Thanks for the memories ...
- Cal's 30th birthday!
I have known Cal for nearly 1/2 his life!! Hard to believe! I could not ask for a better husband or father to my children. He is so generous and "there" it is amazing and I am one lucky lady! Love you Cal :) Cal had a great time on his 30th birthday trip to Seattle in December of '08. He caught a NFL football game with 2 buddies and saw some Seattle sights! I was due a few days before Cal's 30th, so he spent a fairly low-key birthday at home! All though, I do recall there being 3 birthday dinner's out!!!
- Emerson Marie Cameron, born February 16th at 8:58 p.m., 6 lbs 11 oz, 18", Sturgeon Hospital, St. Albert
Your first year has gone by SO fast Emerson, but you have brought more joy to our lives then you'll ever know! Well, perhaps when you become a Mom you may then understand! You are so sweet, smiley and cuddly. We love your cuddles and your smiles and just can't get enough of them and you and can not imagine our lives with out you :)
- Blake's 2nd birthday, May 5th
As we always say Blake, you are an amazing little boy! We can not imagine life without you. You fill our home with laughter and joy. Every day we thank our lucky stars for you. You are such a bright little man and amaze us daily! Your facial expressions, quirky ways and gentleness make you a very, very special boy.
- Many memorable camping trips this summer/fall
We love getting out in the great outdoors with family friends! We had a great time camping with my Mom and Dad, Linds and Jer, at the 1st annual Cameron family camping trip, camping with the Streadwicks, the Gillams and camping with our extended Smith family at the 2009 Smith Family Reunion! Blake loved playing outside and had so much fun, we hope Emerson will enjoy camping just as much this summer!
- Lindsay and Jeremy's wedding, Sunset Gardens, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 30th
We embarked upon our first "fly away" trip with the kids, to no other then Sin City!! A bit of an unconventional location for a family holiday, but surprisingly there are quite a few strollers to be seen in Vegas!! Fortunately, we had a fabulous time. The kids flew great (we received MANY compliments :), slept well and we had a lot of help from my parents and Aunt! It wasn't our first time to Vegas, so we didn't miss out on the typical gambling/shows holiday, as we'd been there done that so to speak! Although, Cal did participate in one poker tournament and I actually won $85 on a nickel machine!! We love Vegas and hope to go back soon!! Linds and Jer's wedding was as GORGEOUS as they were! Sunset Gardens was so pretty. Everything from A-Z was 1st class and well ... GORGEOUS!! And I tell you, those two looked like they had walked out of a bridal magazine! Hot stuff!! I had a lot of fun partaking in the pre-wedding preparations and stagette!!! We had a lot of time together to explore Vegas a bit and shop too, which was fun for us and Blake too! Of course Emerson being so young, I'm not sure I can say she particularly enjoyed herself, but she was good and did love her time in the Snuggli on her Daddy :)
2009 has been good to our family and we thank our lucky stars each and every day for a healthy, happy family. We are truly blessed and do not take a minute for granted.
Here's hoping 2010 will bring a new year full of many great memories, the best of health, the best of friends and many laughs and good times!!
Happy New Year everyone :)
Love The Cameron's
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Magic of Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It is so much fun enjoying Christmas with kids! Especially 2 1/2 year olds!! Blake really "got" Christmas this year, which made it even more fun :) We started some new traditions we hope to carry on with through the years! For 22 years I awoke on Christmas morning at my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. It was hard to move on from that and I do miss those days, but as a married woman with a growing family, I am enjoying mixing those old traditions and customs with new ones and making new memories with my wonderful husband and children!!
On the 22nd Cal and I took Blake to Candy Cane Lane. We had an awesome time on the sleigh ride!! Blake was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for him to relax! He was pointing out all the Santa's and the Frosty's (what he calls all snowmen!) and shouting Merry Christmas to people walking on the sidewalks!! It was great! Another highlight was the Thomas decoration on one home's lawn!! I'm so glad we got to do that! Thank you so much to my Mom for staying with Emerson! After Candy Cane Lane we also drove by the "Christmas House" on 97th street. Personally, I feel it's a bit over done! Some how, each year they add more lights. Not sure where they'll add more next year, but I'd sure hate to get that electrical bill!!
Cal's vacation began on the 24th and we did some last minute Christmas preparations that day. There seems to always be some last minute running around to do on Christmas Eve! Emerson put on her cute Christmas p.j.'s, we took some pictures and she went to bed. Blake had a long nap that afternoon, so I decided to take him to the children's service at our church at 7pm that evening. I am SO glad I did!! We had a living nativity and Blake was an angel. It was absolutely adorable and we had a very special time together. When we got in the truck after the service Blake asked, "Where's Jesus?" I told him that Jesus was in Heaven and he then asked, "Jesus not at home?" I told him that Heaven is Jesus' home and then thought boy oh boy, I'm sure I'm confusing him even more!! When we got home, Cal came out and we sprinkled our reindeer food on the front lawn! We then went inside and put out cookies (4) and "snowman milk" a.k.a. egg nog for Santa, as well as 3 carrots for the reindeer (Blake was very specific about the number of cookies and carrots)! Then he put on his Christmas p.j.'s, sat for more pictures! and headed to bed!
I'm not sure if it was the Christmas excitement or not, but both kids were up EXTREMELY early on Christmas morning!! We finally got out of bed at 6:30! Blake was thrilled to see all that Santa brought and loved both his and Emerson's presents!! Emerson also enjoyed her presents and Cal and I loved having Christmas morning with our kids in our home. We had lots of time to play and get ready to head to Stony, since we were up so early!! We got to my Mom and Dad's house around 10 am. We opened gifts and Blake was very helpful with opening Emerson's and a few other presents as well! I know Emerson is too young to understand Christmas and opening presents, but she truly enjoyed some of her gifts. She didn't really have any of her own "girly" toys yet, so it's nice she has some now! We had our traditional Christmas morning wife saver brunch, which was very yummy and spent the day playing and visiting! We stayed over that night as well as the 26th night.
On Boxing Day we went to Gerry and Lesley's for a visit and to open the Cameron gifts! It turned out that Bruce and Kourtney were able to come by as well, so it was very nice to spend some time with them!! We had a great visit and the boys had fun playing!
The morning of the 27th we headed to Beaumont to visit the Hrdlicka's! We hadn't met Presley yet, so I was very glad we were able to catch up with them while they were near Edmonton!! Presely is gorgeous! She looks a lot like Nicholas, but as I told Candace "in a very feminine way!!" As always, we had a great visit and I was left feeling sad that we don't live closer to each other :( Hopefully one day!! I was teasing Brandon and Candace that I was going to put a bug in the RCMP's ear to prevent them from moving any further away and hopefully nearer!! Just kidding of course ... We also got to meet Bosco, Brandon's 12 week old, German Shepard puppy, who he is training to be a police dog. Bosco is SO adorable! I'd have a tough time being strict with the little guy! Which I suppose is the reason they do what they do and I do what I do!! lol!! We also got to visit with Tina and Barb, which was great! Tina gave Emerson a Christmas birth stone ball with her name on it, just like Blake's. They are gorgeous and Emerson's is purple, my favorite color, and is so pretty in the sunlight!! We returned home that afternoon and my parents came in with the rest of our gifts and Heidi! We enjoyed a Chinese dinner and said good bye to my Mom and Dad, as they were off to Saskatchewan, with Lindsay, the morning of the 28th.
We hope Emerson enjoyed her 1st Christmas and Blake his 3rd! We certainly enjoyed spending lots of time with friends and family and watching the kids! We find it is often a struggle to keep the gift portion of Christmas under control. It's hard not to buy too much ... but I think we all did a good job this year!! Sometimes the true meaning of Christmas is often pushed aside for presents and Santa Claus. Not that these are bad things, but we really want our children to understand the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas. This year we decided to talk to Blake about why Christmas exists. We hope to teach our kids that the true meaning of Christmas is not only about getting presents, but about giving to others and celebrating how much they mean to us. This year we also chose a gift from each of us to purchase through Plan Canada. We will continue this tradition each year. Hopefully this will encourage us all to remember the real "reason for the season!"
Cal is off work until January 4th, so we are enjoying lots of family time! Today we played outside and took Emerson for her 1st sleigh ride! She really enjoyed it! Blake walked and had fun kicking the snow and helping pull the sleigh!! We hope to go swimming one morning this week and other than that we're going with the flow and just enjoying life!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with loved ones wherever you were. If you still have travelling to do, wishing you safe travels! We'll be back with one more blog before 2010 ;)
Lots of love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
On the 22nd Cal and I took Blake to Candy Cane Lane. We had an awesome time on the sleigh ride!! Blake was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for him to relax! He was pointing out all the Santa's and the Frosty's (what he calls all snowmen!) and shouting Merry Christmas to people walking on the sidewalks!! It was great! Another highlight was the Thomas decoration on one home's lawn!! I'm so glad we got to do that! Thank you so much to my Mom for staying with Emerson! After Candy Cane Lane we also drove by the "Christmas House" on 97th street. Personally, I feel it's a bit over done! Some how, each year they add more lights. Not sure where they'll add more next year, but I'd sure hate to get that electrical bill!!
Cal's vacation began on the 24th and we did some last minute Christmas preparations that day. There seems to always be some last minute running around to do on Christmas Eve! Emerson put on her cute Christmas p.j.'s, we took some pictures and she went to bed. Blake had a long nap that afternoon, so I decided to take him to the children's service at our church at 7pm that evening. I am SO glad I did!! We had a living nativity and Blake was an angel. It was absolutely adorable and we had a very special time together. When we got in the truck after the service Blake asked, "Where's Jesus?" I told him that Jesus was in Heaven and he then asked, "Jesus not at home?" I told him that Heaven is Jesus' home and then thought boy oh boy, I'm sure I'm confusing him even more!! When we got home, Cal came out and we sprinkled our reindeer food on the front lawn! We then went inside and put out cookies (4) and "snowman milk" a.k.a. egg nog for Santa, as well as 3 carrots for the reindeer (Blake was very specific about the number of cookies and carrots)! Then he put on his Christmas p.j.'s, sat for more pictures! and headed to bed!
I'm not sure if it was the Christmas excitement or not, but both kids were up EXTREMELY early on Christmas morning!! We finally got out of bed at 6:30! Blake was thrilled to see all that Santa brought and loved both his and Emerson's presents!! Emerson also enjoyed her presents and Cal and I loved having Christmas morning with our kids in our home. We had lots of time to play and get ready to head to Stony, since we were up so early!! We got to my Mom and Dad's house around 10 am. We opened gifts and Blake was very helpful with opening Emerson's and a few other presents as well! I know Emerson is too young to understand Christmas and opening presents, but she truly enjoyed some of her gifts. She didn't really have any of her own "girly" toys yet, so it's nice she has some now! We had our traditional Christmas morning wife saver brunch, which was very yummy and spent the day playing and visiting! We stayed over that night as well as the 26th night.
On Boxing Day we went to Gerry and Lesley's for a visit and to open the Cameron gifts! It turned out that Bruce and Kourtney were able to come by as well, so it was very nice to spend some time with them!! We had a great visit and the boys had fun playing!
The morning of the 27th we headed to Beaumont to visit the Hrdlicka's! We hadn't met Presley yet, so I was very glad we were able to catch up with them while they were near Edmonton!! Presely is gorgeous! She looks a lot like Nicholas, but as I told Candace "in a very feminine way!!" As always, we had a great visit and I was left feeling sad that we don't live closer to each other :( Hopefully one day!! I was teasing Brandon and Candace that I was going to put a bug in the RCMP's ear to prevent them from moving any further away and hopefully nearer!! Just kidding of course ... We also got to meet Bosco, Brandon's 12 week old, German Shepard puppy, who he is training to be a police dog. Bosco is SO adorable! I'd have a tough time being strict with the little guy! Which I suppose is the reason they do what they do and I do what I do!! lol!! We also got to visit with Tina and Barb, which was great! Tina gave Emerson a Christmas birth stone ball with her name on it, just like Blake's. They are gorgeous and Emerson's is purple, my favorite color, and is so pretty in the sunlight!! We returned home that afternoon and my parents came in with the rest of our gifts and Heidi! We enjoyed a Chinese dinner and said good bye to my Mom and Dad, as they were off to Saskatchewan, with Lindsay, the morning of the 28th.
We hope Emerson enjoyed her 1st Christmas and Blake his 3rd! We certainly enjoyed spending lots of time with friends and family and watching the kids! We find it is often a struggle to keep the gift portion of Christmas under control. It's hard not to buy too much ... but I think we all did a good job this year!! Sometimes the true meaning of Christmas is often pushed aside for presents and Santa Claus. Not that these are bad things, but we really want our children to understand the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas. This year we decided to talk to Blake about why Christmas exists. We hope to teach our kids that the true meaning of Christmas is not only about getting presents, but about giving to others and celebrating how much they mean to us. This year we also chose a gift from each of us to purchase through Plan Canada. We will continue this tradition each year. Hopefully this will encourage us all to remember the real "reason for the season!"
Cal is off work until January 4th, so we are enjoying lots of family time! Today we played outside and took Emerson for her 1st sleigh ride! She really enjoyed it! Blake walked and had fun kicking the snow and helping pull the sleigh!! We hope to go swimming one morning this week and other than that we're going with the flow and just enjoying life!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with loved ones wherever you were. If you still have travelling to do, wishing you safe travels! We'll be back with one more blog before 2010 ;)
Lots of love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Monday, December 21, 2009
We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!
We weighed and measured the kids on December 17th when we went for our flu shots. Emerson weighed in at 17 lbs 9 1/4 ounces. She is 65.4 cm long and her head circumference is 42.5 cm. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10 percentile for height and head circumference. But growing, so all is good!! Blake weighed 36.4 lbs and was approx. 40" tall. He hasn't gained much weight in the past few months, but has grown taller!! He's definitely a big boy! Our flu shots went good. Cal and I got the seasonal flu shot and the kids got their 2nd H1N1 shots and the seasonal flu shot. Like last time, Blake didn't even flinch or make a sound! Emerson cried briefly after each shot, but not for long! I'm going to wait until her 1 yr immunizations to get the 2nd seasonal flu shot. Between the four of us, we've had 10 flu shots to date! Crazy ...
We had a great week and weekend! Thursday we had our last Time for Two's class at the library. Friday we had our Preschool Christmas Party at the YMCA. It was a ton of fun!! We had a pot luck lunch, the kids did 2 crafts (a Christmas tree made out of a ice cream cone, candies and icing and a bag of reindeer food!), there was entertainment and Christmas carolling and Santa even made an appearance! Blake had a lot of fun and was smitten with Santa once again!! Friday afternoon our friends Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit. Berlyn is just under 7 months younger then Emerson! And absolutely adorable!! It was great to visit with them and see Berlyn!! Friday evening Cal and Blake has their last Bubblers class. They begin a new session in January. Saturday afternoon after the kids naps we headed to Stony Plain for my parents annual Christmas party. We had a blast and had fun visiting with lots of friends and family! Blake and Colby had a BLAST running around and playing!! They were so cute! Emerson went through a grumpy period right around her bedtime, but overcame it and we made it all the way to 9 pm before we had to leave!! Sunday we slept in (yes!!!) and made a gingerbread train after Blake's nap. Then my parents came over for supper. So it was a busy and fun few days!!
This week is a bit slower. We're all done our Christmas shopping and can't wait for Christmas Day! Blake's opened a few gifts already, so we've already seen his present opening skills at work!!! He can sure tear through them! Good thing Em needs his help! lol!! As I've said before, Blake is really enjoying the Christmas season this year. Another thing he loves about Christmas is the music!! His favorites are Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer!! He knows a lot of the words and often asks me to sing them to him!!
A friend of mine is coming over for lunch tomorrow and then tomorrow evening my Mom is going to come stay with Emerson while Cal and I take Blake out to look at some Christmas lights! I'm looking forward to showing him the "Christmas House" on 97 street! It's quite amazing!! Other than that we'll be wrapping presents and possibly doing some baking this week. I'd like to go to church on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure we'll make it. The family service is at 7 pm and then there is a midnight service with communion. 7 pm is definitely too late for Emerson, and Blake as well. He usually goes to bed at 7:30 ish and we don't want to start out Christmas with a tired boy!! So that's okay, there will be many more years to come when the kids are older and we won't have to stick to bedtimes so closely!!
It will be nice to wake up on Christmas morning in our own home. It's also very nice to not have to travel during the holidays. We would love to be able to see more of our family at Christmas time, but we are all so spread out, which makes it difficult. We're going to my parents house on Christmas Day and staying there that night as well as Boxing Day night. On Boxing Day we're going to visit the Stony Plain Cameron's!! So it will be a great few days and the greatest part about the holiday season is ... Cal's holiday's!!! Cal's last day of work is the 23 and he doesn't go back to work until January 4!! Yay!
We're wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best during this holiday season! Safe travels to those of you travelling and we'll talk to you soon :)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
We had a great week and weekend! Thursday we had our last Time for Two's class at the library. Friday we had our Preschool Christmas Party at the YMCA. It was a ton of fun!! We had a pot luck lunch, the kids did 2 crafts (a Christmas tree made out of a ice cream cone, candies and icing and a bag of reindeer food!), there was entertainment and Christmas carolling and Santa even made an appearance! Blake had a lot of fun and was smitten with Santa once again!! Friday afternoon our friends Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit. Berlyn is just under 7 months younger then Emerson! And absolutely adorable!! It was great to visit with them and see Berlyn!! Friday evening Cal and Blake has their last Bubblers class. They begin a new session in January. Saturday afternoon after the kids naps we headed to Stony Plain for my parents annual Christmas party. We had a blast and had fun visiting with lots of friends and family! Blake and Colby had a BLAST running around and playing!! They were so cute! Emerson went through a grumpy period right around her bedtime, but overcame it and we made it all the way to 9 pm before we had to leave!! Sunday we slept in (yes!!!) and made a gingerbread train after Blake's nap. Then my parents came over for supper. So it was a busy and fun few days!!
This week is a bit slower. We're all done our Christmas shopping and can't wait for Christmas Day! Blake's opened a few gifts already, so we've already seen his present opening skills at work!!! He can sure tear through them! Good thing Em needs his help! lol!! As I've said before, Blake is really enjoying the Christmas season this year. Another thing he loves about Christmas is the music!! His favorites are Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer!! He knows a lot of the words and often asks me to sing them to him!!
