Half Birthday Girl and the Birthday Boy!

Tonight we celebrated Everly's half birthday, she turned 6 months old the day before camp at Anvil. That day was a little chaotic with Jason working, a chiropractor appointment, running around getting last minute items, doing laundry, and packing. We were able to sneak in her 6 month photo.


Jason celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday! Wow has a lot changed since we started dating when he was 21. We have now been married for 3 years, and are blessed to have a home to call our own that is now filled with the cries and tummy filled giggles of our beautiful daughter. She has brought so much joy into our home.

I decided to make a cake to celebrate Everly's half birthday and Jason's birthday, Jason had no say in colour as I just used what food colouring I had in the cupboard.

Everly got right into the cake, she had no qualms about getting her hands covered and diving in. Which wasn't supposed to happen, we just wanted to get a photo of her near the cake. Seems we'll have no problem with her doing a cake smash when she turns a year old. When that time comes though, her cake will be made a little differently, with whip cream instead of icing because little ones do not need all that sugar. Though I'm sure she'd love that.

Happy half birthday to my sweet little girl.

Happy 28th birthday to my best friend, loving husband, and wonderful father to my daughter!

Love you both so much.

The Car Seat Hunt

Everly is a tall girl. She is growing like a weed and we are now finding ourselves in the car seat hunt. Everly just recently has stopped fitting into a bunch of sleepers again, I think she has grown another inch which means we need to get the next car seat pronto!

Jason is almost an obsessive researcher when it comes to purchasing anything really. Thankfully in Canada they do all the hard work when it comes to safety for us. Really you can buy any car seat and know it meets the safety requirements and then some, its more so a matter of finding one that fits in the car.

However this still has not stopped us from wanting to learn more. We have put it out there on our Facebook before asking others which car seats they got next, after their little ones out grew the infant car seats. Diono and Britax were the first ones to always be mentioned, recently Foonf was a brand also mentioned to us. We'd never heard anything about the last brand before. We have also considered going to an "in between seat", which would be something like a Britax Marathon, and then farther in the future switching again to a different seat. Lots to think about.

I am really indecisive when it comes to things, Jason tends to be as well. Its probably why we research things to death. We also tend to disagree on things, such as paint colour, or couch styles. Most recently we finally agreed on a clock to get for the living room (we've been looking for a clock since we got married!).

We do plan on having our children rear face for a while. So that is something we are looking into as well, especially since Everly seems like she is going to keep getting tall very quickly. We are looking for a seat we can keep rear facing for longer based on her height especially, as well as weight. Sure extended rear facing is not something everyone agrees on, but after researching it and seeing more and more info on internal decapitation when a child is switched to forward facing too early, we want to keep our kids rear facing as long as possible. Yes they might not like having to cross their legs, I would rather them learn to deal with that, then to deal with heart ache and guilt of injuries in an accident if we were to switch to forward facing too early.

Now we just need to make the trek to the other side of the bridge to try out several car seats at Baby's World. This is our go to store to check things out as they are great about letting you try car seats out in your car to see what instillation and spacing is like. We also went there to try out strollers to see which we liked, and how they packed into the car.

It will all come down to ease of instillation, fit in our SUV, and fit for Everly now and as she gets older.

I need Mary Poppins

I don't know why, but today I feel like I may go absolutely insane. 

Though I have gotten a few things done. I feel overwhelmed by everything... I think its just one of those days where everything will send me over the edge... plus shopping SUCKS!!!!!

I hate trying to find new clothing sometimes. All I want is a new pair of capri pants because the ones I have are either maternity and I don't want to wear them anymore or are now 4 years old and have holes in them. Toss in bra shopping and then I am beyond grumpy. 

Why do all plus size clothing options have to be so boxy, I have curves I would like to show them off. However some modesty without looking like a fridge box would be amazing. Its either boobs-r-us, or fridge box! 

Where is Mary Poppins when I need her to snap her fingers and have everything go back in its place? 

My house still looks like a volcano exploded post Anvil. We are having a birthday bbq at our place this weekend and I feel like I'll never have our house presentable for it, so thankful right now that most of the bbq will be outside (praying for sun!). 

The car has been taken over by spiders on the outside, they decided to make it home while we were away. Jason I am leaving this one for you to deal with! I loath spiders!

