It's hard to believe this little lady is four!

Emilie is sweet and sour. She has a loving, adorable side and a whiny, escalating temper side. She organizes her clothes, but leaves collections of things everywhere. She smiles and cries and screams. She's an extrovert that has difficulty with afternoon quiet time or covid-induced staying home. Some of her favourite things include colouring, drawing circles, playing games, reading books, filling in all the empty colouring pages in her big brother's school books, making "cakes" with pattern blocks, baking with mommy, watering plants, visiting Grandpa and Grandma, having "birthday parties" for everyone in the family, and collecting stuff.

We did a little birthday interview:

1. What is your favorite color? pink
2. What is your favorite toy? boogie board
3. What is your favorite fruit? tomatoes
4. What is your favorite television show? Good Eats
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? grilled cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? yellow ice cream shirt and skirt from Grandma
7. What is your favorite game? Spot-It
8. What is your favorite snack? baby tiny oranges
9. What is your favorite animal? birds
10. What is your favorite song? Salve Regina, Regina Caeli 
11. What is your favorite book? Postman Pig's Busy Day, my baby book, The Seven Silly Eaters
12. Who is your best friend? Grandpa
13. What is your favorite cereal? chocolate cheerios 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play town
15. What is your favorite drink? lemon-honey water
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my pink teddy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? toast with peanut butter and jam and honey
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? BBQ pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a fireman, a mommy, a nun, and a baker, and I don't know what else!

Birthday, Baptism, Bears

We kicked off September with Joseph's 8th birthday on the 2nd. He got to share the spotlight a bit with his 5 day old brother, who was definitely taking more than a little of his parents' attention and wakefulness. Joseph was delighted with his tackle box, big Swiss Army knife, and and money from Grandparents. 

It's awesome having an 8 year old! Joseph is an adventurer and outdoors-man, avid athlete and mostly all-around fun kid. He can actually hold and entertain Jude without supervision and significantly help out around the house. He's been reading through the Hardy Boys series at an alarming pace and informed us he's almost finished all the many we own. 8 years old means you get a real knife. Joseph had been looking forward to this day for years; he now carries his knife around with him in his pocket most of the time. 

We shipped Joseph and John Paul off with Grandpa and Grandma for an overnight trip to Saskatoon on September 7th. Turns out, they had way more fun with their grandparents then they do with us on trips. They got to stop at the big cross enroute (which we've never done due to sleeping kids), mini-golf, rock climb swim, stay at a hotel, and eat loads of breakfast.

September 8th was Jude's baptism in Saskatoon. This was our first time having a child baptized with the Latin Tridentine baptism rite. It was beautiful and quite different from what we've been used to. For example, the godparents (our good friends Ashton and Mary Hatchen) do all the answering for the baby and hold the baby throughout the rite; parents really take the background. Although a lot of the translations are similar in the English Novis Ordo rite, the Latin Exorcisms are completely removed. Those exorcisms - wow! Dan said it was like punching the devil in the face and then calling him back for another round and then calling him back to finish him off again. It was very powerful! 

 

We had a few good runs of Friday fresh fish fare in a row. Joseph and Dan went out again with Grandpa Millette and his boat with a new motor. They came back with 3 pretty awesome fish! Joseph was proudly telling us he provided supper!

 

And we had a long-awaited visit from Grandpa and Grandma Bear! We tried to pack in the fun with lots of football, a trip to the wildlife sanctuary, fishing, Nipawin visit, campfire, hiking, and a water balloon fight. We had lovely weather and one hot 30+ degree day where everyone joined in the water fight! Grandpa and Grandma brought some nifty cardboard screws from Lee Valley and made an ice cream shop and a puppet show stand with the kids. They also gifted cute little puppets. The puppet shows that ensued were over-the-top goofy and brought endless hours of fun and laughter! 

Lest I leave off without a good full-facial of the newest member of our family, here's a good view of his resting grumpy old man face.

