Ramblings of a Stay-at-Home Mom

It was a very busy Christmas season for us again. 6 gatherings in 4 days was crazy, but we got through it. And the girls got spoiled, but in a good way. Violet got some awesome toys and clothes and Dominique got mostly clothes. And some much needed family time as well. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from me, Keith, Violet and Dominique! Wishing you and your family all the best in 2015!

Dear Dominique: I swear this has been the fastest 8 months ever! You are growing like a weed every single day and it just amazes me. Right now you’re fitting into 12 month clothing with a bit of room to spare, but not much. I lovingly call you my little tank as you’re 22lbs already and have a good build on you and you’re pretty strong as well. Right now you are rolling all over the house like a mad baby. I put you down and 30 seconds later you’re half way across the kitchen/living room/bedroom and so proud of how fast you can manoeuvre. You’re also rotating around on your tummy to get where you want to go. Right now you love laying in your bed when you’re awake and just talking up a storm. It’s hilarious to hear you in the early morning chatting to yourself. Right now you are all smiles and just so happy. Especially when you’re in the Jolly Jumper and jumping to your hearts content. Right now I love you so much and that will only increase every day. Love, Mommy.

Another couple days in the bag for December Daily! I know I'm still a bit behind, and I'm hoping to be caught up real soon. If I could only get more sleep at night (ahem, Dominique), maybe I'd have more brain power to do this in the evening. As it is right now, I'm not really feeling to Christmas-sy at the moment. I'm not sure if it's from baby demands, lack of sleep or the lack of snow outside this year. I'm hoping that I'll be feeling more merry once Christmas hits. Anyway, onto the layouts for Days 13-15 Day 13: Non-Christmas related, but really the only story of the day. Poor Nique was sick and had to go see the doctor at the walk-in clinic this morning. And on antibiotics for the next week due to an upper respiratory infection. Poor girl. Day 14: Both girls got invited to a Birthday Party at Build-A-Bear Workshop for a friend of ours. And because of the amount of pages, I made it a 2-page layout. A couple small photos and journalling on the left sid...

Welcome to Days 10-12 of December Daily! I know I said that I'd be caught up over the past weekend, but then Nique got sick and didn't want to sleep at night, never mind everything else as well. Oh well.  Day 10: The journalling is pretty self-explanatory. It was nice to be able to get out of the house for a couple hours with the girls and let them play with other kids around their age. Violet was the oldest one and she did great playing with the two 2-year-olds that were there. Some days that girls amazes me with how responsible she can be at such a young age.  Day 11: For today, I actually didn't have a Christmas-related story or anything of the like. I had only taken these 2 photos, so when it came time to put the layout together, I was a bit stumped. And then it hit me. Why not make a layout of one major thing the girls did today? And it worked and I had the photos to go along with it. Day 12: The journalling is pretty self explanatory. Violet loved watching the Silhoue...

Welcome to Days 7-9 of December Daily! Took a tiny break from posting there for a couple days, but I'm back with an update! Actually, I just fell behind in making my layouts until I had enough time during nap-time today to catch up on them. I'm posting Days 7-9 today, and I'll post a couple more tomorrow and then hopefully be back on track for next week. Day 7: Today's layout features a long and good story of today. It turned into an impromptu Family Date, complete with swimming and going to Famous Dave's for supper. Violet absolutely loved swimming and Dominique was pretty good with it to. We took them into the shallow end of the lap pool (where we could stand but Violet couldn't), and Keith started teaching Violet a bit of swimming. Nique was just content to be in my arms looking around at all the water and talking away. Both girls had a blast and after we were done, Keith decided to take us out to Famous Dave's for supper. And it was good! We all shared o...

Welcome to Day 6 of December Daily! Today was a day of just lounging around the house, geeking out and watching movies. And it was a good day. I didn't take any photos, as I was planning on making today just a journal day. And it worked out perfectly! I did the journalling in the Project Life App on my phone so that I could use the Christmas-themed kit and then imported it into my program on the computer, added a background paper and called it done!

