Happy New Year - Hello 2008!

Wow what a year it has been. People tell you that parenting is up and down, but what they don't tell you is that it's up and down and around and around and pretty soon you're regretting the double cheeseburger and milkshake you ate before you got on, haha.

All jokes aside, this year has been great. We've seen such a change in Chance, it is hard to believe that he is the same kid. We've changed too. I think we're more creative and have adjusted more to our new lifestyle. I think we celebrate the small things more. Tonight we feasted on pizza and carrots. We played for a good chunk of time with a pillow - taking turns stealing it from each other. After Cam and I tucked Chance in for the night we high-fived each other in the living room. I know, it sounds wild, but it was a great way to ring in the new year, with our little guy's peals of laughter echoing throughout the house and the cat just trying to stay out of reach.

Happy New Year everyone. May your 2008 bring you health, wealth, and happiness!

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Post Christmas Recap

Christmas holidays are nearing to an end. Here's a recap:

One: number of weeks Scarlet spent at home by herself. She did a pretty impressive shredding job on the carpet on the stairs.

Two: evenings sans Chance thanks to Gramma Jo and Grampa Phil. We ate dinner with friends one night and watched a movie on the other night.

Three: pounds gained. Mom's cooking is too good.

Four: pairs of jammies given to Chance. Perfect, as he is growing out of his current pairs (they are getting too short).

On Christmas Eve the whole family (including Chance) went for a nice dinner at a restaurant. I ordered liver, I rarely get it and it was very good. Auntie Jen shared salmon with Chance and he ate like a little champ, once he figured out that the long fancy things on his plate were actually vegetables and not toys. There was not too much of a mess left behind, but the table cloth was absolutely soaked in oil (probably off the vegetables, he kept mashing them on the the table).



Christmas morning was a flurry of coffee cups being shifted out of Chance's reach, smiling for pictures, opening presents, eating too many smoked oysters and stuffed olives, wearing reindeer hats and playing cards.

Chance received, among other things: pyjamas, a baby nativity set, lots of books, a toy bus, an electric guitar, a musical toy, some ornaments for his tree, a set of grown-up big-boy underwear and a wooden puzzle.....there must have been other things but my fried mommy brain can't think right now. When we returned home to Calgary there were some gifts from Santa - some crayons and a farm set, along with his Grandma and Grandpa Demmans' gifts, which was a shiny red Radio Flyer wagon, plus a wooden puzzle spelling his name. Also, Grandma and Grandpa brought some gifts from family out West, a musical trumpet and a towel set. Whoooeee Chance must have been a good boy this year!

On Boxing Day we all went to Peking House, our favorite restaurant in Regina. Chance "ate" his Chinese food.....or rather he smeared it all over his head. His face and hair were pure oil by the time he was done. This time, there WAS a big mess left behind. Oh well, we tried to clean it up as best as we could.

Well, our supper is cooked and I hear my little boy clammoring, so it must mean that he is hungry. Best wishes to all for 2008!

Look!

"OOK" has changed into "LOOK"!

"Look!" - at the light above the kitchen table
"Look!" - at the car next to us at the stop light
"Look!" - at the people walking on the sidewalk
"Look!" - at the bus parked in front of the grocery store

I'm pretty sure Chance's first word is LOOK!

Good Things

1) I got my P. Geol!!
2) All done work for 2007!
3) Everyone's healthy! No colds, sniffles, fevers!
4) Chance is starting to speak (??) we think!

"ook" = book or look
"lahhht" = light

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Fairmont Lake Louise Christmas Weekend

In one word: "greatbutexhausting!"

We arrived at noon on Saturday and had our packed lunch in the lobby as our room was not available yet. Check in was 4 PM, but we were able to get into our room around 1 PM, which was very nice. We got changed and went out for a walk and some toboggan rides down the hill. Chance saw his first horse-drawn sleigh ride!

After our walk we returned back to the hotel and had hot chocolate and asked if they had any cookies. They said no, but they got someone to find some from somewhere in the hotel and then refused to let us pay for them. It's all part and parcel when you have the cutest baby in the world, or at least that's what it seemed like! Everyone was oooohing and aaaahing over Chance's red hair and little curls and how he loved to toddle around the lobby and yank on the Christmas tree decorations, etc.

We attended the dinner and dance in the evening, while Chance stayed with a babysitter. We returned around midnight and we fell asleep by 12:15.

****

1:22 AM: Chance started to cry and would not settle down. We tried cuddling him into our bed. No. We tried singing. No. We tried walking and rocking. No. Water? No! Finally, after about an hour and a half, I gave him a shot of tylenol and tried the water again. He drank half the sippy cup and then belched. I put him in his crib and put a pillow over my head. 5 minutes later he was out like a light. Some other parents were having waking-baby issues too, we could hear them walking up and down the hallway with their little bundle.

7:20 AM: Time to get up, Chance said! After I served Chance a breakfast parfait of banana bread and banana slices (forgot to bring a food dish, silly Mommy!), I took him to the pool and swam for 45 minutes while Cam got a few more winks.

10:00 AM: We were all packed up and ready to go and had a buffet breakfast in the beautiful dining room overlooking Lake Louise. We shared an omelette and Chance had grapes and cheese too.

11:00 AM: We departed Lake Louise and were home by 1:30.


After unpacking Cam took care of Chance while I napped for 40 mins, then we switched off and Cam took his turn grabbing an afternoon nap. I put Chance down for his nap and then woke up Cam. We were pretty lazy today, just watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on television and ate a light supper as we are all feeling a bit bloated after two large meals.

*so* excited!!

