January is almost over!!!

I can't begin to express how glad I am that January is almost over. What a crap month this has been!

The kids took turns being sick, each for one week.  Ember's eyes were swollen little slits, red and puffy. They glued shut every nap time and every night and got worse each day. After two days of that it was time to visit the doctor for  some antibiotic eye drops and her eyes cleared up quickly. Amelia's was not nearly as bad, her eyes cleared up on her own and was pretty much gone after four days. It's funny how that works. But I've learnt my lesson. When one kid gets sick, the other gets to share a cup until they both have it. We were happy to get out of the house and visit our friend Izzy and to get to the gym for the first time in 2 weeks. I forget how much exercise does for me - I always feel so much better after a good workout.

Today I tried going to Canadian Tire to pick up some miscellaneous things and ended up having to leave with nothing after Miss Amelia had a grade 'A', first class, full-on freak out. She actually warned me that she was feeling grouchy just before the tantrum, and I should have heeded her warning. I was still trying to find two more things, (does anyone else have trouble finding stuff at Canadian Tire? I always do!) when Amelia started picking on Ember. I decided to cut our losses and just leave, hoping to avoid the scream-fest that was brewing, but it exploded before I could get them out. You can tell which people in the store were parents, because they were the ones smiling. I ended up having to pick her up and carry her out, with Ember walking calmly behind us. We must have been quite a sight.


I haven't really taken any photos lately, but I feel we must have at least one photo for interest. This was taken shortly after Christmas.

Amelia and Melvin in their matching "bad to the bone" glow-in-the-dark shirts. Amelia also picked out her outfit and styled her hair. hahaha....

Ember and Daddy making cookies.

Nova Scotia weather, how do I hate thee?

I know complaining about the weather is a favourite Canadian pastime, possibly more popular than hockey. There is so much to complain about, especially in the winter. ** warning, there will be a great deal of whining going on in this post. It's all in good humour though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Last week we got what I think is our 5th snowfall this winter. Sounds great, right? To my friends and family who endured -27 degrees C. last week in Alberta, that might sound ideal to them, but hear me out. I have actually said this out loud to people and I mean it. I would take snowfall and cold weather over cloudy, rainy, slushy NS weather any day.

First of all, there is the dampness. Damp cold weather is waaaayyy colder than dry cold weather. Here, -4 feels like -14. You really can't believe it until you experience it.

Then there is the rain. I'm told the past summer is unusual in the amount of rain, but if this winter rain is normal, I don't know how people survive the winter. I have literally seen the sun only a handful of times this winter. I'd rather live in Vancouver with all the rain we get, at least it would still be warmer in temperature.

When it does snow, it usually warms up right away or rains the same day, so the snow doesn't even last long enough to make a snowman. If you are able to make one, Frosty is guaranteed to be looking deformed by the end of the day. Then your kid is playing in a slush-covered mud bog called your yard. There are not enough mittens and snow-pants to last even an hour playing in that. After 15 minutes the girls are soaking wet in places I didn't think was possible and are ready to go in. humph.

Right now it is cloudy and pouring rain, which has not managed to melt the snow as usual, but rather turn it into a lovely skating rink. That you have to drive and walk on. Fun.

This is from a previous snow-fall, but you get the idea. I keep forgetting to bring my camera when we actually do go outside. We haven't had this much snow since, most of the time the grass is still poking through the snow :(

I know it doesn't help that we have been house-bound for the past week. Amelia started out with a runny nose and green goobers dripping out of her eye last week. Miraculously, Ember had nothing. Not even a runny nose or sneeze. I figured after 6 days of Amelia being sick that if Ember wasn't sick by then we were in the clear.

But of course I was wrong. Yesterday morning Ember woke up saying "I can't see". Once I got her into the bathroom to see what was going on, I found her eyelids welded shut with green goobers. Hooray!! Now we are out for another week. And since you can't take your kid to playgroup or the gym when they are sick, we are stuck trying to keep ourselves occupied - in cold, damp, rainy, sunless Nova Scotia.

That is all, my whining is done. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

And not a moment too soon, since Ember just woke up. Ciao, and have a great week everyone!

Dancey Dance Time

We had a short dance party this morning that was too priceless to not share. For some reason, the girls like undressing and running around saying "look at me Mommy, I'm a nudie!" This morning was no different. I suppose almost all kids go through the nudism phase at some point. We managed to get Ember dressed right away, but when we told Amelia to get dressed she got herself dressed in a swim diaper, mittens and a hat. These precious memories are hopefully going to survive long enough so I can embarrass the girls when they are teens. heeheee heeeeee!!!!

After all they put us through in a week, this is our reward! It is so fun to see them be silly, and we always try to encourage creativity and individuality in our kids.

Amelia in her dance outfit.

Ember looking like a little boy (as usual)

I also have a video, for anyone interested in watching. What the heck, might as well have fun with playing with the formatting and pictures/video uploads. My apologies for the poor layout of this post, I am having trouble with the format today, things are not lining up the way I would like them to.

