So someone commented to me that they were excited to see my blog and they got there and all they got for their trouble was a stupid cross stitch picture. Well fine then. I'm posting a couple of the baby munchkin!Why am I posting this particular photo you may ask? Other than it is cute (although the colour of the picture really does suck), I officially retired this sleeper today along with another of her 3 month sleepers. When dad comments on her ability to not fully extend her foot in her sleeper because the legs are now too short, I know it's time to retire the sleeper. It is a sad day because these sleepers really are sooooo cute! But I've replaced them with some new 6 month sleepers that she can fully extend her legs in. I don't want to stunt her growth or anything! And that is all I've got to say for today!

Cross stitch

Ok, there is need to spice this blog up. Or maybe just start typing more entries so there is more 'blah' to read. I think I tend to start each entry with the word 'Ok'. Onward people!

I've started stitching a new cross stitch pattern. You know, if you have a facebook page there is an application that is currently circulating called '25 random things'. I actually hate alot of the applications that circulate, but I like this one. Some people reveal some pretty interesting things about themselves and it has actually inspired me. One of my secrets I revealed is that I love to cross stitch. Yeah, not groundbreaking, but still a revelation for me. I tend to think that cross stitching is a granny-sport. But darn it, I still love it. Ok, onwards....

The pattern I'm stitching is designed by this fabulous designer who designs under the designer name of 'Chatelaine'. She's got some fabulous works that I love and one that I've actuallly already completed. Took me a year and a half, but I did it and I paid to frame it professionally. It hangs in my living room and I am proud. So I'm doing another. It has a caribbean theme (I stitch this theme because one day I'd actually like to go to the Caribbean) and it has not only cross stitches in it, it has specialty stitches, which makes the whole experience alot more exciting for me. But having said that, because I have a short attention span and tediousness makes me squirmy, I am going to list some pros and cons with the part I'm currently stitching. By the way, the pattern I'm stitching is a 'mystery'....one part of the pattern is released each month so you won't know what the final product is until the last part is released. Which will be in December. But I peeked...so I know what it will look like. Which is why I decided to stitch it. Onwards people!!!

Take a close look at that picture (I will eventually add) at the top people! Pros: that little green border of 'flower leaves/stems'. How cute are those! They are tiny and they were quick to stitch. Plus they were fun to stitch. I love them. And I love the colour. See that pink glitter in the corners? I love that. I'm a scrapbooker and glitter falls on almost all my pages. So I really enjoy the glitter that the designer incorporates into her designs. When this sucker is done it will be so shiny you'll need sunglasses to admire it. Ok, maybe not, but there will be a substantial amount of lovingly placed bling. Cons: scattered stitches. Each of those octagons has two colours stitched into them. I really find it time consuming and trying when the stitches are scattered and there is no where on the back of the fabric to hide my stitching floss tails. Not only that, but there are specialty stitches inside each of the octagons and surrounding the octagons (not stitched yet) so I can't even throw caution to the wind and cross through those open spaces with my floss to the next stitch because it will interfere with the specialty stitches. I was squirming while I stitched those. Boy am I glad they are done. But....alas! I'm not done with those suckers.....I might just hold off on the next set of scattered stitches. I think it's too much for my sanity at this moment.

So I just spent the last hour and a half stitching and writing this post while my ignored baby is sleeping in her swing. Productive things I could have done with that hour and a half: 1.) gone to the bathroom (geez I think my cup of tea is running right through me. 2.) had a shower...yes I stink (probably too much information) 3.) cleaned my kitchen...um, yeah right. 4.) had a second breakfast. So most people who read these options are going to think......um, ok, weirdo. But breastfeeding mommies with newborns, 3 month olds or the like are going to understand what I mean! Besides, earlier today I had to change the little girl 3 times due to 2 diaper explosions both occuring within about 30 minutes of each other. People, breastfed poop runs like the Fraser river through class 4 rapids during the spring melt....fast, unpredictable, and into areas it shouldn't be in. On that note...tah for now.

Ok, so I'm behind of the uploading of my pictures. Of course, you say, that is only natural for me. It was bound to happen. But what I do have instead is a scrapbook layout! Yep, have actually had time to scrapbook. And I'm focusing on the baby pages. Forget that I'm technically still scrapping 2007. I'll get it all done eventually. But for now....on to the baby pages!

