Picnic Time

Yesterday was a beautiful day!! So off we went with Jennie for a picnic. We had hoped to go to the beach by Stanhope. They have nice shelters with picnic tables in them for you to enjoy your picnic. Unfortunately we discovered that they are repaving the road and adding a bike/walking lane. So the road was all ripped up with no place to park your car so kept on going thinking we would try Tracadie beach. It was super windy out and the boardwalk looked really quite precarious and since we had seen a little park on our way there, we decided to head back there.

So here's the park:

It was just a little ramshackle looking but we had fun!

Mmmmm, yummy PB&J sandwiches!

Just making the most of our humble surroundings.

Can you spot Sean amongst the overgrown weeds?!

After our picnic we headed over to Brian and Bonnie's to hang out. We had a great time. Sean and Abby had a blast on the swing set. Then the call of the trampoline was just too much for me and I HAD to give it a go.
The picture of grace and skill, no?!!

I love his expression in this one.

He just LOVED the trampoline! Probably could've played on it all day!

Such a happy girl!

And yet another happy girl!

And yet another picture of my style and grace!!

Long Time No Post Eh?

Sorry about that. I hope to have more regular post once again. Things have been busy here. Sean is in the thick of his terrible twos and we have had some terrible days. But thankfully as terrible as they may be the great days far outweigh them! For example: The other day as Sean and I were playing outside I asked him the following question: "Sean, who made the earth?" His response: "Mommy." Brief pause where I was gearing up to set him straight and then he says, "No, God. God made the earth." I couldn't help but smile at that one! He loves to pretend. Yesterday he decided that the blue couch was a bus and that he was going on it. But before he could go on his bus ride he had to get his jacket, which just happened to be his fuzzy blanket. He wrapped himself up in it, then grabbed a board book for a hat! So funny.

In other news, Emma-Lyn just had her 4 month needles today. She did amazing! She cried a little bit but then quickly simmered down and was her happy little self once again. They weighed and measured her. The nurse wasn't impressed with her weight gain so now I have to increase the amount of feedings and how long she feeds! So much fun. In two weeks my less than favourite health nurse is going to come to weigh her again just to make sure she's gaining weight. Yipppeeee for me!

In happier news I finally heard Emma-Lyn laugh out loud yesterday!! I tell you it is the sweetest little laugh you've ever heard! I would have loved to have taped is but I had her in my arms at the time!

And now for a whole wack of pictures:


Hannah: "So like are you for real?"
Emma-Lyn: " YES, and that's my ear you're about to rip off!"

Hannah: "Cool. Now that I know you are real, I would just like to anoint you with the Holy Spirit.

Hannah: "My mommy is soooo funny!"
Emma-Lyn: "This Bonnie lady is hysterical!"

Hannah: "Okay so here's the secret to get them to do what you want..."
I'd fill in the rest but Hannah wouldn't let me listen in.

Abby: "Oh dear, he's such a goof sometimes...but I love him."
Sean: "I'm smiling really hard!!!"

Abby loving on Emma-Lyn.

Sniffing the beautiful tulips!

My party girl!

"I LOVE my shades mommy!!"

"I like them a lot too!!"

"Now this is the good stuff!!"

Backyard fun.

Just thought this was a cool shot.

Yes, even his tennis ball gets to have a swing.

Questions, questions, questions

Sooo many questions. Sean has definitely hit that age of asking many questions. His personal fave at the moment is, "What's that?" He'll ask it even when he knows what it is, it's like he's just testing you to make sure you know what it is. Sometimes I'll say it's something it's not. For example, one time we were driving along and Sean asked, "What's that?" while he was pointing at a school bus. So I told him that it was a truck and he said,
"No Mommy, that's not a truck. Maybe it's a school bus."
brief pause.
"No it's not a truck, it's a school bus." Or sometimes I'll just say I don't know what something is and he'll respond with a maybe it's a and the name of the object. So funny!


Sean loves to climb up beside Emma-Lyn and just sit with her. Here I actually asked him to smile and this is what I got.

And I have to tell you that Emma-Lyn ADORES her big brother. Any time he pays any attention to her she just lights right up like a Christmas tree and gurgles.

"Mmmmmm, yummmy fingers...must suck them!!"

"Ahhhh, that's better."

Puttin' In a Plug

and not in the tub or in my hair but for my photography blog. I have too long let it languish...I guess I was waiting for the nicer weather to arrive to have more photo opportunities! And so I've just posted a few (grand total of 4) pictures to the blog. If you'd like to take a look, just click here.

Thought the Grammies Might Really Enjoy This One

Sweet Baby Girl from lauraperic on Vimeo.

