Miracles REALLY DO exist, you guys!

Emily came over to do a "3 month photo shoot" with Juliet on Friday afternoon.

STOP. 

Two things are weird about that first sentence:

ONE - I never, ever call her Emily. It's always Gem. I don't know.  I'm too shocked to edit that out.

And

TWO - Jet is already 3 months old.

Anyways, let's continue.

The plan was to take pictures of Jet while Nory napped.  Well, it just so happened that Nory decided to skip nap on Friday and was awake and happy and so we decided to get some photos of the girls together.  And in the spirit of matching (oh how I love thee), we put them in identical outfits first.  And then I decided to throw on a white shirt to join in the fun.  And then Phil walked in the door wearing blue.  So.....all four of us (colour-coordinated - whoop, whoop!) laid on the living room floor and Gem managed to capture a non-blurry picture of our family.  With all of our eyes open.  And nobody crying!  Or puking!  Or trying to escape!  

INTRODUCING OUR NEW FAVOURITE PHOTO-OF-ALL-TIME:

A big thank you to our photographer, GEM, for capturing it.  A big thank you to The Might as Wellers for the matching outfits.  A big thank you to the reflux gods for keeping Jet's stomach contents inside.  A big thank you to the nap gods for shielding Nory from grouchiness.  A big thank you to the MAKE-YOUR-HUSBAND-WANT-TO-BE-IN-PICTURES gods for making my husband want to be in pictures.  And, lastly, a big thank you to The Real Guy Upstairs for blessing me with this beautiful family.

XOXO 

Narrating the CAMERA ROLL!

"Nory, did you draw on your sister's toy with marker?"  You'll be happy to know that she has no problems with honesty!  Haha.

It's very rare that she hops up into MY lap and asks for a cuddle.  If she does this with anybody, it's Phil!  Obviously the moment required a picture :)

Phil before a big basketball game last week.  After I told him it was only a game.  HAAAA!!!!!

She is fascinated by the mobile in her crib!!!  And I've learned to zone out the ONLY SONG that it plays!

Here we are, reunited after a night out.  It's the best coming home to this snuggly girlie!

Beach Day gone wrong.  We packed up the whole car with sunscreen and hats and snacks and towels and beach balls and sand toys and.........couldn't find the beach.  Some of us cried the whole way home.

It's JET TV!!!!!!  My favourite channel ;)

Has anybody seen Nory?  (Hide and seek is one of her go-to games the last few weeks!)

A WHOPPING ONE QUARTER TODAY!!!!!!

I hope the reflux chatter hasn't given you the wrong impression about Juliet.  Because besides that tiny tidbit, this girl is the ABSOLUTE SWEETEST THING on Earth.  She's quiet and smiley and loves to just chill.  You can place her in her crib or on her play mat and she will listen to the sweet sounds of sleep sheep or the baby renditions of Mozart until her heart is content.  She's cuddly with her Mama (not as much with others), but since her Mama is the one writing this post, I'm going to include it as a legitimate part of her persona ;)   

In the beginning, Jet seemed to be a much harder baby than Nory ever was.  Her size made us nervous and I vividly remember the breakdown I had leaving the hospital on Day Three.  What if I broke her?  What if a bone snapped mid-cuddle?  How the heck was I going to get a onesie over her head?  Will her legs withstand a diaper change?!  Gah.  I was TERRIFIED to leave the comfort of the hospital where the click of a button would send in a slew of highly trained medical professionals.  And this was me ROUND TWO of motherhood.  Baby #1 was well into toddlerhood, yet my confidence from being a Mama to Nory was nonexistent as I stared at our sweet 4.4-pounder.  Who would have thought?

In addition to the fear of fragility, Phil and I saw our futures coming to an abrupt halt with death by exhaustion being a plausible cause.  Juliet woke to eat so often that neither of us seemed rested and the whole "light at the end of the tunnel" idea felt like a lie.  Tunnel?  PFFFT.  More like a bottomless dark hole.  Scandal-type stuff. 

But then Jet packed on some pounds and slept for longer.  Right now, she grants us a 7 hour stretch (sometimes 8!), followed by 3 to 4 more.  It's AMAZING and it just so happens that living life with your eyes open is good for the soul!  And for relationships.  Ha!  Thank you, Jet!  Now that we're all a little more rested, it's clear that you're much more calm than that big sister of yours.  

