Our Family & Our Life

Dear Diary, Just another day of not much going on which I suppose is a good thing. The weather has cooled down significantly (I'm wearing sweat pants and sweat shirt!) and it's been wet. It's forecasted to get back into the 80's this weekend but I can't say I'm looking forward to it, I kind of like it the way it is. Colin's "new" boss was in town the past day or so and told him the plan for the American operations. It sounds good especially the part about getting a company car. Now all we need is the stupid visa but there is a plan to speed that up as well and we're hoping it works out but other than that, nothing new on the visa front either. I took a few photos of the lil lady this morning before lunch. How cute is this? I gotta say this could be one of my favourites EVER! We're so in love with her, how could we not be? Enjoy your day. I'm going to get myself a cup of tea and relax until she wakes up from her nap.

Dear Diary, Isla and I spend alot of time at home and I admit the days can be l-o-n-g and boring at times. Yes, she does keep me on my toes but it doesn't always mean exciting as in stimulating. She is content following me around, "talking" together and "helping" me - yes, she can dust and clean windows - but periodically throughout the day we stop to go for walks, read books and play mega blocks. There are even times that she goes in her Pack 'n' Play - that would be a playpen to the "older" generation of readers. I can't believe it, I thought that by 17 months I would've had that thing packed up by now but she still loves to go in there to just hang out by herself and since it doesn't take up alot room, we leave it up. She loves to read her books, talk on the Fisher Price phone to Oma & Opa (did you get all those phone calls mom and dad?) and it's very conveniently located for watching tv! It's also great for

Dear Diary, Last summer Colin and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary apart - he was in the UK working on getting the business visa and I was at my parents house in Canada. This year we should be celebrating our 3rd anniversary together and I want to make it special since it's been a bit of a downer year for us. I already know what I'm going to get him but I've been drooling over this custom bracelet created by Kristen Andrews on etsy.com for awhile and I know that he wouldn't be able to order just the way I want it so I did it myself a few weeks ago. It arrived last week and I love it! The first charm is our anniversary date and the second charm has Isla's name along with her birthstone. The nice thing about this bracelet and all the jewellery Kristen creates is that you can keep adding to it as all the charms are attached with lobster claws and each charm is hand stamped so each piece is unique. Until our anniversary at the end of August, I am trying very

Dear Diary, It's finally Saturday! I love the weekends because Colin is home and there is someone to talk too during the day and we go out together even if it is sometimes just to the grocery store or Target. Not to mention we usually get to sleep a bit longer, ah nice.... Today was no exception. We are up at about 8:30 (Isla has her milk and fell asleep again at 6:30) and I craved french toast with coffee for breakfast so I made some for the three of us. After a walk for Isla and Colin and a shower for me we headed out the door together. First stop was Atlanta Bread for a latte and a pastry after which we headed to Target. If only I had shares in Target. We're there all the time and this week we even did our groceries so spent even more $$$ than normal! For the Canadians not familiar with Target, it's like Zellers, only better. Even the logo is red and white, very similar! Then it was back home lunch and a nap for Isla before heading out to Expo Park to wat

Dear Diary, Isla LOVES fruit, especially the "yellow fruit" (code words for banana or nanas as she calls them) so last week when I saw cherries on sale at the grocery store I thought I would buy her some to see what she thinks. Personally, I don't like cherries and while she didn't mind them the amount of work it is to get the pit out by hand we decided they're not worth the effort. Colin had the great idea to make a pie with the leftover cherries. Do you see the scruff on his chin? Do me a favour and tell him to shave it for me. I didn't have high expectations that he would shave it for me but even Isla doesn't like it and it's still on his face! Speaking of hair, check out Isla's hair. I put pigtails in this morning for the first time. I have figured out that the best time to put them in is when she is distracted by playing with the bathroom faucet. Her sticky-outty hair has been driving me crazy! The curls are only cute when

Dear Diary, As I type this I'm listening to Isla practice her loud voice in bed. What a stinker, usually she goes down for a nap without any noise. We have the van today to do a few errands like groceries and a bit shopping to keep me sane so perhaps she's in overdrive and needs to calm down first. Nap times are easy for her to get to sleep. By noon she is more than ready for her nap and she'll stay in bed about 2 hours which gives me enough time to eat lunch, do a few things and still have a bit of time to relax with a cuppa. Bedtime however is another story. The past month she has been fighting us and if she is asleep or at least quiet in her room by 9 p.m. it's a good day. I'm not sure what happened to my 7 p.m. baby - I lost her months ago. I had to share this photo. She has MY baby blanket over her head. Did you recognize it mom? Despite it's old age those are not moth holes, the lady did it but don't ask me how. I dare say that her daughter wil

Dear Diary, I did some baking today (muffins and brownies in case you're interested) and took the locks off of the island doors to get to my baking supplies and small appliances. The little lady took advantage of her chance to explore and destroy.... Is anybody looking? Take a good rummage around for anything good to play with.... ahhh, a lid - what fun!!! She's a handful but no worse than any other toddler her age and she's a ton of fun. A funny story from this weekend. Colin took her to Target on Saturday to pick up a few things. She was whiny in the car but as soon as she got in the store, she turned on the charm by smiling and saying "Hi there" and waving to everyone, especially the grandmas. This girl is a grandma magnet!! What can I say, we love her !

