Isla bird is TWO

Our sweet, SPUNKY, confident, energetic, strong willed, happy girl is two. I think I could write about her personality for days... she's so FULL of life! She keeps me on my toes, finds so much to get into, loves gymnastics drop in ( I JUMP WAY HIGH!) she's a little chatter box, keeps up with her big brother with ease and has a smile that can light up a room. She also doesn't stop until she drops! She is SO busy!

Her massive vocabulary amazes me every day. I can't even begin to write down her words... there are so many. I feel terrible that I don't even know when she really started talking, it seems like she has been talking forever already... Her first word was DADA, and then ball and then from there it exploded. My favourite was when she called me BABA because she couldn't say her M's. That changed quickly. I'm now mama or mommy. She can say up to four words in a sentence... "see funny hair guy!" (there's a balloony thing with "funny" hair that blows on top of a restaurant in abby, she's just obsessed with the funny hair guy and talks about him on a regular basis!)  She pronounces her name "eye-a", she calls Pax "pah" and just loves him. She always wants to go to "nastics" and has recently been upset when we drove by the road it's on and didn't turn to go there. She calls every doll she owns "baby eye-a" and loves to pretend to be a baby herself. Her favourite toys are anything that she can ride or push. She mastered her balance bike by the time she was 19 mos old... she can rip down our street and balance the entire way down... that wasn't good enough so she needed to master a pedal bike with training wheels. I would not be shocked at all if she was able to take the training wheels off next summer. She's incredibly strong and has amazing balance. All our neighbors were shocked when they saw a not-even-two-year-old ripping on her bikes.

For the last two months she has been pooping on the potty almost daily... It's the best.

We had a puppy party for her second birthday! Pax suggested it and I thought it was so sweet of him, she sure loves puppies! She just loves being around lots of people and has no issue with shyness. She just eats it up!

When we sang Isla happy birthday, she joined in as loudly as she could! And kept singing even once we were done. She loves music! to dance, sing, drum and to be as loud as she can! She makes us laugh every day and brightens life up with her free spirit. 

Paxton the pirate is FOUR!

Mister Paxton bear, peanut, peanut butter cup, handsome little monkey (just a few of our nicknames for the poor kid) is FOUR YEARS OLD. my oh my how time flys. Pax has started preschool this year and much to mama's surprise had NO issues leaving me and just loves it! There were tears only one day and not even on the first one. He just loves his "teacher Barb", she is the kindest most gentle soul and I think they have a special little friendship. He's made new friends and is coming home knowing so much about the alphabet. I'm so proud of him and how brave he has been!

We had a special pirate birthday party and Grandpa was able to make it out for the first time for a party! Pax felt very special as three out of the four grandparents were there! That's pretty amazing when they all don't live in abby. He had all his special little friends over, had a few moments of being overwhelmed (he struggles with a big group of people) but recovered quickly and was able to enjoy himself.

Pax has such a gentle spirit about him,  he loves to play hard and loves every. single. sport. just like his daddy, but he has a very soft side. He loves to know that everyone around him is happy and he seems to be a bit of a peace maker... living up to his name. I'm so proud to be his mama and love every day that I get to spend with him. Happy fourth birthday to the boy who made me a mama. xo

spring & summer days

a little highlight reel from our beautiful and very eventful spring/summer...

Isla bird is 18 months old!

Rob's cousins Del and Scott came over from England for a week! Steve, Rob and the two of them had a blast and caught a monster while fishing on the fraser river.

The Atchison's and us bought out my brother's third of the family boat this summer! Grandpa made a road trip and pulled it out for us... we had so much fun taking it out to cultus... it got more use this summer than the past decade combined.

Grandma came and spent a week visiting this summer. We did our annual canning of peaches and pickles... and she stayed with us for 3 days while Daddy was gone back to sask for a fishing trip. It was such a special time with her and we had so much fun.

as soon as Daddy got back we made a bee line for White Rock and enjoyed the day at the beach

a morning exploring the river bank

and my most favourite photo of all. our little nudies running around the back yard during a heat spell :)

I suck at blogging...

I think the post says it all. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've posted on here. I hate that! I really want this to be something special for my babies to look back on once they get big... so here's to a bunch of posts coming to play a little catch up over the last 9 months.

Pax was begging for it to snow this past winter... and was heartbroken when it just wouldn't stay long enough to go sledding! So Rob figured we'd drive up one of the local mountains and find some snow for him :) :) it was so fun.

We did Palm Springs for spring break this year. We had sunshine the whole time we were there and our own pool so for a family with young kids we couldn't have asked for anything more... Pax swam like a fish and had a blast. Isla slept HORRIBLY but still managed to be happy during the day! Grandad was in mexico visiting the cousins so he brought Bella and Lucas up for a couple days which was so cool to see them and Pax connecting and we even got to see Erin, Toni, Joshua and the kids for breakfast one morning.

Our place was perfect! and having a pool with 24 hour access was exactly what Pax loved!

We also hit up the living zoo and Pax was super pumped to feed a giraffe! It was soo hot but well worth it :)

Miss Isla bird turns one.... wahhh!

