5AM Conspiracy

Don't let their adorable-ness fool you.

These two have clearly banded together to ensure that I do not sleep past 5am EVER again.

 For the last month, Oliver was pretty much on a solo mission however this morning Georgie must have realized that Oliver wasn't up yet so made sure to take the reigns in his absence.

And I thought this was just an innocent photo shoot the other day....

didn't realize they were scheming their little schemes 



New Shoes

I have been searching high and low for a pair of yellow shoes for Oliver.

One because they would look adorable on him and two more importantly because he would LOVE them and in turn want to wear them. Which would make my life a million times easier in the morning by not having to fight with him about shoes. So I didn't find yellow shoes but I found these and he loves because they have some yellow on them.

VOGUE

This little lady sure knows how to strike a pose.

I have to admit the smiles are even more rewarding the second time around!

Probably because with Oliver we were just waiting for him to do something

and with Georgie it's like whoa she's smiling already!

I have a feeling this is how it goes with the second though,

every milestone is a constant whoa they're doing that already.....

take a walk on the wild side

Yesterday was the perfect day for a walk, so we did.

Just Georgie and me. Taking in the sites of some cool old trees, ducks, ducklings and swans too!

Growing up in this small town, the beauty was lost on me. I had no appreciation.

But not now, what a wonderful place to raise the kiddos in!

song of the week

From their lastest album "Here"

 by Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros

Man on Fire... so, so good!

Happy Friday!

Little Miss

 is TWO months old!

she's smiling, cooing, tracking people and objects with her blue peepers.

It will be interesting to see if she keeps these blue eyes as Oliver did.

Which would mean we have two blue eyed kids and neither Guy or I have blue eyes!

 I haven't taken her for her 2 month check up yet but at our 6 week final visit with the midwives she was a solid 11 lbs 4 oz, so pretty sure she's close to 13 lbs now. I am much less concerned about weight this time around, she's very healthy and gaining weight just (slightly less) as rapidly as her brother. My kids are good eaters! And I'm not letting comments bother me as they did with Oliver. As a first time mom the "Wow he's huge", "OMG he's so BIG" , "How much did he weigh at birth?"

really got to me. Was there something wrong? Was I feeding him too much? Should he not be gaining this fast? these were constantly running through my mind. On the flip side I had friends with much smaller babies that were bombarded with "Oh he's/she's so small", "You should feed him/her more", "Is he/she sick?" So bottom line is people say all kinds of stupid stuff and you can't let it bother you. I don't pay any attention to the growth charts either. Who cares if your baby is in the 20th, 50th or the 90th percentile. If they are developing and gaining weight, life is good!

Georgie's in cloth diapers full time now. I used disposables for the first month and a bit, since I was feeding her every 2 hours (or less sometimes) the diaper changes were fast and furious as well the FLIP diapers fit a bit better now that she's bigger. I am super happy that I purchased the extra sets at the Black Friday Sale back in November. Having the extra inserts and covers have come in handy!

She's wearing 3-6 month clothes now, depending on the brand some are just right and some are a little too big. I can hardly believe how much stuff I've had to pack up and put away already. And now that she's two months old we are going to start putting her in the crib in her very own room, instead of the bassinet beside our bed (although some nights she spends more time in our bed than beside it!).

I bought another double bed that is setup in her room as well so I have a bed to sleep in if need be. I did this with Oliver and it worked well, of course I had plans to move that double bed into Georgie's room to use again but Oliver decided he wanted to sleep in a double opposed to an actual toddler bed,

which I guess in the end means one less sleeping transition we'll need to make!

Look at those lips.... perfection!

Favourites- Mama of Two Edition

It's been awhile since I did a favourites post.

You can read past favourites here, here, here and also here.

And most of those items are still tops in my book.
So here's a look a couple of things that I can't live without lately
(ok I probably could.... but wouldn't want to!)

1. Norwex- I am pretty much in LOVE with all things norwex.
no chemicals, re-usable cleaning cloths = good for your health, good for the environment
These enviro cloths are unbelievable and antibacterial! Add a little water and bust through toddler grime in seconds, without breaking a sweat! Finish up with the window/glass cloth for a streak free shine. You will love not having to go through a bi-gillion rolls of paper towel or using a bunch of different cleaners. While the cloth isn't cheap, it pays for itself in a month (maybe even a week) by the time you add up what you would have spent on the harsh stuff.