We haven't been up to much lately, just getting back into our regular routine after the holidays. I do however, have one more awesome photo to share of miss Ember: 

I of course had to snap a picture of her in this position before I moved her legs. Cheers! 

Christmas with the Smiths (AKA the best Christmas present a husband could give)

I know we just set the Blog up today and it's probably not normal to post twice a day, but I am excited to share our Christmas photos with you all.  Plus Ron's going back to work tomorrow and I will likely not be able to post as often as I want when he is working.

By the way, I should also add the disclaimer that we have created this blog as a way to keep in touch with our friends and family who are now so very far away. You will mostly find pictures of the kids and updates as to what is going on in our lives.
It seems like everyone and their dog now has a blog, filled with witty observations about life and/or family, updates on their home-based business etc. I wish I had time to read everyone else's blog, but the daily routine doesn't always allow for that. I don't expect everyone to read our blog regularly, but since we are no longer on facebook, we decided that this would be the easiest way to keep in touch with our loved ones without sacrificing our privacy. If you are reading this, it is because you have been invited. Aren't you special?!!!

Christmas this year was a fairly quiet affair, our first ever with just the Smiths, not the Smiths and the Smiths and the other Smiths (you know who you are). We have traditionally celebrated with our extended families, trying to share our time equally with both sides of the family (luckily easy to do, since they all live in Drayton Valley, AB) But we were kind of excited to have Christmas with just the four of us, our little family, in our new home. Besides, we were not keen on flying to Alberta during the busiest flight time of the year.

The only Christmas photo that turned out. **Note to self, always clean the dirty finger prints from the camera lens before taking photos. All the other photos were kind of blurry because some little people like to play with the camera, not naming any names....

Adorable dinosaur sweaters from Grandma Anne

We had all the Christmas presents bought, the Christmas tree decorated when, in a bid for "best husband of the year" Ron decided that he should send me away to Cuba for the week before Christmas!! He won.
I won't bore you with the details of me sitting on the beach, drinking mojitos and working on my tan, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I am not usually the type of person who says I deserve a vacation (we all do, right?) but I really think I earned this vacation. And a big Thank You to Grandma Terry for helping to make this happen. We are so lucky to have such a generous family :D

I got back on Christmas eve, after the expected aircraft delays, too late to see the girls. But don't worry, Ember woke up at 5:30am, so I dove right back into the usual routine, like I had never left.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner, and two days of hanging out doing nothing. I don't think I even got dressed for either day. By Dec 27, I forced the kids to go for a walk, since we were all suffering from cabin fever and turkey overload. All in all, I had a great vacation. I'm glad I got away for R&R and that Ron got time to bond with the girls. Although I did love my solo vacation, I hope next time I go somewhere tropical that my hubby can come with me!

Our Inaugural Blog message

Hello everyone and welcome to Thee First Official Smith Family Blog post!!

First off, we'd like to wish everyone a Happy 2012! I hope this new year brings health and happiness to all our friends and family.

As most of you probably know, we have moved to the edge of the country this past June (Halifax, NS in case you missed the memo). Surprisingly, a two week drive in our Golf crammed with two adults, two kids, two dogs, and too many suitcases was not the idyllic family vacation one might imagine! Some advice for people who may be planning the same? Don't do it. Seriously. Take a plane; or wait until your kids are older. Travelling across this great country with a 2 1/2 year old and a 15 month old was... exhausting, to say the least.

Regardless, we all arrived in one piece and were thankful to sleep in our own beds again. We would at this point like to extend a big Thank You to the friends who loaned us the use of their spare room(s) while we made our trip: The Coggans, The Proctors, and the Harveys

Now to what you all really want to know: how are the girls?

We celebrated Amelia's 3rd Birthday with some of our new friends in September, she is growing up so fast! Our eldest "little lady" is quite loquacious; one of her favourite activities is to find rhyming words and making up nonsense words or phrases. This is a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to scream for it. She likes picking her own outfits which often lead to some very interesting clothing choices!
We have met a lovely little girl across the street from us and we spend a lot of time playing together. It was a relief to find a nice kid to play with, but even more of a relief for me to find another mom that I click with. Finding someone you can get along with and who has a similar parenting style as you is great, finding that someone across the street from you is like pure gold!

Our Miss Ember is growing up quickly too, always trying to keep up with big sister Amelia. Ember will be celebrating her 2nd birthday this March. She is so much more fearless than her sister, Ron is certain she will be the first to break a bone! She is also our little clown, easy to laugh and naturally silly. Both girls love music and singing and they both love reading - so we know we are doing something right. Ember is talking a lot more now, as you might expect. We are amazed at how many words she can say (when she can get a word in over her chatterbox sister), and how she can convey an entire sentence in one word: Happen? Doing?

We have had a few chances to tour some of our new home province this summer, in between rain storms. We can't wait for next summer, when we will look forward to having many visitors from out west (you know who you are!)