But speaking of that big sister, she's head over heels for you.  She rushes to your side if you cry, helps to burp you after feedings, and holds you every chance she can.  Right now, she wants to be doing whatever it is you're doing.  Although in the future, I think this will reverse itself.  Because Nory's wild and hilarious and into everything and people are drawn to such entertainment.  You'll see.     

Mama and Daddy love you so very much too!  We love all the smiles you're sharing and can't wait to watch you grow even more over the next few months!  Then it is home to Canada to meet all of the people who've fallen in love with you despite even a snuggle! 

Cheers to our darling girl turning THREE MONTHS OLD today!!!  WE LOVE YOU, JET TYKO!!!

XOXO

IF YOU WERE HERE FOR TEA!

*  Shows like Scandal shouldn't be allowed to take breaks.  Even a one week hiatus is too much to deal with.  Hurry up, Thursday!!!  The fan base can only go so long without the Olivia Pope runway show.  Whatever will she wear this week?  (I promise I follow the storyline too.)

*  In other TV news, I'm a LITTLE interested in the Amazing Race this season because of the blind date aspect of it.  Imagine if one of the couples actually falls in love?!  Imagine if ALL FIVE OF THEM do?!  Ha.  I'm a dreamer.

*  Phil only has two weeks left in basketball this year.  Playoffs are next week, as is the international tournament which (thankfully!) takes place in Kuwait this year!  GO FALCONS GO!

*  Nory has started to say "watch this mama!" and "watch this daddy!" and it is so, so adorable.  Sometimes she's bouncing a ball.  Sometimes she's building a lego tower.  Sometimes we have no idea WHAT she's doing.  In every instance, it's really cute.

*  I bought six second-hand summer dresses for Nory at a bargain price!!! These will make getting her dressed ten times easier as the weather warms up.  Or at least I hope it does.  In the back of my mind, I see her protesting the lack of cats on the dresses.  Right now, everything is "cat shirt, cat pants, cat dress, cat undies...."  If this is the case, I will have to resort to our book of cat stickers.  But NORY, it's a MAKE-YOUR-OWN-CAT-DRESS!!!!!!!!!  I wonder if she'll buy it.  As for #thedress, it was white and gold.  Unless you ask Phil. 

*  I really can't wait to get home this summer.  Our school is starting to book flights this week and I am going to make the biggest CANADA-MEETS-JET countdown ever.  I also might need to re-vamp our air travel routine to account for the extra little bundle.  Flying home with two wee ones is terrifying me in this moment and maybe....always?  I see the food tray rolling towards me and break out in a sweat.  Phil and I have some strategizing to do ;)

*  I think we've revolutionized the ice cream sundae in our house.  The addition of Reese's peanut butter chips will blow your mind.  SERIOUSLY. 

*  "Special Tubbys" are all the rage right now.  Nory's been having at least two baths a day that have been made special with the addition of colourful bath bombs.  You experienced mamas never told me how much time I'd spend on the bathroom floor post-morning-sickness.  Or is it only my child that's happy as a clam living life as a prune?! 

*  Are you a card person?  Valentines Day cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, etc.?  I happen to be and I've been called old-fashioned for being this way.  Is the tradition of card-writing really becoming less and less of a thing?  If so, I'm bummed about it.  CARD-WRITERS UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Let's work together to keep the idea alive and well! 

*  Does anyone know how I can post videos to the blog without losing the quality of them?  I have no idea and even with some Googling on my own, I'm lost :$  HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!

*  I did my first ever YouTube workout yesterday.  Twenty five minutes on the stepper and nine minutes of arm exercises and I'm feeling it this morning.  Who knew the tiny lady on my computer screen could get my blood pumping as well as the real deal?!  I might try a new video while Jet and Nory nap today.  On good days, they nap at the same time!!!  FINGERS CROSSED!  As a side note, I saw a student the other day who looked at my stomach and remarked, "Miss, you're having ANOTHER BABY?!!!!!!!"  Turns out my workouts haven't been as intense as they need to be.  Sigh.

*  The stack of clothes that no longer fit Juliet is getting overwhelmingly large.  I'm not a fan.  Where did that itty bitty 4-pounder go?  I wonder if she'll be built like Nory or take on a physique of her own....  

