Catching Up: March, Part 1

In so, so, so many ways, this has been the longest winter I've ever gone through.

First of all, it really was the longest winter.  Winter has a cold, unfair, and icy grip on Spring.  Miss A tells me that Winter is so stuck to Spring, that Spring just can't come this year.  For the record, Winter also hijacked Autumn, which is typically my favourite season (typically = southern, southern = the Maritimes).  Winter began at the end of September, and was firmly in place by the first week in October.

We are finally in the "sometimes it's above 0 degrees Celsius, but that's not a promise" phase, but usually the lows over night drop well below 0, sometimes as far as -20 or more if you factor in the wind. 

Tonight, for example:  April 28th, the low is -17 with a freaking -27 windchill.  I have nasty words in my head for you, Yellowknife.  Tomorrow's high is -17 with a -13 windchill.  It's almost May!  We want to pack up the parkas and snowsuits, people.

I will seriously karate chop someone in the head if they complain about the heat this summer.  Suck it up and get some ice cream.

So, with all of this wintering, you'd think that I would have loads of time to blog.  But, winter has won, and I don't have much fight left in me, or energy for almost anything above and beyond "getting through the day."  I think that Eli and I do a pretty good job on making the girls a priority, but I've done a crummy job lately of making me a priority (and the blog falls under "me").  In short, I think my brain has some permafrost, and is a little sluggish and stupid, just like the ptarmigan.

And, so, I bring you a jam-packed post about our March adventures, in three parts.

Part 1:  Birthdays

Daddy's birthday was the first day in March, and he had to work late due to some flights that got changed at the last minute.  On a Friday. 

Miss G is SIX

Miss G woke up on her birthday morning (Thursday, the 14th) just a little after 7:00 am, busted into my room and yelled,

"It's my birthday!!"

and promptly held up one hand and a thumb on the other.

"Six," she nodded.  "Cool!"

Yes, I waited (picture taken about a month before Little Baby G was born).

And waited.  I had a big baby belly.

And, six years ago, 10 days past due, after about 13 hours of induced labour, and with an emergency c-section in the oh-so-very early hours, Miss G chose her very own birthday.

It took me just a little while to recover... Here, I couldn't quite hold Baby G because I was trembling so much from the anesthetic.

I think Nanny and Papa liked her right away.

And, why not?

She was freakin' cute.

She still sleeps this way, you know.

Arms above her head... hat on.

Monique was just a tad emotional meeting Baby G for the first time.

I may have had so many painkillers in me that I had no tear drops. 

I had giant swollen feet, though.

Ah.  Miss G and her Minnie Mouse.

She loves books, still.

Her first summer, we met lots of important people.

And took hundreds, thousands of photos.  Baby toes!!

Miss G's birthday was super special, and she loved it.

And, she has ALWAYS celebrated her birthday with her sissy.

Now, THAT is pretty cool.

Just like SIX, her new favourite number.

Double Birthday Party

Birthday Season means that it is time for a double birthday party!

We invited a few friends over to help us celebrate. 

I set up some outside crafts (like this rock painting station), to keep the kids busy. 

It was really nice to have Gramma and Grampum come to the party, too.

Grampum was a trooper filling up water balloons for the kids. 

We dined on hot dogs and Eli's gourmet hamburgers. 

The kids also had some wooden animals to paint. 

Jaime found a "wink" from Sweet Claire, so we knew she was enjoying the party, too. 

It was nice to have the activities set up, and to let the kids move to whatever activity they wanted to play at, with no time pressure. 

On the lawn, I had silly fun foam feet to decorate. 

They are door hangers, and I put out a bunch of summer-themed fun foam stickers. 

And, of course, the bikes and scooters quickly filled up the court. 

Before we knew it, it was cupcake time! 

There was some concern about the warm breeze blowing the candles out, but we managed. 

Make a wish!! 

Birthday hugs! 

Senior Five-Year-Old, Miss G, and Rookie Five-Year-Old, Miss A 

Chocolate!  Always a hit. 

Also a hit?  Water balloon toss! 

I set up targets, so the kids wouldn't soak each other. 

It was super nice to have a beautiful sun sun sunny day to celebrate the girls. 

In the kids' goodie bags were bubbles and notebooks, which Miss G promptly filled with her beautiful drawings, all about her birthday party.

Life with Two Five-Year-Olds

The girls think that it is so cool and special that they get to be the same age for two weeks each year.

Siblings born within twelve months of each other are called Irish Twins.

This two-week period is officially known as Birthday Season in our house.

Here are our beautiful five-year-olds on Miss A's birthday (yesterday).

I prepared Miss A's lunch box with a little birthday surprise...

I wrapped each thing in her lunch box!

That is:  the crackers, cheese, milk, sandwich, fishy crackers, etc.

I would have preferred wrapping paper

(How do I NOT have any wrapping paper in my house?),

but colourful party napkins worked, too!

She only discovered this during morning snack time.

We began the day with a "first" for both of the girls... riding bikes to school!

Now that they have so much control on the bikes, we can safely do this, and it was wonderful!

They were so cute pedalling away with their helmets and backpack on!

I ordered birthday flowers, and Eli picked them up to surprise Miss A with them, in her classroom at lunch.

She was thrilled!

Eli also brought along some mini-cinnamon-bun-like-cupcakes for Miss A to share with her friends. 

Here, Miss A is eager to head to her bike so we can go home for some more birthday celebrating.

Daddy got Miss A a rainbow cake with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.

If you do not know who Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are, then you clearly do not have little girls at home who are as obsessed with My Little Ponies as their Mommy once was. 

(The girls have all of mine to play with, too!) 

We got the girls Barbie scooters to open on Miss A's birthday. 

Then, on Miss G's birthday, they get another birthday gift to share, or alike.

It's birthday season!



Here, Miss A is pointed to the "Ages 5+" on the scooter... there is no stopping her now (and both girls have totally mastered the scooters already!).

Five Years Ago

Five years ago, this is what I looked like, the evening of May 30th.

I could not really see my feet, and definitely not the tops of my legs.  

The morning of May 31st, 2007, Eli and I drove to the IWK to meet our littlest Little Girl for the first time while our 11 month old baby girl, Miss G slept in at our home in Hammonds Plains with Nanny and Papa. 

This is the last picture of me pregnant... I had been pregnant for almost 19 months straight at this point!

(The girls are 11 and a half months apart in case you are scratching your head.) 

Happy birthday, Miss A! 

We are as joyful to see you every morning as we were on that special morning five years ago. 

Our family became a family of four that day, and it was pretty awesome.

Watch out!

My baby girl is five today, and will be for a whole year!