hoppy easter.

the past four days were literally a wonderful whirlwind.

our first roadtrip home since the you.know.what. [divorce]. our first long drive [and by long we are talking up to 5 hours] since potty training. a lot of people to see. a lot of memories to make. an important easter lesson to learn. a lot of fun to be had. we surprised gran di on her birthday & took her out to dins to kick off a hectic/busy/unreal long weekend.

you know how we love lists right?

1. total boy time. between the collection of dirt bikes next door and a weekend filled with hometown friend playdates, marcus was totally indulged in pure boyhood goodness:

2. total mommy time. he wasn't the only one who got to have some playdates. thank goodness for g-parents.
3. we met the real.live.are.you.kidding.me. easter bunny. in all of it's glory. marcus totally loved it. he high fived, he hugged, i giggled knowing it was one of my fave fam friends under that bunny suit loving up all the kids. huge thank you for letting us get in on that easter bunny goodness.

ps. top left: our colourful copilots on the drive there. made the drive go by much faster ;) thanks kt and ranch!

4. so much fam time. marcus got to spend time with my extended fam, and we hadn't been home since t-gives so i was feeling a little [a lot] homesick before we went. we love our hometown fam so much and it was so nice to connect with our cousins, aunts, uncles, new puppies, g-parents, the whole nine. love.
5. marcus got to paint his first easter eggs with his grandmama! so cute. for 1, check her out just totally doting on marcus and coaching him through the entire process. for 2, check out marcus totally loving every colourful [messy] minute of it.

6. christ church. the tiny church in burritts rapids that i grew up in. getting to take marcus there a few times a year is such a huge deal to me. we did some awesome empty tomb crafts in sunday school and remembered what easter is actually all about while sneaking chocolate eggs under the sunday school table. again, love.
7. i took marcus over to my grandma's house after church. he's old enough now that i could at least try to explain who lived there and he seemed to really get it, saying to me "so mommy, when you was just a little girl, did you come see your grandma here? like i go see my grandma and gigsy?" [gigsy is the dog]. again, kind of a big deal to me.
8. eating ice cream and anitiquing and hanging out by the water in merrickville. i totally wish i had taken a photo of that afternoon.
9. easter hunting. my parents may or may not still put on an elaborate easter hunt for my twenty-eight year old sister and my twenty-seven year old self. this year it was extended to marcus and grady obv. the four of us tore up the property, finding gifts hanging in trees and hidden in raccoon holes and everywhere in between. so much fun. we are kind of spoiled rotten but we love it. so should you.
10. getting home safe. driving 4-5 hours with my little guy after such a busy, long weekend is a tall order. we are totally blessed to have our family and friends and support back home. and also blessed to get back here to our own beds safe and sound.

we hope you had an unreal long weekend, filled with people who matter to you. there were so many moments of that weekend that i stopped and thought about the real significance of easter and how blessed each of us are. i kind of hope you did too. or that you at least sneaked a chocolate egg under the table ;)

happy easter peeps.

-kare
xo

houston: we have a belieber.

more like we have a problem.
some toddler boys love elmo. some love lightning mcqueen. some love bob the builder and others love buzz or woody or if you don't get the point by now stop reading and close the browser window.

just kidding.

i kind of. may have. contributed to. created a monster.

it started about 2 years ago. when i started listening to justin bieber [a moment for you to stop laughing and catch your breath? yes, i am [a very young] 27. yes, i love me some bieber. i have used the term 'bieber fever' even. moving on.

i started listening to the biebs in the car with marcus. i would sing. he would sing. he would say 'mom! this is my part' and came to know every word. then he mastered his 'rapper face' and would even bust that out when the bridge/rap came in.

cue when the kid turned about 18 months. we let him watch biebs on ellen. he has never been the same. he idolizes the biebs. he watches the music vids. he knows every word - even to the christmas album. the music is totally kid-appro and kid-approved to boot. what's not to love.