Emilie Marie turns 3

 

Our little lady's birthday fell on Father's Day. Daddy (and Grandpa) are super chill and had no problem letting her day shine bright. We kept gifts really, really simple with some homemade cards, a paint-with-water book, and homemade play dough. And Emilie was thrilled with everything! Her own request for the day was blueberry cheesecake. Emilie ended up liking the whipping cream and berries that were a "side" to the dessert better than her cheesecake, which she scraped all the blueberry pie-filling off and kindly offered to someone else. The cheesecake was delicious!

At three, Emilie is sweet and sour. We've been laughing of late at the drama of little girls. She whines and cries and flops on the floor, but she'll squeal with delight and offer her fake little laugh to make everyone happy. 

Emilie's favourites include singing "Hold My Girl" and "The Cat and the Hat" (Daddy's own composition) with her Daddy, reading The Cat and the Hat (which she calls Duh Hat and Duh Cat), playing play dough, cooking and baking with Mommy, watering flowers, outings to the park and grocery store, and all the simple little things of life. We're quite enjoying the funny things she says - three is a great age for laughs! 

More than anything, Emilie is looking forward to being a big sister. She loves babies with a passion! Seeing babies is the highlight of any outing for her. For a long time, she's told us that we're having twins because she and I are both having babies, apparently. More recently, her bear has become her baby of choice and she often takes it to bed to nurse. 

Emilie is a feisty little girl, always ready to defend her cause with screams against a brother who just won't listen to her. But she's a little tag along with most of the boys' games, ready with her gun and a "pow pow" to get right into their more serious wars. Emilie is special friends with John Paul and calls him her "buddy boy". Often she'll give him crushing hugs if he's sad or hurt and when he comes to see her after her nap she wraps her arms around his neck. 

This little princess keeps us on our toes with her antics and drama, but she's everyone's little favourite. We're excited to see her in her new big sister role and growing up while three.

Snippets: Spring? Babies, Birthdays

{one}

March 19th. Spring?

We were siphoning water from our backyard rink around the 19th of April last year. Old Man Weather got our hopes up a bit with an early thaw and backyard draining in March.

{two}

April 6th. Winter?

Thankfully, this snow lasted just a day or two and we're back to semi-Spring weather. We're supposed to get some teen temperatures this week. Woo!

{three} 

I've been on a bread baking kick (or was when I started this post a few weeks ago - time to start a new batch!). Normally, I bake 4 loaves of whole wheat toast bread every week or so with my KitchenAid, but I wanted something additionally as a special bread. After a failed attempt at making my own sourdough starter and then finding out that Dan didn't really like sourdough flavour anyway, I read Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Game changer! I make a big batch of dough that sits in the fridge. I can have bread or baguettes ready in an hour or so to add to a supper - and it's literally no work! The flavour improves as it sits in the fridge. It's so, so easy and pretty too!

{four}

We had Emma, the dog, visit four different times (John Paul kept record) during the month of March. We all love Emma so much and would keep her if we didn't live in town. But the kids just love her visiting! I think Emma likes us too.

{five}

Uh, baby bump picture, anyone? 21weeks! I'm feeling pretty big all over, but according to this pic (taken at 19 weeks) don't actually look as huge as I feel. I think it's deceiving... Baby is kicking like crazy and I've felt it for at least 7 weeks already, which is much earlier than I remember with any other pregnancy. I'm thinking it must be the soft belly after 3 kids already ;) The kids are super excited that "mommy's getting fatter!" and keep telling me I'm going to win lots of watermelon stickers for my belly this summer (i.e. they like to put the stickers off the watermelon on me when I look like a watermelon).

 

20 week ultrasound

{six}

My other "baby" is getting lots of big girl hair-dos of french braids and pony tails. She is definitely outgrowing her afternoon nap, but still sometimes takes one because mommy is tired and needs to take a nap. When she doesn't nap she'll sleep through the night in her "bunk bed" as she likes to call her crib, but when she does nap... she climbs into bed with mom sometime in the middle of the night. And sometimes, she falls asleep during supper or an afternoon/evening story...