A little ray of sunshine

Ok Big Sis. Work your magic! I hope they're not too dark. They just turned out so cute!

Rollin...

This little girl has learned to roll! At first when I put her down for tummy time I thought she had rolled out of pure anger. She got so mad and was crying and sniffling and grunting and groaning and I figured that she just happened to have her knee in the right spot as she lifted her head and shoulders up and over. But I put her on the floor (I had had her tummy time on the couch previously because it was softer but figured if she really had figured out how to roll that rolling off the couch would not be such a good thing, so moved her to the floor) to try again. And lo and behold, there she went. Not once, not twice, but three times!!! And she wasn't really that mad this time. So I had also learned that babies like tummy time on cushions, so I put down my nursing pillow and propped her on the pillow on her tummy. What happened? She rolled herself off the pillow. I caught her before her head hit the ground (which was really only a couple of inches...but still....) and decided that tummy time on the pillow has to be very well supervised. Not sure where this ranks on the milestone scale, but it's pretty neat to see.

First shiny objects, second rolling from tummy to back by oneself....next...the world!!!!

Sunday collage

Ooooo Oooo, new pictures for the new year!!

How much cuteness is that!!! And how true is that saying. I never knew babes got such explosive gas! And she feels soo gooooood afterwards. There is usually a smile of some sort! These pictures are all from between Jan.1 and now and are part of my Photo 365 project. And what kind of project is that you may ask????? Well, it is quite and adventurous undertaking....at least for me because I am a slow scrapbooker. But I'm kind of thinking also this will be the babes 1st year scrapbook. She'll do a lot of growing in the first year so this will be an interesting way of documenting it. As well, any other interesting events and pictures shall be added as well.

This here is a threadless onesie she got from her fantastic auntie. Doesn't she look like a threadless natural? I love it! And it will probably fit her for at least the next couple of weeks. This lil' turkey is growing like nobody's business. And last but not least is my little gap girl. Why is it that all hoodies on baby stuff has ears? Because it' so cute!!!!!

A year in review

I sit here on the couch, baby on one side, hubby on the other, 2 doggies at my feet, and the cat upstairs curled up on my mommy chair and I'm thinking back about what occured during the 2008 year.
*The big one: Getting pregnant and baby being born.
*Finishing our basement; it's like we now have a whole new layer to our house.
*Kona dog achieving her Companion Dog title (means she can be obedient when she chooses to be)
*Hubby finishing Polly...she's now a doggie champion
*And Iknow there is more. Perhaps I will come up with something tomorrow. Right now....sleep beckons...

Really behind now...

Day 7!!!!!!

How about some puppy love!!!!

Starring Kona dog!!!!!

And Polly dog!!!!

Days 8, 7, and 6

I should have know there was no way I was going to post every day before Christmas. I still have not finished everything I wished to accomplish. So today we'll cover 8, 7, and 6....hopefully. They will be in seperate posts due to time constraints.

Day 8...for Thursday:

The snowman on the left signifies snow. You're supposed to have snow for christmas, right? Of course not everyone is (hello tropical climates) but Las Vegas did this year. I was amazed. I didn't feel so bad then about our frigid temps we've been getting. And we are certainly solidly embedded in this cold snap. I think it's been about a week and a half now, and there is no relief in sight. -22, -24 plus add some windchill on that to bring it down to -30 is about the norm right now. Makes me want to go out and shovel the sidewalk. Or maybe I'd rather not as you can tell when you walk past our house. Wonder when the bylaw officer is going to make a visit to our house with a special christmas present. Guess I should get on that. Maybe after breakfast....

The next 2 days of Christmas

Ok, we will cover day 10 and day 9 in this post.

