{continued from above}

:: Dining room looking from the living room ::

:: Looking down the hallway from the living room ::

:: Hallway at an angle ::

{continued}

:: First set of stairs, up to the landing ::

So, altogether the downstairs got a fresh coat of Coastal Breeze (Sico) throughout with the separating wall in the hallway painted Oyster Mushroom (Sico) as an accent, all baseboards, casings and doors painted white.

Now, onto the upstairs.....the significantly more complicated portion. All of the baseboards had to be taken off into to install the new carpet - which was put in terribly the first time around and was then torn out and replaced. The doors had to be taken of the frame in order to paint the frames and the doors so we lived without doors for a week and we are still working on getting Denay to sleep the way she did before the madness.

Without further delay......

:: Looking down the stairway ::

:: Our bedroom door from the hallway ::

{continued}

:: Looking out to the hall from the bathroom ::

:: Our bedroom looking from the window ::

:: The bed from the window ::

:: The bed and window from the door ::

{continued}

:: Horizontal view looking from the window ::

:: The Princesses' bedroom doors ::

:: The bathroom and master bedroom doors looking from the hallway ::

:: And this, would be our very unexpected, ill-timed and unplanned addition to our reno. About two weeks in, we had run a load of laundry and while it was on it's final spin, the washer suddenly started making a horrific noise. It honestly sounded like the whole machine was about to bust through the bathroom door and begin a hostile take-over of the human race. Fortunately for the human race, it turn out that one of the springs that holds the drum suspended broke and the drum was spinning on one spring going at 1000 RPM, wreaking complete havoc on our poor washer. Two days later, these babies went in. We didn't realize that in order to stack the machines, we had to buy a whole new set, not just the washer. Eek. But, these puppies are super energy efficient and way larger than our old ones.....and I LOVE them. They sing me a happy song when their respective cycles are done. It reminds me of Snow White whistling while she works and it makes everything so cheery.

So, the upstairs update consisted of:
-new carpet on the stairs, hallway, master bedroom and nursery

-all baseboards removed and painted white, all doors and casings painted white

-new trim, closet doors and blinds in nursery as well as a new baseboard heater

-new door on linen closet in hallway

-fresh coat of Peace and Quiet (Debbie Travis color done with Sico paint) in upper hallway and vaulted portion of the stairway

-lower portion of stairway repainted in Coastal Breeze

-master bedroom repainted with Oyster Mushroom (Sico) and Leather Chair (Sico) for the accent wall behind the bed

-new baseboard heater, headboard, drapes and bedding in master bedroom

-new light fixture in stairway

-stairway railing painted white

I am also currently waiting on a vinyl wall decal (from Leen The Graphics Queen on ETSY) to finish off the master bedroom and I'll be sure to post a photo when it comes and I get it put up!

As well, the whole house had a decor and picture frame shuffle to give new life and a fresh look without spending any money on new things.

To say we are relieved to be done is an understatement.....and we only did a soft reno and we were totally exhausted and overwhelmed. BUT, we are so pleased with the results. Looking at the before and after, even for me, is stunning.

Thanks for being patient with my lack-of-blogging....do not fear lovelies, I have much to catch up on!

Ketchup!

:: Okay, okay ::

It's been two-and-a-half weeks since my last post......feels like years.

We, very innocently, ended up at a flooring retailer after swimming lessons four weeks ago and what followed was a month of paint, trim, chaos, doorlessness (blogger spellcheck is trying to tell me that doorlessnes isn't a word...what do they know), bunking at my parents house, no carpet-bad carpet-no carpet-new carpet, touch-ups and madness.

We gave ourselves a month timeline for everything to be done for Trev's family's visit this past weekend for Paisley's dedication (yes, giant blog post on that coming soon).

:: So take these snappys from way back in the middle of January as a tide-over ::

The Princesses are all snuggled in their lovely Bebe Au Lait hooded towels.

Very soon, my Bloggowers, very soon.

:: Twenty Years Younger ::

I confess.

I very unintentionally went overboard this Christmas for Denay. I guess I sort of justified each gift as a gift for both girls and got twice as much as I should. Needless to say, I think we'll be going with the one gift rule next year :)

Anyways, I was browsing the Toys R Us website for ideas and came across this.....annndd, fell in love. Then I saw the price. Yeah, no.

Four days before Christmas I checked back on the website and to my delight, it was on sale for $40 off.

I ran up and picked it up and when Christmas morning came around.....fun, fun.

