some recent pics

Our little guy sure loves to eat

although he is happiest feeding himself and grabs whatever we are eating and is starting to refuse to eat anything else!

our little princess adores her li

ttle brother and is only wearing dresses and jewellery these days

Here she is in her ballet outfit riding her scooter and bikes

We just spent a weekend on a houseboat (ok well one night... Allie and Dax decided that was enough!)

We had fun swimming, playing games, dancing and exploring

We camped overnight and in the morning Allie was the first one swimming, although she decided the ladder was a bit too scary. Exploring, swimming, breakfast... all before 8:30. Am I ever tired!

Captain Dax, steering from up top

Mabel and Dax - together again

This video is pretty hilarious

Allie and Hawksley both cuddling their babies

It was Hawksley and Mabel's turn to visit from Wasaga this time. Allie enjoyed playing with Hawksley and showing him around Nana's place and the zoo. Mabel and Dax? Not sure how they felt about all the photos!

The Cuba Hangover

 Here's a few shots of the beach - Mommy and Daddy

 Allie in the salty water - it only happened a few times

 Imitating her dad pulling faces for the camera

 A very serious Allie as she watched the Minidisco every night. Despite her face, she loved watching and insisted we go. No matter what we tried we couldn't get her to participate.

 The flamingos in the lagoon. There was also turtles, fish, a family of kittens and two dogs that Allie named Sparky roaming around.

We had a great time in Cuba. Our suite was great. We had a small house divided in half with Nana on the other side. The room was big and we had an indoor and outdoor shower plus a patio out back. Allie enjoyed running around the house and spotting geckos and tree frogs. There was a little boardwalk down to the beach and we got out on the catamaran and the  paddleboats. Allie is definitely an animal lover and she gave more of her food to the "aminals" than she actually ate. We all missed Dax but enjoyed the freedom of being out in the sun and only worrying about getting 1 child to sleep. Mac got out on 3 fishing excursions and we went snorkelling one day with his fishing guide Adele. It was a nice, small resort and we even met people who have a cottage on chandos!
Now for the cuba hangover. We have been home for 10 days and we are still suffering. We left behind the oh-so-important bunny, puppy and polka blankie and slightly less important wedding rings! Fortunately westjet have mananged to track everything down so we are now awaiting the return of our items. I don't know if it was the stress of dealing with this or just bad luck but we have all had tummy problems and now sore throats. If that wasn't enough I think somehow we swapped Allie for some sort of look-a-like demon child. She has been... challenging lately. Today she told me that I was in trouble and that she wanted to hit me. She peed on the floor twice, threw her food and yesterday at katie's she was saying "bitch"! I'm not sure she knew what she was saying because she said she learned it from "Caillou". No idea where any of this is coming from but she promised us she would start behaving like a good girl tomorrow. If this is her dealing with the loss of her precious security blankets then i think maybe I'll go back to cuba and get them myself tomorrow! Anyway, on a good note - as gramma Barb would say - Dax is coming on like a house on fire. He has 2 teeth, no more scratched forehead (thanks to mitts) and he is sitting up and eating pureed food. He is all smiles and such a cutie. He is the one person Allie is always sweet too. I'll post some new pics of him next time. Adios for now.

Cayo Coco Cuba

daddy and allie heading out to catch some barracuda or red snapper

 Sitting on the lucky boat that daddy caught his fish on. Allie did not go with him she just asked him why he could only catch sea weed from shore.

 Swimming in the salty water - not Allie's favourite

 She preferred the pool with the ladders and steps and the swim up bar!

 Barracuda and Allie

 Perhaps the only time during the whole trip she actually had food in her mouth! Allie survived mostly on bread, bananas and fruit leathers (luit feathers as she calls them)

Mommy and Allie by the pool

I'll be back to post some stories soon!

A month of firsts!

