I'm Crafty Like That

So my sister and I had this great idea to make out kiddos quiet books for Christmas....no thanks to Pinterest.  We even made a little jaunt down to Montana to get some cheapo fabric and supplies.  We stayed up allllllll night the first night drawing, tracing and cutting everything out.  A little bit more work than we had aniticipated I think.  Then Shayla went back to Edmonton, and the plan was we would finish them separately.  HAHA  ya right.  There's no way I was assembling that thing without Shayla.  So alas, just days before Christmas we assembled the lovely books.....after Shayla explained to me about three times how to do it.  My brain just doesn't compute things like that.  That's why we're such a good sewing team!!  I'm the creative side and she's the technical side.  We should start a business. Hey Shay?!  Anyway, I think they turned out pretty darn cute.  Shayla has a couple different pages because her kiddo is a girl, but lots of them are the same.  I'm so glad we did it, even if they're not super interested in them right now.  Balian mostly just loves to pull all the velcro objects off and lose them.  Oh well.  I think they're super cute and totally worth all the time. 

The barn yard and tool box are my favorites I think. There is a pig finger puppet for the barnyard as well, but it's currently MIA.   And yes, I still haven't put eyes on the alligator.  I'm sure I'll get around to it someday.  Feel free to pin my awesome quiet book on pinterest....because it's just that awesome!! haha 

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ME ... sort of

So for the last couple of months I've had the luxury of having the help of my great mom pretty much 24/7.  SOOOO nice.  She has no idea. 

 I used to wake up in the mornings immediately stressed because I had to plan my day out to the minute, making sure Balian napped while I was working.  This is of course assuming he actually naps when I tell him too.  It's still a work in progress, but for the most part he does really well.  This was of course a JOKE when he was six months and younger and would sleep exactly every two hours for a minimum of two hours...sometimes three.  Can we all say dream baby?!?!  I counted my blessings everyday, believe me.  But then he grew up, and gained mobility, and this really annoying whine, that if not dealt with within 3 minutes turned into a cry, which inevitibly turned into an outright scream at the top of your lungs tantrum.  UGH!!  Enter stresssssssss. 

That was stress was nowhere to be seen since October because my mom has been there to watch Bails.  Then for some crazy reason my grandma decided to take all her kids to Hawaii!  I know, right!  Rude.  And everything was just peachy until today because I had a lovely young woman who is completely infatuated with Balian babysit him everyday.  But then some smart person decided that the kids have to eventually go back to school after Christmas.  That day came yesterday.  My sister-in-law took care of that day.  But I didn't want to take advantage of her and ask her to watch Bails two days in a row when she has a daughter of her own and they're potty training.  So I was going to call that lovely young woman again last night after work......oops.  totally forgot.  So now I'm screwed.  But have no fear....I kept bailian up until 1:30.  He will sleep from 2-4 and just be awake for one hour while I'm working until Stephen gets home. 

Let the barricading begin!  Chair to block off kitchen access, chair to block off living room access, all the doors down the hallway closed, every point of entry to my maching blocked, all tools and small items put away.  We're good to go.  This should be a piece of cake.  Yaaaaa...not so much.  The first 45 minutes went fine.  Balian loves trashy MTV shows.  Good times.  But then Snoop Dogg must have said something that really upset him, and it all went downhill from there. 

Popcorn twists got dumped out * barrier one got broken through * drawer opened and closed on tiny baby fingers * blood curtling scream * praying for a commercial so I can rescue baby * fall over one of the many boxes in my warehouse of an office * repeat blood curtling scream * text from Stephen: I'm going to be late * i'm contemplating calling in sick * lovely brother shows up - heaven sent him I'm sure of it - to put handles on in bathroom/entertain Bails for half an hour * 3-minute break in between shows to chuck bails in his high chair and throw anything in the form of food readily available to me on the tray * that entertains him for 10 minutes *screaming....screaming....sifting through desk drawers to give him ANYTHING to shut him up* screaming....screaming.....screaming..... * doorbell rings * SERIOUSLY hun!!!! * hubby figures it out and comes to front door * daddy rescues baby/mommy * breath sigh of relief.

