Out and About

Jared and I have learned that the easiest way to catch up on conversation is going for a drive, both girls travel well and it actually gives us a fair amount of uninterrupted conversation, which is very hard to get in at home. This was the first longer drive that I did with the van, and it was good for me to see just how well it will suit us for road trips. The Acadia also got sold that morning, which was also very helpful with the mental transition. 

Finally made it too the lake! Been wanting to go for a while but weather and projects just didn't quite allow. It was good to see how Jade did with the water and different setting. 

Outside pealing potatoes in the shade of the sheets that are hanging on the line and listening to the bread maker going in the house.

Afternoon check up on the chickens. Hazel came along and enjoyed chatting with them for a bit. 

Watching Daddy move the left over gravel piles out of the way.

Hazel loves doing the same as Jade and was soon on the grass with her own blanket. 

This was my first evening trying Jade just on a blanket in the grass, it went very well, Jade seem to enjoy it and Nova did a good job with her too. 

The grass has been a project and a half to stay on top of. Unfortunately the ride on mower broke at the end of last season, and we haven't been able to prioritize the time to fix it, so we have been getting lots of walking in with our push mower!

The picture doesn't quite capture the evening sun, the long swaying grass, the lovely cool breeze and beautiful wild flowers! 😍

Finally managed to get this girly back on the tractor, one day something switched and she was suddenly terrified of it. We were having a good time playing in the back yard that evening as I was cleaning up the grass piles, so I thought I would try get her back on a see what happened. It took a bit for her to warm up, but she was having a blast by the end!  

 

Jade, 5 Months

 

4 months I almost missed so 5 months came up really fast! Jade has started to become more vocal and a bit more demanding when she actually needs something. Feeding times have been interesting as she LOVES watching Hazel, and would rather do that then nurse... Jade can officially role over both ways and is rarely in the same spot I left her. We recently pulled the jolly jumper back out which she quite likes. Jade is still pretty chill and isn't phased by much, she has been enjoying the outdoors and will happily play in the playpen, stroller or on a mat in the grass. 

Nova even joined in on the photoshoot! Considering she was a royal pain a few weeks ago, she has been a model doggy since....

 

Video's below of Jade rolling over and enjoying the jolly jumper.

Sunshine, Sisters and Spinach

Apparently spinach does really well is cooler temperatures and rainish days! I had not made it out to my garden for a while so I was quite surprised to see how much growth there was. 

The day quickly turned into harvest and store away spinach day.

While we were working on chopping up the spinach, we found out that Patch moved her new kitten on to the deck. 

Hazel was thrilled to have a little kitten to watch and hold again! I was quite surprised that the momma cat let Hazel handle the kitten as typically she doesn't let us near her day to day. 

Bag one chopped up and ready for the freezer, very surprising how one big bowl full fits into a small bag. We harvested most of the spinach and put 5 bags in the freezer. 

Feeding the spinach stems to the chickens.

Both dressed for the summer weather that is showing up this week. 

Getting both Hazel and Jade to have nice smiles on the same picture is quite the challenge..... 

Hazel taking pictures of Jade with her camera, which is a tree and barn set, the barn as a little window for her to look through as she takes the picture, her imagination never ceases to amaze me!

Jade has transitioned to being awake for longer and consolidated her naps, Hazel has been enjoying the extra play time. It took Hazel a while to warm up to the sister thing, but she seems to have finally been able to process a lot of it. Quite a few times in the last week Hazel has made statements like "We picked you and Jade up from the Doctor" , "We needed to bring the car seat to bring Jade home" and "I needed to sleep at Chloe's house". So so so glad her brain is finally making these connections and processing them in a positive light!

And Then Came June

 I was hoping to settle into June after our "Birthday Season" was over... apparently it was not to be... rather then settling in life got really busy! In a matter of four weeks we started considering a large project we weren't planning on for the summer/fall, Jared declared the Acadia unreliable and we purchased a new-to-us van in the Fraser valley which meant flying down to pick it up. A close church guest friendship drastically changed. Jared's work's accounting system was down for a few weeks so he had some very slow days and an unexpected project day. Nova started getting out again and one day was missing for most of it, and a few days ago I noticed my bread machine is wearing out so I will need a new part or figure out a different way to make bread (which probably wouldn't be such a big deal if all the above wasn't happening as well). Somewhere in all of that we also hosted an Advokate major donor fire and fellowship evening, Jared had his birthday, and we hosted appetizers for dine and dash. So basically not a lot of "normal"....