I'm pretty sure they're BFF's already.

The Kite Festival!

Every year during the February long weekend there is a kite festival that happens in the middle of nowhere.  We've gone (I think!) every year since we've been here, but this year we learned it's a whole new level of fun bringing a two year old along.  Our very chatty, extra bouncy, piggy-tailed little toddler made the drive to the middle-of-nowhere completely worth it.  Even the drive home.  YES.  EVEN THE DRIVE HOME.  Which entailed both children crying in unison; one because she was hungry and the other because she didn't want to leave.  And then the latter child continued to cry because she really, really wanted a piece of cheese.  Not because she was hungry.  But because this child always wants a piece of cheese.  But, honestly, the drive was worth it!  Haha.

Nory was immediately drawn to the bear kites which she began to affectionately call "my bears".  The purple one was her favourite and she begged and begged to be able to feed him.  Since we couldn't do that, we decided to just hang out with these guys for a while..... 

It wasn't until her friend arrived that we were able to migrate away from the bears to the bouncy castles and big slides.  I took advantage of Jet's snoozing and Phil and Nory's time in the play area to see that there were, in fact, other kites at this festival besides the bears!  HAAA!  I took a few quick snaps and then we decided it was time to go before the trip (which was going all too smoothly) blew up in our face.  Which it did, as I already told you, on the way home. 

PERHAPS we missed the window of opportunity to sneak into the car with two still-happy kiddos.  We're still learning here, you guys!  Regardless, the outing was fun and Nory got her piece of cheese the moment we walked in the door AND she's been talking about the kites every day since.  I better Google us a kite festival for the summer.  Anybody????? 

Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing

Pardon the blur/darkness, but these days I gotta catch her when I catch her.  She's WILD and AWESOME!

I want her to stay TWO YEARS OLD forever and ever.

Sometimes, you've gotta think bigger.

Don't hate me, but I never really cleaned up a mess between the end of August and December 5th.  And not because I'm lazy, but because they just weren't "a thing" when the Adult to Children ratio was 3:1.  Sure, they existed (as they do in every house with children!), but only for a few seconds before K POP swept in and took care of business.  It was Sri Lankan MAGIC at its finest!  (WE LOVE YOU KUMARI!!!)

Alas, everything changed the day Juliet was born and the ratio became 3:2.  Since that day, we've become a little more accustomed to seeing things like this:     

The clean-up song is really only so effective with a two year old.

This picture isn't the worst of 'em, of course!  It's just the only time I remembered to take a picture of a household mess that inspired the book author in me.  Don't worry - I'm not talking about a legitimate book that would be seen on shelves in public.  I'm talking about a rookie book that would be seen on the laps of our children during car trips or plane rides.  I'm talking about a personal I SPY book with OUR TOYS and OUR MESSES and OUR MOST RIDICULOUS PARENTING ATTEMPT TO ADVERTISE ORGANIZATION AS THE BEST THING EVER.  Can't find the Minnie Mouse phone?  That's a bummer.  Same with the Hello Kitty bracelet?  What a shame!  The moist and still shape-able playdoh doesn't exist?!  Keep looking!  (Except you may never, ever find it because you left the lid off!) 

Sigh.  Laugh.  Sigh. 

This book might just last them all the way to Canada and......once their frustration has reached its peak.......I will slam down the sequel (THE SEQUEL!!!!!!) to make this whole "clean-up your toys!" lesson come together.  In the sequel, the children will face yet another game of I SPY, but this time, the scenes will be post-clean-up.  Minnie Mouse phone?  BOOM!  Hello Kitty bracelet?  BAM!  Moist and shape-able playdoh?  BINGO!!!!!!!!!!  Our fierce little two year old will come to the conclusion that toys are found fastest when they are returned to their places after use.  It's genius, isn't it?  It's going to work, isn't it?  My kids are going to be the best at picking up their toys, aren't they?

HAAAAAA.  I'm going to keep lying to myself over here.  And while I sip on this morning's cup of coffee, you can bet I'll be singing that gosh darn "clean-up" song on repeat.  Which Nory loves.  For all of two minutes. 

P.S.  Auntie Gem, we're gonna need some more playdoh ;)

I was a much better blogger before two kids. I know.