Oh, and I managed to snap a few pics in between of the chaos.  Sooo glad grandma's home tomorrow...hopefully earlier than planned!  We love you grandma!!

 hahaha  he cracks me up.

 Such a cutie

A successful barrier break

 Oh hey mom...just so you know...i'm going to throw a huge tantrum in 5 minutes.  Wish I spoke baby

attempting to choke on my lip gloss. 

the aftermath. 

TA-DA!!

Christmas in a nutshell:
- LOTS of family.  Considering the many personalities that come along with lots of family....I think we faired pretty well this Christmas with 10 adults together 24/7 all week....give or take a few hours. 
- As kids my dad used to love taking us sledding.  I loved it.  Last year G&G McKee gave Balian a little wooden sled that I've been waiting for him to get big enough to use, and so we finally whipped it out this year during the one day we had snow over the holidays.  ridiciulous.  Balain and Malin loved it....untill they TOTALLY wiped out!  haha  I SO wish I got a picture.  It was so sad.  Balian got a little snow burn on his cheek and everything.  But he was a trooper and got back on.  Malin then chose to pull an ostrich and face plant right into the snow.  But she was so puffy in her snow suit that she couldn't get back up.  haha  so funny.  So all in all sledding was a success and I hope Balian loves it as much as I do....otherwise there will be a nice little forecful shove TO like it.  ;)
- Santa Clause came to visit!!  My sister-in-law's dad always goes around to his grandkids and dresses up as Santa and delievers them their Christmas jammies, so he came and visited our house this Christmas Eve.  It was a little bit of a gong show, but it was still really cute.  They'll love it in the future. 
- So much food.  Shay and I organized a delicious Christmas Eve Breakfast and an equally delicious Christmas Day brunch.  I think we may have started a new tradition.  I love cooking and baking, especially during the holidays.  Then Christmas Eve night there was a plethora of snackie foods.....and Stephen just HAD to one up everyone by making his own individual sized poutine....which really was more of a family size than an individual size.  He didn't finish it. 
- I love having Christmas on Sunday.  I love the Christmas carols, and having a whole sacrament meeting dedicated to them is my favorite.  Stephen not so much.  He was insistent that we open presents BEFORE church.  Well that just was not going to happen.  We were way to busy Christmas morning gettting the kids and ourselves busy.  So Stephen took the time to remind us every 30 seconds once we got home from church that we needed to open presents.  I've never been so glad to open presents.  haha 
- Totally spoiled.  Stephen spoiled me as usual...and I would have spoiled him had his freaking present arrived on time!!!  Two weeks late and $150 in customs later....thank you ENGLAND!! ...he got his surprise.  And he loved it. 
- That about sums it up I think.  I love the whole spirit of Christmas.  Everyone is nicer, happier, kinder, more loving and giving.  I don't understand why we can't act that way all year, but I'll take the few weeks that I can get.  Now for some pictures!

see, they loved it!

little frozen babies

cute babushka baby

so done with sledding.  haha

Little cousins playing together.  So cute

Cute sisters!  I had one of Neechel and Cory but it was so blurry! FLIP!

The best of the best

Love this sequence of events.

1. Oh Malin

2. Balian: Oh, nice soother Malin

3. Balian:  I'll take that

Malin: Noooooo!

4. Malin: Give it back!

Tawni:  You guys are lame.  I'm outta here.

Most likely something in that mouth that shouldn't be...

Our ONLY family picture from Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

CHRISTMAS HAPPENED!

But before the big day...this had to happen.

NOBODY OR NOTHING GETS CUTER THAN THIS!! 

