Catch the Moment Week 26

Life has been busy which means the blog has been quiet.

Jumping right back in with Week 26 of Catch the Moment. 

These last seven days included congratulatory flowers from the sweetest person in honour of my contract and VERY OWN CLASSROOM next year, the last day of school, helping friends move, brunch, Canada Day, Grandma sleepovers and cousin visits. Summer is going to fly by at this rate.

Read more on Nurse Loves Farmer: http://www.nurselovesfarmer.com/2014/06/catch-moment-week-25/

Outside Playtime

At the end of April, before it snowed and turned cold again, we were fortunate enough to have some really nice days. The girls' grandma came over to take them to the park and we all enjoyed playing in the backyard for a while.

Ella found a friend!

Who then disappeared below the deck...

Ella really, really, really hated this...

And got mad at us for laughing at how much she hated it...

Oh Zoey, you definitely have second child problems with your too big hand-me down jacket...

Park time!

We all played pass with the ball, Zoey let out the loudest giggles every time she "kicked" the ball!

Catch the Moment Week 18

Week 18 was just a regular week with a first birthday thrown in. I celebrated this Mother's Day no longer being the mother to a baby. Good thing I know that little ones get better and better with each passing month. I no longer wish for them to be little, except in the occassional moment where I want a newborn to snuggle. The entertainment and joy they bring me each day far outweighs my desire for them to stay little. 

Read more on Nurse Loves Farmer: http://www.nurselovesfarmer.com/2014/05/catch-moment-week-18/

Library Picks v.2

A couple weeks ago I shared Ella's library pick of the week because I had wanted to document her unusual choice of a shark book. I'm attempting to enforce a very strict one to two book policy for each library trip. I will inevitably forget to return them otherwise. Some weeks I'm more strong willed than others.
Looking through the photos of her with her shark book I was brought back to the many, many memories of the various libraries of my childhood. Picking out my first Babysitters Club book at my school library in first grade, being scolded for taking books that were "too mature" for me (in a private christian school this meant the book involved the death of the main character's husband in the days of the settlers...that's some seriously innapropriate shit for a third grader apparently...) the excitement of finding out the upcoming Summer Reading Club Theme, joining a club at the library which gave me the chance to meet some great Canadian children's authors and present at provincial book awards in front of nearly 1'000 people. Spending my high school years and first year of University working as a page, I knew the Dewey Decimal System inside and out! Libraries are a significant part of my story and I want to be able to give my girls the opportunity to have it be an integral part of theirs.

The "Library Picks" series will continue so that they can look back and see what their interests were, how libraries helped shape their early years, and serve as a record of sorts. I want to go back in time and tell my nine year old self to write down the books she was reading because I have a very distinct memory of a certain book, I can remember where it was on the shelf in the library, some of the plot and a vague image of the cover. It haunts me to this day that I have never been able to remember the title of the book.... 17 years later.

Ella's pick was a shark book again. She showed me the sound sharks make and bit the book like a shark would. I'm going to pretend I didn't have to wash the children's books every school holiday and know exactly how dirty they can be...

Zoey's One Year Photo Series

After Zoey was born I knew I wanted to capture her growth through a series of photos. I didn't do this for Ella, sorry kid! Sometimes second borns get the perks from momma's experience! We bought Ella and Zoey each a sock monkey to celebrate the birth of Zoey. I had intended to capture her weekly for the first 6 weeks and then monthly after that. Real life set it and I did the first three weeks of her life, the fourth was a disaster and I decided every three months would be sufficient. It kept if fun and less of a chore. 

I feel like she's saying, "So glad these are over with!"

And then she was 1...

Today Zoey turned 1. I'm not sure I even have fully grasped that sentence. It's going to take a few days for it to settle in that she's no longer a baby. Of course, the fact that she is walking around and climbing onto everything in sight makes it a bit easier to believe. 

I've never looked up the meaning of Zoey until today. We didn't consider the "meaning" of either girls' name when we chose them. We chose based on the fact we liked them, they had little variance in their possible spellings and were uncomplicated for people to say. 

When I pre-wrote this blog post in my head, I had intended to make a witty comment about how they put the wrong definition of Zoey in the name dictionary. That it should have meant laughter and mess and cuddles. That the words determined and brave needed to be added in. That they missed the insatiable appetite and constant movement.

Then I read the definition and it consisted of one perfect word. 

LIFE. 

Zoey you are life. 

Happy first birthday baby girl.