The Lee-Young Christmas

It was so fun to finally have the space to host Christmas dinner this year for my family. It was a smaller gathering since it's too far for my brother and sister to come home for the holidays with young kids in tow. We'll have another 'Christmas in June' when traveling is easier then. For now we had a great time with my parents, my Auntie Phylis and Joanne's family. Maddy always loves it when her older cousins Frances and Pippa come. It's so great to see them together and I love how the girls really take good care of Maddy. Maddy sure does look up to them.

To make things easier, everyone brought different parts for dinner. Since we already did a turkey this year. I tried a ham recipe. It was super tasty and really easy to do. The nice thing about ham is that it's already cooked, so cooking time is really short (and the added benefit of not having to worry so much about food poisoning!) After some yummy cheese and crackers, we sat around the tree to open presents. It's always so fun to see the kids open their gifts. Then it was on to the main event. Since our dining table is small, we decided to have a 'kids' table this year. I almost got a little teary eyed seeing Maddy all 'grown up' sitting with her cousins and not in her high chair. For dessert, Auntie Phylis made her famous flan and I'll tell you, Maddy is hooked. She gobbled hers quickly and then went to Papa to get some of his!


The dishes are done, the linens washed, even the ham and split pea soup is in the freezer. It's a lot of work to host dinner, but I loved every minute of it. I'm definitely feeling all grown up myself!

Here are some pictures for now. I will get some more uploaded as soon as we have time to get them off the camera.

We hope all of you are enjoying your holiday dinners with friends and family. We'll have the Blommestein Christmas blog entry in the new year. Merry Christmas everyone and all the best in the new year.

Here are those pictures as promised:

Oma the author!

We are so excited for Oma, Josh's mom, as she just recently published her first book. The title of the book is The Tale of Miss Spider Who Spun Her Web. It tells a tale of a spider who is torn between eating a fly that is trapped in her web and letting it go free. Mieke has been busy traveling to craft shows and book stores in the interior to sell her book and she has had great success with it so far. She has also been to many elementary schools in Revelstoke to read the students and the kids get a real lesson out of it. Maddy loves the book and has been known to quote parts of the book out of the blue. Maddy already loves to read books, but it's that much more special when the author is your Oma. We are so proud of you Oma!

Binkie (Part II)

Some of you may remember my post about the competition that Josh and I hand when Maddy was a baby. We were both trying to get Maddy to take to the comfort item that we were each sleeping with. In the end the comfort that she chose wasn't even in the race! She has really taken to the Binkie. Even our play date friends know not to touch Binkie. It's the one thing she doesn't have to share. It's just a square cloth with ribbons sewn around it. I love it because I made them, so they can easily be replaced if lost, we have tons of them and they are small enough to take everywhere. This time around, with Ethan, there is no competition. I've been madly trying to get him to fall in love with the binkie too. So far it's seems to be working. He sucks on them the same way that Maddy did when she was small. Keeping my fingers crossed that we won't have to lug a giant comfort item around for him.

Busy, busy holidays

We've been super busy enjoying the holiday season. We started things off with hosting a Christmas play date with a few families. It was quite a feat to get 5 couples, 3 toddlers, 1 baby and 2 infants all sitting at the table at the same time. Somehow we did, but in all the hullabaloo, we forgot to capture the moment on camera! We all helped out with putting together the turkey dinner and everything came together well. I was very happy that my first turkey turned out and I'm even surprised with how easy it was. (I'll have to come back and post a picture of the turkey, it's on the other camera). The girls played really well together and the adults had moments here and there to chat. It was a really fun evening and we're already looking forward to next year.

During the week, Josh's mom and dad came down from Revelstoke. Uncle Joe and Aunt Maria also made the trip up from Portland to join us for a little pre-holiday visit. Maddy always loves when Oma and Opa come to visit and she knew for sure they were coming when she saw the box of croissants ("pa-ssants") on the table.

On Tuesday night Josh went out to get our first real Christmas tree. We waited until Maddy went to bed so that she could see the whole thing already put together. I'm really excited to have a real tree and one that smells so good. The year that Maddy was born, we decided to start a family tradition where we each go to pick a new ornament for the tree that year. It was really fun to finally pull these ornaments out and hang them on a tree.



On Wednesday we took advantage of the dry weather and went to the Stanley Park Bright Nights Train. This is the first time we've gone with kids. The park was beautifully decorated and Maddy really enjoyed the train ride. It was super cold so we quickly went on the train, ran around to see the lights and packed back into the car. After that we stopped at the White Spot for a yummy dinner. It seems the whole restaurant was packed with other families who just went on the train too.



Last weekend we went to see Santa. Maddy was excited to see him this year and we had been rehearsing what she was going to say to him. In the line waiting to see him, she kept peering over at him and waving her little hand. It was priceless. When it was our turn she did very well talking to Santa. She asked him for a ball and some new stickers. I thought we were going to get lucky and that she'd sit for the photo with him. I guess talking with him is different from getting up on his lap. So again, Josh and I squeezed into the photo too. Looking at the picture from last year, it's really amazing to see how much she has change.



We hope everyone is enjoying the season so far.