Goober does not want to nap today. It has been battle of the nap all day. She has put up a good fight, but I will win. Thus far I have won, as she has now been napping for more than 5 minutes. Sweetheart a 5 minute power nap will not do, you are beyond exhausted... and so am I. I am going to bed early tonight if possible. 

 *rant over* 

Bring on diaper laundry to help me process and relax, I don't know why but stuffing the diapers after they have been washed is almost therapeutic. I get a lot of thinking done then, maybe I'll have a plan of attack after.

Why at home?

I am so confused and trying to figure this out. Everly was able to go without a bib almost all of the time at Anvil. Why? Why is it that now we are home we are having more throw up and projectile moments? Is there something I am missing? 

We have the same routine as when we were there. Maybe all that fresh air did her some good? She only had  two moments the time we were at Anvil. 

It breaks my heart because she was so happy last week. It has gotten to a point where she notices that it is happening and she is sad when it happens.

I am waiting now for her appointment with the pediatrician again, needless to say I am putting my foot down and will have a Mommy freak out moment if need be. I want her sent to Children's for further testing my gut is telling me that there is something else going on here. My gut has been telling me that since its started, 6+ months of this is enough. We asked about Children's at her 6 month check up. 

My daughter should not be getting sad because she is having these moments, it is now impacting her daily life. I don't care if my daughter is "thriving". Yes she is growing but that is most likely because she is supplemented with formula, the doctors have said before that is more than likely the reason she is growing. Now she is also having the bonus of solids, but that is not helping, it just makes those moments more disgusting for her and for us. 

Praying we get called for her appointment soon. I am calling now!

*We now have an appointment next week with the pediatrician... we wait and pray for answers*

Date Night

I asked my Mom last minute if she could come over this evening and watch Everly for us. No, it is not the most last minute we have requested her baby sitting skills... that one came with an hour and a half request. We are very thankful for her willingness to come and watch her granddaughter.

Jason's birthday is this week and he is still in recovery mode from camp last week, toss in the hot weather and he is a bit of a grumpy butt. This morning I thought a movie might be a good way to cheer him up, especially if its a movie that will surely get him to laugh.

We are going out to see Despicable Me 2 tonight! We both loved the first movie, and have heard good things about this one. Air conditioning, and a movie date night... sounds good to both of us!

Minions 

What are some other summer date ideas? I'll have to be more strategic in planning to get advance baby sitting requests in to others. Would love to have some more ideas. Especially budget friendly ideas, and even baby friendly ideas if they work for taking her with us!

Baby in a Carrier

My older sister kindly sent her baby carriers to me when my Mom went out to Ontario after Everly was born. My Mom's suitcase was actually crammed full of baby items for me that were handed down to me by my sister. In that suitcase was an older organic brown Ergo. 

Now, my older sister could be a super model, she is the opposite of my body type. I am plus size, so I was very apprehensive about trying out any baby carriers. I was able to get an extender to use with the waist belt to make it larger to go around my waist, I don't really need it, but it makes it more comfortable on my waist and hips. 

I love the Ergo carrier, it is super comfy to wear, and I have been able to use it with Everly since she was a newborn thanks to the infant insert. When I first had her there were several times when I put her in it just so I could blow-dry my hair and actually feel pulled together for once.

It was one of the first items I packed to take with me to Anvil, and I am so glad I did. After her lack of sleep the first night the poor girl was super tired and grumpy the next day. However, she did not want to be put down. I don't blame her with being in a new environment. She fell asleep several times during the week while in the carrier. I did not mind at all, I loved the cuddle time with her. She would spread out and take up as much room across me as possible and just relax. I could always tell when she had fallen asleep because I could feel her relax and the weight shift in her. 

This carrier was a life saver this past week. I could plunk her in it and know she was going to be comfortable in the carrier, and that I would be comfy with her on me. I was able to have my hands free and eat meals, or help with different things going on around the camp. It is so easy to put on, and I do not get a back ache while wearing it. I brought my Moby wrap to the camp as well, but I only used it once as I did not feel as comfortable with it on.

Going to try to use this carrier even more now, it may find a home in the car so that I always have it when I am out and about with Everly.

Anvil Island

We survived summer camp with a 6 month old! We returned this afternoon from camp 1 at Anvil Island. I have been attending the summer camp there since I was 9, first as a camper, and now as a part of the staff. Jason became involved with the camp there when we were dating. Its a big part of our summer and I was determined to go with Everly. I was told several times over that I was crazy for wanting to attempt to do this, but I knew I was not attempting this with the youngest infant to go to one of the summer camps.





