KATHERINE

Early in September, one of my favorite people in the while entire world, Katherine Burchett visited PEI with her mom Emily. It was so good to see them both. I cannot believe 7 years has gone by since her family moved to Utah. We got to spend some time together at church on Sunday, and also on Labor Day Monday in Avonlea Village. I love seeing friends in the gospel because it always feels like no time has passed and we can pick up right where we left off. Because we have the gospel in common we have so many things to talk about. Katherine has done some pretty amazing things in the last few years like graduate high school and university, she's got lots of great friends and she is an awesome sister and a hard worker. Not to mention this girl is gorgeous and she's probably had plenty of guys chasing her the last few years! I hope all the best for her because she deserves it. Although we are not great at keeping in touch in writing, Katherine's creativity and photography keeps me in the loop of what's going on in her life. Social media can be such a great tool for keeping relationships strong! 

Haig & Alice (September)

We are so happy when we see Alice and Kendra, and Murphy too. We like to go for walks with this gang or just relax at one of our houses. On this visit, little Alice napped for awhile when we first got there so Haig enjoyed some time in her colorful jolly jumper. When she woke up Haig wanted to play and talk to her. These two make me so happy! I am glad Kendra and I have become great friends while on maternity leave. It can be hard to not feel involved in work and work relationships when you are off for a whole year, but luckily I work with some of the best people and  I have been able to continue to maintain and strengthen relationships while I have been off. I like my work at this point in my life. It is sometimes challenging to feel like I don't have a career, but my ultimate goal is to be at home while my children are young but also be able to provide for our family. If I can continue to work enough to make hours for maternity leave to keep having babies, I will do it. When I go back in January, I will only be working part-time so I will need to work longer towards my next leave. Hopefully some friends and I will have our second babies around the same time so we can keep having fun play dates! 

Kinsley's 1st Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday to our little friend Kinsley

We had so much fun at your birthday party on Sunday. We are so glad we have had some great times with you over the past year with play dates, Auntie Kayla's wedding and visiting at our grandma's houses. It will be so fun to grow up with you!

Fun Little Boy

Standing in the Crib

Since we took these pictures, we have moved the crib down. I cannot believe our big boy standing up in his crib. He will even do it now that it is moved down too. We are having a hard time with bedtime. We are trying really hard but we are also very frustrated with little progress. We are trying do check on him in short intervals but the crying is so hard. We also have to be mindful of our neighbors so I don't let him cry for too long before I check on him. We have a great bedtime routine but when it comes time to go in his crib (awake), he just cries. Now that he can cry "mama", it breaks my heart just a little bit more! We have to check on him a few times before he finally falls asleep with his blue fleece tag blanket on one side of his face and his jellycat bunny on the other side. He usually wakes up a few times during the night. I will give him just a few minutes before I check on him. When he is really restless I nurse him back to sleep. If he wakes up early in the morning, I will bring him into bed with us. Different things work for different people. For the most part I would like him to start to learn how to go to sleep by himself with no tears or yelling. I would also like him to sleep through the night, but I think I would miss him in my bed just a little bit so if he wakes up early (5:30 am has been his usual time), I will let him come into bed with us to get a few more hours of sleep. Some nights have been harder than others, but every morning when I see this boy full of smiles, I am happy to have him in my life and to wake up next to, oh and his daddy too ;)

SEPTEMBER: 9 Months

September 23rd 2017

Book: Little Blue Truck

by Alice Schertle

Haig is nine months old

Pulling to stand all the time

Looks for mom when she's not in the same room

Eats all kinds of food

Wearing size 12 month clothing

Lots of play-dates with my friends Alice, Ben, Cameron & Kinsley

Enjoys taking baths in the sink after meal time

New favorite show is Pokemon: Indigo League
Only likes when mommy puts me to bed

Also likes taking afternoon naps with mommy

Drives mommy and daddy crazy some nights, but we always wake up as a happy little family 

Back At It Again

Hello, I took a bit of a blogging vacation, and it was great but it is good to be back. Summer was busy for us, but when I say busy I most mean busy spending time with my two sweet boys. I think we tried to take advantage of having Haig home as much as we could. He worked his butt off this summer and now that continues into the fall as he is working over 35 hours a week and taking 4 courses at UPEI. He is so committed and dedicated to his work, schooling and family and I am very grateful for him and everything he provides for our little family. We have been doing well for the most part. I like to stay home with baby and cuddle, watch shows, have snacks and play with toys. When we get out we like to go shopping and visit friends. I was able to go out tonight with some of my girlfriends from high school, Casey, Amanda and Chelsey. It was so nice to catch up with them and I hope we will be able to get together more often. We went to the Happy Potter Studio in Statford. It was nice environment to relax in other than my own home. Haig will be getting home from work soon and it will be nice to see him and talk to him about his day. I am thankful for my mom being able to watch baby Haig while I was out tonight. My baby was pretty happy when I came home though. He is a little momma's boy. We have been attempting some sleep training techniques the last week or so. Self-soothing is not going so well. Last night he cried a lot and he can stand up in his crib (we need to lower it really soon) and he knows how to cry out "momma" and it breaks my heart when I hear him say it as he cries. I don't mind that he still gets up during the night to nurse, it would be nice if he didn't but I really wish he could put himself to sleep on his own without a bottle or without bum pats. I am sure he will get there. I cannot believe he will be 9 months old tomorrow. He is such a wonderful boy. We thank our Heavenly Father for Haig Arthur in our prayers every day. He is a joy in our life.

In some other news, I was released from my calling in Young Womens' and I am serving in Relief Society again. I mentioned that Haig is in school, and this semester he is studying accounting, personal sales, management skills and business statistics. My sister-in-law Rachel became a Pampered Chef consultant so I helped her out by throwing an online Facebook event party. It did so well I was really surprised and impressed. I ended up making about $90 credit as a host and I purchased a pizza stone, baking pan, can opener, pastry blender and a glass bowl set with silicone lids. Unfortunately, I have to exchange the pizza stone and baking pan for smaller sizes because our oven is too small for the ones I ordered. When I make the exchange I will have some credit left over to get one more thing and I am trying to decide what I will get. I have been diligent with my meal planning and prep now that summer is over and Haig is back to school. I think I forgot how much I dislike cooking in the summer time. Bring on all the fall soups and oven recipes. Haig and I have been watching lots on Netflix this summer. We enjoyed Marvels' Defenders, The Mist, Atypical and we just started The Good Place. I also watched The Amazing Race Canada this summer and I just started This is Us for the second time in preparation to watch season 2 next week. My baby and I have a fun weekend planned of swimming with friends and going to the annual corn boil, but sadly Haig is working all weekend and won't be able to join us. We will just have to look forward to our family weekend away later in October.