Dear Diary, July is a month full of national holidays; July 1st - Canada Day July 4th - Independence Day (USA) July 12th - Orange Day in Northern Ireland. With so many flags about during this month and the fact that Heather and I have different national flags, I wondered how a flag for Isla might look and came up with this one; All we need to do now is decide on which day to fly it. 'Til next time, Colin..

Dear Diary, Today is just about over.... YAY!!! I'm so done with sick people (myself included) and cats... Yes, I love my family but prefer them healthy. Yes, cats too! A great big furball in the hallway tonight and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. Isla has been sick everyday this week but Wednesday. I've washed her bed linens including bumper at least 18,000 times I think.... Everytime we think she's over it, she's sick again. That probably explains why she isn't into food - she is eating and drinking but not much. I was sick Thursday - yuck and had to recover quickly because today.... ....Colin is sick but on the road to recovery, I hope.... Whatever we had or have, is contagious, very contagious so I suggest nobody come to visit until this apartment is sterilized and disinfected... There, my rant is over, I'm ready for bed and my washer and dryer need a rest too until tomorrow...

Dear Diary, I'm thankful that Isla is starting month 18 on a healthy note because she has been sick this week and has spread the germ to both Colin and I. Right now Colin is in bed which is where I was yesterday. Other than this germ we are trying to get rid of, she's has had a good month. She's getting along well with the cats, she's great at entertaining herself and she is speaking more. She has become miss independent which is sometimes good but sometimes frustrating for us - I guess it's a sign she's growing up! Her stats are: Weight: 21.8 lbs - she's been off food this week and lost weight :-( Height: 31 inches Teeth: I THINK she has 16 but possibly 18 - we're waiting for at least 2 more molars. New words: hat, cup, banana and a few others I can't think of right now. The good thing is if you say a new word she will at least try to say it. Some of her favourite things: - tubby tub - she could stay in there all day and just this week will sp

Dear Diary, ... hasn't been feeling well the last few days. Just when we think she's feeling better, I'm washing the sheets on her bed again and she has slight temperature... For now she's eating the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) and I'll probably keep her on it for a few more days until we're 100% sure her tummy is recovered. Funny thing is, that is pretty much all the lady likes to eat anyways... Please pray she recovers soon and returns to her usual toddler self.

Dear Diary, I haven't forgot about it ye know... 'Til next time, Colin..

Dear Diary, ... and can't be bothered to add much commentary about our day today.... We drove into the mountains to a little town called Estes Lake, Colorado after stopping in an even smaller town called Lyons, Colorado for lunch .... Go ahead, look it up on a map - they are both close to the Rocky National Park which we didn't visit today but have in the past. Colin showing off his new hat which of course Isla had to try on too! It's such a pretty town and it was a great escape from the ugly city landscape. If I could live in the mountains, I would!

Dear Diary, Have you seen this? You gotta watch it - it cracks me up! Last night on the 6 o'clock they showed how they made the commercial, it's amazing what they can do with technology!

Dear Diary, Another treasure for the memory box.... Isla's first drawing! It can't be all work, a little of play time too... The artist hard at work. The masterpiece! Okay, maybe I helped her a little bit but this was the first time she ever used a crayon and I think she did really good job!

Dear Diary, I've always known I'm not a quick thinker on my feet but twice this week (Wednesday actually) I paniced and froze. It's bothered me ever since and I'm thankful Colin springs into action while I come to grips with what just happened. I'd be horrible a ER nurse, that much I know. Anyways, it scares me to think what could've happened if it weren't for a quicker thinking person. I feel awful about both incidents and I wish I sprung into action like WonderWoman. Thanks be to God nothing serious resulted. I won't go into detail of the first incident but the second involved Isla stumbling and putting a tooth through her lip. She cried and cried and it bled something horrible. She's OK ,didn't require stitches and I'm sure there will be many more fat lips in her future. In the meantime, I'm coming to grips with the bloody side of parenting. I shudder at the thought of a broken limb. Take a look at that lip.... By dinnertime it was

Dear Diary, Isla and I would like to wish our fellow Canadians (especially those stuck in this country) a very HAPPY CANADA DAY! We just wish we were up north to celebrate...