Our Family & Our Life

Dear Diary, I'm doing a bit of reminiscing today - we left our lovely Larne house at 4:00 a.m. and headed to Dublin for our flight to Toronto one year ago. The thing is, it seems like I always move in May : - In May 2002, I put the offer in for my condo in Burlington (moved in July 2002). - In May 2005, I sold and moved out of my condo in Burlington. - I left Canada and moved to the UK in May 2005. - We bought and moved in our Larne house in May 2006. - We left N. Ireland in May 2008. - We are in the process of packing & moving tomorrow to our new apartment and we plan on staying there for a very long time!!! No more moving , so yes, next year, I'm gonna try my best to miss the month of May just in case we have to move, again...

Dear Diary, You know you have a toddler when you have to go out to buy cabinet locks or else the Comet cleaning powder is all over the kitchen. Yes, that happened last week, not pretty. Since we're moving this weekend this is the only cabinet that isn't locked because if we installed it, we would need to screw it in... In the meantime, she's been having a blast with the Saran Wrap, waxed paper and such. The fingers have only been caught once. So far... 'Til next time,

Dear Diary, Isla is now 15 months old and WOW didn't she enjoy her last month of life. In case you haven’t heard, the big news is she is walking ! It started with three steps everyday for about a week but one night she REALLY wanted her teddy and nothing was going to stop her. She went for 8 steps and before we knew it was 20 steps to get to her Fisher Price telephone. Who would've thought? She is now walking 95% of the time with rarely a stumble. She is also eating much better as long as I have 3 hours to spare. She is a super ssssllllooooowwww eater but hey, it's better than nothing! I think speed is the secret with the lady and she is eating lumpy food including meat and vegetables fairly well too. She'll eat just about anything with applesauce. Her 15 months stats are: Weight: 21.4 lbs. Teeth - 1 new upper molar for a total of 11 teeth and I’m waiting for the first canine tooth (lower left) to cut through. Words: "hi there", "teddy" a...

Dear Diary, My sweet Pearl would never do this, only Dixie, Colin's cat. Can you guess where she is? We must've had a rip under the box spring mattress (or she scratched it open) and the furry lady made herself comfortable in it for an afternoon nap... Did you forget we had cats?

Dear Diary, I just had to share this photo from today and to say I can't wait to show her off in Ontario this summer!

Dear Diary, Yesterday we went to three Targets (don't ask, a long story) to get a Colin a new toy - although he said it was for Isla. Whatever (roll eyes). How cute is this? Elmo sings ABC! For the last few weeks each and every time we visited Target Colin would play with Elmo with Isla. She does love Elmo but Colin is the one pressing his hands and feet to get him talking and singing that I'm thinking it wasn't really for Isla after all. By the way, she is now walking like a pro - it's so cute and I'm AMAZED how quickly she has come in a mere 6 days of walking! I'm so disappointed we don't have a video camera to share her first steps with everyone but I'll try to post some pics once I get one or two that are not blurry. ... and finally, Mother's Day 2009!

Dear Diary, Proverbs 31:28 (NKJV) 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: May we all strive to become blessed to our families today, tomorrow and everyday.HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Dear Diary, My baby is happy... .... because she is officially a toddler now..... ... she's a walker!! She's been taking 3 steps and then falling down for the last week or so but tonight she REALLY wanted her teddy and went for it and took 8 steps in the process..... We kept on practicing and she took up to 20 steps to get to her favourite toys. If I knew a Fisher Price telephone was going to get her walking, I would've used it months ago!!!! To say the least, Colin and I are proud of her and she just beams from ear to ear as she toddles along. She's even standing up and walking from the crawling position but crawling is still the quicker way to chase the cats! This is her new favourite thing to do - wash her hands in the sink - Daddy is so much more fun than Mommy! .... but it wore her out. A cuddle with Daddy before bedtime.... Tomorrow, more walking!

Dear Diary, As you may or may not have noticed, I have fallen off the weight loss wagon.... ... but I have crawled my way back up. I was at the gym at 7 this morning since apparently my body has to move in order to shed the pounds. What a novel idea, eh? For one reason or another, none of which are good, I have stopped going to the gym and pretty much since then, I stopped losing weight. Enough is enough, I have to lose at least 10 lbs. by the end of June. Anything less is unacceptable to me and anything more is woohoo!!! My original goal was to reach my ideal weight by May 22. That is not going to happen but I'm OK with it as long as I continue to lose. I am proud of the 17 lbs. I have lost and my clothes that were tight last summer are fitting much better now but I don't want to become complacent. Colin has orders to push me out of bed at least 3 mornings a week at 6:45, just enough time for me to get to the gym for at least a 30 minute walk/run or do 2 mil...

Dear Diary, This past week has been tough on Colin and I. I think the anxiety and uncertainty of the last year is wearing us down but this face never fails to make us smile... ... even when she is a naughty girl! She loves to eat and play with the cat food and splash in their water and yes, we only laugh when she is not around. How could we not?