Daddy's Home!

Just watching a little TV while I make dinner.

They hear the door open. Notice how Addison takes after her Momma here. She knows that Daddy is home, but that TV is just sooooo interesting!!

And this. This happens almost every time she eats. She really enjoys putting her hands in her hair. Ewww.

It's A Mystery!

This is for the grandparents! The video is almost 4 minutes long, but sometimes the conversations we have with Addison just make us laugh.

Addison came upstairs from playing in the basement with Daddy and began telling me how one of the puzzle pieces of the Pooh Bear puzzle they were working on was missing. (They are both really into puzzles right now!) She said, "It's a mystery!" Sometimes she surprises us by using words that we don't even realize she knows. Anyway, it takes forever to upload videos on our computer to blogger, so check it out here! If you cannot understand what she's saying, there are a few mysteries she's exploring.

1) Where is the missing puzzle piece?

2) Where is the feather duster Daddy is looking for?

3) Why did the onion go bad in the refrigerator?

4) Why is Addison having a hard time finishing her dinner most nights? (She's going through a phase where she doesn't like most things I make, won't each much dinner, and then wants to have a snack two minutes after dinner is over. I don't think so!)

She makes us laugh!

Finally at the park!

We cherish the "nice" days right now. It's May 1st and it's not going to reach 55 degrees here this week. Lots of rain. No leaves on the trees yet. Boo! Send me your warm weather, please!

She has kinda figured out the swing. Hated it the first few times, but likes it now.
This girl loves the park!

Emma still isn't walking (I'm not complaining though!). She'll be 14 months old this week and has ZERO desire to actually walk:) She has been cruising around furniture well for awhile, but won't even take a step or walk with any of the strollers/walking toys!

The only new thing happening around here is that Scott and I are getting into a small group at church this week. They are starting a brand new group that will have childcare at the church. The other option is a group at 8pm without babysitting and we really don't know any babysitters anyway! We're hoping it's a great fit. And, hopefully this will help the girls get used to their rooms-I never made it into the service today between the two of them:)

We're Waiting...

... for spring to arrive! It's definitely getting (a little) warmer here, but I look forward to not wearing my heavy coat each day!

On our way to the park. They love their new wagon!Her top teeth have finally broken through and she is finally a happy girl again! Unless you tell her no. Or walk by without picking her up. She has quite a personality and will let you know when she is unhappy about not getting her way:)

House Pics

Here are pics of our house. We didn't have to make too many changes-we pretty much kept all the colors that the previous renters/owners had painted.

Downstairs:

We'll get pictures up eventually!

Part of the basement:

Deck and back yard. Less to mow-we're excited:)

Upstairs: Little loft area.

Addison's room.

Poms-I think I got 5 for about $8 at Walmart. They are probably not the "in" decoration anymore, but I still think they're cute.

Emma's room. We just glued new paper onto her letters (and Addison's) and bought ribbon! The curtains were already there, so we decided to use Addison's old bedskirt that matches the colors in the curtains.

Sorry it's been awhile!

Sorry for the delay in posting! We moved into our house three weeks ago and are starting to feel more settled. We are mostly in the 30s still, so please don't be too jealous of our awesome weather:)

The girls have just turned 1 and 3! They are both enjoying having stairs, a basement, and playing with the toys they haven't seen since we left our house mid-Dec! Emma is finally getting two more teeth (she only has two right now)! She isn't walking yet, but she thinks she is hot stuff when she stands by herself for a minute. She successfully climbs up onto Addison's bed and tries her hardest to find anything she can climb onto or get into. She's now drinking out of a straw cup, so her bottle days are coming to an end soon. Addison has been doing really well. She is a constant talker, thinker, and a great helper/big sister. She is still very affectionate and I love and cherish that she still wants me to rock her in her bed each night. I don't think Emma's going to be like that-she won't even let me do it now! Our favorite quote recently is, "Mommy, I cannot bring my cereal bowl to the sink. I'm just soooo busy." She said this as she was still sitting in her chair at the table. Ha!

Scott is enjoying his job, though he's not enjoying the commute/longer hours right now. It can take him a record time of 30 minutes (ok, that happened only once) or an hour and 10 minutes to get to and from work! We really like the town we're in, so it's definitely worth the commute.

