Dear Birdie

Hello my little girl, 



I am writing this letter to you today (on your due date) to share some of my feelings.

How on earth do you start a letter to your unborn daughter?  A letter that I want to mean so much and I want to be sure to fill with amazing and insightful things for your future.  I don't think I can possibly ever feel that this letter will be enough....so......

I will start with,
 I Love You.

All my life I have longed for a baby girl.  All my life I have had dreamt about not only pink, ribbons, and pearls, but of the bond I will one day share with a little girl.  A little girl to call my own.  

You are coming into a family and a world with arms wide open.  You have so many people awaiting your arrival.  Friends and family are constantly sending their best wishes and sending messages wondering when we will finally meet you. Your Daddy and I talk about how much things will change and how much more love we will get to experience with you in our lives.  My little Kippy Boo, your brother, although he has been kissing my belly and loving on you for months now will no doubt fall deeply in love when he finally gets to see your face and hold your hand.  His sweet and gentle nature, and the way he is so tender with everyone around him will explode when he realizes that he now has someone of his own to protect and love.

Although I have not yet met you, I feel like I know you.  You were meant to be a part of this family.  Nobody can prepare you for having a child.  Nothing anyone can say or do can explain the love, the worry, the utter joy that children bring to your life until they actually experience it themselves.  And I have to say....sometimes I question if anyone else in this world can really possibly LOVE their child as much as I love mine because I can't possibly love you or your brother more than I already do.

When Kiptyn was born I was a lost soul.  Even though I had babysat my whole life and adored children, I had no idea the extreme "feelings" I would experience until I first saw him and held him in my arms.  The love and passion I felt for him in that moment was so intense.  Since then it has grown and grown and I cannot imagine my life without him.  I love you so much already and it can be a little overwhelming to know that I have not yet experienced that "moment" with you and that when I do my heart will grow even more.  It seems impossible that I am able to Love even more.  But I do know that it will happen very soon, and I want to hold onto that moment forever. 

We are going to meet any day now...on your terms.  I know that when you are ready you will come earth side and meet us.  I am beyond excited for that moment to arrive but I will also wait until the moment is right and let you lead the way.

Your birth will be very different for me than your brother's birth.  With Kiptyn, I was surprised to find out that he was breech and that I needed to have a c-section in order to bring him into the world.  I grieved for the loss of empowerment I would have to birth him into the world.  I wished I could change that reality and have had the birth I had always envisioned.  I wished that he would have been able to come when he was ready and that his birth date would be the birth date that he chose.  I realize now, that the way it happened was the way it was supposed to be.  Because of the c-section, Kiptyn and I had a hard time with feeding in the beginning.  Our struggle also became our biggest strength.  Our biggest bond. 

This time, although I have hopes for a regular delivery and I have set up everything possible to make that happen, I know that whatever happens and however it happens, it will be perfect.  It will be your story.  Whatever we go through together, I promise to be strong and to take care of you.  I have no idea what it will be like to be in labour.  I have no idea when things will start to happen.  I have no idea what you look like, and I have no idea what your name will be.  This too is all part of the journey and part of the excitement. 

Little girl, my little Birdie, we are waiting for you with so much love.  Your Daddy, Brother and I have so much love to share and I have no doubt that you will surpass our expectations with the love that you will return to us. 

Part of me feels like a vulnerable little girl today.  In this moment of unknown, I find myself teary and emotional.  I want everything for you.  I want to be able to give you everything you need (physically, emotionally and spiritually), and yet be able to be strong enough to let go for you to fly on your own one day.  I will do everything I can do for you and your brother to have that, this I promise.

All my love, 
Mama

Fall

Hello again!

Okay, so baby girl is still in there and waiting for me to finish this Blog before she shows her face.  

We are finally in our new home and slowly starting to make some progress on the unpacking.  Aside from some things we ordered online and are waiting for, the nursery is all set up and ready to go!

Although the decision to move was a quick one and everything happened so fast, we feel like it is truly "home" here and we are excited for many years of household projects and new memories for our family.  Kiptyn transitioned without hesitation.  While we packed and ran around trying to get the house ready to sell within a matter of days, he was at daycare without any idea of the changes were coming his way.

He did enjoy shopping with me on occasion to pick out a few things for his new room.

We will wait until after his sister "Birdie" arrives before we try to transition him into a "big boy bed".

 

He loved playing in all of the boxes we had laying around the house

 

But the biggest excitement was when the BIG truck pulled up to the front of our house!

He immediately hopped off the bed to go and have a look at the BIG TRUCK!

 

We took one last walk through the woods near our old home before we loaded up.

This was a very exciting day!

It just happens that the little town our new house is in had their annual Fall Fair on the weekend we moved in.  We decided to take a break after a long day of moving and explore.  Since the town is in the "country" Kiptyn LOVED the tractors and farm animals.