The 10th day of Christmas

Every Christmas should have some type of christmas craft happening. I had a whole list of stuff that I wanted to accomplish. Unfortuneately, with a little one around, my grand plans have once again been thwarted. So I'm done to only a few christmas crafts. One did not turn out so well so we won't even address it. Another one that I'm currently working on has only been partially thwarted. This is a stocking that I'm cross stitching for the little one. It will not be done for this Christmas (go figure, I'm not a fast cross stitcher although I had thought that is was possible at one point to have it done for the 25th of december), but I will have it done for next christmas. The progress you see here is really only about 1/10th done. It will be cute when finished though. I will push through untill the end of December and see just how far I get done on it. I'm hoping to get the majority of it finished because I have another grand cross stitch project that I must start January 1.
The 9th day of Christmas
How abut a partridge in a Christms tree? I've come across some very cool woodland ornaments thanks to a very thrifty and resourceful shopper. This little bird is only one of the great ornaments brought home to my tree. What a great start to my woodland x-mas tree.
And, newsflash. The Muppets are making a comeback!!!! There is actually a new Muppets x-mas spcial debuting tonite on CTV!!!!! Me and my little one will be watching. Gotta introduce her to the important influences of childhood early in life!!!!!

The 12 Days of Christmas...or not

So I wanted to do a Christmassy post count down in the form of the 12 days of Christmas. I'm already behind. It's the 15th today, so that means I've missed 2 days. But my question is...does the 12th day of christmas land on christmas eve or christmas day? For my benefit because I have started late, the 12th day of christmas is going to be the actual christmas day. So let the countdown begin!

The 12th day of Christmas!

So here is our christmas tree. I finally got this sucker decorated on Saturday. It took me two days to finally get it done. Due mostly to a demanding little soul who just kept demanding my attention. That and I've got about a thousand other things on the go right now too. Whenever the little one has a sleep, I'm multi-tasking trying to get some things accomplished. Anyhow, our tree seems to move locations every year. This is a new spot for the tree and let me tell you, trying to accomodate the x-mas tree, ample seating, a infant swing, a playpen and an infant change area in one small room is tough. Think we got it accomplished though. I thought maybe I would try a woodland theme this year but don't think it really happened. I do have some nifty owls and cute snowmen on my tree though. And I had a great woodland star tree topper, but when I woke up Sunday morning it had been replaced with something else. I will let you all look and guess what is now topping our tree . If you look closely you will also see that the bottom decorations appear to also have been reorganized. We came home from a friends house last night and someone (or something) had been busy. I remember in the past I would only decorate the tree to about a foot above the bottom branches of the tree because of a certain family member. I will let you guess who that family member might be. I really thought she was beyond this, but hanging out under the tree seems to be her new favorite place. Anyhow, Christmas tree and decorating accomplished on the 12th day of christmas!

The 11th day of Christmas

People, it gets dark here at 4:3o pm. Not one of my most favorite characteristics of December! I much prefer long days. I needed to get out of the house the other night, so hubby, baby and I decided to drive around (and go to MEC because according to the hubby, x-mas isn't x-mas unless you make an x-mas stop at MEC). It was a cold night, so we made the executive decision to drive through Hawrelak Park and experience Bright Nights, which is a lighted x-mas display put on by the city. You do have to pay to drive through the park and be festive and I forked out the 20$ for our 'carload'. We really should have had our car full of the maximum amount of people that could possibly fit in the car as I didn't realize they charged 'by the carload', so 20$ for two people and an infant is quite steep I thought. But we were there anyhow and I figured let's just go. Besides, I had emptied out my pantry of canned and dried goods that I figured I would never use to donate to the food bank and I certainly wasn't taking that bag of stuff back home. The displays were nice. Very bright and festive. This one of the candles and pointsettia was one of the best. But what was even better was the house that hubby took me to afterwards. Talk about your Christmas lights!!!!! This house is

spectacular! And this picture doesn't even show the backyard or all the trees surrounding the yard. I'm very much appreciative of all efforts to put christmas lights out, but man, this house is decked out. Have you ever seen lit up pink flamingoes? This house has it. How about an evergreen tree transformed into a palm tree? This house has it. Cinderella's carriage and horses? This house has it. Strands of lit up hibiscus flowers? This house has it. And still manages to make it all feel so Christmassy. And that's the 11th day of Christmas.

