FORGET CRAWLING, I WANT TO WALK!!






Isabelle has started crawling this week but soon got bored with it. She is now pulling herself up onto anything she can get her hands on.

IZZY BEING BUSY : )




Isabelle loves our computer power cord! I don't know how many times I've had to pull her out of here but we had to do something about it. We pretty much figured out that out of sight out of mind really does work. So I usually cover up the red light and she could care less about it. So funny!



Isabelle's life goal right now is to get up on her feet. That is all she tries to do. Here she is making her 100th attempt : ) It won't be long now!

WOW HAVE I EVER BEEN SLACKING ON THE BLOGGING. SORRY GUYS!



So it has been about a month since our last clock in and so much has changed! This week Isabelle is starting not only crawling but yesterday I walked in to get her in the morning and she was standing up in her crib. Just two weeks ago she could hardly sit up on her own. She will be walking before a year for sure! I think she is looking like Johnnie more and more everyday, too. It's crazy!




Helena and her friend Kadin and Helena sitting in front of the saddle dome where the Calgary flames play


Johnnie and I have been doing well. For awhile we were in a small competition to get in shape and loose some weight.......and attempt a healthier diet. And I think we've acheived all that. He goes to the gym three times a week and I have been going to aquasize at the pool. Plus I joined the weight watcher plan which has been a great experience . This is probably the first time we've taken our health into consideration and we have been feeling great!


Helena is doing very well! She is now fully potty trained which is sooooo lovely. I've notived that we don't go through a whole bag of diapers in one week now. So nice! I'm still a little nervous about taking her out though. Usually when she has to go she needs to be in the bathroom within 10 seconds. Ah well we'll figure it out. Helena has really fallen in love with puzzles and building blocks. She is such a wiz at puzzles. She can put them together so fast and she loves building towers.

HELENA'S NEW HAIR CUT

I've been really wanting to grow Helena's hair out but it has been so hard. What with Isabelle pulling half of it out, just dealing with the knots is just not worth it for the time being. So yesterday I took her to the hair salon down the road. The lady was awesome with her and Helena did so well sitting for her (even listening to everything she told her) So she got her bangs cut (properly for the first time ever :) and she did some trimming around the edges to clean up some of mommy's mistakes. Now it should grow out properly (If mommy can leave it alone...haha)

These are the only shots I could get so far. She is so hard to snap photos of. She thinks it's so funny to run and hide and having a digital with a delay doesn't make it much easier.

JOHNNIE'S BIRTHDAY

Johnnie playing his birthday present. Helena joining in for some fun :)

Yes, I love balloons and used many today.

I thought for fun I would do a Christmas theme. Christmas lights and music included :)

Even a tree like cake :)

AN ARTIST IN THE FAMILY??

So this is one of Helena's first official pieces of art. One of the few times she has drawn some of her family and friends. I think it is so amazing what they pick up and how their minds work. On this page she drew a rainbow (on the left) Her family.. Isabelle on the left (first circle) then herself, Johnnie and then me to the right of Johnnie. The top right hand corner (in blue) is a whale and the top left (green circle) is our friend Bobbie. Just thought I'd post. So interesting :)

ENJOYING THE FALL

Helena playing in the leaves. This year we had quite a few leaves in our backyard so it made for a big beautiful pile to jump in :)

OUR PRETTY LITTLE BUTTERFLY

Isn't she so sweet! I love this costume. I think I might get the same one for Helena. She loves it too.

RANDOMS!

Our friend let us borrow her jolly jumper and Isabelle loves it. Sometimes I wonder if she's going to launch herself right out of it. Such a great toy!

This Thanksgiving weekend we went for a little hike with our friends. Here is Helena and Kadin slowing down for a second for us to grab a shot of the two of them. They have so much fun together.