:: The adults almost had more fun playing than Denay did (Opa) ::

:: We were so very impressed, considering it's plastic, the great detail. Notice in the upper right picture, the toilet brush on the toilet ::

I definitely know that this is going to get A LOT of playtime between Denay, Paisley and babies #3 and #4 (eventually).

{Thankful Whatever-Day-Of-The-Week-I-Manage-To-Have-Time-To-Actually-Write-A-Blog-Post}

Okay, just fire me.

We've been a teensy busy around here.....the end.

Anyways......Thankful, thankful.

Short and sweet: I am thankful for a mid-morning conversation with a very wonderful friend (and fellow mamma of two girls) of mine. We shared frustrations and laughs and stories and we listened to each other's most recent parenting and discipline struggles.

Turns out, we were both in the place, having the same problems.

I got off the phone feeling normal and relieved instead of guilty and alone in my parenting roller coaster.

For these moments, I am very thankful.

{Thankful Thursday} - Err....Monday

Okay, I'm fired......pretend that I had time to post this four days ago :)

Seriously, Thursday.....again?!?

Geesh.

This week in a word....crazy.

Time to be thankful.....seemingly, zero.

But then I look back at the week and one really great moment sticks out, which reminds me how thankful I am for my family, and specifically, my children.

Denay is now (finally) tall enough to open the door to her bedroom. So Monday morning I hear rustling in my bed and immediately think that it's Trev and he's missed his alarm and is late for work.

But instead, I pull of my sleep mask (yes, I use one of those) and roll groggily over to see not Trevor, but Princess Denay, who had crawled into our bed, snuggled herself underneath the covers and onto Trev's pillow and was all cuddled in bed with mommy, quietly sucking her thumb.

Those are the moments I love, those are the moments I treasure, and those are the moments I am so thankful for.

Thank You, Pioneer Woman

If you're new to the blog world or aren't big on reading blogs written by random people you don't know, live really far away or will never realistically meet in real life (like me) then you may not have ever heard of the Pioneer Woman. She's a momma, cook, teacher, photography, rancher and is married to a real live cowboy.

I came across her blog years ago after noticing it on a couple friend's blog's but never took to reading it regularly. After seeing a link on Facebook for her Chicken Spaghetti I clicked over and instantly fell in love.....with how easy it was, and with how yummy it looked, it was just up my alley!

Trev had a staff meeting so I invited two girl friends of mine over and we made it a girls night. And it's a good thing, because it made enough for at least six people!

:: And this would be a photo of my daughters second plate.....and this is a big deal. Normally we can't get her to eat one plate of something new.

I would definitely put this on a "Would Recommend to a Friend" list.

I modified the recipe a bit and used chicken breast (that I just cooked until white so it wouldn't be dry after being baked), I added canned stewed tomatoes instead of pimentos and I added diced orange pepper, just cause I wanted it to be colorful.

It's just the thing to warm the belly on a cold, rainy winter night!

{Thankful Thursday}

My vacuum.

Yeah, yeah, ha-ha.

Those Bloggowers of mine who know me well are having a good hardy-har-har on my behalf right now.....but let me explain.

Yes, just owning a vacuum is a reason to be thankful in itself, but it also means I have many, many more things to be thankful for.

It means I have floors and carpets that need to be vacuumed, which means I have a home. A home that is warm and has electricity and clean, running water.

It means I have vehicle upholstery that needs to be cleaned which means I have a reliable and safe truck sitting in the carport of the house I own.

I have much.

I am thankful, much.

Okay, last post over packed with pictures upon pictures upon pictures.....I promise......maybe.

Trev's parent's came for a quick visit a couple weeks ago brought along with them some (as always) super-duper cute matching Tommy Hilfiger polo dresses. Since at least one of my kids happens to be growing like a weed, they wore them to church the following Sunday.

In a word......

Adorable.

Last Friday, the girls and I were invited to a princess tea party along with a bamboozle of other cute little ladies. So naturally, we made sure we were dressed for the occasion. And although I had next to zero time, I just had to take a minute and document the adorableness.

In a word.....

Allofthesepicturesaregoingtowinduponmywalls.

I, am one lucky mamma.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

And just a story to make you smile.......

Last night, we were just lounging around the house, and I saw Denay with her hand up her shirt. I asked her what she was doing, to which she replied, "I just putting on my boobies". Hysterical laughter followed from the kitchen. Some where along the way, she came to understand that nursing pads were boobies and my little shadow likes to do everything mummy does.

