Samara is 5!

Rebekah Ballerina

Rebekah has been waiting a long time for her first ballet class and today was the day! It is nice to have her and Samara in the same class. Last year Angeline and Samara were in the same class together. I think it is nice for Samara to have a chance playing the roll of big sister and showing her little sister the ropes. This will be Samara's last "Tot's Ballet" since she will be 5 soon.

Some of you may be wondering about the bandaid. Rebekah fell of her chair 2 1/2 weeks ago. She landed on an upside down plastic container lid which one would assume is harmless. Somehow that harmless lid landed her in emergency. Two hours and TEN stitches later we were on our way home. There was no head injury other then the cut. Most of the scab is gone but she still has some stitches that haven't dissolved. She is doing well but it is definitely going to leave a mark.

First Day of School 2015

Today is the first day of school for David (Grade 4), Angeline (Grade 1), and Samara (Kindergarten). David will be attending class once a week as well as Nature School once a month. He attended his first Nature School last week and spent a whole day in the woods. Angeline and Samara will be attending twice a week together in a K/1 split class. We have already began our school work at home with much enthusiasm but today is their first day in class.

Samara is 4!

Our lovely Princess Samara is now 4 years old. Here are a few pictures of her celebrating with friends. She had a fun time at her Frozen themed party. She is looking forward to her "Blossoming Ballerinas" class in January and can often be found tip toeing around the house. She was really excited for her Birthday this year and is still referring to herself as "the Birthday Girl." Apparently she will remain the birthday girl until all her presents are opened (one more get together with family still to come).

We love our Sweet Samara... Happy Birthday "Birthday Girl!"

Samara's Hospital Stay

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping Samara in their thoughts and prayers. We got home from the hospital this morning. Her heart rate was a little high before we left but she was getting more anxious about being at the hospital the longer we stayed. She also refused liquid medicine so she could only take the chewable tylenol they had rather then alternating between tylenol and advil like she is supposed to. Now that she is home we have both in chewable form so pain management should be less of an issue though it is supposed to get worse before it gets better. That being said she is doing well. She is happy to be home. She is currently playing a board game with her siblings.
After her surgery she had to stay in recovery for 2 hours which is a little bit longer then usual. There were no major complications she just had a bit of a hard time waking up, some blood in her saliva and needed some oxygen for the first little bit. Please continue to pray for her since pain tends to peak on day four and she the risk for bleeding is its highest between day seven and day ten.
We are very happy to have her home.

Samara's 1st Operation

Samara is having her tonsils and adenoids removed tomorrow. I will be spending the day and night with her at the hospital. We are pretty much ready to go bright and early Friday morning, just a few more things to pack. Not sure what time she will get discharged on Saturday but once we've settled in at home I plan to update the blog to let everyone know how she is doing. We will be checking in at 7:10am and her surgery is schedule for 9:10am. Please pray that she responds well to the anesthetic and that there are no complications. Thank you.






We spent a fun day together at Bear Creek Park and then to Menchies for frozen yogurt. I am glad it worked out that Jonathan had today off. Once Samara has recovered we will have to celebrate with another fun family adventure. Until then we wish her a speedy recovery.

Christmas Performances 2013

This Year David was part of the kids Christmas Choir at our church for their annual Christmas Musical. The title was "Out of the Box Christmas" and as you can see from the pictures there were cowboys, pirates and super heros. It was lots of fun.
Samara was our little Angel in the church Preschool Pageant and Angeline was a Narator. During rehearsal she wouldn't say her lines so we were all a little nervous but come pageant day I was feeling confident that she would come through. She did a good job with her memorization "Outside of Bethlehem some shepherds were watching their sheep at night. An Angel appeared to the shepherds and the Glory of the Lord shone around them. The shepherds were afraid!" Samara doesn't care to be up from and centre so we didn't get much singing out of her. Instead she picked her nose nervously.... bless her!

Samara's 3rd Birthday (Part 2)

I blogged some pictures from Samara's party a few weeks ago but on Sunday was her actual birthday and so I wanted to add a few more. For her Birthday breakfast she got a special number 3 pancake (Daddy got a "31") and I also made another smaller version of her Dora cake.

Samara's Dora Fiesta

On Sunday we were able to celebrate Samara's 3rd Birthday with a "Dora Fiesta." Samara wore her new Dora shirt, we coloured Dora pictures, ate Dora cake on Dora plates and wiped our mouths on Dora napkins. We also played "Pin the Tail on Swiper" and watched a Dora episode.
It was FUN! Thanks to Samara's friends who were able to celebrate with us!
Samara's actual birthday takes place in another 2 weeks but we wanted to celebrate before the craziness of December begins.
Samara is so sweet. We love her! We soak up her hugs and kisses. We are always amazed at the new things she is able to do. She recently started drawing people and has taken more of an interest in letters. I think she will be spelling her name shortly. She is very artistic! Love you Samara! Have a wonderful time being 3!

