Mexico

Just about a week ago we got home from spending a wonderful week in Puerto Vallarta. It was such a nice escape from the busyness of life for a week. We went with my stepdad, his kids, and a stepcousin and her mom. Sadly, my sister and her hubby were not able to join us, as she was not feeling well enough to come and was a little worried, wanting to take extra careful care of baby-to-be (due in March!). It was a happy and sad trip, as it was a trip we were going to take with my mom this fall, so we all decided that she would have wanted us to go and enjoy ourselves, so we went with thoughts of her with us. It was a very nice opportunity to spend time with that part of our family and get to know each other even better. Everyone had a great time, Lewis liked playing in the sand (but not too close to the water...) and Jaina spent most of the week jumping into the swimming pool and practicing her swimming. We had beautiful sunny weather every day and nice warm evenings. Having lots of relatives around was nice too because Matt and I had a few opportunities to be out together while someone stayed with the kids in our room.

Now that we're back life is in full swing as usual, as we realize it's time to get ready for Christmas! In the interests of time, I am going to try something new and hope it works. I have two full albums of Mexico pictures on Facebook, and hopefully clicking on these links will take you to the photos if you would like to view them.

Mexico Photos Album 1

Mexico Photos Album 2


If this works maybe I will post more often as I seem to spend most of my time when I post making and adding slideshows or uploading pictures.
Michelle :)

And that was October...

Life is just staying as busy as ever, leaving little to no time to keep up with things like the blog. So here's a quick update: Had a nice Thanksgiving in Lethbridge, celebrated Jaina's birthday (far too many times, but it always seems to go like that with hers - friend party, family dinner, down to visit family... etc) and then Halloween. So now our little girl is 5. How time flies. And we also couldn't believe the exceptionally warm Halloween we had this year - it must have been about 10 degrees C for trick or treating. It's a rare year when kids can wear their tights without a snowsuit underneath!! Here are some pictures to show our highlights of this month:

Growing Up

Well as probably any of you who are actually reading this blog know it has been a crazy summer for us, some very bad and some good. We hope to post some before and after pictures of the new house soon, but that's not what today' s post is about. Today, it is about how fast the kids are growing up before our very eyes. On the weekend, Lewis celebrated his 2nd birthday. He is more like a child than a baby every day (although he does have some "baby" habits that we hope don't follow him right to adulthood, such as his extreme soother attachment! - he is the only child I've seen try to climb INTO his crib, because the soother was in there, and he was scaling the outside yelling "hold it, hold it!!"...) But besides a few things, he is becoming a walking, talking, running, yelling machine, who every morning announces his grand intentions for the day, to "pay toys" and can't wait to get downstairs to his cars, train table, and other toys. We planned to have a BBQ with close family to celebrate his special day, but as on the day he was born, the weather was cold and rainy so the party moved inside. But it was nice to have family celebrate his birthday with us, minus one special Grandma who was missed very much...
The birthday boy:As part of the long weekend, Jason, Michaelia and Oscar came down from Edmonton and we enjoyed a family outing to the Zoo. Here is a picture of the three cousins, Oscar you can see too is growing up quickly, he celebrated his first birthday at the beginning of August.Two days after Lewis' birthday, Jaina began Kindergarten! It's hard to believe she is almost 5 already. We are loving the location of our new house, it's just a 5 minute walk to the school. Jaina is in French Immersion and has already learned a couple of french words (and has many more of her own invention...) She has already also met 2 girls in her class who live right down the street from us. It's been a bit of an adjustment having to be ready to leave the house shortly after 8 am, as we're sure 5 mornings a week of school will be. But so far after the first 2 days she is loving school and we hope that continues. Here are a couple of pictures from the first day of school:

Relay for Life

Last weekend I participated in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life. My sister and I co-captained a team made up of a few friends and family members. We wanted to raise money to support our mom in her fight and for all the other people we and others know that have battled this disease. It turned out to be a rain-soaked night, but we still managed to have a really great time. The event was well planned and there was lots to do all night in between laps of the track. My sister, her friend, and I even managed to actually stay up all night without as much difficulty as we thought. There was a parade at the beginning where cancer survivors marched, and then a parade of teams with their costumes.

