Our Family & Our Life

Dear Diary, My beloved flew back to us last Friday for a quick visit before blowing out to the UK for a month or so. The poor boy flew out of Denver at 8 a.m. and didn't arrive in Toronto via Charlotte N.C. until 6:30 p.m. What a long, tiring day but he still had enough strength to give his Isla all the hugs she needed! On Saturday we organized a Vandenberg family outing to Rockwood Conservation Area just outside of Guelph for a bit of canoeing and bbq'ing in the afternoon and evening. We couldn't all be there for various reasons but for those who were there, we had a good time, I think. Colin and I rented a canoe and so did the "orphans', namely, Emily, Benjamin and Matthew. Their dad was in Ohio for business and their poor mother was at home very sick with a bad chest cold. Hope you're feeling better soon, Loretta, we missed you! The orphans with Matthew in charge (scary!) Me, sittin pretty but I did paddle abit when ordered by you-know-who... Yup, him, my be...

Dear Diary, Thank you dear for the message of love.. I am sad that I am not with you on our anniversary but knowing that you and our beautiful daughter are well makes me happier. I love you more today than yesterday, I see your love for me in Isla's happy eyes and I can't wait to be with you again soon. Love you always, Your husband... xoxoxoxo

Dear Diary, Two years ago it was just the two of us... ... and now we are three I love you for your thoughtfulness Your understanding way And for the countless little things you do for me each day I love you for the hopes and dreams You've helped to make come true But most of all I love you, Just for being you Happy Wedding Anniversary to my Groom ! Happiness and Love Always Your Bride

Dear Diary, Isla celebrated her 6 month birthday yesterday! Born on a Sunday and now she celebrated her "birthday" on a Sunday! How times flies as they say. This is the one time in her life when she is allowed to triple her weight but then if you start life at just over five pounds it doesn't take long to triple! She stills has just the one tooth. Her little cheeks are really pink but when we check it's still just the one. It's good thing she has at least one tooth 'cause she's been getting solid food now for four days! Rice cereal isn't her favourite - I give her the bottle to wash it down but she's doing OK. I'll try pureed vege in a couple of days. This is her first taste of solid food - she did really well and even opened her mouth for another bite - but after that it's become a bit of struggle. And her birthday lunch on Sunday of rice cereal. Still not that tasty but thankfully her bottle was around to wash it down. Mom found ...

Dear Diary, Well, I finally got the camera to upload the photos: These are the cats: Pearl found use for sofas even though they haven't been unwrapped yet. Glad she finds them comfortable. And here is Ziggy for his closeup waiting for his treats. Isn't he cute!!? He gets his treats on the table because if he ate them off the floor the dog would push him aside and eat them. And Dixie hamming it up for the camera. Does this look like a stressed cat? Do you see what I mean when I say they are well taken care of and didn't miss me at all? Last Sunday my sister and b-i-l and two nephews came by to say hello. This is my nephew Peter with his littel cuz. She was quite comfortable sitting there but she was handed back to me when she cried. Oh well, I'm going to try to make a babysitter out of him yet! Unfortunately I can't get a pic of her new tooth but here is our darling, a photo for her Daddy in Denver! (sorry a bit fuzzy) She misses you dear and we can'...

Dear Diary, This post has been in the making for a week now, I just haven't time to post it. Sorry, no photos, the camera isn't downloading for some reason. Isla and I arrived in Ontario late last Wednesday evening. She was really good on the flight. We booked her a seat in order for me to have a free hand now and again. She sat in her carseat most of the time and she even slept a bit but not much. Colin is still in Denver and will be arriving here next week Friday before heading back to the UK for a month or two. Isla and I may join him, we're not sure yet. We've been busy though. I'm trying to arrange OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance), Canadian citizenship and a Canadain passport for Isla and I've run into the bureaucracy wall. I hate doing this! We're not sure how long we'll be in Ontario but I wanted to try to get her OHIP so she can visit the doctor and get up to date on her vaccinations. Her last visit was in May in Larne for her three month vaccinat...

Dear Diary, Isla reached another milestone this morning, her first tooth!! YAY! She'll be 6 months old on Sunday and will have one tooth on her 'birthday'. Mom found it early this morning and is pleased as punch about it too! She still claims she got Isla's first smile at 3 weeks but that is up for debate. Anyways, I figured something was up with Isla this morning - she woke up screaming at 4:30 a.m., something she never does. Other than that, she's been great, she hasn't been cranky or fussy at all. I'm sure I have the best baby (and cutest!), everyone tells me I do!!!! I wish I had a picture to show you all her new tooth but I'm having trouble downloading the pics to the computer so it will follow shortly, I hope. Tomorrow she will reach another milestone, solid food. I'll let you know how that works out too and I hope to have a photo to post.

Dear Diary, During the past couple of weeks, Isla has been having trouble rolling back onto her back once she has rolled over. Maybe it's because now she rests her head on her forearms and can't use her arms to roll herself back, I'm not sure, but it's been really annoying!!! Every five minutes we have to rescue her, the poor little darling! It's also affecting her napping, or the lack of it. She rolls and screams and so today we decided to try swaddling her like we used to and it worked for about five minutes before she wiggled herself free. Doesn't she look like a little cocoon? My beautiful little papillion! It was a good try but once she was freed, she did fall asleep about five minutes later, FINALLY! Unfortunately, it was a short nap and 45 minutes later she was awake for her bottle and a good burp with Daddy! Look at that face. Just a typical day in the life of a 5 1/2 month old! 'Til next time, Heather, Colin & Isla

Dear Diary, You probably noticed a slight change to our blog. I'm just playing around with it as the blogger people have added quite a few new features since the last face-lift. One of the new additions is the ability for our faithful readership to receive email updates each time the blog is updated. Just add your email address and hit "subscribe" to find out what were up to and where were living at that particular moment! Also, some people many not realize it but you can add a comment by going to the bottom of the posting and hitting the "Comment" link. We love to hear from you! Happy reading and be sure to scroll down the left side of the blog for little bits and pieces. 'Til next time, Heather, Colin & Isla

Dear Diary, I have a few minutes and I'm procrastinating, I really don't feel like a shower right now and just prefer to hang around the house in my pj's. Don't you just love days like that? Anyways, I thought I would take advantage of it because Isla and I are going to Mom and Dad's next week and we'll have to be up and ready to go by 6 a.m. and definately no hanging around the house in our pj's. As Dad says "the best part of the day is early in the morning". Oh great, I can hardly wait. As I sit here, Mittens is sleeping out his last full day with us and I'll miss him when he goes home tomorrow. He's a good cat and good entertainment. He sleeps in between our pillows on our bed and purrs, so yeah, I wash the sheets alot. Last weekend he started pawing at my face because he was lonely about 3 a.m. Don't you just love cats! I brought the two plants into the apartment that were on the balcony and now he thinks he's a jungle cat as he...