Merry White Christmas!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

It looks like it will be a white one for us. There is over two feet of snow, it's very pretty but it does mean we won't be able to make it to Victoria to spend the day with family. So, here's a picture of Brea in her Christmas outfit to wish you all the merriest of time, we'll be sitting by the fire with her, hope you are all warm and safe. Love you all!

December Delights

The snow is falling... it's so pretty when you can stay in to watch it.

These past few weeks have been wonderful for Brea. We've had a great time visiting with friends and having her experience many firsts.

Last week, we went to the movie theatre for Madagascar 2. Aside from Dawn and Malaya, there were only 3 other moms and babies there, we could have been running up and down the aisles if we wanted :o) Brea enjoyed the movie very much and even laughed in parts. She was pretty tuckered near the end though and fell asleep. It was so great and I can't wait until January to go again.

It's just the credits, I can sleep through that!

The weather has been extremely cold and Brea had her first gander at falling snow the other day. She really liked watching the snowflakes from the window in her room. We have also Christmasfied our place with our Charlie Brown tree and various other decor.

This is MY tree!

Brea didn't really know what was going on but was watching Mommy and Daddy quite intently.

I finally made it out to the mall for pictures with Santa. Unfortunately, Santa was on lunch when we got there so we had a little wait. By the time he came back, Brea was a bit tired so it was zombie baby with Santa pictures.

I feel so TINY!

The photographer there got a good shot but mine are not so good, I'll scan it and put it up soon. Once we got home and she'd had a nap she was happy smiley girl again.


The Three Musketeers met up for a lunch playdate before we all headed off to various places for the holidays. Malaya is headed to the Great White North (Yukon)! Auntie Dawn made a scrumptious lunch for us (mommy-friendly, everything could be eaten with one hand) and the girls had a great time. They really looked at each other and Brea even tried talking to her friends - super cute! Mama Reg and Kaitlyn were doing their mini-me impression - so adorable!

Tag - I'm It!

I have apparently been 'tagged' in a blog 'game' of tag...by Lynda. Here are the rules (cut & pasted from Lynda's blog):

Go to Your Pictures file go to the 5th folder open up the 5th picture and post it then tag 5 people when you are done.

Here's the pic in question:


It is a picture of Little Shushwap Lake in Chase, BC. Brea's Nana and Grumpa live there during the summer. They are just a hop, skip and jump from the lake so I guess this picture is there backyard :o) We love visiting and spending time in the sun and water, I'm sure Brea will love it too!

Now I get to tag these people!

Ambrose
Glenda
Joni

Jump around, jump up, jump up...

We tried Brea in the Jolly Jumper for the first time. She's super cute in it and having a grande olde time - hiccups and all :o)

Here's a video to see her in action!

The Crib! The Crib! and Picture Updates

Brea has spent nearly every night this week in her crib!!!

What a momentous event! I have been working really hard to set a routine for her to help her sleep in her own bed and it seems to have finally paid off. We discovered that from sleeping in her bouncy chair and the swing, sleeping flat on her back distressed her. So we bought a Jolly Jumper crib wedge to help elevate her slightly. It has worked wonders. The very first night we put it in, she slept a three hour stretch! Now, she's good to go back into her crib after nighttime nursings. I'm so proud of her!

Here's some random pictures taken over the last little while to keep you all updated on our little girl:

Ready for a LOOONG walk with Auntie Kathy and Max
(Seriously, Mommy nearly died - it wasn't the 10km, it was pushing the stroller up the hills!)

Sitting pretty in her Bumbo.

She loves being carried now that she can see out!

The Three Musketeers!

What happens when Daddy decides to play hair stylist.

Book Club

Brea and I made our way to Colleen's on Thursday to take part in our first Book Club Meeting of this year! It was so exciting. We discussed "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. Several of us had the chance to see the movie so that added to our discussion. We all loved the book and even though the movie was panned by critics, we felt it was quite well done. The book was very character driven and it was hard for that to translate into the movie where many details were left out. Since I had read the book before the movie I kind of filled in the blanks. The cast was spectacular - I had not seen the movie trailers so I was surprised at who was in the movie but most of the other ladies were in the know... we all loved Queen Latifah as August, she was wonderful. Of all of us, Kathy who had not read the book before the movie was very insightful with her take on things and how the story unfoldeded.

Colleen has the most beautiful home in the world, I love the drive out to it all nestled in the trees. Brea enjoyed the car ride too, now that she can see things better, she's been looking out the window during our drives. More looking, less screaming, works for me :o) Colleen had lots of yummies for us and well water aplenty! (I had my first taste of her well water last year and I quite enjoy it). Thanks for being such a great hostess!