A big sorry to everyone who's wondering what the heck we've been up to.  Right now, Nory is napping and Jet is playing in her crib which means I have a few minutes to spare!  YAHOO!

Phil's back to work today after a four day weekend for National and Liberation Day.  We did a few fun things, but yesterday's oral vaccination for Jet was NOT one of them.  At least this story will prove that my last post (re:  vomiting) was no exaggeration......

So ya.  An oral vaccine.  One would think this would be better than an injection.  In fact, we even breathed a sigh of relief when we discovered it would be oral because we anticipated it would be more pain-free than a jab.  HA!  This mindset lasted all of about ONE DROP of the stuff until Juliet vomited all over the clinic floor.  The nurse looked at us with BIG EYES and exclaimed, "but we still have one millileter to give!" to which we laughed and offered to give Juliet the vaccine ourselves.   Since we're used to giving Jet her reflux medicine this way (and it is typically a long and slow process to prevent her from throwing it all up), the nurse agreed and decided to take a back seat.  Daddy to the rescue!

I wonder if they would have allowed the same to happen in Canada...

Unfortunately, Jet wasn't willing to go the slow route either.  A mere seconds after finishing the entire thing, Phil and I looked at each other with a big "OH NO!!!!!!" and...........let's just say the nursing staff called housekeeping in the same way they'd call a code red.  It wasn't pretty.  Not only did we disgust (and terrify?) the other parents in the room, we also failed to vaccinate our darling with a vaccine that wasn't covered by insurance.  WHOOPS!!!!!!!!!!

Here's to another attempt next month.  In the meantime, Juliet has stayed true to the Parkinson name and our legacy as a family of pukers lives on!  #omg #whatifwetakemymaidennameinstead

DISCLAIMER: This post is about VOMIT. And I use hashtags at the end of every paragraph. You're welcome!

It seems to me that there are two main categories of little people:  pukers and non-pukers.  Our two children seem to be of the former variety, of which the benefits are awesome!  #extrapracticeinthecleaningdepartment #wardrobechangesupthewazoo #lettheoptimismshinethrough

As a baby, Nory was your classic projectile vomiter.  I remember jumping out of bed one night in particular to find both Phil and Nory frozen in puke - shocked like WHOA and unsure of how to proceed.  It was pretty scary in the moment (and super annoying at 2 a.m.), but we got used to this sorta thing rather quickly and have come to appreciate these vomit-laden moments for what their worth:  comedic material for our mom/dad adventure book.  We established a post-puke routine early on (three cheers for frequency) that goes something like this: one parent gives the child a bath, the other parent cleans up all collateral damage.  I know you're thinking this is really simple and whatever, but we actually improved upon this method by adding an "act calmly" step to be used by the both of us, AT ALL POINTS of the clean-up procedure.  #ha #easiersaidthandone #sometimesseeingpukemakesyoupuke

Anyways, in addition to the random projectile vomiting, Nory is also known for:  puking after excessive crying (and we use excessive LIGHTLY), puking after coughing, puking after experiencing weird food textures, and puking after being in the car for too long (although we admit this puke situation is improving!).  Oh, and almost every time she's sick........she pukes!  It actually doesn't even phase us anymore.  Private, public, just showered and dressed, middle of the night......we've done it all, folks!  #nobiggie

Seems to me that Jet is following in her sister's footsteps.  With this reflux thing she has going on, the girl has more wardrobe changes than Beyonce.  And not just that, but she loves to throw a monkey wrench into our well-rehearsed, firmly outlined clean-up procedure by turning a two-person job into a one-person job.  Phil's gone to play cards?  She's for sure going to puke (last Thursday night, 4 times).  Mama's gone for a manicure?  Daddy's going to pay for it (in more ways than one!).  It's as if we've been catapulted into Parenting, Level 2, which makes me all-the-more curious as to how parents of three and four children do it.  I suppose, by some random miracle, their children are of the "non-puking" type.  #lucky #houseofnorules #yestheyhaveahashtag

Anyways, I really have no idea what inspired me to wake up this morning and talk about puke.  I can't blame exhaustion because Jet slept 8 hours in a row (YAY!!!!!) and I'm already one cup of coffee into my day (DOUBLE YAY!!!!!).  The moral of this story is......there are two categories of little people:  pukers and non-pukers.  #pointlesspost #sorry #can'tpromiseitwon'thappenagain