I swear I am more excited for Christmas than Becca! And she is excited!! I have always liked Christmas, however having children makes it even more wonderful! So I am all giddy will excitement. One more week! Wasn’t the Santa Speaking moment cool? I seriously tear up thinking of Becca all shy and excited talking to Santa!

As promised, I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite things, just in case you scrambling last minute and need some ideas

The Daring Book for Girls is absolutely FABULOUS! I received this from Harper Collins and starting flipping through I was so thrilled to see so many wicked cool topics! We really enjoy The Dangerous Book for Boys, but The Daring Book for Girls is ever BETTER! I want a little time to practice so I can tie my hair back with a pencil, I want to build a flower press with Becca and so much more. I could not recommend the book more for all the amazing girls in your life (young and old in my opinion).

For the boys in your life, I would recommend some cute little cars. Ethan has a thing for anything with wheels. I am not one to “gender-ize” my kids but the boy like trucks and cars (Becca is charmed by dinosaurs and will not play with dolls of any kid, go figure!) I prefer toys that are not characterized so they are open to the child’s imagination, so we purchased a few of these for our little guy.

The kids are also getting some more animals, as Becca cannot seem to get enough of them. She plays with her growing collection daily, rotating which animals, depending on her mood. Although cats are her true love and unfortunately I am having trouble finding some here in Canada.

As for the men in your life, once you figure out how to buy for them, please let me know J is so hard to buy for sometimes. I cannot reveal what I purchased this year just yet but books are always a hit with my husband (if I can find ones he likes! Have you ever looked at the science section of your bookstore!?!)

Knitters can always use more yarn and needles. Swifts and ball winders are groovy. Containers, storage and bags are handy too! I dream of a serger some day, as I want to dabble in more sewing. Books about any craft would make them smile with delight.

I cannot believe I have one more thing to prepare for gifts I am so thankful that I started in the US, especially without a car here. Are you all done your shopping?

You will have to go here … to read all about Becca’s surprise It truly was one of those parenting moments that brings tears to your eyes and that I will never forget. Witnessing my daughter light up like that was amazing and unforgettable (you can hear it there too!).

Speaking of Much More Than a Mom. I had signed up for the Christmas swap, she so graciously hosted pre-moving, however she encouraged me to stay in the swap and I am so glad I did! In the middle of all my stress, I was able to break and shop for my partner.

Then not long after arriving in Halifax, my swapper/giver’s package arrived! It was such a wonderful moment opening the package and sharing it with my family. I received painted mugs (by no other than my partner how awesome is that?!?!), matching spoons, drink tags, hot chocolate (already dived into that), the yummiest tea EVER, the cutest hand puppets for me err the kids, and a colouring book with crayons (missing in the picture because Becca has already claimed it). Isn’t it all so awesome! Thank you so much Gwen for making my first ever swap so special! And to MMTaM for being the hostess with the mostest

The rest of this week, I am going to share some last minute gift ideas with you all, and share our pre Christmas activities with you. So you better watch out, you better not cry … Santa Claus is coming … to town!

I hope that you all understood that this time, “no news, is good news”. Our stuff arrived early Thursday morning, so I bused it down to customs to get it all cleared. I also had the opportunity to ride in the big rig back to the apartment. hehe. It was cool. Our driver was nice and between himself, the other guy, J & I were able to get it all in the apartment in a few short hours.

Then the fun begins really. We are going from a three floor plus garage townhouse, back to an apartment. Challenging to say the least. Yet by and by, all our things are finding homes. Even the gnomes are getting cozy.

On Friday we took a break from unpacking, to join the Chemistry department a their Christmas party. It was so wonderful to meet J’s co-workers and relax a little while. We also were able to see parts of the downtown that we had not seen yet and explore a little.

The last few days have been a blur of unpacking and building furniture. We also took the time yesterday to set up the Christmas tree, enjoy a nice ham and celebrate the season a little.  Becca is getting very excited now for Christmas. She received a really nice surprise that I will reveal this coming week.

I am looking forward to getting everything all settled in, so I can kick back and relax a little. J will have to begin preparing for his classes and work soon, so I will have more time to blog and read. Sometimes is still feels surreal that we are here in Canada. Home for Christmas.

Weekend good for you?

So all this crap about poor poor pitiful me and have I told you about the kids?? Nope.

Ethan my dear EIGHT month old is crawling. A couple days ago he mastered going from his tummy to sitting, then BAM yesterday he crawled. He doesn’t realize he can crawl though. hehe. When he thinks about it he gives up and gets annoyed. However, when he is determined to chew on a power cord or get one of his sister’s animals he can CRAWL. It is so awesome. He has been a tad cranky but he is doing awesome.

Becca is overjoyed with all the snow. Her lame mom packed her snow pants in the moving truck, but she has overcome that and played anyway. We really should try to get out there and make a snowman soon She has still not mentioned her MIA backpack, and seems happy to play with the few things we have bought for her. She is growing up so fast. We are right around the corner from having a three and a half year old!

We have talked to the driver of our moving van (much nicer than our moving coordinator I tell ya!) and I am suppose to meet him at customs … THURSDAY!!! Our stuff will be here TOMORROW. It is snowing here today but I am hoping that will not slow him down.

We were planing on going downtown today, however living in an apartment means waiting for deliveries Especially without a car to go pick things up. So maybe next week. Friday we have a department Christmas part to attend.

Oh we went to the university yesterday to check it out. OMG J is so the man. Hearing people introduce him as “The newest member of our faculty” was soooo COOL> The building he will work in is being renovated, so his office is all new and sparkley. It is so COOL! I can only imagine how giddy he is if I am this giddy!

(sorry about the poor quality on the picture, I had to take a picture of the picture since our scanner is on the truck) Becca totally froze with Santa, refusing to speak, so we wrote a letter instead. Ethan on the other hand was all grins with an expression of “Look guys I am sitting on Santa’s knee!” Too cute!

Since arriving in Halifax, it has snowed and snowed and snowed. It totally feels, smells and is CANADA! brrr! Becca is loving it. I told her it was snowing today and she replies “Is it Christmas?”

We had a fabulous weekend. We rented a car and jetted about Halifax. Needing supplies we were unable to be complete tourists and just explore, but at least I have seen a Starbucks or two. There is shopping centres and a library within a short driving distance (walking in the warmer weather for the library!)

We saw the ocean. Beautiful. Halifax is truly a beautiful city. I have never moved in the winter (not recommended really). It is difficult things seem different all covered in snow. We drove through the downtown, stopping briefly at a yarn store *drool* I was able to see the university that J will work at.

The pictures today … Ethan at the Museum of Natural History and Becca sound asleep on the bus! She has zonked out a few times while riding the bus! It is so cute (hope she doesn’t do that when I take it alone, I am not sure how I would get her off!)

It was good for my inner balance to see Halifax. We are planning to bus it down to the university this week and do more exploring on foot. It is rather chilly here so I am hoping the weather will improve a little (the snow can stay I would rather the minus be in the single digits … picky? hehe totally)

Rumour has it our gear *might* arrive by the end of the week. I am so so hoping it will. I would love to set up the tree and the few decorations we have. Our plan is to focus on the fun stuff first then work slowly on the rest . . . . Are you already for Christmas?