{Update::The Daily}

Honestly, I have NO idea what I would do without Picasa and the ability to post this many pictures all at once.....yikes!

Okay, so this was what my {Untitled} started out as, a little picture-full update of the daily 'round these parts....

Paisley.

How I LOVE this little girl! We borrowed my girlfriends Bumbo last week and she loves it. She was so over lying down weeks ago and this is the perfect way to have her sitting up without mummy having to hold her up...all the time. She's also loving her Sofie Le Giraffe that she got for Christmas from Uncle J* and Auntie L*....

A couple of weeks ago now, my gal-pal Megan arranged a little swimming date. I was a teensie bit leery to take Paisley at just over three months old and a little nervous about having two kids in the pool alone, but then I remembered that I sure wasn't going to be alone (see below photo, top right) and that at the worst, if Paisley hated it, we could just go home. To say I was nervous for nothing is an understatement. Both girls were angels and having so many other momma hands made the outing a success and a really really good time! And, now that Denay is in swimming lessons again, we go at least once a week. I think it goes without saying that I'm going to have TWO little fish children.

Denay had one of her many little friends over to play last week and her Chloe's mom left some chocolate cupcakes behind just in case I felt like feeding two excited girls chocolate cupcakes....which, of course, I did.

This is the aftermath, and it couldn't have been more fun!

And just a couple more pictures of the littlest one, with her hair "done" for the first time.....I {heart} my girls.

I took both girls to the doctor last week and at two-and-a-half years, Denay is practically shattering the scales at a whopping 22lbs while her sister weighs in, at three-and-a-half months at 12lbs 2.5oz, which is what Denay weighed.....at six months.

So she may still be bitty, but she's my big girly!

On a fabulous note, Denay is now officially potty trained! I'd been picking away at it since early December but with all the busyness of Christmas it went by the wayside for a few weeks. But then at the beginning of last week, I went at it again and by Friday we were out and about with no diaper on. It's still taken a few days to get the #2 thing down but she went last night and again this morning and is less scared each time.

BOOYAH!

I think it might just be Denay, butt I really wasn't expecting it to be so easy....and now that I've said that, I'm sure Paisley will be a whole different story :)

Happy Tuesday Bloggowers (my newly coined word for you, my blog followers)....

::Mid-January Scripture Verse::

Back in this post, I committed to twice monthly bible verse memorization and I'm proud of myself to say that I stuck to it, and can recite by memory Colossians 2:6-7.

My second verse for January is,

Isaiah 43:2

"I will be with you when you pass through the waters,

and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
You will not be scorched
when you walk through the fire,
and the flame will not burn you."

{Untitled}

So this post originally started out as an update about Paisley, and turned into this.......

Now, I won't lie.

I'm not a huge fan of not sleeping....I like my sleep.....A LOT.

But I realized the other night, at 4:39am, all the time I've wasted being lethargic and delirious during Paisley's night-feeds. So for the past handful of nights, I've spent my time in the quiet dark, nursing my precious girl and pouring out my heart to God in desperate prayer for my daughters.

Prayers for their safety, physically and emotionally.

Prayers for their life; that they would always be cared for and provided for.

Prayers that their hearts would grow to love their Heavenly Father and desire to serve Him and honor Him with all they do.

Last night I spent my time praying for their future husbands, future in laws and future marriages. That God would use me to raise them to be women of dignity, purity and integrity and with the values they will need to be wives who will respect and love their spouses. That God would be shaping and raising and drawing their husbands to Him, even now (while they are probably still in diapers). That He would place in their lives quality and Godly men that would love them, teach them and guide them; challenge them and walk beside them; and be an example to them.

Two nights ago, I prayed for their friends. I have no idea where I would have wound up, and the heartbreaks I wouldn't have made it through, had it not been for the amazing friends I was surrounded with.

I found myself begging, begging God to protect my girls and their future husbands from this world. I felt so very helpless. Then I found myself asking for faith to trust that God hears and cares and is capable of doing such.

I know how silly that might sound. Being raised in a Christ-centered home all my life and watching God faithfulness come through time after time, one would think there would be no room in my mind for doubt. But those of you with kids (I hope) can understand the fierce sense of protection that comes with holding your babies for the first time. Knowing you would do anything for them and knowing (thinking) that no one can take better care of them than you can.....not even the one who created them.

I know, silly.

I'm having such a hard time trusting God with my babies.

