Kallie Paige is TWO!!!

Going in to blow out the candle...decided a scoop of icing was a better idea:) I caught her just in time...no little fingers in the cake!:)








All right, Kallie's been two for a few weeks now, and finally the birthday post! It's so incredible, I can't believe how fast these two years have just flown by! They've definitely been two of the best years of my life (with some bumps along the way:)! I just never could have imagined that being a mom would be this rewarding, and fun! Kallie is definitely at a super fun stage right now, and has us laughing all the time:)! I don't think I've done an actual update on her lately, so I'm going to do the 'list' to tell you all about our wonderful little two-year-old:)



1. Kallie is very affectionate:) She loves to give hugs and kisses to most people, and is known to chase her little friends yelling, 'I NEED A HUG!!!'

2. Kallie LOVES to colour! It's the one thing she asks to do 100+ times a day, and would be content to do for HOURS! We've had some issues with her understanding WHAT is an appropriate colouring surface...she's taken red marker to the couch, our coffee table is completely covered in crayon, and the worst...Lyndon's hard work building our stairs has been reduced to a scribbled mess of PEN on the bottom few stairs! He's actually going to have to re-sand and finish them! I have to say, that one was completely my fault...Kallie was in time out, and I had left a pen there...oops! We've become a lot more strict about it in the last month, and it is getting better...but she still has her moments:)

3. She loves to talk on the phone, especially with grandma, grandpa and auntie Dana! She asks to call them every day, and is SO CUTE talking to them:) She always ends the call with a kiss and hug...which is announced, and then the phone actually receives a kiss and a hug:)

4. Kallie can speak incredibly well. Yep, this is a mama bragging...sorry, but if I don't brag about my munchkin, who will? (other than crazy ridiculous proud grandparents;) According to charts at the doctor's office, she's speaking between a 4-5 yr. old level. Although, in all honesty, I'd say those charts have pretty low expectations of a 4 yr. old's vocabulary;) She can say 9 word sentences, and speaks very clearly. Some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth is just hilarious! She surprises us at least weekly with words she knows...it constantly amazes me how much toddlers absorb without us knowing it! I think what impresses me the most about Kallie's speaking is her ability to use proper grammar...she almost always uses the proper tense, connecting words, plural forms, and pronouns. She's making this ESL major mommy proud;) And it's definitely nice to know EXACTLY what Kallie needs/wants/is thinking (she'll tell you, don't worry!:), it makes our job as parents a lot easier!

5. She's a very compassionate little girl (as much as toddlers can empathize and show compassion:). Her favourite question right now is, 'Are you OK?'. This comes after anyone coughs, falls, makes an odd noise...whatever:) And after the person informs them they are ok, she will then tell everyone within earshot, 'he/she's ok. she's ok.' She also likes to 'pet' (her word:) kids heads when they're sad or hurt to make them feel better:)

6. Kallie's very musical. Something she inherited from the Wagenaar side, that's for sure:) She loves to dance and sing, and can actually carry a tune...something I have not been blessed with:) Thank goodness for more than one gene pool:)

7. Kallie LOVES attention! Some of her favourite sayings right now are, '(fill in name), look at me!' 'Watch what I can do!' 'Are you ready for this?' before she does something that will wow us!:) A lot of times it has us laughing b/c she doesn't actually know what 'trick' she's going to do until she has our attention, and then she has to think fast, which usually results in something ridiculous:)

8. Like almost all kids, Kallie loves to be outside! I'm so thankful for the nice weather, because we spend hours and hours outside every day. And I'm not sure what happened to me, the self-professed 'inside-aholic' (probably being cooped up with 5-6 toddlers and preschoolers all winter!), but I love being outside as much as possible too! Thank goodness, because then we're all happy:)

9. She loves to laugh, and does it really easily. I'm convinced there's no better sound to a mom's ears than her child/ren laughing a deep belly laugh of pure joy:) It makes my day everyday!:)

10. Kallie is quite stubborn and strong-willed. She's half-dutch, and her other half is me, so we know where she gets it from:) It's definitely a personality trait I want to encourage in her, but one we're also working on reigning in at times, as it can occasionally (and some days more than that!) show up as defiance. We're working on her listening and obeying skills, and it does seem to be getting better.

I'm sure I could go on for 100 more points, but in the interest of saving time and boredom, I'll stop:)



The pictures are from her birthday party, it was a total blast! My friend Cheryl got a lot more pictures, including some GREAT cake eating ones...I'll try to post those ones on Facebook. We had lots of friends over for a bbq, the kids played, the parents visited, and we all ate AMAZING food:) It was a great way to celebrate our wonderful little two-year-old!

Kallie Paige, you bring us more joy than you will ever know! We are so proud of you, and so thankful for you! God has blessed us richly with you! WE LOVE YOU:)!!!

Busy Week...But Worth It!