now, he watches bieber vids on youtube on sunday afternoons and studies [seriously] every move and mimicks each kick, each choreo'd hand gesture [not that one. he's two people]. he loves it. and yesterday i just about died in both laugher and horror of what's to come - he was watching a bieber vid and said 'take off my t-shirt. i need to get my bieber shirt on.' so i laughed and helped him take off his pj top. he ran to his room and found a hoodie exactly like in the video, and his leather bomber to boot. then he asked me to do his hair like bieber. and pants like bieber 'peeeez mum' [thankfully my child only wears skinnies. we are on board].

the end product? a very happy but seriously.don't.disturb.me.when.i'm.watching.bieber.on.youtube. marcus james:

a side shot of his rapper face:

it would all be cute and said and done except that today he did not want to wear anything that didn't look like bieber. and it does sting when i try to jump in on his performances and he throws it down: 'mommy. stop singing. this is my part.'. ouch. okay. point taken.

so basically the kid has some serious swagger. [yes i just said swagger. and i'm a suburban soccer mom. that's funny.]  we can deal. and his performances of baby/somebody to love/mistletoe/every song ever recorded by the biebs are pretty unreal. and if you're still shaking your head because i too love me some biebs - then shake away. because i have myself a two.year.and.six.month.old to back me up as a belieber ;)

-kare

home is where the hot wheels are.

well, we turned an important page in starting this new chapter, and officially are settled into our new coordinates. i've been hard at work in the early and late hours in the day turning this beautiful, new-and-smells-like-it, perfectly cozy condo into our home.

it is far from finished [just like us] but i can tell that marcus feels really grounded here, and has already found a good sense of comfort in our new home. [ps. he calls it 'our new home'. it is cute] altho it isn't a 4 bdrm semi like we came from, it strangely feels like there is more living space for us both to enjoy - maybe it's the comfort of the carpet to play on or just smart use of space. either way, it is all kinds of awesome.

here are some of marcus' favourites:

the name train from italy. no really it was a gift from italy. love uncle brucie and aunty lynz.

i was a little apprehensive about setting up his play space in his bedroom, but he loves being able to access everything and hasn't [YET] sneaked out of bed to play.

a six foot tall castle doubles as a great hiding place to do some reading.

weekly picks for the reading nook.

organized chaos on one of his faves: the beloved car mat.

these little dinos actually fit together into a perfect 3d puz. they double as perfect decor. well, we think so.

and yes, as always, pants are optional.

i will totally post some of 'my' favourite touches later in the day - but wanted to share 'his' first.

can i also tell you how cool it is to have a laundry room that is on the same level as everything else? it's across from the kitchen and makes chores all-too-easy. i even have my own office! it's the only room that isn't totally unpacked and set up, but everything i need on the daily is accessible and the rest will come with time. as in, like, three days or so ;)

we have been so lucky [blessed actually] to have had some of our fave fam come up and help with the move, awesome support in finding a great place, friends who are as excited as we are for this new chapter, and a ton of other blessings that we don't ever take for granted.

it's just like all of the parts of this 'page turning' that i anticipated being the toughest are instead being laid out in front of us to just delight in and eat up and pay forward.

so we will.

have a great sunday and enjoy the sunshine ;)


-kare + marcus

crouching tiger sleeping toddler.

i'm about to unveil a secret. a big one.

you know those mothers who everyone loves to hate who are all 'oh my child sleeps through the night no big deal.' when the baby is still basically in utero? and their hair is blowdried and make up applied and somehow there are no bags under their eyes and they even have on mom jeggings and not the standard lulu lemon new-mom uniform?

[i was totally one of those moms]. truth times? i was a babywise mama.