I Feel So Bad...

and yet it all worked out sooo very well!! You see, we pulled a fast one on Sean tonight.

We were having friends over at 8 and usually Sean is off to dreamland by this time but not so much tonight. So I let him get up and greet everyone, thinking that that would satisfy his curiosity. Not so much.

He came up with the plan of having to use the bathroom. He still goes to bed in a pull up so the deal is once he's in bed that's it. No more trips to the bathroom. And really all he really wanted to do was to see all the people again and play the game we were playing. (which incidentally was PIT, which is a fairly loud game so I can see why he might be tempted to stay up)

So anyhoo, Penny came up with the grand plan of having all the guests go hang out in the garage while we took Sean to the bathroom and back to bed. MY WORD, it worked like a charm!! You should have seen the huge grin on his face when I first took him out. He was fully expecting to see everyone there.

How quickly the grin disappeared and a look of confusion came over his wee little face. As he sat on the toilet he just kept repeating, "Everyone is gone, they're all gone." I put him back to bed with a hug and a kiss. Our friends came back in and it was back to playing games. We played some corporate shuffle first, then went back to PIT. Sean never got up again! Thanks Penny!

Quick Question

What would you say is the opposite of a blue circle?

We were playing the game taboo the other day with some friends and I used this to get my team to say the right words. I was surprised at how quickly my team came up with the answer. And it was funny that they all picked the same answer too. Since, really anything can be the opposite of a blue circle. Anyways, was your answer a red square? Cause that was what I was hoping you'd say! :)

In other news, we've hit yet another phase in the whole potty training area. Sean has now graduated to using the toilet! We clamp on the top of the potty (the bottom of it becomes a step stool up to the toilet) and away he goes. He's quite pleased with this new arrangement. He was telling me today that he was like Mommy and Daddy using the toilet instead of the potty. Then he broke into song about going poopy on the toilet! It was pretty funny.

So This Is Spring?

I don't know how spring is shaping up in your part of the world but, my lands is she ever cold out here!! Nothing like a north east wind to suck the warmth right out of a nice sunny day! Yeesh! That said the chilly wind did not deter us from taking advantage of the all out doors. Yesterday and today I had the great privilege of having the car so we grabbed Jennie and went to a couple of parks for some fun! Sean had a blast even if his nose was continually running. The second park we went to today we met up with some other mommies and their kiddos and had a grand time playing and chatting with them.

Emma-Lyn's 4 month appointment went splendidly. Sean was on his best behaviour too which really helped me out! Emma-Lyn for her part was her ever easy going, happy little self. As Dr. Slysz checked her out she just smiled away until all the prodding got to be a bit much and she began to whimper. As for her stats she is 12 lbs 4 oz and 23 3/4 inches long. So that puts her on the small scale of things. I have me a sweet petite girl!


I'm trying to be artsy...she looks impressed, no? Well how about Sean's reaction to my dabbling in the artsy fartsy photography shots:
"What do you think you're looking at?!"

Sean the supervisor.

He LOVES playing with Jennie.


Meeting Jumpy Squirrel up close and personal. FYI Jumpy Squirrel is a character on Monkey George.

Jumpy again, at one point it looked like he was going to climb up Emma-Lyn's stroller.

Weeee, just hanging around...
Pretending like we're young again!

Two Word Meme

Saw this meme over at MommyBrain and decided to try it out! :) So here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? haven't one
2. Where is your significant other? in office
3. Your hair? brown, highlighted
4. Your mother? true survivor
5. Your father? hilarious laughter
6. Your favorite thing? cuddling beloved
7. Your dream last night? traffic accident
8. Your favorite drink? cold Pepsi
9. Your dream/goal? sell photos
10. The room you’re in? open kitchen
11. Your hobby? knitting, blogging
12. Your fear? losing child
13. Where you want to be in 6 years? own home
14. Where were you last night? at home
15. What you’re not? done laundry
16. Muffins? chocolate chip
17. One of your wish list items? new lappy
18. Where you grew up? Newmarket, Ontario
19. The last thing you did? had shower
20. What are you wearing? shorts, shirt
21. Your TV? it's black
22. Your pets? don't have
23. Your computer? need it
24. Your life? always interesting
25. Your mood? happy, content
26. Missing someone? my mommy
27. Your car? Honda Civic
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes, socks
29. Favorite store? love Winners
30. Your summer? coming soon
31. Like someone? my Jennie
32. Your favorite color? royal blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? this evening
34. Last time you cried? this afternoon

Here's to Freebies and Give-Aways!