Though event wise it may not seem too busy for a whole month, processing wise it was a crazy one! We did A LOT of thinking, trying to figure out how to handle and deal with all these changes that were happening back to back.

I don't think I have even been stretched so thin in so many different area all that the same time before, this month has been physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally exhausting! Hopefully some catch up sleeps in the next few days will help get us back on track.

A few little snippets that I managed to capture throughout the busyness:

Happy 27th Birthday Jared! Hazel insisted we have party hats for Daddy's birthday too.😄

The light contrast didn't quite work, but you can see the candles nicely 😛

One of the last days driving the Acadia, I learned to really like this vehicle and really wasn't ready to give it up 😪

A friend helped re-setup the nursery after coffee social, as we had a make shift one set up in the main area while they were doing some water damage assessment. 

Setting up for the Advokate Major donor fire and fellowship evening, Jared was on fire duty.

Test driving the new van Jared drove home that day.

Our unexpected project day, which started off as a nice "catch up on house stuff" for me, but by 10:30 Jared was home and taking down Nova's kennel and fences that were in the way of another project. 

Bye bye, falling over old fence!

Nova's new kennel, long time in planning, but other stuff always took priority, as the pallet kennel, though ugly, was quite effective. 

Walking in the side paddocks, the grass it literally 4-5ft tall!

"Mommy can you take a picture of me holding Jade?"

Truck space was high on my list for vehicle requirements! It was exciting when Jared figured out that the whole bin fit in the back. 

Jared took the girls while I was in a zoom meeting 😍 Jared has really grown into the Daddy of two role over the past few months!

Gravel being delivered for a project. (stay tuned for that story in the upcoming weeks)

These two can often be found playing together on Jade's playmat lately. 

Snippets

A catch up post that covers little snippets of the last few weeks. 

About month old, the kittens started wandering around the deck. We had fun playing with them for a day or two and then they disappeared... 

Trying out our new sippy bowl from GVV

Aunty Corday snuggles were well enjoyed!

Spinning in her new dress from Nana.

Hazel and her dandelions, much to Hazel's enjoyment our backyard is full of them.

Making a wish 😍

Around when Jade was born Hazel became very clingy, especially when we were out and about. I'm pretty sure there was a bit of separation anxiety after needing to sleep at new places a few times in two months and her mommy taking care of another baby. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to help her and still be able to go out and about without her falling apart. After some thinking on the advice of "make her feel safe" I was able to come up with a Hazel Handle that I can put on my belt. For how simple this idea was it did wonders for her!!! Hazel used it lots for two weeks or so, but now uses it less and less. It gave her the little bit of security she needed, she could watch from a safe place without me holding her. Hazel is still slow to warm up to new settings and people, but we are seeing A LOT of progress and very thankful for it! 

Admiring all the shells she found in the new soil in the garden. 

We found the kittens back! Pirate had moved them into the woodshed, we were quite happy to have found them back!

Nicole and I organized a clothing swap for the ladies at church.

We had a lot of fun transforming the basement into a boutique, and the event went very well!

Hazel took a nap late that afternoon, and had a very hard time waking up, she would attempt to get up and then fall right back asleep.

She kinda slid onto the floor and laid there with her eye open, but dazed looking for a bit 😅

A nice sunny day for some Sunday morning pictures!

Jade watching all the activity from her Bumbo

Love the admiring eyes!

How the play space typically looks now... toys all over the mat because Hazel pulled them all out to show to Jade. 

Hazel holding and hugging our favorite kitty. The one that was the gentlest and easiest to catch.

A Jade and Mommy picture, trying to remember to take a few more of them.

The picture I took of the kittens before finding the two grey ones new homes. Very sad day as we were really enjoying them, but can't keep that many kittens as we have two other momma cats due in the next month or so... both black one are males and very hard to catch so they are a bit hard to give away.

Checking on the chickens, they like pecking at our boots. 

Set up the little pool and slide one sunny morning, kept Hazel very entertained despite the hose water being VERY cold.