Family photos

We had our family photos taken this year by a new photographer that I've seen on Facebook. He is a guy that grew up here in PR but now lives in the city. I loved some photos of his that I saw on his group's FB page and wondered whether he would be coming to town in the fall for a family session. Two emails later we had a confirmed date for just over a week later and I was so excited. Then we were hit with horrible colds and I wondered if the shoot would happen, but luckily by the time 5 pm on Saturday rolled around we were all almost healthy and certainly ready for our time to shine. James was sufficiently bribed with many many Timbits if he smiled big for Richard and we were off for a fun and not super posed photo shoot. James was an absolute trooper and did so well. It could be because I've been pushing the camera in his face since he was just hours old! :o)

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot! I will post the whole album, with comments, on my FB page.

And now it is actually really FINISHED!

And I'm talking about James's Big Boy Room! We had a weekend a few weeks back where Nana and Papa kept James for the weekend and instead of doing nothing as we expected to we ended up spending most of the day working on getting his room finished. I couldn't wait for him to see it and the look on his face was worth every minute we spent doing it.

For a link to the previous post with the original photos, click here Big Boy Room Photos.

Now here's the last of the photos, with the new white bookshelf and the awesome space themed wall decals. I am so happy with how the room came out and I think it's a theme that he can keep for a long time, until he's old enough to tell us he wants something different!

Trip down memory lane...

When I took a recent picture of Jim and James together I realized I had almost the same photo taken just under two years ago, so today the search was on to find it among the THOUSANDS of images I've taken since James was born...and luckily I did find it. 

Jim couldn't wait when James was a baby to start showering with him and I'm thankful he pushed me to be good with it because nowadays James will usually prefer to shower rather than bath and has never had a fear of the water on his face or anything like that.

Here are my two cuties loving their special shower time together. This picture really shows how much he's changed and how much our once little baby has definitely turned into a big boy now! :o)

August 2010

May 2012

Like Father, like Son!

Everyone who knows my hubby knows how much he loves his burgers. Homemade especially but Burger King Whoppers are a pretty close second. He will eat McDonalds and A&W when necessary but prefers not to. Well, having a child who turns up his nose at meat had me wondering whether James would indeed fall in love with burgers like his Daddy did.

Well this picture is proof that yes he did! 

James and I traveled to the island last week and got Jim six Whoppers from Burger King. He ate them in his lunch on Wed & Thurs and then the below photo was taken after supper on Thursday when Jim decided to eat one, and James decided he wanted to share with Daddy! He had one more burger left and I told James that night that Daddy would share the last burger with him on Friday morning, so what did James tell Jim at 6:30am the next morning, "Daddy, Whopper morning". And yes he absolutely helped his Daddy polish off the last Whopper, cold, straight from the fridge! YUCK, YUCK, YUCK! Apparently my kid is going to have garbage guts like his Daddy after all!

And here's a picture from 7 years ago of Jim enjoying a burger at one of our family BBQ's in Nanaimo. I definitely see the resemblance, do you?! :o)

Wow, two whole months have passed since I posted....

Surprise surprise, life happened again and I have again neglected the blog! I am hoping over the fall and winter it will become more of a habit for me and then by the time next summer comes around I'll be a pro and will just be in the groove of posting regularly!

So much fun stuff happened this summer that I will fill you all in over a series of posts over the next few weeks.

Today I leave you with a 2 new pictures, one of Jim and me and one of us with our friends the Slacks and Tassells. These were taken last weekend when my parents took James for 2 WHOLE NIGHTS and DAYS so we could just spend some fun couple time together. We went for dinner with our friends and then played games, stayed up late, slept in late and then spent all day finishing up his big boy room after months of procrastination!

Will be back over the weekend with some more new posts!

A new favorite show...