Welcome to Day 5 of December Daily! There wasn't much going on today, so I decided to document the sister love between the two girls. How can you not? Just a 7.5x4 inch photo pared with journalling and a digital brush from Ali Edwards Heart Happy . A really simple page overall, but still tells the story behind it.

Welcome to Day 4 of December Daily! I'm a couple days behind in posting, just have patience. I do have the layouts done, just haven't had time to post lately. Dominique has been teething lately, which has been sapping my energy day and night. Add to that a 3-year-old who is being a bit whiny and an attention hog, and I have no time to myself until they're in bed at night. I will get caught up with posting though. Anyway, enough about me, onto the layout for Day 4! As you can tell from the journalling, today was visiting my Grandparents so that Violet could get her nails painted by Meme. Apparently I'm not good enough anymore. And you know what? I'm fine with that. These are my only grandparents remaining and the only Great-Grandparents who ask for us to come down so that they can see the great-grandkids. And I really do love that. 

Ah, December. I love that you're here. I love the twinkle lights, the Christmas carols on the radio, the Christmas decorations up in full displays, the Christmas story of Jesus being told to all kids. And my favourite project of December: December Daily.  Yup, I'm at it again. And love it. Last year I did a 6x8 album and liked it. This year, I'm switching it up to a digital 8x8 album. One of the main reasons for going digital is time. With 2 kids right now, it gets really busy around the house. And with a tight budget, it makes it a bit hard to get the supplies that I need and print out photos as well. So digital wins out this year.  For setting up my pages I'm using the StoryBook Creator from Creative Memories (now defunct) and once everything is done, I'll import them to Shutterfly and print them off when funds allow. I'll be posting every 2-3 days, so keep checking back! Front Page: For the front page, I used Ali's free download that's available on he...

  Reading lots of Robert Munch to Violet at bedtime. Current favourite is Paperbag Princess. Playing lots of peek-a-boo and hiding under the blankets with Dominique. Watching 3rd season of Once Upon A Time. Almost done. Trying to get more sleep at night. Still losing that battle (thank you Nique). Eating ultimate chocolate cupcakes. Yummy. Drinking more water today. Doing more clean up around the house and prepping for winter. Loving that Violet is almost talking in full sentences and can tell me what’s going on. Hating how tired I am lately. That’s what happens when I get only 5-6 hours of sleep a night due to having to get up to nurse Dominique. Discovering early mornings. I missed them and the quiet time that I get in between Keith leaving for work and when the girls get up for the day. Enjoying warm blankets and fleece sweatpants. Thinking of possibly a weekend away with Keith in February (crossing fingers that I can get Nique weaned before then). Listening (to) po...

Still going strong on the 30 Days of Thankful project. I'll admit, some days it's hard to come up with something to be thankful about, especially when a certain 7 month old baby is keeping you up half the night and you're functioning on half a brain if lucky. One more week to go after this. Day 17:  Thankful that I'm able to knit and make some stuff for my girls, even if it will take me a while to finish. In this case, I'm working on Dominique's rainbow blanket. Day 18:  Very thankful for an awesome friend that I have in Lisa. Violet adores her and she's a great friend to confide in about stuff and hang out with. Day 19:  Today (and always) I'm thankful for my Mom. She comes down a couple times a week to see me and the girls (she's not working right now as she's waiting for her hip replacement surgery in the new year) and the kids adore her. And steal all her food. Day 20:  Thankful for this little girl today. She's been keeping me up quite a...

Dear Dominique: It’s been 7 months since you were born and it’s been an amazing journey to see you grow! Lately you have figured out how to roll seamlessly from stomach to back and back again and starting to gain speed! You’re also figuring out how to rotate on your tummy so that you can get places when you get stuck or need to get something.  You’re appetite is the same as always - BIG! You’re eating everything I’m giving you and then some. And still nursing as well. And slowly figuring out that sippy cup. Although it would help if Mommy had it for you at every meal.  You’re also “talking” a lot, which is hilarious when I’m laying in bed, listening to you in the morning. Your squeals of joy are the best. Also, hands are tasty. And so are feet. Oh my girl, you’re growing up way too fast. Love, Mommy.