This is the survivors parade, and this is my Auntie Carole walking in it, beside the lady with the red umbrella!

Our team was called the Fighting Females (and we even made it onto the Global news as we marched in the opening parade!!) My favourite thing about it was the luminaries, that people could purchase in memorial to loved ones, to encourage those fighting cancer, and to celebrate survivors. When they were all lit up at night along the relay track it was beautiful and they were very touching to read. Our team did an awesome job fundraising, we raised over $3000 total! Despite the bad weather, most of us look forward to putting together a team for next year. Most of the pictures above were taken by my sister's friend Shauna who was brave enough to bring her camera out in the rain. Here are a few other pictures (none of the pictures do justice to the amount of rain that was pouring down):

My stepsister Bobbi and I inside the tent:

Veronica and two of her friends staying dry under the Fan 960 canopy which we were squatters in when they weren't there, because it was right next to our assigned "campsite":
Tirian and I hanging out in the warm, dry food and beverage tent:
The six team members who toughed it out and were still there at the closing after breakfast! Way to go girls! There are lots of Relay for Life events around Alberta and Canada in the next few weeks. If you know anyone taking part, please support them (or think about doing it yourself). Everyone knows someone affected by cancer. And thanks to all those who supported me and our team!

Ballet Lessons anyone?

So, I have much more important things to post about which I won't say much about yet (such as the purchase of a new house and putting ours up on the market! ... more to post later when things calm down.)

However, this was just too funny to let go. We have been super busy, decluttering our house and keeping it tidy for showings. So, I know we put most of the toys in the storage room, but honestly. I came upstairs Saturday morning to see this sight at the top of the stairs:Well, as Jaina explained, if you're going to play ballet teacher you need a student. So she had put this on Lewis (and I think Daddy even helped with the sleeves, if you can believe it). He was happier than anything just to be included, and he does love her "Bella Dancerella" DVD. It was hilarious and just too entertaining, so of course we switched the camera to video mode. So here, for your viewing pleasure if you care to watch, is 3 1/2 minutes of "Ballet School":



This morning she had him all dressed up in the tutu again. Is this becoming a new game? I wonder if I should be worried?...

p.s. see last post for a newly added video of Lewis when he first learned to walk

Walking, Egg Hunting, Etc.

I have very good intentions of updating this blog more than once a month but then, you know how busy life can be. So I will try to update briefly (who am I kidding, they never end up brief...)

1. Finally, he walks! After walking around with a death grip on our fingers for the past few weeks, Lewis discovered that he could, in fact, walk all by himself. It only took a few days to go from his tentative wobbly steps to running away from us and actually not even wanting to hold our hands! It probably helped that we were visiting the Grandmas and Grandpas and he had lots of attention. I keep meaning to put together a little video montage of him walking, and it's still on the to do list, so maybe someday...

(May 12 - here it finally is, old news now, you should see him run! But thought the video remix should still be posted!)




2. We spent Easter weekend in Lethbridge. It was a really nice visit and the kids had lots of fun. Jaina went mini-golfing with Papa O. and they also had a great Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Here are some pictures of the Easter activities:

3. After spending Easter in Lethbridge, Matt headed back to work and the kids and I spent the rest of the week in Taber visiting Grandma and Papa K. It was a nice relaxing time and the kids had lots of fun continuing to be spoiled by Grandparents. One highlight was that Grandma and I took Jaina to see "Horton Hears A Who". It was only the second time she's been to the movies and she had lots of fun. Also good was the news that my mom got from her doctor, that the chemo seems to have done what they expected and she doesn't even have to go back to see him until October (which is great news considering he originally said he expected her to need chemo again in September). We are all glad to hear that, my mom is feeling quite well, and they are planning to take their postponed trip to Europe this summer.

4. Also in March Jaina finished up with her ballet and gymnastics. Here are a few cute pictures of her:














But the busyness never seems to end. Preschool is as busy and fun as ever for Jaina, with field trips this month to go bowling and to a fire station. This month both the kids are taking swimming lessons (Jaina in her own class, Lewis in a mom and tot class with me) which looks like will keep us quite busy. When those are over Jaina will be starting soccer sometime in May, which should be interesting as it will be her first experience on a team (and she has some very definite and unique ideas of her own about the rules of soccer and how teams work).