James is now in love with a brand new kids TV show on Treehouse called The Bubble Guppies. My little niece Olivia who is just 8 months older than James has loved this show since last Christmas when they stayed with us. Back then James was still totally in love with The Doodlebops, Poko and Lunar Jim. But fast forward to about 2 weeks ago when we are laying in bed ridiculously early and the Bubble Guppies came onto the screen, and HE LOVED IT! He is fascinated by the colors, songs, dancing and the characters and asks to watch them ALL THE TIME. He repeatedly tells me their names, and that they are dancing and going outside. They are just coming up with a a book series at the end of July and I will be buying the short movie for our vacation in a few weeks. It really is such a cute show that I recommend to all parents!!

My big boy helper

Ever since James learned about a year ago how to turn on Nana and Papa's dishwasher he has loved to help wherever and whenever he could! It all started with this video below that was taken back in September while my parents were in Europe on vacation. He had been helping for a few months by this point but was having so much fun with it that I'm glad we took a video of it.

Then from there it moved on to helping with the laundry. This means he stands beside the dryer while I pass him clothes from the washer to put in there. Then he has to push the button or he is not a happy camper! Then he stands on the ledge beside the washer and behind the basket and throws the clothes into the machine. This is a task that I actually really enjoy sharing with him and hope that he will always love to help me with it (yeah right, I know the chances are slim to none!)

Back in early February James and I were home for the day together on the weekend while Jim was out on a course and I decided to make some yummy cranberry orange bread that we had gotten as a gift and James seemed interested in helping, so we pulled a chair up and went at it!

Then a few weeks later it was spaghetti sauce!

Then it was muffins...but this time Daddy was home so he took the photos!

Next came MILKSHAKE making with Daddy! He isn't a huge fruit eater so at least this way we know he's getting some...and he loves making them! This has become at least a weekly fun activity!

Last week when doing our after dinner chores he was helping me with the dishwasher again and needed to put some recycling away, so I opened the right drawer in the pantry, put the stuff on the floor, and let him go for it!

Other chores he likes helping with are unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor and putting the groceries away! Not to mention his absolute love of grocery shopping. Almost every single day he will ask us if we are going grocery shopping and whether he gets to sit in the buggy. When we do go there he is such a joy to be with and says hello to everyone in the store, except for the poor old guy when he was with my mom that he told to "stop it!" hahahaha...getting such a personality that's for sure!

It's not just chores that he loves to help me with, he also loves to help me get ready for work. This includes sitting on the bathroom counter, opening my jewelry box, grabbing me my watch and picking out the necklace and earrings I will wear each day, and helping me brush my teeth and my hair (and telling me I'm pretty).

In the winter months when I would put my boots on he would sit on the floor with me and zip up my boots and then stand up and "pull" me up and then say "strong". He just loves to be helpful. And now that it's summer and I mainly wear flip flops he just loves to help me out by bringing them to me and "helping" me put my foot into them. Watch the short video below to see what I mean!

He really is such a good little boy and such a joy to be around most days. He is always willing to help out when asked and I firmly believe that by teaching your kids to do things they grow up feeling more empowered and independent. I will always encourage him to help others and will hope that he always gets joy in doing so.

One last video of how he helps us put the dishwasher on here at home!

I have a confession to make...

...I am a reality TV junkie!

It all started 12 years ago when I was in Kananaskis for the summer. My friends and I in the residences fell in love with a new little show called Survivor and ever since then I've been hooked! Over the years I have watched many many many reality shows, from the major network shows to the more obscure MTV ones and find myself loving the cheesiness and trashiness of them! When I watch TV I like to escape from the sadness of the real world, so by watching fun and mindless shows I feel that the escape happens.

It's funny how reality TV has changed the networks over the years. There are way more reality shows than scripted shows it seems nowadays. Not everyone loves them like I do but there are certainly millions of people watching them or they wouldn't dominate the airwaves like they do. If you want to hear the flipside to my love of reality TV, just ask my Dad! He hates it all and if asked about it will tell you that it has ruined TV completely. This coming from the man that could literally watch hours upon hours of sports at anytime! Everyone's tastes are so different and I think that's why reality TV is still so popular this to day.