A friend of mine is coming over for lunch tomorrow and then tomorrow evening my Mom is going to come stay with Emerson while Cal and I take Blake out to look at some Christmas lights! I'm looking forward to showing him the "Christmas House" on 97 street! It's quite amazing!! Other than that we'll be wrapping presents and possibly doing some baking this week. I'd like to go to church on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure we'll make it. The family service is at 7 pm and then there is a midnight service with communion. 7 pm is definitely too late for Emerson, and Blake as well. He usually goes to bed at 7:30 ish and we don't want to start out Christmas with a tired boy!! So that's okay, there will be many more years to come when the kids are older and we won't have to stick to bedtimes so closely!!
It will be nice to wake up on Christmas morning in our own home. It's also very nice to not have to travel during the holidays. We would love to be able to see more of our family at Christmas time, but we are all so spread out, which makes it difficult. We're going to my parents house on Christmas Day and staying there that night as well as Boxing Day night. On Boxing Day we're going to visit the Stony Plain Cameron's!! So it will be a great few days and the greatest part about the holiday season is ... Cal's holiday's!!! Cal's last day of work is the 23 and he doesn't go back to work until January 4!! Yay!
We're wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best during this holiday season! Safe travels to those of you travelling and we'll talk to you soon :)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Happy 10 month Birthday Emerson!
Yes, Emerson is 10 months old today!! Wow!! 2 more months until her big 1 year birthday!! How crazy is that?! She really doesn't seem like she's 10 months old (to me anyways!). I'll get her weighed when I take the kids in for their 2nd H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. But I think she's around 17 lbs. She just looks little to me! Some 10 months old are walking or near walking, but she's no where near, which I think also makes her seem younger! Which is fine with me - keep her little longer!!! It's been a great 10 months though and she's an amazing little girl! We all love her to death :) I think she'll be a bit more outgoing then Blake. She loves going to Blake's My 1st Preschool class and Time for Two's at the library! She sings (okay ... yells!) almost the entire time! It's very cute, but I hope not too disruptive at Preschool! Speaking of Preschool, Blake had his last class of this semester today. And his last class with Ms. Rosealee (I think I'm spelling her name wrong ...). She has taught him since April and we will miss her! She is a great Preschool teacher and although she may not know it, Blake really loved her! Of course in class, he's shy and quiet, but at home he talks about her a lot! She'll still be around the Y so we'll hopefully see her from time to time! Our next Preschool class begins in January. On Friday the YMCA is hosting a Preschool Christmas Party, which we're looking forward to attending. It is one big party for all the preschool classes - so Monday to Friday's My 1st Preschool and Fun Factory classes. Should be fun! Tomorrow we have our last Time for Two's class at Woodcroft library. And Friday Blake has his last swimming lesson until the New Year! Friday will be busy, because we have the Preschool Christmas party from 11 am - 1 pm, then our friends and Blake's godparents are coming over for a couple of hours in the later afternoon and then Cal and Blake have swimming! Saturday we are heading to Stony Plain for a Christmas Open House at my parent's house. Phew! Christmas season is a busy one!
We are so, so, SO happy that it is warming up outside! Hopefully we'll be able to sneak a couple of sleigh rides in before Christmas! Blake loves playing outside - rain, sun, snow, doesn't matter what the weather is! Thankfully, this year he is keeping his mittens and toque on. Last year he'd take them off and freeze and get upset! Blake had fun last weekend at my Mom's work Christmas Party. Apparently he was quite taken with Santa (again!) and had fun playing with some of the other kids at the party. Of course, he also enjoyed his sleepover! In fact, he didn't want to come home when my Mom told him it was time to go home! Cal, Emerson and I enjoyed some quiet time while Blake was visiting Grandma and Grandpa! The house sure is quiet without Blake home!! Which is nice for a short time, but we definitely would start missing him and his business ;) It will be crazy when Blake and Em go for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!! Not sure when that will be, will have to be after I'm done nursing Emerson (obviously!). Cal and I will hopefully go on a short get away together before I return to work in March. We'll see!
Cal and I have both noticed that Blake has changed a lot in the last few weeks. He has had that independent streak for quite awhile now, but lately he's taking it to a whole new level!! He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself! Everything ... seriously!!!!! Which is cool sometimes, but it can be dangerous/frustrating/time consuming at other times! We're hoping that this, "I do it myself" business will come in handy when we start potty training in the new year. Still not looking forward to potty training, but we're thinking we should at least try while I'm still at home and have "time" to do it!! We enjoy hearing Blake use new words and phrases and can't believe what he knows and understands! He is a bit difficult to understand sometimes. We of course, are used to listening to him, so we usually don't have trouble understanding him, but others sometimes do. He continues to make us laugh with what he comes up with some days! A few days ago he told Emerson it was time to go home to Las Vegas!? We told him we are home and we won't be going back to Las Vegas for a very long time!! (well, hopefully Cal and I will be going back sooner!!) I guess he had a good time and wants to go back?! Blake knows all his colors, and has for some time, as well as shapes, and he has counted to 10, but it's hard to get him to count!! I knew he knew the basic shapes, but was surprised last week when he told me what an oval, rectangle, diamond and star were! With counting, it seems that the more we want him to count, the less likely he is to do it ... Stubborn streak!!! The time leading up to Christmas has been a blast with Blake this year! He loves Santa and some of the highlights of the Christmas season thus far include, decorating the house, visiting Santa at the mall, going to my Mom's work Christmas party and seeing Santa again, receiving a letter from Santa at the North Pole, Alaska (my Mom arranged for the kids to receive these letters when she visited the North Pole this summer!!), and receiving a personalized email from Santa!! He enjoys watching the email over and over and over again (thanks Tina!!!)!! We also talked to him a little bit about it being Jesus' birthday on Christmas Day. Which he was quite interested in ... he asked if we'd have birthday cake! lol!! So I told him no, but we do have a big celebration with lots of yummy food! I'm not quite sure how to explain the whole "reason for the season" to him, but hopefully as he gets older he will learn more at Sunday school!! The whole discussion began when we were putting our Nativity scene on our fireplace mantel. He wanted to know what it was and to play with baby Jesus, so I told him about Jesus' birthday and gave him another small nativity scene to play with :) We bought a gingerbread train at Sobey's last week, but haven't made it yet. But I'm guessing he will enjoy that project!! So December has been a fun month and we can't wait for Christmas Day!! It is so wonderful enjoying this time of year through a child's eyes!
Take care everyone! Good luck with those last minute Christmas preparations!!
Love Tracy
We are so, so, SO happy that it is warming up outside! Hopefully we'll be able to sneak a couple of sleigh rides in before Christmas! Blake loves playing outside - rain, sun, snow, doesn't matter what the weather is! Thankfully, this year he is keeping his mittens and toque on. Last year he'd take them off and freeze and get upset! Blake had fun last weekend at my Mom's work Christmas Party. Apparently he was quite taken with Santa (again!) and had fun playing with some of the other kids at the party. Of course, he also enjoyed his sleepover! In fact, he didn't want to come home when my Mom told him it was time to go home! Cal, Emerson and I enjoyed some quiet time while Blake was visiting Grandma and Grandpa! The house sure is quiet without Blake home!! Which is nice for a short time, but we definitely would start missing him and his business ;) It will be crazy when Blake and Em go for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!! Not sure when that will be, will have to be after I'm done nursing Emerson (obviously!). Cal and I will hopefully go on a short get away together before I return to work in March. We'll see!
Cal and I have both noticed that Blake has changed a lot in the last few weeks. He has had that independent streak for quite awhile now, but lately he's taking it to a whole new level!! He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself! Everything ... seriously!!!!! Which is cool sometimes, but it can be dangerous/frustrating/time consuming at other times! We're hoping that this, "I do it myself" business will come in handy when we start potty training in the new year. Still not looking forward to potty training, but we're thinking we should at least try while I'm still at home and have "time" to do it!! We enjoy hearing Blake use new words and phrases and can't believe what he knows and understands! He is a bit difficult to understand sometimes. We of course, are used to listening to him, so we usually don't have trouble understanding him, but others sometimes do. He continues to make us laugh with what he comes up with some days! A few days ago he told Emerson it was time to go home to Las Vegas!? We told him we are home and we won't be going back to Las Vegas for a very long time!! (well, hopefully Cal and I will be going back sooner!!) I guess he had a good time and wants to go back?! Blake knows all his colors, and has for some time, as well as shapes, and he has counted to 10, but it's hard to get him to count!! I knew he knew the basic shapes, but was surprised last week when he told me what an oval, rectangle, diamond and star were! With counting, it seems that the more we want him to count, the less likely he is to do it ... Stubborn streak!!! The time leading up to Christmas has been a blast with Blake this year! He loves Santa and some of the highlights of the Christmas season thus far include, decorating the house, visiting Santa at the mall, going to my Mom's work Christmas party and seeing Santa again, receiving a letter from Santa at the North Pole, Alaska (my Mom arranged for the kids to receive these letters when she visited the North Pole this summer!!), and receiving a personalized email from Santa!! He enjoys watching the email over and over and over again (thanks Tina!!!)!! We also talked to him a little bit about it being Jesus' birthday on Christmas Day. Which he was quite interested in ... he asked if we'd have birthday cake! lol!! So I told him no, but we do have a big celebration with lots of yummy food! I'm not quite sure how to explain the whole "reason for the season" to him, but hopefully as he gets older he will learn more at Sunday school!! The whole discussion began when we were putting our Nativity scene on our fireplace mantel. He wanted to know what it was and to play with baby Jesus, so I told him about Jesus' birthday and gave him another small nativity scene to play with :) We bought a gingerbread train at Sobey's last week, but haven't made it yet. But I'm guessing he will enjoy that project!! So December has been a fun month and we can't wait for Christmas Day!! It is so wonderful enjoying this time of year through a child's eyes!
Take care everyone! Good luck with those last minute Christmas preparations!!
Love Tracy
Friday, December 11, 2009
Miss Emerson
Our little Emerson seems to be growing quickly these days, so I thought I'd write a little update :)
For one, she is growing!! I haven't had her weighed lately, but she is growing out of her clothes and feels like she weighs a lot more. She did lose some weight when she was not feeling well for a few weeks, but I think she's gained that and then some back!! Although she is still a smaller girl!
Emerson is finally choosing to be on her stomach. She enjoys sleeping on her tummy now and often rolls to her stomach when placed on her back! And she's reaching and moving a teeny tiny bit while on her stomach! The other day she surprised herself when she was sitting, reaching for something and went onto her stomach!! She has also been waving for awhile now, which is adorable! She has the chubbiest little hands and wrists I've ever seen!! And she loves clapping her hands! When you clap she looks at you with her huge grin and tries to clap too!! We do a lot of clapping to different songs at the library program we attend, which she love, love, loves!! She loves all the music and clapping and we always blow bubbles at the end, which is a huge hit as well :)
She continues to be VERY talkative!!! We love listening to her talk and having conversations with her. Of course we love hearing her say "Mom" and "Dad", although we know she's not directing the words at us yet, it's still nice to hear ;)
Emerson continues to be entertained and intrigued by her big brother. They have great conversations between the two of them every day! Blake's so good with her, although he is definitely the boss!! I love that I can leave them playing by themselves for awhile! I think it's good for both of them and I can get some things done around the house!!
Emerson is eating pretty much everything these days. I find that she enjoys soft, cut up food more than baby food. I try to give her lots of finger foods too, as she enjoys feeding herself. She tried yogurt for the first time a couple of weeks ago and LOVES it!! A few of the other foods she's tried recently are cheese, ham and chicken noodle soup! All of which she enjoys! She's going to try cottage cheese this week. It's great to see her eating more again! She still only has her two bottom teeth, but manages quite well with just the 2!
Emerson will be 10 months old on December 16th ... I feel like she's still 6 months old!! Unbelievable how fast her first 10 months and soon to be year, has passed.
Take care everyone and stay warm. We're staying inside today, avoiding the deep freeze outside ;)
Luv Tracy
For one, she is growing!! I haven't had her weighed lately, but she is growing out of her clothes and feels like she weighs a lot more. She did lose some weight when she was not feeling well for a few weeks, but I think she's gained that and then some back!! Although she is still a smaller girl!
Emerson is finally choosing to be on her stomach. She enjoys sleeping on her tummy now and often rolls to her stomach when placed on her back! And she's reaching and moving a teeny tiny bit while on her stomach! The other day she surprised herself when she was sitting, reaching for something and went onto her stomach!! She has also been waving for awhile now, which is adorable! She has the chubbiest little hands and wrists I've ever seen!! And she loves clapping her hands! When you clap she looks at you with her huge grin and tries to clap too!! We do a lot of clapping to different songs at the library program we attend, which she love, love, loves!! She loves all the music and clapping and we always blow bubbles at the end, which is a huge hit as well :)
She continues to be VERY talkative!!! We love listening to her talk and having conversations with her. Of course we love hearing her say "Mom" and "Dad", although we know she's not directing the words at us yet, it's still nice to hear ;)
Emerson continues to be entertained and intrigued by her big brother. They have great conversations between the two of them every day! Blake's so good with her, although he is definitely the boss!! I love that I can leave them playing by themselves for awhile! I think it's good for both of them and I can get some things done around the house!!
Emerson is eating pretty much everything these days. I find that she enjoys soft, cut up food more than baby food. I try to give her lots of finger foods too, as she enjoys feeding herself. She tried yogurt for the first time a couple of weeks ago and LOVES it!! A few of the other foods she's tried recently are cheese, ham and chicken noodle soup! All of which she enjoys! She's going to try cottage cheese this week. It's great to see her eating more again! She still only has her two bottom teeth, but manages quite well with just the 2!
Emerson will be 10 months old on December 16th ... I feel like she's still 6 months old!! Unbelievable how fast her first 10 months and soon to be year, has passed.
Take care everyone and stay warm. We're staying inside today, avoiding the deep freeze outside ;)
Luv Tracy
Friday, December 4, 2009
Our Vegas Vacation!
So from my previous post, you can see that the wedding was gorgeous and perfect! Those would be the 2 words I would use to describe it!!
The rest of our vacation was much the same! We had a great time! The kids did well on the airplane and in Vegas. We had many people tell us how well behaved and cute they were! Actually, through out our trip we had people telling us this!! Makes you feel like a good parent ;) They were so adorable in their wedding duds, but unfortunately I didn't have time to take a picture of them :( I know the photographer has pictures though, so we'll just have to wait for Lindsay to get those!!
We had a lot of fun shopping and seeing the sites together. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing! Some of the highlights were watching the Bellagio fountains, seeing the light show on Freemont Street, visiting the lion habitat at MGM, and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I think the lions were Blake's favorite!! He sat on the railing around the enclosure and talked to the lions and roared like a lion. He had people around us laughing!! The night before we went to see the lions, we told him what we were doing the next day and he started getting excited! He said, "I see lions?" and we told him yes and he started asking about other animals!! "I see monkeys? I see tigers? I see elephants?" We told him we might see other animals, but we're not sure! As it turns out, the only live animals he saw were lions, but the Rainforest Cafe where we ate lunch had large, life-like tigers, elephants, monkeys, birds, etc, etc!! So he really enjoyed our lunch there! And he loved the cool aquariums! He had fun pretty much everywhere we went, no matter what we were doing! He brought Sam with us nearly everywhere and even convinced Grandma to by Sam some new clothes!! Like Grandma needed a lot of convincing ;) He wanted Sam to have a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses just like he had!! Emerson also enjoyed sight seeing! She always started out in the stroller and ended up in the Snuggli! She's a kid who loves to be held and after a few hours in the stroller, she was ready to get out! Cal wore the Snuggli and boy oh boy did she love it!!! She kicked and "danced" and was such a happy girl!! It was very cute! We were very fortunate to have my parents and Auntie Kathy babysit a little bit, so we could maintain the kids bed times and get out!! Thank you SO much Mom, Dad and Auntie Kathy! And I have to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband for spending some of the first 3 days and most of the first 3 nights by himself with the kiddos while I was doing wedding stuff/partying!!! You're THE best Cal :)
Blake did an amazing job walking down the aisle ... the best lil' ring bearer I've ever seen! He was so, so good and CUTE!!! Emerson walked in with Cal and according to those who saw her she had the biggest grin on her face!!!!! Good time to showcase her famous smile ;) And Lindsay and Jeremy looked like they walked out of a bridal magazine photo shoot! I could go on and on about the wedding ...
Blake enjoyed having his own room with 2 beds. He pointed this out regularly!! "I have two beds. One to sleep on and one to play on!" The rooms were very nice and really big. The bathrooms were almost as big as the kids rooms at home! So Emerson did sleep in one of the bathrooms and it worked out perfectly! She was not disturbed and we didn't have to tip toe around too much!! We put a monitor in Blake's room and Em slept in our bathroom. I'm SO glad we went with 2 rooms! SO worth it!
We snagged many wicked deals while shopping. I bought my very own Coach purse. It's so pretty!!! I almost didn't buy it, but Cal talked me into it!! Then I found a deal on Ugg boots!! YAY!!! Cal bought some Colts memorabilia and clothes and we bought a lot of clothes for the kids! I LOVE shopping in Vegas!!! I love Vegas actually! I've been to a few different Canadian and U.S. cities and Cal and I have both been on a "hot" vacation and I have to say Vegas is my favorite vacation spot! I'm not a huge beach person, although I think I'd like 1 every 5 or so years!, but I'd like to go to Vegas at least once a year!! Love everything about it - the shopping, the shows (didn't get to see one this time), the food, the cheap drinks, the lights, the hotels and casinos, the people, the crowds, the noise, etc, etc, etc! Can't wait to go back!!
We flew back on Thursday afternoon and went to pick up Heidi straight from the airport. Blake told Heidi and Jazz he missed them and Emerson was very excited to see them too!! I love that our kids love our pets! Heidi did well at the kennel and Jazz was well looked after by his pet sitter! There was a bit of snow on the ground when we arrived home, but nothing compared to what today has brought!! WOW!!! It has snowed pretty much all day. Which is fine in my books - it is December and I love snow for Christmas!! Cal has cleared the driveway and the sidewalks three times so far and you can't even tell. Poor guy - thank goodness we have a snow blower!