[gasp.]

cue the axe throwing. cue the torches. cue the hate mail. but before you press 'post comment'. wait just a minute.

i was 23. and totally pregnant. and it was totally not in the plan. i worked for an incredible mother of two who has it all and then some, including well-adjusted, independant-and-they-know-it, wonderful and respectful little boys. so i asked her for her secret. i had already figured out how to be knocked up and keep things fairly fabulous. but i had only ever held a baby once. one.single.time. at my god-daughter's baptism. for a photo. then passed her back promptly because i was so scared of her crying. with love.

so my fabulous boss casually says 'oh. there is a book. i'll lend it to you.'

the book changed my life. it really contributed to the unique way we raised marcus, alongside enough other parenting books to start either a library or earn me a masters in motherhood 101. i didn't follow it to an organic tee; i used the foundational elements of the theories to shape my own style of parenting.

i breastfed the kid like a champ. and he was a tank so it was not easy to keep him full. i supported him, loved him, and shaped the security and stability in our routine that quickly led to an incredible level of trust and respect in each other. he started sleeping 12-13 hour stretches at 7 weeks and 1 day old. but that was more of a bonus than the best part. i went on to read toddlerwise and pottywise too. and my son has had less than a handful of 'terrible two' tantrums, and woke up one morning at two years and five months and decided on.his.own.without.any.push.or.ridiculous.pressure. that he would start wearing underwear instead of diapers.

to this day, when marcus takes the lead and shows me every angle of the miniature man he has become, i think of that series of books.

and on a side note, the kid sleeps like a hibernating bear. a solid 11 hours at night. and a solid 2 hours during the day. try to wake him? this happens:

so don't judge a book by it's hate mail/hate blog groups/misinterpretations.

and if you do leave me hateful comments, i'll happily respond to them while my toddler is sound asleep.

hate on haters. or, if you want to borrow one of those books, just ask.

-kare

happy fam jam.

today was family day. an actual holiday to remind us of how much we have to love and appreciate about each other. and not only did we get to spend it with cousins, [some] parents, siblings and friends, but we also got to spend a lot of q.t. together.

just me and my marcus:

things we did this weekend:

1. my dad [aka. bmoc aka mega don] and di came to visit! so did my sister laura! and tyler! and grady!
2. saturday morning soccer with little kickers football club [LK FC]
3. we moved [! more details to come. get your jaw off the ground. it happened fast and we are freaking happy about it].
4. we went to harveys [don't panic. after the move it was well deserved plus we got about 47 pickles on the side wrapped up like a separate entity aka meal. awesome.]
5. we had our new condo painted. a beautiful awesome gray shade. grey or gray? grey? gray? the paint sample said grey. it wins.
6. i ran.
7. marcus had his first sleep in his new room [which has a six foot tall caste in it. no biggie.]
8. mommy had her first sleep on a pile of mattresses because my goodness i am busy and by busy i mean fearful of the ikea bed in a box that lays next to the mattresses.
9. we had a fancy breakfast with grandpa and gran di at their hotel and marcus behaved like a champion breed of toddler. is that rude? it's supposed to be funny. not rude. basically i'm saying he didn't break anything, he didn't need a high chair, he ate like an unfed horse [seriously i do feed him often and healthy eats], and didn't scream out any nightmarish squeals that would have put one of the oldies next to us into cardiac arrest.
10. we went to wal mart.
11. we went to ikea.
12. we came home and i found out that marcus is nowhere.close.nowhere.not.even.a.little.bit.like.a. serious.longshot.away.from. being a cool cucumber without his afternoon nap. the child loves him a good nap. who can blame him. so when i brought him home to unviel our new GREY walls at 4:30 he was in a coma. an ikea 75 cent hot dog coma.
13. don't judge our diet we had a lot going on. everything in moderation or in the case of an ikea hotdog, twice annually?
14. we slept in on family day. what a treat. what a wonderful little handsome and well behaved son i have.
15. 'someone' turned my neat piles of ikea dresser tools and screws and goodness into a 'construction site' for their 'tonka dumptruck [thank you kara pratt]' and now my dresser has one drawer left out because the tonka must have dumped one of the dresser drawer rails in a mystery zone. that's funny huh.
16. we walked around our new hood and staked our territory and put organic cotton tea towels in our back pockets instead of bandanas so that the winston churchill suburban gangs would know where to find the organic homemade oat crust mini pizzas and butternut squash pancakes.
17. we went to the library.
18. we went to chapters and got a book called 'dinosaurs divorce' for kids life lessons. i think i am onto something here.
19. i ran again. i kicked my measly 5k's butt today! and it felt good! and i think i might end up liking running! squee! cue the skip it and me running up the stairs like rocky. [it's rocky right?]
20. i watched moneyball. what an awesome movie. did your version come with heart stickers on it? mine did. that's weird. great movie. definitely watch it whether you're interested in sports, business, brad pitt, baseball or all of the above.

