WE HAVE MOVED!!!!!!

You can now find us HERE!!!

NARRATING the CAMERA ROLL...

^^^  We're going through a "hardly ever getting along phase" with these two.  As of late, it's not uncommon to hear regular shrieking from our flat.  In this captured moment, they are trying to "out-spin" each other ;)

^^^  To combat the regular sister-induced shrieking, I am working hard to create activities that keep the girls somewhat separate and HAPPY.  Alas, it's been a total bust because as soon as I set-up something for one of them, the other one is dying to have it too.  

 ^^^  Some more of Nory's work displayed at school.  She is practicing how to use scissors and loves to sit at the table and work with us at home too :)  

^^^  Has anyone seen Juliet?!  She has a tendency to sneak away (super, SUPER quietly!) and work me into a panic because I legitimately can't find her.

^^^  Phil and Steve took Nory and Jet to a Teddy Bear Hospital while Em and I set up for the baby shower.  The girls loved it!  Here's Nory heading into surgery while Juliet spent time brushing teeth at the dentist's.  

^^^  The boys also took the girls bowling during the shower itself.  Apparently they had a blast, so it seems my future is going to include a dreadful trip to the bowling alley.  #worstsportever

^^^  Nory had her first spirit day at school last Thursday/Tim Horton's Day.  The theme was "crazy hair and sunglasses".  She wasn't having it.  AT ALL.  So we settled for a t-shirt with cats who wear glasses.  AND somehow her teacher got her to show off the sunglasses we tucked into her backpack.  

^^^  My attempt at sorting through the shoe bins.  #epicfail

^^^  Sandy and Dan gave Nory some doll furniture to decorate and we finally got around to jazzing it up the other night.  Apparently it's a work in progress because she has plans to add paint to each piece over the weekend :)

Looks like we have a BALLERINA in the house! :)

We made the mistake of telling Nory that she was officially signed up for ballet class a few weeks ago.  We've since disappointed her for the last however many mornings, reporting on the daily that ballet class was "NOT TODAY".  You can imagine her excitement, then, we she woke up yesterday morning and I actually said, "IT'S TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!"  #AllTheFeels #TearsOfJoy

Nory has been wishing for, waiting for, practicing for, dreaming of THIS VERY DAY for so long!  It's the activity she chose when we gave her some options and she has been 100% on it (zero hesitation, absolutely NO WAVERING!) the entire time.

Her activity was GOING TO BE BALLET! 

For many reasons, too!  She's into the outfit involved.  And the hair involved.  And the tip-toeing involved.  And the curtsy-ing involved.  And, after attending her first class with Miss Natasha yesterday, I'm convinced she is into the dancing involved, too!

I mean, DO YOU SEE HER FORM, you guys?!  She was all ears for Miss Natasha, trying her best to perfect every move.

Tip-toes - CHECK!  

Arm high - CHECK!  

Stand tall - CHECK!

We are so, so proud of her!  Especially because she was totally HERSELF inside the ballet studio.  You know that "gotta be first in line" and "gotta be the fastest" competitive edge that she has (ALL THE FREAKING TIME)?  It still exists in tights and a leotard :)

P.S.  Obviously, all I want to do is watch Center Stage today.  I wonder if they have ballet classes for adults......  ;)

So here's something.

We've been working hard as a family to figure out the new normal with Phil being busier after hours and on weekends in his new position.  Sometimes I feel like we're rocking it.  Other times, I want to hide in my room and eat Reese Peanut Butter Cups ALL FREAKING DAY.

Anyways, last week, Phil went to Dubai from Tuesday through Friday for a work conference.  Allow me to elaborate on what happened in our house the Monday night before he left:

1)  Nory tripped over her bike (the one that we allow in the house because we have no fight in us), and fell into the (NOT PADDED) side of a bed.  There was bleeding.  And crying.  And concern about missing teeth.  But we re-grouped as though nothing had happened within 20 minutes.

2)  But then Juliet was running around the kitchen table and fell onto a mystery object that gave her an instant black eye.  More tears.  From multiple family members.  A re-grouping time of 30 minutes.

3)  Then Juliet and I were cuddling in the bottom bunk.  HAPPILY.  Until she climbed onto my tummy and proceeded to vomit all over me.  And then onto the floor.

Needless to say, I had zero ounce of "I CAN DO THIS!" left in me when Phil flew out the next morning.

And so when Phil was sending me pictures like this:

I was sending him pictures like this:

Stay tuned for future over-shares of our adjustment to PHIL IS SUPER BUSY ALL THE TIME AND SOMETIMES OUT OF COUNTRY.

You're welcome! :)

SUPER FRIEND // SUPER WIFE // SUPER MOM!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, Emily and I hosted a baby shower for our beautiful friend Sandy and her baby boy, Indiana (COMING THIS MONTH!!!!!!!).  I showed you the Etsy invitation last week, revealing the theme to be "Superheroes" - a topic which Em and I know absolutely NOTHING ABOUT.  Alas, for a gal like Sandy we'd do ANYTHING, so we went to work and put together a baby shower that (we think!) satisfied our superhero-loving-guru!

How cute AND SUPER AWESOME are these parents-to-be?!

Other party pictures (that aren't nearly as cute).....

Em, we did it!!!!!!!!!! #OutsideComfortZone #ResumeBuilding

SOME SUPERHERO-SIZED THANK YOU'S TO....

