Our little ballerina!

Today was Maeve's first real "dance" class.  Grammy enrolled her in the creative movement class at the Maritime Conservatory, and today she donned her ballerina outfit!

For the first time that I can remember, Maeve was a little shy, and even a bit nervous about this new adventure.  But, she took to her new teacher and fellow dancers quickly and had lots of fun! 

In our backyard.

Waiting patiently with Grammy.

Ready to dance!

Summer 2011...what little we've had of it.

It's been ages since I posted, but here's a snapshot of what we've been up to for the past 2 months!

Canada Day Parade

Watering Mommy's overgrown garden.

Sprinkler fun!

Taking a quick break.

We had a nice visit with Aunty Barbara, Nana Louise and Theo!

Beckett and Theo were quite taken with each other!

View from our rented cottage in Caribou river.

Caribou Island

Maeve turned 4 while we were at the cottage. It was slim pickings at the local Sobeys, so Elmo and Cookie Monster were it!

Maren, being a ham!

We also took the kids for a ride on Theodore Tugboat - too fun.

Captain Maeve!

Maeve's first sleepover with her best friend Ellie!

What a difference a year makes...

It's soccer season again.  Last year, Maren and Beckett were just 3 months old, and my dream of taking them to Maeve's soccer practices didn't quite go as planned.  Here's last year's post to jog your memory: Family Outing Fail

This year went much more smoothly.  It was a relatively nice day (as nice as we've seen here in Halifax of late) and the twins thoroughly enjoyed seeing Maeve play soccer!

Twins in name only.

Anyone who has spent any time with Maren and Beckett know that they are nothing alike.  Now, given that they are fraternal twins (obviously) you wouldn't really expect them to be all that similar, but there are days when I question if one was switched at birth. No, really.

Here are a few examples...

Beckett has blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and a lean body shape.
Maren has reddish brown hair, greenish eyes, olive skin and is an endomorph, like her Mama. ;)

Beckett loves anything that resembles a carbohydrate, whereas Maren channels her inner fruitarian on a daily basis.  We often end up exchanging their leftovers at the end of a meal.

Maren loves books, and would be content to sit there all day and be read to.  Beck needs to be on the move - all the time.  He's run so many laps around our kitchen we've lost count.

Beckett is up with the birds (literally) and Maren would sleep until noon if she could.

Maren loves to be carried (especially in the Beco), but Beck could care less.

Beckett would nurse all day if I'd let him, whereas Maren can take it or leave it.

The only thing they agree on is that Maeve is the coolest kid they know, and that Mama's lap is always worth fighting for.  Lucky me. :)

But, in all seriousness, do these kids even look related?

A "Mommy of three" milestone.

I've often said that the hardest thing about 3 kids (especially having 2 toddlers) is trying to get out of the house.  I haven't ventured very far on my own, and usually have Brent or my Mom in tow for any major outings.  My solo outings have been limited to the playground, or a walk around the block.  I have yet to attempt groceries on my own!

But today, I took the kids to the farmer's market and playground, by myself, and without much anxiety.  Best of all, it went really well, and has given me the confidence to get back into the habit of going to the Dartmouth Farmer's Market every Saturday.  It's another one of those "new normal" moments for me, and a milestone I'm happy to reach.

Whopper Cake!

Maeve fell in love with this book, which we found at the library.  It's a cute story about a 'Grandad' who bakes a whopper cake for Grandma on her birthday. After 3 weeks of reading this book every single night, Maeve and Daddy baked the whopper cake recipe at the back of the book.  You can tell I'm not much of a foodie, as I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but trust me, it was yummy!

Spring has sprung!

Wow, that was a long winter.  We're slowly crawling out of the cave, and enjoying the nicer weather, even if it is raining most of the time.  The past month has been a busy one, especially for the kiddos!

Maeve is learning to write, and can write her name (with assistance) and is recognizing letters really well.  I'm sure she'll be reading soon! She finished up her gymnastics class, and started "gym and swim" at the pool, which she's really enjoying!  Soccer will be starting in June, which is always fun.

Beckett is walking!  He took the plunge into full-time walking on April 17th, the day before my birthday.  He's loving his new found freedom!  He's always babbling, but no real words yet (other than Mama/Dada).  And, he's adopted a new friend - a stuffed lamb we've called 'Lolo'.  Lolo is very special to Beck-Beck, and is never far from his side.

Maren also took first steps on the 17th, but is taking her time getting on her feet.  She still crawls at the speed of light, so why walk?  Maren has a few words, including 'ball' and 'quack quack', and can roar when asked what sound a lion makes - very cute.