Susanna and Max were there as well, it was nice to have all the babies together. I finally got a shot of them all side by side. Max was quite keen on Ted and they had a nice photo shoot together with Paddington Bear. We all think they are ready for grandchildren :o)


Can't wait for our next get-together, we'll be looking at "Three Day Road" by Joseph Boyden. Colleen and Joanne had the chance to see him at the recent Writer's Festival and loved him.

Happy December!

Brrr! It's cold outside!

It is the month for Christmas... we are so excited for Brea to have her first Christmas with us :o) It's amazing that the time has flown by so quickly. Brea is becoming more dexterous with her hands and is slowly learning to manipulate and explore things now. The tongue though is still a favourite. She's really enjoying sticking her tongue out and if you respond you'll often be rewarded with a huge smile. Brea is also really interested in my pyjamas. I have collected many penguin pjs over the years from family and friends and the black and white motif lends itself really well to baby eyes. She is especially fond of my yellow ones. She stares at me when she wakes up in the morning, it's pretty funny.

My new do and Brea too.

We attended our good friend, Kara's baby shower yesterday and had lots of fun. Brea was the life of the party again (she slept). Kara was glowing and Keelan is so adorable.

She's surrounded!

We also had the chance to reconnect with my high school friend Adeline and meet her cute daughter Mikaela. It's an exciting time with so many friends for Brea to play with.

Losing Patience

Maybe because I have a young baby now the world looks a bit different. Things take more time, I appreciate little things like a few stolen moments to myself, and my days are now filled with taking care of a precious little one. I have also found that although my patience seems unlimited when it comes to Brea, other people are not faring so well.

A few things occurred these past few days that have irked me, greatly.

First, I went to a neighbourhood bakery/deli where I often go to purchase yummy fresh bread and meat only to find that they had newly engaged several young teens behind the counter. Ordinarily, this would not be a problem as I teach kids that age and am used to them. However, this day, I had Brea with me, in her car seat (I thought I'd just pop in to grab what I needed so opted for no stroller). I grabbed a number and waited in line. I was behind one person. The two girls behind the counter worked one order at a time. It took them 12 minutes to take my order of three varieties of meats, cut it, and package it. I had to tell them my order three times. Meanwhile, Brea started crying. Then, I got to the till to pay. The cashier was holding a cup of coffee in one hand while a customer was complaining to her (probably about the horrible service). There was a long queue and not one of the other five employees could step in to open the other till. I wanted to scream.

Today, I went with Kari and Jill with Brea to the Happening Craft Fair at Thomas Haney Secondary. I was very excited, I love craft fairs. Haney's craft fair is usually one of the best in this area. It was a rainy and drizzly day so it took a while to get out there. Maybe I'm not used to traveling with a three month old but they have a lot of stuff and to spend a day out, you need to prepare the said stuff. We arrived at the door to a sign that read "Strollers are not allowed on the sales floor". There was no notice of this anywhere else before arriving at the door. I didn't have my carrier with me, nor did I want to leave Brea with the babysitting service as the lady at the door suggested. Thanks for making my day! No other craft fair in all of the lower mainland had any policies like that! They are effectively turning away any new parent wanting to see the fair. I guess they don't want crowded floors - they also didn't want my money!

At least Kari and I had a nice lunch date at Boston Pizza. They were nice and liked our kids.

Surviving our first cold together

This has been a week filled with sniffles and coughs. I caught the cold that Craig had been harbouring for a while now and some of it went to Brea too. There is nothing quite like a stuffed up little girl who can't blow her nose. I've been using saline solution with some success so she isn't doing too badly. This has meant that I have been regressing in our crib progress. Prior to THE cold, Brea had managed to sleep two nights straight in her crib! But with her all grumpy and not feeling well, I gave in and let her go back to sleeping in the swing. Bad Mommy!!! I couldn't help it, I was feeling crappy and didn't have the patience to work at the crib. Now that we are feeling better it's back to the drawing board. She's half crib, half bouncy chair with the occasional swing time. Any suggestions?

Baby Keelan!

Mommy had the joy of visiting Kara and Tetsu to meet their adorable new baby boy, Keelan. He was born November 12, 2008.

Welcome to the World Baby Boy!

Happy Mommy and Daddy

Baby yawns are the best!

3 Months!

Brea turned 3 months yesterday!!!