So far I have purchased the dryer balls (awesome) no more dryer sheets,
enviro and window cloth (2 sets- one for bathroom and one for rest of the house)
kitchen cloth (pkg of 3)

Next on my wish list is the mop, dust mitt, tea towels, and bath towel

2. Arbonne- Ok so I've had Arbonne on my list before but my addiction has gone to epic portions.
I should really just link to their website and leave it at that. I have purchased almost their whole catalogue!  The products are amazing, my skin has never been better. One product I couldn't live without is the RE9 Corrective Eye Creme. I had black landing strips under my eyes for the first year of Oliver's life. I looked tired and a hot mess. Since using this creme I no longer have these horrible bags under my eyes.... EVEN though I can assure you that I am not getting more sleep with Georgie.
Hands down a Mama must have!
I do recommend the whole RE9 line but it isn't cheap,
in my opinion if you are looking to purchase one thing it would be this.
(if you are suffering from "Baby Bags" as I was)

Grab a Herbal Tea and draw a bath with SeaSource Purifying Soak
... it's an amazing and much needed 20- 30 minutes of relaxation to end my day (or week).
you'll feel like a new woman afterwards.



I could really go on and on about Arbonne products, I use their shampoo & conditioner, makeup,
baby products, etc, etc. I really haven't used a product from them I didn't like love!

(** note these aren't sponsored posts, I simply like sharing products I use and love!**)

Hilarious-ness on a Monday morning

I watched this video clip on one of new fav blogs

and just had to repost it!

so, so funny! Enjoy!

A Numbers Game

when 1 becomes 2

then a family of 3 turns into 4.

Georgie is 6 weeks old, Oliver is a month into his 2nd year.

and we are all settling into our new roles.

Oliver is every bit the big brother, always concerned about his sisters whereabouts.
As of late wants to give his kisses every hour on the hour
(and he wants proper kisses on the lips... gone are the days of the gentle shoulder smooch).
But he's also TWO. Something I tend to forget from time to time (like today) when I was getting so frustrated because he wasn't listening and seemingly pushing all my buttons.... then it dawned on me that oh yeah he's two not twelve and stop trying to reason with him about why I want him to do this or  that because it isn't working!

Georgie is doing a bang up job as the baby sister, mostly hanging out in her swing checking out what her big bro is doing. Watching as he whips by her a million times a minute. She loves to eat but doesn't love the organic cloth inserts I have been trying out, definitely prefers the stay-dry inserts. I guess someone is a little sensitive to wetness, so stay-dry inserts it is. I am still using the Flip system that I used with Oliver although I purchased new inserts and covers for her (which I scored for 1/2 price during an amazing Black Friday sale last November). She has given me 2 good consecutive nights that resulted in me feeling more tired for some reason, but I appreciate them nonetheless
(also keep them coming Georgie!)

Guy has become Oliver's go to, especially for night time. He mans the diaper and jammie change, reads bedtime stories or plays Oliver's (new favourite) sticker books. They go 4 wheeling, and walking in the bush. Oliver loves spending time with his daddy which makes it a-ok for this mama to tend to the wee one without issue. Of course he also helps out with Georgie but at this stage it's pretty much the one with milk in her boobs (me) that she wants.

Becoming a mama of 2 is hard in someways and easy in others. I feel so much more confident with Georgie, not as stressed out as I did with Oliver. Which looking back I didn't think I was stressed with him at the time but I definitely was compared to how I am now with Georgie. It's hard letting some of the responsibility go with Oliver. He doesn't need me the way he used to, which is great but kind of sad too. We still have our special moments each day, getting ready in the morning is waaay more relaxing now since we don't have to be anywhere right at 8 am. We can enjoy an hour or two (depending on what time he got up that day) together before heading out for the day. I love bath time, he is always usually in a great mood and we have a blast playing and splashing in the water just the 2 of us. I love our story time or doing puzzles, playing letters and racing cars.
Not to mention the snuggle or kiss I get (steal) every now and again.
Yeah it's safe to say I dig this mama-of-two gig A LOT!

Lady (and Master) in Yellow

This little Lady and Master of ours are too much.

It's amazing how one kiddo fills up your heart, overflows it really...

and before Georgie was born, I was unsure how I could possible love anyone as much as Oliver.

But these two melt my heart and I feel like the luckiest Mama in the world.

Oliver's growing vocabulary constantly makes me laugh,

he truly is like a little parrot that repeats EVERYTHING!

Georgie is starting to really focus in on objects- like her Mama and Daddy and cooing up a storm.

Last night Oliver laid beside her for tummy time, to show her how it was done.

 He's been giving her lots of kisses and so far hasn't shown a hint of jealously.... yet.

He likes to help out (on his terms), especially when he's told what a good helper he is!