I'm finding it so difficult to believe that the very hands that knit my perfect girls together in my womb; that the one who has known each day of their life since before the foundations of the earth were laid; that the one who knows the number of hairs on my daughter's head's and catches each tear, cares enough about ME to answer my pleas for them. I can't trust that I'm "spiritual" enough for my prayers to matter to such a Holy God.

So I feel like I need to beg, plead and bargain in a desperate hope that God could find time to look after my (His) children.

It occurred to me that Satan has me convinced that I'm not good enough to have my prayers listened to and answered......that I need to have it all together to know that my prayers are honoring to God.

It's taken much time and prayer and scouring up every ounce of faith and belief that I have to bring myself to a place where praying for protection for my daughters and then believing that those prayers are being answered by an Almighty, always faithful and very loving God who truly does care for my children and adores them exponentially more than I ever could.

But in all truth, it will only be daily, and by the power of the Holy Spirit that I will be able to let go, give it all I have and then trust the One who made them with everything else.

I look back on my childhood, the way the world appeared to me as a child growing up. Then I look back on my teenage years, and all of the pressure and expectations that seem to bombard me at every turn. Then I look back on the years of my 20's and how young I actually was when I thought I was all grown up. It's then I see that just in my lifetime, how much further we have slipped. I see that things that would have been outrageous and disgusting when I was a teen, are now the social norm.

I see these things and I cringe in wonder of what the world might look like when my own girls are navigating the foreign waters of teenage-hood. What will the social norms be when it's their turn? What will be considered "beautiful"? What will it look like to be "cool" and what kind of person will you have to be to be "popular"? And goodness, what will be called "fashionable"????

Deep breath.

Then I am gently but surely reminded about who is on my side, and even more, who is on their side......and if that's the case, who, then, can be against them?

{Thankful Thursday}

Wow...this Thursday snuck up on me.

Having my in laws travel for hours to spend a half day here last week and having my parents away since last Friday.....am I ever thankful for the parents in my life.

Not only do they love us, support us and bless us, but our girls couldn't possibly have better grandparents.

Both my husband and I were raised in a loving, Christian home....full of memories and values.

What more could we ask for?

{Christmas....No, New Years Eve}

Okay, so......the first day that my two younger brothers were in town together and my mom wasn't working so we could have Christmas (phew) was New Years Eve. I brought the yams and made a peppermint chocolate cheesecake and we had turkey with all the fixin's.

It was super cool watching my oldest younger brother hold his youngest niece for the first time and then promptly putting her to sleep.

Then, onto the gifts (and if you're counting, yes this is the third Christmas in as many weekends). Denay was under the impression that all the gifts were for her, therefore she needed to help open every one.

We were sorely missing my oldest brother and his fabby wife but were joined by my youngest brother's new girlfriend, Lindsay, who spent most of her time holding Paisley.

My parent's bought Denay a hand built wooden kitchen that she fell in love with at our church's craft fair back in November, as well as a kitchen set with dishes, utensils and pots and pans. She set to work right away, cooking and washing her hands and putting everything in it's place!

::I took these photo's on the 2nd. We had my parents and brothers over for cinnamon buns since Ryan was leaving that evening to fly back to AB ::

It was SO, SO wonderful having *almost* our whole family together and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year we can all be in the same room.

And with that being said, I can't wait until this Christmas!

{Christmas Eve & Day 2010 - Island Edition}

Lovely.

That's how I would describe our Christmas this year in one word.

Absolutely lovely.

We had chicken lasagna for dinner at my mom's house before heading off the Christmas Eve service, which was also, lovely.

Then my parents and youngest brother, came to our house for sweets and coffee and we opened stockings and Denay opened one gift.

{The MaC Royal Family - Christmas 2010}

Christmas Day this year - the best ever. Because only one of my three brothers were able to be home for Christmas, we weren't doing my family Christmas until New Years Day (confusing, I know) so we have Christmas at our house. Fruit salad, homemade cinnamon buns (made my moi in my new bread maker) and eggs benedict.....I was FULL.

Then we opened presents, played Apples to Apples, watched Miracle on 34th Street and enjoyed a stuffed roasting chicken for dinner.

Best part? I got to stay in my jammies ALL day.

It was so beautiful being cozy in my own home, with my two perfect daughters, hosting my family and serving them.

It felt just like Christmas should be.

About family, and celebrating the gift we were given thousands of years ago.

Life is good.

Life is blessed.

{Christmas 2010 - Mainland Edition}

Phew......Christmas of 2010, over?

Really?

How did that happen?

Yikes.

Guess that means I should get around to posting about it before Christmas 2011 is here......

