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On Sunday we joined some of our friends on a 5 km walk/run to help support Peace Arch Hospital. We had a good time with Morgan actually running the hilly route while some of us from the mommy gang with dads and strollers brought up the rear. One of the moms made cute black and orange toques for the babes in honor of the event. After the walk, we ate some food they had for us, got a pumpkin then went home for a shower before we showed up to church, super late.

I helped with childcare for our annual church AGM after the service. It was a lot of fun, watching VeggieTales, colouring and playing tag and other games that would never be allowed during regular childcare during church. We only had a few kids with a wide age range so we made the most of it.

Here are a few pictures of Leah and I playing around with her new hat and pumpkin. I want to take her outside one day soon with the colourful leaves around her on the ground and do a little photo shoot. She is getting so good at sitting up on her own… though the ground might be a hard fall. She kept taking her hat off the pumpkin to play with it. So cute!

On Saturday, Morgan and I had a date with a dinner and a movie, something we have not done for at least six months. We packed up Leah along with bottles of pumped milk, mushed up sweet potato with rice cereal, a bib, spoons, sleeper and diapers and dropped her off at my parent’s house. I didn’t even worry about her too much knowing that even though she won’t take a bottle from me she will take one from my mom if she is hungry enough.

Morgan and I had a really good time. We first went out for dinner before we watched Passchendaele, a Canadian WW1 movie with a love story. It was a little too realistic in the war scenes for me but I imagine if I cringe at it on the screen what must those men have felt actually experiencing it. Wow, what sacrifice and courage those men had.

Leah did very well, drinking up every last drop in her bottle and eating her solids as well and going to sleep right on time. She did wake up an hour and a half later and was being rocked in my mom’s arms when we pulled in. I fed her a little bit more than played with her a bit, even though she should be sleeping because I missed her. I knew the long car ride home would put her to sleep.

I think we may have a spunky girl on our hands. She gets so excited (i.e. squeals and crazy arm flapping) when she sees someone joining us at the library story and singing time. I love it! Yesterday at the mommy gang get together, she was hanging out on the floor with one of her buddies. He was so chill, taking it in as Leah was next to him having the party of her life.

What do you do when you are having a bad day and nothing seems to be going right? After you have lost a cute slipper somewhere on the mile plus trek to the mall that your daughter has only worn once, when it starts to rain and your laundry is hanging outside and when your bread dough overflows so you can’t go back to look for it?

After you have sent your poor husband out on a wild goose chase to look for it though it is nowhere to be found after your adorable little girl manages to do a number two spilling out of her diaper, onto her pants, your pants, the chair you were sitting on and the carpet?

You try to relax and drink a glass of water when your little one decides to grab it.

Then you decide to add some fun to your day and give your little one a sippy cup of water to see what her reaction will be.

Then much to your husband’s and your surprise, she takes it! Yes, this is the girl who won’t take warm breast milk from a bottle but will take cold water from a sippy cup.

That walk to the mall was for baby cereal. After Leah would take a sippy cup, we decided to try some cereal the next day. Getting ready… as you can see, she was ready to help herself.

And success! She had about two full spoonfuls and wasn’t totally sure what to think of it. We will do it again tonight!

We had another busy weekend which we enjoyed. Friday and Saturday night we hooked up with friends and played some games, hung out and ate dessert. On Saturday night, we just had to walk down some stairs and through the hallway to meet up. So nice to have friends in our own building, especially when you are running late. When Morgan asked if he could invite some friends over on Friday, I said sure, as long as he would promise me a nap on Saturday. On Saturday, he helped a friend put in baseboards. Leah and I walked over to visit and we all stayed longer than planned because home improvements generally take longer than planned, at least in my world. So I had a lovely nap, waking up about half an hour before we were to arrive. I quickly made dinner, ate, fed Leah and rushed downstairs being only three minutes late.

We were also able to spend some time with Morgan’s side of the family (and some of Morgan’s side of the family’s friends). After spending some time at Grandma Fran and Granddad Sid’s, we ventured over to my parent’s to borrow a caulking gun. We are trying to cross off a few things on our home improvement list which have been on there for over a year. We are slowly working on it!

Though I do not have a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job, I still look forward to the weekends. Probably partially because of habit but also because I love having Morgan around all day. He is amazing with Leah and he lets me take naps and the like. We generally get together with family and friends and go to church on Sunday. Family time is so precious, immediate and extended both.

Saving the best for last, Leah rolled over on Thursday morning from her stomach to her back. I was so excited. She did it twice in a row but didn’t do it again until Friday. Morgan had to wait until Saturday to see this new feat. She doesn’t roll over often but is getting the hang off it. Way to go Leah!

