8 months, Whistler, and Portland

Yup, it's that time again ...

Maya is 8 months old! Standing, traveling, crawling ... this girl is now fully mobile!  She also now has her two upper front teeth and continues to put everything and anything into her mouth :) She's eating more and more solids but shows no sign of weaning any time soon.  Lots of 'firsts' for Maya lately: First train ride (Portland), first time swinging, first time on a slide, first time on a ferry, first bike race she has cheered me on, first time 'playing' hopscotch, first time 'playing' soccer ... so many fun firsts!

Our little family has been busy ... we went to Whistler with the whole Keller family for a weekend ... Skating, tubing, family dinners, touring the village, Peak 2 Peak ... so  much fun packed into a short weekend away. The only thing missing was snow :) The West coast has been a bit light on snow this year ... Jonathan and I did get out snowboarding but it was pretty crap. We had fun though - I think we found the best runs on the mountain :)

We also took a trip to Portland to celebrate a friend's birthday - this trip was just the 4 of us. We got a short but sweet visit with our friends Sue and Tim, and were lucky enough to be welcomed into their home for the weekend. They live right next to the commuter train and we all enjoyed using the train to get downtown. We toured the Saturday market, the Children's museum (another first for Maya!), and got out for two bday celebration dinners! A fun trip. Maya had her first train ride and Emily loved the train!

In between I completed 2 races - i'll do a separate post on that :)

Short but sweet blog post - too busy with the fantastic juggle of family, work, cycling, and life :)



 

Fun at the Children's museam

Playing Soccer

Playing Hopscotch - Maya really loved this!!

6 Months Already!!!

Dear Smushey ...

You turned 6 months old last week ... six months! It feels like such a short time, and yet, such a long time. I cannot imagine life without you. I remember it, but it seems so far away.  I fell in love with you the moment I saw you ... I had been falling in love for months with all the acrobatics in my belly .... but I was head over heals from the first moment I saw you. 

You have grown so much in six short months! Your personality is starting to shine thru and it is to fun to watch you learn and grow.

• You are super curious about the world around you - so much that it's hard to nurse you when there is any activity around you :) 
• You are very social - you love people and especially love when they talk to you :) And when people don't talk to you, you find ways to demand their attention (like your high pitched screams :))
• you are very determined/stubborn/persistent ... hmm, wonder who you get that from!
• you are full of love and life - you love to smile, giggle, and give kisses and hugs!
• you love to try new things and are curious about how things work (recent favorite: Curious George as a jack in the box - you try to stuff him back in and turn the handle yourself!)

I can't believe how much time has flow. I remember when we counted your age in days, and then weeks. Now we are counting it in months ...

So many great memories to look back on but also great things to look forward to ... It has been somewhat emotional to pack away your newborn, 3 month, and now 6 month clothes (yes, into the 9 month clothes already!) .. but I was happy to pack away the wedge! I will also be happy when we finally wean you off the Ranitidine! one milestone at a time :)

I'm also looking forward to the time when you won't be eating every 2 hours thru the night ... I am sure the first time it happens I will wonder what happened and if you are ok. i'll worry and wake up with a start. But i'm sure i'll adjust :) And I look forward to the time when you have more 'play time' in the evenings after daycare before you go to sleep :)

But most of all, I look forward to the many memories and adventures we are sure to have together, as a family, over the years. But I'll take it one day, one week, one month ... one memory, one adventure ... at a time.

 

Christmas 2014

This year we celebrated Christmas on both coasts - here on the West Coast with the Keller family, and on the East Coast with the Lloy family :)

Both Christmas celebrations were amazing!  It is always awesome to get home to NS ... and of course chaotic in the best way possible.

Traveling with 2 kids - one a toddler and the other an active 5 month old - is like driving in the rain. you can't take your eyes off the action for one minute - if you do, you will likely regret it :)  The girls did pretty well on the flights - it is a long day of travel, about 12 hours door-to-door! We had to run to make our flight in Chicago both ways to make it even more interesting! 

But we made it! Both ways! and in one piece :)  It was so great to be home in NS - my brother and sister got to meet Maya for the first time and of course everyone enjoyed seeing Emily again. Oh and us too (yeah, yeah ...  we know we are just vehicles for the kids :))As always the visit to the farm was packed with family, love, laughter, chaos, and memories.

A few of my favorites memories of the holidays:

Taking Emily ice-skating for her first time. So much fun!

Hand and feet printing of miss Maya

Emily's excitement when she met "the real" santa - she would not let him leave without drinking his milk and eating his cookies :)

Family laughter, singing, and time together

Gingerbread house decorations

Family Dinners

 

Walks around the farm

The girls :)

Time with my favorite people :)

Snuggles with Maya

'Twas the week before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas ... and all thru the night
Not  a parent was sleeping, try as they might
One kid was getting better while the other got sick
We hope they are both healthy before we see 'Old St Nick

The shopping is not done and our bags are not packed
But we'll get it done before Friday, and that is a fact
Thank goodness for grandma and papa - oh yes!
Without them we'd be even more of a mess!

:)