Wordless Wednesday - Playing with the camera

A meeting of the birthday club

Just a little over a year ago, a very special birthday club started. At my work, we welcomed seven babies into the world... it was a bountiful year. So, in view that many of the babes have just turned or are nearly one year old, we had a small gathering of a few members to celebrate. It was a beautiful fall day - the sun shone down and the children played. Brea who is the only one in the group who is fully up and about on her feet LOVED the park. She especially loved exploring all the different textured things like wood bits, dirt bits, grass bits and the water in the waterpark. I didn't quite get as many pictures as I had hoped as I spent the majority of the time chasing my intrepid explorer, so I'm hoping some of the other mommies might send some of the group pics my way :o) I'm sorry that I missed a picture of Max and his mommy who brought such scrumptious lemon cupcakes.

Oooh, nothing like wood chips and dirt!

A happy swinging girl

Susanna - enjoying her berry yogurt treat

Matteo discovering that with the walker he could really strut his stuff

Natasha basking in the sunshine

Two weeks down...

Well, it's official, I am now a working Mommy. It's been back to school for the second week now and feeling real. Luckily this year I am only back part-time and have the chance to ease into things. It's been a busy week full of orientations for the students into the library. I love that I get to read books and buy books and share it with the kids. Craig is excited too, as he has been wonderful at helping me to vet books these past few years and now that I'm back in the library, he can catch up with many of the series that he has grown attached to.

Brea is doing quite well though there have been more frequent night wakings this week, I think she's just making sure we're still around. The first week of daycare was not so wonderful, she refused to nap and was therefore "Zombie Brea" when Daddy arrived to pick her up and then on Thursday, she was so tired she stumbled and hit a coffee table resulting in a very yucky bruise on her cheek. Overall though, things have been picking up and this week she finally slept. Lucky for us, Brea does not seem too worried or anxious when she goes to daycare - rather, she LOVES being with the other kids. This morning when she arrived, one of the other children greeted her with a hearty "Hello Bw-ea!" to which she offered a happy wave. She is doing many fun things and even brought her first work of art home today which is now proudly affixed to our fridge :o)

Happy Birthday Max!

We had the joy of celebrating Max's First Birthday. It was a lovely day for it and the babes were in fine form. It's been a while since Brea's been together with Max and Susanna and it's amazing to see how much they've grown, what a difference five months make. At their previous playdate sitting up was the amazing new skill and several pillows were required for this pose - now they're getting ready to be up and running!

April 2009

September 2009

Beautiful Susanna

Birthday Boy Max

The girls sharing in the toys.

Brea discovered the sand pile in the yard and after watching some of the big kids play, jumped right in. She LOVED it and tried her best to get as much sand on her person as possible.

Brea watching Max with some of his fantastic gifts...
It looks like "Baby Dark Helmet" is having fun with his piano :o)

Max totally enjoyed his birthday cake and hammed it up for the camera, making sure that his Mommy and Daddy were covered in chocolate cake too. There were yummy treats and so much fun!

The happy family, pre- and post- chocolate cake

Happy First Birthday Max!

Terry Fox Run 2009

We were off this morning to the Terry Fox Run. Craig and I have participated in this for much of the time we've been together and last year was Brea's first time there. It didn't seem so long ago that we packed our wee babe out in her stroller to walk the 2.5 kms. This year, we opted to go the 6 km route and she was much more alert being a one-year old :o) Owen and Jill joined us as we trekked through the trails from our house to the starting line. Most exciting this year was Brea walking across the finish line on her own!!!

The gentlemen and little ladies are off!!!

Taking a peek at JillyBean

Marching across the FINISH line with Daddy

Poses with Daddy and Mommy

Lethbridge

During the month of July we were very lucky to have been able to visit family in Alberta. It was especially nice for Brea to spend time with her cousins. It was a long drive but with frequent stops and lots of toys in a bag to entertain her we made it work.

Auntie Signe and Uncle Kent and the brood shared their beautiful home with us and we got to see the city with them. From Farmers Markets to spectacular parks, we had SO MUCH fun! And best of all, we got to help celebrate Caylie's 3rd birthday. Auntie Signe, cake maker extraordinaire, concocted an amazing Tortuga Cake!

Uncle Kent is very excited to play with his niece :o)

Striking a pose with Madison


Kai and Caylie

Uncle Kent and Auntie Signe taking a break while the kids play

Uncle Kent's got rhythm!

Spinning with Daddy!

It's a bumpy ride when Madison gets going!

With the lovely backdrop of Henderson Lake

Caylie's Tortuga Cake!!!

We also made our rounds and had a visit with Auntie Isobel and sampled some of the wondrous veggies from her amazing garden and stopped at the Medicine Tree for a pampering massage from Craig's cousin Gene. It was THE BEST massage ever :o)

Meeting Auntie Isobel

I don't wanna go!

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

I can feel the minutes ticking by... three more days and then I'm back to work. I can't believe my year with Brea has flown by already and I don't wanna go back!

I have so many worries, about daycare, about getting my head back into work, about how Brea will adjust, about how I will adjust! Her sleeping at nap time is still not good, well, it's more that she won't nap unless she's lying on someone or in her car seat and at daycare, that just won't work. They won't be as patient, they won't be as nice. I'm afraid she'll just end up in a playpen screaming her little head off. We have been wanting to get her ready but it's SO hard when she's stubborn and we don't like to hear her cry.

Luckily, I'm going back only part-time and I do love what I do. I guess, I'll just have to do it one day at a time.