We're slowly doing all our laundry and getting things put away. Blake was happy to see all his toys again! The first thing he did was pull out all his trucks and trains and take a spin around the family room on his Winnie the Pooh car!!! We are going to our nephew Colby's 2nd birthday party tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun! Blake enjoys visiting Colby's house and playing with his toys!! Next week we have preschool, Time for Two's, we have to get the kid's 2nd H1N1 shots and Blake is going to my Mom's children's Christmas party, which she is organizing! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 21 days away. We've been focused on my sister's wedding and Las Vegas for so long! Now it's time to focus on Christmas :) We're almost done our Christmas shopping and have the letter's to Santa mailed! We hope to do our Christmas decorating on Sunday. We always decorate on December 1st, but this year couldn't! Blake is going to love decorating the house. He points out Christmas trees and Santa everywhere we go!! I also plan to bake 7 dozen cookies this week for our the annual cookie walk at our Church. I have to deliver them to the church on Friday evening! Should be able to get it done by then!
Have a great week everyone :) Stay warm and safe on the roads!
xoxo The Cameron's
The rest of our vacation was much the same! We had a great time! The kids did well on the airplane and in Vegas. We had many people tell us how well behaved and cute they were! Actually, through out our trip we had people telling us this!! Makes you feel like a good parent ;) They were so adorable in their wedding duds, but unfortunately I didn't have time to take a picture of them :( I know the photographer has pictures though, so we'll just have to wait for Lindsay to get those!!
We had a lot of fun shopping and seeing the sites together. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing! Some of the highlights were watching the Bellagio fountains, seeing the light show on Freemont Street, visiting the lion habitat at MGM, and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I think the lions were Blake's favorite!! He sat on the railing around the enclosure and talked to the lions and roared like a lion. He had people around us laughing!! The night before we went to see the lions, we told him what we were doing the next day and he started getting excited! He said, "I see lions?" and we told him yes and he started asking about other animals!! "I see monkeys? I see tigers? I see elephants?" We told him we might see other animals, but we're not sure! As it turns out, the only live animals he saw were lions, but the Rainforest Cafe where we ate lunch had large, life-like tigers, elephants, monkeys, birds, etc, etc!! So he really enjoyed our lunch there! And he loved the cool aquariums! He had fun pretty much everywhere we went, no matter what we were doing! He brought Sam with us nearly everywhere and even convinced Grandma to by Sam some new clothes!! Like Grandma needed a lot of convincing ;) He wanted Sam to have a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses just like he had!! Emerson also enjoyed sight seeing! She always started out in the stroller and ended up in the Snuggli! She's a kid who loves to be held and after a few hours in the stroller, she was ready to get out! Cal wore the Snuggli and boy oh boy did she love it!!! She kicked and "danced" and was such a happy girl!! It was very cute! We were very fortunate to have my parents and Auntie Kathy babysit a little bit, so we could maintain the kids bed times and get out!! Thank you SO much Mom, Dad and Auntie Kathy! And I have to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband for spending some of the first 3 days and most of the first 3 nights by himself with the kiddos while I was doing wedding stuff/partying!!! You're THE best Cal :)
Blake did an amazing job walking down the aisle ... the best lil' ring bearer I've ever seen! He was so, so good and CUTE!!! Emerson walked in with Cal and according to those who saw her she had the biggest grin on her face!!!!! Good time to showcase her famous smile ;) And Lindsay and Jeremy looked like they walked out of a bridal magazine photo shoot! I could go on and on about the wedding ...
Blake enjoyed having his own room with 2 beds. He pointed this out regularly!! "I have two beds. One to sleep on and one to play on!" The rooms were very nice and really big. The bathrooms were almost as big as the kids rooms at home! So Emerson did sleep in one of the bathrooms and it worked out perfectly! She was not disturbed and we didn't have to tip toe around too much!! We put a monitor in Blake's room and Em slept in our bathroom. I'm SO glad we went with 2 rooms! SO worth it!
We snagged many wicked deals while shopping. I bought my very own Coach purse. It's so pretty!!! I almost didn't buy it, but Cal talked me into it!! Then I found a deal on Ugg boots!! YAY!!! Cal bought some Colts memorabilia and clothes and we bought a lot of clothes for the kids! I LOVE shopping in Vegas!!! I love Vegas actually! I've been to a few different Canadian and U.S. cities and Cal and I have both been on a "hot" vacation and I have to say Vegas is my favorite vacation spot! I'm not a huge beach person, although I think I'd like 1 every 5 or so years!, but I'd like to go to Vegas at least once a year!! Love everything about it - the shopping, the shows (didn't get to see one this time), the food, the cheap drinks, the lights, the hotels and casinos, the people, the crowds, the noise, etc, etc, etc! Can't wait to go back!!
We flew back on Thursday afternoon and went to pick up Heidi straight from the airport. Blake told Heidi and Jazz he missed them and Emerson was very excited to see them too!! I love that our kids love our pets! Heidi did well at the kennel and Jazz was well looked after by his pet sitter! There was a bit of snow on the ground when we arrived home, but nothing compared to what today has brought!! WOW!!! It has snowed pretty much all day. Which is fine in my books - it is December and I love snow for Christmas!! Cal has cleared the driveway and the sidewalks three times so far and you can't even tell. Poor guy - thank goodness we have a snow blower!
We're slowly doing all our laundry and getting things put away. Blake was happy to see all his toys again! The first thing he did was pull out all his trucks and trains and take a spin around the family room on his Winnie the Pooh car!!! We are going to our nephew Colby's 2nd birthday party tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun! Blake enjoys visiting Colby's house and playing with his toys!! Next week we have preschool, Time for Two's, we have to get the kid's 2nd H1N1 shots and Blake is going to my Mom's children's Christmas party, which she is organizing! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 21 days away. We've been focused on my sister's wedding and Las Vegas for so long! Now it's time to focus on Christmas :) We're almost done our Christmas shopping and have the letter's to Santa mailed! We hope to do our Christmas decorating on Sunday. We always decorate on December 1st, but this year couldn't! Blake is going to love decorating the house. He points out Christmas trees and Santa everywhere we go!! I also plan to bake 7 dozen cookies this week for our the annual cookie walk at our Church. I have to deliver them to the church on Friday evening! Should be able to get it done by then!
Have a great week everyone :) Stay warm and safe on the roads!
xoxo The Cameron's
Congratulations Lindsay and Jeremy!
Congratulations to my sister Lindsay and our new brother-in-law Jeremy!! They were wed on Monday, November 30 at Sunset Gardens, Las Vegas, Nevada! It was an absolutely beautiful day and a fabulous time!!
The wedding festivities began on Saturday night, with the Vegas stagette and stag parties. The girls met for dinner and then headed to the Thunder from Down Under! We all had a blast!! The Thunder from Down Under were very talented ... dancers!!! lol!! No, but seriously, they were very good dancers as well as gymnasts! Very entertaining ;) Afterwards we were went to a club for awhile and then headed back to our hotel. The "younger" ladies continued partying, while this "older" lady headed to bed!!
We had the wedding rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, where most of us got our first glimpse of Sunset Gardens. It is a gorgeous venue and the wedding planners were so organized and friendly! I think Lindsay relaxed a little after going through the rehearsal and all the details with the wedding planners!! Sunday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at P.F. Chang's. I highly recommend this restaurant! SO yummy!!! Cal, Blake and I attended the rehearsal dinner, while Emerson snoozed away in the hotel room with my Auntie Kathy watching over her :) After dinner we put Blake to bed and I went over to Lindsay's room to visit for awhile.
Monday was the big day!! We started out early in the morning with hair and make-up in Lindsay's hotel room (she got a separate hotel room the night before the wedding, so her and Jeremy weren't staying together!). We headed down to the lobby around noon, where Lindsay and Jeremy saw each other for the first time on their wedding day! It was very cute, how the photographer arranged their "first look!" The girls waited by the elevators while the boys and Lindsay and Jeremy's family waited in the lobby. The photographer had Jeremy face the other way and Lindsay walked up to him and then he turned at the last minute! Many of us had tears in our eyes ... it was very sweet to see them see each other for the first time on their wedding day. The wedding party then proceeded to climb into our H2 limo with the photographer for pictures on the Strip! It was lots of fun and boy was that limo sweet!!! We arrived at Sunset Gardens at 3 pm. We did family pictures and the cocktail hour began at 3:30. The appetizers were yummy, the jazz band was great and the atmosphere was very festive! Lindsay hung out in the bride's room with the bridesmaids (although at one point in time we all checked out the cocktail hour!)! After the cocktail hour, the guests made their way to the garden for the ceremony, which began at 4:30. More tears were shed and the ceremony was beautiful! We did some more pictures after the ceremony and then the dinner, speeches and dance began!! I was glad I gave my speech before dinner! I think it went pretty well too!! It was a perfect day, with a perfect couple :) We're so happy for Lindsay and Jeremy and so glad their day was wonderful!
The wedding festivities began on Saturday night, with the Vegas stagette and stag parties. The girls met for dinner and then headed to the Thunder from Down Under! We all had a blast!! The Thunder from Down Under were very talented ... dancers!!! lol!! No, but seriously, they were very good dancers as well as gymnasts! Very entertaining ;) Afterwards we were went to a club for awhile and then headed back to our hotel. The "younger" ladies continued partying, while this "older" lady headed to bed!!
We had the wedding rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, where most of us got our first glimpse of Sunset Gardens. It is a gorgeous venue and the wedding planners were so organized and friendly! I think Lindsay relaxed a little after going through the rehearsal and all the details with the wedding planners!! Sunday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at P.F. Chang's. I highly recommend this restaurant! SO yummy!!! Cal, Blake and I attended the rehearsal dinner, while Emerson snoozed away in the hotel room with my Auntie Kathy watching over her :) After dinner we put Blake to bed and I went over to Lindsay's room to visit for awhile.
Monday was the big day!! We started out early in the morning with hair and make-up in Lindsay's hotel room (she got a separate hotel room the night before the wedding, so her and Jeremy weren't staying together!). We headed down to the lobby around noon, where Lindsay and Jeremy saw each other for the first time on their wedding day! It was very cute, how the photographer arranged their "first look!" The girls waited by the elevators while the boys and Lindsay and Jeremy's family waited in the lobby. The photographer had Jeremy face the other way and Lindsay walked up to him and then he turned at the last minute! Many of us had tears in our eyes ... it was very sweet to see them see each other for the first time on their wedding day. The wedding party then proceeded to climb into our H2 limo with the photographer for pictures on the Strip! It was lots of fun and boy was that limo sweet!!! We arrived at Sunset Gardens at 3 pm. We did family pictures and the cocktail hour began at 3:30. The appetizers were yummy, the jazz band was great and the atmosphere was very festive! Lindsay hung out in the bride's room with the bridesmaids (although at one point in time we all checked out the cocktail hour!)! After the cocktail hour, the guests made their way to the garden for the ceremony, which began at 4:30. More tears were shed and the ceremony was beautiful! We did some more pictures after the ceremony and then the dinner, speeches and dance began!! I was glad I gave my speech before dinner! I think it went pretty well too!! It was a perfect day, with a perfect couple :) We're so happy for Lindsay and Jeremy and so glad their day was wonderful!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Viva Las Vegas!!
This week has gone by very fast! Emerson is finally feeling better!!! Phew! I could not have imagined taking her to Las Vegas in the state she was in for the past few weeks. She is still dealing with constipation issues, but that just involves tweaking her lactulose doses.
So we are all ready and packed! A few last minute items to throw in the suitcase, but that shouldn't take long! We have to be at the airport at 7 am at the latest, so we hope to leave here around 5:30 am. It's about a 40 minute drive and then we have to park and get to our terminal. I already checked in via the West Jet website and have our boarding passes printed off, so hopefully that will speed things up! We have 3 suitcases and 2 carry on bags. Quite a load, but with 2 kids there is a lot of stuff to bring! Oh, and we have to check Emerson's car seat. My parents took the boys suits, a playpen, a car seat for Blake and a base for Emerson's car seat, so I couldn't imagine having to bring any of that!!
I've talked to and texted my Mom quite a bit and there are quite a few people who have already arrived in Vegas! Sounds like they're having a great time!! Lindsay and Jeremy got their marriage license on Thursday night when they arrived in Vegas and Lindsay had her hair and make-up trial today, which went really good.
We're very excited for the wedding and also to go on a family vacation!! I can't believe my little sister is getting married ... I hope I don't tear up too much during my toast! As I was finishing it tonight I started to tear up, but maybe I'll be so nervous the day of I won't shed a tear!? I am a bit nervous about the flight and the kids ears and their sleeping, but hopefully we'll all survive on a little less sleep and it will all get back to normal once we're home! I know Blake will do fine, he's such a good kid and old enough to understand, but Em's a different story!!! My Mom said the rooms were very nice and the bathrooms are huge, so although this may sound strange, we might put Emerson's playpen in the bathroom of Blake's room and then Cal and I will have our room to ourselves! And we'll just use our bathroom as a bathroom! We're bringing baby monitors, so we'll be able to hear if one of them needs us and the rooms are joined by a door ... we'll see, I'm not going to stress about it ;) It's going to be a blast!!!!
Tonight when I was putting Blake to bed he was pacing his room and running through all the events!! He's so much like Cal ... Pacing with this serious look on his face! He was asking me about Heidi and the truck we're taking to the airport and telling me that he wants to take Dad's truck! I told him we were taking Dad's truck to the airport, getting on an airplane and going to Las Vegas where Grandpa was going to pick us up in Grandpa's truck. But he said he wanted to take Dad's truck! Didn't quite understand that Dad's truck will be far away in Edmonton! Then he was concerned about Heidi going to the kennel so we had to talk about that for awhile. All day he's been hugging Heidi and telling her he's going to miss her :) What a sweetie!!
I better get going here, I have to blow dry and straighten my hair and then catch a few hours sleep before my alarm goes off at 5!! Have a great 5 days everyone and who knows ... if I have time I may blog :) But I'll definitely be on Facebook once or twice!! Talk to you soon ;)
Tracy
So we are all ready and packed! A few last minute items to throw in the suitcase, but that shouldn't take long! We have to be at the airport at 7 am at the latest, so we hope to leave here around 5:30 am. It's about a 40 minute drive and then we have to park and get to our terminal. I already checked in via the West Jet website and have our boarding passes printed off, so hopefully that will speed things up! We have 3 suitcases and 2 carry on bags. Quite a load, but with 2 kids there is a lot of stuff to bring! Oh, and we have to check Emerson's car seat. My parents took the boys suits, a playpen, a car seat for Blake and a base for Emerson's car seat, so I couldn't imagine having to bring any of that!!
I've talked to and texted my Mom quite a bit and there are quite a few people who have already arrived in Vegas! Sounds like they're having a great time!! Lindsay and Jeremy got their marriage license on Thursday night when they arrived in Vegas and Lindsay had her hair and make-up trial today, which went really good.
We're very excited for the wedding and also to go on a family vacation!! I can't believe my little sister is getting married ... I hope I don't tear up too much during my toast! As I was finishing it tonight I started to tear up, but maybe I'll be so nervous the day of I won't shed a tear!? I am a bit nervous about the flight and the kids ears and their sleeping, but hopefully we'll all survive on a little less sleep and it will all get back to normal once we're home! I know Blake will do fine, he's such a good kid and old enough to understand, but Em's a different story!!! My Mom said the rooms were very nice and the bathrooms are huge, so although this may sound strange, we might put Emerson's playpen in the bathroom of Blake's room and then Cal and I will have our room to ourselves! And we'll just use our bathroom as a bathroom! We're bringing baby monitors, so we'll be able to hear if one of them needs us and the rooms are joined by a door ... we'll see, I'm not going to stress about it ;) It's going to be a blast!!!!
Tonight when I was putting Blake to bed he was pacing his room and running through all the events!! He's so much like Cal ... Pacing with this serious look on his face! He was asking me about Heidi and the truck we're taking to the airport and telling me that he wants to take Dad's truck! I told him we were taking Dad's truck to the airport, getting on an airplane and going to Las Vegas where Grandpa was going to pick us up in Grandpa's truck. But he said he wanted to take Dad's truck! Didn't quite understand that Dad's truck will be far away in Edmonton! Then he was concerned about Heidi going to the kennel so we had to talk about that for awhile. All day he's been hugging Heidi and telling her he's going to miss her :) What a sweetie!!
I better get going here, I have to blow dry and straighten my hair and then catch a few hours sleep before my alarm goes off at 5!! Have a great 5 days everyone and who knows ... if I have time I may blog :) But I'll definitely be on Facebook once or twice!! Talk to you soon ;)
Tracy
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Poor Em :(
I almost didn't take Blake to preschool on Wednesday, but at the last minute changed my mind. I was still feeling very queasy, he was better, just didn't have an appetite, and Emerson was still sick, but I figured I could tough it out and use lots of hand sanitizer and Emerson would be okay for a few hours. I hate to miss a class. Blake has so much fun and it's so good for him! So we went and Blake had a great time. I think his favorite parts are craft time and the music! This month the theme is "Going Places", so last class they made a sailboat and this week they made a rocket ship! Blake loves gluing things together and coloring and painting, etc, etc so he has lots of fun doing his craft. He knows all the songs off by heart and belts them out at the top of his lungs at home, but is still coming out of his shell at preschool! I can see it in him - he wants to belt it out in class, but holds back!! He sings a bit and dances a bit, but nothing compared to at home!
On Thursday I babysat our nephew Colby for a few hours. The boys had lots of fun playing together and watching Thomas! And I was very impressed by how well they shared! Blake often talks about Colby and loves to pretend to call Colby on his toy cell phone! It's very cute!!
I took Blake to his swimming lesson on Friday evening. My parents met us there to watch and then take Blake home with them for a sleepover. I think Blake was so excited about his sleepover, that he forgot he was supposed to be swimming!! He didn't really want to do much at his lesson!