Isabelle all ready for the walk

Thanksgiving day at our friend's place. I love that they both have knitted sweaters on. So cute :)

ELBOW FALLS

This weekend we did some sight seeing and ended up at Elbow falls. I'd post photos on the blog but there are so many so if you'd like to view them please click on the link below. (Facebook is much easier to post when there are a lot of them) Thanks everyone for checking us out :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24422&l=a5489&id=707710864

WHAT I HAVE BEEN KEEPING MYSELF BUSY WITH

Now that we have been in Calgary for almost two years, I feel that we are some what settled and lucky to say that we have some awesome friends here. And I have been able to start a lot of fun projects on my own as well as with my girlfriends. A couple of weeks ago a friend and I got together and she has been teaching me the basics of sewing. As you can see from the above photo I can now make throw pillows with zippers in them. I think I would like to try slip covers for my chairs next and maybe a dress for Helena. We'll see how that goes..haha

Another project. This used to be a toy box with a cover but it eventually broke so I flipped it upside down and put a cushion on it. Now when we have home group there will be extra seats :) Quick and cheap fix!

Here is another one of my addictions. Scrapbooking!! And I have an awesome group of ladies who are really into it. (And have all the fun gadgets) Yesterday after church we were invited over for scrapbooking (the guys watched the football game) and then supper. Eight hours of heaven (and only two pages done..haha). We had a great time.

Johnnie joined the gym down the road and I joined a kick boxing (taebo) class with one of my friends (Sorry no photos :) We go twice a week at 9pm and well, it kicks our tail. Such an awesome workout and loving it so much. Only four more classes though :( I don't know what I'm going to do without it. I look forward to it every week.

Starting in October I have joined up with a bunch of ladies from the church, a cooking group. We get together one night to plan our menu and then we take a whole Saturday and we cook two weeks worth of meals for our own families. I am so excited about this because I'm not such a great cook so I think this will help me a lot with great recipes and well, getting some good tips! I cannot wait for this to start up!

In a couple of months I will be taking in a little boy full time. This will be so great for us as I can help out financially but still be a stay at home mom. So I feel this will be a really fun year for us. We've connected with an awesome church, great friends and we are hoping to have a down payment for a house by next summer.....maybe in the maritimes :) We'll see what God has in store for us. We are still missing home.

SOME UPDATES

Well, I can officially say that it feels like winter here. This morning it was actually snowing. You think as Canadians we would be used to it but I'm always so surprised when it snows for the first time. It has been ever so chilly here so it was bound to happen. Things are well here with us all. Isabelle has her first two bottom teeth now and is enjoying peas, sweet potato and her cereal. Chicken wasn't a very big hit and fruits I am still working on. She's not a fan of the sourness. Helena is well and busy as usual. We started potting training this week and she is catching on very quickly. Rewarding her with a gummy bear after each time using the potting is really speeding up the process..haha

They will be the best of friends when they are older. They already play so well together. Helena is the only one that can make Isabelle laugh uncontrollably.

Helena loooooves to help me bake......and wear her princess dress. I think this has been the best investment toy wise so far. It is requested every morning. She is so funny.

Isabelle and Me

2007 MASTERS AT SPRUCE MEADOWS

Helena being a horsie!

Helena's friend Mya being a horse as well

Getting a little distracted having fun

FOR UNCLE GREG!

These outfits were actually both intended for Helena, but as I was going through some of the girls stuff the other week I came upon this little red jumper that Helena's uncle Greg gave to her as a gift from Equador. Seeing as Helena fits into her other dress now from Equador I thought I would try and get some photos of the girls together. So this was the best I could do. Helena thinks it's a game to run away from the camera and hide so you can imagine how many photos I had to take just to get these ones. I hope you like them!

HELENA'S DRESS

I think when I was about Helena's age I pulled something off like this. Rubber boots and a dress. This happens to be one of Helena's new things. She wants to wear this dress everyday. What was I thinking pulling this out of storage?! Well, atleast I don't have such a hard time finding something for her to wear now :)

Doing her twirls!