Good Things

This blog has been way too negative lately.

Despite appearances, I'm actually very content and feel incredibly fortunate. I often feel like an ocean during a storm, though. On the surface I am rocky, responding to the daily challenge of being a mother to two small children, but beneath the surface I am calm and steady and just observing what is going on outside. Which is often really great!

- The cat I don't like? My children LOVE her, as does my husband. Angel is a very sweet cat, incredibly patient and affectionate. When my son's asleep, Angel she sometimes comes over and licks him, quite maternally. When he's awake, she runs :) haha. When my daughter is awake, she is ok and comes right on over to her to be pet.

- I applied to college and got into all the programs I chose! It's not 100% yet but I may be entering the court and tribunal administration program (2 years, 20 hrs a week.) I'd rather not go back to work until Oliver starts school (3 yrs from now) but we could use a lot more money and my husband loves his job and doesn't want to look for one that pays better, or offers benefits, or any stability. . .so it's up to me! I chose that program because I think it'd be interesting to work in the courts, plus it's a government job which means pension, good benefits, and stability.

- We're all healthy and have a pretty good time together. We go on outings, to the movies, museums, play centres, parks. I love spending time with all of us.

- Every Sunday, for a few months now, minus a few exceptions, we've been getting together with my sister and her family. She's the one that had twins a while back; they're 2 now. Our children love each other, seriously they do not stop kissing and cuddling -- it's really sweet. I enjoy chatting with my sister and my brother-in-law. We alternate who we go to each week, the hosting family makes a big meal and also serves dessert afterward. We spend around 4 hrs together. This is why we stayed in Ontario -- for them! So I'm glad we're actually seeing each other often, now. We're also looking forward to living on the same street one day so we can all easily wander to and from each other's homes. I've been living apart from my immediate family since I was pretty young so it's really, really good to connect like this. We also talk on the phone at least once a day. My sister has become my best friend.

- Victoria's school is pretty nice, despite the fundraising method I did not like (my parents, my sister and I all contributed to that dance-a-thon by the way.) She seems happy there and she's learning so much! I teach her a lot at home as well, we go over some stuff everyday. She's become pretty good at reading basic words and doing basic math. She just turned 4 on Dec. 21st. What we focus on the most, I guess, is learning how to write. Last week she finally finished memorizing how to spell and write her entire first name: Victoria Elle. Just in time to sign all those Valentine's cards :)

- Oliver is such a great eater, it's such a relief after trying to get V to eat. She'll say, "ewww" and push away her plate, Oliver says, "mmmm" and digs in! He loves eating! He eats pretty much anything. He takes food right out of my hands, like nachos and salsa. Last week, he started copying me and dipping too, then decided he loved the salsa and just grabbed the dish and was pouring it into his mouth! haha, he's only 15 months old.. .he just eats everything. V didn't get any junk cause I wanted to make sure the little she did eat was nutritionally dense, but since Oliver eats so much I don't mind if he eats things like nachos and salsa sometimes. He makes "mmmm" sounds as he eats, smacks his lips, he truly enjoys eating. It's awesome and makes parenting him that much easier. V is slowly increasing the types of foods she eats, for example she will finally eat sandwiches now, but only cream cheese, with the crusts cut off and cut into cute shapes.

I've finished decorating both kids' rooms. I will take more photos of V's this weekend and will share them then!