Our Girl Amelia bo belia

Our sweet oldest girl is becoming quiet the little lady and we love it!  As a baby she was this chill, easy going, serious sweetheart and it is fun watching more of her personality emerge.  She is such a pleasure to have as a daughter and we truly treasure her. 

 

There are a few things that we are really loving about her right now. 

We love:

* watching her imaginative play - she has a fabulous imagination

* that she plays games with us

* doing puzzles like a pro star!

* when she asks us to hold her hand

* when she asks us to join her for hide and seek...."want to come hide?"

* her awesome picture taking skills - she is seriously getting pretty good

* when she is helpful

* watching her teach little sister Stella things that she knows (beautiful!!!)

* when she asks for puppy dog ears or train track hair...both are nicknames for hair styles

* the random hugs and kisses she will give, often coupled with an "I love you too!"
* watching her play with her babies, mothering them
* when out of the blue she sings Primary songs - makes me smile
* when she asks me to read the words in books
* when she catches me skipping a page in a bedtime story, dang it!
*  that she requests cold water with ice!!!


 

How blessed are we?  Pretty darn blessed because she is pretty darn awesome!

~ Momma P

Our Girl Stella Bella

It feels like this 15 month old lady has really morphed from baby to toddler.

She has become more content and happy, we get the best giggles from her.  Her giggles make  everyone around smile!  This is such a sweet age.  She is learning and growing everyday.  I love that she is so eager to demonstrate what she knows, so proud of herself.  Serious fun!!!

 

We love her:

* gap tooth smile

* fake kisses

* blowing kisses

* pointing at things with her cubby little pointer finger

* her attempts at talking

* when she says momma and dada...sometimes she says the wrong name on purpose and thinks it is funny - what a tease!

* pulling on our pant legs asking for "up"

* doing actions for songs we sing - ADORABLE!!!!

* pretends to read books, turning pages and 'reading'

* plays with the dog calling Tula "pup"

* carries her baby dolls and pats them on the back

* when she still wants to cuddle and snuggles into our chest/shoulder - love it!

* her walking

* talks on the phone/play phone/cell phone/remote control

* FINALLY sleeping through the night and having decent naps (I really love this!)

 

 

 

We totally love this girl! 

We are glad she came to our family.

~ Momma P

Potty Training - the journey!!!!

 

 I have thought awhile about what I wanted to write regarding the potty training journey at our house.

I want to be real, I want to record for my girls the ups and downs but also the EXTREME JOY once the goal is reached!!!  The pic above brings me such JOY!! Smiles and joy! I know she will likely be soooooo mad at us for taking it but it is seriously so darn cute and totally shows this time in our life where we pack a snack, some toys, the potty and hand sanitizer in the vehicle. Oh sweet memories!!!!!

 

I have a picture of Amelia Ann sitting on the potty at 18 months, she did in fact have a regular date with the potty BUT I didn't want to push it.  Looking back I wonder if I should have pushed it?!  Also, as a pregnant lady I thought for some whacked reason it would be easier once I had baby...WRONG!  Something I love about Amelia is that she is a strong spirited little woman. She has a small voice but a BIG personality.  Most of the time I love this personality but there are times when it is a challenge to parent, she has a mind of her own.  After little sister Stella was born and Amelia turned 2, all efforts got pushed to the back burner.  I really wanted to follow Amelia's lead and wait for her to meet all of those 'readiness signs' you read about.  We had a few stints over the winter where I/we would put forth a renewed effort to ditch the diapers, they were never successful.  I worked on a 50/50 policy where if we had more then 50% success we would keep trucking ahead but each time we tried after 3 or 4 days of cleaning up messes I would toss in the towel.  The little carpet cleaner and I were BFFs. The kicker is that she could say to me exactly "we pee in the potty", "we keep our panties dry" but wouldn't do it....so frustrating.   Flash forward to June 2012 and a 3 year old Amelia.  She is a smart girl with a great vocabulary, I KNEW that she was competent and she/potty could have consistent dates....helping her KNOW IT....still tough.  I had tried a ton of things; stickers, sticker charts, candies, cleaning up messes herself and many a praise/potty dance. Many talks with my Mom, Gramma and sisters yet, no success!!  At Amelia's yearly pediatrician appointment as a stressing mom I asked and he said 3 1/2 is actually the average age.  Also interesting, he said that potty training is like sleeping through the night - parents aren't always honest about it when they are talking to other parents about it!!!  Hahahaha well it made me feel better in the moment. 