We had a very busy thanksgiving this year, going out to the island all day Sunday and having turkey dinner with my parent’s on Sunday. We left on the 7 am ferry to go see Aunt Bonnie and introduce Leah to her Uncle Mike. I helped Bonnie in the kitchen making all the fixings and carving the turkey while super proud grandparents took my little one for a walk by the ocean. I enjoyed all the cooking and even more, the eating. Last thanksgiving at Bonnie’s, we announced that we were expecting in May. Wow, has time passed. We caught the 9 o’clock ferry home where we were surprised to find some friends who were also returning home, which made the ferry ride much more enjoyable.

The next day, Leah and I visited with some friends and then went off to my parent’s to meet up with family. Today, Leah and I had a nice day going to Mom’s morning out at our church in the morning and doing laundry and cleaning the house. The last picture is our late afternoon routine of Leah watching me host a mini cooking show for her as I make dinner for Morgan and I. Tonight’s dinner menu is lasagna and a salad courtesy of my sister from leftovers last night.

Leah and I were sitting in Starbucks after our singing and story time at the library when this startling realization came. We were hanging out with our friends from the mommy gang talking about quick, tasty dinner ideas and how we can share our great recipes with each other when one mom, “Wow, we are so moms; we are sitting in Starbucks after our kid’s play date discussing quick dinner ideas.”

Mothers have certainly not changed over the years but methods of communicating have. Now we have a thread on our Facebook group with these great dinner ideas. We will have to try out some of them soon. I relied heavily on our George Foreman grill and rice cooker when Leah first came home. I especially love the rice cooker as I tend to overcook pasta (though it always tastes good to me) and if I am busy nursing or tending to a fussy baby the rice cooker monitors itself, turning to warming mode when it is finished. Maybe it would be worth while to invest in a pasta cooker, though we have no more room for any gadgets in the kitchen. I had to rearrange the cupboards a bit just to find a spot for Leah’s spoons, bibs and baby food containers.

Here is Leah’s typing debut. b b ,ml 9nb h This is what we got anyway. Her first attempts had her in the windows menu while other random pop ups would come up from the combination of keys she was pressing. Then she deleted her work while going back to previous web pages. She knows more shortcuts than I do. Her father has high hopes for his daughter to become a ‘computer geek’… I mean ‘computer princess’… what’s wrong with being a geek anyways?

I wanted to show off my beautiful daughter in her darling outfit but she wanted nothing to do with pictures and just wanted to be fed!

Look, foot and hand in sock! She sure loves her feet and the computer keyboard.

We went for a late night run, late night being 7 o’clock. All bundled up again as it was cold.

We went for a lovely walk with my sister and mom in Stanley Park on Saturday. What a beautiful part of the world we live in, though some of the plants led us to believe we could be in California until we were quickly brought to reality by the wind and rain. We didn’t let the weather deter us at all and we had a great time. The first picture we took, which you can see below, was to make sure we didn’t forget where we parked our vehicle. This is just off the pathway from the parking lot. Auntie Andrea is so smart.

We had a lovely lunch outside at a restaurant with a great ocean view. We sat outside as though it was sprinkling off and on, it was still quite warm. Not to mention, it was quite spacious on the patio as everyone else chose to dine indoors.

To keep Leah warm, we bundled her in her blankets. When it started to rain, I put the only waterproof thing I had to put over her legs to keep them from getting soaked…. her change pad. It wasn’t one of those bulky ones but it still was motivating enough that I went out a bought a stroller rain cover today.

Well almost… She sure can ‘talk’ up a storm while throwing in an excited squeal every now and then. As far as the walking goes, when Uncle Chris came to visit, we were showing off how well she can stand and he decided to take it a few steps further, literally. She did indeed take a few steps while holding his hands. You have to really encourage the feet moving by using such tactics as moving one foot ahead of the other. On a more realistic note, she can sit up unaided for up to a minute. Time to pull out the baby book again.

We bought a high chair today. Leah loves it and so do I as she likes to sit up now as oppose to laying on the floor. Throw a few toys on the tray after you’ve buckled her in, wheel it to where you are cooking dinner or folding laundry or cleaning, you get the idea, and voila, you get a small (or medium if you are lucky) chunk of time to get stuff done.

My mom came over yesterday and we finished her snowsuit/bunting bag/’mommy still wants to go for walks and keep her baby warm’ outfit. Leah wasn’t too impressed with all the fittings she had to go through but we were ad-libbing the pattern a bit. We will try it out one day soon as the cold is quickly coming our way.

We went out to the library today for a story time with a friend from the mommy gang. We had a great time singing lots of songs and nursery rhymes with lots of actions. The class leader did a great job and Leah and I both enjoyed ourselves. By the end, Leah was getting tired and ready for a nap. It was nice to not have to worry if she made noise or was complaining a bit, which she did, but only a little. It did feel a little weird to attend as I am used to leading the group or managing children in the group, not benefiting myself. A nice change.

Speaking of changes, the trees are changing. We have a beautiful tree outside our window that I pay a lot more attention to now that I am home all day. I appreciate the small things more, like the beauty of the seasons and the time with friends and family. The cold is coming so we are sewing a fleece ‘snowsuit’. Here is a sneak peak at the progress we are slowly making.