Here's a list of some of the shows that I've watched over the years:

My favorites are: Big Brother (has always been and will always be my favorite!), Bachelor/Bachelorette (still love these one and never miss an episode!), So You Think You Can Dance, Survivor, MTV's Challenge Shows and The Real World, 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, The Amazing Race (this is our family betting show that we watch with my sister and her family), Deadliest Catch, House Hunters (regular and international), Love in the Wild, Jersey Shore (I begrudgingly watch this one with Jim, I only really like Snooki), Little Couple, America's Best Dance Crew.

Other ones I've watched in the past but don't anymore either because I'm not into it or its been cancelled: America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Paradise Hotel, Temptation Island, The Apprentice, Average Joe, Hell's Kitchen, Masterchef, For Love or Money, Jon & Kate plus 8, The Surreal Life, The Simple Life, The Swan, Love Cruise, Little People Big World, The Contender, Starting Over, Sarah Palin's Alaska, Growing up Gotti, Extreme Makeover: Home and Weight Loss Editions.

Which reality TV shows are your favorites? Put them in the comments below!

It's the little things that matter....

Sometimes the little things in life are way more important and more special than the big things. Some very small things that made this day bearable include:

* Having bosses and coworkers that covered for me this afternoon because my throat was sore and I was feeling awful and just wanted to come home and rest.
* Getting a phone message from my Mom from her cell phone offering to pick James up for me because she knew I was home sick (unfortunately I missed the call as I had JUST left to get him)
* Picking James up from the sitters to hear that he had a fantastic day with ZERO TUPS (timeouts in James speak)
* Coming home and enjoying a cup of tea while James played quietly by himself.
* Deciding to make my son Kraft Dinner which he loves and knowing he would eat it.
* Having him "help" me make it and being so excited to help that he ran into the dining room, grabbed a chair and pushed it through the hallway to the kitchen so he could stand on it near the countertop.
* Watching him polish off a huge bowl of it and then make me even prouder when he drank the remainder of the cheesy milk from the bottom of the bowl. My Mom has taught him well!
* Singing songs together in the bathtub.
* Giggling with him while he got his PJ's on.
* Blow drying his hair and watching him grab the hairbrush to brush his hair and then tell me that he was "handsome" when he looked at himself in the mirror. Then he grabbed the waterbowl and tried to spray me in the face with it. Daddy has taught him so well!
* Having James ask me to read him a book that I have loved since he was a baby and previously he never wanted me to read it, but tonight he requested it! I used to read it to him all the time when he was a baby but as he got older it was too much of a story for him. It's called the Snail and the Whale and I just love it!
* Reading our favorite book "I Love You So" and then snuggling up while I sang him some lullabies and he went to bed happy.

What a great day this turned out to bed, even if I am feeling crappy!

Wow, busy life hits again

I really did have the best of intentions of blogging daily when I started this thing just over a month ago, but then I realized that life just happens most of the time and often I rarely have time to sit down for more than a few minutes all morning/evening, and by the time James is in bed and the dishes are done, floors are swept and laundry is on, I'm exhausted and usually settle onto the couch to watch TV with Jim.
So, what we've been up to lately...
Last week was ridiculously busy with 3 nights of baseball for Jim (1 cancelled because of rain), our strata AGM which was an entire evening for me, a meeting for the Blues Festival and then the entire weekend spent volunteering at the above mentioned festival. James spent the weekend with Nana and Papa and was shall we say....less than angelic?! He is struggling with sleeping, teething, wicked temper tantrums and the beginnings of a cold. Lets just say it's been a rough week all around. I still see glimpses of the little boy that is loving, funny and happy, but definitely a side to him that is frustrated, angry and miserable!
This is the life of a two year old for sure, and one that I'm sure is going to continue to change daily. He still is without a doubt the most amazing little thing I've ever seen and even on the rough days and through the long nights, I love him more than I even know how to express.

My happy son enjoying his first bowl of chocolate pudding - 5:45pm - May 21

My very unhappy temper tantrum throwing son - 

12 hours later at 5:58 am - May 22