Last night our little family went to the Festival of Trees. What a neat place. It was held in a big conference center downtown, and talk about a christmas atmosphere. And so many Christmas trees! It's a competition where companies sponser a person to decorate a christmas tree. There were glitzy trees, sports themed trees, mod trees, old fashioned trees...and there was a fabulous gingerbread house and decorated christmas cake competition as well!!! I did not know this. Look out people, I will be entering both or at least one of those competitions next year! I can make a cake or a gingerbread house!!!!

Anyhow, thought I'd post a pic or two of some of the fabulous trees we saw. I'm so in love with the 'woodland' theme tree this year. Unfortuneately finding ornaments in this theme appears to be more difficult than I had imagined!! There were so many 'glizy' trees. I loved them. And gigantic ornaments. So pretty. Perhaps I just like shiny and glitter.
This was the first of our christmas outings. Monday, being the first day of December, is officially the day I can start putting up christmas decorations! Hopefully tomorrow we can get our lights up on our house. Lots of people on our street already have their lights up and turned on at night. A little early, but one must think 'safety' here and be doing lights before the really cold weather and snow hits. I'm hoping we can be safety concious and do the same.

Oooh, a new post...for the two people that read my blog. As one would say..."WHOOT!!!!" The picture above is just a reminder of the nice warm (short) fall weather we had. Back when I could still take the doggers for a walk. I really do enjoy fall. I love the colours and the smells in the air. (I actually like the smell of cranberries ripening....most people would say they smell like stinky feet...but there is such an 'earthy' smell to them...totally reminds me of fall). And having the dogs always encouraged me to get out to T-Park, because, of course, T-Park is one of their favorite places and going for a walk is always the highlight of their day. Now the highlight of their day is being curled up on the floor by my feet. Eventually once the baby gets a couple weeks older, I'll be taking them back out to the park...for short walks anyhow. Cold weather does not encourage me to get out.
So, anyone excited about Christmas yet?????? Anyone interested in decorating for Christmas yet????? I am. But according to the Christmas guru (a friend of a neighbor friend) official decorating for Christmas cannot start until Dec.1. Of course not all people listen to this.....as shown by a couple of houses on my street...but I will. Although I'm itching to put up a wreath on my door that I found a Superstore for cheap. It's real and it needs some decoration on it, but it's a real wreath! Had a real one last year and loved it! So as a new and official re-start to the blog, be on the look out for christmas celebration pictures!!

Do you think these two pups are laughing at me? I think so. This was two weekends ago on the coldest day of the week (all temps for about 1.5 weeks before this were above 0 degrees...this day happened to be -18, feels like -24 with windchill day. The day after this? 0 degrees!!!!), a sunday to be precise on the St.Patrick's day run. I let a friend talk me into running 10 km this day in the fresh snow and the freezing temps. The pups and hubby came along to offer encouragement and cheer. I think the pups thought it was all funny. Well, as I stood at the starting line, I didn't think it was so funny. But about 2km into the race I was warm. Yes, running (with some walking) 10k pooped me out. But I did survive. Thanks to everyone who supported me (pups and hubby), and the patient and strong gal that ran with me. YAH!

Some birthday wishes...

It appears that birthdays are sprouting up everywhere.

Woot! Lookit that cake! I got a special commission for this cake. It celebrates a milestone birthday. Hopefully I did some justice for the special day. Unfortuneately she won't be able to indulge in it as she would have to come to Edmonton....I don't think it would travel well to Vancouver. So we here will enjoy it for the birthday girl instead. A chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate fondant icing on top. The cake is kind of supposed to represent a basket of flowers. It was fun to make. I was groovin to tunes from the '80s while decorating it. I also had a little bit of help in the kitchen in the form of a yellow lab and a chocolate lab....they were supervising.

Who did I give this card to? Anyone? I can't remember! So I'm posting it anyways! Partly because I can't find anything else to post and partly because I'm celebrating the start of a new month! March is one month closer to spring. How much happiness is that!

And that's all I have to say for today.

Orchid show...