I am getting used to the new area and have been finding time to go to Jazzercise in another town at night when I can. We have looked at a few churches, but still haven't found a place we feel at home yet. By the way, we are doing great with the 3 garbage bags each week! It's amazing how much you can recycle and compost! Jamie N, you'd be so proud! I miss my garbage disposal, though:)

I did find a really cool place recently. Ontario has the Early Years Program in every town. It is a place that has daycare, preschool, and also free programs (register and be chosen by lottery system) or drop in programs for babies/toddlers. We went to the parent/child together program. Like a preschool, just a little less structured. The FREE program is 2 1/2 hours and you can come and go as you choose. So, I know we will be checking it out once a week from now on. (Most story times at the local libraries are by lottery system and I'd have to find a babysitter if I was chosen for the sibling that is not in that story time age group. Bummer!)

One more thing. I'm still amazed by the grocery prices! Any dairy product is very high, though a regular pack of fresh chicken at Walmart is still over $14. We paid almost $22 for chicken at a local grocery store. Geez! So, I went to Buffalo, NY after dropping Nana off at the airport and went to Aldi. I loaded up 2 1/2 grocery carts on crackers, cheese, meat, and cereal since it's a 2 hour drive (with gas that is ~$5 a gallon here) and I wanted to stock up! Cereal at Aldi is $1.79. Here, the cheapest generic at Walmart is almost $5 a box and most are between $6-7! So, THANKS ALDI!! They can be very strict at the border, so I made sure to bring the list of exact amounts of every type of item I could bring in or what you can't bring into Canada (like fresh veggies/fruit).

Emma is 1 today!

Yes, you are admiring your cute belly. You are a wonderful eater.

She didn't really care about the presents, but she loved the wrapping paper!

Addison is enjoying our stairs. She is playing school. Notice the bunny is in time out.

We took her to an indoor playground for her birthday.

Back at home.

Present time! She kept saying, "And I think there may be another present that I'd like to open" after every present!

Getting into EVERYTHING! We haven't gotten around to the child locks yet.

Interesting Finds: Groceries

Well, I've ventured out to three different grocery stores just to see what they are like and found some interesting finds.

• The Go Green initiative is huge here, and it is something I wish the US had more of. Two of the three grocery stores make you pay (not much) for each bag if you don't bring your own!
• A regular bag of Kraft (2 0r 3 cups) shredded cheddar cheese is a whopping $7.50 to 8.00 per BAG!?! Do you know how much cheese we go through? Even mozzarella string cheese is $5 on sale for a regular bag.
• Muenster cheese, what we usually use on sandwiches, is nowhere to be found. Unless you want those flimsy type of individually packaged cheese slices, you cannot find any other kind of sliced cheese at most grocery stores. Walmart did have a little bit more to offer. Havarti cheese is evidently big here.
• I was able to find my favorite Dove moisturizer that I haven't been able to find ANYWHERE in the US for the past year!
• Not many lite or low calorie salad dressings.
• Most labels are in English and French.

In other news, we got the huge snow storm that much of the US has gotten. However, Scott went to work in the foot/foot and a half of snow because just in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), there are 600 plows and 200 salt trucks! Crazy, eh? They actually haven't gotten this much snow at one time in 3 years. That's nice to know!

I feel like a stupid American sometimes. I went to the deli to get lunch meat and right before I asked for a pound of meat, I realized they wouldn't know what I'm talking about! I heard one of the girls ask for 50 grams of turkey, but I didn't know how much that would be either. So, I just asked for 20 slices instead. And I still got a puzzled look:) Ugh, these conversions are killing me!! :)

The first time I took Addison out, she happened to see lots of people from other cultures (with different type of clothing) and started laughing. Like 3 feet away from them. I was completely embarrassed! I quickly explained why they were dressed differently, and when I turned around the ladies were super sweet and said it was fine. And they told me she was adorable. Whew! I still can't quite figure out why she was laughing, but I think she thought they were in a costume!

I hope you all are staying warm! Sorry for the random thoughts. I'm in a hotel with the kids and dog all day...and I need to share my thoughts! :)