Today I found out about a great give-away that Avent is doing. I found it by checking out this blog. I learned that if you call the number she posted and then once you have the service rep on the line you just ask them about the give-away that they're hosting and voila they are sending you your very own magic sippy cups! So I'm looking forward to getting those in the mail in say 2 weeks or so.

I'm also eagerly anticipating the arrival of the book I won from the blog that hosted the date night thing. Also there is a magazine and toiletry bag that should be heading to our mailbox in the not too distant future. I won that from this wonderful blog. It's one of my favourites, I visit it pretty near every day! Then there's the book we'll be receiving for participating in a survey that the IWK put on! Can't wait!

Tomorrow is a big day for us. It's Emma-Lyn's 4 month Dr's appointment. It'll be fun to see how much she's grown again.

The Hope Visit

Yes, I finally have some of the photos of my family's visit to share with you! It was really nice to have them over again since the boat is back in business! Sean was very excited to play with Grampa Hope again. We enjoyed a lovely visit together and we look forward to our trip to the mainland to celebrate Father's Day in June!


Baby girl just sitting in Grampa's lap and enjoying her fingers.

Can you tell that her Auntie Karina just adores her?!

Hmmmm, guess our conversation just wasn't that fascinating.

Happy to have visitors!

Hanging with Gramma.

Sean helping Daddy and Grampa put the recliner together.

What A Wonderful Mother's Day!

It has been such a lovely day! And now here I sit ready to share it all with all of you! :) I really have to get the pictures up of when my family was here! I'm now sitting in the great recliner they brought over for us! I just love it! It is now my chair. Instead of sitting at my desk to do my blogging, I unplug my lappy and bring it over here just so I can relax and enjoy my computer time.

This morning we went to Grace Baptist church. And it was awesome!! I had a great time. This was the first time in a long time when a speaker was going over their time that I really didn't care and just wanted them to keep speaking and sharing all that the Lord had laid on their heart. It was also so nice to see so many familiar faces and chat awhile with them. The service was all about motherhood and was very encouraging. And would you believe they even had little gifts for all the mothers (and visiting mothers) in the congregation?! I got a sweet little bookmark (which is already in use marking our place in Sean's Bible story book) and a pretty magnet (also already in use holding up pictures on our fridge.) Then after the service they (that is the men) put on a scrumptious lunch downstairs. We weren't going to stay at first but both pastor Steve and pastor Richard convinced us to stay. We throughly enjoyed our meal and made it home just in time for nap time!! :)

Once we all got up from our naps which was a little after 4 we decided to go for a drive out to Canoe Cove Park. To say that it was a bit chilly out, would be an understatement. It was pretty near mind numbingly cold out. After about 10 minutes (all of which Emma-Lyn and I stayed warm standing in one of the shelters) we decided to go to the local Timmy's and grab an extra large hot chocolate to share and a half dozen doughnuts. Sean really liked this idea!

We returned home with one doughnut and a quarter cup of the hot chocolate. This didn't last long. I had put the box containing the lone doughnut on top of the car to get Emma-Lyn out and no sooner had I gotten her out then the wind blew the box clear off the car sending the doughnut to its demise. Then when Marko was getting Sean out of the car (he too had placed his item on top of the car) the cup blew over and dumped its entire contents on top of poor Marko's head.

For supper we had one of newly found and all time favourites!! A Sobey's Take and Bake pizza!! YUMMMMMMMY!! After supper we got the kids off to bed and then settled in to watch a downloaded episode of one of our new favourite shows: The Office! And now we're just getting some computer time in before following up with another episode (we hope to be caught up in the season soon) and then off to bed. :)


Isn't this a great photo? Bonnie took this one. I just love it!

This is at the park at Canoe Cove. Can you feel the wind whipping right through you?

Is she hiding a smile under there?

Sure looks like it...
Ahhh hah! I knew it!

Mmmmmm, yummy doughnut! And would you believe it wasn't a sprinkle one?!


Never too tired to hold my baby...

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring is Here and Life is Grand!

I know for most of the rest of the country spring has been here for awhile but it has taken it's own sweet time making it's presence known here on the Island. Today we had temperatures ranging in the high teens and it felt WONDERFUL! The sun was shining, the breeze was warm and the kids and I had a great time playing outside. We played in the backyard and then off to the park we went!

Emma-Lyn has been impressing us with her ability to sleep these past two nights. She has slept from 6:30pm to 6:30 am!!! How wild is that?! Let's see if this becomes a habit for her. I think she's going to be a Daddy's girl for sure when she grows up. She just loves when Marko comes home from work. Usually she'll be fussing around that time but when Daddy comes in and picks her up, she's nothing but smiles and happy little gurgles! Too cute.