The camp week had a holiday theme, each day was a different holiday. Easter, Christmas, Valentines Day (Single Awareness Day), New Years, and St Patricks Day. Instead of trying to find outfits to match the theme days for myself, I found stuff only for Everly. I checked out the clearance sections of stores throughout the year before camp, and also found a few things used for her to wear.

The morning we had to go to the boat dock was a little chaotic with packing the vehicles, and making sure we had everything. Everly woke up at 4:30am that day, and it worked great for her to be fed, and for all of us to hit the road.


My role that week was mostly to watch my daughter, but whenever she was napping or I had the opportunity I tried to bounce around to different groups and help them out.

Everly was very popular during the week. Everyone showed so much love towards her, which made the week so much easier for me.

The first night though, by 2am I was texting Jason (when I was able to find a cell service in my cabin) and telling him I was going home in the morning with munchkin. Everly was up every hour that night, and permanently awake by 3:30am, I did not get much sleep that first night, and when I do not get enough sleep I am the grumpiest person out there. Thankfully I was able to get a nap in.

Everly has never been a major cuddly baby, she has always been very independent. This week though I got to enjoy lots of cuddles from her as she really liked being in the Ergo carrier, and it worked great for her to fall asleep in if there were activities going on that I still wanted to see, she was able to just fall asleep right there. I will gladly take cuddles when I get them!

The Monday there was hike day, we had a camper get hurt and the call came in that they needed help to get a camper down from the hike as she was going to be put on a spine board to err on the side of caution as she hit her head very hard when she fell. This happened around 2pm, and slowly we started having more and more of the young men disappear up the mountain to help and bring water. It took 12 hours to get her down, and almost 40 staff members. I am so thankful that we have such a willing group of people who will drop everything and help, but it was still a very tense time as they had to hike in the dark at the end and many had not eaten anything since having their lunch at the beginning of the hike. Don't worry, the camper was okay and she came back to the camp the next day, after being checked at the hospital.

When I went to put Everly to bed for the night on the Monday, she was not happy and was just going in circles in her packnplay, and tossing and turning, she was also calling out "DADA... dada... DADA!" the whole time. Our little one has figured out how to say "dada" and "mama" this past week, she tends to say it when the other person is not in the room as if she is wondering where that person is.

Whenever we had the chance we made sure Everly got tummy time to play, this often happened when in the back of the chapel, we thought for sure she was going to start to crawl this week. It has not happened just yet, but she has taken a few "steps" forward when trying to get to her toys she wants, or other items that are around. It won't be long now!

Everly got to finish up trying green beans, and started trying butternut squash this past week. So far she does not seem to be a picky eater, she loves her food! Between that, and wanting almost 8oz when she has a bottle now, she is one well fed little girl. The nice thing is its getting more spread out, meaning she can go longer between feeds. Its also really nice to have her sit at the table with us during meals now and she gets to have her little meal.


As a precaution I got noise cancelling headphones for Everly. I highly recommend them if you go to a church that plays loud music, or to sporting events. The camp does an emergency test at the beginning of camp to make sure everyone knows how to respond if there is an emergency. We were standing right beside the siren that blares, and Everly did not flinch when it started.

Best purchase before the camp, was the jogging stroller we found used for a great deal. It made going around the camp with Everly, and the diaper bag so much easier. We are planning to sell it as we hope it will help someone else this summer as we have no intentions of using it again. It does make me consider getting a better quality jogging stroller for in the future, those big tires sure do come in handy!

It was really nice to have amazing weather all week, the first few nights were still very warm. The baby monitor read 27C at 2am! Thankfully it cooled down towards the end of the week.

I did over pack for Everly. Which is good to know since we will be going for a week long trip again next month. I now know what to pack for that trip. I packed just enough diapers though! I still hate disposable diapers, but I like the ones from the Honest Company. No diaper rash, but as can be expected with disposables we had 2 blow outs. Glad I brought laundry detergent with me to hand wash a few things if needed.

Would I do this again? Most definitely! I feel very strongly that we are to be a part of Anvil still, even with a little one. It does take a unique mindset, and willingness to be able to do it. The first night I was a wreck because of a lack of sleep, but it got much better. I couldn't have done it without Jason, who is such an amazing, helpful, father to Everly. I will always have memories of how loved my daughter was by so many others at camp. I hope that will be something that she continues to know in the years to come at Anvil.