Our Sophie...

We had a photo shoot with a lovely and very talented photographer a few weeks back.  I picked up the disk today with all the pictures and I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to one for her birth announcement.

Here are a few of my favorites....









Any thoughts ??

Crappy few days....

Can I say I'm glad last week is over and we start fresh today !!  Hayden ended up off school for most of last week with a case of Pink Eye and a bad cold.  He did manage to go back on Friday but poor kid missed swimming and a field trip with his class.

Laila, Sophie and I have now come down with another cold but so far I seem to be the only one complaining about it.  Sophie has been sleeping up a storm so I hope she is fighting hers that way.

The weather in Calgary has been absolutely beautiful and other then a sprinkling of snow the other morning it's been sunny skies all the way.

With us being housebound I have been cooking a lot and will post a few of our favorites in the coming days.  My latest obsession are these very yummy Raspberry and White Chocolate Scones.  A friend came to visit a few weeks back and brought some from our local bakery.  Well it was instant love for me but sadly I can't afford to spend $1.50 per scone to feed my addiction so I have tried a few different recipes to see if I can replicate them.  I'm so very close to perfecting it and hubs & the kids are enjoying the rejects.   Here is the recipe I have been using...be warned you will not be able to stop eating them after you have one.

We are eagerly awaiting the pictures from our photo shoot last week and here is a little sneak peek at one of Sophie's pictures.

Dancing with the Stars starts tomorrow and honestly there really isn't anyone I'm rooting for this time.  There are only a few that I have actually heard of to begin with.    If there is a god Kate Gosselin will be the first to go but somehow I don't think that will happen.

I have been enjoying Biggest Loser,  Survivor and The Amazing Race this time around as well.  I noticed Celebrity Apprentice started last week but haven't watched the episode I have PVR'd yet.

Did anyone watch The Office episode where Jim and Pam finally had their baby...I have to say it was very funny..... like laugh out loud several times funny.  I have found that show dragging a slight bit but I'm still a total fan and even their worse episodes are still pretty good.

Hubs and I have been of course watching Modern Family (Love it !!) but also trying to catch Parenthood.   It has a lot going on but still a very good show.

Have a great week and enjoy the lovely spring weather if you are living in Calgary !!

Chow for now !!

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a lovely weekend weather wise in Calgary but sadly the time goes by just way to quickly.  Two days is never enough time to get all the fun family activities in.  I think the weekend needs to be 5 days and the weekdays can be Saturday & Sunday !

Friday evening started with the ever fun haircut for Laila.  Let me set the stage for this production.....I'm sure you have all been to a kids salon when "that" child is getting their haircut.  You know the one that is screaming uncontrollably with snot running out of their nose.  While the parent is doing there best to hold said child for the poor hair stylist to attempt at least a trim.  Nothing works to calm the child not bubbles, her favorite show Handy Manny or even suckers.  Well that's Laila but only 10 times as bad as you would ever imagine.  We now get the same girl every time because at least she knows what she is in store for plus a big tip always helps at the end.

Here I should insert that I believe I was suffering from pretty sever PMS because honestly I could have sold her on the black market instead of admitting I owned her.  I have two other kids right ? After the circus act I mean haircut we thought it would be a good idea to grab a quick bite before heading home.  Silly parents that we are...Laila grabbed her plate off the table and spilt her entire meal on the floor.  This is where the communications lines really broke down between Faruq and I.  I can't remember the the exact conversation but it wasn't pretty I can tell you that.

I will skip the rest of the ugly from Friday night and fast forward to Saturday morning.  I had gotten up with Sophie for a feeding at 6 am and my very thoughtful hubby thought he would let me sleep into 10.  Only problem with that was I had scheduled a professional photo shoot for the kids for noon and it was going to take us 45 minutes to get there.  Well we needed to high tail it to get us all ready but we somehow managed to make it with a few minutes to spare.

Hayden and Sophie were rock stars at the shoot.  We got some amazing shots of out little Sophie which really it was for her but when it came to Laila there was no way she was getting in any picture that day.  We tried everything but she stood her ground and was not going to cooperate.  I have learned with this child that there is no sense trying force the issue or even get upset about it.  We are planning on booking another session in the summer for outside where hopefully we can snap a few of Laila.

Saturday evening was quiet time at home with some pizza and movies !  With DST this weekend we managed to trick the kids into believing it was there bedtime an hour earlier so we managed to have a few extra hours to ourselves.

Sunday was spent at home .....I had all the windows open and it was lovely feeling the warm breeze for a change.  I managed to clean out and purge clothing from the kids closets as well as get our bathrooms all scrubbed up.  We had our first BBQ of the season as well...yummy chicken and steak kabobs !!

Hayden has come down with another cold and I think it is more sinus problems this time so we are off to the doctor's this afternoon to see what he thinks.  Honestly, I'm done with the sickness in our family...it has been at least one person since the beginning of the year with something.

