Currently: Isla Edition

Posted in Currently, Isla by Kara

Time // 7:07 a.m.

Place // Sitting “at the bar” in the kitchen.

Eating // Cereal, her breakfast staple at the moment. She likes Cheerios mixed with some kind of sugary goodness. (Right now it’s Trix.) And I’ll admit that I totally just put Cheerios in her bowl to cut back on the sugar. When she’s done her cereal she usually asks for a yogurt as well.

Drinking // Milk at every meal, and asks for juice or water during the day when she’s thirsty. She doesn’t like pop (I think it’s the carbonation) or coffee, lol. Actually, every beverage that Kyle and I drink (that isn’t milk, juice, or water) is either “beer” (anything in a can) or coffee (anything in a mug).

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Watching // Paw Patrol and Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood. She also likes watching Friends on Netflix with me, and she adored Gilmore Girls. (Seriously – she would pretend to talk on the phone with Lorelai and would tell me that Sookie is in the kitchen.)

Reading // A book that her great-grandparents brought back from Hawaii for her. It’s about a sea turtle named Limu and his underwater Hawaiian garden. She likes it because of all the turtles, I like it because it’s a short read ;)

Learning // Dance moves! She’s been in dance lessons for about a month now and absolutely loves it. I placed her in lessons just in time for the big recital at the end of this month, so it should be interesting to see how the little ones do on the big stage!

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Wanting // To pick songs in the car (“Shut Up and Dance” is her go-to right now, followed closely by “Shake it Off” (still, ugh), and “Uptown Funk.”) She also wants to do things herself more often than not these days, which is a constant reminder of how big she’s getting. “I’LL DO IT!” is what I hear when she doesn’t want my help with something, like going potty (which she’s nearly mastered) and getting in and out of “her” seat at the kitchen counter.

Needing // To keep busy. She doesn’t do well when she’s bored (nor do I), so she needs something to do to occupy her time. We do park days, outside time, and other fun adventures to keep her mind occupied. When the weather’s not so great it’s harder, but she enjoys colouring, puzzle building and movie watching as well!

Anticipating // The arrival of her baby sister, who she’s certain is going to come out of my belly button. While she claims that she’s going to love her and share her toys with her, I’m skeptical ;)

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9Mar2015

Hello, Monday

Posted in Isla, Life, Monday Musings, Work by Kara

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I’ll be completely honest – I was actually looking forward to waking up this morning. The Daylight Savings change kicked my butt yesterday, and since today is my first Monday off since January, I welcomed this morning with open arms!

I finished my contract at the university on Friday, so today marks the start of getting things back to normal. No more 6 a.m. alarm clocks! No more rushing to get Isla fed, dressed and out the door! I can now go back to being a stay-at-home mom, something that I now realize that I actually enjoyed. I missed Isla’s antics – both the hilarious and the hair-pulling ones. I get to take in a lot more of this every morning: Sunrises

Working for the past 9 weeks has been good; Kyle and I have managed to pay off a good chunk of our new (to us) truck and at the rate we’re going, we should hopefully have it paid by the end of the year. Working did, however, have some negative effects.

Isla regressed a little bit in the potty training, and me heading back to work definitely had something to do with it. She went from lazy mornings to “get up and go” ones, we cut out her afternoon nap (which needed to be done anyway), and the rules she had to follow were always changing – Grandma’s House rules are always the best ones, afterall.

I’m taking this first week of “Back to Normalcy” to do just that – to not do anything too outgoing, but to instead just get things back to normal. I’ve gone back to handing out treats for potty time success. We had a wonderfully warm weekend and Isla was a star, so I’m hoping I can keep it going.

I really do appreciate going back to work, don’t get me wrong, but I think that perhaps just for now, being a working mom just isn’t for me. I’ll eventually go back to hating Mondays, but for today, I’m welcoming it with open arms.

10Dec2014

Christmas Photos, 2014

Posted in Christmas, Isla, Photos by Kara

Now that our Christmas cards have been mailed out and most people have received them, I thought I’d finally share the photos I took!

I generally take the photos not long after Halloween, just to ensure that I have enough time to edit, design and order the cards. This year’s card features this cool old tricycle that my mom has. Originally my grandma had found it at a new/used store when I was a kid. I have tons of memories racing it up and down the pathway at her old house, so I thought it would be fun to use it for our photos this week. I wasn’t sure how Isla would like sitting on it, but clearly there were no issues ;)

Since there was no snow of the ground I tried to make the photos more “Christmassy” by hanging some tree ornaments up. I think it worked out OK! I also made that little chalkboard sign with an old photo frame my mom donated my way and some spray chalkboard paint.

While it was a little cold outside and we tried to hurry through the photo taking, I think they turned out pretty good this year! (M&M’s also helped – bribing, FTW!)