Smile!

Here's what she looks like when she's smiling!!


On the weekend our friends came over with their girls Ayla and Ivy. The big kids enjoyed showing off their respective babies.

There's video versions too: Chance and Ayla showing off their babies and Karin showing us her newfound ability to smile and coo.

Little bump in the plan....but rolling now!

So Chance came down with a throat infection and Thursday night ran a high fever, so into the doctor he went on Friday and Mom had to skip her project initiation notice with partners, boo. Her boss was very nice and sent an email to let her know that he would cover off for her, and her colleague emailed later in the day to let her know how the meeting went. Nice co-workers!

So we've been fighting a fever in 30°C weather, which is interesting, it basically means that Chance goes no where without a sippy cup full of water or juice. And his soother and his blankie. So he looks like a really miserable little guy when going to the grocery store or pharmacy, he got lots of sympathy from well-wishers.

But now the antibiotics have kicked in, the fever is kicked out, and his only complaint at night is that his monkey stuffed animal wasn't placed correctly to keep his soother from falling out. Well!

Here are a few videos from yesterday's construction of yard gates. We successfully installed the posts for the 2 gates and tomorrow Cam is going first thing to the hardware store to get the lumber to build the gates, as well as a rototiller for the garden. Mom and Chance will stay home and bake cinnamon buns before it gets too hot, then we will meet Ayla and her folks for a coffee and walk in Fish Creek Park.

Counting down to May Long

I am SO looking forward to mornings later than 6 AM.

*No crying toddler as we leave him, apprarently to suffer all day long in day care.

*Starting the yard gates.

*Maybe finishing the yard gates??

*Planting some flowers.

*Planting the garden. (I'm not really looking forward to turning the garden over). Maybe we'll rent a rototiller....

*Baking some cinnamon buns.

*Taking a picnic brunch and meeting with Ayla and her parents.

*Being out in the sunshine.

*Letting Chance run out in his shorts and bare feet (+26 degrees C today!!)

*Watching the Mommy Robin build her nest under our porch.

Mom's Hurt!

Last week we went for a walk, our first walk in a long time! We decided to try to venture down into Fish Creek Park, which means walking down a pretty steep hill. Cam was pushing the stroller, and had the safety strap on, thank goodness, because he slipped on some ice and lost control of the stroller. He didn't ever let go, instead he just held on and sat down behind the stroller. My mommy-gut lurched and before I knew it I was running to "save my baby", and instead slipped on the same patch of ice. With no stroller to counter balance, though, my feet ended up somewhere above my head and I came crashing down on the base of my neck...ouch! It is still a week later and I'm in some pretty good pain. I have been seeing a chiropractor/massage therapist but the last session did not go well as I was quite stressed out about work and as I was laying there on the massage table about a million thoughts were going through my mind. The doctor said that he could tell that I wasn't relaxing and it wouldn't be as effective this time...and he was right! Today I am hurting more than in the last few days, so I will have to go back on Monday, until then I am just taking it slow.

We had a nice dinner last week with friends and Chance had a good time playing with their daughter Ayla. He received his first kiss too! Both kids are growing up so quickly.

The Easter Bunny came early for Chance this year, I guess EB wanted Chance to enjoy his Easter present with us home. Chance received a helium balloon which looks like a rabbit, which he loves to pull around the house, every now and then he punches it and then hugs it. Also Chance received his first box of animal crackers. He likes to make the bears "woof" before he eats them. Thank you, Easter Bunny! Mrs. G sent Chance home with some Easter chocolate for all of us to share, so thank you Mrs. G!

We had a good trip to the park this afternoon. Cam and Chance were a bit goofy and so I was glad to have taken my camera along!

We don't have any big plans this weekend, other than resting a bit and trying to get Mom's neck and back in order ASAP. I'm off to soak in the tub and then I am going to watch a movie.

Dinner Date with Ayla

We had a fun weekend after a week of taking Chance to the day home. Saturday was spent wrestling around in the living room and playing "trucks". A breakfast of French toast started the day off right and Chance was an angel and went to sleep without a fuss for his cousin Kristi, who babysitted for us while we went to our monthly potluck dinner with friends. It was an Italian theme and we made a caprese salad with fresh bufala mozzerella and basil from the Farmer's Market (Cam went while Chance and I puttered about the house).
















On Sunday Chance and I got up and had a breakfast of warm porridge and yogurt and fruit. The porridge was a hit. Huge. We also found that it was a great way to practice using a spoon, as it was sticky and stuck to the spoon as Chance swirled the spoon around in his bowl. We will probably only have porridge on weekends though, as it is quite a messy breakfast! Good thing it was laundry day!














In the afternoon Ayla and Greg and Courtney came over for supper. We had apple-stuffed chicken breasts (I did this a few months ago with pork chops, we just adjusted the recipe a bit). They turned out really well, and we ate them with wild rice casserole and green peas. Chance and Ayla ate toast instead of the wild rice. Dessert was hazelnut esspresso and chocolates and chocolate-mint Girl Guide cookies.

The kids got along so well all afternoon and they both ate like champions. The photos are harder to snap now because they are moving around so much. It was really fun to see how much they had changed since the end of August!

Visiting Okotoks

We visited our friends in Okotoks and had a nice supper with them. Before supper we walked to their community lake to enjoy a few toe-dips in the water and squishing sand in the feet. The kids had a good time together & it was so great to see how much change there was since the last time they got together!




When we got home Chance was asleep in the car seat. He was tuckered out from all the activity, plus he refused his afternoon nap, so we had a tired monkey on our hands. A quick bath and then into bed!

Another Date With Ayla

This morning after Chance woke up from his (20 minute) nap, he spit up on the floor. While crawling. You can imagine the mess. If you can't, here's a photo. Niiiiiice. Needless to say, I was compelled to wash the floors today.

Chance and I returned from IKEA with $49 in toilet brushes and recycling bins. OK there were some other things that we bought too. Chance did well hanging out in the Snugli for 2 hours (we stopped for a break halfway so that the babies could stretch their legs and the Mommies could grab a bite to eat). Chance and I got through the checkout first (Ayla and her Mommy had to go back upstairs to get a TV-stand, so we ran home quickly and started up the coffee pot and then got Chance some lunch as he was getting close to being quite hungry.

He did not freak out in public, despite he was 3 hours from his last nursing and running on 45 minutes of sleep in an 8 hour period. What a trooper. When we got to the house he nursed but would not go to sleep. What a stinker!

Anyways, he was more than happy to play with Ayla. The kids were awfully cute together, playing with toys and prattling back and forth. We lined them up for the usual photo, the amount of change from the last photo is insane! Chance finally crashed around 4:30, and slept for an hour. He woke up like a bear, though, so dinnertime was....challenging. Let's just say that some cereal is better than none, and bananas taste better than carrots and applesauce.

Bathtime was pleasant, and there was a bit of wrestling getting diaper and jammies on, as per usual, but the sandman came and soon our little Chance was sawing logs like a lumberjack!

Walking this week was quite enjoyable due to the nice weather. Chance and I got out nearly every day!

4th date with Ayla

Chance and Ayla met up in early February, but no photo. In early March, Ayla came to visit and despite Chance having a little cold and being a bit cranky, we got a pretty good photo.

2nd Date with Ayla

Chance has been nursing frequently over the last week, so have been getting up 2 and 3 times per night. Exhausting, but hopefully will be over soon. Tonight we had company, our friends Greg and Courtney and their little girl Ayla who was born 3 weeks before Chance. Both babies slept during dinner and then posed for "date" pictures.