this short list is about 10% of what we accomplished this weekend. i can't wait to go to a hot yoga class tomorrow and celebrate my longest run to date and dedicate all of the energy and love i can muster up to the people who commented on my discouraged running blog post a few days ago. mom, alicia, andrea, erin e, erin w, alicia, crystal, jilly, yen: thanks ladies. i had a great run today and will totally hope to send you the best energy i can tomorrow in return. xo

happy fam day. whether yours is near or far, i hope you soaked it in and enjoyed the extra day to love big this weekend.

-kare

kindergym olympics.

last weekend, marcus and i wrapped up this season's kindergym with his fave buddies and my fave moms. we will definitely be back for kindergym again next winter and we definitely went out on a high note.
i bring you: a photo-heavy, totally indulgent visual of our kindergym olympics last weekend:

bottom left: yes, that is his personal toddler-size olympic torch and yes, there were opening ceremonies and the toddlers marched around the gym with their mini torches in the air. and yes, there were closing ceremonies with certificates awarded atop a playmat podium.

things we learned about each other at the kindergym olympics:

1. marcus can do a toddler lay-up.

2. he does not like to be 'silver' or 'bronze' on the podium. only gold. right up top. we may need to work on not always winning. but we'll save that for next season.

3. he would rather throw himself off the balance beam dramatically and make action-movie noises instead of actually walking. on. the. balance. beam. he also finds this very funny and laughs at himself after each go at it.

4. marcus likes to re-fuel mid-game. organic fruit and vegetable squeezies are the fuel of choice.

5. mommy may not be invited back to kindergym because she socializes too much on the side of the mats with deb and melissa and was asked three times to get out of the way of the pint-sized olympians. listen, parks and rec: marcus loves kindergym and running like a wild animal and getting silly with his buddies. mom loves to giggle and socialize and joke about whose kid put the empty roll of wrapping paper on which body part. we all have 2-3 year old boys. do the math. that's funny.

6. even on the rare days where marcus has to be reminded to 'turn on his ears' a handful of times and is even more excited than the norm- the kid makes me smile. like from the inside out.

[who makes a list of 6 things? eh, it's friday.]

-kare

readers are leaders.

it's common sense that reading to your child is good stuff. the earlier, the better. the more, the better. we started reading together before he turned a day old. now we have [at least] two solid 'windows' a day that are cut out for reading time. we spend half of it reading independantly, and half of it reading out loud together. yes, he is two and a half and can read a number of his books on his own. don't believe me?

we even have a book nook:

if reading isn't a regular part of your day, i won't go opening my big mama mouth :) just read this:

- early reading encourages early language development. according to research, babies who were read to regularly starting at 6 months developed almost twice the receptive language by 18 months as those who weren't.
- reading sparks imagination
- early reading increases attention span
- reading boosts memory
- incredible bonding opportunity between parent and kiddo:

you read your book. i'll read mine.

- encourages creative development and musicality
- screen watching makes a child a follower and a consumer. books exist because of the power of human ideas. readers are leaders and producers.
- it creates an awesome legacy. if more kids were conditionned to LOVE to read, the world would be smarter.

now, in my humble opinion i'd say you're a step ahead already for reading this blog right this minute ... but for real - especially if you do have a pint sized co-pilot around your ankles - get reading!

-kare

the evolution of rapper face.

remember the time i posted all those stupid cute photos of marcus showing off his 'rapper face'?

oh, how things have evolved.

rapper face has turned into his rapper dance, which ranges from his in-car head pumping to his favourite top 40 [my biebers peeeeese!"] to fist pumping goodness.

he loves it. he will even say "uh come on!" like he is about to throw down a sweet remix. he is always coming to ask us to dance with him, but this has taken his groove to a new level.

here's a preview: just cruising on our way to best buy last night: