Happy Easter.

Cute Bunny.
Having a family is amazing, incredible, glorious. I love my husband, our children (still in disbelief that we have two kids), and other family members.
We started with a treat by going to Port Stanley and riding on the locomotive, Gramma's and Grandpa's idea, all for Levi. Aunt Christy and uncle Dustin came too.
My son has an obsession with trains. When he meets someone, anyone he starts his conversation by "train tracks, train tracks???"  It was wonderful to see his many facial expressions. He saw two mascots the Easter bunny and Stanley the bear gave them hugs. At the end of the ride he asked "one more time".

On saturday night Ben and I , had fun getting things ready for Easter sunday. I sewed some bunny ears for Amaya, made her a flower headband. We hid about 40 eggs in our home, each egg had one mini chocolate egg. We video taped the whole thing. He went with his basket picking up the eggs. He was excited but even more when we told him to open them. That was his breakfast, chocolate mini eggs, almost all of them. 

We had Easter dinner at mom and dad's with Grammy, Carolyn.
It was a great long weekend to be together.

We are grateful to live near family and the many blessings we are given daily because of the Atonement. Our Heavenly Father truly loves us.

Spanglish

Levi says:"look at that ,avion". Avion means airplane. We are visiting Nana's house, so Levi says. Every time we come and see my parents and brother, we speak Spanish all the time.Levi is immersed and learning the language fully. His favorite words are: tortilla, leche chocolate, jugo ( tortilla, chocolate milk and juice). He is getting plenty of those things. My parents love to have the kids over. Amaya is a snuggle bug, loves to smile and talk. They are both getting lots of love.

My brother has been the best uncle ever. Bought Levi a Lighting McQueen hat, he wears it all the time and has been so patient with him. Terrible two's also means he terrorizes not only Maya our family dog but people too. Levi loves his uncle and wants him to be with us everywhere he goes.
Our goal this week has been to go to as many playgrounds as possible during our stay. We have been to 8. If we go to anymore playgrounds we'll need to take the bus, that s too far. The weather has been so great to us, we've been out for more than 4 hours a day in the outdoors. We've all tanned, except for the baby. It's amazing to get some sun. How wonderful!
During our walk today, we saw the Via Rail train twice. We waved and got to hear the train horn. Levi was so happy, "Thomas!".

Finally some pictures!

       

Daddy with Amaya in her Sunday dress.

We are busy these days. Amaya is already two months. She is weighing more than 12 pounds. She can sit in her Bumbo chair without a towel, lift her head for a long time, stand on her feet for a while. We feel she is ready to use the Jumperoo. I love dressing her up, dressing her in the dresses and headbands Abuelita Clarita has bought her. She is adorable and loves to chat with me. She has a killer smile like her daddy and the cutest cheeks that you just want to eat. We love her.   At Amaya's first month check up, the nurse wanted to help me take her out of her carseat while I was helping Levi with his coat. Levi suddenly said : "NO!" No to the nurse , she wasn't aloud to touch his baby. He is a great big brother. Another Levi moment was when he was going to bed this week. He said :" Good night Daddy, I love you Daddy, Be right back Daddy" He didn't get back but went to sleep in less than 3 minutes. We were having a hard time to put him to bed, the kid wasn't sleepy and it was past 10pm. No naps have been our solution. We do not get a cranky toddler just a more mellow one and we are happier parents.   

We had a nice visit last month to see my parents and brother in Ottawa. The trip felt long but it was worth it. As you can see, Levi loves his uncle and our dog. He was tormenting her so much, living creatures are so interesting to him. My mom spoiled us with dinner every night and Dad with chocolate milk. The kids loved been with them.
We had friends come and visit and was able to catch up on things. I loved been there and was so sad to leave. I feel we live too far from them and wish we could be closer. Only time will tell.

Other updates: Ben is in school, hoping that it can end soon. One more school year and he will or not. He is also working and fulfilling his calling to his best abilities. He is tired, overwhelmed and in love with his family. He is wonderful. He has a new hobby, collecting hockey cards and making money selling it. He sold a  Nugent Hopkins rockie card for 800$. That was amazing and had to take a picture of it with Levi and himself. Horray for Daddy!!!

As for me sewing has not been my priority but did make two bibs for Levi. I am reading again, this time two books: The wonder of Girls and The Help. I am also learning a more of a new subject every week. This week is Global Warming. Do not ask me anything about it, I am not an expert but just trying to learn more about it. So far that is all that has been happening around here.  Here are more pictures of our family, silly and cute photos. Enjoy!

Daddy and Levi celebrating their find, a Nugent Hopkins Rockie card

Levi playing with the I-touch

Levi, Gramma, Carolyn and Ben playing Pizza Party.

Visit from Sharon

Happy Birthday!!!

 Levi's 2nd birthday was a blast. Our little boy didn't have any idea what was going to happen that day. We celebrated at Gramma's and Grandpa's house.

Our theme this  year was trains. I made a Thomas the tank Engine Train cake. As you can see it was super sweet, I ended up with a sugar high and so did Levi. He and Landon had so much fun devouring it. The toppings were: Oreo cookies for the wheels, sour peeches for the lights, Smarties for the quarry, gummy bears for the animal cage, ice cream cone as a funnel, black licorice for the train track and us as the passengers. The train is covered with CoolWhip. Sugar overload. The salads we made tasted even better after the cake.

