Learning not to Take for granted...

A few days ago I got some awful news about a old friend of mine. His daughter was found unresponsive at daycare. They started CPR and airlifted to Emergency. They got her breathing but it was too late, and the following morning they waited until her Grandparents from Canada met them and they pulled the plug. Her twin sister died a little while after birth, so this is the second baby this family has had to bury. She was a little older them Charley and their first daughter is a little older then Frankie. Just thinking about it makes me cry, I cannot fathom how these poor people can get through this.
Earlier in this day I was having some , er, challenges with my Frankie. Seems Frankie thinks she gets whatever she wants whenever she wants. She was challenging her father the night before and he yelled at her, so this morning he asked me to see if I could find the roller skates that she wanted. So we were out at Zellars trying to find the said roller skates. After 6 this is MINE and I AM TAKING THIS, I told her she was being bad and told her that she may not get anything today including roller skates. This sparked the tantrum. Full on screaming, yelling, hitting. I pulled into a quiet isle where she shrieked "don't touch me!" which prompted 2 or three other shoppers to come and check make sure I wasn't strangling my child. I lifted her up, threw her over my shoulder and wheeled Charley into the elevator where an elderly type told her she was too cute to cry and that she deserved a present! (Thanks lady, that was a big help) I was furious and told her so, and told her not to talk to me until I calmed down. After we got home and I was ready to talk I started to explain that she doesn't get 'something' every time we go and she rolled her eyes at me and said "whatever Mom"!!
It took everything I had to not snap on the little monster. I sent her down to her room to play and I zoned out on the computer for a few minutes....that was when I saw the news about my friends daughter. His poor unresponsive baby.
I'll take my screaming, tantruming child any day.
It only takes a second to realize that an entire day of stress and anger was for nothing, nothing of any importance. Don't get me wrong, the kid isn't getting roller skates any time soon, but I will not waste anther moment being angry about it. She and her sister are alive and screaming-I'd better not complain about it.

Calgary

So after Mom, Dad and Kristi and Alex came out here we surprised Dad with a 'trip' home! Surprise Dad, you get to drive home with a toddler, a baby and Me! We had a flight booked from Calgary home for the following week. The drive went smoothly and the girls we excellent passengers. At home we shocked Leanne and Sabrina which was a nice surprise!! A relatively uneventful week-due to the bad weather, we did alot of shopping! We did get one hour in at Sicome beach, where Frankie puddled around in her underwears until the giant black rain clouds came. We did go to a giant pool in Airdrie, and played with Leanne and Sabrina in there. Frankie was able to jump off the edge without my hands in hers so that was good. Charley likes the water too, although she was a bit tired while we were there.
Frankie slept with Grammy and Poppa the entire time we were there, so I felt bad for them-she tosses and turns like a snake in the grass. She even pushed Grammy out of bed one night, but they insisted so i didn't let them complain too much!
The flight home was great, I have two great little travelers on my hands. Frankie loved that she gets her own seat now and she feeds off the special attention that the flight attendants give her. Charley slept pretty much the entire way. We were happy to get home and sleep in our own beds, like we always are after a few nights away. Frankie understands the concept now that we live in one place and Grammy and Poppa live in another city, and another province. Most days she can name them too, which is cool. All in all another great vacay home to Calgary! Quag and I keep joking that one day in 17-18 yrs we will go on a vacation somewhere other then Calgary, and not with either of our parents! One day..........

Slow down, it's moving to fast!

Frankie got her big girl bed. A double bed with her crib back as the head board. We went out and bought new big girl bedding which was a pink flowered quilt with 2 shams. Very delicate, very girly, very pretty and a calming effect for her hot pink bedroom. She was a little apprehensive at first but a few minutes with her dad and a promise that we would read to her in bed and she was hooked. Looking in on her while she was sleeping just about brought tears to my eyes. She looked so little in her big girl bed. Just like when she was so little in her crib after she moved out of the bassinet. She woke up so proud of herself. She yelled up to me "Mommy, come get me out of my big girl bed, I had a GRRRREEEAAT sleep!" After the first night, and morning, she just comes upstairs on her own, but that first morning she just wanted me to see her in her big bed!
Quag called me from work to see how she slept and he told me HE almost cried thinking about it. Our little frankie, in her big bed!
Charley is also growing too fast for comfort. She started to say Dada at almost 8 months and she army crawls around like crazy. Her little bedonk da donk gets up in the air but she isn't "crawling" yet. She IS however standing up against the ottoman be herself for a minute or so at a time and she is starting to vocalize a lot more. She has also taken a few steps holding on to my fingers and she is SO proud of herself as she does!! She is a happy little thing, LOVES being talked to and lights up when he sister starts to play with her.
The differences between them is almost comical. Frankie was happy to sit and play with toys or look at books, Charley won't sit still. Frankie had an extensive vocabulary at this age, saying things like dada, yum yum, football, no, mama...Charley isn't saying anything but Dada. Frankie was (and still is) a picky eater, Charley eats anything you put in front of her. If you said no to Frankie over something (like getting close to outlets) she wouldn't look at them again, Charley heads for them everytime with a grin back at you like 'try and stop me'! Where Frankie is timid about heights and 'dangerous' things Charley seems to dive head first into it. She even trys to slide head first off my legs!
I love that my girls are so different. I love that they both seem to be thriving off each other too. I just wish that time would slow down a bit, it all seems to be moving to fast...........