My Mom took Blake to Breakfast with Santa and the Festival of Trees at the TLC in Spruce Grove on Saturday morning. He had lots of fun seeing Santa and doing various crafts! He told me on Saturday evening that Santa's wife was reading books to all the kids!! He had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's and didn't want to come home! It was sure quiet in the house on Saturday. I swear Blake talks every minute he's awake!! I love it, but did enjoy some quiet time with Cal and Em! I'm glad she gets that 1 on 1 time sometimes!! Poor 2nd child doesn't get near as much as the lucky 1st child!
Cal and Blake had fun playing in the snow and shoveling the walks today. Blake enjoyed a warm mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows when they came in! My parents came over for supper this evening. We watched the Riders game and were happy with the win!! Now to find a bar in Vegas that is playing the Grey Cup!! Although I'm not sure we'll have time to watch the game, because we have rehearsal and rehearsal dinner that afternoon/evening! I'm sure we'll catch a few minutes somewhere though! My parents leave for Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon. I can't believe how close the wedding is!!! I'm sure my sister is feeling the same way ;)
We were planning on going to Grande Prairie this weekend for Kerri and Kailey's 3rd birthday party, but unfortunately we had to cancel our plans. We knew it wouldn't have been good to travel with Emerson not feeling well. And with our trip to Vegas a week away, we didn't want to chance her getting more ill. I heard everyone had a good time though and the girls had fun at their party!
Cal, Blake, and I are all finally feeling great! It took me a few days to get over my queasy stomach, but by Sunday I could eat again. Blake's appetite came back, full force on Saturday. He's been eating and eating and eating and eating some more!!! Playing catch up I guess?! Poor Emerson, is still not feeling well :( She had a good afternoon on Friday and a not too bad of an evening on Friday. But on Saturday she started losing her voice and sounding very hoarse. Poor girl, she's been sick for weeks now. I took her into a medi-centre this morning because she sounded so horrible. The Dr. said her throat is swollen and he took a swab, but figures that it isn't likely an infection because she hasn't had a fever at all. So it's our good friend "virus"! I wish "virus" would leave us the heck alone ... It was funny though, because the Dr. did say he could give us a couple of days of amoxicillin (spelling?) if I wanted. To which I replied that I thought antibiotics didn't treat a virus?! Then he said no, it probably wouldn't help and left it at that!! I think a lot of Dr.'s are used to being pressured into prescribing something, regardless if it will help or not!! I've just been around too many pharmacists at work who have hammered home the virus vs. bacteria lecture!!! So we're giving her Tylenol and Advil and hoping it clears up asap. He said to bring her back in if it hasn't cleared up in 2-3 days. One bonus of Emerson not feeling well is all the cuddles we've been getting :) I love how she snuggles right into my shoulder! She fits so nicely there :)
This week will be busy with a Th.A.A.A. meeting Tuesday night, preschool Wednesday, Time for Two's on Thursday, and packing for VEGAS!!! We've borrowed 2 suitcases from Gerry and Lesley, but I'm hoping to get away with using 1. We'll see ... I tend to over pack, so hopefully sticking to my list will help!
Have a great week everyone. Enjoy the snow :) I'm not a fan of the slippery walks and roads, but do welcome a little snow. Helps get me in the "holiday spirit!!" Oh and speaking of which, I got our Christmas photo cards made this weekend ... they're very cute! Watch for them in your mailbox, come early December!!
xoxo Tracy
On Thursday I babysat our nephew Colby for a few hours. The boys had lots of fun playing together and watching Thomas! And I was very impressed by how well they shared! Blake often talks about Colby and loves to pretend to call Colby on his toy cell phone! It's very cute!!
I took Blake to his swimming lesson on Friday evening. My parents met us there to watch and then take Blake home with them for a sleepover. I think Blake was so excited about his sleepover, that he forgot he was supposed to be swimming!! He didn't really want to do much at his lesson!
My Mom took Blake to Breakfast with Santa and the Festival of Trees at the TLC in Spruce Grove on Saturday morning. He had lots of fun seeing Santa and doing various crafts! He told me on Saturday evening that Santa's wife was reading books to all the kids!! He had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's and didn't want to come home! It was sure quiet in the house on Saturday. I swear Blake talks every minute he's awake!! I love it, but did enjoy some quiet time with Cal and Em! I'm glad she gets that 1 on 1 time sometimes!! Poor 2nd child doesn't get near as much as the lucky 1st child!
Cal and Blake had fun playing in the snow and shoveling the walks today. Blake enjoyed a warm mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows when they came in! My parents came over for supper this evening. We watched the Riders game and were happy with the win!! Now to find a bar in Vegas that is playing the Grey Cup!! Although I'm not sure we'll have time to watch the game, because we have rehearsal and rehearsal dinner that afternoon/evening! I'm sure we'll catch a few minutes somewhere though! My parents leave for Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon. I can't believe how close the wedding is!!! I'm sure my sister is feeling the same way ;)
We were planning on going to Grande Prairie this weekend for Kerri and Kailey's 3rd birthday party, but unfortunately we had to cancel our plans. We knew it wouldn't have been good to travel with Emerson not feeling well. And with our trip to Vegas a week away, we didn't want to chance her getting more ill. I heard everyone had a good time though and the girls had fun at their party!
Cal, Blake, and I are all finally feeling great! It took me a few days to get over my queasy stomach, but by Sunday I could eat again. Blake's appetite came back, full force on Saturday. He's been eating and eating and eating and eating some more!!! Playing catch up I guess?! Poor Emerson, is still not feeling well :( She had a good afternoon on Friday and a not too bad of an evening on Friday. But on Saturday she started losing her voice and sounding very hoarse. Poor girl, she's been sick for weeks now. I took her into a medi-centre this morning because she sounded so horrible. The Dr. said her throat is swollen and he took a swab, but figures that it isn't likely an infection because she hasn't had a fever at all. So it's our good friend "virus"! I wish "virus" would leave us the heck alone ... It was funny though, because the Dr. did say he could give us a couple of days of amoxicillin (spelling?) if I wanted. To which I replied that I thought antibiotics didn't treat a virus?! Then he said no, it probably wouldn't help and left it at that!! I think a lot of Dr.'s are used to being pressured into prescribing something, regardless if it will help or not!! I've just been around too many pharmacists at work who have hammered home the virus vs. bacteria lecture!!! So we're giving her Tylenol and Advil and hoping it clears up asap. He said to bring her back in if it hasn't cleared up in 2-3 days. One bonus of Emerson not feeling well is all the cuddles we've been getting :) I love how she snuggles right into my shoulder! She fits so nicely there :)
This week will be busy with a Th.A.A.A. meeting Tuesday night, preschool Wednesday, Time for Two's on Thursday, and packing for VEGAS!!! We've borrowed 2 suitcases from Gerry and Lesley, but I'm hoping to get away with using 1. We'll see ... I tend to over pack, so hopefully sticking to my list will help!
Have a great week everyone. Enjoy the snow :) I'm not a fan of the slippery walks and roads, but do welcome a little snow. Helps get me in the "holiday spirit!!" Oh and speaking of which, I got our Christmas photo cards made this weekend ... they're very cute! Watch for them in your mailbox, come early December!!
xoxo Tracy
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Happy 9 Month Birthday Em!!
Emerson turned 9 months old yesterday! I had hoped time would not pass as quickly as when Blake was a baby, but instead it has gone by faster!! Of course, the busier you are the faster time passes. When Emerson turned 6 months old I could not believe six months had passed and now just like the snap of my fingers 3 more months have passed!! We've had a great 9 months, learning and growing and enjoying our new addition! I can't imagine why I thought I was busy with just 1 child?! Emerson had her 9 month pediatrician appointment today. As I've said in the past few posts, Emerson has not been feeling well and Blake was also sick to his stomach Friday night and has had zero appetite since then, so I was glad we had an appointment today. Dr. Radisic checked both kids and said they likely have a virus and it should run its course and they'll be fine. Thankfully Blake was only sick to his stomach for approx. 8 hours and since has just not been eating well. Emerson's been sick to her stomach off and on for 2 days, has diarrhea and seems to have no appetite. She actually lost weight since her last appointment at 7 months. But Dr. Radisic was not concerned with her weight. He said that when a baby has not been feeling well or eating well they can drop in weight quite quickly, so when she's feeling better and eating better we can bring her back for a weigh in just to make sure she's gaining again. She is certainly a pickier eater than Blake. She seems to have her favorites and doesn't accept new foods very quickly! I tried plain yogurt with her last week, but she didn't like it! Guess I'll try the flavored yogurt next! She really enjoys finger foods and loves cheerios and puffed wheat cereal. She still only has her 2 bottom teeth and I don't feel any others that are really close to the surface. Hopefully she'll start eating better again soon and gain some more weight. At 16 lbs 4 oz she is not quite in the 10th percentile. Her length was 26.8", which is in the 25th percentile. She's meeting and exceeding many developmental milestones and is a strong little girl! She's very, very chatty and we love hearing her "talk"!! She enjoys picking up and playing with lots of different toys and loves when we read to her! I'm looking forward to getting a few more of her own toys at Christmas!! And maybe a few books that aren't about trucks or trains?! I asked Dr. Radisic about crawling and he said there are no concerns at all with her not crawling yet. Looking back on my blog posts, I see that Blake crawled right around 10 months. I really hope she starts feeling better soon. She's very tired and seems like she doesn't have any energy. Hard to believe that in THREE months she will be ONE!! Wow!!
Talk to you again soon,
Tracy
Talk to you again soon,
Tracy
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me!!
Today is the 1st anniversary of my 29th year ;) 29 and holding from here on out ... ! We had a good day today! Did a little shopping this afternoon with my Reitmans gift card (from Cal and the kids) and bought a new top for our family pictures tomorrow. Mom, Dad and Lindsay came over this afternoon and made a delicious supper, which was followed by some yummy cake! Oh and I cracked a bottle of wine for dinner! Which I needed ... lol!! I got two other gift cards from Mom & Dad (Lululemon) and Linds and Jer (Riki's), so I can't wait to do some more shopping!! I really need some new clothes, so I'm excited :) Thanks everyone!!
Blake was sick to his stomach throughout the night on Friday night. Poor guy :( He's such a trooper though. We ran out of sheets and his special blankies (he has 3), so he ended up sleeping on a towel on his mattress and using a choo-choo blankie (which he gave to Cal a long time ago and thinks of as Dad's blankie!!)! He was very sleepy today and slept in quite late, took a long nap and still went to bed by 7:30. He wasn't sick to his stomach today, so hopefully he's back to normal!
Emerson is still having a tough time occasionally and cranky off and on through out the day and night. Some days are worse then others, but it's been like this for around a week and a half now. It seems like she is pain at times, but we have no idea what's going on, just guesses!! It is so hard to not know what is wrong or what to do. Thankfully we have a pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. Her cheeks are still very rosey and her bowel movements are not what I think are normal. But then again, I don't really know what is normal at this point. She is still very happy at times too, thank goodness!! Not upset all the time.
Emerson and Blake seem to be interacting more and more each day - it is so adorable :) Yesterday Emerson was sitting on the couch and Blake was standing in front of her talking to her. He kept saying to her, "So beautiful Em, so beautiful!" She was smiling and laughing and throwing her head back!! And he was laughing and having fun! I love how they "talk" and play! He's such a great big brother!! The other night he even helped her eat her supper! I love how gentle and paternal he is at times. He's such a loving little guy though - even with Heidi and his stuffed animals. He often hugs Heidi and says, "I love you Heidi." And does the same thing with his stuffed animals! This week his favorite was Grover!! He told me many times this week, "I love Grover Mom!" He enjoys being part of Emerson's bed time routine too. He always turns her humidifier on, gives her a hug and kiss, then tells Cal it's is turn! He then says goodnight and closes her bedroom door as he and Cal leave her room!! He calls her blueberry or Miss Muffin and he'll tell Cal to say, "Good night blueberry or Goodnight Miss Muffin or sometimes Goodnight blueberry Miss Muffin!!!!" It sounds like he's saying Muffin, but it could be Muffet?! One evening after supper I was talking to my Mom on the phone and when I hung up he asked if Grandma was coming over. I told him she wasn't coming over and he looked at me and said, "But I want to give Bamma a hug." I melted!!! We called Grandma back to say goodnight and tell her he wanted to hug her, I'm sure she melted too!! He has memorized many of his favorite books now. It's hilarious to hear him recite an entire book! But hard to follow at times, because he gets so excited and talks SO fast!!
Emerson woke up from her nap this afternoon, on her stomach with her foot stuck in her crib railing! I was pretty surprised when Cal told me how he found her!! On her stomach is not her favorite position, so I'm not sure why she rolled to her stomach?! But maybe she's starting to try to move? I think she'll start moving soon. She gets her bum up in the air a little bit now when she is on her stomach and rotates too!
We're looking forward to family pictures tomorrow morning and attending a birthday party in the afternoon. We're trying out a new photographer in Sherwood Park. She's just began her photography business, so hopefully we'll at least get one good family picture! I sure miss Rose, our former photographer who moved to B.C. :(
We've had above average weather lately. We went to the "special park" on Monday when Cal was off. Blake loves playing on the fire truck there! We'll probably take him there again this Monday, as Cal is off again. The kids and I started a new program at the library on Thursday morning. Blake and Em both had fun!! Emerson loves music, just like her brother!
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! Have a great week ahead ;)
Luv Tracy
Blake was sick to his stomach throughout the night on Friday night. Poor guy :( He's such a trooper though. We ran out of sheets and his special blankies (he has 3), so he ended up sleeping on a towel on his mattress and using a choo-choo blankie (which he gave to Cal a long time ago and thinks of as Dad's blankie!!)! He was very sleepy today and slept in quite late, took a long nap and still went to bed by 7:30. He wasn't sick to his stomach today, so hopefully he's back to normal!
Emerson is still having a tough time occasionally and cranky off and on through out the day and night. Some days are worse then others, but it's been like this for around a week and a half now. It seems like she is pain at times, but we have no idea what's going on, just guesses!! It is so hard to not know what is wrong or what to do. Thankfully we have a pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. Her cheeks are still very rosey and her bowel movements are not what I think are normal. But then again, I don't really know what is normal at this point. She is still very happy at times too, thank goodness!! Not upset all the time.
Emerson and Blake seem to be interacting more and more each day - it is so adorable :) Yesterday Emerson was sitting on the couch and Blake was standing in front of her talking to her. He kept saying to her, "So beautiful Em, so beautiful!" She was smiling and laughing and throwing her head back!! And he was laughing and having fun! I love how they "talk" and play! He's such a great big brother!! The other night he even helped her eat her supper! I love how gentle and paternal he is at times. He's such a loving little guy though - even with Heidi and his stuffed animals. He often hugs Heidi and says, "I love you Heidi." And does the same thing with his stuffed animals! This week his favorite was Grover!! He told me many times this week, "I love Grover Mom!" He enjoys being part of Emerson's bed time routine too. He always turns her humidifier on, gives her a hug and kiss, then tells Cal it's is turn! He then says goodnight and closes her bedroom door as he and Cal leave her room!! He calls her blueberry or Miss Muffin and he'll tell Cal to say, "Good night blueberry or Goodnight Miss Muffin or sometimes Goodnight blueberry Miss Muffin!!!!" It sounds like he's saying Muffin, but it could be Muffet?! One evening after supper I was talking to my Mom on the phone and when I hung up he asked if Grandma was coming over. I told him she wasn't coming over and he looked at me and said, "But I want to give Bamma a hug." I melted!!! We called Grandma back to say goodnight and tell her he wanted to hug her, I'm sure she melted too!! He has memorized many of his favorite books now. It's hilarious to hear him recite an entire book! But hard to follow at times, because he gets so excited and talks SO fast!!
Emerson woke up from her nap this afternoon, on her stomach with her foot stuck in her crib railing! I was pretty surprised when Cal told me how he found her!! On her stomach is not her favorite position, so I'm not sure why she rolled to her stomach?! But maybe she's starting to try to move? I think she'll start moving soon. She gets her bum up in the air a little bit now when she is on her stomach and rotates too!
We're looking forward to family pictures tomorrow morning and attending a birthday party in the afternoon. We're trying out a new photographer in Sherwood Park. She's just began her photography business, so hopefully we'll at least get one good family picture! I sure miss Rose, our former photographer who moved to B.C. :(
We've had above average weather lately. We went to the "special park" on Monday when Cal was off. Blake loves playing on the fire truck there! We'll probably take him there again this Monday, as Cal is off again. The kids and I started a new program at the library on Thursday morning. Blake and Em both had fun!! Emerson loves music, just like her brother!
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! Have a great week ahead ;)
Luv Tracy
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Blah!
The title pretty much describes how I'm feeling today!! It has been an interesting weekend. Not much interesting happened, but it's been a bit off ... I guess you could say?!
Thursday afternoon we took the kids for their H1N1 immunizations. Thursday morning there was a 4-5 hour wait, Thursday afternoon there was NO wait!!! Crazy, but true! lol!! I was amazed at how well they did with the needle! Blake didn't even cry, flinch, or anything. He just sat on my knee and watched the needle go in and then went and sat on a chair and ate a fruit snack while Emerson got her needle!! Emerson cried for about 1 second when they took the needle out! It was a relief to finally have them done. We've been talking about it for what seems like forever! Now Cal and I will hopefully be able to get it within the next week or two.
Blake and Cal had swimming Friday night, which went really well again. Blake gets more and more brave every time! Before we know it he'll be doing the front crawl ;) I thought swimming lessons would tire him out and he'd fall asleep really fast, but I think it gets him a bit hyper instead! It takes him longer to fall asleep on swimming lesson days ;) So much to re-cap in his mind I guess?!