Introducing...

Our Super Man, Little Red Ridding Hood, Fairy Princess and Strawberry...

September Kids Update

David lost his 3rd tooth this month (with a little help from me). His adult tooth was growing in behind it but the baby tooth was holding on tight. A few weeks after the dentist said it would be out in a matter of days I took matters into my own hands. He will probably loose his 4th tooth next month as it is wiggly as well and the adult tooth is growing in. His front adult teeth are growing in a little farther back then I would like but I am hoping they come forward on their own. Apart from that he has started Grade 2 (at home) and is doing well. He has days where he wishes he could do away with school altogether but when he has his mind set he gets his work done very quickly. He would much rather occupy his time building Lego and K'nex. Mondays and Fridays are very busy. He starts his week with swimming lessons and Bible Study Fellowship (with Grandpa Rob) and finishes off with Community Class (had decided not to do this but changed my mind again) and Friday Night Friends, Sports Camp.

Angeline is now 4 1/2. She has been waiting anxiously to reach this stage since she turned 4. Next on the list is turning 5. She is eager to learn to read but not so eager to take directions from Mommy or anyone else. (Might have "fun" homeschooling her when she starts kindergarten next September). She knows what she wants and when she wants it. She likes to tell everyone what to do. She wants to be older so much that she is always trying to do grown up things which has been getting her into a lot of trouble. All in one week she cut Samara's hair, filled the laundry machine soap dispenser, filled the tub with Johnson & Johnson (2 minutes after I lectured her about the laundry soap), added oats to our porridge that had already been cooking and shampooed Samara's hair (what's left of it) with my face wash (that's jus what I remember... the rest of it is a bit of a daze). She often means well and can be very helpful looking out for her siblings, helping with chores and she keeps us all on our toes!

Samara bounces back and forth between Angeline's sidekick or victim :) I can see how she gets stuck in the middle not being big enough for some things and being too big for others. She is potty trained which helps a ton but bed time is still a bit of a struggle. She recently saw a paediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist because of her LARGE tonsils and has been put on a waiting list to have them removed. He surgery won't likely take place until she is between the age of 3 1/2 - 4. Her talking has really picked up since June... sometimes we can't get her to stop! Her favourite shows are "Dora" and the "Lego Batman" movie. She likes to sing and is looking forward to "Moms & Tots" starting up this week.

Rebekah. I can't quite decide what my bigger challenge is right now. 1)Angeline's Experiments or 2)Weaning Rebekah. We thought we were weaning Rebekah in August but it didn't work out like we had planned. I don't mind that she is still nursing (she is only 13.5 months) but she is getting up about 4 times a night and I am tired! It's hard to come up with a game plan with her. I think our next step is to sleep train her, just not sure when or how we are going to do that. Her walking has gotten much faster over the last month and she has also discovered climbing. She got onto our white kitchen garbage can without standing on anything else. She is often up on a stool peeking on the counter and has also climbed into our cupboard, toy bin and onto our white cabinet. She LOVES music... particularly the first song on the kids VBS CD from this year. As soon as it comes on she stopes what she is doing, gets a huge smile on her face and starts dancing and clapping.

Jonathan and I are doing well. We recently discovered a dating journal we kept so that was a lot of fun to read through and we are looking forward to celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next month. Sorry... no pictures for now but I may try to do a picture post soon now that I've got the writing complete.

Samara is 2 1/2 !

Samara is now 2 1/2 and she is definitely "going on 3!" I find they change so much from 2-3. At 2 she was still very much my baby... now she is definitely headed towards big girl. In the last 6 months she has added lots of words to her vocabulary and now uses English more often then her baby talk. She has gotten taller and is starting to outgrow some of her size 2 pants. She has an itty bitty waist and only outweighs her baby sister by 3-4 lbs. She loves one on one time so I take her to run errands with me when I can. We are working on her bedtime and it is getting a bit easier and I am hoping to work some more on potty training this week. She love playing dolls with her sisters. She is our Sweet Samara!

I thought I would share a cute story from a few weeks ago as well. I was getting her bath ready so I had her sitting on the toilette. She told me she was "all done" so I told her that I wanted to hear a tinkle tinkle before she got into the bath. She started singing "twinkle, twinkle little star".... just one of those cute moments that make my heart smile. I love my Samara.

22 months

Samara is now 22 months and to me she is still my "baby", along with her little sister. She likes to play with her older brother and sister but also plays well independently. She loves being a big sister to Rebekah and can even sometimes be seen sharing "her" blanket.