"A little piece of heart"

With the weather being so yucky lately, the last thing I want to do is to go out. Luckily I've been busy with my latest craft project. A long time ago my sister Shauna showed me an Etsy site that sells patterns for making play food out of felt. At that time I made a few pieces like hamburgers, bacon, eggs, pancakes and sandwich sets. For those ones, I just copied the best I could from the picture. But this one lady had some sets that really look authentic and I had no idea how to make them.

More recently, my friend Sandra said that she tried making some of the free patterns on the website and she said that it really wasn't as hard as it looks. She was right. The patterns are really easy to follow and come with nice photos. She also has a blog that has different tutorials and tips that are helpful. Here is my first attempt at the dim sum set. Maddy likes her new toys, she knows the names of the different dumplings but I'm sure she doesn't actually know what they are. Maybe we have to go for dim sum really, really soon.

Here's Maddy giving Ethan a 'taste' of the siu mai

My next project is the sushi set, but I have to let my fingers have a bit of a rest first! Stay tuned...

Picture time

A big smile with her big girl ponytail

Ethan in his "I look just like daddy outfit"

He's really beginning to be more expressive and playful.

These two are out takes from our Christmas card photo session

Maddy loves to play with her cookie baking set. Just found out it was recalled though!!

First Smile

I still remember the first time I caught Maddy's smile on camera and recently I had the exact same feeling as I got a good picture of Ethan's smile. After trying so many times, it's so rewarding to finally get it. So here it is, along with some outtakes.

2 months

Tomorrow Ethan will be 2 months old. It feels like he's been with us for a lot longer than 2 months and in that short amount of time he's grown and changed so much. I'm happy to say that he's on a some sort of schedule. It changes some days but for the most part he sleeps well in the morning, has ok afternoons and is ravenous in the evenings. He does go for a long stretch at night, his last feed is usually around 9:30 or 10:00 and lasts until about 4:30am.

I'm also happy to report that he's seems to have gotten a handle on the gas issues he had in the beginning. He still burps like a drunken sailor but he doesn't always have to work as hard for them anymore.

He is definitely more alert now and we even get some smiles and coos when we sit and talk with him. I haven't been able to catch a really good smile on camera but they are there. We have the video monitor in his room so that we can watch him from the living room. It's quite fun to see him smiling up at the birds hanging from his mobile.

I've been terrible about making sure he gets some time on his tummy, but his neck seems to be really strong. He's pretty good at holding up his neck and hopefully the stinky neck days will soon be behind us.

Happy 2 months, Ethan! We love you so much.

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween! I always have, and every year I look forward to having tons of fun with the kids at school. Now that I have kids of my own, Halloween is even more fun. We started by dressing Ethan up in his Halloween PJs. Then he had to go to bed :)


Next it was time to carve the pumpkins from our trip to the farm. Maddy didn't want to actually touch the pumpkin goop, but this year she was happy to squish them around with the carving tools. I did the Jack-O-Lantern and Josh ambitiously tried the witch one.



All week long I tried to think of somthing we could have for dinner that went with the Halloween theme. I also wanted something really easy to do. I came across these Hot Dog Mummies but I wasn't too keen on us eating hot dogs. (Sorry Philip!) Finally, when I couldn't come up with anything else, I went out and got some hot dogs and Pillsbury weiner wrap. I was quite happy with them and they tasted sooooo good. They reminded me of the corn dog I craved when I was pregnant in the summer. I think they just may become a Halloween tradition around here. (Philip, I'm sure you'll be so proud)


After dinner all four of us went trick or treating. Maddy was in a bit of shock at first because we were outside and it was dark. I think the lure of candy was the thing that kept her going. She did great and said "trick or treat" at each house. After about 4 houses, she asked to go home. I think it was because she could feel the candy in her bag and she was itching to go home and have some.

We went home, Maddy had her 3 Smarties and some Aero bar and then went to bed without much of a problem. It was a really fun Halloween and I can't wait until next year with Ethan can join in more of the fun.



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I can't believe I almost forgot to post these pictures. They are from a couple weeks ago. We pulled out the doggie costume to have Maddy try it on and to get her excited about wearing it. She wanted nothing to do with it. We tried a couple of times and every time she didn't want to put it on. Finally Josh put it on to show her, I laughed so hard and begged to take a picture. Anyway, it worked and she reluctantly tried it on. On the actual day, we told her about the whole 'going to collect candy from houses' part of Halloween and she willingly put on the costume.

I could barely hold the camera still to take this shot!

I love the look on her face in this one.

Party Time!

On Saturday we celebrated Maddy's 2nd birthday with a small party for family. Oma, Opa and Auntie Lyn came down from Revelstoke and then Gong Gong, Po Po, Auntie Jo, Uncle Philip, Frances and Pippa joined us for tea and cake. Thank goodness for the bigger house this year. It certainly makes a difference with Maddy running around this year. It was a lot of fun to see her running and playing with her cousins.

Maddy asked for a doggie cake this year and boy did she like it! She ate all the icing off the cupcake and didn't really care that she was the only one sitting by herself in the kitchen.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Happy Birthday Maddy!