He rode his very first ride all by himself.  He kept a straight face the whole time.  

Maybe next year we will get a smile out of him.

Kippy was captivated by the horse show.

Since his room was painted Pepto Bismol pink when we 

moved in, Kiptyn's room (along with about five others) 

had to be painted right away.  

Lime green seems to fit his colourful personality!

 

The new basement is full of bright and rich colours.  

We decided to keep these rooms the way they are for now as there are so many other things to be done and we sort of like the deep red for our new home theatre.  

 Can you spot Kiptyn?

 

As soon  as we moved in the neighbours started coming over to introduce themselves and I knew right away that we had made the right decision for our family.

This is the kind of community we had been hoping for, and  

Kiptyn made a few friends of his own.

Of course as with any move, we have been to Lowes and Rona endless times to pick up a million items that you cannot anticipate. 

One thing that kept Bug busy while we were unpacking was the iPad...or "bPad" as Kiptyn calls it.  This thing has since become an obsession and although it can be very educational, we have had to take a wee break for a while since he asks for it through his monitor in the morning when he wakes up.  Opsy!

 

 

A part of me was very sad to leave behind our woods, park, and ducky pond at the old house.  As soon as we moved in, we realized that we now have a new playground, park, ducky pond and woods to explore!

 

And Kiptyn and I are both enjoying our new jacuzzi tub which makes bubbles very fast when shampoo has been used.

 

I will save photos of the house for another time when we get things set up a little more...now onto FALL!

This is the pumpkin patch/farm that we have taken a family photo at each year.

Gotta love family traditions!

Kippy Boo had a blast pulling the wagon and

 filling it with pumpkins

 

 

 

He loved the tractor.....until Daddy put him on it

And the giant pumpkin was a hit as always

 

Then we hit up Springbank park and took a train ride.  He could not contain his excitement- CHOO CHOO! 

 

 

Here we are now....three years of Thanksgiving leaf photos!

(Kiptyn at 3 months, 1 year, 2 years)

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family and fun.

We even went to the store late one night in his Turkey pj's

And of course he fell in love with a hat

This particular day was still quite warm outside but we had just purchased a new winter hat and Kiptyn needed to try it out

I just love this little Monkey!

They opened a Halloween store beside the daycare and I decided to take him in one day...

It was a little scarier than I had anticipated....
and Kiptyn surprised me and loved it all....until this girl decided to start making noises and walking toward him.  

We left very soon after this incident-ha!

 I am now off on maternity leave, and on my last day of work Dave sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrtate.

I am so lucky.

Kiptyn has loved dressing up and this dinosaur hoodie was the perfect thing to get him in the Halloween spirit!

As you can see...we like hanging out in the bathrooms

and looking in the mirror

My friend Amy (also an amazing photographer) took some photos of us at a different pumpkin patch.  

She captured some great shots that I am so happy to have.

Here are just a few...

We met up with the baby group again for dinner one night.  Although it was chaos trying to get a photo of a bunch of toddlers all at once, the ice cream helped keep them still for about one minute.

Melt my heart

We decided that three pumpkins were not enough...

So we took a little drive to one of Dave's student's farms and picked out a few more.  Kiptyn loved roaming the farm and getting to pet their chicken!

Mama picked out the white one

Of course Kiptyn's daycare went all out again this year with pumpkin carving and decorating and parties for the kids.

 

 I am not sure how he did at daycare but this was the one and only time Kiptyn put his hand in our pumpkin...ewwww.....gross!

The evening before Halloween we went to the 

"Annual Pumpkin Toss"in our old neighbourhood. We had Kiptyn decorate his pumpkins before we left.

Then he got into costume and took it very seriously.

YEE-HAW! 

I'm sorry but there is nothing cuter than baby butt in cowboy chaps

1,2,3....ROLL!

Kiptyn screamed and ran after his pumpkin just like everyone else

It has been getting bigger and bigger each year and this year it ended with a BANG! Fireworks!  

Bug LOVED them!

On Halloween day, I took Kiptyn into my school to visit in his costume.  He was a pretty big hit, especially when he danced his heart out for the music class who played him 

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

After daycare, I took him into Dave's school as well.  He just loved all of the big kids who were giving him so much attention.

It was a rainy night but that didn't stop this ducky!  

Trick or Treating was a huge success this year.  

He actually cried after the five houses we went to because he didn't want to go back home...we compromised with seven. 

(See my Birdie pumpkin?)

I think he knew what to do as he just couldn't wait to get outside

Trick or Treat, smell my feet!

This little duck was such a ham!

It was a great night and each year gets more and more exciting

 as he gets more and more aware of what each holiday is about.

Well that is it for now!  

Back to lazy days awaiting the arrival of a very special little girl!

 

Go Dolphins!