Our Family & Our Life

Dear Diary, How was 2008 for us? Well, as you can imagine, it was a mixed bag of emotion and throw in a load of stress too. I think it is safe to say that with the exception of Isla's impending birth, just about everything that happened in 2008 was not in our plans. I said to Colin last week that it would be nice to turn the page on the calendar and everything would be as we want it and forget 2008. If only it would be that easy but we believe God doesn't give us more than we can handle. The year started with me going to a OB appointment only to find that my BP was through the roof. The dr. that saw me was ready to check me in the hospital and deliver Isla but thankfully the senior dr. didn't think that was the right course of action and decided it would be better to send me home and have the midwives monitor my BP at home. This worked well for about 5 weeks until my BP went so high the midwife had to call the hospital and send me in. That was Valentines Day. Three days ...

Dear Diary, Happy Birthday Christina, Wishing you many more happy years with family and friends. God bless.

Dear Diary, In my head I have devised my exercise routine for this week. Here it goes: Monday - done what I had planned but since it's such a beautiful day, Isla is going for a walk with us this afternoon. Tuesday - Pool-ates at 9:30 at Parker Rec. Centre. and weight training at the Coyote gym. Wednesday - Cardio ~ 20 mins . on crossramp thingy and 20 mins . on treadmill as a minimum. I tend to just keep going until I can't walk or get totally bored. It works for me! Thursday - Happy 2009! I have to start the new year in the Coyote gym so I will do weight training before heading out to a New Years Day party in the afternoon. Friday - Aquarobics at Parker Rec. Centre. and possibly 10 pin bowling in the afternoon for some fun with friends. Saturday - Cardio , same as Wednesday before heading out to take my Guppie to her first swim lesson at 11:30! Colin and I can't wait to see her little face when she gets in the water, it must be like diving in the ocean hea...

Dear Diary, Isla's first ever Christmas present - from Bob and Nancy, thanks! She loves wrapping paper! This is what was in the box - first set of wheels ~from her mom and dad

Dear Diary, ... by 1.8 lbs!!! YAY Heather!!! I have to cheer myself on these days. I told Colin I lost the weight and then the Arsenal scored (currently Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa) so the cheer really wasn't for me, it was for the Arsenal.... As I continue to pat myself on the back, the lose was due to watching my caloric intake and not much exercise this week other than stretching. I have just come back from the gym and all 3 treadmills were out of order so I did 35 mins. on the eliptical machine. Boring but I got through it... I'm back tomorrow morning and I should do some weights as well...

Dear Diary, Luke 1:14 ~ "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth" Merry Christmas to our friends and family around the world! With much love, Colin, Heather & Isla

Dear Diary, OK, it's high time I did this so here it goes: I need to lose weight. To be exact my goal is to lose 37 lbs. by May 22, 2009. That's only 5 months away averaging 2 lbs. a week. Can I do it? I sure hope so. There will be good weeks and bad weeks but I'm hoping it will even out in the end. Why? The main reason being my blood pressure. Since my pregnancy with Isla it hasn't come down to my pre-pregnancy bp which was always 110/70. To be honest I haven't had it checked in a few months but I'm assuming it's still high. My dr. told me it may never go back to the way it was and may eventually go on medication. I definately don't want that so I am trying and if it doesn't go down then at least I know I did give it shot. I'll go to the pharmacy this week and confirm it but even if it is back down to 110/70 my BMI is still telling me to lose the extra pounds. I feel yuck because my clothes don't fit like they should. I was a...

Dear Diary, Two Isla's!!!!

Dear Diary, Our sweet girl is 10 months old today! BUSTED, playing with cat food She was pretty excited this morning as I wished her a happy birthday ~ she hit me in the face and laughed!!! Yeah, that's the latest thing to do and at times it hurts because she has sharp nails but we are working on trying to teach her it is not OK to hit faces, not our faces and not the cats faces. She normally understands "NO" and listens well. She'll stop, look at us and then crawl toward us. What a good girl! According to the experts this is what she should be doing this month. I've taken this list off the internet and added my comment in bold beside the statement. Most babies should be able to . . . · Stand holding on to someone or something ~ done · Walk holding onto furniture · Pull up to standing position from sitting · Wave goodbye ~ done but only when she wants too · Crawl well ~ too well done · Use thumb and finger pincer grasp to pick things up ~ done Some ba...