The time is flying by and she's changing and growing by the second. Just before Craig went to work this morning, I walked out of the bathroom to Brea sitting on the bed with Daddy - she looked at me and laughed. It's her first laugh!!! What a great milestone :o)

I can't say that this past weekend was great but I'm so glad Brea is feeling better. Between mild food poisoning on my part, Craig's toe surgery and the cold I think he's passed on to me, it was not at all fun. Little Pumpkin head was a bit congested too, so she was all grumpy. Hopefully, the symptoms will stay mild and pass. It's no fun to have a sick baby in the house. We've been giving her warm baths and bedtime stories to help her get some rest.

Baby in the sink

Daddy reading one of Brea's fave, Goodnight Moon

We had a busy week since my cousin was in town with her baby. There was a nice dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins.

With Po-Po and Ange

Brea with Yee-ma and Po-Po

Aidan and Ken

Brea with Yee-ma

Brea and Uncle Ambrose

Then we had lots of fun shopping around town. We visited IKEA and Metrotown, some of my cousin's faves when in Vancouver. Brea made friends with an octopus in IKEA, I've never seen her stare at a toy for so long, she was quiet with her friend in the stroller the whole time we were in the store. Needless to say, Brea got a new toy that day :o)

Aidan sharing snacks after a long day of shopping

Into the 'Couve

Brea had her first adventure on Skytrain last week! Not just once but twice, we were very brave!

Relaxing in sun in November?!

DAY 1
Instead of our usual meet and hang playgroup date, Malaya, Kaitlyn, Brea and Max decided to go with their mommies into the 'Couve for an adventure... actually, the Circle Craft Fair was running at the Convention Centre and we mommies wanted to see all the goodies. It's one of the most extravagant and largest craft fairs in the lower mainland. We met here and headed out at 11:45am.

Kathy and Max

The Skytrain was nice and empty for our trip down and it was no problem at all to get four strollers on a train. But as things go, babies have no schedule. By the time we arrived in Vancouver, Max was hungry, Dawn and Reg were hungry and Brea was grumpy. Our first sense that things might not come easy was at Waterfront Station where the elevator was out of service. Kathy, the impulsive and aggressive stroller mama, popped a wheelie and went up the escalator. After a bit of humming and hawing, I followed suite. Dawn and Reg, were the better, safer mommies and took apart their strollers and made two trips up. We then split up and tried to get things done. It wasn't until 2pm that we were able to head into the Fair for a look. I managed to control myself and not go crazy with all the beautiful things but I did get Brea a pair of Stonz booties because they are so cute!


They can fit over other shoes or on bare feet and keep baby toes toasty warm and waterproof.

At 3:30pm it was time to go home. We didn't get to see the whole fair but Kathy and I were coming back the next day to visit Lindsay and Matteo and we didn't want to be caught in rush hour traffic. Again, babies have no schedule - one had to be changed, another had to be fed... we got caught in rush hour. Business people in Vancouver who take Skytrain are crazy! That's all I can say. There was no way we could stay together and get onto a train so we split up to try to squish on. We literally had to ram our strollers into the train before other people pushed us out of the way. They were leaning over the stroller and Brea and still trying to mash on when there was no room. Needless to say, it was a LOOOONG ride home. But we survived :o) We all had lots of fun despite it all and I was eager to make our next trip.

DAY 2
Kathy and I decided it would be more prudent to start the day earlier due to the rush hour fiasco of the previous day. All was well and we made it with no problem to Lindsay's place. Matteo is adorable and Brea had lots of fun hanging with the boys (don't tell Daddy).

A glowing Mama Lindsay with Matteo

Brea is none too please to have to pose with a boy!

A merry bunch!

Since Kathy had an appointment for Max, we separated at the Skytrain station and I headed for the Craft Fair to pick up a bracelet I had left for repairs. From the moment we set foot into the Fair, Brea started crying. I fed her, she was still crying, I raced to the bracelet booth and thought that if I jiggled her a bit it might help her get to sleep. No such luck. She was a tired baby. By this time it was nearing 3pm and I thought I might as well head home. We had no problem getting onto the train but once it hit the business districts, people started piling on. That's when Brea decided to bring her whimpering into a loud wail. Suddenly, I heard "What's the matter with the baby?" and soon there was a woman elbowing her way through the train. She reached us in a matter of minutes and proceeded to peer at Brea and asking "what's the matter? It's okay baby!" Then she started singing and grabbing Brea's hands. She responded by crying louder and all I could think was, "oh my god, some crazy woman is grabbing at my baby - Brea, please don't put your hand in your mouth until I've disinfected it!" Between the lady's horrible lullaby and Brea's cries and all the people on the train I finally made it off, two stops AFTER where I should have gotten off. It was a long trip home is all I can say.

