Happy Birthday Elo!

A cute little skirt and matching bag (filled with Hello Kitty goodies) for a special little girl who's got a big crush on this little kitty. Happy 4th Birthday Elodie! We love you! xoxo (I had SO much fun making these!).

Avery's Quilt

I finally finished hand-stitching the binding on Avery's quilt last night. I have to say that I'm a little in love with it. I'm so glad I followed everyone's advice and chose the red polka dot for the binding. I think it really 'makes' the quilt. The reason why it took me so long to finish it, is because I was really stuck on what to put on the back. While I was in Vancouver I found this gorgeous fabric shop where I finally found a fabric that works. There were so many beautiful fabrics to choose from (I could have stayed there for HOURS! -so thankful my friend was willing to sit in the car with our kids while I played!). I really enjoyed actually being able to touch and feel the fabric before buying (there just aren't any great fabric stores in Ottawa so I do most of my shopping online). I ended up having to add some width to the fabric so I pieced together a strip which showcases a few of the fabrics in the front. I have to say I'm not really in love with the back of the quilt (even though I really do love that fabric I found). I meant to put that little strip of fabric to the side and it ended up being kind of in the middle which I don't like. Generally though I do really love this quilt and I'm happy I put all of that time and effort into making something for Avery's first birthday. I hope she will love it as she grows up.

The underwear game.

Avery's hoping to get a few toys for her birthday.

Like riding a bike...

We bought Ian a bike for his 4th birthday. His very first 'big boy' bike. A few weeks ago he started begging me to take the training wheels off. My first reaction was: 'I think you're a little young for that yet. Let's wait a few years. You could fall and hurt yourself. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to ride a bike... etc.' After much pestering I finally thought, why not? He'll either learn how to ride it, or he'll ask us to put the training wheels back on. No harm done (hopefully). So we took them off. He refused to let us hold the back of the bike and help him out (you know, like in the movies how the parents hold the back of the bike). Today he started doing this:
 

Look at you Ian! Your Momma is so proud of you (and so very, very humbled!). From now on when you ask me to try something new I'll say: 'Sure why not! You can do anything you set your mind to!'

That boy of mine is sooo stubborn, now I see that maybe, that's quite a good thing.

Summer is here!

You're going to be seeing less of me in this space over the next little while. Summer is here and I'm feeling a real need to enjoy every day of sunshine. Get outside with my kiddies and just BE.
I feel like the clock is ticking because in nine weeks  - I'm going back to work full time, Ian will be starting school, and Avery will start daycare full time. Lots of BIG changes and transitions in the near future!

It's so hard to believe that my baby girl will be a year old in just a few short weeks. The year has flown by and I'm sure that the next nine weeks will too. How I feel about all of these changes is complicated. One thing's for sure. I will miss being at home with my kids.

I'll be posting here now and then but not as regularly as I was (still working on Avery's quilt! pics to come).

Enjoy your summer! xoxo