Tomorrow we are going to Lake Louise for an overnight stay at the Chateau with Cam's company. I am really looking forward to playing with Chance in the snow and showing him all the cool sights, like the ice carvings, and the mountains, and the horse-drawn sleigh rides, and the giant Christmas tree, and the decorations! We have a babysitter staying with him in the evening while we go to dinner and the dance. Then we will creep into our hotel room and try not to wake him. Hopefully he sleeps well and then in the morning we will go for a family swim at the pool and then have breakfast together before heading home. I hope to get some good family photos!

Here are the videos I took of Chance recently.

1) Chance "cooking" supper with me. He is dressed up in a black t-shirt of mine, he saw me folding laundry and had to have something to dress up in, I guess. He pointed and squealed until I gave him the shirt and then he nearly flipped out trying to put it on. I think he looks like Harry Potter. Or at least Ron Weasley, with the red hair and all!



2) The 2 latest toddlerisms....shaking his head "NO" and having a "conversation".

Starting to feel better...

...but my nose is still running and I often have "popped" ears. Tomorrow I am home with Chance because Mrs. G is going to the dentist, so I might go visit the doctor.

So what will Chance and Mommy do on their Thursday together?? We don't have any plans, really. The weather has been nice so I will be sure to take him out for a pull on his toboggan out to the park. We did that a few times on the weekend and he really seemed to enjoy himself.

Cam's company weekend at Lake Louise is coming up this weekend. It should be fun, it is always so beautiful up there. We are looking forward to showing Chance the horses they have rigged up there to give sleigh rides. Hopefully the ice castle is built on the lake, that is always so pretty.

Tonight's supper went pretty slick. We soaked a cedar plank during the day in the kitchen sink and thawed a salmon filet in the fridge. 20 minutes on the BBQ and it was suppertime! The only thing was that there was a fair bit of snow on the deck, so I had to wear my snow boots to get to the BBQ. Chance thought it was hilarious that I was outside and he was inside. He stood banging on the patio door like a crazed monkey while I got the BBQ lit, etc. Then he had fun picking at the snow that came in on my boots.



My friend Lynne and her husband stopped in tonight to have a short visit. We were over at their house a few weeks ago and took this photo. Lynne brought me a birthday gift of several bottles of bath gel, soap, etc., all in lavender scent. There is something I find so calming about lavender, perfect for some of the hectic days a working Mom faces! I made a chocolate pudding in the oven, so we all enjoyed that along with a cup of coffee. Yesterday as Lynne was leaving work she took a spill in the lobby, while carrying several packages (she had been Xmas shopping at lunch time). She bruised her knees badly, poor gal can barely bend her legs! All of you, be careful out there, it is slippery with all the ice and snow!

Hoping to be healthy for Christmas...

Whoooo baby, Momma is a sick duckie!

I have been blowing my nose so often that I am starting to wonder about ear damage. Sometimes I hear high pitched squealing noises when I try to blow my nose. And I still can't breathe through my nose.

So here I sit, nose slathered in Vicks, panting like a dog. It's a pretty picture, isn't it??

Cam is gone curling tonight, as most Thursday nights have been lately. Chance and I played together and before I knew it, it was time to plunk him in the bath. We were having fun roaming about the house with a flashlight. Very entertaining. I have some video but need to upload it, so check back if you have a high-speed connection & want to watch the video.

I am going to boil some water for some NeoCitron and hopefully get some sleep. I had 2 nights of good sleep on Monday and Tuesday night, but last night was a bit of the usual, with me up 3 or 4 times, to check on Chance, to get a drink, etc.

This weekend is the company Christmas party, I sure hope that I can make it. I phoned the babysitter to confirm that she is still available and let her know that there is a slim possibility that I will have to pull out at the last minute due to being sick. Who knows, maybe Chance will come down with this (I really hope not!). If he is not feeling well I definitely won't go as it is not fair to either the babysitter or Chance to leave when he is not feeling well).

This last week has just flown by. A week ago I boarded a charter plane at 6 in the morning and flew to our gas field for a field trip with a bunch of folks from work. We had a good visit to the field, with several stops during the day. We overnighted at the Jasper Park Lodge, very swanky. The next day we had a workshop and in the early evening flew home and arrived around supper time. What a whirlwind trip that was!

One of the coolest things about the hotel was that the swimming pool is outdoors. That sounded like a life experience that I didn't want to pass up! Bad luck though, I forgot to pack my swim suit, but I was told that they sold disposable (yes, disposable) bathing suits at the pool for $12. The pool was fantastic, all steamy because it was so cold out doors (-20°C), with the mountains and trees surrounding us and clear stars above. The disposable swim suit, however, was not a great experience. I was very careful to keep my towel near the edge of the pool and actually pulled the towel in the water with me so that no one could see that God-awful suit!

Here is a shot of me and my team all decked out in field safety gear during the field trip. We were all dressed for cold weather as it was -27°C that morning!!

Better off in bed!

We had a crummy day today!

1) Broken computer monitor. $$. Bought new one today, and 4-year warranty.
2) Truck stuck in 2-wheel drive. Funny noises. $$$?? Find out Monday.
3) Had to turn around and go home when we realized that we were about an hour early for a craft show.
4) Tantrum in the afternoon. Denied Christmas decorations in mouth.
5) Lots of sneezing and coughing all day long (Chance). Cam has a sore throat (again). I have itchy eyes (pink eye again??).
6) Visited friends for supper tonight. Chance barely ate more than a few crumbs of bread and egg nog. Toast and bananas eaten in the bath tub.

Here's to hoping for a better day tomorrow!!