So 'S' and I went to the orchid show at the local college here on Friday evening. Seeing as she was the only one even remotely interested in going with me, little did she know, she really had no choice. If you really want to see some spectacular flowers and plants, an orchid show is something you really must attend. It's such an amazing species of plant. There is not much foliage to an orchid, but it bursts out in such amazing flowers, it's really quite neat. Anyhow, at this show there is a retailer area where one can race over to purchase an orchid after being inspired by the other half of the show, the actual display and competition portion. I myself had already decided before even entering the building that I would try to find myself an interesting orchid to bring home. This is the third time I've visited the show, and both other times I was dying to purchase. Unfortuneately my time and energy at the time was more devoted to getting myself through university and not spending time and energy on a plant. This time however, I didn't let these barricades stand in my way....neither did 'S'! She bought one too! We both bought small plants, with the hopes that we would be able to encourage growth from them. Mine came with three flowers so I'm already a step ahead of the game I figure. Plus I've got a Phaleinopsis (sp????) flowering for the second time in a row in my front window at home, so maybe I've got a little bit of luck on my hands too! Anyhow, I recommend if anyone hears of a show in their area...GO! It's well worth it! Yes, apparently there is one in Calgary in the fall....and one in Vancouver coming up in March I think. And just for the record...my red amarylis is flowering...AGAIN! And it has two flowers coming up! I swear that thing has a life of it's own. I actually wanted to repot it because the pot it's in is cracked and it's got babies (more like teenagers actually at this point) growing like mad in the same pot. But apparently I'll be waiting for it to finish flowering first! I'd like to think that this is an omen for spring....but maybe I'll just not jinx things and put that thought aside for now....

Basement renos are beginning to move along. The framing is done and the wall on the main level of the house between the living room and the kitchen is.....gone. Sure is different! Electrician and plumber coming in this week and supposedly the drywallers are aiming for a Thursday start! Pretty exciting!

One picture uploaded to blogger; ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh. Ok, for a couple of days now I've been trying to post some stuff and I swear blogger is seeing its demise in my eyes. Maybe it's because my pictures are too big, but that has never been a problem before, not sure why it should start now. Anyhow, as ya'll know and were a part of, these are pages I made for B's christmas album. Although you've all seen them (with the exception of mom), I'm posting them again! Here is one starring myself (yes I should probably crop the photos! All the pages revolve around Christmas at Dad's last year. I thought they turned out rather good. So much so that I'd like to create and 8x8 album for myself in the future! All pages shown are 8x8.

OK, I made an effort and cropped the pics. These are of kitty cat. He lives in the barn, chases mice, chipmunks, whatever. Every farm needs a kitty cat and every kitty cat needs a hug once in awhile. I'm happy to oblige of course. In case you can't really see, the flower says 'adore' on it.

Not much else going on up here. We had a bit of snow last night, got to drive home in it...Yay. But the temps are at least warmer than they were. We're above -10 and apparently going to be above 0 on Friday. We'll see how the weather channel decides to change that on us by the time we get to Friday. It would be nice, but snow melting during the day and freezing again during the night just does not appeal to me.

Soooo I've actually got some scrappin stuff saved up for more posts in the coming days. Go figure!! So chow for now. Updated blog ....Woooo!

Sucker, is it ever COLD outside!

Ok all. Winter has truly hit. It is blizzarding and windy, snowy, cold, frigid, freezing, windchilly, and just darn winter out! Just wanted to let everyone know that we're set for -30 degree temps for the next week. Those people in a warm climate...count yourself lucky.

Think I've nabbbed em all...

Ok, had some computer issues...I may have solved the majority of them. And without having to reboot my whole and entire computer. I still think that I will be attempting some more work... not that I'm knowledgeable about computers or anything.
So, here's my latest observation. Was at the grocery store the other day, and noticed that the grocery carts in this store now have coffee cup holders on them. Is this society truly ruled by coffee breaks and coffee? Let's see.... a Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and Second Cup, all within 1 km of each other.5 minutes away, another Second Cup, a Starbucks within the Safeway store and a Fresh Start deli place which for sure serves coffee. All the coffee stores have drive thrus, all the gas stations have a coffee bar. And now, after you've gone through the coffee drive thru, you can go grocery shopping without the risk of spilling your coffee! Just for the record, the lady in front of me at the grocery store check out line did have a coffee, but did not use the coffee cup holder. She preferred to balance it precariously in the child seat basket in the front of the cart.