Happy "Early" Birthday!

Our "Pre-natal Friends" playgroup decided to have an early birthday celebration for our babies. There are six babies in the group, the oldest will be turing one next week and Ava (the youngest) will be one on June 4th. One of the moms had already planned to host a playdate at her house on Saturday and she came up with the birthday party idea. Natalie did a wonderful job and it was a fun afternoon complete with balloons, presents, party hats and, of course, birthday cake! We all brought a present and the babies were able to choose one to unwrap. Ava received the Little People's schoolhouse from her friend Kaleb...how fitting!! Then each baby was given their own individual birthday cake to taste. Ava took a few bites of the icing (much to J.P.'s dismay!), but then decided to explore around the kitchen instead of actually eating any cake. It was a great day and I can't believe how fast all the babies are getting. It seems like it was just a little while ago that we first got together and they were laying on the floor beside one another. Now we're having to chase after them as they try to dig in the house plants and toddle and crawl around all over the place! :)

Playdate with Alexa

As we continue on in our busy week, we were super excited to have Kari and Alexa over for a playdate today. When they arrived little Miss Ava was still sleeping as she took a 3 hour nap!!! She woke up soon after and joined her friend for some playing in the living room. After a quick lunch we decided to take the girls out for a Spring walk since it was a bright sunny (but windy!) day. It was a fun day and I can't wait until the summer when we'll be able to have them over to go swimming in our new POOL!!

A Visit from Sarah and Laura

We've had a very busy week with lots of visiting with family and friends. My friend Sarah recently moved home after living in Victoria for a few years. She and my cousin Laura stopped by for a visit this afternoon. They hadn't seen Ava since the summer, so they definitely saw BIG changes! Ava kept us quite entertained as we hung out and chatted. She was especially fond of the strings on Laura's sweater!! It was great to have them over and I'm looking forward to getting together again soon!

Meeting Mei

My very good friend Mike moved to Japan four years ago. He and his lovely wife Aya welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family last year. Mei was born on June 1st, three days before Ava. We were so excited to find out that they were making the LONG trip from Tokyo and couldn't wait to go over for a playdate. Poor little Mei spent the entire week trying to adjust to the 12 hour time difference and had been awake since 2am on the day that we went over to meet her. Despite the jet lag, the girls had lots of fun playing with the early Easter presents that Mei received during her visit to Canada and they even posed together on the couch for a quick photo session. My all-time favorite shot is the one where they're sitting and staring at one another, trying to figure out why the other looks so different! It was a very special day and I wish them a safe travel home this week.

Welcome Baby Rowan!

We'd been planning a trip to Antigonish for my cousin Joanne's baby shower and were thrilled when little baby Rowan surprised us all when he arrived four weeks early! So, my mom, Nicole, Ava and I packed up the car and headed down to welcome the newest addition to our family. I was a little hesitant to see Ava's reaction to him as she's starting a new "hitting" phase, but she was far too busy playing with the other little girls that were there to even pay any attention to him. There's lots of pictures because Nicole, the "photographer", had her fancy camera on hand! It was a short, but fun-filled trip and I can't wait to go back in June to get in some decent snuggle time!!

Happy Anniversary

J.P. and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on March 14th. It's strange to think that it's been two years already since we were vacationing in the Dominican especially since so much has happened during those two years! Ava gave us the most wonderful anniversary present and slept for 14 hours straight through the night...a record high for her!! We went out for dinner at our favorite restaurant, The Cellar, and my mom came over to babysit for the evening. It was a great time! I've included a few of my favorite wedding pictures as well as some shots we took before heading out for our "date"!

Playdate with Brea

Our friends Lori and BJ welcomed their beautiful baby girl Brea into the world last December. We took Ava over to meet her during the holidays, but they haven't seen each other since so Lori and I decided it was time for the girls to have a playdate! Before they arrived at our house, I took up Ava's bouncy chair for Brea to use and the second Ava saw it she crawled right over to it and tried to get in! I kept reminding her that the chair was for "little" babies, but she didn't seem to get it! Ava was very excited to play with Brea and was a little confused why she wasn't very interested in the toys and books she kept bringing over to her. The age difference is quite noticable right now, but in a couple years I'm sure it'll be hard to tell who's older. We had a great visit, unfortunately we weren't able to get any pictures since the girls kept us quite busy...oh well, there's always next time!