We are so grateful for everyone who came and everyone who helped. I know Levi enjoyed himself and felt everyone's love. Thanks everybody and wished others would have come.  Levi is our beautiful little boy, we are so proud of him. He has achieved his milestones. He definitely has over 200 words. We love been his parents.                                                                                                               

The Big Push

My husband said this week "Having one is easier than having two." He was referring to kids. I have to agree but I would not go back to having just one child. We were blessed with Amaya Maria Cole, our new addition to our family. She was born on the 29th of December 2011, at 4pm, weighing 8.1lbs ,21" long. It came as a surprise to us, we were told she would be smaller than her brother.

Here is our story. I was due on the 22th of December. I had seen my obstetrician a day before my due date and asked to be induced. I somehow knew that she would not come on time and was schedule for an induction on the 27. I had the joy of getting again the foley catheder, not really!. Surprisingly it wasn't as painful as the first time.

We arrived at the hospital the next day before noon. I was given small amounts of oxytosin. It made my labor longer than needed.

One question that I've asked myself is, When does labor start? I soon figured it out, when I started having contractions. The epidural didn't exactly work, so I was in agony for 18 hours. I did not scream, swear or cry. I kept thinking " suck it up! million of women have had kids before , I can do it too."                               

I was so happy to have my husband by my side. He only felt sick twice during the whole experience. We were glad that mom Cole was around to help out. Ben was able to rest and I was never left alone. All I wanted was him there, knowing that we were doing this together, sharing everything, every special moment. When the doctors came in to deliver Amaya the nurse told me " this is the worst part- pushing. It takes on average 2 hours to deliver from now on." I was so disappointed and mortified that I would feel more pain than what I had felt earlier. When the pushing started, I didn't feel much pain. I can say that it was not the worst part. When she came out, I cried of joy. She was there, our baby girl. She looks like her daddy. We love her.

You're my Pumpkin.

Wonderful October.
This month was great. Ben and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. So much has happened since we knelt at the altar and were sealed for all time and eternity.
We moved from Nova Scotia, started a family, and changed career plans. All great things.

We had a great feast at El Ranchito. We ordered all we desired and left smiling  and aching of satisfaction, basically we pigged out. It is somewhere we wish to return soon. And it was our first night without our adorable son. His first stay at Gramma and Grandpa for the night. We missed him and were at the same time grateful to get the best sleep we've had since his birth. Sleeping in is a luxury as parents. Also I can not forget to mention that Ben gave me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I've ever seen, they lasted me over 2 weeks. I love flowers but my husband way more.

HALLOWEEN!
Our theme this year was Star Wars. We had hoped to borrow our friends costumes of Princess Leia and Darth Vader. Sadly it didn't work out. Ben ended up been schedule to work that night. We had no costumes, only Levi did have one. He was Yoda. Before going to my in-laws, I found for 20$ a Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper costume. I miraculously fit in the Storm Trooper costume with my big belly and went out with Levi to trick-o-treat.  We knocked 12 doors and then Levi said to me "Up!" I knew then, it was time to head back. Levi is too big and must be weighing about 30lbs.

So here are some comments we received that night: "That is adorable", "What a cute Yoda" , "What a cute sheep" What a cute rabbit". I really tried to hold it in. It was Levi's first time going out for the hunt, he was confused to knock at people's doors and receiving candy. He does not eat candy but we did get healthy fruit bars.

Here are a few things Levi has been doing lately: identifying cars: tatas van, grammas car, tells you that he is filling his pants but will say no! if you ask, dances to all sounds: classical music ,printer ,washing machine , salsa music, learning to put words together, a little helper with laundry, cleaning, garbage and recycling. Two of my new favorite words are "O-ha" = oja = leaf in spanish, "an-hahaha" = naranja = orange in spanish.
Oh and I did finish Levi's quilt about  a month ago, just take a look at him laying on it on my front page. It turned out great. Levi loves it.

Velvita cheese!

 Time is tickin'. I am over 30 weeks and getting nervous. Taking care of two is not my biggest worry, only the D-day. All I want to see happen is my husband by my side when Zoe comes to join us. Yes! Her name is Zoe but only to me. Ben has yet to come up with another name that we both will approve, that or she will be Levi #2. I've searched for her name, prayed about it and went to the temple to receive an answer and I made up my mind. Marriage does not permit me to be selfish and I agree. It will be a joint decision.
Zoe is definitely making herself notice these days. Every night, I feel so bloated and uncomfortable. Like my belly cannot stretch out any more but it can. For my first pregnancy, my innie bellybutton became an outie. Pregnancy #2 has not yet. Levi enjoys saying Hi! to Zoe, rubbing my belly and hugging it. Its sweet, I'm sure he knows mommy is going trough something and maybe that there is truly a baby inside, who knows. Siblings are great, I know he'll be happy to be a big brother. Thanks Virginia for the Big Brother to be t-shirt you gave us and Zoe's first pair of shoes.

October is an important month for us. It will be our third wedding anniversary. I've been looking at our wedding pictures and Levi's first year album and feel overjoyed to have been so blessed and know that we are sealed for all time and eternity. Every one in the world can receive these blessings, it just a matter of choosing to have them. Heavenly Father loves all His children, it's true. Once you know of His love, it will change your life forever.
October is going by pretty quickly, we were sick for 2 weeks, Thanksgiving dinner with my and Ben's family,had a Swap event at Virginia's (it was a hit!) and will be going to a Baby Halloween Party. Levi will be Yoda this year, Ben as Darth Vader and hopefully I will find mine soon.
Ben is crazy busy these days with school and work, he has been lacking sleep all week. He is currently having a nap with Levi. I love seeing them together awake and asleep. We are so blessed.

Funny story this week. Levi was snooping under the bathroom sink and found one of my pads (new of course) and called it "cheese". He was confused with the Velvita cheese squares I purchased last week. He is a cheese monster. We had a good laugh.