Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car...

Watch out Wiggles the Suleman's are coming !!!

I got tickets today for The Wiggles when they come to Calgary in October !  Right now we are all Wiggles all the time in this house so I'm sure Laila will flip her top when we go to the Saddledome that day and we are seeing them live.  I'm actually more excited to see these guys then Michael Buble last week.

I think what it boils down to is doing fun things for your kids and see the joy in their eyes when they are surprised.  We didn't get very far this summer for vacation do to daddy working the whole time so this will be a treat for both of them.

See you on October 15th !!

Favorite baby things...

The last few months I have started to sell off our baby things as Sophie will definitely be our last little baby.  It has been such a sad time for me as I so loved the "newborn" stage with all three of our wee babies.  The other night  I was out with a group of ladies and a few are expecting their first babies.  The conversation turned to what we "experienced" mom's would buy again and what we would take a pass on.  As first time moms they expressed frustration with trying to navigate the huge list of "must haves" for new parents.

After three little ones I have had my share of "What the heck was I thinking " purchases to "I would buy it again in a minute" items.  So here are my first two favorite things...

Graco Travel Lite Crib with Stages  (Full Specs here)

Like most new parents we planned for each of our kids to sleep in our room for the first few months after their arrival.  Instead of a bassinet I purchased a regular sized playpen thinking it would be good even after we moved them to the crib.  But with the first two kids they hated the bassinet portion that fit in the playpen.  It swayed somewhat and it was a very big space.   We ended up moving the kids to the crib in their own rooms within a few weeks of them coming home.

With Sophie we needed an option other then the crib because her big sister was still sleeping in it and she needed to stay with us because we don't have a bedroom for her.  Eventually, the plan is to put the two girls together but not right away.  I started researching playpens and found the Graco Travel Lite Crib with Stages.

It is smaller then the average playpen and the bassinet was way more secure then the one in the regular playpen.  It is very light and more compact so moving it around the bedroom was a breeze.  From day 1 Sophie slept very well in it.  The only thing I added was a piece of foam under the sheet to make it a little softer and  comfortable for her.  At around 4 months we lower the bassinet to the second stage so she was lower in the playpen and I didn't worry about her falling out.

At 7 months her sister was finally ready to vacate her crib for a toddler bed so we moved Sophie to the big crib but honestly we could have left her in this playpen for at least another few months.  I think she truly missed the smaller space when she was moved out.

I would buy this playpen again in a minute.

Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 Car Seat by Peg-Perego (Full specs here)

Hands down IMO one of the best car seats for your money.  It's a little pricey at around $300 but honestly it is worth every penny.  We bought this seat for Laila and was able to use it for Sophie as well.  It was not only comfortably padded but it met and exceeds safety standards.  It was around 20 pounds so it was a little heavy with the ever growing baby in there but still manageable.  We had some issues with the material wearing prematurity (they are no longer using the fabric we had) but Peg-Perego stood behind their product and rectified the problem immediately.

We did purchase the UNO stroller to go with the car seat but honestly I think there are better strollers out there that are less money so why I didn't dislike the stroller it was not a favorite that I would buy again.  Peg does make some smaller more affordable strollers that would work with their cars seats and are probably worth looking at.

Next up highchairs, diapers and Grobags !!

2 Weeks

Gosh it's been two weeks since I last posted ! The summer is quickly winding down and we are trying to get lots of activities crammed in before school starts on the 30th.

I usually have two or three times a day where I say "That would be great to blog about" I just never seem to find the time to actually sit down and blog about it. The weather has been hit and miss here so we try to take advantage of every day that is sunny.

The kids are great but have been fighting like cats and dogs lately. I'm pretty sure Hayden is secretly counting the days until school starts again. He likes structure like his Mama and school provides that. He misses his friends and activities.

Laila is doing great and her speech is coming along nicely. She loves having her big brother home but has a problem understanding his boundary for "personal" space.

Sweet Sophie is growing and growing...She is officially out of her bucket seat and into her "big girl" car seat which really makes her Mama sad. She is devouring any food I feed her...personal favorites this week are sweet potatoes, strawberries and avocado.

Daddy is off for two weeks starting Tuesday and we are looking forward to him being home.

I'm eagerly anticipating my favorite season of the year. I have loved fall for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure it comes from growing up in Nova Scotia as a little girl and watching the leaves change colors. I love the crisp cool air of the mornings and I always loved buying my new school supplies for the coming school year.

I hope you are all enjoying the last few weeks of summer !

Love this commercial !!!

I never appreciated this commercial as much as I do now that Hayden has started school and gets a summer vacation. While I know he needs the break and deserves it I crave routine in my home. That only occurs when school starts and life goes back to normal.

I know we should have put him into a few activities or organized a trip to the grandparents. But we didn't and I have paid the price for a month. It seems some days that all I hear is "Laila stop it" or "Laila's looking at me" {huge sigh}. It's tough with two little sisters and a mom that just doesn't have the same amount of time to spend with you. Dad has been working crazy long hours at work so he hasn't been much help.

But school goes back on August 26th so we only have about 3 more weeks of the bickering and boredom. Dad is scheduled to start holidays on August 16th so hopefully Hayden will have a few good weeks of vacation.