Maris' Big Girl Room Tour

My baby girl is going to be 18 months old this week!  And along with that came a few changes in her bedroom.  I've felt during the last few weeks that her room still felt like a baby's room, and she wasn't a baby anymore.  Being on holidays from work at the moment, I took the opportunity to do some shopping and rearranging to transform her bedroom into an oasis for a toddler girl.

The first thing to do was to dismantle the crib and assemble her new toddler bed.  We purchased the vintage looking Minnen bed from IKEA.  I love that it (and the mattress) is extendable to three different lengths, so it can grow with her.  We currently have it at the shortest length, which is as long as a crib but as wide as a twin bed.  Some new toddler bedding from Target completed the look.

We also bought another IKEA Trofast toy storage unit.  This one doubles as her night table and has a nice surface for playing and displaying her pretty toys.  She also chose the cute owl lamp from IKEA.

We kept the Hemnes (also IKEA) chest of drawers and change pad as we are still using diapers...she's not that grown up yet!

I took the armchair, lamp and side table out of the room to make more space for her to sit and read and play with her toys.  She is such an avid reader and loves taking books off her shelves to sit in the rocking chair or on her bed and read.

And that's her new room!  It's the tiniest room in the house, so we'll see how long she's happy in a small space, but I love that it's updated now to suit her growing needs.

Our Christmas

Christmas 2017 has come and gone in a flash.  We had a perfect family Christmas together.  The kids are at such fun ages, and I know the years to come will be just as fun.  Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve unwrapping night at home.  I love their matching Hanna Andersson pj's!

Maris didn't need ANY help unwrapping gifts this year.  She was all over it.  I tried to follow the "4 gift rule" (something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read), but they ended up each getting 5 presents.  Still, knowing that there were gifts to come from each set of grandparents, it cuts down on the amount of new things!

Ari's BIG, number 1 exciting gift was his excavator!  He had wanted one so bad.  We even wrote Santa to ask for it!  His reaction opening this one was priceless.

Maris' big gift was her shopping cart with play food.  They also got a cash register from grandparents, so they are all set to play store.

Still happy Christmas morning, when we opened up stockings.  I love these two little people so much!  They make Christmas so much more fun!

A Week at the Cabin

We just got home from one week away at Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park.  We've been vacationing at this spot for the last couple of summers and love it!  I grew up going camping in this park with my family and it's so fun to be sharing it with my own now.  We rented a cabin in the townsite of Wasagaming for the week (the same cabin we rented last summer) and it was our "new home" for the week, as Ari put it.  Here's a peek at how we spent our days...

 I took the kids out to visit the wishing well -- it's a bit of a tradition.

In the nearby town of Onanole is a great used bookstore/coffee shop called Poor Michael's Emporium.  The kids were a bit crazy and didn't let me shop, but they're still cute.

I enjoyed some morning walks along the lake on my own while the kids were with their dad.  Wonderful, peaceful recharge time!

 The kids loved the playground in town.  We were here at least once every day.

One afternoon we drove out to the bison enclosure in the park.  Of course, both kids fell asleep on the way and missed seeing all of these!

An annual tradition, walking on the Ominik Marsh boardwalk.  I think I have a picture of Peter and Ari from each year.  Ari just keeps getting bigger!

A family bike ride along the lake.  Ari is getting super fast on his balance bike!

Ari and the "elephant" (moose) close to our cabin.

Checking out the lake.

We got a couple of beach afternoons in....the kids loved playing in the sand and water!

Stopping for ice cream, again.  Love my little family!

Maris' 1st Birthday Party

Today is Maris' FIRST birthday!  We celebrated last weekend with a backyard party...we were lucky to have the most perfect evening!  I think Maris' favourite parts of the party were: 1) eating watermelon; 2) opening presents; and, 3) smashing her face into her cake!

We set up our food table outside under a tree so I could hang paper lanterns over the table.  They were the perfect pop of colour!  We served hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, salad and chips.  Perfect backyard BBQ food!

I made a special smash cake for Maris with pink ombre icing.  She did a great job of getting her face into it!

 Maris in the middle of her party -- I love this perspective.

My grandma, mom and Maris.  The day we celebrated was Grandma's actual birthday, so it was a double birthday party!

Ari LOVED the Little Tikes Garden Table that we got Maris for her birthday...if you look into the background of some of the next pictures you'll see it filling up with dirt, lol.  He made 'mud soup' by the end of the party.

Investigating her presents.

Maris was really excited about opening presents and each gift she received.  Quite a change since Christmas when she was only six months old!

She has been such a bookworm lately and was SUPER excited to get this book about cats from grandma and grandpa...her favourite animal!

Time to eat cake!

 She got right into it, over and over!

The happiest little birthday girl!  We had such a great time at your party, Maris, and can't wait to see what this next year brings for you!

Maris is ONE!

How can she be one?!  The last year has gone by far too quickly...it seems like yesterday when we were finally induced, 14 days overdue, and you made your appearance into the world.  You have completed our little family and I love to watch you and Ari interact...you two share so many giggles and silly games already.  I can't wait to watch your relationship develop as you both grow older, and to see your little personality blossom.  You have been such a delight in our lives, dear Maris!

Some highlights from the last month:

You can:  Climb up the stairs from the basement, climb up onto all kinds of furniture, be stubborn, and are beginning to play imaginatively with toys and colour with crayons and sidewalk chalk.

You love:  Reading books, dancing to music, making music, swimming and playing games with Ari.

You don't like:  Not getting your way.  You are a very determined little girl when your mind is set on something!

We'll never forget:  Your first birthday party -- you truly were the life of the party!  From gobbling up numerous watermelon slices to ripping open presents with delight to getting your face in your smash cake.  It was one great party!

I've enjoyed capturing Maris on our Batz Kids milestone blanket this past year.  It is so fun to look back on all twelve months at once!  I see her biggest growth from five to seven months -- hard to imagine she was just 6 lb 7 oz at birth!

Photos from our first birthday party to come in another post!