Sean is getting to be quite the cuddle bum these days, especially after his nap. He'll come find me wherever I happen to be, climb up onto my lap, lay his head on my shoulder and wrap his arms around me. I LOVE it! And we just sit there and chat until he's ready to go play.

My family was here this past weekend and I just got the photos from that from my sister so I'll have to get those downloaded and onto the blog soon! But for now here are some of my pictures of spring:





Just relaxing in the warmth of the day!

Menita just swinging her heart out!

He loves being a "high flying boy!"

Fun Stuff!!

Last night was an absolute blast!! For the first time in our parenting history, Marko and I actually hired a babysitter!!! It finally dawned on me that there are some girls at our church that might actually babysit!! And just as luck would have it one lucky lady was free last night to look after our two cherubs! Sean only woke up twice while she was there and when she instructed him to go back to bed, back to bed he went!! Emma-Lyn for her part slept right through until 5 o'clock this morning!

Marko and I went on a double date with Brian and Bonnie and oh, I had soooooo much fun! We began our evening with a few rounds of pool down at Dooly's. First we played gals vs guys and vice versa and then couples. It was great fun! After pool we were off to Pat n Willy's for some half priced apps!! And boys oh boys were those ever YUMMMMMY!!! We had some nachos and a plate of potato skins. It was so exciting to be out on the town, totally enjoying ourselves, and just having fun being out on a date. Thank you Bonnie for the super great idea!!! We definitely have to do it again and soon! :)

In other fun news, Sean is doing great with his potty training. He has been in unders since last Wednesday and has had a few accidents but also had his first accident free day!! Yay for Sean. He still wears pull ups for nap time and bed times and sometimes when we know we're going to be out for awhile. He is getting really good at letting you know he has to pee or poo and makes a bee line for the bathroom. He still gets stickers and enjoys putting them on his chart himself.

This weekend, with it's great start should prove to be a fun one. This afternoon we're going to the park with Bonnie and the girls. Tonight my sister arrives from the mainland and the girls are getting together to knit. Then tomorrow my folks are coming over with a big ol' recliner for us!! :)

And the best part?! The sun is shining!! Have a great weekend everybody!

Oh, and Mainland Weed, yes, there used to be the oddly shaped 1.5 litre bottles but yeah they haven't been around for quite some time now. And today, none of that matters anymore!! YAY for cans and plastic!! :)

Ahhh, It's the Island Life For Me

Ever since I moved to this, the fairest province in the country, I have loved it! I love the red soil, I love the people (as long as they aren't driving in front of me) and I just feel like I belong here!

Things I could do without would be all the hype about Miss I have red hair and don't you dare spell my name without an 'E'!!! I read the books but really, there's more to this Island than just some made up character with a made up house, that they actually felt they should build out in Cavendish! But hey, here's to tourism dollars!! But what I could really do without is this insane need to bottle carbonated beverages in glass and ONLY glass!! I mean, what is up with that?! Well, finally the government has gotten their collective heads out of the sand and in just mere days from now we will actually be able to purchase our pop in either the can form or in plastic!! Can you believe it?! It is just about too good to be true!

Probably for most of my readers, you take it for granted that you can just whip out and buy pop in 2 litre containers. Not so for us Island folk, and let me tell you that it can get expensive! The largest we can get is a 750ml for just over a dollar plus deposit, plus tax!! Crazy, I tell you just down right crazy!

Now if you can believe this, there were some who were near deathly opposed to the mere thought of bringing cans and plastic bottles to the Island. For some people the whole glass bottle thing was quaint, sort of an Island way- of -life thing and I guess for that reason it should never change. Most people holding this view were not even from the Island and so really have no idea just how inconvenient glass bottles really are. First off, there's the quantity issue, can't buy anything bigger than a 750ml, and should you need several bottles, well let's just say you get quite the workout getting that out to your car. Then there's the whole leakage factor. More often than I'd like to admit, I've come home only to discover that one of the bottles is half empty due to a faulty cap. And the absolute worst problem with glass, quite frankly is that it breaks!

This past weekend when we had friends in we were reminded once again just how much we disliked glass bottles and how much we were looking forward to getting cans and plastic bottles. We were opening the pop when one bottle was getting to be quite tricksy. It was passed around to see who, if anyone, could open the darn thing. In the end Marko had to get the scissors with the special grippy bit (please excuse my technical terminology) to get the darn thing off!! And this is not the first time such a thing has happened.

Here we have a picture of a normal glass bottle specimen...
swell, just swell eh?!

And now here's what greeted us once we finally managed to get the lid off the tricksy bottle:


Here's to May 3rd and the arrival of cans and plastic!! I think this should have been the date for another provincial holiday instead of the second Monday in February!!