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Flashback

December 20, 2004

This was our first Christmas together after we got married. We were travelling to Regina for Christmas and so we celebrated our own Christmas at home early, just the two of us. I cooked a whole turkey dinner and even made a cheesecake for dessert! We used the good china and drank a bottle of wine from our wedding. Wow! Have things ever changed in the last 5 years.

Tis the Season!

We've had a really busy week and I can't see us slowing down much until the New Year.

Last Friday, we went for a playdate at J & S place. It was a bit crazy with 4 two/three year olds and 4 babies, but it was great to meet the 3 babies (all born within 3 weeks of each other).

Saturday was a double header for us. First one of Maya's friend's 3rd birthday party, followed by a Christmas get together with the same 4 families that we played with the day before - this time we invited the dads too! There was even a special guest who showed up to pass out gifts. As usual, Maya was terrified of Santa.

Sunday was Andrew's work kids Christmas Party. Lot's of activities for the kids and again a visit from Santa.

Monday was Maya's last Cirque-Us Tots class. Tuesday we ran errands in the morning and then I took both kids for a bus trip downtown to visit with my co-workers.

Here are a few pictures from the last week..

Getting ready for a Christmas Party. I told Maya she could "wear makeup" if she let me put a braid in her hair.

Playing mini golf at the kid's Christmas party

Getting gifts from Santa

Last Cirque-Us Tots class

Conversations with an almost 3 year old

Andrew told me this gem from last night...

Maya: Daddy read this book
Daddy: OK
Maya: Have you read this one before?
Daddy: I'm sure I've read it once or twice (sarcastically - he's probably read it over 100 times)
Maya: Well which is it, once or twice?

10 on Tuesday

1. Ian is on day 3 of solid foods... mmm mushy oatmeal.



2. Both kids had check-ups today and I'm happy to report that everyone is healthy.

3. Ian has been rocking out to his Nirvana Rockabye lullaby CD every night for the past week.

4. This week has been cold and snowy.... brrr

5. Our house is spic and span. I love the days when the cleaning ladies come.

6. We have a busy weekend ahead: 1 playdate, 1 birthday party, 2 Christmas parties!

7. We are having spaghetti for supper... sounds messy!

8. I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and so far it's really good.

9. I have been getting Canadian Family magazine in the mail for a couple months. I found out yesterday that it is a Christmas gift from my sister... Thanks!

10. I really need to get out to do some shopping soon!!

Back to Blogging?

So after a two and a half year break, I've decided to try to get back into blogging. I'm not sure how this will go and I'll have to spend some time trying to figure out how to customize my blog page (things have gotten fancy in the blog world over the last couple years... can someone tell me what a follower is?)


I was reminded recently from my friend Shannon that I once had a blog and I figured if she could keep up with 2 MOBILE kiddos, a full time job, a personal blog, plus a fantastic blog with product reviews and giveaways, I could try my hand at this again too.


So I'll leave off with a photo... everyone loves a blog entry with a photo. Andrew asked me what we needed to do on Sunday. I said "I'd like to take a nice Christmas picture of the kids". He laughed "that's it?". Well, we waited until both kids were awake and fed, we struggled to get miss Maya dressed, plopped the two on the couch and took about 50 photos.... here are some of my favourites.

Mother's Day

Happy Belated Mother's Day!


We had a great Mother's Day weekend. We started on Friday night with 'Friday Night Feast' take-out dinner from Sunterra Market. Halibut.... yummm! On Saturday Maya and I went to baby Ella's baby shower. It was so nice to see all my friends again and there were so many babies to visit with. Ella is so cute and sweet. Andrew worked hard on Saturday, planting 4 trees in the backyard. On Sunday we went to a Mother's Day brunch at the Hideib's house. Baby Gabriel is growing so quickly and Maya loved checking him out.

Facebook

A bunch of my friends were telling me how great and addictive Facebook is. But would I believe them? No, I had to check it out for myself. It's true... it is great and very addictive. I haven't had the guts to try to connect to anyone that I haven't talked to in a long time, but I'm sure that I will soon.