It's getting harder to take pictures of Oliver, he's kind of like houdini/ his father when the camera gets pulled out. Georgie on the other can't get away and thus will have her picture taken an unreal amount!



The Homebirth of Georgina Kay Part 1

*** Note: since this post was getting a little on the wordy side, I decided to split it into 3 parts.
This is obviously Part 1, Part 2 and Reflections of a Homebirth to come soon*****

I have to admit Georgie's birth was a dream. It's almost comical even.

She may not have come early but she certainly came fast and willing when it was time.

I am still in shock about the (dare I say) ease of her labour and delivery (which I know may make some of you reading this want to punch me in my uterus) but after a horrendous week it was well deserved. Our beloved May-May passed away 2 days before her due date and my week got worse with a raging chest infection and nasty cold that put me out of commission for 3 days. Not to mention Guy's battle with a flu bug all while trying to parent a very active almost two year old.
I couldn't fathom going into labour and trying to push out a baby while feeling so sick and weak.

 I woke up on Wednesday morning, feeling somewhat human again and officially 5 days overdue. Although I didn't really feel overdue, I had actually felt more uncomfortable a few weeks prior and clearly the universe wasn't quite ready for her arrival anyway!  At about 7:45am I felt a sharp pain that only lasted a few seconds but stopped me in my tracks. Shortly after I felt a slow trickle as what was later confirmed as amniotic fluid. Guy and Oliver set out to work/sitters for the day and I got ready to go to the office briefly before my midwife appointment in the afternoon. Mild and totally irregular contractions ensued throughout the day but nothing alerting or confirming it was go time!

At noon(ish) I arrived at work and felt a gush of fluid as I was getting out of the car. I still wasn't having regular contractions so I kept about my business and finished up some ordering before my appointment. It wasn't until I got up to leave the office that I had a huge gush of fluid that soaked my pants! I ran to the bathroom to assess the situation and luckily my mom came in shortly after.
I handed her my pants which she proceeded to blow dry (with the spare blow dryer I keep at work not specifically for these types of situations but boy did it come in handy that day.... ).
After drying my pants and myself off I headed out to the midwives office.

I immediately told Beth that I was "pretty" sure I'm leaking fluid upon arrival, I explained the details and hopped up on her table for an exam. A swab quickly confirmed that I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid (which I wasn't really doubting at this point) and that I was about 5 cm dilated! Say whaaat? I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe I would have been dilated a cm or two but FIVE... that was crazy! She did a stretch and sweep and could stretch me to nearly 6 cm, which was so bizarre because I wasn't hardly having any contractions. There was still a sac of fluid around the baby's head so it was hind leak and Beth advised me to page them immediately if my water broke fully as the labour would progress quickly. She told me because I had been sick that my body might not be ready tonight, that I may need more rest but that this baby would be making his or her entrance in the next 24 hours. I got dressed (including a very sexy functional pair of mesh undies and large pad to absorb the fluid), finished up our appointment and headed home to sleep eat and mostly WAIT for things to progress.
(ummm yeah right, who can go to sleep at 3 o'clock in the afternoon after
 your midwife tells you that you are 5 cm dilated?... me either!)

I called Guy to let him know I was in "labour" but not having contractions so not to rush home from work but get ready because baby was coming this evening?, tonight? or sometime. I arranged for my mom to pick Oliver up from daycare and feed him supper and maybe have a sleepover... depending on what happened. Then I called my neighbour to be a backup in case I went into labour in the middle of night while Oliver was asleep and for some reason we would need to transfer to the hospital. Once all the arrangements for Oliver had been made, I felt energized and ready to go! So I waited and ate and waited. I cleaned a little, did some laundry and waited some more. My contractions were beginning to come a little more frequently but nothing steady yet. Guy got home from work around 4 pm and we waited. We just sat there and looked at each other like yep... having a baby. It was a very weird feeling knowing that I was that far dilated but not having regular contractions so technically I was in labour but didn't feel like I was actually in labour.  So to pass some more time I gathered my homebirth supplies and got the tub set up, ready to be filled.

I took these pictures at 4:06 pm, as I was waiting for labour to start?
You can see in the 2nd pic I was having a contraction (not because I am making a weird face but because my belly is rock hard-notice the difference from the last 2 pics) also in the last pic you see the outline of the lady diaper I am wearing. Yes, when I got home from my appointment I traded the mesh undies and gi-normous pad for the Depends (Tena brand actually). I was leaking enough fluid that I had to labour with a diaper on! Luckily I had bought these bad boys for the postpartum period. Something I highly recommend doing!


The Homebirth of Georgina Kay to be continued......
Click here for Part 2