She is going on 2 and has been for a while now.

Her list of words is slowly expanding but I would consider to be "behind" her peers in her vocalizing. She "talks" non-stop but it is all with the sound "ein" in varying tones. 

Because she can say words using many different sounds and her comprehension is good I am not concerned that it is related to her hearing. It seems that she just needs to connect words and their meaning to conversation. (She will say "mouth, teeth, ears, eyes, nose" and point to where they all are).  It is nothing to worry about at the moment but just something we are keeping an eye on.

At the moment we are struggling with her at nap and bed time but that is a mix between typical difficult two year old, too much change, and lack of routine. 

Samara likes to make us laugh and she "entertains" us with dancing and singing. She loves her Mama and Dada very much and if she is with one of us she will as for the other. She LOVES bath time and wishes this could take place 3 times daily. We love watching her continue to grow into a little girl and are anxious to hear what she has to say. I think once she starts talking she isn't going to stop.

I Scream For Ice Cream!

Daddy's Double Chocolate, Chocolate Mint Chip Home-Made Ice Cream

You think she likes it?

Samara's 18 month picture

One & a 1/2

June 8th Samara hit the 18 month mark. She certainly is less baby and more toddler with each day that goes by. I know this will change even more when Summer is born and she becomes a big sister!
At the moment she is happy trying to be like her big sister. She likes to wear Angeline's shoes and tries to put on her clothes. If Angeline is getting her hair done or her nails painted Samara is next in line... at least until she realizes that it actually requires her to sit still for a moment. I love to watch the special bond she shares with her brother and sister. She calls for them when she wakes up in the morning and tags along with them throughout the day. She especially likes playing "mommy" and can often be found with a doll in her arms.
As for vocabulary she definitely gets the point across when she wants or needs something but she is not using many words yet. She can say mom, dad, david, cracker, nana, more, no, ya, go... but can usually get what she wants by just pointing and saying "EIHN!"... Angeline talked sooner and David later so it seems that she is right in the middle.
She's becoming a bit of a fussy eater but she does drink really well out of a cup and I am happy not to be washing sippy cups all the time. She goes CRAZY for peanut butter so I can always give her that in a pinch.
She likes to sing and be sung to. She LOVES to have a bath. She really likes it when you play tickle rhymes with her like "Round and round the garden" and "this little piggy went to the market."
I would have updated this milestone earlier but I was hoping to include some recent pictures. She had a nasty bruise on her forehead which has delayed a photo shoot of any sort. Will post a separate entry of 18 month pictures soon!

Samara, 15 months

I thought it was time I did an update on my Baby (especially since she won't be the baby for long). She turned 15 months old on March 8th. I find she has "grown up" a lot this month. She really enjoys playing with David and Angeline and they all play much better together now that Samara is more independent. Also Samara's new favourite things to play are baby dolls and kitchen centre. I find this really cute and amusing to see a baby walking around with a baby doll on her hip. I recently set up a little "house" for them with all the kitchen and baby stuff and Angeline and Samara play there quite often and David also joins them. She loves to go outside but just got out on the grass for the first time yesterday. It was really funny... she just stood there and wouldn't move. I helped her take some steps and Jonathan has since cut the grass so we will see how she does today.
Her and David are sharing a room now and that is going well since they are both good sleepers. We will probably put the new baby with David so Samara will eventually share a room with Angeline but for now this is working well and the new baby will probably be in our room for a few months anyway. Samara doesn't climb as much as the other two so I am hoping to keep her in her crib a bit longer. David escaped at 18 months and Angeline was taken out about that time too because she was climbing on everything else and we were afraid she would fall out of her crib and hurt herself.
Samara likes to "sing" and loves "Old McDonald had a Farm", "If you're Happy and you know it" and rhymes "round the garden" and "patty cake." New words this month are "Dad" and "again"... she also says "Mom", "more", "duck"... she also shakes her head "no." She is attempting more words... we often think "it sounds like she just said..." Her brother and sister also do a lot of talking for her.
We all love her to bits and are enjoying this very fun stage of growing and exploring.

Walking

Samara took her first steps before she turned 1... during the Grey Cup! She is nearly 14 months and she is now walking as her primary mode of transportation, though she does still shuffle and crawl. With her brother and sister running around she has been nervous about getting knocked over. I'm looking forward to her becoming more independent and learning to walk with shoes on outside so that we can play in the back yard more easily. It's definitely too wet to be crawling around out there. Also with another baby on the way I want to be careful not to carry her around too much. This video doesn't really do it justice but she doesn't like to perform so we have been having some difficulty capturing it.

Samara's 1 Year Picture

If You're Happy and you Know it...

Samara started clapping her hands last week... thought I would share a short video.