In fact, it's so cute it deserves a post all on its own.  Is it cocky of me to say I knew Balian wouldn't cry when he sat on Santa's lap??  Because I knew he wouldn't cry when he sat on Santa's lap!  He rarely plays strange with anyboy...which worries me if he were to get snatched.  He'd probably go right along with it.  It took about a good 30-second stare down of the jolly big man before he would honour us with the cutest smile in the world, but he did it.  I was such a proud mom.  Proud enough to go the ATM and fork over the ridiculous $7  to the CASH ONLY lady just so I could have proof of the magic moment.  So worth it.  And with the change we shared a plate of yam fries.  Perfect mother-son date. 

CRAP!!

It's official...i suck at blogging.  True...I THINK about blogging almost daily, but do I do anything about it?   Absolutely not.  It's sad.  I honestly do hope to do better in 2012.  So here's the start of a big sum up of December and the year 2011.  So sit back and relax.  this could be a doozie.

On December 7 our little bundle of joy turned 1!!!!  I honestly can't believe how fast the first year has flown by.  It's been such an exciting but busy year.  At times I honestly can't remember what our life was like before we had a little one.  What did we do???  We were never ones to go out with friends and party hard.  We're really really lame if you want to know the truth.  We must have watched a LOOOOOT of movies.  Oh well...i love how our life is now.  Balian keeps us busy and on our toes, and we just love watching him develop and figure things out. 

Balian JUST figured out how to crawl properly.  Up to this point he had a wicked army crawl that got him where he wanted to go just fine, and in 2 seconds flat.  Now that he's actually using his legs to crawl he's getting a lot stronger and will probably be walking in a month or two.....not really looking forward to that.  At his one year shots he was 19.2 pounds and 29.5 inches tall.  He still seems so little to me. 

He says bye bye on demand and will wave to you when he does it.  He says hi, especially when i go get him in the morning.  And when I ask for a kiss he leans his cheek in towards me.  He FINALLY says mama.  He's been teething so he's been attached to my hip lately and freaks if I even leave the room.  He's been saying dada for a while.  He's said wow and whoa and all those little noise words too. 

He's an awesome eater now...thanks to a little sisterly advice.  Apparently I was filling him up on milk.  How was I supposed to know!?!?!  The only way he'll eat fruit though is if it's covered in chocolate or as a fruit squeezie thing from costco.  He loves veggies...peas, carrots potatoes, green beans are his favorite.  He love shredded chicken and taco meat as well....and of course all his little baby snacks.

He is our little music baby.  He really has no desire to watch tv or movies.  A blessing and an inconvenience at the same time.  But he loves listening to music, hearing us sing, and apparently green day???  haha  I left the other day and Stephen was trying to calm him down so he turned to the green day concert on tv.  He sat there in a zone and watched it until I got home.  haha  hilarious.  Same thing at church.  If the choir is singing, he's silent and frozen for the entire song.  He also loves to watch the chorister and mimic her.  

Basically he's just the cutes best baby ever and he love him more and more everyday.  We did his birthday party on his actualy birthday, which fell on a crappy wednesday, but it was the only day that worked.  We just had aunts and uncles and grandparents over for dinner and cake and presents.  I made a saweet monkey case.  Totally proud of myself.  And Balian thought it was delightful enough to devour in 3 minutes.  My sweet tooth may or may not have been genetically passed on to him.  He got some awesome presents, a little ride on car from G&G McKee, a baby duvet from G&G Steed for the freezing cold nights in the basement, some bathroom toys from Great G&G Webster, a plethora of books from Aunti Neenee and Uncle Scott, and a cute little beanie baby from his buddy Tawni.  And we gave him some noisy train toy that he loves dancing to and a brand spankin' new car seat!!  He's riding in style forward facing now.  But don't tell anyone...because apparently he's not technically supposed to, but I think it's okay.  At least he's not just rolling around the backseat!!   


the handsome birthday boy



Booya!!

Success!!

The cleanup

Happy Birthday Mr. Handsome/Mister Mister/Bails/Cutes Magoots!!!

p.s.  minimum of three posts to come in the next few days so check back.....and comment....so i don't feel like a loser  :)

THE HAPPIEST OF DAYS!!

