What's going on

 What's going on this winter?

We are all happy that hockey is back on... including Carter.  He enjoys watching the Jets and the Oilers. Well he pretty much enjoys watching whatever is on!

Our big dude out grew his newborn tub.  He  is now bathing in the the big tub, he loves kicking and splashing.  And of course his sister is a wonderful help!

 Carter loves standing.  Sometimes when the kids try to put him down, he stiffens up to keep standing!

This  bouncy seat is amazing... he loves it!    We move that thing all over the house so he can be with us.

Three Months

 Well our handsome little guy is three months old today!  He's such a joy! 

Tummy time :)

Nicole's 6th Birthday

 This year we took Colie and 3 of her "BFF's" to Build-a-Bear.  It was the cutest thing ever!  They had fun picking out a bear, naming it, stuffing it and putting a little heart inside it.  They got to carry those big boxes out into the mall and home to our house for some hot dogs and a mad game of Just Dance!

The sassy birthday girl... sporting her pink hair and a purse!

They had to close their eyes, put the heart on their noses and make a wish.

Super excited!

Poor girl had to go back to school right on her birthday this year, she didn't mind at all.  She brought cookies for her class and got to wear the birthday crown!  How cute was she on her special day???

December 2012

As every year, we try to slow down and enjoy our December.  We have certain activities that we do each year and it's fun to have these family traditions.  I absolutely love Christmas and all the lead up to it.  I love that it's a reason to spend time with  friends and family. I love  to celebrate our Saviour's birth.  I love singing Christmas Carols at church and lighting candles at the Christmas Eve service.  I love sitting by the lit Christmas tree and just savouring the moments.
Here are a few shots of our Christmas...

The kids always enjoy the Jade Christmas Party at Miracle Ranch...

Santa comes and brings each child a present, Jayme was thankful that she didn't have to take a turn on Santa's lap this year!

Carter slept through the early Christmas morning festivities

November 2012

November was a bit of a blur.  Carter was a very good sleeper - during the day.  At night he was a little different, somehow he was fussier and less settled.  It took about 4 weeks to figure things out and get him to the point where he would go right back to sleep after a feeding at night. 
We spent a lot of time at home in November, which was fine because it was cold and dark outside!  We got our house decorated for Christmas, and adjusted to our new life as a family of 6.

October 2012

This was the most exciting month of 2012 for us.... filled first with anticipation and anxiety waiting for our newest family member, then filled with excitement and exhilaration as we met Carter for the first time and shared the news with our family and friends, then exhaustion as we navigated through those first few weeks home with a newborn.  I was blessed to have Mark home for 2 weeks (spread over 3) and wonderful help from my parents driving the other kids to school and so many friends brought us meals and showered us with gifts for our new little man!  So very very thankful!
Here are a couple of pictures that didn't make it to the blog in October... boy was he little!!  My little guy that weighed 7.5 at birth is now a healthy and chubby 13lbs!!

September 2012

 September brought the end of a wonderful summer and the reality of a new school year, the school year I had been dreading... where 3 of my kiddos were going to be gone from me.  Knowing they were excited for it and definitely ready made it easier.  Also knowing that my stay at home mom years were not ending made it easier.  I love being at home and having our Carter has made these years stretch out a little longer.  Jayme started grade six, Brady, grade four and Sweet Colie started Kindergarten.  All 3 have great teachers and continue to enjoy their school year.  So thankful for that.

July and August 2012

Summer 2012 was so hot and we tried to enjoy it to the fullest! We spent as much time as we could at the lake.  It is so great to have a place to go where the emphasis is on growing spiritually and where the kids have so many close friends and where our family spends so much time too.  It truly is an amazing place and I just hope that my kids have the same fondness and memories that I have from growing up there.

June 2012

 In June we did more baseball.  Mark played on his team again and we went to watch as much as possible.  Jayme played in her first tournament, and what a blast it was to hang out with the team for the weekend and to top it all off her team won Bronze at Provincials!  They celebrated with pizza and slurpees in the dugout after the last game!

May 2012

 May meant it was time for Spring Sports!  This year both of the older kids played baseball.  And if I do say so myself, they both rocked!  Of course Mark will say that he passed on his skills to them.  We really enjoyed watching them this year and Mark helped coach Brady's team.  Looking forward to baseball again in 2013!

7 - 11, get it?

Coco enjoyed watching and playing at all the different play structures!

April 2012

 In April our Beautiful Jayme turned 11.  We told her that there was no longer official birthday parties after 10 years old.  But she still had a couple of girl friends sleepover.  Auntie Cate, Uncle Dave and the boys came over too!  Auntie and I made waffle cones for us all to enjoy.  Jayme used her saved money and her birthday money to buy herself an iPod.
We enjoyed sharing our "baby news" with family and friends throughout the month.

March 2012

 In March our Boy turned 9!  We had a few of his buddies over for a Hockey Party.  They played mini sticks in the basement, and I think the hockey game turned into a wrestling match at one point!  It was definitely not a quiet party, but they had a ton of fun.

At the end of March we told the children about the coming new baby.  They were pretty excited!  Jayme was relieved that the surprise wasn't a trip to Disney (she hates planes).  Brady was hopeful that he would finally get a brother, and Colie was excited to be a big sister, not just the little sister all the time!

February 2012

February was an exciting month... we found out that we were expecting our Carter Boy!  This was an unexpected blessing and it took us a while to get used to the idea.

I also went on a field trip with Brady and his class to the Festival du Voyaguer.  We had a fun, but cold day together!