it's been a while...

I know I haven't written in a while...other things to do! Well, I got a job!! We are thrilled that I'm working half-time in Landmark starting in September. I can't believe it's right in the town where I live and half-time - too good to be true - but it is true:) I also know a lot of the staff already, so I'm excited to start. It'll be nice to get back into teaching. I already have child care lined up, so I'm ready! Besides that we've been keeping busy with enjoying the warm Spring weather and playing outside lots. Thomas loves it outside, as I'm sure all kids do. These past 3 days though we've had an insane amount of rain, so we've had to be indoors a lot. But it's sunny today so we're off to the park after Thomas wakes up from his nap! May has also been a good subbing month, which I'm happy about. I don't think I'll get much in June just because it's the end of the year. Another fun thing happening is that Chris and I are headed to Minneapolis without Thomas on Thursday. I'm excited to get away for a bit, even though I know I'll miss Thomas. This will be my first time away from him for the evening! Yikes!! But, Chris and I are going to go to Valley Fair, shop and enjoy some quality time together. This is much needed. Well, that's an update for now. Here is a recent picture of Thomas. He seems to be growing more every day!

frustrated...

I'm frustrated with my lack of work. I seriously thought I'd be called more by Hanover School Divison, but that isn't the case. I really don't know what I'll do...maybe sign up for another school division. Oh, well...at least the weather outside is GORGEOUS!! I think I'm going to set a tub of water up outside and let Thomas splash in the water later this afternoon. I can't believe we're having this weather in April.

The last few weeks have been busy. My parents have been out twice - once for Easter and the next time for my Grandma's funeral. Both times were lovely visits, thought the funeral visit was a bit busier of course. The funeral was a great family time and a wonderful time of remembering my amazing Grandma. She finally is with Jesus in heaven, and I'm so happy for her.

Well, off to drink some ice tea and move some more rocks. Chris is turning a little pond we had outside on our deck into a sandbox for Thomas. Yeah!! But there are a lot of rocks we have to move to make the sandbox, so that's what I'm doing.

Thomas turns 1

Thomas is 1!! It's hard to believe only a year ago I had a little baby that wouldn't sleep, and now I have a toddler!! We had a great birthday party for him on Sunday. He marched around grinning at everyone and enjoyed every minute. He also enjoyed the cake, but ate it just like he was eating peas and carrots. No real excitement...which was kind of funny! He slept very well after the party. Actually, he's been sleeping well almost every night lately - 11-12 hours every night! I won't complain about that.
I've been back to work now almost a month and it's gone fine. I've worked 8 days and it's been pretty easy. Thomas had a few rough days at the babysitter's house, but now he seems to have adjusted to another house and enjoys it. This is a big relief. The first day that he did terrible, I didn't know what I was going to do. Not working isn't an option, so I just prayed and prayed and he did fine the next day! Yeah!! I think subbing will work out for the rest of this year, and then we'll see where God leads in the fall. I'm hoping for some kind of teaching job, not subbing. Well, gotta go get a cup of coffee...or a nap...

What a great Olympics! I am sad it's over, but Canada ended up doing great:) So, it's March 2 and I officially was able to work starting yesterday. However, I didn't get called yesterday to sub or today. This is a bit stressful since I do need to work, so I hope I get called soon. I know I made this decision, but sometimes I wish I had just gone back to work full time so I wouldn't be stressed about making money. But, God is faithful. He has been time and time again, so I need to not worry! Well, that's my little stress for today. I don't know what Thomas and I will do today...maybe go visit a friend who just had a baby. Chris is off ice fishing with his dad. What a great day to go! The weather has been perfect lately! I also can't believe Thomas is 1 in less than 2 weeks. What a big boy! I just sent off his 1 year pictures to get printed. I hear some loud banging in the background...should go and see what Thomas is getting into!

I'm loving the Olympics! I really am an Olympic junkie!!! If I was an Olympian I would definitely be a speedskater. I think those men and women are amazing! Anyway, so that's what we've been doing lately...watching the Olympics. Chris and I also managed to go out for dinner...the first time since my birthday in June! It was highly overdue. We dropped Thomas off at Chris's parents around 4 and had supper at 5! I know it's a bit early, but this restaurant is very popular and doesn't take reservations. So, we had supper, went for dessert and were back at Chris's parents to pick Thomas up at 7:30. It was wonderful! Hopefully we can do this a bit more regularly. We used to go out for dinner a lot, but things have definitely changed with a baby:) Well, I'm looking forward to watching more Olympic coverage today. Hopefully some more medals for Canada!

