the white house

CUBA

2008-05-03T09:41:00.001-07:00

So, Sky and I took a much needed vacation. We flew my mom and sister out to take care of the kids for the week and off we went. It was a great time, just spending time together, doing whatever, whenever. Aside from soaking up the sun on the beach, we also did some extra things like going on a jeep safari, an all-day catamaran, swam with dolphins, rented a scooter etc. It was great to go, great to come home (although Zaeli didn't recognize us), and looking forward to the next time!

zaeli's 1st birthday

2008-04-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well, that baby girl of ours has turned 1!!! She wasn't feeling well on the day of her party so she wanted nothing to do with the cake, so no fun cake pictures. But, after the party some of us headed to the Fairmont Hot Springs and from the time I opened the change room door her arms and legs were flapping with excitement. She LOVES the pool and turned into a happy camper. She still not walking...actually I should say she's refusing to walk. She'll stand in middle of the room looking at a book or playing with a toy but will refuse to walk. At one point she was taking several steps but now she'll just stand, get angry, sit down gingerly and crawl wherever she wants to go. She's trying words though...dada, mama, shoe, theo (sounds more like shhhh). We're not really doing much signing with her but she does have one sign and that is the sign for 'uncle'. She adores uncle Kevin and is thrilled when he comes home from work. She loves the outdoors. One morning she led me to the back door and grabbed onto the doorknob, when I told her no, it's too cold, she went into hysterics and literally cried for over 20 minutes. So, as we've observed before, we have a little princess on our hands who knows what she wants. But we love her, she has an infectious laugh and is quick to do so, especially if you're chasing her.

zaeli at 11months

2008-02-29T20:22:00.000-08:00

(I'm having a bit of problem uploading pictures so this will be all for today)

Zaeli is getting more and more mischievious. She's not walking on her own yet, but will push anything and everything around the house. We often find her half way up the stairs...I guess we ought to teach her how to get down. We think her first word is 'backpack'...not really but she babbles and the most frequent sound is similar to 'backpack'. Those of you familiar with Dora the Explorer will find that amusing. She's becoming tough to feed...like I need another kid like that. No more baby food for her... I think she's also in the process of giving up her morning nap. Hard to believe it's that time already. She also likes to point her finger at you and babble away...who knows what she's trying to say!

The first weekend in February we had our first mini family vacation and we headed down to Spokane for a weekend of shopping and relaxing. The kids really enjoyed it and even did quite well with the drive.

10 months for Zaeli

2008-01-29T19:48:00.001-08:00

Well, already time for another update. Zaeli is working on tooth #9. She's also trying the walking thing. Today out of the corner of my eye I saw a chair moving quickly by....it was Zaeli holding onto the chair and walking. She's so pleased with herself and giggles. Theo and Zaeli often laugh and giggle, he's great at entertaining her. I went out to start the car the other morning and came back in to them sitting opposite each other and Theo saying 'Ok Zaeli, we're going play the clapping game...' and they clapped.

Theo's Birthday/Moving/Christmas/Zaeli's 9 months

2008-01-03T15:26:00.001-08:00

9 months.

Not yet complete...still needs some siding and cedar shakes.

Theo's 3rd Birthday.

Woah...what a crazy month....

On the 15th Theo turned 3 and we moved into our new home. What a crazy day...but by the end of the day we had the tree up and christmas lights on the house. The next day we had a 'Cars' birthday party with 24 people...nothing like breaking in the house. Then 4 days later we flew to Ontario for 10 days, then made a detour on the way back to go to Sky's parents for 2 days. Then we arrived home... Now we need a vacation.

Amidst all that Zaeli turned 9 months. She's is working on her 7th tooth...possibly 8th...I just noticed. She pulls herself up anywhere and everywhere...she's a speedy crawler and has discovered something even faster than crawling...walking while holding onto our fingers. So there go our backs until she can manage to take her own steps. She's a happy little girl, very ready to smile and laugh. She's had an extremely runny nose for the past 2 weeks but I'm thinking the teeth may have something to do with that.

