charlie sleeping from 11pm to 5:40am this morning! WHOOP WHOOP!
18 November 2015
Christmas Cards With Tiny Prints
One of my favorite parts about getting ready for the holidays is choosing and sending out Christmas cards. Every year, we choose the outfits, choose the setting and have our family photos done. I love it. My husband would tell you otherwise, but the photos always turn out great. Then is the actual fun part; choosing the cards to match with the photos.
The last several years we have used Tiny Prints to make our Christmas cards, and this year is no different (See our 2014 cards here). There are always so many beautiful cards to choose from that I have a really hard time deciding and Tiny Prints products have always turned out really amazing for us. This year, Tiny Prints offers some really great options including Foil-Stamp, Laser-Cut, Letterpress, and their new Glitter options (which we chose and love!)
After browsing, personalizing and comparing many cards, we went with the Simply Glittering card with silver glitter and I couldn't be happier! The neutral background of the card paired perfectly with the colors of our family photo. The card is gorgeous.
This year, we decided to try out the envelope liners as well. It is an extra for the cards but I love that it gives the envelope a pop fun of color.
Last year, we got our personalized address stamp from Tiny Prints, making addressing and labeling the envelopes a breeze and so fun!
**Disclaimer: Tiny Prints provided me with product in exchange for my post. Opinions are 100% mine.
13 November 2015
My Friday Five
Is it just me, or are these weeks flying by? Can you believe it's the middle of November already? Another Friday is here, so I figured I'd share another 5 Friday things.
One: we had the first snowfall of the year this week and Palmer loved it! We had to get out and play in the snow a few times during the week.
Two: Charlie turned 6 weeks on Wednesday! What? She had her 6 week check yesterday and she has nearly doubled her birth weight, weighing in at 10lbs exactly (47th percentile) and measuring 20.5 inches (up from18 3/4 at birth; she's in the 4.7th percentile now)
Three: I started back at the gym this week and even snuck in a run before the snow flew! It feels great to be back at it, and it's nice to have the hour for myself!
Four: we had a few family photos taken on Sunday while my brother was here. Mitch doesn't love having his pictures done so I'm glad he was willing, because there are a couple really great ones of humans the girls!
Five: Snapchat is quickly become one of my favorite forms of social media! I love that it's real, and usually hilarious! You can find me at crazilynormal. Leave me your snapchat name so I can follow along!!!
Happy weekend, everyone!!
10 November 2015
Charlie Dawn Newborn Photos: By Tawnya Nicole Photography
I am so excited to share these newborn photos of Charlie.
My friend Tawnya has done it again. She has captured some truly beautiful moments for us and they are absolutely perfect. She did maternity photos for us back in August and they were amazing too! I can't even say enough about her incredible talent! I couldn't decide if I loved the color or black and white ones better, so here are some of each. I seriously love them all so much.
