Hungry man

Ashton has been pretty obsessed with whatever we eat for a while now... he has even managed to grab some things off our plates. He can do all the things you are supposed to wait for your baby to do before you start solids, so even though he isn't quite yet at the recommended 6 months, we decided last night to try him on some simple rice cereal to see how he fared. As I was getting it ready, he got a little hysterical. But as soon as he got a whiff of the cereal, he was a very happy little camper. There was no gagging and he only pushed a very little bit out with his tongue! I think he would have eaten a lot more if I'd given it to him, but I want to ease him into it. I think his favourite part was trying to grab the spoon as it was coming towards him. Who knows, maybe he just wanted to hold my hand. Can't blame him for that.

Alan snapped these shots of the kids and I love them. I find the different focuses on the last two very interesting.

Ashton's big day!

Today we had Ashton baptised. We believe in baptising our children as babies, committing them to the Lord and promising to raise them in a Christian home, with the hope that they will make that choice for themselves later and seek Confirmation.

It was about a million degrees in the church, but we were so glad to gather with our congregation, family and friends to celebrate this occasion.

I find it entertaining that a post about Ashton begins with a photo of Eleda (thanks to Bonnie for taking pics with my camera during the ceremony).

Eleda couldn't contain her joy, and chose to dance in the aisle during a hymn.

Alan, my mom and I made a whole salad buffet for the congregation and our guests after the ceremony. We literally made every salad we could think of... I think there were 11 in total and also rolls, fruit and cake. The salad bar was a hit!

Alan and I are both only children, but we are very lucky to have a few very close friends who are Aunties... Eleda can't get enough of her Auntie Bonnie!

My mom Crocheted this dress for Eleda... it's hard to capture just how beautiful it is with a camera. My mom worked so hard on it and Leda absolutely loves it!

Ashton got to change out of his little suit after the ceremony and enjoy some time in the jumperoo.

He really enjoyed that little Mickey Mouse lol.

Ok, so I know this shot sucks but I just had to include it... I was kind of peeking around the doorway and managed to capture Eleda giving her brother a nice kiss.

It's potty time!

Eleda is crazy advanced in most things. She's big for her age, her vocabulary is huge and we are currently working on her second language. But the potty has been quite the issue, and while it was going better for a while, potty training completely stopped when Ashton came along.

Tonight Eleda told Alan that she needed to go pee on the potty (she tells us this a lot, and usually nothing happens) and she did! I know these photos pretty much suck, but there was no light and I really wanted to capture the reward sticker that she promptly stuck to her forehead.

Happy Birthday, Queen Victoria!

What a beautiful long weekend we had! My dad, Alan and Eleda were off at the crack of dawn to get their lines in the water at Fanshawe (Dad, did you take pics?) and my mom, Ashton and I met up with them a little later for a great picnic.

In my family, a picnic lunch almost always includes a Big Sandwich. I believe we got the idea from Body Break, those little fitness & nutrition commercials lol. I'm saddened that I forgot to take a pic, but basically you take a big unsliced loaf of some kind (we're partial to the round cheddar onion sourdough loaf at RCSS) and scoop away some of the bready insides. I put mayo on the bottom, layered provolone, turkey, tomatoes, dijon mustard, onions, cucumbers, marble cheese and roast beef. I meant to add arugala, but we forgot. Then I wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and when it's time to eat, slice it into wedges. Yummm!

Ashton made the rounds, sucking on and grabbing anything he could manage...

Including Grandpa's beard.

Life's a Beach

We got no sleep on Saturday night. None. The kids decided to tag team us... oh well, guess we had better get used to it. We were trying to figure out the best way to both entertain and exhaust the kids while keeping the screaming and whining to a minimum, so a long drive to Grand Bend and some time at the beach proved to be the answer. Ashton slept most of the time, but Eleda had a great time. Even though the water was still fa-reezing she wanted to go in, arguing with Alan each time he dragged her out to warm her up when her lips turned purple!

I find it interesting that after 5 1/2 years of marriage, I can still learn new things about my husband! Today I learned that he is quite the stone - skipper!

Storybook not-so fairy tale

We headed to Storybook Gardens with friends yesterday. I learned my lesson that taking 2 kids, especially when one runs like the wind and the other is breast fed, on my own is no fun. Turns out I was in a miserable mood to begin with. and my kids sure didn't help! We ended up leaving early due to the concessions having technical difficulty, but I think we will try again another day when Alan is around to assist with the toddler wrangling. Breanna and Lucas. Bre was supervising the sand activities since she doesn't like sand in her shoes (I feel the same way!).

Here's Leda not keeping the sand on the ground like she was asked...

And finally Avery having a grand time!

She's my muse

Man, I really do take a lot of photos of this girl!

Dandelions (and the little prince)

Eleda is all about blowing the seeds off dandelions... I find it really cute. I will probably find it a little less cute next year when there are triple the number of dandelions on our lawns, but it's lovely for now.

And here is Mr. Ashton chillin in the grass.

Sorry...

I realize I haven't updated in a really long time... I have been taking photos, but wanted to try out a new photo editing program, and I'm having issues using it, so that's the reason for the delay. I will be posting photos under the date they were supposed to be posted, so feel free to look a little backwards if need be!

St Mary's

Today Alan was working in St. Mary's and since I was looking for something to do with the kids on this gorgeous day, he suggested that we drive there to meet him for lunch. So I packed us a picnic and we met Daddy for lunch right on the water... it was so nice!

Alan had to get straight back to his job site, so I took the kids over to the playground where they both proceeded to have a blast! The equipment was very different from what Eleda's used to, so she was a little apprehensive at first, but she warmed up to it. Speaking of warm... this particular playground had 3 slides, all of them metal and SMOKIN hot! So no sliding for us today.

This is Eleda crossing the "bridge"... she said she was "a-scared of it" but she got the nerve to cross it! I was very proud of her.

Eleda really enjoyed the rocks on the ground, a nice change from the sand and wood chips that we're used to.