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! :)

Christmas

I don't have all of the pics yet, but this is as close as I'll probably get to a Christmas post:) We had a great time between the two families despite managing to spread germs among both families. It snowed here the day after Christmas, so Addison had a lot of fun playing in the snow. We've enjoyed our six weeks with our families and are ready to leave early Saturday for Canada. We'll keep you posted!

Each year my mom makes a special craft with the grandchildren. This year we got a plate of Addison and Emma's hands in the shape of a Christmas tree.

Trying to get 5 kids to smile:)

Visiting great grandmother. The funniest part of our visits to grandmother was that she kept calling Emma a boy. She said she really thought a more appropriate name should be Robbie. :)

This kiddo got to eat a ton of sweets that she doesn't normally get to eat:) Lucky girl!

Poor Tara got really sick right after Christmas. Then Nana. Then Poppa. We still managed to squeeze in a little fun!

Trip to Dad's

I haven't uploaded all of my Christmas pics yet, so I don't know when I'll get around to that post! But, here's what happened this week:

My brother, sister-in-law and I drove down to Amelia Island, Florida to visit my dad and his wife, Deborah, this week. They are the owners and innkeepers of The Williams House Bed and Breakfast. We had a great time riding bikes along the beach, sleeping in, eating the most amazing breakfasts, taking a carriage ride, and just hanging out. It was 65 to 70 degrees each day, which is the perfect January temperature for me! I know, I belong in the south!

The Williams House (Main House):
http://www.williamshouse.com/

My room this time. Chocolate chip cookies waiting for me. A king size bed to myself. A cozy fire while I watched TV before bed each night. This is why I love Bed and Breakfasts so much!

Tim and Kasey's bathroom...um, pretty awesome! Unfortunately, I have always come without Scott!

Before the carriage ride around historic downtown:
All 5 of us

At the airport before leavingOh, I checked... it was around 20 degrees in Toronto when I was in Florida. Feel free to go right ahead and say a little prayer for me:)