Saturday Cal went hunting with my Dad and Dion and the kids and I hung out with my Mom. Mom took Blake for a hair cut in the a.m. and I went for a hair cut when the kids were napping in the afternoon! Blake had fun at the hair salon. He was very happy that he got to sit on the motorcycle!! When the kids got up from their naps, we went to Kingsway Mall. The plan was for me to take my bridesmaid dress to the tailors there. Yes, that was the plan ... someone else had other plans ... I tired the dress on and the seamstress made some suggestions and basically said they couldn't do the required alterations. Which made me a bit nervous, as I didn't have a back up plan and the wedding is less than a month away!! To boot, as I was changing out of my bridesmaids dress some, excuse me, LOSER opened the door and "exposed" me. So, yeah, that was not cool, nor fun ... After that we drove to a second tailors, who was recommended by Pure Bridal where we bought our dresses. I try on the dress for her and she told me I should buy proper underwear, a.k.a. a good fitting bra, before having the dress altered. Which I kinda knew I'd have to do, but I was really hoping to get away with no bra. So anyways, she suggests that with my "size" I would have to go to a lingerie store, and we're not talking La Senza, and recommends her friends "shop" on the south side. So back into the truck we go and rush to the south side before they close at 5. Thankfully, I found exactly what I needed, mind you it cost an arm and a leg, but I'm very happy with what I bought and it definitely makes a difference in the dress!! So now I just need to get back to the tailors to have the dress altered! She assured me she'd be able to have it done in time!! Phew :) Emerson was NOT happy on the way home ... and that's an understatement. Thankfully, Blake was an angel :) She usually eats between 4:30 and 5:00, so apparently she was starving. You'd think she hadn't ate in 10 days. Geez! Cal got home from hunting around 7:30. They didn't get their moose ... maybe next time!
I picked Emerson's dress up this morning and did some shopping at Londonderry Mall. The dress is SO adorable!! Lindsay ordered a flower headband for her, which will look very cute too!! And she also ordered a tie for Blake. These kids are going to be the most adorable kids on the planet that day ;) After their naps this afternoon we went to Kingsway Mall to walk around for a bit and bring supper home!
Emerson has been totally off the last few days. We're not sure why? Could be any number of things - she hasn't had lactulose for about a week, she is going a small amount every day, but maybe not enough? She seems to be a very hard teether, her cheeks are always bright red and she is drooling like crazy! Could be reacting to the H1N1 shot?? Although, I don't think that is it. And she has had a cold for the past week, but it is a lot better then a few days ago. Not sure what's bugging her, but she can sure be miserable!!! And when she is unhappy, if I'm in the room all she wants is me to hold her. She wines until I pick her up! If she can't see or hear me she's fine. At least I know she loves me :)
Blake has the same cold as Emerson, but it's a lot easier to deal with a 2 yr old with a cold! He can blow his nose, which makes it SO much easier!! And the cold hasn't held him down much at all!
We hope everyone is doing well, and hopefully feeling good! 'Tis the season for all these nasty flu's, viruses, etc. Take care, and have a great week.
Luv Tracy
Thursday afternoon we took the kids for their H1N1 immunizations. Thursday morning there was a 4-5 hour wait, Thursday afternoon there was NO wait!!! Crazy, but true! lol!! I was amazed at how well they did with the needle! Blake didn't even cry, flinch, or anything. He just sat on my knee and watched the needle go in and then went and sat on a chair and ate a fruit snack while Emerson got her needle!! Emerson cried for about 1 second when they took the needle out! It was a relief to finally have them done. We've been talking about it for what seems like forever! Now Cal and I will hopefully be able to get it within the next week or two.
Blake and Cal had swimming Friday night, which went really well again. Blake gets more and more brave every time! Before we know it he'll be doing the front crawl ;) I thought swimming lessons would tire him out and he'd fall asleep really fast, but I think it gets him a bit hyper instead! It takes him longer to fall asleep on swimming lesson days ;) So much to re-cap in his mind I guess?!
Saturday Cal went hunting with my Dad and Dion and the kids and I hung out with my Mom. Mom took Blake for a hair cut in the a.m. and I went for a hair cut when the kids were napping in the afternoon! Blake had fun at the hair salon. He was very happy that he got to sit on the motorcycle!! When the kids got up from their naps, we went to Kingsway Mall. The plan was for me to take my bridesmaid dress to the tailors there. Yes, that was the plan ... someone else had other plans ... I tired the dress on and the seamstress made some suggestions and basically said they couldn't do the required alterations. Which made me a bit nervous, as I didn't have a back up plan and the wedding is less than a month away!! To boot, as I was changing out of my bridesmaids dress some, excuse me, LOSER opened the door and "exposed" me. So, yeah, that was not cool, nor fun ... After that we drove to a second tailors, who was recommended by Pure Bridal where we bought our dresses. I try on the dress for her and she told me I should buy proper underwear, a.k.a. a good fitting bra, before having the dress altered. Which I kinda knew I'd have to do, but I was really hoping to get away with no bra. So anyways, she suggests that with my "size" I would have to go to a lingerie store, and we're not talking La Senza, and recommends her friends "shop" on the south side. So back into the truck we go and rush to the south side before they close at 5. Thankfully, I found exactly what I needed, mind you it cost an arm and a leg, but I'm very happy with what I bought and it definitely makes a difference in the dress!! So now I just need to get back to the tailors to have the dress altered! She assured me she'd be able to have it done in time!! Phew :) Emerson was NOT happy on the way home ... and that's an understatement. Thankfully, Blake was an angel :) She usually eats between 4:30 and 5:00, so apparently she was starving. You'd think she hadn't ate in 10 days. Geez! Cal got home from hunting around 7:30. They didn't get their moose ... maybe next time!
I picked Emerson's dress up this morning and did some shopping at Londonderry Mall. The dress is SO adorable!! Lindsay ordered a flower headband for her, which will look very cute too!! And she also ordered a tie for Blake. These kids are going to be the most adorable kids on the planet that day ;) After their naps this afternoon we went to Kingsway Mall to walk around for a bit and bring supper home!
Emerson has been totally off the last few days. We're not sure why? Could be any number of things - she hasn't had lactulose for about a week, she is going a small amount every day, but maybe not enough? She seems to be a very hard teether, her cheeks are always bright red and she is drooling like crazy! Could be reacting to the H1N1 shot?? Although, I don't think that is it. And she has had a cold for the past week, but it is a lot better then a few days ago. Not sure what's bugging her, but she can sure be miserable!!! And when she is unhappy, if I'm in the room all she wants is me to hold her. She wines until I pick her up! If she can't see or hear me she's fine. At least I know she loves me :)
Blake has the same cold as Emerson, but it's a lot easier to deal with a 2 yr old with a cold! He can blow his nose, which makes it SO much easier!! And the cold hasn't held him down much at all!
We hope everyone is doing well, and hopefully feeling good! 'Tis the season for all these nasty flu's, viruses, etc. Take care, and have a great week.
Luv Tracy
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Our Deep Thinker :)
Blake is 2 1/2 years old today!! Hard to believe! He is such an amazing little boy. Keeps us (and his sister at times!) very busy, but he is a very good kid and such a joy :) He is constantly thinking and pondering things. It's pretty amazing at times what he asks/tells us! For example, we were eating lunch yesterday after preschool and he said, "Tristan not at preschool?" So I told him that no, Tristan was not at preschool because he is not feeling well. And Blake said, "Tristan feel better next time?" So I said, yes hopefully Tristan will feel better soon! And Blake said, "Tristan be at preschool next week!"
At supper tonight he asked me if Owen made another pumpkin. I was a bit confused and had to think about it for a moment, before I realized what he was talking about. Last week at preschool the kids made pumpkins out of construction paper for their craft. We took our pumpkins home with us, but Owen forgot his pumpkin! So yesterday at preschool Cindy asked the teacher if she still had it. The teacher went to look for it and came back with the pumpkin! Apparently Blake saw this all and at supper time was thinking about it and wondering why Owen made another pumpkin!! So I just explained that Owen had forgot his pumpkin at preschool last week and Blake said, "Oh." And he continued on eating supper!!
At bath time we often play with foam letters and numbers. Lately Blake has been interested in the numbers. He shows me a number and I try to correlate it to something, such as the two - I tell him that is a two and Blake is two. And he often says, "Who else?" So I tell him Colby is turning two soon. Etc, etc, it goes on with all the numbers and people in our lives!! Last night he was holding up numbers and telling me, "Em turn 1 soon and Jenna turn 1 soon," etc, etc and then he said, "Thomas is 1," and then he'd hold up a different number and say, "Henry is 3," etc, etc, with all the Thomas trains!!! It was so cute! He was so excited to have made the connection between his favorite choo-choo's, people in his life and his numbers!!!
These are just a few examples of how he thinks!!! He does seem like a very serious boy to us! But I think it is partly due to the fact that he is always thinking, contemplating, pondering, etc!! I was telling my Mom last night that sometimes I just wish he'd let loose!!! Like yesterday at preschool they were playing a parachute game and some of the other kids were jumping up and down and screaming and looking like they were having a hoot, while Blake was holding onto the parachute with a very serious look on his face, shaking it up and down - just like he was told to do! I told my Mom that sometimes I think he's too serious for a 2 1/2 yr old!!! But, he does have his fun, crazy times too! They're just usually at home!! And usually they involve dancing to "his music!"
We're hoping to get Blake and Emerson their H1N1 vaccinations this afternoon after their naps. I hope the line ups will be a bit more reasonable then last week. Have a great day everyone :)
Luv Tracy
At supper tonight he asked me if Owen made another pumpkin. I was a bit confused and had to think about it for a moment, before I realized what he was talking about. Last week at preschool the kids made pumpkins out of construction paper for their craft. We took our pumpkins home with us, but Owen forgot his pumpkin! So yesterday at preschool Cindy asked the teacher if she still had it. The teacher went to look for it and came back with the pumpkin! Apparently Blake saw this all and at supper time was thinking about it and wondering why Owen made another pumpkin!! So I just explained that Owen had forgot his pumpkin at preschool last week and Blake said, "Oh." And he continued on eating supper!!
At bath time we often play with foam letters and numbers. Lately Blake has been interested in the numbers. He shows me a number and I try to correlate it to something, such as the two - I tell him that is a two and Blake is two. And he often says, "Who else?" So I tell him Colby is turning two soon. Etc, etc, it goes on with all the numbers and people in our lives!! Last night he was holding up numbers and telling me, "Em turn 1 soon and Jenna turn 1 soon," etc, etc and then he said, "Thomas is 1," and then he'd hold up a different number and say, "Henry is 3," etc, etc, with all the Thomas trains!!! It was so cute! He was so excited to have made the connection between his favorite choo-choo's, people in his life and his numbers!!!
These are just a few examples of how he thinks!!! He does seem like a very serious boy to us! But I think it is partly due to the fact that he is always thinking, contemplating, pondering, etc!! I was telling my Mom last night that sometimes I just wish he'd let loose!!! Like yesterday at preschool they were playing a parachute game and some of the other kids were jumping up and down and screaming and looking like they were having a hoot, while Blake was holding onto the parachute with a very serious look on his face, shaking it up and down - just like he was told to do! I told my Mom that sometimes I think he's too serious for a 2 1/2 yr old!!! But, he does have his fun, crazy times too! They're just usually at home!! And usually they involve dancing to "his music!"
We're hoping to get Blake and Emerson their H1N1 vaccinations this afternoon after their naps. I hope the line ups will be a bit more reasonable then last week. Have a great day everyone :)
Luv Tracy
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Happy Halloween!!
We hope you all had a spooktacular Halloween!!! We had great fun celebrating Halloween. We went to a Halloween/Baby Shower party on Friday at our friends Elizabeth and Jack's house. It was our 3rd annual New Mom's Group Halloween Party! It was also a baby shower for our friend Jodi and her new baby boy Cole. Cole is Jared's little brother! Our New Mom's Group is growing quickly with what we call the "2nd generation!!!" lol! It's great that Emerson will have lots of little friends too. I felt a bit bad for her, not having her own New Mom's group! We're very lucky to have such a great group. A few of our friends have moved away, but there are still a good group of us who get together regularly. It's pretty cool to see the kids all growing up together! Saturday morning we carved pumpkins. Blake knows his shapes now, so he chose what shapes the pumpkins eyes and nose were! He was pretty hesitant when it came to digging out the pumpkin "guts", but got right in there after awhile!! Saturday afternoon my parents came over and we took some pictures of the kids outside. They looked so adorable!! Blake in his dinosaur costume and Emerson in her lady bug costume!! We had supper, put Emerson to bed and then Cal, Blake and I headed out trick-or-treating! My parents stayed home with Emerson and handed out candy, which was very nice of them! At the end of the night, we figure we had approximately 75 kids. Cal, Blake and I had fun visiting around the neighbourhood!! Blake got pretty tuckered out though, so we came home, had a treat and some hot chocolate and he was out like a light the minute his head hit his pillow!!
Today we went to Stony Plain to celebrate our niece Jenna Ann Cameron's Baptism. We had fun visiting with everyone and I even got to snuggle with Jenna for awhile :) She was such a good girl during the church service and Baptism and looked gorgeous in her baptismal gown, which was worn by her Mom and 2 Aunt's when they were babies!! Afterwards we went to my parents house for a visit and dinner. My Mom made a very yummy turkey dinner!! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again! The kids had a bath there and were sleeping by the time we hit the highway. No naps = very tired kids!!! I'm hoping they don't get up too early tomorrow morning ...
Cal has tomorrow off, but we don't have plans. I will call the health unit tomorrow to see if we can get our flu shots. Hopefully they'll be available again very soon. Blake woke up with a runny nose this morning and Emerson is sounding a bit stuffed up too, but they don't have fevers. We'll keep a close eye on them - I'm a bit paranoid right now. Blake was sick to his stomach on Friday night, but hasn't been since. I think it was because of all the treats he ate at the Halloween party. He has quite the sweet tooth! We don't keep too many sweets in the house and he rarely has juice, so I think his tummy might have been a bit upset!
Emerson's 2nd tooth is through! Just barely, but you can feel the sharp little edges!! Teething has definitely been harder on Em then it was on Blake. Once his first tooth was through, the rest just seemed to keep coming with no work at all! Emerson seems to teethe and teethe and teethe and be uncomfortable, etc!! Poor girl. I always say it's such a shame what these poor babies go through - so much pain to get these teeth and then they turn around and loose them all in a few years!! How fair is that?!
We have preschool on Wednesday and Wednesday night I'm meeting an old co-worker for dinner. Thursday I am meeting Lesley at Cal's cousin Amanda's concert at the Winnspear. She plays violin in the University of Alberta's Symphony Orchestra (I believe that's what they're called!!)! I went to one concert last year and was absolutely amazed at the talent of these young people! Blake and Cal started swimming lessons again on Friday, so they have swimming Friday evening. Cal said Blake was amazing on Friday!! He was front floating and back floating and kicking like you wouldn't believe! I'm glad he's enjoying himself!! Our little fish :) We're going to start Emerson in swimming lessons in the New Year. Cal started taking Blake when he was around 1 year, and Emerson will be 1 in February!
My sister's wedding is fast approaching! Yikes!! So much to do before then!! Our list is growing longer and longer ... Oh well - we'll get it all done :) 29 days to go!!
Have a great week everyone :) I'm not going to use the "S" word, but I think we're very lucky to not have any yet!!!! So enjoy it while it lasts!
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Today we went to Stony Plain to celebrate our niece Jenna Ann Cameron's Baptism. We had fun visiting with everyone and I even got to snuggle with Jenna for awhile :) She was such a good girl during the church service and Baptism and looked gorgeous in her baptismal gown, which was worn by her Mom and 2 Aunt's when they were babies!! Afterwards we went to my parents house for a visit and dinner. My Mom made a very yummy turkey dinner!! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again! The kids had a bath there and were sleeping by the time we hit the highway. No naps = very tired kids!!! I'm hoping they don't get up too early tomorrow morning ...
Cal has tomorrow off, but we don't have plans. I will call the health unit tomorrow to see if we can get our flu shots. Hopefully they'll be available again very soon. Blake woke up with a runny nose this morning and Emerson is sounding a bit stuffed up too, but they don't have fevers. We'll keep a close eye on them - I'm a bit paranoid right now. Blake was sick to his stomach on Friday night, but hasn't been since. I think it was because of all the treats he ate at the Halloween party. He has quite the sweet tooth! We don't keep too many sweets in the house and he rarely has juice, so I think his tummy might have been a bit upset!
Emerson's 2nd tooth is through! Just barely, but you can feel the sharp little edges!! Teething has definitely been harder on Em then it was on Blake. Once his first tooth was through, the rest just seemed to keep coming with no work at all! Emerson seems to teethe and teethe and teethe and be uncomfortable, etc!! Poor girl. I always say it's such a shame what these poor babies go through - so much pain to get these teeth and then they turn around and loose them all in a few years!! How fair is that?!
We have preschool on Wednesday and Wednesday night I'm meeting an old co-worker for dinner. Thursday I am meeting Lesley at Cal's cousin Amanda's concert at the Winnspear. She plays violin in the University of Alberta's Symphony Orchestra (I believe that's what they're called!!)! I went to one concert last year and was absolutely amazed at the talent of these young people! Blake and Cal started swimming lessons again on Friday, so they have swimming Friday evening. Cal said Blake was amazing on Friday!! He was front floating and back floating and kicking like you wouldn't believe! I'm glad he's enjoying himself!! Our little fish :) We're going to start Emerson in swimming lessons in the New Year. Cal started taking Blake when he was around 1 year, and Emerson will be 1 in February!
My sister's wedding is fast approaching! Yikes!! So much to do before then!! Our list is growing longer and longer ... Oh well - we'll get it all done :) 29 days to go!!
Have a great week everyone :) I'm not going to use the "S" word, but I think we're very lucky to not have any yet!!!! So enjoy it while it lasts!
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Miss Chatty :)
We have had a very busy weekend! Cal went hunting with my Dad and Dion on Saturday and I had the 4th Annual Therapist Assistant Association of Alberta's AGM and Education Day. I am the V.P. of the association, so much of my free time these past few weeks has been spent planning and organising this big event. My Mom came over to stay with the kids while I was at the conference. I came back at lunch time to feed Emerson and then went back to the conference for the last few hours. We haven't kept up with giving Em a bottle. Just to see what she'd do, I told my Mom to see if she'd take one in the afternoon. My Mom said the look on her face was priceless! She started drinking and then all of a sudden stopped and had the most disgusted look on her face!! Oh well, no big deal, there haven't been any situations where I've needed her to take a bottle so it hasn't mattered! She goes to bed so early that I still get plenty of me time and time out!! Hopefully I'll be able to wean her to a sippy cup. I planned to do that with Blake too, but didn't ... so we'll see this time around! I got home from the conference at around 3:30. I fed Emerson and then my Mom and I took the kids to Toys R Us and then out for supper. After my Mom went home I rented a chick flick (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - it was good!) and Cal got home around 10 pm. He had a good day, they got a mule deer buck, so had "fun" gutting it, etc. Some kinda fun ... lol!!!