{seven}

I celebrated my 33rd (!) birthday this month. We had great riblets care of Costco (seriously, so yummy!) and leftover birthday cupcakes frozen after John Paul's birthday. Yay!

                                   

{eight}

Funny kids enjoying the sun after a cold winter. I told them we have to work on smiles again :)

  

{nine}
"Blue Day." Brought to you by new Costco spring clothes and crazy kids with an excuse for nuttiness.

 

{ten}

We are limping? groaning? attempting? our way through Lent. Every year I feel like a failure and every year Dan reminds me that I felt that way the year before too. I guess if I felt like I was nailing Lent then I'd be getting proud and failing anyway. I have plans made for Holy Week and am hoping that we can grow in holiness just a little more during this holiest week of the year.

Almost there!

{eleven}

For your entertainment. 

John Paul's Big 5

We have a 5 year old in the house! Wowzers!

On Tuesday night, the kids wanted to watch Dan decorate the cake (it's a great arrangement: I bake, he ices, when it comes to complicated designs like this). They could not for the life of them figure out what he was doing, until the very end, "uh, is it a goalie mask?" And still, it didn't become clear why to John Paul until the next morning when he opened his present.

He spent some time in the morning eagerly waiting for Joseph to be done school, so we could all go take shots on him in the basement. Then he dressed up in Joseph's gear.

Besides all his hockey dress-up, John Paul spent the day in a shirt and tie. Very classy!

We had a birthday party with a bunch of friends at the pool a day early. The water was awesome and the kids had so much fun! Lots of snacks and cupcakes. 

John Paul, at five, is a cool kid. With a twinkle in his eye and a stellar grin, John Paul brings a whole lot of joy to our house! We can't wait to see what five brings. 

An eager-beaver, John Paul has a ton of incentive. He's amazingly eager to help out around the house, do his "schoolwork," play with his sister, and make everything a competition. Often he will come to announce that he's tidied the whole house all by himself. And he loves to think he does a better job at sweeping the floor than Joseph (mostly true). Many mornings, he'll sit right down and finish pages of printing - even before I have a chance to "introduce" a letter or remind him to start his letters at the top. He now corrects Joseph on a lazy pencil hold and exhibits his own to demonstrate. Of late, he will yell out the answers to math facts (9+ facts? He's got 'em!) before Joseph has a chance to respond. John Paul is quick to pick up on memory work: Joseph's poetry memorization, provinces/capitals of Canada, math. He's less inclined to be the center of attention and begin reading or his own poetry, but I'm sure that will come. For now, he's content with choosing his own achievements.

Stuck between a dominant older brother and attention-seeking little sister, he holds his own with bursts of frustration and yelling (fighting if necessary). Ever a little firecracker, he keeps us on our toes disciplining and correcting. But although he's one tough guy, he thrives on morning cuddles with mom and reading stories. He's sensitive and thoughtful. He is very excited at the prospect of a new baby and keeps complimenting me, "Mom, you're getting fatter. That's our baby growing!" In public, John Paul will strike up conversations with total strangers. He wanders around after Mass helping the lady who tidies the altar and sacristy and chatting all the while. True to form, it's got to be on his own terms. Facetime with family is always a hit and miss and he never wants to talk on the phone. If someone talks to him and he's not impressed, he'll shut himself up. He's got his own idea of everything and never afraid to voice his opposition; case in point: he went to bed early for yelling "no" and refusing to obey last night. He's his own little boss.

Five will bring lots of new opportunity: learning "real" school, biking, swimming, and other activities, new baby life... With Joseph, five felt like such an amazing jump into big kid life. John Paul's enthusiasm and joy for life is going to be so much fun to watch as he takes off this year as a big kid!