10 on Tuesday

1. Maya slept right through the night again last night. Lately she's been waking up once during the night, but not last night. It could be because she had a bottle last night and drank over 7 ounces!

2. Today we have Gymboree. I always look forward to Gymboree, Maya really loves it now.

3. Last night I went to my book club meeting. We had a great discussion on The Memory Keeper's Daughter and will be reading The Post-Birthday World this month.

4. The Flames are out of the playoffs. This is a picture from a week ago when they were still in it and we went to watch a game at our friends, Lori and Mark. This was the first time we met their daughter, Madison.


5. My sister's computer is broken. I haven't been updating my blog because I figured she was the only one coming to check it out.

6. I don't want to say spring is finally here (because then it'll probably snow again), but it does look like it'll be nice this week.

7. Gilmore Girls is new tonight! I can't wait!

8. Income tax is due on April 30th. I must work on mine this week!

9. I have scrapbooked a little bit lately. Check it out on Two Peas.

10. I think Maya is waking up from her nap now and I haven't gotten anything done. Oh well!

Happy Easter!

OK, so I'm a day late... we've been busy around here.

We had a great Easter and not too many treats. We got up and went to church in the morning. It was packed and very hot and Maya missed her naptime while we were there.

We then took grouchy Maya to our friend's (Dorgam and Giselle) place for Easter lunch. Giselle is almost 38 weeks pregnant, so just about ready to pop. Friends from Vancouver were also in town with their little boy, Shore. Shore is just a few months older than Maya and he really wanted to grab ahold of her every chance he got. While we were there, Maya missed yet another nap.

When we got home, we somehow managed to take some pictures of Maya in her cutsie Easter dress. You would never guess that this is a baby who hasn't napped all day.

Ten on Tuesday

1. We got back late last night from a wonderful visit in Regina. Maya got to spend time with her grandma and grandpa, a couple of uncles, a sweet aunt, and two crazy cousins.

2. I am amazed at how a 31/2 year old boy and a 2 year old boy can be so in love with a 3 month old baby girl.

3. Maya is enjoying trying out her new wardrobe handed down from above mentioned crazy cousins. (sorry no picture available at time of printing)

4. Maya stayed awake and happy all through gymboree today. This is a first for us.

5. I got to scrapbook with my sister last Friday. Fun times!

6. Maya is asleep now and I hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) won't see her until the morning.

7. 4 more sleeps until we go to the cabin and then on to Spokane for a holiday (for me and Maya) and conference (for Andrew). We are staying in what looks like a swanky hotel. I hope Maya doesn't poo in their pool.

8. I really need to download some pictures off my camera.

9. More of my friends keep popping out babies. I think I've been invited to 3 baby showers and have heard of 2 more pregnancies this week!

10. I thought spring was here to stay and then we got a couple inches of snow today. Boo!

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day

We just got back from a wedding in Saskatchewan. Our friends Rob and Amber (yes, just like to reality TV couple) got married on Saturday. Because of Amber's Irish background and of course the date of the wedding, there was a St. Paddy's Day theme to the whole wedding. We had a great time and Maya was very well behaved and seemed to enjoy the party.


Maya is turning out to be an excellent traveller. This is great because we have so many places we would like to take her. On this trip, she spent 6 hours in the car each way and had to spend 2 nights in a hotel.

Project Playdate: Success

Well our first playdate is over and I think overall it was successful. In total we had 5 babies (4 boys + Maya) and 5 moms.

I brewed coffee (I felt very grownup!) and served muffins that my mommy made me (I felt a little bit like a kid again).

Lots of chat, lots of babies playing, lots of babies crying, and lots of babies eating.

I would have loved to have taken a picture of all the babies lined up on the couch, but it seemed as though all afternoon there was always 1 eating, crying, or sleeping. Next time I guess.

