Blame PINTEREST

Lately I have had a bad case of the 'I WANT's!  I will blame pinterest for this (don't worry I still love pinning).  There are so many fabulous homes, beautiful people, handy gadgets and just plain awesome stuff that I can't help but want it.  I feel like it is making me into this horrible selfish person that only thinks about herself and what she wants from others.  Was I always like this?  Okay, maybe I was and I am just finally realizing it (hopefully this is where Ian comments 'no you are so selfless honey')?

Two years ago I had my first child.  Prior to that I knew nothing (minus our 2 yrs of marriage) of sacrificing for others.  Since my first daughter was born I have HAD to sacrifice everything.  My job, body, sleep, time, sanity.  There is never any time for me so it has forced me into acting selfLESS.  Now with 2 daughters (aka - more demands on my time) I feel about to explode with selfISHness.  I want everything for me, ANYTHING for me, and I feel horrible thinking that way.  I have been so demanding... expecting more than I should be.

I am VERY grateful for what I have.  We are far better off than I expected to be in our first 5 years of marriage (thank goodness for not having to scrape by while getting through school - benefits to marrying at an older age I guess). AND I feel truly blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy daughters.  Don't ever think I'm not grateful for them.

I just want to let you all know that I am not really selfish.  I just talk selfish because that is all I have right now... talk.  So I pin away my days wishing and dreaming that I have more than I do because 98% of my time, effort and talents are dedicated to my husband and young daughters.

Can I just have 24 hours away without cleaning, cooking, tantrums and nursing?  Perhaps after Christmas when I plan to wean my baby.

What would I do with 24 whole hours to myself?  That will be a post for tomorrow perhaps!

David and Christy's Wedding

My little brother got married our last weekend in Edmonton.  It was so wonderful to have all (minus my sister serving a mission) of our family together.  I felt a little sad as I was so busy dealing with my 2 handfuls (aka - children) that I was very distracted and feel that I missed out.  It was so sweet though to see my new sister-in-law walking into the chapel to meet her soon-to-be husband, my brother.  

It was a sweet moment as Hailey yelled out 'DAVID' when he walked into the chapel and again yelled out as Christy put on David's ring "YOU DID IT".  It was what we were all thinking :)

I feel so lucky to have Christy as part of our family and I feel so thrilled that my brother has such a wonderful woman by his side.  I know he was never my 'responsibility' but I always felt, just a little bit, that I needed to take care of him and make sure he was okay.  Now I feel 'at ease' knowing Christy will do a better job of that than I ever could.  Welcome to the family!

most of the pictures are of the girls - I left the couple/group shots to the real photographer

 with uncle David

 my sisters family

 imagine trying to get these 3 girls to stay together and still for one picture

Liora thought her boquet was pretty smelly :)

"dancing with Papa"

 fabulous decorations

classic shoe game

our family of four (crazy)

our little Quinn

Me and my girls :)

More Cousin Fun

My sister's family came out to Lloyd for one of the weekends they were visiting.  It was crazy to transport everything back and forth for just a couple days but it was special to have them come to our home.  We are missing them very much now :(

Galaxyland

Lately I have been spending far too much time reading other peoples blogs, instead of writing my own.  Here are some more 'catch up' posts from our summer (I guess it isn't over yet - Our last adventure will be Hailey's 2nd birthday tomorrow).

One of our days in Edmonton we took the girls out to Galaxyland (really we were shopping and made a stop to play).  They got to ride on the train, Hailey went on the carosel and they all played in the ball pits.

the only pics that turned out were in the ball pits

The twins loved it and had a blast - Hailey hated it.  You'd think that a child who loves balls would love a whole pit full of them?  Not so!  this picture clearly shows her dislike when we 'made' her go in.  She did have fun though in the tunnels and on the slides.  She also loved the carosel and talks about the 'horsie-ride' all the time.

Here is auntie Christel with our sweet Quinn

The Legislature

So if you know Edmonton, and have spent a good deal of time there, you have probably been to the legislature grounds (the government buildings).  The regular visitors come to call it 'the leg' (ledge), but it always makes me crazy writing it because it just looks like the word leg.  So out of crazy obsession I have to write the full word (just know that I definitely qualify to call it 'the leg').

Growing up we had a family tradition of visiting the legislature in the summer, playing in the pools and eating KFC.  Not sure why it was KFC but we did it every year.  We all looked forward to it.

Just a few weeks ago our family was all together again (minus my sis on a mission) with the 4 grandchildren.  We all got together to take the girls on their first 'leg' experience.  We had a great time enjoying the sun and seeing the girls excitement.  We decided to void the KFC part of the tradition as it isn't the best food for under 2 yr olds (or anyone else for that matter).

Cheers to childhood traditions that you get to carry on with your own families :)

I realized going through my pics that I have way more of my neices than my own girls (other people were using my camera to take pictures too)

one of THOSE mornings

Yes I do put my child in front of a movie with dry cereal and fruit in order to sleep in longer!  I'm such an awesome Mom ;)

Quinn's Baby Blessing

We waited longer this time to do our daughters blessing so we could have as many family together as possible.  Quinn was just about two months old when we blessed her at my parents home in Edmonton.  It was special to have her grandfathers and uncle invovled in the blessing.  We also had many friends over to join us for the blessing and dinner.  We were missing a couple of my sisters (one on a mission, a sis-in-law in Africa and the other in Vancouver).  We also missed our Lloydminster friends.

Thank you to all who were a part of it!

I guess I need to crop creepy micheal out of this one ;)

 (my sister and brother-in-law trying to steal my child ;)

COUSINS!

I know, 'where have I been?'  Our family has been away for the majority of the summer.  I was too busy visiting to do any blog posts.  I hope you are ready for some catch up :)

Hailey's twin cousins from Switzerland came for a 3 week visit this month.  Last time they met, Hailey was almost 1 and the twins were 9 mths old.  This years get together was way more exciting for the little toddlers (as I am sure it will be every year from now on).  It invovled a lot of playing, screaming, running, tantrums and learning to share.  I think all of the girls picked up both good and bad habits from visiting each other :)

It was so sweet to see them together and wonderful to see my sister as a mother.  It has been very hard to be so far away from her and her family.  Thankfully we have skype though and get to see each other usually around 3 times a week online.

classic wheelbarrow rides from Papa!  He used to do this with us when we were little.  As each child was added to the 'barrow' they got less impressed with the ride.  This was their first day together... they were still getting used to each other.

 

The child sized chairs were a huge hit.  Good thing grandma had one for each of the girls.  Hailey dragged hers numerous different places.

Snack time outside is way easier to clean up :)

more cousin fun to come...