* Justin for making the most delicious (and beautiful!) cupcakes ever

* Nina for whipping up the SUPER MOM and SUPER DAD capes like a professional

* Dan for getting so many heart-warming videos from family and friends in Canada and Australia

* Uncle Steve and Phil for taking Nory and Jet ALL DAY LONG so that we could set up for the shower without chaos

* Everyone who came to celebrate Sandy and Baby Indiana, along with those who braved the video camera and spoke from the heart (or rapped to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!)

AND lastly, TO SANDY.......

We love you, girl.  Your village is ready (and SUPER EXCITED!!!) to welcome sweet Baby Indy into the world :)  There's nothing more joyful than a family that GROWS TOGETHER.

XOXO

THREE and A HALF plus ONE MONTH and 11 DAYS...

Eleanor turned three and a half on the day we returned to Kuwait (August 12th).  We (SOMEHOW!) managed to maintain our half-cake tradition in the midst of closing up the house and packing our bags, but a post on The Growing Nornado has yet to happen.  And so, I give you an update on our pre-school gal...

1)  Her new favourite word is "ANNOYING".  She used this word to describe Uncle Trey's whistling the other day...

2)  She can sing (practically!) every lyric to High School Musical's "Start of Something New" and "Get'cha Head in the Game".  Knowing this, you'll understand why she thinks they sing "baby songs" in music class.  (Sorry, Mary! xo)

3)  Free Willy.  OMG.  Do you have ANY IDEA how many times we've listened to the Free Willy theme song?  Or how many times we've watched the movie's highlight reel on YouTube?  She even watched the documentary "Keiko's Journey Home" on the way to school yesterday.  For those of you who don't have an orca-loving little person at home, Keiko was the inspiration behind the Free Willy movies.

4)  She's still OBSESSED with footie pajamas.  Her preference is for fleece (her Minnie Mouse ones, in particular), but she has - a few times - branched out to the new popsicle/flamingo ones she got from Auntie Gem!

5)  She starts ballet on October 1st!  She has been asking to do ballet for some time now and we finally found a class that suits our schedule!   We also gave her the choice of doing t-ball, but I think she considered the uniforms involved and decided that the sport with PINK would be the best one.  I see one WILD ballerina in the making...

6)  She's the opposite of quiet.  In fact, I don't think this girl has the quiet gene.  (Although she hushes other people remarkably well...)

7)  She LOVES school!  And we love having her at school with us :)  We are so proud of her for adjusting to a new routine, making friends, riding the bus like a big girl and sharing her stories when we get home from work.  It's so wonderful to see her excited and thriving in a new environment :)

8)  She loves both of our cats, but she reminds us often that Winka is HER CAT.  We're still working on being more gentle and there is a strict "you can't pick up the cats" rule.  Also, she asks me daily if she can pick them up when she gets bigger.  And usually this leads into a discussion about how she is already big.  #manipulation

9)  Favourite foods:  cheese, tomatoes, peanut butter, and SPRINKLES.

10)  She says that she wants to be a painter when she grows up.  I can't even believe how far we've come since the days of "messes-are-the-worst".  A speck of paint or water or WHATEVER on her skin used to throw her into full-blown Nornado mode.  Now, she does stuff like this:

Although Juliet is becoming increasingly more wild, Nory still manages to take the cake as the Parkinson's MOST ENERGETIC FAMILY MEMBER.  The girl is a strong-willed mover and a shaker and I'm thankful and frustrated and in love and impatient with her all at the same time.

We love you, Eleanor Douglas!  Never, ever stop being YOURSELF :)

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 ^^^  Chelsea, Courtney and I have been going to a fitness class on Mondays and Wednesdays after school.  The instructor is TOUGH and the workout is KILLER, but we seem to laugh our way through it and we all still show up to the next session.  Also, we love shaky, post-almost-dying selfies :)

 ^^^  We have THE VERY BEST security guards at our building.  The girls adore them and I can think of a hundred reasons why.  The guards bring them flowers, carry them to their carseats, and play with them in the courtyard.  We are so fortunate to have these incredible men in our community!

^^^ Last weekend, Phil went to work on Saturday morning and the girls and I adopted six puppies.  We had to bath every single one of them WITH REAL SOAP AND WATER at least ten times.  #AreTheyCleanYet?

^^^  When Nory was quarantined inside the house with hand, foot and mouth, we permitted the use of her bike INSIDE THE HOUSE.  Well.....we never really un-did that rule after she recovered and so......now......we deal with the repercussions.  The girl is officially ONE WITH HER BIKE.  Thankfully, our downstairs neighbours have this theory that "that's what a house with kids is supposed to sound like."  #BestPeople

^^^  We are obsessed with our cats.  We went from being totally anti-cat to "EVERYONE IN THE WORLD SHOULD GET A CAT!!!"  I can't explain it.  I know it sounds weird.  BUT, we are OBSESSED.  And clearly they are obsessed with each other too ;)

^^^  How cute are these invitations from Etsy?!  Emily and I are hosting a baby shower for our sweet friend Sandy and the theme is "superheroes"!  It's a little out of our realm of knowledge (ha!), but we've created some really fun things and we can't wait for Sandy to see it all next weekend!!!

^^^  Every week, Nory's teacher (who is the MOST FABULOUS!) sends us a newsletter including what they have been learning in class and what they will be learning in the upcoming week.  Last week's focus was circles and the colour red.  This week's focus was squares and the colour blue.  Here's a piece of her artwork that is currently on display.  You can see that she INSISTS on being called "Eleanor" at school :)

 ^^^  I like to screenshot things that STICK WITH ME during my daily Instagram scroll.  Here are two from the last week that I really, TRULY believe in.