Pre-Summer Vacation

So the last two weeks have been a whirlwind! First Kristi and Alex came out to visit and to see UFC fighting at Rogers Arena. The same day Grammy and Poppa drove out and Quag and I went to Sarah and Tanners wedding in downtown Vancouver. Fun was had by all (except for maybe grammy and Poppa!) The next day Quag and I and the girls went to WhiteRock with Grammy and Poppa and played at the beach all day and walked the boardwalk. It was the first nice day in MONTHS and we loved it. Frankie loved playing in the ocean which was as warm as soup! The tide came in and almost washed our shoes away so we headed down the mile long pier then had some fish and chips! A super day that's for sure!
The rest of the visit was a whirlwind of shopping adventures, baths, bedtimes and meals it seems! We got Quag his birthday gift which was a new mailbox, we installed Frankies mailbox right next to it to match too! For fathers day, we were going to be away in Calgary so we rushed to get a new stepping stone done for Quag, which I hid in plain sight in the garage! he sounded surprised when we told him where it was so I don't think he found it before hand. The next post will be all about our adventure to Calgary.....but for now---whiterock beach!

Frankie in the morning...

So we have been having some issues with Frankie getting up at the crack of dawn lately and today was no exception. At 5:40 am she comes into our room and whispers "Mom, Mom, I think it is time to get up...." I glance at the clock and sure enough Q is sleeping in. I rouse him then tell Frankie to climb in on her Dad's side. She says she wants a snack and to watch cartoons. I sigh and relent. I have no inclination to try to persuade her at 5:40 am. As I am getting out of bed and groaning she grabs my hand and skips excitedly and says "Come on Mom, it's time to face the day!!"
How could you not love getting up to that!

Charleys Ramblings

So at 7 months Charley isn't as vocal as Frankie was but she gets her point across. If there is something she wants she gets it. She rolls, scoots and army crawls her way to it. If she is on your lap she will wait for a moment of relaxation on your part and dive for it. In a moment of 'chattiness' she will say ta-ta and blows raspberries. but no real words yet. It really is remarkable to see the differences in the two girls. Where Frankie was very verbal and engaged in talking, Charley is more mobile and interested in moving. Frankie was a picky eater and only liked certain things, Charley will eat anything (other than bananas) put in front of her. Frankie was not a great sleeper, she always wanted to be up and with people, Charley has been sleeping through the night since day one pretty much.
Charley loves to watch her sister and laughs when Frankie plays with her. When Frankie is tired however she tends to get a bit rough, but Charley seems to take it all in stride and will let us know when she is really hurt.
Just yesterday she popped up on all fours. She didn't crawl but is very close. Until then she is content to roll and now she scoots by pulling her self around and pushing with her toes.

The first day...

Here is the first day of our blogging experience. I wanted to start to tell my girls the story of their everyday life and I figure check in on the computer at least once a day and therefor have two or three minutes to type about it everyday. I can't promise that I will do it everyday, but I will try. The idea came to me while all 4 of us were squirming around in bed this morning and Quag's alarm went off with David Bowie singing China Girl. Frankie immediately started dancing and started singing some of the words.....where did she learn the words??? "Oh baby, just you shut your feet" she sings.........
Currently my daughter Frankie is 2 1/2 and Charley is 7 months. They are growing so fast and want a place where I can capture the everyday wonders that we accomplish. So here is our blog. I hope they can look back on it when they are older and it serves as a giant album into their childhood.
On that note, I am not sure how blogs really work or how you do it, so here it goes....hope we can figure it out as we go.......