We spent our Christmas with the MaC clan across the water the weekend before Christmas. We were able to make it out on the Thursday night and stay until Sunday night and made every moment we had with our family together count. Friday morning, Trev and my FIL and Denay surprised J&C at J's Christmas concert (see first collage, lower center photo) while I chilled at home with my MIL. Just after then got home we had a completely useless and pointless session with a photographer from Canadian Baby Photographers (during which he failed to snap a single frame). The girls napped then it was off to Vancouver for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and a ride on the Stanley Park Bright Nights Christmas Train. Trev and I sat with all the kids at it was so fun watching their wonder at all the lights. Saturday we had brunch, paid a visit to Great Grandma Rosie, did a teensie bit of shopping and then spent the evening doing absolutely nothing.

Sunday was church, roast beef lunch and "Christmas"......it was so nice having everyone all together laughing and chilling.

{Family Portrait}

Denay got an adorable My Little Pony set from Uncle P, Auntie S and C & J, a rocking horse from Uncle J and Auntie L and a piano with a microphone from Grampy and Grammie.

All the kids got my MIL a black and white canvased photo of us and the g-babes....Shawna used a groupon coupon and got a smokin' deal on it and it turned out so great!

Good times, good times.....

{Thankful Thursday}

Keep it simple, right?

So for my very first Thankful Thursday, that's just what I'm going to do.

Yesterday I spent the morning at our local pool with the princesses and five super-amazing mom's. It was us and seven kidlets and what a time we had a what a blessing they are.

So that's my first thanks.....the people and, more specifically, the women that I am privileged to call friends. I genuinely believe that one could not duplicate the caliber of character of the people I am surrounded with if you held auditions and cast the best of the best. They are real and true and lovely and supportive and beautiful and my family.

I was especially reminded of this over the holidays with Christmas parties and New Years spent laughing and fellowshiping.

My heart swells to bursting as I type.....friends, you rock.

*Thankful*

My second thanks came to me as I was driving home from our McDonald's lunch date after swimming. It was raining. And grey. And slushy. Not fun with two babes to haul in and out of a car. Then, fleetingly, I thought of how awesome it is, on days like this, that I can drive into a covered, dry carport and be sheltered from the rain.

*Thankful*

Lastly, and this is stretching for me because there are very few things I like about rain, I will (very childishly) admit that I LOVE driving through big, deep puddles.

*Thankful*

:: Thankful Thursdays ::

While perusing Facebook a couple days ago, I noticed a post by a lovely lady-friend that eluded to the fact that she had started a blog.

{Happy Dance}

I don't quite know why, but having more and more people around start their own blogs (for many different reasons), excites me.

So I clicked on over to A Looney Concept and start to read.

Wowsers.

The girl can write!

And as I read further, I was challenged. I got to thinking about my own blog, and the things I write, the things I value.

I started to feel guilty that I don't use my blog for anything more than recounting the daily (and often mundane) ups and downs of this crazy life. That I don't spend more time writing and sharing about God and who He is to me, what He is doing in my life.

I started equating my worth and value with my blog and then starting feeling pretty worthless and without value. I felt the lies of my enemy slither into my mind and begin destroy the love I have for this blog and the things I write and the people that read.

Then I gave my head a good firm shake.

I am nobody but who I am and I will not apologize or get down on myself for my life and the value I place on each moment spent being a mom. The time I will spend with my young girls is so fleeting and keeping journal of the silly, the exciting and the rather slow pace of my "job" is very important to me. I'm proud of all the memories I have commitment to electronic memory.

Once that got out of the way, however, I still felt the desire to dedicate more time and typing to declaring God's goodness within the silly and exciting slowness of life.

So that leads me to announcing my new weekly feature, Thankful Thursdays.

I don't know about you, but I find it so easy to focus on, and give word to, the frustrating and annoying things in life. Whining kids, a sleep deprived night, line ups at the grocery store, desperately needing a shower but not being able to have one......

It's a well known fact, that negativity breeds negativity.......but the same applies to positivity.

Every Thursday, I'm going to focus on thanksgiving with a post highlighting the everyday things that I have to be thankful for. I'm also committing myself to Sarah's challenge on her blog to memorize two scriptures a month and to to tie in both, the verse I'm choosing first is Colossians 2:6 & 7......

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

This is personal journey but I invite any one of my readers join me and declare God's goodness through weekly thanksgiving on their blog and let's affirm one another!

Check in tomorrow for the first "Thankful Thursdays" post!