4. As for us, Matt has been quite busy painting most of the rooms in our house as we are still trying to make a decision on whether to try to move or not, as well as being on call quite a bit for work. He is also hoping the Flames make it into the playoffs and looks forward to going to a few games. I did not work out a job share for next year, so am now going to see what's available to apply for part-time. That is plan B and if it does not work out we are also fairly comfortable with plan C (going on the sub list) or even plan D (continuing to stay out of the work field while Lewis is still young). So lots may or may not be happening over the next few months - I will be quite glad when some of these major decisions have been worked out and at least we know what life will be like in the fall.

Valentines and Visits

Happy belated Valentine's Day to you all!












Well it has again been another busy month. We were lucky on Valentine's Day to have Matt's parents in town, they babysat for us and we went out for a very nice dinner date together. Jaina had fun playing with her Grandma and Papa Olfert. The next morning we took Grandma Olfert to the Zoo, meeting up with Kristie, Devun and Katie. It was a gorgeous warm day (and we were having so much fun that we didn't take any pictures! Oops!)

Then on Sunday of the long weekend I took the kids down to Taber to visit my mom for the week. We had a nice relaxing week there. Jaina kept Grandma K very busy with crafts, making pictures and dying Easter eggs, and Grandma baked homemade bread with her. Jaina also went in the hot tub at least once a day, either with me or her Papa (sometimes twice a day - she is a little fish!). The weather was really nice and we had a trip into Lethbridge for haircuts and shopping, and we went down to the Taber park to use their nice outdoor skating rink and play on the playground.

Since returning home, we have tried to mostly stay out of the way as Matt put a new coat of paint on the main floor, looks like new now! The weather was fantastic this past week and we have taken a few walks to the park and down the street to watch the new houses being built - all the big machinery is quite exciting for the kids. I'm sure the construction workers think I'm crazy just standing there watching, but the kids love it. Lewis continues to grow up at an astonishing speed, now he can say quite a few words and has proven that he in fact can walk a few steps from one person over to another. Sadly, he has also shown us that 95% of the time, he chooses not to do so, smiling and dropping to his knees to crawl over. He is very impressed with his ability to communicate and does spend some time upstairs on the carpet pushing Jaina's doll stroller. When we were out for our walks he spent a little time pushing the stroller and walking alongside me holding my hand. I am going to try to get a few videos of him and put them together for a post, sometime soon.

Here is a slideshow of a few pictures, some from earlier in the month at home, and most from our visit to Taber:

Fang (Not Again!)

I guess Lewis has earned a new nickname - Fang. The little turkey broke his other front tooth! So now my former little cutie-patootie is going to look like he has fangs until he's about 7 and they fall out (although I do agree with the dentist - with his track record, no point getting any cosmetic repairs...) The sad part is, we aren't even sure when he did it (great parents, we know). We noticed last Sunday a little while after he had another face-smashing fall while crawling on the floor, although Matt saw it and said he did not hit his mouth, just his forehead. He could have done it the Wednesday before when he got his black eye, maybe I was so concerned with the eye that I missed the tooth! (I say if he'd just learn to walk, maybe his face would stop smashing into the floor when he slipped, although maybe having further to fall will prove even more dangerous to him!). This time, he had to have X-rays at the dentist (not fun or easy) which couldn't tell much because despite all the restraint he still moved a bit. His one tooth on top is a bit loose, as is a bottom one, but the dentist said not to worry about it unless they bother him. Honestly, in the past 3 months we've seen her more than the doctor!

Here is another picture to make you smile. This was all Jaina's doing, she wanted to wear these, we are not that paranoid as parents (hey, where's the helmet??!!). I think I could title it Extreme Wii:

'Twas A Month After Christmas

... and we still hadn't blogged! You'd think that life would slow down in January, or maybe we're just exhausted from all the December madness, but apparently I've been too busy to get a blog done even about Christmas holidays (and after being so good in Dec...).

