Happy Valentine's Day!

Have you ever done something really stupid but didn't realize it for a day or so? With the greatest intention, I bought valentine cards for our girls and a special treat for them both. I made sure to pick out a cute little "First Valentine's Day" card for Elizabeth. Last night at supper we gave the girls their cards to open and their treats. I made sure to get lots of pictures for Elizabeth's baby book! Anyway, I'm sitting at lunch today, admiring my baby in her pretty red dress and it hits me, "this isn't your first Valentine's day." I felt so silly. Where's my brain? I guess the answer is, I didn't have much of a brain last year around this time...barely 6 days from giving birth and in that fog of sleep deprivation. Well, my intentions were good, but I know this will be one of those stories she will tell when she gets older about how lame her mom is.

(by the way, John didn't notice either!)

("Um, Mom, it's not my FIRST Valentine's Day")

It seems like forever since I uploaded any pictures or stories on here. Our baby is now 1 year old.

(Here's the birthday girl with Grampy Dingwell...)

We had a big party last week-end with grandparents and lots of great aunts and uncles. Elizabeth was feeling a bit mellow when her cake was set in front of her.














We expected she'd dive right in, but she just kept staring at it. I think she was more intrigued with the aluminum foil lining the plate the cake was sitting on. Clara got the idea and blew out the candle and started stuffing her face with the edible decorations!














Here's Boo-ee's beautiful cake(s). Thanks to Grammy MacKay! She always has such creative ideas for birthday cakes. (yummy ones too!)




























We are home this evening even though it's a Sunday. Our evening service was cancelled since we had a churchwide meal after the morning service, followed by our annual general meeting. We were there until late in the afternoon so it's nice to be in for the night now. The girls are in bed...much needed sleep after no naps today.

We went to Saint John, NB last week just for a night. John was taking part in an ordination service for a new Korean pastor there. Turns out he was actually a student at the seminary when John and I were there. I thought I recognized him. It was a special time since this is the first ethnic church in our East Coast Baptist Association. Clara was excited to stay in a hotel with a big pool. The pool was excruciatingly cold though because they had just added some new water the day before and it hadn't had enough time to heat up. We braved it for about 10 minutes. She was satisfied though. I think she just likes the idea of the pool. We took our time getting home the next day, stopping in Moncton to do a bit of shopping and look around Costco. We were so excited to eat lunch at Arby's. There's no Arby's on the island anymore, and it had been a long while since we enjoyed a beef 'n cheddar and curly fries! Yum! I'm getting hungry now.

We have our flights booked for our trip out west this summer. We'll be gone for nearly a month. I hope the girls will travel well. It will be so great to see some friends and family we haven't seen in ages, including a few who haven't met either of our girls yet.

Our girls are growing and changing so fast. I probably say that in every post (doesn't help that I only update this once in a blue moon). Right after the new year began I decided it was time to start weaning Elizabeth and potty training Clara. Silly me...I started both at the same time. Clara only had one day with a few accidents. She was definitely ready. We just went straight from diapers into big girl underwear. She's doing great. I'm discovering a new side to my easy going Elizabeth. We're starting to see that she's easy going as long as things are going her way. She has quite a stubborn streak and has no problem standing up for herself. She's been difficult to wean. I'm still nursing her in the morning and evening. She's slowly adjusting to the sippy cup. Perhaps if she took a soother or sucked her thumb this whole process would be easier. It will come in time.

I guess I'll upload some pictures and call it quits for today. I'll try to put something else on the blog within the next month. Stay tuned...

(Clara and Mommy made special Valentine cookies yesterday.)

Here's our grown-up girl with Daddy. This was the first day we put her hair in pigtails. As you can tell, Mommy still needs some practice. Or maybe Clara needs some practice sitting still.














Here's one of Clara's favourite pasttimes..."me pay wadder". She loves to play with water, pretending she's washing dishes. As you can see, she also likes dress up...a rain hat and snow boots for doing dishes!


















Here's Clara and Elizabeth with G.G. (Great-Gram).

Another gorgeous Mount Stewart morning...














And here's some gorgeous bed head!