Oh...and I turned 30 today! Yikes! Luckily I can't remember the day I turned 20 so I'm thinking at that rate turning 40 is FAR FAR away and when it comes, today will be a distant memory.

Zaeli is 8 months...and moving!

2007-12-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, time for another update. Zaeli is now on the move. She's crawling...quick at going backwards...a little slower on the forwards. She's also starting to pull herself up...not to her feet but to her knees. So she's become dangerous...pulling chairs over and crawling near the stairs. She also has 2 more teeth...and is saying 'mama'. But not necessarily with meaning.

Update on Theo: He's potty trained!!!!! He decided it was time...so it's been quite a pleasant experience. We're thrilled...

AND...it's time to move!!! Next Saturday we hope to move into our new house. The trim isn't all up and neither is the hardware on our cupboards but most definitely liveable and this means we can spend evenings together as a family again. YEAH!!! We're excited.

zaeli is 7 months

2007-10-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Zaeli sitting pretty.

Zaeli working on her clapping skills.

Zaeli and Mama.

Wonder which team she likes?!

Working on crawling techniques.

Again, hard to believe 7 months have already passed. Zaeli is a pro star at sitting now...she's working on crawling. She can go backwards a long ways (on her belly that is), the forward thing she has difficulty with. She's been quite cranky so we clap to distract her so she's taken to clapping herself. She's not a fan of eatting solids...we've managed to empty only 2 little jars of veggies...one of squash and one of carrots. So, now we have 2 kids who believe that eatting is WAY overrated. Sigh...

zaeli is 6 months

2007-09-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

Zaeli working on perfecting the art of sitting

Zaeli loving on Jacob.

Zaeli loves mum-mums.

Zaeli is 6 months and 18 lbs. 9 oz. She's still working on the whole idea of sitting...I think she'll be a crawler. Today I caught her on her hands and knees...before she collapsed to her belly. She's not nearly as advanced as Theo...he was working on walking while holding onto fingers at this point. But they are very different. According to 'the book' Zaeli is a spirited/touchy baby, and Theo was a angel/textbook baby. Zaeli is in a stage where she shrieks...she could be happy, she could be mad. Theo just covers his ears.

zoo day

2007-09-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I packed up the kids and we headed to the Calgary Zoo with some friends. There were 21 of us!! And a large age range as well. The day was nice... I think it took 17 of us to run after Theo, Koen and Kace. The boys seemed to have had a great time. The animals didn't seem to matter much...they just got to run together! Theo really misses Koen and Kace.

zaeli is 5 months

2007-09-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it's this time already. Zaeli continues to grow and learn new things. The big accomplishment of the month was sitting. She doesn't do so for long...but she can do it. She thinks her brother is the greatest and is quite entertained by his silliness. He is able to get lots of giggles out of her.

trip to ontario

2007-08-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

We just spent two weeks in Ontario with my (Karen's) family. We spent the first night with friends, Nate and Heather then headed to a family reunion on my mom's side. There were 87 people there, only 12 people were missing from Canada and 90+ were missing from Mexico. That's just my uncles, aunts, cousins and cousin's kids. Zaeli is something like the 96th great-grandchild (I'm not sure of her exact number). Wish my Grandparents could see their family now, both have passed away. Anyway, that was a great time, lots of eatting, visiting, eatting and visiting. Then we spent the rest of the time at my parents mostly. We did manage to get to our friends cabin on Caliper Lake for an afternoon, which was nice. The kids enjoyed being the center of attention for 2 weeks. Now it's back to reality.

Harry Potter, so important.

Theo with his 2nd cousins.

Zaeli wanting watermelon.

Theo, Alex, Abby & Zaeli.

Theo with MY cousins.

Little boat on big lake...

something new...

2007-08-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, time for a new blog. I could no longer add pictures to our former blog, and who wants to read blogs without pictures?? Well, I guess they're not that bad, but pictures are good I think. Anyway, I'll write my monthly update next week but I'll post Zaeli's 4 month picture as that was missed due to not being able to add pictures.