Going downtown on public transit is not for the weak of heart.

Updates

Sorry for the lack of postings, we've been busy with activity but that is really no excuse :o(

Daddy's Birthday
First thing first, Brea celebrated Daddy's birthday by getting him a book that he's been eyeing for awhile now. Ken Follett's "World Without End". He's been enjoying it so much and is nearly finished the 1014 page tome. I wish I had the time to read! Daddy is very low-key and wanted to just spend a quiet night at home with his girls :o)


Bottle Feeding
We have been trying to get Brea to take a bottle over this last little while, so that in the event of Mommy and Daddy going out, Po-Po can feed her. We had bought the Adiri Bottle a few months ago when I was starting breastfeeding and had an unfortunate and painful incident but we never really used it aside from a few times. The bottle has a unique shape and its design is to reduce air intake when the baby is feeding. It's also BPA-free.



Now, that Brea is fully into the boob, we were worried that the bottle wouldn't take. The first time we tried it was a nightmare - she screamed and fought us all the way but tried again and now, although she isn't happy with it, she will make do if she needs to. Daddy has been doing an excellent job feeding her.


Play Time
Brea has been making more advances in playtime. She has been batting at hanging toys for a while now but we've found that if we take her hand and hang it onto the dangling objects she gets really into it. Our playgym is now much used and a favourite in her morning routine. She loves the octopus!



I also purchased a Bumbo seat after trying it out while visiting Malaya and Kaitlyn. Brea's still working on holding her head steadily but it does allow her to sit and look around much better than her vibrating chair. We are not really using it too much until her neck is stronger but here's a preview.


Book Club
I made it out for my first book club meet of this year! Since "The Secret Life of Bees" came out in the movies and so many of us had read the book, we decided to meet for dinner and watch the show. Five of us (Colleen, Joanne, Lynda & Susanna, Kathy & Doug & Max, and Brea & me) made it out to My Greek for dinner, they stuck us in the corner table which was super, it gave us lots of room to stash our baby stuff and was away from most other diners. The din of the restaurant masked baby cries very well. It was lovely to have a great meal with such great company. Afterward, the hubbies went home with the babies and the mommies went to see the show. I hadn't been out to a movie in forever! I had to stop at the end of my pregnancy because I just couldn't sit comfortably for any length of time. I thought the movie was very well done and I really enjoyed it. There were some changes from the book, of course, and I was surprised by the cast, since I had not seen previews but they all did a splendid job.

Meeting Joanne

Pre-Natal Class Reunion
On the weekend we had our pre-natal class reunion. We got to meet all the babies! Seven in all made the trip out and we had a chance to share our birth stories and catch up. The ten couples produced five girls and five boys, such a nice even spread :o) Brea and I are excited to maybe make it out to the Mommy and Me group that a few of the other moms go to weekly.

The babies in order of appearance: Rhys, Rowanne, Kaitlyn, Cooper, Garin, Adal, Brea
(Missing: Benjamin, Brooke, Malaya)

New Stats
Finally, after our reunion and since we were in the Fraser Health building, we measured Brea. She is now 14 lbs 12 oz. She has officially more than doubled her birth weight!

Happy Hallowe'en!!!

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!!!

We have had a fabulous day so far. Brea gave me a wonderful birthday present - 7 hours of sleep! If my cousin hadn't called we would have been late for all of our activities today (thanks Bo!).

Brea posing with her first pumpkin!

We got dressed up this morning. Brea looks so cute in her Pea costume. It was well worth the effort to get it. I had to order it online from Old Navy but they only delivered to the States. Craig's Aunt and Uncle were kind enough to let us use their address and picked it up for us.

My Sweet Pea!

We made it to Mommy's school first and had a chance to visit with the kids. They were having plenty of Hallowe'en activities at their Spirit Assembly. We met up with Kathy and Max and stood by the gym door as all the kids filed in. They got to see our babies and we got to see their fabulous costumes. My favourite was the four kids who dressed up as the Flintstones, complete with a car that they rode in. They are so creative!

We then went to Daddy's school to see all the Big Kids dressed up. I think middle school kids are so much more into the spirit of things.

In the PE office. Brea is getting hungry.

Tonight, my Mom and brother are coming over and Craig is making a ham for me. Yum! I'm so looking forward to it.