INFLATABLE LAWN TENT

This would be perfect for Ontario summer bug filled nights.

JULY COMPANY

The first of our July company has come. Steve's Mom & Grandmother are here from Guelph to see Euan and meet Romilly for the first time. Yesterday we spent some time enjoying the city. Parliament is so pretty this time of year and there are so many tourist visiting. We  are lucky to live in such a beautiful city with so much to see and do. Once Romilly is a little bigger we can hit the bike trails and explore a little further. She's just over a month old and has grown out of her Moses basket already. Tonight I will be bringing her next bed (the travel cot) upstairs and rearranging our room again. She likes to sleep with her arms out and refuses to be swaddled which means she hits the sides of the basket and wakes herself up. I am hoping her new bed will give us a few hours more sleep! 

MAKE IT FUN

I WON'T ALWAYS

FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

WATER

Euan loves the water park!

GRATITUDE

I am trying to appreciate every moment with my babies: everyone says how fast they grow up and that time gets away from you-it's all true. Connor was 8 when I met him - that seems like a lifetime ago. Now, he is almost thirteen. Since then we have traveled all over Europe, got engaged, married and had two little ones. So many experiences in such a short time-happy and sad.

Be happy, don't react, be gentle be loving, give time, play, be their super hero & mentor, not their friend. Encourage playmates. I have learned that all of this parenting advice takes extra work, but I am finding the rewards pay off when you apply it. It is a lot easier with two of us here. I am less tired and able to spend more happy moments with Euan. I have more time to notice where to put extra effort and which battles to pick. Steve and I are on our way to finding our grove building a stronger foundation to parent on. It's a great feeling.

We had a nice weekend, the kind where you don't have anything planned and that is just fine. We went for a walk, sat by the river and had lunch at one of my favourite spots in Wakefield. Last week was an action packed week of kids and tennis. *smile* Wimbledon ended with a beautiful win by Murray- not a dry eye in our house, including my babies. *laugh*

All theses breast feeding pheromones have great side effects - they make me reflective. They make gratitude, love and forgiveness easy. I have gratitude this week for quiet moments in the car with my husband; the children lulled asleep by the rumbling of the engine. 

It's going to be a good week, I can feel it!

MO DAY

One mo-re day until Friday!

Today we hosted Carri and Olivia for our weekly play date since finishing our Wiggles & Giggles group. Carri brought over a huge bag of goodies for Romilly.. I love it when she cleans out Olivia's closet- she has done this a couple times now.

 I feel lucky to have met some really great people at the play groups I signed Euan up for last fall. I will be sad when a few of them start work again at the end of the summer and maybe a bit envious.

Steve in usual form whipped us up some banana muffins then enjoyed some man time while we chatted and played in the basement. It was a good day!

PS. Happy July 4th!

LLBC

I AM OUTSTANDING

MURRAY

What do you do when you have a new born attached to you.. sit back and enjoy the tennis! What an amazing nail biting match today! Only 2 more to go.. Gooooo Murray!

NURSERY UPDATE

Our other chair came back from getting reupholstered today. They did a fabulous job and the material will last a lot longer then what was originally on that chair. It goes perfectly with the decor in Romilly's nursery. Romilly will be in our room in a bassinet until after Christmas which allows us plenty of time to decorate. I know Steve is looking forward to doing a few projects for her room with Connor over the summer; he actually asked me if I wanted more crown molding added! He was so successful with the ceiling molding he thought they might put a border around the middle. *chuckle* I am loving the slow decorating process; by doing it this way it may turn out exactly as I envisioned it- perfect! Almost one month old and she's longer than the seat- I think she inherited her Dad's height. I'll share some more pictures as we go along....

QUIET HOLIDAY WEEKEND

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We did exactly this  for Canada Day.

 In the morning we did little bit of laundry and watched a little bit of the tennis.

In the late afternoon our friends Shawn & Sarah popped over and we enjoyed a quiet celebration on the deck. Steve and I stayed up to watch the Parliament Hill concert & fireworks on TV but I fell asleep in his lap and he sent me to bed. It was a quiet holiday weekend for us-exactly what we needed after a long week. Oh and I made the peanut butter squares, they were a huge hit. I brought a few over to the neighbors so that we wouldn't devour the entire tray on our own. Steve suggested we could  freeze them instead of giving them away. My plan completely backfired; our neighbor sent us back with a plate of cookies!

 I think I might have a  duvet day with Romilly because she's been cluster feeding all morning. Steve just put the bike trailer together and has taken Euan out for a spin- I met them in the garage to get some pictures before they left. I can't wait to get back on my bike and go with them this summer.

Have a great Monday! xo