Yesterday was the culmination of an incredibly busy week before it! We had Kallie's 2nd birthday party at our house, with about 30 or so friends. It was an incredibly beautiful day, the sun was shining, the temperature was great, and we all had an amazing time! We had our first bbq of the season, and it was AWESOME!!! There's nothing better than being out in the sunshine with people you love, smelling bbq:) Since I've been so sick and tired the past couple of months, our house had fallen into a state of disrepair. Lyndon is awesome, and did lots of work, but it takes more than one adult to keep this place running:) So, I spent all last week deep cleaning the house, and folding every piece of clothing we own (confession: until last week I hadn't folded laundry since BEFORE EASTER!!! YIKES!). And then of course, there was getting ready for the actual party! Honestly, it was an exhausting week, I started to get sicker on Thurs. and Fri., but just had to push through and keep going so that we could enjoy Sunday. And it was definitely worth it!

I will be posting with pics later this week, and more details about the party and Kallie's second year. Literally, within minutes of the last guests leaving last night, I became stuffed up, and woke up with a cold this morning. My body is definitely crashing, I'm exhausted and nauseous more than usual, so I'm going to take the next few days easy, and will then get around to being productive again:)

Yesterday also marked 12 weeks of pregnancy! I'm so excited! I'm already constantly rubbing my belly (as was pointed out to me yesterday), which I find amusing, b/c I NEVER did that with Kallie, especially not this early! And I'm already showing, which is just amazing, b/c with Kallie, you honestly couldn't tell I was pregnant until 6-7 months...and even then, barely. I've already 'outgrown' pants that I was wearing at 6 months pregnant with Kallie! It's definitely fun having a belly already, as it felt like I was NEVER going to show last time! I'm hoping now that I'm moving into my second trimester, the nausea will subside, or at least the fatigue! Definitely not complaining, I realize what a privilege and blessing it is to be carrying this little miracle, and I don't want to take it for granted!

Hope you all have a great week, pictures coming soon!!!

Dinner Conversation...

Kallie: Where's your lid daddy?
Lyndon: I don't need a lid on my cup. You're little so you need a lid, but I'm big, so I don't need one.
Kallie: Oh. (very thoughtfully) Yeah, you're big. I can't lift you.

:)This just makes me smile...the mind of a two-year-old:)

Baby On The Way!!!

Yes, we are expecting!!! We're so thrilled to be pregnant, and excited that Kallie is going to be a big sister:)

So far the pregnancy has been very 'normal'...I've had a lot of 'morning' (aka 'all day':) sickness, and have been pretty exhausted, but just keep reminding myself that those sometimes overwhelming things point to an amazing little life inside of me:)

I'm looking forward to blogging about this pregnancy...hopefully this will mean more regular posts...no promises, though:) For now, thanks for sharing in our joyful news!

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I hope that all you moms are having a fabulous Mother's Day! I have to say, out of the three I've been able to celebrate as a mom (Kallie was born 1 day before Mother's Day), this has been my absolute best! Although, having a 1 day old baby was pretty amazing too:) We've had such a wonderful day together as a family, listened to a great, inspiring message at church, enjoyed a quiet lunch out together, and are getting ready to meet Lyndon's parents to celebrate with them! And, I got very spoiled this Mother's Day:) My birthday (and Kallie's) is only two days from now, so I got presents for both today, and feel very, very blessed:)

I had wanted a morning at the spa for my birthday/mother's day gift, and so I booked a manicure, pedicure and spa facial for a couple weeks from now, and when I mentioned something to Lyndon about how I had to be in charge of my own gifts, he assured me that he'd have something for me on the actual day. So this morning, we were all lying in bed together and Lyndon went downstairs to get something (obviously my gift;), and came back to give me a BIG box of my favourite chocolates (Laura Secord French Mints...I've definitely eaten a quarter of the box already!), and a really sweet card that played the country song, 'I'm going to love you forever, forever and ever, amen' (I'm not exactly sure of the title, but that's the main line in the song), and it totally made me start crying:) I thought it was so sweet...and THEN! Lyndon pulls out a PEOPLES box!!! I couldn't believe it! He bought me a beautiful diamond necklace, and I absolutely LOVE IT!!! I was completely crying then! I don't need really fancy or expensive gifts, but to see how much thought and effort went into this gift (I do all of our finances, so it took some very special planning for Lyndon to save for the necklace and buy it without me knowing:), I was so touched! I love my husband so very much, he has truly made this the most wonderful mother's day! I just felt so cherished and appreciated:)

I want to say to my mom and mother-in-law, you are both such special, incredible women, and we are SO thankful and feel SO blessed to have you in our lives! We love you so much!

When our Pastor was talking about moms today, and how it is truly a special calling, I was very reflective. Before I had Kallie, I just had no idea what a huge responsibility it is to raise a child, but even more than that, what an INCREDIBLE blessing it is! Being a mom is by far my favourite role in my life, absolutely nothing beats it:)! And I'm so thankful to have so many amazing mommy friends to share this journey with, it makes it even better:)

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, celebrating with your family!

As I said Kallie and I are celebrating our birthdays on Tuesday, so I am soon to be the mama of a TWO year old! I can't believe it! So look forward to a birthday post (with pictures this time!) celebrating our wonderful, sweet, Little Miss Kallie Paige!