Our first baby is 2 already! Where did the time go? Having a newborn and a 2 year old in the same house really lets you appreciate how much growth humans do in the first couple of years of life. It’s hard to believe that just 2 years ago Maddy didn’t have control of even her arms or neck and now she runs about, and absorbs new things every day. Here are some things she’s been up to:

Crafts: In an attempt to find activities for her to do while I nurse Ethan, I went to Michael’s and bought some foam stickers and regular stickers. I made little baggies of these stickers and thought that if I could hand her the stickers while nursing Ethan, she could stick them on the paper. Turns out she can take the backing off and stick them on the paper all by herself. Woo hoo!! Keeps her busy for quite a while.

Food: We’ve always cut her grapes in half or quarters to prevent choking and in the beginning we even peeled them. We still quarter them for her but for a while she ate the skin of the grapes with no problem. Recently she decided that she didn’t like the skin of the grapes so she’ll take each piece and scrape at it with her teeth, leaving just the skin. It takes her a LONG time to finish a plate of grapes this way. Another woo hoo!!

Helping: Maddy loves to help us. She understands quite a bit and can follow through with multi-step tasks. We started calling her our assistant during diaper changes with Ethan and it’s a job she loves. She’ll say, “Maddy’s a good assimstm” over and over. During a diaper change, she’ll get the bum balm ready, open it and leave it on the table, get a fresh diaper and put the old one in the garbage.

Speech: We’ve definitely noticed a difference in the way Maddy speaks. Before she’d say things like “Maddy have _______.” If we didn’t answer her or give it to her, she’d just repeat herself. Now, instead of repeating herself, she’ll continue to say “I NEED it mama! I need ______.” It’s really cute to hear, but at the same time she’s definitely more demanding in her requests. Another thing we’ve noticed is that we can no longer just brush off something that she says. She’ll call you on it when she knows that you're not really listening. Once Josh was talking to her and he didn’t quite understand her so he simply replied “Uh hmmm”. She got quite upset and said, “No 'uh hmmm' papa (and then repeated her question again).”

This morning we went into her room with a candle in a piece of banana bread and sang to her. She was so excited and knew that it was her birthday. She definitely isn’t a baby anymore. It’s so sad to think that the ‘baby’ years are so short and that she is growing up so quickly. Happy 2nd birthday Maddy, we are so proud of you and love you so much!!! xoxo Mama, Papa and “Essan”

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went with the Brown Johns and the Browns to the pumpkin patch at Richmond Country Farms. We were there super early so we had time to shop for produce at the store first. They had an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables and everything was super fresh and not to mention inexpensive.


Unfortunately by the time we got out to actual pumpkin field, Ethan was hungry so I had to head to this covered area to nurse him. I sat by myself in the 'shack' feeding and changing Ethan, all sad that I was missing out on the 'fun'. That's until Josh came in a while later. He was carrying two pumpkins AND a snotty, tear stained Maddy. Poor guy, looks like he had it way worse than me. I don't think it was as fun as I was picturing out there! :) Turns out Maddy was hungry and after a little snack in the shack she was in better spirits.


When we got back to the entrance the line up for the hayride was really long. Thank goodness we were there early. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My First Bento

Now that Josh is back at work, I needed some lunch ideas for Maddy that she can eat all on her own and with little mess. Enter the bento box. I got the boxes and accessories from Daiso in Richmond and now I'm hooked. There are so many blogs completely dedicated to bento boxes (Lunch In a Box and Just Bento are two I like) and there are TONS of ideas. The best part is that Maddy really likes it. She can pick at the food with her hands and it takes her a long time to eat (read: I can feed Ethan while she's busy eating by herself). She kept saying "I love bento box" the whole time she was eating. Here is my first try.

Corn, Peas, Chick Peas, 1/2 a Bolied Egg, Onigiri (Rice ball), Star Shaped Turkey, Kiwi and Grapes

4 Weeks Old

Today Ethan is 4 weeks old. In some ways it feels like the 4 weeks went by in a snap. Josh's month at home was WAY too short. On the other hand it also feels like Ethan has always been a part of our family. We've adjusted well but it's definitely harder caring for a newborn with a toddler at the same time. Maddy loves her little brother and it's so fun to see the huge smile on her face when she first sees him in the morning.

Ethan is doing really well. He's put on so much weight and those skinny chicken legs don't look so much like chickens anymore! He's been struggling with gas and so we have to be careful to burp him often during feeds. For now, I live for the sweet sound of a huge belch from him! Nothing feels better than having him over my shoulder, patting him and hearing him burp. Sometimes I don't know who is more relieved, Ethan or me.

He's a really noisy baby. We are lucky that he cries only when he is uncomfortable (gas mostly), but even when he is comfortable, or even sleeping, he grunts. I'm beginning to think that it's just the noise he makes when he's trying to fart. :) He's beginning spend more time awake and thankfully it's during the day. I'll have to be sure to start more activity time with him, but for now he likes looking at the Zebra puppet Maddy gave him and enjoys taking a bath.

Happy 4 weeks Ethan, we love you so much! XOXO

I'll have to post a picture later on. We're a bit behind on uploading and organizing pictures.