On a very positive note Miss Sophie for the last 4 nights has been sleeping anywhere between 8 to 10 hours and I have to say it is making this Mama very happy !  She does not sleep well in the van when we go to pick Hayden up from school so misses that long afternoon nap but hey I would much prefer the long sleep at night !



Wishing you all a lovely week !!

Chow for now !

Our Sophie...



Sophie you are 10 weeks old today - I feel as if the time is slipping by so quickly but in your own special little way you make me slow down and just enjoy you right now.

You have the best smile when you hear one of us talking and when we talk directly to you the smile gets even bigger.

Your brother and sister love you...I mean LOVE you and for that I'm so thankful.

You are always happy and it takes very little for you to be content.  You gladly wait your turn when I'm busy with your sister and brother (except when you are hungry).

You eat like a pro and are now sleeping between 6 and 7 hours at night.  You now weight 11pds 12 oz !!

I swear last night you were trying to roll over on your play mat...I'm totally convinced you will hit all the major milestones way before the targeted times.  You will need to my dear to keep up to your sister !

We are blessed that you are part of our family and we love you dearly !!

Belated Valentine's Day Gift

Faruq and I don't usually do anything big for occasions other then our birthday's and Christmas (even then the last few years have been a little hit and miss).  But this year he got me a gift that truly touched me and I will cherish it forever.

To backtrack a little.... after Laila's birth I was searching for a piece of jewelry that would  represent both of kid's birth but couldn't find anything that I really liked.  I looked at family rings but honestly couldn't find one that suited me.  When we found out we were expecting Sophie I kind of just stopped looking.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago and I discovered a lady who designs and makes custom jewelry.  I was immediately drawn to her work and casually showed it to Faruq one night.  I think he was  a little reluctant as he has bought me so many lovely pieces of jewelry over the years and for the most part I have returned them.  I really like simplicity and now that I'm a stay at home mommy I don't need lots of flashy things.

She has one pendant in particular that seemed so fitting and I was instantly in love.  Low and behold this past week a small package arrived in the mall from Lisa Leonard Designs.  I was giddy beyond belief.

It is by far the most meaningful piece of jewelry that he will probably ever purchase for me....I love it !!


She calls it the Heartstrings necklace and it is such a fitting name for it.  If you have a minute pop and have a look at all of her lovely work.... Lisa Leonard Designs.

Thanks for listening Faruq and making this a very special
Valentine's Day !!

Photo Booth

Why you should never teach your kids how to use a computer. I recently went in to Photo Booth to take a picture for a friend and discovered that my 6yr has become quite proficient at the use of this application.

There were numerous video (by that I mean over 20) of him singing and just generally chatting it up for the camera. It appears that during the time of filming these flicks I was the "Bad Lady" and his father was the "Good Guy". Sounds about right !! :}

I stop counting the number of pictures he took of himself but there was well over 30 of those.   I feel a little one-on-one talk coming with the Bad Lady tonight when he gets home from school.  But I'm sure after we are finished he will make another flick !

If I can figure how to post a few of the videos I will but here is one of the pictures.


I will post later about my belated Valentine's day present that I received on Friday... I was truly touched when I opened it !!

Chow for now !

Two weeks but feels so much longer...

I can't believe I haven't blogged in two weeks...I have had lots of things I could have blogged about but honestly just haven't felt much like it.  I have been a tired Mama and not just because I have a newborn at home but because we have been in a home where sickness has moved into.

The last few weeks have seen the girls battling colds and some major congestion problems.  Our GP is pretty amazing with being up to date on what is and isn't good with regard to prescribing to kids.  He made the decision to give the girls a dose of Steroids to try to combat the congestion.  It worked wonders for both but we were still left to deal with the colds and in newborn that can be brutal.

They rebounded after almost a week but Laila now seems to have the flu bug back again so we are back to having a puke fest.  I'm just so tired of it all and honestly just hope that the coming months of 2010 are better health wise.

Sophie is 9 weeks old today and is now weighing in at a healthy 10lbs 6oz.  She is still just a very happy  baby who is very strong and I suspect will be doing every milestone ahead of her brother and sister.    We have her sleeping 6 to 7 hours at night which has been a blessing for her Mama who has been tending to Laila at night while she is sick.

Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and I have to say I have never been so proud to be a Canadian.  From the opening ceremonies to the close on Sunday night it was a great two weeks.  Canadian athletes did us so proud and while we didn't win the most medals they did win more then any other games they have been part of as well the most amount of gold medals ever.

Here is the beautiful song that was used for the games...enjoy !!




I'm having a bit of withdrawal from not being able to watch the games on TV but on positive note regular programming has now returned.   I can't wait to watch The Biggest Loser tonight and American Idol.  I already have my favorite for this year on AI and I really hope that he goes far in the competition because I think he is very talented.

Here he is...Do you agree ?



I have been cooking lots lately to some success and of course a few failures.  When I have a spare  minute I will post some of the recipes as they are too good not to share.

I will end with a few pictures of the kids...Chow for now !!




(This is Laila's version of a pictures together with her sister)