 

So to be honest I reached a point where I didn't know what else to do, I didn't know how else to encourage her.  Ok, prayer!  Seriously, the only thing I could think of to do.  Here I was with my articulate girl just over 3 still wearing diapers.  I came across a book and it was like a light bulb, it was old school and a tad bit militant but I felt like it would be the way to go once we moved into our new house.  About a week later though I was out shopping alone and had this feeling to try again, try being positive and buy some more gosh darn princess figurines (the reward for a day with dry panties which BTW we had already been trying).  So I bought another set and AMAZINGLY it worked this time!!!!!  We even had some left over because going in the potty had become so natural by the end of the week.  HAPPINESS, extreme happiness!!!  We still wear pull ups at night and I will continue to do so until we get in our new house.  She is rockin the dry mornings and I am a proud momma!  Love this little chick!  There were definitely times when I felt totally discouraged but in the end it happened and now my girl is really a big girl, an awesome pantie wearing big girl.  Everyone is so different and in the end our journey was our journey.
LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!

 

~ Momma P

Staying connected with Mr. Polischuk

Every time we SKYPE, my dad will go on about how unbelievable the technology is.  He said he remembers 20 years ago there was a booth at a trade show where they had a wall separating two monitors and it was amazing that the people on either side could actually see one another, people thought it was sooooo cool!  Now, we have SKYPE and anyone can use it to stay in touch.  Seriously, what would we do without technology?  It sure helps our little women stay connected to their dad.  The phone is great, fabulous to hear their voices but there is something about seeing their face.  Just tonight Amelia and her dad were making funny faces back and forth, Graham even wiggled his ears while getting Stella to point out body parts.  So darn awesome, really something very wonderful!!

 

 

 

So here we are, day 14 of being separated.  No move in date yet.  Boo!  Just trying to stay positive.  It has been fun running errands with my mom and hanging out with my dad and brother.  The girls are enjoying being at Gramma and Grandpa's.  I have honestly been in a way mello state here, kind of vacation mode.   We usually chill out when we come up, but I am ready to shift gears, contribute a little more and get into a routine because the home I grew up in is going to be home a while longer!!!!

 

~ Mrs. P

Great Gran Hinko and a week on the farm

There were beautiful pink sunsets and foggy mornings.

It was quiet, save only the sounds of nature and children.

There were Grandma hugs before bed.

There were also dead mice, a ton of bugs, coyotes, bats and no pizza delivery!
All that considered, it was a great week.

Our first week without a home was spent with my Grandma Hinko out at her farm. 

I have many fond memories, spending summers there so it was nice to give my little women a taste of it.  Grandma kindly opened her home up to all of the Polischuk girls, this included our pup Tula who loved running free!!!!   She didn't mind our 6 suitcases, 2 rubbermaid bins or 3 reusable shopping bags.  Hey, I had to pack for changing seasons and bring a few 'touches from home'!  It was a great week.  Stella started warming up to Grandma just in time for us to leave and Amelia

was a big fan of Grandma's breakable ceramics, oh dear! We enjoyed her covered back deck and loved visiting the horses.  Under Grandma's tutoring I cranked out 28 jars of Apple Jelly, fun!  The week wrapped up with a family BBQ which was so nice. 

 

My sweet girlies...

 

 Interesting and new things to see... 

Polischuk Ladies self timer pic... 

 

Running Free...

 

 

 We had a good time visiting and hanging out!

 ~ Mrs. P



Ten years have flown by...

Today we celebrate our 10th Anniversary &
My 31st Birthday!!!!!

We are so old that our wedding pics were taken on film.   I have our wedding album scrapbooked and pretty but it doesn't leave me any way to put up an old wedding pic...I could scan pics but the scrapbook is packed and stored.  Oh well, as I looked through our Facebook albums I found a few oldies, but goodies.  I love how young we look.  Oh the days before little people, so full of travel and alone time.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our life now but goodness how it has changed over these last few years. 

I am proud of us for being at the 10 Year mark, it is awesome to look back and see all that we have done together! I am very grateful we started our married life together at the temple where we were sealed 'together for eternity' and not just 'until death do us part'.  The dude is so good to me and would be sad knowing our life together wouldn't extend beyond.  A forever future with Graham Polischuk seems pretty good!  He loves me lots and I love him, simple!

 

Just a few fun pics from our past...

Cruising the Caribbean (like 7 times)!

 

 Europe...Vienna, Austria

 

 

Miami, Florida



 

Feeding Mr.P's addiction to the Oilers! 

 

Life now...so full of love and joy! 

Our little eternal family becoming three, then four. 

So awesome, so blessed, so grateful!!!!

 

 Happy 10 Years!!
~ Mrs. P

 



Sisters Night Out

Sisters are so awesome and we don't have enough time alone together! 

Life is always so busy.  We booked a night and made a sisters night happen, just us - no kids!!!  

I am so grateful that Amelia and Stella have one another because sisters are totally built in best friends.  They have known you forever, know all your stories, know your family stuff and just know YOU!!!!  Love them so very much.  I love that they can see my potential and can say just the right things to encourage me or knock me down a peg when needed. I am so thankful for them.  We took these pics awhile ago but with Alyson off to camp and me up in Fort Mac until our new house is ready I am missing them a touch.

 

~ Mrs. P