So it finally happened.  I turned 25.  Up until this point I never disliked getting older.  But this was the first birthday I was actually a little sad about getting older.  There's just something about 25 that seems so old.  haha  Okay, okay, I know it's not old, but for the first time I feel older.  If that makes any sense at all.  Anywho, Stephen must have taken pity on me or something after observing my self wallowing, because he went all out this year!!  It was fan-freaking-tastic.  First off on my actual birthday I finally got not one but TWO pairs of toms shoes.  Unfortunately it's pretty much winter, so they haven't got worn much yet, but they will come spring time.  I also got a mini cupcake maker.  LOVE.  Pretty sure I could eat cupcakes as three square meals a day, AND nutritionally justify it.  I'm going to test it out this weekend hopefully.  I also got some push-up bars.  I know you're probably all thinking, wow, what a nice husband for not so subtly telling me to tone it up.  Well, you can all calm down because I asked for them.  Because my lack of upper body strength is beyond embarrassing at the best of times. 


So then Stephen made me and my family my fave, lasagna with the works, for my birthday dinner, and my mom made my fave cheesecake.  Mmmmmm.  Good thing I got those push-up bars.....


So then Stephen tried to surprise me with a weekend getaway....but I found out.  So instead I got to help plan/convince him it was worth every pretty penny it was going to cost.  And IT WAS!!  We haven't gone away anywhere since our first anniversary, so it was very much needed.  I loved every second of it.  I missed Balian like crazy, but I loved being able to be just Janna and Stephen instead of mom and dad for a weekend.  And despite our best efforts to sleep in, Balian has officially ruined us.  We were the first guests to the breakfast buffet every morning, 6:30am on the dot.  That actually is considered sleeping in for us these days. 


So we went to Banff and stayed at the Banff Springs Resort, A.K.A. heaven on Earth.  I don't think we'll ever go anywhere else for a mountain escape.  We absolutely loved it.  We stayed on the Gold floor which comes with quite a few perks that make your stay just that much more luxurious.  So we left Saturday morning and bummed around Calgary for a couple of hours and got a little bit of Christmas shopping done because we couldn't check in until 4.  LAME!  But we ended up arriving at 2 and our room was ready.  Lucky for us.  Just to explain how NOT used to luxury we are, the check-in guy offered us hot towels when we arrived and we both kind of blankly stared at each other while we rubbed our hands in the most awkwardly way possible.  Trust me, it was awkward.  Eventually he just took them back.  haha  it was funny.  Then we were escorted to the guest loung where nightly they serve hors d'oeuvres (yup totally googled how to spell that), followed by a cookie and sweets bar around 7pm. 


Was it the best breakfast of my life x10 every morning?  YES.  Could I have had a satisfying dinner of of the hors d'oeuvres alone?  YES.  Did I take platefuls of sweets back to my room every night?  YES.  Loved. Every. Second. Of. It.  I love food waaaay too much.  It's a little bit of a burden. 


Sunday was devoted to the gondola and the spa.  This is our second time going on the gondola in the winter time.  Never again we vowed.  Ya...it's pretty.  But it's a waste of $60 because who wants to do the half hour hike up to the higher observation location in the bitter cold?!  I sure as heck don't.  So take my advice and gondola only in the spring and summer. 


The spa on the other hand.  Do that everyday....ALL DAY.  I am converted to the spa.  And bless my husband, he put aside his manly pride and showed that a man can still be masculine whilst getting a pedicure.  haha   Seriously though, I love that my husband will do things like that.  So we enjoyed a pedi together and then  I got a manicure while Stephen went and scoped out the rest of the spa for us.  We got full access to the rest of the spa because we did pedicures.  There were four different mineral pools all different temperatures and then an outdoor hot pool.  There were steam rooms and individual whirl pools, and then possibly the best showers/dressing rooms ever, complete with razors, deoderant, perfume, hair dryers, chi straighteners, clothes dryers, exfoliation centers etc.  It was divine.  Definitely the highlight of the trip for both of us. 