Dax cut his first tooth the same day his big sister did. 5 mths! He definately seemed to have a harder time of it than she did. Just goes to show girls are tougher than boys! We also finally managed to get Allie's haircut for the first time. It was just a trim but thanks to a tractor chair with a steering wheel, she was as good as gold. It helps that she also had just come back from a very successful first trip to the dentist. She actually let them clean her teeth! We are leaving Dax for the first time with Gramma and we are heading on a family trip (minus Dax) to Cuba. It's been quite the month! Here are some recent pics.

 Allie and Mama - March girls

  Mama on her bday

 looks like someone got her mommy's sweet tooth

hanging out with daddy


We still aren't sleeping much at all though so time to catch some zzz's while we can!

Allie turns 3!

Allie turned 3 on Friday and what a weekend it was! I had a hectic day trying to prepare for her party while Allie enjoyed a "Nana day".  First, I tried to make cupcakes but then discovered we were out of eggs. I could've gone to the store but Dax had a fever of 101 and he was a wee bit cranky so I tried the egg replacer I got from Auntie Jo. The cupcakes tasted delicious but apparently the egg replacer doesn't help the cupcakes stay together so well. They were the crumbliest cupcakes ever! I decided they may not be servable (is that a word?) so I decided to make chocolate zucchini cake and get Mac to pick up the zucchini (and eggs) on the way home. Well, apparently there was a produce shortage of some sort so we ended up with chocolate carrot cake instead. An interesting taste combination but no one complained. Most of the kids just ate the cream cheese icing and candies anyway.

This is the cake Nana made - mine is not picture worthy

 Allie on her bday morning with her my little pony. Her name is Cheerilee and Allie decided she was a Cherry girl in her Cherry dress too.

Alllie and Marlowe -her favourite guest at the party.

Marlowe found a ball Allie had been missing and Allie exclaimed "I've been missing that for a few years!"

I was trying to upload a cute video of Allie opening her presents but seems like i am having no luck again. She was  thrilled with the bubbles Gigi got for her and the sit n'spin. She had only ever seen one once before but she exclaimed "It was just what I wanted!" I guess turning 3 means 3 parties because she got a family party friday, a party with her girlfriends Saturday and she is having a party at daycare on Monday. Allie told Katie she wanted a pyjama day, hot dogs and rice crispy squares. Today we are taking her to the movies for her first time. Quite the birthday weekend!

Wasaga Beach Trip with Allie's bday present from Auntie Lou

Dax and Mabel born 6 days apart

Allie, Emily and Hawksley

How many Nettie's do you see?

Baby Uncle Peter!

Silly Grandad!

Nice shades Dax

Cutest snowgirl ever!

Dax joins in Allie's bday celebration

When we got home Dax enjoyed returning to some of his toys and as you can see in this video he is quite fixated on following his little sister around... if only with his eyes.

*Sorry video didn't upload properly

We had a blast staying with Uncle Peter and Auntie Jeanette. Allie loved Emily's room and we both enjoyed playing with all of Diane's old toys. We even reminisced with some old music. Uncle Peter played "me and little Andy" for Allie and I on the record player. Allie waited patiently as we listened and then asked, "When is he going to dance for us?" It was so funny that eventually she did convince Peter adn I to dance although we chose a more upbeat song and did YMCA for her. She enjoyed hide and seek and I spy but was a little disappointed not to get to see the sand and the beach. On saturday before we left we went to Mac's Aunt Karen's and saw some of Allie's other 2nd cousins. A great time was had by all and if Grandad sends some more pics and videos I will post some of them too.

posting a video I hope...

Dax is 4 months old!

