Our Family & Our Life

She has it all figured out - move the trash can to the floor, step on the cat litter box and then grabs her tooth brush and paste!  Smart cookie - she'd do it 18x a day if I let her!

Well, it was mine and she snuck it and finished it after I put it down for a minute.

BIG Isla That's what she's been calling herself this week.  I even heard "big Mama"  once or twice and while she's right, I don't need to hear it from my two year old!  And yes, I think she's getting big too....   Yesterday I was flipping through her photoalbums and saw a photo taken on May 5, 2009... She started walking! (click here to read my original post).  I remember thinking at the time that she was going to be crawling forever so I was very relieved to see her reach another milestone. She really is BIG Isla ! 'Til next time,

It's done, the party is over....  but boy oh boy, did she have a good day! She beamed from sun-up til sun-down.... We had a group of family and friends over in the morning to celebrate and Colin's aunt and uncle came later in the afternoon and for dinner... Despite her not understanding the concept of "birthday", she knew everyone was there for her.  She smiled and giggled all day long.  It was a good day, an enjoyable day of watching her squeal and laugh and thoroughly enjoy herself.... Having a birthday also means having a check up and that's what we did today.  Never to be taken for granted she received a clean bill of health although she "forgot" where her nose was when the doctor asked!!! 26 lbs. 10 ozs. - 54th percentile 34.5 inches tall - 37th percentile 20 inch head circumference - 97th percentile (full of brains you see!) The doctor commented that she was tall and thin...  HA! Our child TALL?  I had to giggle but seriously she does loo

... our sweet beautiful Monkey joined our family. The Lord has blessed us with her sweet demeanour, amicable personality and smiling face.  She brings joy to our hearts when everything else in life seems to be falling apart.  The Lord knew what we could handle when he placed her in our lives and she has been our shining light for the past two years. "Two" things about Isla : Two favourite words:  Hi-eee ~ No (subject to change frequently) Two favourite foods: bread ~ any kind of fruit (subject to change frequently) Two favourite activities: jumping ~ washing her hands/splashing in the sink Two favourite household "chores" - feeding Tasha (one kernel at a time goes in her bowl) ~ dusting Two favourite toys: Teddies ~ Elmo Two favourite TV shows:  Sesame Street ~ Wheel of Fortune Two favourite colours   purple  ~ yellow Two favourite people:  Daddy ~ Oma (I'm not offended, really!) Two favourite characters: Elmo ~ Dora the Explorer HAPPY BI

WARNING (sort of) - I should say that this post may not appeal to everyone.  I'm not being graphic or trying to scare anyone, it just may not interest some or you may be expecting a baby and don't want to read about it just yet.  That's OK but you've been warned. The reason I want to post it is for Isla and for me.  It's a part of her life and mine and I want to remember it. So if you don't want to read it, stop right here .... Just remember, there is a happy ending.  We had Isla. If you want to read it, continue reading.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ June 2007 -  I discovered I was pregnant the day before Father's Day and as much as I wanted to tell Colin the next day, I can't keep a surprise so I went out and bought him a Father's Day from the cats - HA! -  and Baby Black.... He didn't get it right away but he caught on pretty quick! So, I would love to say I went into labour at 5 p.m. she was born at 8 p.m. and it was a day in the park but it

Today was a wonderfully bright, sunny winter day here in the Great White North.... Despite waking up at 6 a.m. Isla didn't want to nap so we went for a walk on the Wetlands Trail instead.   I forgot my gloves and decided not to walk as far as I had planned because it was c-o-l-d.  Besides, the lady had enough of sitting and wanted to walk back to the van. I know she is wearing a winter coat with a car blanket but seriously, she's outgrowing this stroller.  February 2010 May 2008 She looks so tiny and look at all the room in there!  She's getting to be a big girl and I get sentimental thinking of her 2nd birthday next week..... .....  What happened to my tiny 2.5 month old baby?  She's grown into a beautiful little girl, full of personality and love!

This morning, just before 8 a.m., I looked at the thermometre outside and it was -17 but it's windy too so it feels like -57 (not quite, but close)! We've spent alot of time indoors which doesn't agree with Isla.  She's ancy, dancy and gets bored easily but she's taken too a new past-time.... Not sure if this is a good thing but she enjoys herself...

Isla has been feeding herself with a spoon or fork - it isn't pretty but it's the only way she'll eat so we let her. She loves yogurt and these photos are a fairly typical evening meal at dessert time... yum.... ... but when it's gone, watch out!

With all the goings on last week, Isla's 22 month "birthday" was overshadowed. That's OK, it wasn't that important compared to the life-altering events of last week. I have to say I'm doing this post but it almost feels irreverent as we just buried dad on Friday. My intention with these posts is more for her in the future and myself as I use these posts as a way of tracking her progress. I'll eventually print them off and put them in her keepsake box. This months edition is the Reader's Digest version. Her 22 month birthday was the day of visitation at the funeral home. In the afternoon she stayed with my niece and nephew, Emily and Benjamin, at my brothers house and did amazingly well. In the evening she went to bed early and Emily and Benjamin stayed here at the house with her while she slept. This is a BIG step. When we left N. Ireland she was only 3 months old and Colin and I never went away together because at that time there was loads going on

All ready to go Isn't the first snowfall of the season exciting? What is this stuff mom? It came during the night, not alot, just a few centimetres and it was very wet. In fact it rained alot this morning so it made for heavy work as I shovelled the walkways. Oh well, it was fun to walk in nonetheless. I took Isla out this afternoon. We didn't try to make a snowman because it was so wet underneath. I'll save that for the first decent snowfall. She had fun, that's all that matters.

I apologize for the video quality or if you have seen this on FB already but I had to share...

Where has the time gone? My baby is 21 (months) today!!! Isla's sense of humour and silliness has certainly been shining through this month. Colin has already warned me that she has inherited his (toilet) humour! Oh help! ... and she still loves hats although we are having a bit of trouble with winter hats. I think it's because they are tight to her head whereas the summer hats are much looser. Anyways, this is Canada and she has to wear one and thankfully I did find one at Old Navy that she'll keep on without crying. Her level of speech is getting better all the time. She can say her name when asked, she can say she's one (and hold up her index finger), "all done" and she says other words when you don't expect her too. The other night I brought her to her room to go to bed and she said "Dark" or should I say she shouted "DARK". She's also starting to count and she knows the colours purple and sometimes blue. We count as we