Pretty much the trip wasn't long enough. We could have easily stayed another two or three days.  I loved getting away with Stephen for the weekend and having him all to myself.  I encourage everyone to go....like right now. 


On our way!!

The view on the drive up

haha  the Van Burens!!  A little bit of an inside joke there.  But how wicked is this couple and this lady's cloak!!  You should have seen them get out of their car.  Hilarious! 

Going up the gondola

View from the observation deck

 

 Complimentary slippers.  Wore them every chance I had.....and brought them home with me.

 Roooom Service!!

I miss that bed :(

My lovely manicure.  totally forgot to take pictures of the pedis. 

The front lobby.  The whole hotel is gorgeous

So sad to leave

BOOOOOO!!!!
You better believe this post is 10 days late!!!  But geeesh, look how festive I am with my Halloween colors.  Who'da thunk I would actually enjoy, dare I say like....possibly even start to love Halloween!!!  Growing up I dreaded this holiday.  It could have something to do with the fact that my dear lovely mother, bless her heart, wasn't one to push the limits of imagination in the cosutme department.  I'm pretty sure I was a cat or a cheerleader until I was about 8.  And pretty sure my cat costume was black jogging pants, long sleeve black shirt, eyeliner whiskers and construction paper ears. Then I just switched back and forth between a hippie and witch.  Although I did spice it up one year and went as a China girl.  I was pretty proud of myself.   BUT I don't blame my mother.  It's a lot of work to think up creative costumes, then make them, then somehow convince your child to wear it with a smile. 

I thought I could force myself to like Halloween once I graduated and entered YSA.  Sure enough there was the dreaded Halloween dance.  Good thing my bestie freaking loves to dress up!!  Pretty sure she lived for Halloween.  She's hardcore and cool like that.  Shoutout to Joo for making the blog!!!

Anyway, she slapped together a pretty wicked paper bag princess costume for us our first year of school.  WHICH I then  forcfully  willingly  wore to school....the WHOLE day.  SO embarrassing.  But I love that I did it looking back.  Then we were Indians the second year of school.  Thankfully we were too cool to wear them to school that year.  But you better believe we rocked them at the dance every year!!  We got our pow wow on that's for sure.  Was that racist?  I hope not. 

Anywho....then I got married.  But wait!!  How ironic would it be if I got engaged on my least favorite holiday of the year??  Pretty dang ironic.  Mmhmm.  And we went allllll out.  Yup.  We booked out butts to Mark's Work Warehouse and bought us the best dang bandanas money can buy, and we rocked that look.  Not quite sure what look we were going for, but we were engaged and wearing banadanas and we couldn't have been happier!!  And how happy was I that I found someone that detested the holiday as much as I did.  Can anyone say meant to be.....

Then I somehow managed to escape the fateful dressup day three years running.  I'm pretty sure I picked up extra shows Halloween night as an excuse not to leave the house.  We were horrible and didn't even turn our light on for trick-or-treaters.  Who does that!?!?!

 Then we had a babe. The cutest babe that looks even MORE cute dressed up in ridiculous outfits!!!  And my Halloween hate turned into Halloween love.  I wanted a family theme because we would be going to our ward party, and my mom said there would be a prize for best family costume, and you bet your butt we were gonna win that prize!  Turns out my mom lied and there was no prize.....darn halloween party budget!  But I had already made the costumes and they were dang cute.  Stephen had to dress up for work, and because he was puking the night of the ward party he got to show off his finest fall fashion at work on Halloween day.  Unfortunately because of said puking incident we didn't get a picture of us together as a family in our costumes.  I'm going to make us all get dressed up someday and snap a picture but we're too lazy to right now.  So use your imagination and photoshop us all together in your minds.  Enjoy !!!