Anyways, we had a very good time down in Lethbridge and Taber with family over the holidays. We spent time in Lethbridge with Matt's parents, and Jason, Michaelia and Oscar. Matt's mom and dad hosted an Olfert family get together where we got to catch up with some cousins, aunts and uncles we hadn't seen for a while (and meet brand-new Katie!). We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day there too, then headed out to Taber for some more celebrating and time with Michelle's family. It was a good holiday, although Lewis managed to be sick over the 23, 24, 25th, just in time for all the celebrations (but, it seems to happen at those times. Was kind of reminiscent of Jaina's ear infection/bronchitis Christmas when she was 2...) Fortunately he got better for our stay in Taber.

Christmas Eve:
Best Present Ever! Dollhouse, handmade by Papa Olfert:
Christmas pj's in Taber:
We then headed back to Calgary to celebrate New Year's here, with Matt's parents, Jason, Michaelia, and Oscar, as well as Aunt Delores and Uncle Allen from BC. The guys went to the Flames game that night and then we had a chocolate fondue and games back at our house. New Year's Day we enjoyed a brunch together and then some shopping and relaxing. (Michaelia has some great pictures of the kids and family on New Year's Day, but I still have to get them from her...)

Oscar, Lewis and Jaina on New Year's Eve:

Now January is almost over and we're back in the swing of things. Jaina is busy with preschool and another session of gymnastics, and has just started a short 8 week "Tiny Ballerinas" class. Lewis has (finally) been practicing standing up all on his own (no furniture), so walking can't be far away now. He fell under our kitchen table yesterday (I think he was just crawling even, and slipped again) and this time gave himself somewhat of a black eye on the big wooden leg of our table. But no broken teeth this time. He is getting to be quite the climber as well, up onto the couch whenever Jaina has a cushion off, stairs if we have even a momentary lapse of forgetting to put the gate back on, or onto any toys he can. He has also sustained a few loud bumps to the head falling over and off things this month, but they don't seem to slow him down even for 5 minutes.

Fun in January: Yesterday there was finally no wind and it was quite "warm" out so we took the toboggan over to the park for some fun (which, unfortunately, deteriorated into much frustration for Jaina trying to pull the sled up the hill and get it to turn, but the fresh air and exercise were nice...).

Meeting Oscar

Michaelia and Oscar arrived at our house on Friday. We were so excited to finally meet our very first nephew and cousin, Oscar! Lewis and Jaina both adored him (as did his Auntie and Uncle), and Oscar was smiling at them too. Auntie Michaelia took Jaina to see her very first movie, Enchanted. They had a great time, and Michelle and Lewis had fun hanging out with Oscar. Here's a video of Lewis kissing Oscar:


Jason arrived Friday night, and Saturday we met up with Matt and Jason's parents at Heritage Park for the 12 Days of Christmas. It was a delicious brunch and a fun morning. Here are some photos:

Jaina and Papa Olfert playing with the hay

Lewis and Grandma Olfert Jaina and her decorated cookie (there is in fact a cookie under there!) Michaelia also took a photo of the whole family:
We are now looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Lethbridge and then Taber with family.

Festival of Lights

On Friday night we went to the Festival of Lights out in Airdrie with my sister Veronica and her hubby Chris. We had never been before and thought we'd check it out. It ended up being quite chilly, but beautiful and we had a good time. Here are some pictures:Jaina and Auntie Veronica

Christmas Party

On Sunday, we took the kids to Matt's work Christmas party. Just like last year, they had awesome activities for the kids. We all had a good time, here are some pictures:
Jaina and Matt with one of Santa's reindeer:

Family photo (sans photographer):
Cookie decorating:

Trying to grab cookie:
Santa was there to see the kids. Jaina was great this year (after all, how can you tell Santa what you want for Christmas if you don't sit on his lap??), but Lewis freaked, so we got a family photo done: Santa brought gifts!

Lewis remembers what to do with them...

First Real Snow

Yesterday afternoon we went outside to enjoy the first substantial snow of the season. I think we may have almost spent longer putting all the winter clothes on than we were outside! It was quite fun and I took lots of pictures because this is Lewis' first real winter, last year we either played outside while he was napping or he was in the bucket carseat so covered up that he couldn't even see out the blankets. At first he wasn't sure what to do but then he was crawling around and of course, trying to eat the snow. Here is a slideshow, and then a video of him laughing his funny little laugh as Jaina throws snow up in the air.

And, for your amusement, a video of our little Guitar Hero singing a song, complete with the moves she must have picked up from watching Matt play: