The Last Time

From the moment you hold your baby in your arms, 

You will never be the same. 

You might long for the person you were before, 

When you have freedom and time, 

And nothing in particular to worry about. 

You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,

And days will run into days that are exactly the same,

Full of feedings and burping,

Nappy changes and crying,

Whining and fighting,

Naps or a lack of naps,

It might seem like a never-ending cycle.

But don't forget...

There is a last time for everything.

There will come a time when you will feed your baby for the very last time.

They will fall asleep on you after a long day

And it will be the last time you every hold your sleeping child.

One day you will carry them on your hip then set them down,

And never pick them up that way again.

You will scrub their hair in the bath one night

And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.

They will hold your hand to cross the road,

Then never reach for it again.

They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,

And it will be the last night you ever wake to this.

One afternoon you will sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and do all the actions,

Then never sing them that song again.

They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,

The next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.

You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face.

They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time.

The thing is, you won't even know it's the last time until there are no more times.

And even then, it will take you a while to realize.

So while you are lising in these times,

Remember there are only so many of them and when they are gone, you will yearn for just one more day of them.

-Author Unknown

When You Just Have To Go With It

As a parent of two little boys, I have barely grasped learned that sometimes you just need to go with the flow and accept that most plans won't go according to plan. Like the first day of school and that very first bus ride.

Being the mom that I am, I like to have a plan, so a few days before the first day of school, I made sure to check the bus schedule and schedule our morning routine accordingly. Chris made arrangements to work from home that morning so he could see Joshua off on the bus for his first day. So that morning, we had breakfast together and went outside 20 minutes before the bus was scheduled to come so that the boys could ride their bikes for a bit. Well, here's where my plan took a nosedive. As soon as we got outside we saw a group standing at the bus stop. Surely they aren't waiting for the same bus Joshua should be getting on. Then 30 seconds later we see a bus, Joshua's bus.

Next thing you know, we're running for the bus. Joshua is giggling the entire way while I'm thinking to myself "of course this would happen on his first day." Joshua was the last one on the bus and we managed to squeeze in a quick picture. I was so proud of him as he got onto that bus with all of the excitement in the world.

Now that I look back on his first day, his morning was filled with quite a bit of excitement. And on top of that, he didn't have time to get nervous and I didn't have time to ugly cry get emotional because Joshua is off to his first day school.

And I'll just leave this picture here...

My attempt at a first day of school picture

The Favourite Part of My Day

Everyone has something they look forward to during their day, whether it be that first morning coffee or that hot relaxing bath (the relaxing hot bath at the end of my day is pretty high up on my list).

I have two parts of my day that I just love. I wish I could bottle up the feeling and carry it with me at all times.

The first part is my mornings with Joshua. He is so talkative and generally in a good mood. He just wants to talk and engage you about his dreams from the night before and the plans for his day to come. It's fun to sit with him while he eats his breakfast and just listen.

My second favourite part is when I pick the boys up from daycare. Joshua is normally busy playing so I get Grayson first. No matter what Grayson is doing, he stops, yells "Mama" as loud as his little lungs let him and runs straight to me with the biggest smile and giggles, arms wide open for a big hug. In this moment in time, no matter how my day has been, everything melts away and all that I feel is the love that my son has for me and it makes me feel on top of the world.

These moments in time are what make life so special.

It's Been a Busy Summer

This summer seems like it has flown by so far. We have been having a blast!

Canada Day was spent with family complete with smores over a fire and fireworks. If Joshua is asked how he likes his marshmallow cooked, he replies "like a smore!"...there is no such thing as a plain marshmallow to him. If chocolate and graham crackers do not follow, it is not a marshmallow.

Playing with glow sticks while we wait for fireworks

We took the boys camping with Chris' parents for 3 nights and they loved it. They had fun playing at the beach and going on bike rides. Joshua and I spent an entire hour and a half feeding chipmunks. He patiently waited a half hour for one chipmunk to show up who he named Bautista after his favourite ball player. The second chipmunk that came around was then named Get Up Ball. Needless to say, Joshua is a huge sports fan. While we were camping we visited a small zoo which was full of excitement. The boys loved getting to feed some of the animals.