This afternoon I went to a baby shower for our good friends Christa and Berlyn Parenteau. I had fun visiting with a few gals I hadn't seen in awhile and snuggling with Beryln :) She's a gorgeous baby and so good!! Afterwards, when the kids had woke up from their naps we went to my parents house for supper to celebrate my Dad's birthday, which was on Saturday. Blake and I practiced singing Happy Birthday Grandpa, but when the time came Blake had stage fright!!! We had a nice visit and a yummy supper and cake!
Blake finished the fall session of My First Preschool on Monday. It was a great class for Blake and all his little friends!! We attend with 3 of our New Mom's Group friends and they've all made such great progress since the first class. Particularly Blake and Alana. Both Blake and Alana are very shy in public ... not at home of course!! On Monday both of them were singing and dancing!! It was great! Stacey and I had tears in our eyes!!! It is such a well organized and well ran class. The YMCA is so awesome!!! The class has definitely been great for Blake. We are looking forward to continuing and start the winter session on Wednesday. Blake's imagination continues to keep us laughing!! He is so funny, always coming up with something new each day. I can't believe HOW MUCH he talks ... non-stop! Pretty much his every waking minute at home is spent talking and singing! Even when he's playing by himself, I hear him talking. And I love listening to those conversations!! I also enjoy pretending not to watch or listen to him talking and playing with Emerson!! I try to give them some privacy and let them have their play time uninterrupted! He can be so gentle and sweet with her!! Then at times when we're all playing together he won't let her play with anything but "her" toys! I find when I'm letting them do their own thing, he is much more "paternal" with her, almost as though since Cal or I are not there he takes on the role of the parent!!
Emerson is Miss Chatty lately! She's starting to use different sounds, such as "mmm" and "b" sounds. I love it when she "talks"!! Today her favorite sound was baa, baa, baa, baa, baa!!! So cute! And of course I swear she's saying "Mom" some days :) She definitely likes to get her two cents in. I imagine her and Blake will be rivaling for air time as she starts talking more and more!!! She is eating a lot more these days. Enjoying 3 meals a day and more and more of a variety of foods. She still only has the 1 tooth through, but many more are coming. Her cheeks are so rosey, and I think it is because of teething. She has figured out how to get food into her mouth, so we're trying to give her more and more finger foods. Tonight she enjoyed kernel corn at Grandma and Grandpas!! Although more hit the floor then her mouth!
Tomorrow night I am looking forward to going to the Rascall Flatts concert with my friend Renee! Should be a great time!! Tuesday Cal is coming home a bit early from work so we can all go get our flu and H1N1 immunizations. I've done a lot of research and I think getting both immunizations is the right choice. Hard to make that decision, but all the health care professionals are recommending both, and I finally decided that in a country such as Canada I hope to goodness you can trust your doctors and nurses, because if not we are in a sad state of affairs! Wednesday Blake has preschool and Cal might play hockey with his friends team that evening and Friday we have our New Mom's Group 3rd Annual Halloween party!! I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year!! Blake is super excited and both kids look SO cute in their costumes!!! Saturday we will take the kids to a few houses together and then Cal will probably continue on with Blake to a few more houses. I love Halloween and can't wait to take a picture of the kids in front of our big blow up ghost!!! Sunday we are headed to Stony Plain for our niece Jenna's Baptism. Cal's parents and niece Katie are coming down for the Baptism, so it will be great to see them again!
It looks like we have another busy week/weekend coming up! I haven't had a chance to check out our forecast, but I hope it is nice! I started running last week and realized that maybe it wasn't the best time of year to get into it again?! But Cal has always ran in the winter, so he assures me I can do it :)
Have a fantastic week everyone! Can't wait to see pictures of all your lil' cuties in their Halloween garb ;)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
This afternoon I went to a baby shower for our good friends Christa and Berlyn Parenteau. I had fun visiting with a few gals I hadn't seen in awhile and snuggling with Beryln :) She's a gorgeous baby and so good!! Afterwards, when the kids had woke up from their naps we went to my parents house for supper to celebrate my Dad's birthday, which was on Saturday. Blake and I practiced singing Happy Birthday Grandpa, but when the time came Blake had stage fright!!! We had a nice visit and a yummy supper and cake!
Blake finished the fall session of My First Preschool on Monday. It was a great class for Blake and all his little friends!! We attend with 3 of our New Mom's Group friends and they've all made such great progress since the first class. Particularly Blake and Alana. Both Blake and Alana are very shy in public ... not at home of course!! On Monday both of them were singing and dancing!! It was great! Stacey and I had tears in our eyes!!! It is such a well organized and well ran class. The YMCA is so awesome!!! The class has definitely been great for Blake. We are looking forward to continuing and start the winter session on Wednesday. Blake's imagination continues to keep us laughing!! He is so funny, always coming up with something new each day. I can't believe HOW MUCH he talks ... non-stop! Pretty much his every waking minute at home is spent talking and singing! Even when he's playing by himself, I hear him talking. And I love listening to those conversations!! I also enjoy pretending not to watch or listen to him talking and playing with Emerson!! I try to give them some privacy and let them have their play time uninterrupted! He can be so gentle and sweet with her!! Then at times when we're all playing together he won't let her play with anything but "her" toys! I find when I'm letting them do their own thing, he is much more "paternal" with her, almost as though since Cal or I are not there he takes on the role of the parent!!
Emerson is Miss Chatty lately! She's starting to use different sounds, such as "mmm" and "b" sounds. I love it when she "talks"!! Today her favorite sound was baa, baa, baa, baa, baa!!! So cute! And of course I swear she's saying "Mom" some days :) She definitely likes to get her two cents in. I imagine her and Blake will be rivaling for air time as she starts talking more and more!!! She is eating a lot more these days. Enjoying 3 meals a day and more and more of a variety of foods. She still only has the 1 tooth through, but many more are coming. Her cheeks are so rosey, and I think it is because of teething. She has figured out how to get food into her mouth, so we're trying to give her more and more finger foods. Tonight she enjoyed kernel corn at Grandma and Grandpas!! Although more hit the floor then her mouth!
Tomorrow night I am looking forward to going to the Rascall Flatts concert with my friend Renee! Should be a great time!! Tuesday Cal is coming home a bit early from work so we can all go get our flu and H1N1 immunizations. I've done a lot of research and I think getting both immunizations is the right choice. Hard to make that decision, but all the health care professionals are recommending both, and I finally decided that in a country such as Canada I hope to goodness you can trust your doctors and nurses, because if not we are in a sad state of affairs! Wednesday Blake has preschool and Cal might play hockey with his friends team that evening and Friday we have our New Mom's Group 3rd Annual Halloween party!! I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year!! Blake is super excited and both kids look SO cute in their costumes!!! Saturday we will take the kids to a few houses together and then Cal will probably continue on with Blake to a few more houses. I love Halloween and can't wait to take a picture of the kids in front of our big blow up ghost!!! Sunday we are headed to Stony Plain for our niece Jenna's Baptism. Cal's parents and niece Katie are coming down for the Baptism, so it will be great to see them again!
It looks like we have another busy week/weekend coming up! I haven't had a chance to check out our forecast, but I hope it is nice! I started running last week and realized that maybe it wasn't the best time of year to get into it again?! But Cal has always ran in the winter, so he assures me I can do it :)
Have a fantastic week everyone! Can't wait to see pictures of all your lil' cuties in their Halloween garb ;)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday Rant!!!
I am so fed up with POO! Sorry if you have a weak stomach and even the mention of that word grosses you out ... but this is our blog AND really ... I'm really, really, really sick and tired of my life revolving around POO!!! lol! Okay, it's not that bad ... but it does seem to be a focus of our everyday life :( Emerson is doing great on the lactulose, which is good, but what's going to happen when the prescription runs out again?? We'll see in a few weeks I guess. Now the problem with both kids, is that they "go" while sleeping and it wakes them up. ARGH!!! Especially Blake ... this past week he has been woken up 3 times about an hour earlier than he would usually get up and I'm pretty sure it's because he has had a dirty diaper. And the same thing has happened with a couple of his naps too. With Emerson it's waking up early from naps. I'm very glad she is more "regular" now, but not so happy with it waking her up! I was talking with Cal today about this situation (see - our free time even revolves around it!!?) and he said that maybe this is a sign that Blake is getting closer to being ready for potty training. I hadn't thought of that, but I think he has a point. Blake's not waking up soaking wet anymore, so maybe that's another sign? I don't' know if I'm just lazy or what, but I'm NOT looking forward to potty training!!!! We decided we'll definitely wait until after our Vegas trip, because the last thing I want is for Blake to have to go to the washroom during take off or a time when we have to have our seat belts on and then soil his pants! That would not be fun!! So maybe when we get back from Vegas we'll look into potty training. He is almost 2 1/2. BUT we don't want to even start potty training until we know he's ready. I've heard too many horror stories of potty training that has gone on for almost a year. He has done both #1 and #2 in the potty, but I think it was more of a novelty :) And to use the special soap!! So that's my Friday rant, just had to get it out ... of course if you know me, you know I tend to exaggerate ... but it has been really annoying! lol!!!
Have a great weekend, I'll probably blog Sunday night :)
Tracy
Have a great weekend, I'll probably blog Sunday night :)
Tracy
Sunday, October 18, 2009
I Love Fall!!
We had a great week last week - despite the chilly temp's and snow on the ground :( We didn't venture very far on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Thursday we met our friends Stacey, Alana, and Parker at the YMCA playgym and then had lunch afterwards. Blake and Alana had fun, while Stacey and I visited!! The little ones were good too. It was Emerson's first time eating out! It sure is a lot more work packing a diaper bag and preparing for a play date and lunch out for a 2 year old and a child who has just starting eating solids ;)
I am very excited about our current weather!! My favorite season seems to be back!! It was +8 today, but it felt like +14 after the taste of winter we had last week!!
We've had a fabulous weekend! Friday afternoon we took our trailer to our storage lot near Spruce Grove. Afterwards, we went to my Mom and Dad's for supper. After supper Cal went to the Oiler's game with my Dad, Dion and Eric. The kids and I stayed and played for awhile. My Mom and I gave the kids a bath (together for the first time!), put them in their p.j.'s and I headed home with them. Blake talked the whole way and Emerson slept!
Saturday morning we cleaned up our yard and put out our Halloween decorations. Blake loves the big blow up ghost we have in our front yard!! Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna came over for supper Saturday night. It was great to see them all! Jenna is growing so fast and is so adorable! Blake and Colby had fun together and played well.
My parents came over for brunch this morning and this afternoon Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over. It was great to see Berlyn again! She has changed a lot since we last saw her, but is still so, so cute!! She's starting to look quite a bit like Christa! We took some great pictures of our 3 kids together and then took some pictures of just Emerson and Berlyn. We joke that they're going to be BFF's! After the Parenteau's left, we went for a walk. I took Emerson in her Snuggli and Blake walked holding onto our hands. He started out walking Heidi, but soon got tired of that!! It was very nice to walk holding his hand though :) Cal, Blake and Heidi continued onto the park and Em and I went home because it was Emerson's supper time!! Apparently Blake met a new best friend at the park!! Cal said their was another family there and the little girl, who was 3 1/2, claimed Blake as her best friend! Her Mom was telling her to come and play with her little brother and she said, "No, I'm playing with my new best friend!!" Cal said she talked a mile a minute and non-stop too!! LOL!
We had a very nice weekend, but it really isn't quite over yet because Cal has tomorrow off too! Blake and I will be going to preschool tomorrow morning, while Cal and Em have some father/daughter time!
Emerson was 8 months old on Friday. She's doing great! Changing more and more each week. She grabs and reaches for EVERYTHING!! Blake thinks it's pretty funny when she reaches for him! She loves playing with a variety of toys and still really loves jumping!! She's now eating 3 times a day and quite a variety of foods - all cereal (her fave), squash, sweet potato, carrots, peas, green beans, prunes, applesauce, pears, peaches, avocado, potato's, and today she tried some toast! She's starting to put things in her mouth. Today my Mom and Dad were helping her feed herself toast! Some days she eats quite a bit and others not too much. She's growing fast though, so she's obviously getting enough! I make quite a bit of her food, but buy a few things that aren't so easy to make! She's very talkative and quite loud - I think she's just trying to be heard over her older brother!! Thankfully, she's still an awesome sleeper!! Her "typical" day goes something like this: Up between 7 and 8, breakfast, nap between 8:30 and 9:30 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, lunch between 11:30 and 12:30, followed by another 1 - 1 1/2 hour nap, snack (just milk right now!), supper around 5, bath and bed between 6 and 7. Needless to say, she's well rested!! And we should be too, but we tend to, who am I kidding, we ALWAYS stay up way to late! Oh well, we can't blame it on the kids sleeping patterns!!
Blake continues to keep us laughing every day! Today he was saying, "Bust my buffers!" and "Thomas is cross!" all day long ... it was hilarious!!! Last night Gerry and Cal were joking about the language in Thomas and Friends and apparently Blake was listening closely!! Of course he knew we thought it was funny, which made him say it even more ;) He is such a good little boy, but as good and funny as he can be, he can also get into trouble!! Of course, being 2 it is expected. He does pretty good with time outs though. Sometimes he cries through the whole time out, but at least he stays where he's supposed to be! We also starting taking toys away as punishment. I don't think that's as effective as time out though. He has so many toys, it doesn't seem to bother him if one is gone!! He's still calling Emerson Miss Muffet or Miss Muffin sometimes! He also uses those nicknames for Heidi and Jazz and even his toys at times!! He'll pick up a truck and say, "What are you doing Miss Muffet! Driving or something?" LOL!! And speaking of Heidi, he is into giving Heidi trouble! If she starts barking he tells her, "Stop it Heidi!!" His newest thing is feeding Emerson. We've let him feed her a few spoonfuls of her food and help her drink her water. He's very proud of himself for helping her eat! He's such a great brother, but at times I think he's also trying to toughen her up a little!? He likes to pull her back and forth and "help" her jump in her Jolly Jumper! He's not intentionally trying to hurt her, but she is a bit sensitive. Tends to be a bit on the dramatic side ... Maybe it's a female thing?!
We hope everyone has had a great week! Lets keep our fingers crossed that this fall(ish) weather continues for at least a few more weeks ...
Take care,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
I am very excited about our current weather!! My favorite season seems to be back!! It was +8 today, but it felt like +14 after the taste of winter we had last week!!
We've had a fabulous weekend! Friday afternoon we took our trailer to our storage lot near Spruce Grove. Afterwards, we went to my Mom and Dad's for supper. After supper Cal went to the Oiler's game with my Dad, Dion and Eric. The kids and I stayed and played for awhile. My Mom and I gave the kids a bath (together for the first time!), put them in their p.j.'s and I headed home with them. Blake talked the whole way and Emerson slept!
Saturday morning we cleaned up our yard and put out our Halloween decorations. Blake loves the big blow up ghost we have in our front yard!! Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna came over for supper Saturday night. It was great to see them all! Jenna is growing so fast and is so adorable! Blake and Colby had fun together and played well.
My parents came over for brunch this morning and this afternoon Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over. It was great to see Berlyn again! She has changed a lot since we last saw her, but is still so, so cute!! She's starting to look quite a bit like Christa! We took some great pictures of our 3 kids together and then took some pictures of just Emerson and Berlyn. We joke that they're going to be BFF's! After the Parenteau's left, we went for a walk. I took Emerson in her Snuggli and Blake walked holding onto our hands. He started out walking Heidi, but soon got tired of that!! It was very nice to walk holding his hand though :) Cal, Blake and Heidi continued onto the park and Em and I went home because it was Emerson's supper time!! Apparently Blake met a new best friend at the park!! Cal said their was another family there and the little girl, who was 3 1/2, claimed Blake as her best friend! Her Mom was telling her to come and play with her little brother and she said, "No, I'm playing with my new best friend!!" Cal said she talked a mile a minute and non-stop too!! LOL!
We had a very nice weekend, but it really isn't quite over yet because Cal has tomorrow off too! Blake and I will be going to preschool tomorrow morning, while Cal and Em have some father/daughter time!
Emerson was 8 months old on Friday. She's doing great! Changing more and more each week. She grabs and reaches for EVERYTHING!! Blake thinks it's pretty funny when she reaches for him! She loves playing with a variety of toys and still really loves jumping!! She's now eating 3 times a day and quite a variety of foods - all cereal (her fave), squash, sweet potato, carrots, peas, green beans, prunes, applesauce, pears, peaches, avocado, potato's, and today she tried some toast! She's starting to put things in her mouth. Today my Mom and Dad were helping her feed herself toast! Some days she eats quite a bit and others not too much. She's growing fast though, so she's obviously getting enough! I make quite a bit of her food, but buy a few things that aren't so easy to make! She's very talkative and quite loud - I think she's just trying to be heard over her older brother!! Thankfully, she's still an awesome sleeper!! Her "typical" day goes something like this: Up between 7 and 8, breakfast, nap between 8:30 and 9:30 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, lunch between 11:30 and 12:30, followed by another 1 - 1 1/2 hour nap, snack (just milk right now!), supper around 5, bath and bed between 6 and 7. Needless to say, she's well rested!! And we should be too, but we tend to, who am I kidding, we ALWAYS stay up way to late! Oh well, we can't blame it on the kids sleeping patterns!!
