Isla & Alice's Room

I feel funny calling this Isla & Alice's nursery because they will be one in one week... yes one week.  I also realize that this is a bit ridiculous... I mean finally posting these pictures a year later.  Here are my excuses... a year ago I was terrified that these girls would come early (really early) and felt a bit like if the room is totally done, photographed and everything... I would be too ready and they would arrive.  Crazy maybe, but hey I went past my due date so perhaps there is a little reason to my madness.  Then there's the matter of the girls being here for almost a year.  I will just have to plead busy on that one.  Either way here is there room, a room that I totally love.

That artwork was the very first thing that we bought for the girls.  The prints were all purchased through etsy and are from here, here, here, and here.

We painted the walls Teresa's Green by farrow and ball when we first moved into the house.  I'm not going to lie... we had a baby on the brain and thought that this colour would work for a guest room and would be lovely for a babies' room too (little did we know there would be two babies calling this room home).  

The chair which we love was a gift from my parents (and bonus... it also reclines) is by Monte (yay Canadian company!).  

The cribs were ordered from Walmart US and we drove just across the border to pick them up one sunny day.  They were a steal and are rock solid.  

The bedskirts were made by Grandma (my Mother-in-law) with fabric that I found online by Amy Butler.  

The dresser is my favourite piece in this room.  It was given to us by a friend of the family's and Andrew refinished it with farrow and ball's cabbage white.  

The side table was a find at Home Sense and Andrew did a bit of surgery on it by cutting the legs down so that it would be the right height for the chair and then painting it Cabbage White.  

The panels were purchased right before the girls arrived (pregnant + indecisive = major procrastination) and I found them here.

honorable mention... sleep sheep.... he's the one sitting oh so coolly on the recliner... if you are having a baby, buy him.

There you have it... the nursery... one year late.  Better late than never right!

It feels like home (I know, it is home) but it feels perfect.

adventures in eating dirt and staying up late... (camping at presquile provincial park with babies)

I kind of feel like I won a gold medal... that is how satisfying it is to now be able to say that we four went camping, survived and definitely had some good laughs together.  If someone would have asked me at 7pm that first night how things were going... I would have likely said.... can't you hear how they are going.... whose idea was this? (it was mine of course)  But come 9pm that same night... when I had a beer in hand and two sleeping babies in the tent... different response altogether.  We just had to adjust our expectations that's all.  Apparently putting a child (or two) to bed at 7pm in a tent full of daylight just does not work (who'd of thought!).

The girls loved it and were actually quite amazing the whole time (once we got that whole bedtime thing figured out).  A few things we learned during this trip...

1 - be prepared for your baby (or two) to stay up until it is dark which is likely way later then they normally stay up
2 - be prepared for zero or close to zero baby free time... at home I live for 7pm.... I mean I love our girls... love love love them... but I need 7pm... need it
3 - be prepared for your child (or two) to eat dirt... literally they will eat it like it's a meal and dare you to stop them with their little expressions
4 - same as 3 but replace dirt with sand
5 - be prepared for them to bring the beach home (which in this case is your tent)... so instead strip off that bathing suit and bring them to the showers or lake or something wet before your tent is turned into a sandbox
6 - be prepared for bugs and bugs wanting to get at your baby(ies).  We bought screened netting that fits over strollers and playpens... amazing.
7 - be prepared to temporarily trade in your cloth diapers for disposables (unless you want to a) hand wash them yourself gag or b) have a huge stash of cloth options and can go three nights without washing)
8 - buy a giant van (or borrow one like we did (thanks mom & dad!)) because you will need gear, gear and more gear (well if you like to camp like I do)
9 - be prepared to feel like you're running a bit of a marathon because when camping there is always something to do... just don't get distracted and do stupid stuff... like say... lean an open coffee container in a diaper bag containing your precious camera... and then try to turn the camera on and realize you just made a very expensive mistake
10 - be prepared for your child (or two) to love camping, to squeal when they tear around the tent and to look at you confused when you try to feed them dinner in a house instead of outside.

our setup

we're not high maintenance campers at all

six person tent... not quite cutting it... try breastfeeding in this beauty at 2am and then having to move the once again sleeping baby back into the playpen

we're still loving our inglesina hook on chairs... definite must for camping

the first couple of days we let them have a free-for-all in the screened in room on the tarp... by the end of the days their knees, faces and hands were black... we got smarter the next day and hauled the playpens in here during the day for them to play in

our resident chef

i wish this picture could have been clearer (damn me for ruining the good camera!!) it was an adorable moment.  sleeping baby + sleeping daddy

netting over stroller... must unless you want to actually spray your child with bugspray... which I'm just not cool with

at the beach... the sand tastes wonderful... apparently

loved this beach!

on a walk to a lighthouse

love this

clothes at the beach are highly overrated

We loved it.  Presquile is a beautiful spot which we will definitely return to next year.

Bonus lesson - if you are a family of four with two babies in playpens buy a 12 person tent.  Our 6 person... just wasn't cutting it!

Happy Camping!

chaotic recap... sixteenth edition

It's been hot and busy here as usual so brace yourself for a photo dump... of our life as of late...

the girls are so mobile and suddenly so fast

they often end up together... wherever they are racing to

no mommy, we're not scheming... not at all....

they play pretty nicely together... except for the odd tackle here and there

for the concerned parents out there... we moved these mattresses down that night (okay the next night)... Andrew was known to vault out of the crib...we weren't about to have a repeat of that!

discovery: flyers make the best toys

best

discovery: daddy's shoulders are our transportation method of choice in this house

hmmm so Alice wants to walk, she stands up all of the time and wakes up more in the night (undoubtedly because she has no time for rest, she must master this skill of walking!)

discovery: this whole hold a baby while I take a picture of us thing is on the extinction list... that one arm hold is heavy now

that's right... she wants to climb the stairs

Alice to Heidi: I promise if you come in I will not tackle you

Heidi: I've heard that one before.

Well that's our life lately.  How is yours?

four

It has been four years since we got married.  Three years of being just us two and one year of being all of us.

I always thought that Andrew would be a great father.  I would see him with babies and melt (well the melt morphed to crying during our struggles to get pregnant).

He is such a rock of a father.

and an amazing husband.

okay enough of the mush

happy fourth andrew.

i quit my job today

I have been putting off that call for a good while.  I knew I had to do it, I wasn't feeling regretful of the decision, it just seemed like it would be so strange to actually.. officially say those words...

So I called my current boss this morning... and said those words that part of me has been dying to say for years.. I am not coming back.  There was no shock or even surprise... he knew I had twins and knew that priorities can change, just like that, once babies enter the picture.  I never actually worked for him so it was kind of strange.  It started out with an awkward so... how are you... then I dove right in... threw in some how are things going questions for good measure and then it was done.  Five minutes to end four years.

free... that is the word that I thought of immediately.

yes part of me... a small rather materialistic part of me is frightened... just a little... because this will be a change for our family financially.

but I will be with them everyday

the rest of the day I spent thinking things like...

ashley : 1, hierachy : 0
happiness : 1, mind numbing work : 0

god I wish I could turn back time and tell myself that everything will really be okay... and that I should have believed Andrew when he told me that it would work out... because I stressed and worried for months over this... because I knew the minute I saw our girls that I could never go back

so, so long corporate world, hello to freedom... and days and days and days of time... with my girls

by TheLightFantastic