Turkey Strike

This year for Canadian Thanksgiving I cleaned, dressed, and cooked a large turkey.  Even though it turned out great, I was emotionally scarred by the huge bird carcass and told Kyle that next time he had to do the cleaning and dressing.

We had bought two turkeys while they were at a good price so decided to cook one up for American Thanksgiving as well.  And so now it was Kyle's turn.  He only got to the cleaning part before he had to quit, now also emotionally scarred by Big Bird's dismembered neck and large folded wings.

I guess we will be having vegetarian Thanksgivings from now on...  unless we can later convince our kids to clean and cook the turkey for their wimpy parents!

Happy Birthday Esmé!

When I asked Esmé what she wanted to do for her birthday this year, she had only three requests.  Friends, balloons, and chocolate cake with sprinkles.  Done.

She is such a socialite (whose daughter is she anyway??) and loves playing with friends so much that I bet she'd even choose a playdate over Disneyland.  So having her friends come over to eat chocolate cake and play with balloons was pretty much her dream party.  She was absolutely ecstatic the whole day.  Happy Birthday to our little 3 year old!

Banff

Kyle and I took a very lovely vacation last month to Banff.  We dropped off Esmé at Grandma and Grandpa's in Vernon (thank you Anne and Rick!!) for her very first sleepover, where she spent 5 days away from home and from us!  She had a great time at Grandma's house, frequenting the ponds and playgrounds, the apple orchard, visiting cousins, and of course, Starbucks.  Mostly just getting plenty of love and more attention I'm sure than she ever gets!

I don't think that she realized that she missed us until we got back.  As soon as she saw us she made strange half laugh, half cry sounds while clinging to me with all four of her limbs.  And as expected we had a week of adjustment when we got home, some days harder than others!

But overall, we were so thankful for our time away as a real adult married couple.  Like our friend Tracy said, "We realized that we are actually still fun people!"  We filled our days with some beautiful hikes, signed up for a week of yoga, treated ourselves to massages, lounged in coffee shops, and enjoyed the beauty of the Rockies.  It was a perfect retreat as we prepare for this next phase of our life.

Halloween

Little Red Riding Hood, Drag Grandmother, and the Big Bad Pregnant Wolf

(Esmé assigned the roles.)

Jumping Into It Again, But Times Two

I've heard that having two kids is much harder than one.  A German friend of mine told me that there is a saying in German that translates as, "Having only one child is like having no children."  Thanks, but there's really no going back now.

We know what it's like to have a new baby, so this time we are not in the innocent fog of new parent naivety, waiting for our angel baby to come quietly into this world saying, "Yes, Mama, I'll let you sleep some more.  I'll let you take a shower, get dressed, and feel like a normal human.  And I'll even follow what every parenting book says I should be doing at this age so that you'll know exactly what to expect from me."

So we are rolling up our sleeves for the big jump into babyhood, now combined with toddlerhood, ready this time for what comes.  But not ever really ready.

Kind of like this:



P.S. Some have asked, my estimated due date is mid December.  I am hoping for a 12/12/12 baby. ;)

Short Circuit

I think there has been a recent short circuiting in my child's brain.  She has always been a great listener and inherited her father's bat ears (as in acute, not pointy).  But recently her ears have not been picking up the frequency of my voice.  At first I thought it was a problem with her hearing and I even gave them a good cleaning with a Q-tip in case of wax build-up.  But her attention span is now measured in microseconds and every single thing I say has to be repeated several times.  Even if she's the one that asked me a question in the first place!

Esmé: Is it naptime or bedtime?
Me: It's bedtime.
E: Whatjasay? (startled that I had started talking, forgetting she asked me a question)
Me: Bedtime.
E: What mom?
Me: Bedtime.
E: Nextime?
Me: No, remember you asked me if it's bedtime or naptime? BEDtime!

Me: Please go tell Uncle Nick dinner is ready.
E: Whatjasay?
Me: Go tell Nick spaghetti is ready.
E: (Starts playing in a box.)
Me: Esmé, please tell Nick dinner is ready
E: Set the table?
(How does that even sound similar??)

My patience is thin and I've mostly resorted to hand gestures and one word sentences spoken very loudly.

Pretty Cat

I have so many pictures I want to post (birthdays, vacations, my belly!) but Kyle took off to Philadelphia with the camera before I had a chance to upload them!  So you will have to wait a couple weeks.  Until then, here is our cat, decorated with all of Esmé's jewellery and a bra.  Doesn't he look like he loves life?
(P.S. We miss you Papa!)