I Love Somebunny

And I think somebunny loves me too!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Sunday was +15 C, today I woke up to several inches of fresh snow... yuck!
2. I am hosting my first playdate on Thursday. So far I have 2 moms and 2 little boys coming over.
3. Today was Gymboree. Maya had her best ever at tummy time, she held her head up and stared at all the other babies.
4. Gilmore Girls is a repeat tonight, what'll I do now?
5. Walmart was all out of size 1 pampers, how does that happen?
6. Only 8 more sleeps until Maya and I visit Regina.
7. It's 3 pm and my dinner has been cooking in the crockpot since 9am. It smells delicious.
8. I bought some latex nipples today. Maybe now Maya will take a bottle.
9. Today Maya is wearing her Parade lounge set. It's organic and the tag says that it's sweatshop free, I really hope none of her clothes were made in a sweatshop!
10. This has been my first "10 on Tuesday". How'd I do?

I'm Back

After taking a long break from blogging, I've decided to give it another go. I won't try to catch up on everything that's happened since August, I will just jump in where I am now. I will give one highlight of the last 7 months.... our dear sweet Maya was born on December 31, 2006.

This is her at 2 months.

The Outside Inside Game

Here is a picture of me OUTSIDE of my new house.


Here is a picture of me INSIDE my new house and this is a picture of my baby from the OUTSIDE. Notice my cute new haircut?



This is a picture of the baby INSIDE me. This one needs a bit of explanation... The blob on the left is baby's head. Imagine he/she is lying on his/her back looking up and the picture is taken from the side. Do you see the nose and mouth. We didn't get very good shots to choose from, but the live show was amazing, watching the baby move around, stretch, yawn, and even wave hello. I guess we'll have to wait a few more months to find out what this baby really looks like.

Reconnected

Yeah! We have successfully moved to our new house. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Although now that we have phone, internet, and cable again the work process may slow down. We had a restful weekend in Winnipeg where we went to a wedding and now it's back to work during the day and unpacking in the evenings. We are so happy with the new place, we have so much space right now and even the bus commute in to work doesn't seem so bad.

Today is my sister, Michelle's, birthday. Why don't you check out her blog and read all about her cutie kids?

Disconnected

Well moving day is fast approaching for us. So far I am feeling calm and excited. I thought I'd be feeling stressed and sad about leaving our old house. Most boxes are packed, all our utilities will be transferred, the movers are confirmed, we've been to the bank and to the lawyers, and everything looks to be in place for a smooth move (famous last words, right?)

The one downside is that today we will be (gasp!) disconnecting our computer and we will not have our internet hooked up again until August 9th. So it may seem as though I've fallen off the face of the earth for awhile, but I will be back... I promise!

Missed a Few Updates

Well, I guess I don't have the greatest blog etiquette. I've missed a few key updates recently.

First off Andrew and I celebrated our second anniversary on July 17th. This was us two years ago...


This is us now...

For those of you I haven't seen in awhile, I am starting to really look pregnant. Here is a nice shot of my belly. Although that picture was taken AFTER we went out for our anniversary supper.


And we have sold our house. I know I panicked and stressed about it while it was on the market, but looking back the whole process was pretty painless. The new owners move in on August 4 and we plan to be in our new place on the first. I'm sure many tears will be shed when I actually have to move, but I am really looking forward to it.

I made a trip to Regina a few weeks back and had such a good time. I got to spend time with my parents, my brother and sister and her whole family. The little guys are growing up so quickly. I also went shopping with my mom, watched a movie, met my girlfriends for breakfast, and slept alot.

Here is a list of things I've learned over the past few weeks:
1. I married a really great guy. Andrew has really been great over the last few months... cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, packing, dealing with lawyers/realtors/banks/insurance guys etc, all so that I don't have to.
2. I finally found my core and am able to lift my abdomen (from the inside!) while exhaling! This was learned at Pilates - not on my own!
3. Virgin Caesars taste just as good as the real thing.
4. Liquor stores don't sell non-alcoholic wine.
5. As I've been packing, I realize I have alot of stuff.
6. I get annoyed easily, especially if I am asking you to transfer my house alarm (or cable, or phone, or gas, or power) to my new home.