Dear Diary, My baby will be 10 months old tomorrow (photos will be posted) and I've learned heaps about babies and parenthood during that time... I wrote down observations because I didn't want to forget them and thought I would share them on the blog because I'm sure our readers can relate to many of them (a bit of a long read, sorry). 1. You can never completely prepare, plan or know what to expect during childbirth. 2. A c-section is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. 3. After birth, hair falls out by the clumps and it’s even worse after a c-section under general anaesthetic. I wish someone told me to expect it. 4. Pooping takes a lot of energy and concentration. 5. Babies are early morning people. 6. You can never cuddle a newborn enough. 7. No matter how much stain remover you use carrot stains do not come out of clothes. 8. Little girls really are daddy’s girls. 9. You can never have enough bibs. 10. Cheerios are buoyant in the washing machine...

Dear Diary, It is quite possible that Isla is the world's sweetest and cutest baby!! Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this main page to see why. I was playing around in Picasa and came across the collage feature, I couldn't resist and I have great ideas for her first birthday in February. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On another note, I've been hinting at Colin (I don't think he noticed) that I wouldn't mind getting Photoshop or something like that. I'm not a professional photographer and don't pretend to be either but I want to use some the features available. If you have Photoshop let me know what you think of it or if you use another photo software program let me know about that also.

Dear Diary, Today is the 20th birthday of our niece, Kristen... Happy Birthday Kris, We pray you continue to have another blessed and healthy year!

Dear Diary, Did I do it again? My creative juices were running and I once again got carried away. I prefer this layout as I can control the colours and it's also less pink. I changed it for my husband who doesn't like pink, except on Isla.....

Dear Diary, I finally got my haircut and a colour this morning! Woohoo! (but no photos) It's been way too long and I was starting to suffer from stay-at-home-mom syndrome. You know, bad hair, too many sweat pants and puke on my shoulder... AND, we're going out for dinner with friends without Isla... I love her but it's nice to go out without stuffing your face and getting out of there in 30 mins. because little one is bored and whiney.... What a nice Saturday!

Dear Diary, Today is Thankful Thursday again, hosted by Iris of Grace Alone . Feel free to pay her a visit. When Colin and I left the UK we left behind a lot of good friends and family and came to a part of the world where we knew almost nobody (we knew 2 people). Everything was new, we didn't know where anything was and we were missing the familiarity that we took for granted. 1. I am thankful that God directed us to our new church where every Sunday the Word is preached purely and we are able to attend without any interference or opposition. 2. I am thankful for all the new developing friendships we have with our new church family. They have welcomed us into their fellowship with open arms and without hesitation. 3. I am thankful that last night I was able to attend the Titus II Women's Study Group cookie exchange. The cookies are all so yummy and we were able to enjoy learning about each others Christmas traditions and memories. It was a lovely evening of good laughs a...

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Dear Diary, The bottles are put away! We had a sippy cup for her but it was a beginner cup and it seemed like nothing came out of it so we bought a couple more and she loves them. She has one for her juice/water and another for her milk. I lay her in Pack'n'Play and she enjoys it. With her being in the Pack'n'Play I spend less time cleaning the carpet. She's been spitting up alot so everyday I've going around with my scrub brush bucket of vinegar water cleaning up little spills. I still do it but there isn't as much to clean up! YAY Isla! We had a bit of snow today and we went for a walk in it this afternoon. I didn't bring my camera with me so I took a photo of her on the balcony when we got home. I think this is the closest I'm going to get to a dog ~ Isla's hat!!

Dear Diary, OK, so I didn't get around to vacuuming the house today or folding my laundry until just before dinner tonight because I was mucking around with the blog, again. Colin thinks it's very pink but what does he know? Many of the same features but now you can also be "Our Follower". Just look to the left of this post and you'll see the link. Be the first one, don't be shy! Hope you like my new 3 column blog. It was a bit of work to get the extra column in but I like it and hope you do too! 'Til next time,

Dear Diary, Firstly, Happy Birthday Loretta! Have a great day and we wish you many continued blessings! Secondly, Happy 3rd Engagement Anniversary to my Groom! Thirdly, Happy 2nd Wedding anniversary to our friends Jeffrey and Jenny Dempsey! Congratulations ! Jeffrey and Jenny are unique because they had the most unusual wedding in Larne. I won't go into details but if you were at the ceremony, you know what I'm talking about... I told you it was a busy day!

Dear Diary, ... we think she's so cute! ... and her Oma and Opa love to see lotsa photos of her....

Dear Diary, Just a few photos to share... Colin wanted to make sure Isla doesn't forget where she was born! Wee Norn Iron girl in her Jumperoo Daddy's girl This is the box from her new car seat and between her and the cats, it's usually occupied by someone. It's become part of the dining room furniture! Pearl climbed through the clothes rack to get to the top....