Blake continues to keep us laughing every day! Today he was saying, "Bust my buffers!" and "Thomas is cross!" all day long ... it was hilarious!!! Last night Gerry and Cal were joking about the language in Thomas and Friends and apparently Blake was listening closely!! Of course he knew we thought it was funny, which made him say it even more ;) He is such a good little boy, but as good and funny as he can be, he can also get into trouble!! Of course, being 2 it is expected. He does pretty good with time outs though. Sometimes he cries through the whole time out, but at least he stays where he's supposed to be! We also starting taking toys away as punishment. I don't think that's as effective as time out though. He has so many toys, it doesn't seem to bother him if one is gone!! He's still calling Emerson Miss Muffet or Miss Muffin sometimes! He also uses those nicknames for Heidi and Jazz and even his toys at times!! He'll pick up a truck and say, "What are you doing Miss Muffet! Driving or something?" LOL!! And speaking of Heidi, he is into giving Heidi trouble! If she starts barking he tells her, "Stop it Heidi!!" His newest thing is feeding Emerson. We've let him feed her a few spoonfuls of her food and help her drink her water. He's very proud of himself for helping her eat! He's such a great brother, but at times I think he's also trying to toughen her up a little!? He likes to pull her back and forth and "help" her jump in her Jolly Jumper! He's not intentionally trying to hurt her, but she is a bit sensitive. Tends to be a bit on the dramatic side ... Maybe it's a female thing?!
We hope everyone has had a great week! Lets keep our fingers crossed that this fall(ish) weather continues for at least a few more weeks ...
Take care,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Busy Weekend!
We have had an extremely busy Thanksgiving long weekend.
Friday October 9th, was our 5 year anniversary!! I can't believe it has been 5 years since our wedding day! I love thinking back to our wedding day - it was such a fabulous day!!! Words can't even describe it! The whole 24 hours were amazing! Well, actually the whole 72 hours were amazing! A lot has happened in 5 years and I wonder what the next 5 years will bring?! Friday night we went out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. It was nice to be by ourselves for awhile (outside of the house) :) Thanks to Lindsay for babysitting!! I understand it wasn't too tough of a job as Blake and Em were both sleeping!!
Friday morning Cal and I took the kids swimming. We had lots of fun!! Blake has a blast at the pool and Emerson enjoys herself too. She kicks and splashes like crazy! It was nice to go swimming as a family!
Saturday Cal went hunting with my Dad and Dion. He left the house around 5:30 am and got home around 9 pm. I'm not a big fan of wild meat, but do enjoy the jerky!! I wasn't quite sure how to explain hunting to Blake, but thankfully when he asked where Dad was and I told him Dad went hunting with Grandpa and Dion, he didn't ask too many questions!! Not sure I wanted to get into the whole gun/shooting thing with him quite yet! My Mom and Lindsay came over Saturday morning, and took Blake to the mall. The mall near us, Londonderry Mall, has a Thomas the Train ride and a bus ride that Blake loves going on!
Saturday evening Cal's parents, his sister Kathy and niece Katie came to stay for a few nights. Cal's Uncle Glen passed away suddenly last week and his funeral was on Sunday. We haven't seen Uncle Glen in a few years. He was living in the middle east with his wife Madelyn, instructing telecommunications at a University there. We were very surprised to hear of his passing. He was a great man and always reminded me of a giant teddy bear! There was a funeral and reception on Sunday and the burial was today, followed by a Thanksgiving dinner. We took Emerson to the funeral and then my Mom brought Blake to the reception. Cal attended the burial and dinner today. All of Glen's nephews were pall bearers. It was great to see many of Cal's relatives from the Cameron side yesterday. We missed the last family wedding last summer, so it has been awhile since we've seen his extended family. It is unfortunate that it takes a funeral to bring everyone together.
This afternoon my family came over for Thanksgiving dinner. Lindsay and Jeremy headed back to Fort Mac afterwards, so we ate around 4:30. The dinner was great and even Emerson enjoyed it!! She tried mashed potatoes, dressing, and turkey and seemed to love it all!! I was thinking that if she had an allergic reaction I wouldn't know what it was to! But she didn't ... so it's all good!! Blake was quite funny. I was saying grace and right in the middle of it he said, "All done!" Apparently he was hungry and ready to dig in?!? It was very funny!!! Then he loaded his plate up and wanted gravy on everything. Looked kinda yucky, but he ate quite a bit. Must be taking after his Grandpa Bruce, who puts odd condiments on pretty much everything he eats!!!!
The snow has been falling off and on for a few days now. We normally take a few fall pictures on Thanksgiving long weekend, but not this year :( And I didn't really want to venture out for pictures in the snow! It is apparently going to warm up, so hopefully this snow is not here to stay.
Happy thanksgiving everyone! Have a great week - glad it's a short one :)
xoxox Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Friday October 9th, was our 5 year anniversary!! I can't believe it has been 5 years since our wedding day! I love thinking back to our wedding day - it was such a fabulous day!!! Words can't even describe it! The whole 24 hours were amazing! Well, actually the whole 72 hours were amazing! A lot has happened in 5 years and I wonder what the next 5 years will bring?! Friday night we went out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. It was nice to be by ourselves for awhile (outside of the house) :) Thanks to Lindsay for babysitting!! I understand it wasn't too tough of a job as Blake and Em were both sleeping!!
Friday morning Cal and I took the kids swimming. We had lots of fun!! Blake has a blast at the pool and Emerson enjoys herself too. She kicks and splashes like crazy! It was nice to go swimming as a family!
Saturday Cal went hunting with my Dad and Dion. He left the house around 5:30 am and got home around 9 pm. I'm not a big fan of wild meat, but do enjoy the jerky!! I wasn't quite sure how to explain hunting to Blake, but thankfully when he asked where Dad was and I told him Dad went hunting with Grandpa and Dion, he didn't ask too many questions!! Not sure I wanted to get into the whole gun/shooting thing with him quite yet! My Mom and Lindsay came over Saturday morning, and took Blake to the mall. The mall near us, Londonderry Mall, has a Thomas the Train ride and a bus ride that Blake loves going on!
Saturday evening Cal's parents, his sister Kathy and niece Katie came to stay for a few nights. Cal's Uncle Glen passed away suddenly last week and his funeral was on Sunday. We haven't seen Uncle Glen in a few years. He was living in the middle east with his wife Madelyn, instructing telecommunications at a University there. We were very surprised to hear of his passing. He was a great man and always reminded me of a giant teddy bear! There was a funeral and reception on Sunday and the burial was today, followed by a Thanksgiving dinner. We took Emerson to the funeral and then my Mom brought Blake to the reception. Cal attended the burial and dinner today. All of Glen's nephews were pall bearers. It was great to see many of Cal's relatives from the Cameron side yesterday. We missed the last family wedding last summer, so it has been awhile since we've seen his extended family. It is unfortunate that it takes a funeral to bring everyone together.
This afternoon my family came over for Thanksgiving dinner. Lindsay and Jeremy headed back to Fort Mac afterwards, so we ate around 4:30. The dinner was great and even Emerson enjoyed it!! She tried mashed potatoes, dressing, and turkey and seemed to love it all!! I was thinking that if she had an allergic reaction I wouldn't know what it was to! But she didn't ... so it's all good!! Blake was quite funny. I was saying grace and right in the middle of it he said, "All done!" Apparently he was hungry and ready to dig in?!? It was very funny!!! Then he loaded his plate up and wanted gravy on everything. Looked kinda yucky, but he ate quite a bit. Must be taking after his Grandpa Bruce, who puts odd condiments on pretty much everything he eats!!!!
The snow has been falling off and on for a few days now. We normally take a few fall pictures on Thanksgiving long weekend, but not this year :( And I didn't really want to venture out for pictures in the snow! It is apparently going to warm up, so hopefully this snow is not here to stay.
Happy thanksgiving everyone! Have a great week - glad it's a short one :)
xoxox Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
1st Tooth!
Emerson's 1st tooth broke through her gums on Thursday, October 1st!! It went down again and re-appeared on Saturday. And now it is definitely through and popping up more and more each day. At first I thought 2 teeth had came through, but today she finally let me in her mouth and there's just 1!!
Things seem to be back to normal in our house (knock on wood ...)! Emerson had 5 "bad" nights. It was taking her around 2 hours to fall asleep, but once she fell asleep she was fine and slept for her usual 12-13 hours. It was just really hard for us, because we are used to putting her to bed and then not hearing from her again until morning! And it was also confusing, because we didn't know what was bothering her. We thought it was her #2 problems, but then thought maybe it was teething that was bothering her and then I started thinking perhaps she was just going through some separation anxiety!! She definitely wasn't hungry. Such a guessing game, but regardless it was rough and now it's better and we hope we have our amazing little sleeper back :) Our colds are all pretty much gone and Cal has not caught them!!! (once again, knock on wood!!)
I had a great time on Saturday at my sister's bridal shower and stagette! The stagette was tons of fun!! It was great to tear up the dance floor again!!! Lindsay had lots of fun, she was so funny!! She was the high five and hugging queen :0) It was great to see some family from Saskatchewan too!! So nice of them to drive all that way :) Sunday morning everyone came over for coffee before heading home. It's nice that Blake now remembers everyone, even though he only sees them a few times (if that) a year. When he saw my Uncle Ken he asked where his motor home was!! Ken had a motor home at the family reunion we were at in July! Now the countdown to Vegas is really on!! I can't wait!!! The wedding is going to be so beautiful! We're looking forward to seeing some sights as a family too. I've found quite a few websites that discuss family friendly activities in Las Vegas. And the shopping ... I can't WAIT for the outlet malls!!! Cal too ... he actually enjoys shopping in Vegas :)
Emerson had a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician today. He gave us another prescription for Lactulose, told us to continue trying new fruits and vegetables and to fill the prescription if we need to. If things don't improve in a month of so, he will have to do further testing (x-rays, contrast something or another, etc!). But he said he'd rather give it a few more weeks before having to do any kind of invasive tests. He said that there is a possibility that she has a narrowing of her bowels, which explains why when she was just nursing she was fine, but as soon as she started solids she got backed up! So we're praying that things will straighten out and we won't have to put her through any sort of invasive "testing!"
Tomorrow morning we are going to visit Lesley, Colby and Jenna! We haven't seen Jenna since she was less than 24 hours old, so I am very excited to see her again!!! Hopefully Colby and Blake will have fun playing together ;)
It's going to be a great weekend! Friday is our 5th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe it's been 5 years since our wedding day! One of the best days of my life!! We are going out for dinner Friday night, which I'm REALLY looking forward to! Cal and I do spend quite a bit of time together each evening, but it will be nice to be out of the house together, by ourselves :) Saturday Cal is going hunting with my Dad and Dion. I'm not sure what the kids and I are going to do? We'll see! Sunday we are going to Church and Monday we are having Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I LOVE Thanksgiving weekend!! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday! No stress of shopping (and spending too much!!) for gifts and you get to enjoy time with your family and a yummy meal :) I think I also love it because our anniversary usually falls on the long weekend :) Cal switched his Monday off from this Monday to Friday (our anniversary) and we hope to do something fun with the kids Friday morning!
Have a great weekend everyone. Hopefully our weather smartens up a bit! Fall is my favorite season, but I do prefer a bit warmer fall :)
xoxo Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Things seem to be back to normal in our house (knock on wood ...)! Emerson had 5 "bad" nights. It was taking her around 2 hours to fall asleep, but once she fell asleep she was fine and slept for her usual 12-13 hours. It was just really hard for us, because we are used to putting her to bed and then not hearing from her again until morning! And it was also confusing, because we didn't know what was bothering her. We thought it was her #2 problems, but then thought maybe it was teething that was bothering her and then I started thinking perhaps she was just going through some separation anxiety!! She definitely wasn't hungry. Such a guessing game, but regardless it was rough and now it's better and we hope we have our amazing little sleeper back :) Our colds are all pretty much gone and Cal has not caught them!!! (once again, knock on wood!!)
I had a great time on Saturday at my sister's bridal shower and stagette! The stagette was tons of fun!! It was great to tear up the dance floor again!!! Lindsay had lots of fun, she was so funny!! She was the high five and hugging queen :0) It was great to see some family from Saskatchewan too!! So nice of them to drive all that way :) Sunday morning everyone came over for coffee before heading home. It's nice that Blake now remembers everyone, even though he only sees them a few times (if that) a year. When he saw my Uncle Ken he asked where his motor home was!! Ken had a motor home at the family reunion we were at in July! Now the countdown to Vegas is really on!! I can't wait!!! The wedding is going to be so beautiful! We're looking forward to seeing some sights as a family too. I've found quite a few websites that discuss family friendly activities in Las Vegas. And the shopping ... I can't WAIT for the outlet malls!!! Cal too ... he actually enjoys shopping in Vegas :)
Emerson had a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician today. He gave us another prescription for Lactulose, told us to continue trying new fruits and vegetables and to fill the prescription if we need to. If things don't improve in a month of so, he will have to do further testing (x-rays, contrast something or another, etc!). But he said he'd rather give it a few more weeks before having to do any kind of invasive tests. He said that there is a possibility that she has a narrowing of her bowels, which explains why when she was just nursing she was fine, but as soon as she started solids she got backed up! So we're praying that things will straighten out and we won't have to put her through any sort of invasive "testing!"
Tomorrow morning we are going to visit Lesley, Colby and Jenna! We haven't seen Jenna since she was less than 24 hours old, so I am very excited to see her again!!! Hopefully Colby and Blake will have fun playing together ;)
It's going to be a great weekend! Friday is our 5th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe it's been 5 years since our wedding day! One of the best days of my life!! We are going out for dinner Friday night, which I'm REALLY looking forward to! Cal and I do spend quite a bit of time together each evening, but it will be nice to be out of the house together, by ourselves :) Saturday Cal is going hunting with my Dad and Dion. I'm not sure what the kids and I are going to do? We'll see! Sunday we are going to Church and Monday we are having Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I LOVE Thanksgiving weekend!! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday! No stress of shopping (and spending too much!!) for gifts and you get to enjoy time with your family and a yummy meal :) I think I also love it because our anniversary usually falls on the long weekend :) Cal switched his Monday off from this Monday to Friday (our anniversary) and we hope to do something fun with the kids Friday morning!
Have a great weekend everyone. Hopefully our weather smartens up a bit! Fall is my favorite season, but I do prefer a bit warmer fall :)
xoxo Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Friday, October 2, 2009
Poor Girl :(
Last night I took Emerson into the E.R. at 1 am. She had not been a happy girl since approx. 8 pm. The night before (Wednesday) she woke up a few times after going to bed too. I thought it was probably due to teething and her cold, but found out last night it was more likely due to her bowel problems :( Her behaviour last 2 nights was totally out of the ordinary, so we knew something was up. She'd scream for about a 1/2 an hour and then be quiet for a little bit and then scream again, etc, etc. And whenever I touched her stomach she'd cringe and cry. So I called health link and they said to take her in right away. The Dr. in the E.R. said with her history, she was most likely in pain due to needing to have a bowel movement. I had given her a glycerin supp. at home, with no results. So they gave her an enema and it worked (unlike in Jasper!). Thank goodness! As soon as it worked she dozed off on my shoulder. Poor girl, we feel so bad for her. The Dr. last night said she just has "lazy bowels" and that she should grow out of it. Here's hoping ... So I've made her an appointment with her pediatrician to talk about it again and see what we should do next. Can't wait for this to be over ... Needless to say we are extremely tired in our house today (we got home from the hospital at 4:30 am).
But we are looking forward to Saturday's events!! I hope Emerson is back to her normal, happy self tomorrow. It is my sister Lindsay's bridal shower tomorrow afternoon and stagette tomorrow night!! Emerson and I will be attending the shower, while Cal and Blake attend a hockey draft at the Gable's house!! Cal is staying home with the kids Saturday night, while I party it up with Linds and friends!!! LOL! I pray Emerson is a good little girl :) Sunday, we have family visiting from Saskatchewan and they are all coming over for coffee before heading home. It will be great to see everyone, and I'm sure my Grandma Marg is looking forward to seeing 2 of her great grandchildren! Have a great weekend everyone :)
Tracy
But we are looking forward to Saturday's events!! I hope Emerson is back to her normal, happy self tomorrow. It is my sister Lindsay's bridal shower tomorrow afternoon and stagette tomorrow night!! Emerson and I will be attending the shower, while Cal and Blake attend a hockey draft at the Gable's house!! Cal is staying home with the kids Saturday night, while I party it up with Linds and friends!!! LOL! I pray Emerson is a good little girl :) Sunday, we have family visiting from Saskatchewan and they are all coming over for coffee before heading home. It will be great to see everyone, and I'm sure my Grandma Marg is looking forward to seeing 2 of her great grandchildren! Have a great weekend everyone :)
Tracy
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Fall is upon us ...
Brrr!!! It is chilly outside! We finally broke down and turned the furnace on :( The wind has been brutal the last few days. We have one of those really tall, skinny trees (not sure what it's called!) in our backyard, right outside our bedroom window and I keep thinking it's going to snap in half!
Blake, Emerson and I all have colds :( Hopefully Cal won't catch it, but the odds aren't in his favor! Blake and I are doing pretty good, I noticed that it is a lot easier to deal with Blake and his cold now that he is older! He can actually blow his nose and understands what is going on!! Emerson on the other hand, isn't so easy to help! She hates us wiping her nose and of course can't blow it, so she's stuffed right up. Poor girl :( It's been about 3 days, so hopefully it will clear up asap!! Thankfully they're both sleeping really good at night still. Emerson had one rough day with naps, but other than that she's napped good, which I think will help fight it off faster?!
Other than the cold, Emerson is also teething. One corner of a tooth on the bottom is just through! It seems to come up and go down daily, which I'm sure is causing some discomfort!! I remember with Blake, once the first tooth came through the rest were quick to follow and I can feel 4 more in Emerson's mouth that are right there, so maybe they'll all pop out together! She is definitely not quite as eager of an eater as Blake was. He would vibrate with excitement when we first started feeding him!! She's a bit slower and doesn't eat as much. So far her favorites are the cereals, squash, prunes and applesauce! She doesn't mind peas, but isn't crazy for carrots or sweet potato! She loves drinking water from her sippy cup, but hasn't quite mastered using it herself yet!! She's still taking Lactulose, but her prescription will be running out soon. Not sure what we're going to do if she's not regular yet at the end of the prescription! I guess visit the Dr. again. We pulled out some more toys for Emerson. She enjoys standing up at the couch, so we brought up a few more standing toys!