Dinner time

Feeding the animals! 

Walk before bed

We also spent some time with Chris' cousin while she was here visiting with her kids. The boys had so much to do and 2 friends (or as we call them cousins) to do it with. This is the weekend Joshua learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and Grayson learned how to ride a glider bike.

Look at him go!!

This summer has also been busy with Chris' softball. His team plays weekly and they have been in a few tournament. The boys and I enjoy going to the diamond to watch, where they practice their swing with their toy bats. Grayson also loves to stand behind the home plate and yell "Dada" as loud as he can...he gets so excited! Chris is pretty lucky to have his own personal cheerleaders!

It's a Potato Truck

The past few days have been a bit stormy. So the other night, we thought it would be fun for Joshua to stay up and watch the storm come in with us. We all sat on the porch and waited. Joshua knew the storm was coming in when he heard the thunder...that is until Chris came up with this idea to inform Joshua that that isn't thunder after all but it is in fact a potato truck that has rolled over and potatoes are falling everywhere. Joshua gave him a very skeptical look, but went along with it.

So last night when we got home, a storm was fast approaching and Joshua heard the thunder and exclaimed "mama, it's a potato truck!". I wish those potato truck drivers would be a bit more careful!

And to add to this story, last night at dinner, Joshua was distracted by a bug that was on the window outside. Before I could say anything about it, Chris quickly tells Joshua that it is a skinny window bug. Joshua told him that we need to get rid of it to which Chris told him if we did that then he wouldn't be able to eat anymore strawberries off of his strawberry plant because the window skinny bug helps the strawberries grow. Joshua was pretty satisfied with this answer and continued on with his dinner.

I'm beginning to wonder who has the bigger imagination in our house...

A Child's Imagination

I love being able to laugh and giggle with the boys and love being able to play in their games with them even more. Joshua has started to use his imagination more and more which has been a lot of fun. One of our favourites to play is pirates. We run to their playground and seek refuge. Then we keep a look out for the pirates and run whenever they get close. It's pretty action packed and we can all get in on the fun.

Joshua also loves to talk on the phone. Little did I know he can be quite the chatterbox. He will walk around the house just talking away. It's so cute eavesdropping in on his little conversations. Sometimes I get caught and am requested to speak on the phone. Those little eyes looking up at me while I have my little conversation on Joshua's phone are so precious. They look at me so expectantly. My conversations are normally short because the caller almost always wants to talk to Joshua again (I'm just boring old mom after all).

Victoria Day Weekend

Long weekends always seem to be so jam packed with so much fun. Like the Victoria Day long weekend. It was a busy one!

We started the weekend off with Joshua's first ever soccer game and he had so much fun! He makes the cutest little Timbit I've ever seen. He was so excited to get dressed in his soccer uniform with his big soccer socks. Rounding up volunteers to coach was a bit of a fiasco at the beginning of the season so I thought I would help out and as Chris puts it, he was "volun-told" to coach.

Watching his big brother play soccer (this lasted all of about 5 seconds)

After soccer, we were off to Chris' family's farm for another adventure. Grayson absolutely loves the farm...everything about it from the big tractors to following anyone who looks like they might be doing something that could need the help of an almost 2 year old. He just walks around like he owns the place. Joshua also loves the farm, but he would prefer to run around in the fields and see the chicks and baby turkeys.

Like father like son

Off in search of the next adventure

While at the farm, Joshua got to stay up super late and help dig holes for fireworks. When he decided he was done helping, he took off to play with glow sticks and sparklers and then settled in to watch the explosion of colours. He was impressed and loved hearing him giggle and say "that's a loud bang!"

Getting ready for the fireworks with Aunt Chelsey

On Sunday, we went to my parents' for dinner and tried to enjoy a nice visit. Grayson can be rather strong willed so when he has his mind made up (like he wants his bed and he wants it now), there is no changing it. The distraction technique was used for the greater portion of our visit.

And our Monday was spent outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Enjoying an afternoon snack