Our sweet girl turned ONE! I'm a bit of a blubbering, emotional mess of a mama these days! How in the world has a year with her gone by so quickly?! She is just the sweetest. Her eyes light up when she sees you, she already has the ability to make you feel like you are her favourite person in the whole wide world. She loves to climb, be upside down and giggle. She thinks the sun rises and falls upon her big brother... and when she wants to, she gives the best and I mean best snuggles! Our sweet little Isla bird. 

I dragged her out in the "freezing" west coast weather ;) and got a few snaps of her in her little birthday dress. Just couldn't resist the cuteness!!

On Sunday, Nov 30 we had a party for our little miss birdie. Isla clung on to mom or dad for the first bit but warmed up quickly and was happy to see all the lovely people that came to celebrate her! It was chaotic and perfect! I am so thankful for the amazing family and friends (both near and far) that take the time to love on my girly. It means the world to me! and I know her one day too. She was happy as a clam and I can't say she devoured her cake but she ate more of it than Pax did at his first party :)

Paxton turns three!!!!

Sweet little Paxton-bear is three. Rob and I have been trying to wrap our minds around this fact! I felt super emotional about it this year, the marking of another year gone by. Likely because it went by even faster than the last two. 

Paxton is just the sweetest three year old I know. (obviously!) He's sweet, caring and MOSTLY gentle. He has the kindest soul and I truly believe he is wise beyond his years. (if I can say that about a three year old) For the longest time, I thought we weren't even going to have to go thru a "learning to share" phase. He never seemed to mind sharing toys, or even if kids took them from him he would just look surprised and then find a new toy. BUT alas, that phase is over. When my sister and her family moved to Abby he got thrown into big cousin mode very quickly, and we had a few difficult episodes of sharing... but he's doing awesome now. And is doing such a good job being big brother. Although sometimes he forgets that Isla isn't big enough to "tackle." I'm so thrilled that Isla has such a kind and protective big brother! He loves to play and make believe, I hear him making up little stories with his play mobile and it just makes my heart so happy. And of course he is still the biggest little athlete I know. His latest love, to join the other dozen is tennis. I'm definitely on board with this one! Tennis or golf, those are the two I'd love to see him do. But I'm learning very quickly that what he loves he loves and it has nothing to do with me. haha.

We had a fun little party for Paxton. He totally got it this year and was so so so excited for his party! After it was all over he looked up at me and said "Mama is my party over??" with these huge sad eyes. After that comment I wanted to throw another one for him the next day! He had a lot of fun playing with all his friends- whom are all becoming very important to him! and he loved his cookies and cupcakes of course. He was awesome opening his gifts too. He said thank you and gave hugs for everything he got. I love that he's so well mannered, it sure makes this Mama and Dada proud. 

                                   Here's a few photos from his special party!

AND....

Pax got his very first set of goalie equipment from Grandad. Anyone that knows

me, knows that that is the VERY last position I'd want him to

play IF he plays hockey....

BUT he was stinking cute in it...

so I had to post a few pics!

... and you  may have spotted BIG BOY undies on him! He's doing great in the 

potty department ;)

A little tradition that I started last year and want to do for both kids every year, is on their actual birthday for them to have a little one on one time with both of us parents. Birthdays for my siblings and I were always so special. I love that there is a day that each child gets to be CELEBRATED!!

This year I asked Pax what he would like to do and all he wanted was to splash in puddles!

So, decked in rubber boots off we went to find puddles.

We had a little date at the new mall... we found lots of puddles, did lots of jumping and were soaking! I'd say it was a successful outing, finishing off with a starbucks date :)

(thanks Gigi for watching Isla while I took Pax out!)

Daddy's date with Paxton when he got home from work was taking him to the skating rink for the first time this year. Pax had a blast! I love that they can do that together. Daddy's phone died right when they got there, so sadly he couldn't take any photos. 

Happy THIRD Birthday Paxton-bear. We love you soo soo soo much!!

xox

a decade together.

August 8 marked TEN YEARS. Ten years! ten years ago, Rob and I got married. Typing that out looks so unbelievable. I'm so proud of us for making it to number 10. We've had an incredible decade together. Lots and lots of ups, some hard times, an incredible 6 month trip seeing so much of the world and not one but two beautiful babies. If that's what the first decade held, I can hardly wait to experience the second one. 

(Babe- I'm so thrilled to be on this journey with you. I'm so glad you chose me. I'm so glad you're the one walking beside me thru the good days and the bad days. I love waking up with you beside me and I love that we are now parents together. Life just wouldn't be the same without you. I love you dearly and I can't wait to take our kids and show them some of this incredible world together. xx)

I feel like its incredibly important to celebrate the big milestones, to cheer us on and to TAKE pictures! Life is short. Many marriages don't make it these days, so I felt like I wanted to have some anniversary photos done to celebrate us, where we are and that we still CHOOSE each other every day! We got the very talented Sharalee Prang to snap some for us. We had her do some of our little family and some of just the two of us. They are so special to me and I cherish them from the bottom of my heart.