Blake is also enjoying the toys we brought up from the basement!! It's pretty funny to see him hunched over pushing the walker around!!! He's had a few hard days with this cold. Just overtired and a bit cranky :( He didn't have much fun at preschool yesterday. We were debating taking him, but he already missed one when we were on vacation, so we took him. Hopefully next week he'll be feeling better and back to having fun!! He's cracking us up lately with his use of the word something. For example, he says, "What's this Mom? A tractor or something?" So if he doesn't know exactly what an object is he'll say, "or something?" LOL!! Or if someone is upset he might say, "Emerson not happy or something?" But something sounds like sometin!! This morning he put a toy in the trunk of his ride on car so the seat was tipped up, climbed on and said, "I riding my motorbike Mom!" And then he said, "I need a helmet" and went and put on his hockey helmet!!! I laughed SO hard, it was so funny!!! The only way I could get a picture was to tell him that Dad and Grandpa would want to see!! He's just too cute :)
I had an ultrasound appointment yesterday. My Dr. thinks I might have gull stones (or is it gallstones?!), so hopefully the ultrasound will confirm/deny that. I should hear in a few days. Cal worked from home yesterday so I didn't have to take the kids with me to the appointment. It's nice to have him home! But when he goes back to work Blake's not too happy!! This morning he wanted Dad to get him up and changed and dressed and then he said he wanted Dad to read the Daddy book!! He always wants Cal to read the Mercer Mayer, Just Me and My Dad book to him! Followed by the New Baby book and Grandma and Grandpa Love Their RV! Such a man of routine, Blake is!!!
We hope everyone is having a good week and keeping warm! Take care :)
Luv Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Blake, Emerson and I all have colds :( Hopefully Cal won't catch it, but the odds aren't in his favor! Blake and I are doing pretty good, I noticed that it is a lot easier to deal with Blake and his cold now that he is older! He can actually blow his nose and understands what is going on!! Emerson on the other hand, isn't so easy to help! She hates us wiping her nose and of course can't blow it, so she's stuffed right up. Poor girl :( It's been about 3 days, so hopefully it will clear up asap!! Thankfully they're both sleeping really good at night still. Emerson had one rough day with naps, but other than that she's napped good, which I think will help fight it off faster?!
Other than the cold, Emerson is also teething. One corner of a tooth on the bottom is just through! It seems to come up and go down daily, which I'm sure is causing some discomfort!! I remember with Blake, once the first tooth came through the rest were quick to follow and I can feel 4 more in Emerson's mouth that are right there, so maybe they'll all pop out together! She is definitely not quite as eager of an eater as Blake was. He would vibrate with excitement when we first started feeding him!! She's a bit slower and doesn't eat as much. So far her favorites are the cereals, squash, prunes and applesauce! She doesn't mind peas, but isn't crazy for carrots or sweet potato! She loves drinking water from her sippy cup, but hasn't quite mastered using it herself yet!! She's still taking Lactulose, but her prescription will be running out soon. Not sure what we're going to do if she's not regular yet at the end of the prescription! I guess visit the Dr. again. We pulled out some more toys for Emerson. She enjoys standing up at the couch, so we brought up a few more standing toys!
Blake is also enjoying the toys we brought up from the basement!! It's pretty funny to see him hunched over pushing the walker around!!! He's had a few hard days with this cold. Just overtired and a bit cranky :( He didn't have much fun at preschool yesterday. We were debating taking him, but he already missed one when we were on vacation, so we took him. Hopefully next week he'll be feeling better and back to having fun!! He's cracking us up lately with his use of the word something. For example, he says, "What's this Mom? A tractor or something?" So if he doesn't know exactly what an object is he'll say, "or something?" LOL!! Or if someone is upset he might say, "Emerson not happy or something?" But something sounds like sometin!! This morning he put a toy in the trunk of his ride on car so the seat was tipped up, climbed on and said, "I riding my motorbike Mom!" And then he said, "I need a helmet" and went and put on his hockey helmet!!! I laughed SO hard, it was so funny!!! The only way I could get a picture was to tell him that Dad and Grandpa would want to see!! He's just too cute :)
I had an ultrasound appointment yesterday. My Dr. thinks I might have gull stones (or is it gallstones?!), so hopefully the ultrasound will confirm/deny that. I should hear in a few days. Cal worked from home yesterday so I didn't have to take the kids with me to the appointment. It's nice to have him home! But when he goes back to work Blake's not too happy!! This morning he wanted Dad to get him up and changed and dressed and then he said he wanted Dad to read the Daddy book!! He always wants Cal to read the Mercer Mayer, Just Me and My Dad book to him! Followed by the New Baby book and Grandma and Grandpa Love Their RV! Such a man of routine, Blake is!!!
We hope everyone is having a good week and keeping warm! Take care :)
Luv Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bye, bye summer! Time to slow down ...
And what a great summer it was!! Today Cal headed back to work :( He was off for 18 days!!! And with his return to work, also comes the end of our summer! Officially, fall begins at 3:18 pm. All of our camping trips are over for the '09 season and our calendar is looking a bit clearer. Which is a good thing ... I guess!! We still have lots of exciting events coming up, we just won't be quite as busy as the past few months!
We would like to send a great big congratulations out to Cal's brother Gerry and his wife Lesley and son Colby!!! They welcomed a baby girl, Jenna Ann, to their family on September 21 at 9:39 am. Jenna was 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 3/4 " long! We were lucky enough to meet her yesterday afternoon! She is adorable and looks quite a bit like her big brother!! We could not believe that Blake and Emerson were once that small :( Crazy how fast you forget. We can't wait to visit again and cuddle Jenna :0) We wish Lesley a speedy recovery from her c-section and I am personally sending all my patience vibes her way!!!! I don't have much to share, but know how many you need with a newborn and 22 month old at home!
So as I mentioned earlier, we are slowing down quite a bit from previous months! Blake is still attending My First Preschool at the YMCA on Monday mornings and other than that we have no scheduled programs. Blake starts swimming lessons again at the end of October and we are going to start swimming with Emerson soon too! I still might register for Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn at the library, but I'm not so sure the time will work for us. It starts at 10:15 and Em is usually getting up from her morning nap around that time. It will be nice when she's down to one nap a day - that way we'll have the morning free at least!!
Today is the first day in many weeks that we've been home without something going on and I think Blake is enjoying it!! He's having fun playing with his trucks and trains and having a "lazy" day! He plays so great by himself and with Emerson. I love watching them "play" together! He's so great with her and really tries to include her! I sit her in the toy area and he gets the nursing pillow and puts it behind her and piles up her toys in front of her!! After awhile, he usually gives her one of his trucks as well - but not at first!!! Emerson is getting more and more fun as the days pass. She's enjoying playing with toys more now and loves jumping in her Jumperoo! She can stand at the couch for a few seconds by herself and enjoys it quite a bit! She still doesn't like being on her tummy. I wonder if maybe she won't crawl? We'll see!! She's eating more and more each day, but is still having #2 issues! Hoping that clears up really soon. I don't want her to be on Lactulose forever. No teeth yet, but there is one very, very near the surface.
Cal had a golf tournament Thursday afternoon/evening, so my Dad babysat the kids for a few hours while my Mom, Lindsay, Kelly and I were at the Tim McGraw concert and he was golfing. Blake thought it was pretty funny that Grandpa had to change his poopy diaper!!! Poor Grandpa doesn't care too much for diaper changes! But he's a great Grandpa and he toughed it out - Thanks Dad :) (and not just for changing the poopy diaper! lol!) The concert was SO GOOD!! Much better than the last time we saw him at Commonwealth. And Cal won an IPOD Touch at the golf tourney!! Tonight I'm going to Keith Urban with my friend Renee ... CAN'T WAIT!!!
I hope everyone had a fabulous summer and here's to an even better fall!
xoxo Tracy
We would like to send a great big congratulations out to Cal's brother Gerry and his wife Lesley and son Colby!!! They welcomed a baby girl, Jenna Ann, to their family on September 21 at 9:39 am. Jenna was 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 3/4 " long! We were lucky enough to meet her yesterday afternoon! She is adorable and looks quite a bit like her big brother!! We could not believe that Blake and Emerson were once that small :( Crazy how fast you forget. We can't wait to visit again and cuddle Jenna :0) We wish Lesley a speedy recovery from her c-section and I am personally sending all my patience vibes her way!!!! I don't have much to share, but know how many you need with a newborn and 22 month old at home!
So as I mentioned earlier, we are slowing down quite a bit from previous months! Blake is still attending My First Preschool at the YMCA on Monday mornings and other than that we have no scheduled programs. Blake starts swimming lessons again at the end of October and we are going to start swimming with Emerson soon too! I still might register for Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn at the library, but I'm not so sure the time will work for us. It starts at 10:15 and Em is usually getting up from her morning nap around that time. It will be nice when she's down to one nap a day - that way we'll have the morning free at least!!
Today is the first day in many weeks that we've been home without something going on and I think Blake is enjoying it!! He's having fun playing with his trucks and trains and having a "lazy" day! He plays so great by himself and with Emerson. I love watching them "play" together! He's so great with her and really tries to include her! I sit her in the toy area and he gets the nursing pillow and puts it behind her and piles up her toys in front of her!! After awhile, he usually gives her one of his trucks as well - but not at first!!! Emerson is getting more and more fun as the days pass. She's enjoying playing with toys more now and loves jumping in her Jumperoo! She can stand at the couch for a few seconds by herself and enjoys it quite a bit! She still doesn't like being on her tummy. I wonder if maybe she won't crawl? We'll see!! She's eating more and more each day, but is still having #2 issues! Hoping that clears up really soon. I don't want her to be on Lactulose forever. No teeth yet, but there is one very, very near the surface.
Cal had a golf tournament Thursday afternoon/evening, so my Dad babysat the kids for a few hours while my Mom, Lindsay, Kelly and I were at the Tim McGraw concert and he was golfing. Blake thought it was pretty funny that Grandpa had to change his poopy diaper!!! Poor Grandpa doesn't care too much for diaper changes! But he's a great Grandpa and he toughed it out - Thanks Dad :) (and not just for changing the poopy diaper! lol!) The concert was SO GOOD!! Much better than the last time we saw him at Commonwealth. And Cal won an IPOD Touch at the golf tourney!! Tonight I'm going to Keith Urban with my friend Renee ... CAN'T WAIT!!!
I hope everyone had a fabulous summer and here's to an even better fall!
xoxo Tracy
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Emerson's Baptism
Today (September 20th) Emerson was baptised at Pilgrim United Church in Edmonton. It was a very nice service and a wonderful day. Church began at 11 am and the Baptism was at the end of the service. We got a little bit nervous towards the end of the service because Emerson was starting to get tired, but thankfully it was time to go up for the Baptism and she was a little angel! We were given the Baptismal Candle and everyone who attended church today signed an "I witnessed your Baptism" sheet for us to have as a keepsake. After church everyone came back to our house for lunch. Em did pretty good all day, although the effects of missing an afternoon nap began to show for Emerson and Blake! We had a great day with friends and family!
XOXOX
Tracy
XOXOX
Tracy
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
7 Months Old!
Just a quick update on Emerson's 7 month pediatrician check-up. She weighs 16 lbs and is 24.8" long. She is in the 25th percentile for weight, 10th percentile for height and her head circumference is in the 5th percentile! Quite a little girl :) I'm hoping she might gain a bit of height in the years to come!! I'm sure she won't be tall by any means, but I hope she's at least as tall as her Mommy!!! The appointment went really well. I had a whole two page document written out about her #2 problems!, as well as some other concerns we had. Dr. Radisic was so great, took a lot of time to answer all my questions and then some! He wrote us a prescription for more lactulose and increased her dose. That combined with some prune juice will hopefully get things moving again and her body will adjust to the solid foods and all will be well! I had heard that the baby cereals have a lot of iron in them and can sometimes cause constipation, but Dr. Radisic said they don't have enough iron in them to cause constipation, so don't cut back on the cereal! Which I had done - I started giving her cereal once a day instead of twice a day. So I was happy with what we were told and hopefully everything will straighten out within the next few months. We will wean her off of the lactulose slowly, if everything goes well. I also talked to the Dr. about her lack of rolling and not enjoying her stomach, so he did a few different strength tests and muscle tests and said everything is fine, she's actually very strong! Get this ... she's just stubborn!! Surprise, surprise ... wonder where she gets that from?! She's been stubborn since before she was even born! Dr. Radisic is happy with how she's sitting up and reaching for things and transferring objects from hand to hand, so hopefully when she decides she wants to move she'll figure out she has to be on her stomach to crawl!!! Happy hump day :) Enjoy this above average September weather!!
Tracy
Tracy
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Home Sweet Home
We arrived home this afternoon :) It is nice to be home and we're all glad to be sleeping in our "house beds" tonight! Overall we had a fabulous vacation!
From Salmon Arm, we drove to Banff for a one night stay at the Tunnel Mountain campground just outside town. We arrived pretty early in the day on Saturday. Emerson, my Mom and I headed into town to do some shopping, while the boys stayed back at the campsite. The shopping in Banff is fantastic! There are a lot of very nice stores. It was a very, very hot day in Banff and we were thankful it wasn't that hot the entire vacation!
Sunday morning we packed up bright and early and left the campsite for the Calgary zoo. At this point in time we also said good bye to my Mom and Dad. It was a bit sad to part ways!! We had so much fun with them and look forward to vacationing together again! As we were driving into Calgary my friend Candace called to say they were home from their camping trip, so we detoured to their house in Okotoks. We were going to be heading to their place after the zoo, but instead got there around 10 am and had a full day visiting with Candace, Brandon, Nicholas, Lindsey and Parker! I was very excited to see everyone and meet baby Parker :) We parked our trailer behind Candace's house and stayed for 2 nights. It was so, so, SO nice to spend some time with Candace and Lindsey and their families!! We rarely get to see each other and often when we do it's only for a couple of hours. Nicholas and Blake were best of buds in no time and had lots of fun playing and goofing around!! They were so cute together! I wish we lived closer to each other :( One day hopefully!!
On Monday we went to the Calgary zoo with the Hrdlicka's. The weather was great and the zoo wasn't too crowded. Blake took a few minutes to warm up to the animals, but when he did he had a great time! He seemed at bit worried at first that they were going to get him!! Such a cautious little guy! We almost covered the whole zoo - we were there for 5 hours!! It was lots of fun watching the boys run around and have a great time. I was hoping Candace would go into labour with all that walking, but no such luck! LOL!
We left Okotoks early this morning and here we are home again! Cal is off for another week, so we're going to enjoy our time around home as well! And we're already planning our next camping vacation for the summer of '10! Can't wait! In the mean time, we are getting excited for our next vacation - Lindsay and Jeremy's wedding in Las Vegas! YAY!! Just over two months away!!!
Tomorrow Emerson has her 6 month pediatrician appointment, yes it's at 7 months! Hopefully Dr. Radisic will offer some help with her bowel issues. The Lactulose doesn't seem to be working very well anymore. Thursday Cal has a golf tournament and Lindsay is coming over. She is bringing Heidi home and we are going to the Tim McGraw concert with my Mom and a friend hers. I can not wait for Tim McGraw!! Then on Friday, Lindsay and I are going to pick up the bridesmaid dresses! I'm so excited to see them!! Sunday we have Emerson's baptism, so Saturday we'll likely be doing a lot of cleaning and preparing. Monday Blake has preschool in the morning and we will be anxiously awaiting the details of the arrival of our new niece!!! Gerry, Lesley and Colby will be welcoming a new addition to their family on Monday via planned c-section! We can't wait to hear all the details and meet the little princess :)
I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys this wonderful weather! Talk to you soon ;)
Love Tracy
From Salmon Arm, we drove to Banff for a one night stay at the Tunnel Mountain campground just outside town. We arrived pretty early in the day on Saturday. Emerson, my Mom and I headed into town to do some shopping, while the boys stayed back at the campsite. The shopping in Banff is fantastic! There are a lot of very nice stores. It was a very, very hot day in Banff and we were thankful it wasn't that hot the entire vacation!
Sunday morning we packed up bright and early and left the campsite for the Calgary zoo. At this point in time we also said good bye to my Mom and Dad. It was a bit sad to part ways!! We had so much fun with them and look forward to vacationing together again! As we were driving into Calgary my friend Candace called to say they were home from their camping trip, so we detoured to their house in Okotoks. We were going to be heading to their place after the zoo, but instead got there around 10 am and had a full day visiting with Candace, Brandon, Nicholas, Lindsey and Parker! I was very excited to see everyone and meet baby Parker :) We parked our trailer behind Candace's house and stayed for 2 nights. It was so, so, SO nice to spend some time with Candace and Lindsey and their families!! We rarely get to see each other and often when we do it's only for a couple of hours. Nicholas and Blake were best of buds in no time and had lots of fun playing and goofing around!! They were so cute together! I wish we lived closer to each other :( One day hopefully!!
On Monday we went to the Calgary zoo with the Hrdlicka's. The weather was great and the zoo wasn't too crowded. Blake took a few minutes to warm up to the animals, but when he did he had a great time! He seemed at bit worried at first that they were going to get him!! Such a cautious little guy! We almost covered the whole zoo - we were there for 5 hours!! It was lots of fun watching the boys run around and have a great time. I was hoping Candace would go into labour with all that walking, but no such luck! LOL!
We left Okotoks early this morning and here we are home again! Cal is off for another week, so we're going to enjoy our time around home as well! And we're already planning our next camping vacation for the summer of '10! Can't wait! In the mean time, we are getting excited for our next vacation - Lindsay and Jeremy's wedding in Las Vegas! YAY!! Just over two months away!!!
Tomorrow Emerson has her 6 month pediatrician appointment, yes it's at 7 months! Hopefully Dr. Radisic will offer some help with her bowel issues. The Lactulose doesn't seem to be working very well anymore. Thursday Cal has a golf tournament and Lindsay is coming over. She is bringing Heidi home and we are going to the Tim McGraw concert with my Mom and a friend hers. I can not wait for Tim McGraw!! Then on Friday, Lindsay and I are going to pick up the bridesmaid dresses! I'm so excited to see them!! Sunday we have Emerson's baptism, so Saturday we'll likely be doing a lot of cleaning and preparing. Monday Blake has preschool in the morning and we will be anxiously awaiting the details of the arrival of our new niece!!! Gerry, Lesley and Colby will be welcoming a new addition to their family on Monday via planned c-section! We can't wait to hear all the details and meet the little princess :)
I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys this wonderful weather! Talk to you soon ;)
Love Tracy
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