To celebrate his 4 months we returned to his place of birth - the hospital - for an eeg. He looked adorable with cotton balls stuck all over his head. It was quite the experience and after singing every lullaby, campsong and finally christmas carol I know - he fell asleep. The test was just done to rule out any problems and we actually tried to cancel it but the pediatrician said we should do it just to be sure. No worries though! Anyway, he is definitely more fun to be around now. He makes all kinds of sounds and smiles a lot more. He still doesn't sleep all that well but he makes up for it in cuteness! Allie had a great visit with Gramma this week. She had so much fun that I actually got pushed out of the room, told to go make dinner and "Shoe, bug!" She skated on her own with Mac at her lesson on Monday evening. Initially she didn't want to go but when I explained that she couldn't win an olympic medal for hockey if she couldn't skate, she decided she wanted to go right away! Her dance move repetoire is increasing. Daddy has taught her the sprinkler, Auntie Jo showed her the lawnmower and she is even trying to do the hula. I'll have to catch it on video. She surprised mac the other morning when she got in his car she requested Bob Marley instead of Dora and then asked him if he could feel the beat. That's all for now. Babies are awake!

Dax's first smile

This is my new favourite picture of Dax. I finally managed to get him smiling on camera. I love the Aloha shirt too. It was superbowl sunday and he was enjoying some pregame fun at Nana's house. He has definitely left the newborn stage and is now starting to enjoy some toys and rolling almost over. He also doesn't sleep as deeply and is spending more time awake. Unfortunately this still doesn't mean he is sleeping better at night! We all enjoyed some outdoor fun today at a little rink. Allie is a lefty and she was playing hockey (with her boots on), scoring goals and even told me that she won a medal! When we got home and were struggling to get everyone in the door she came out with "move it Penkman!" It was pretty funny. She also picked out a Valentine's present for me while she was at the mall with Nana on Friday. She took Nana into Bath and Bodyworks and picked out some pink soap for me... so cute. Anyway, just a short blog to share the pic.

Dax is growing like a weed and is already almost outgrowing his 6 month clothes. Team China as we like to call them made a surprise visit home this week. Nana was completely surprised but Mac let me in on it so we were able to prepare and Allie took the week off of daycare. She enjoyed playing with her big cousin Jenna and a visit from "aunt traci". She had a successful skating lesson thanks to Jenna joining us on the ice and we even made it out tobogganing and swimming at the Y. Mom and Mike are away in Cuba and missed the biggest snowstorm we've had this year although I don't think we can top the snow banks Kai has been climbing! Anyway I don't have any pics other than Dax and his guiness from the past week but i hope to get some from Jo and nana that I can add to the blog. Everyone seems to think Dax has changed a lot this week and Jo said in one week he has gone from being "a worm to a little human".

Mac says that we beat grandad this time at offering Dax his first beer. I think Grandad was the one to give kai and Allie and maybe even Teia their first sip.
Well we still aren't getting much sleep from our little man so I should probably get some now while i can.

Well, I am glad to see that most of you have found our blog and now I hope you will bare with me as I attempt to figure it all out. Thanks to my big sis for helping. So lately we have been thinking that Allie is really quite tough. Mac says she is going to grow up to be an 8-man like her mommy. I know I didn't think Allie was an "easy baby" when she was a baby but in hindsight she definitely was easier! For example, we never knew when she was teething. We were warned about the first tooth, the 1 yr molars etc. but she just kinda ended up with a mouthful and never complained. Also, she would drink from any kind of bottle, any nipple - and cold! We never heated up a single thing for her. Now the Dax man, he seems to be a bit of another story. He seems to travel in the car better than she did and he generally falls asleep better but doesn't STAY asleep as well. Plus yesterday he had a nursing strike. He screamed and screamed but would not nurse even though he hadn't eaten in 4 hrs. Finally I gave him a bottle of formula (warm) and although he usually fusses a bit with the bottle - he just drank it. After a warm bath and a cuddly sleep bag ( thank you Auntie Louise) he finally gave in and nursed before bed. Perhaps a tooth coming in? Who knows? Anyway, I am loving being a mom for the second time - I just thought I would know what was going on a little better this time. Here is a picture of our little man at a playdate.

I wish I could claim he was always the best behaved one in the bunch! Allie seems to adore her little brother and loves to hug him and get her picture taken with him.

Well, I am going to end this post and see if i managed to get it right!

Ok Louise How do I get these things on the top of the blog instead of in a post?