almost 1

Thomas is almost one! I can hardly believe it. This year has gone by so fast with him in my life. I haven't loved every minute (crying for reasons I couldn't figure out!), but overall I am loving being a mom. I'm going back to work in 3 weeks, which I'm kind of looking forward to, but kind of not. It'll be hard to leave Thomas, but also nice to have something different to do. Thomas now has 7 teeth and he eats sooooo much! He regularly eats a piece of toast with cheese, a whole banana and some cheerios for lunch. I'm lacking creativity in what to feed him for lunch these days, but he doesn't seem to mind...as long as he gets food. I'm planning his birthday already and can't wait. I'm excited to see his reaction after eating some cupcake. He hasn't had anything sweet like that yet. We're going to do a jungle animal theme! I wish my immediate family could be here, but hopefully they'll be able to make it to another birthday some year. Here's a picture of Thomas in his new sled we got him. He loves it and it's good exercise for me:)

I just took a look at my last post and it was apparently cold at the beginning of December - not so much now. This weather has actually been beautiful -nice enough now to take Thomas out in his new sled. He loves going for rides in it! He sits and talks to the ground, sky, trees and whoever is walking by. Now that he's walking it's also so much fun. Well, he gets into more things, but he's so cute toddling around on his short little legs. Lately he knows to clap his hands and stomp his feet when we sing the song "If You're Happy and You Know it." His comprehension of what we're saying is also growing by leaps and bounds. The other day I was showing him cars driving by the window. Then, later on, when I asked him where the cars were, he looked at the window and proceeded to walk over to it. Wow! I was completely shocked. I'm pretty sure he knows more than he lets on. He's also really loving a blue hammer that goes with a hammer truck Chris and I gave him for Christmas. He walks around and hammers anything interesting to him. Our cat doesn't really like this! I've already started to think about what we're going to do for his birthday. I can't believe it's coming up so soon. My little baby is now a little boy!

I'm also in the process of updating my resume for going back to work. Yup, it's that time again. I'm just subbing for now, but hopefully will get a position in the fall. We'll see where God leads! Well, I'm going to go and grab a cup of tea while Thomas naps.

Well, the weather outside is frightful! Unfortunately we don't have a fire to stay warm beside. I can't believe how quickly the weather turned cold. But, that's Manitoba for you! The thermometer said it was -30 out today - yuck! The last few weeks have been busy with Christmas shopping, sending out Christmas cards and Christmas baking. Since I have time this year, I managed to bake 5 batches of Christmas goodies! Now they're in my freezer, though, calling my name....! Only 2 more weeks and we head out to BC for Christmas with my family and skiing! I'm looking forward to this so much, though Thomas doesn't adjust well with sleeping, so I might be tired. I've been thinking about work lately - can't believe I'm almost at that time to go back. I have mixed feelings, but time will work it out. Must go and make myself some coffee to escape the cold:) I've added some pictures of Thomas I took recently. He's so cute! I love his picture with Santa. We were in the mall and it was a spur of the moment decision. He didn't cry at all, just stared at the strange man with the beard!]

Well, I haven't written in a long time...but life is good. I can't believe it's December 1 already. Snow is falling outside my window for the first time, so it really is beginning to feel like Christmas. I love Christmas and am looking forward to spending it with Thomas this year! Last year I thought, I'll have a 9 month old baby next year...and I do! We've been busy getting together with friends, shopping, going to doctor's appointments and more. We were able as a family to get up to the Whiteshell for a couple days at the beginning of December, and that was really nice. Life with Thomas just gets more and more fun. He's getting such a personality! He loves to play with anybody who pays interest in him and has such a cute giggle. He also has 2 more top teeth and is moving around furniture so well. I don't think he'll be walking by Christmas, but you never know... Lots of talking - "mama," "dada," and "tata" these days and of course yelling. He really is our little miracle!

Thomas is crawling on his hands and knees now and his fourth tooth finally came through. He learned how to crawl in 1 day! It's amazing how quickly babies learn new things. We just got back from a great trip to BC to visit my mom and dad. It was so nice to see them, and nice that they got to see Thomas before Christmas. We'll be heading back out west in 2 months again to do some skiing and visiting with family. Thomas was awesome on the plane. I was so worried, but he was such a trooper. On the way to BC there was this man sitting in our row who really liked Thomas and at one point held him and put him to sleep! Another new thing in our lives is that we just bought a new car - upgrading to a van. The car just is too small for us and our growing family We're picking it up today! Family is coming over on Sunday for Thomas' s dedication, so that will be nice. I've got a lot of cooking and cleaning to do today, though. Life with Chris and Thomas just gets better every day. We're loving our little baby so much!

Thomas has another tooth on the top! It came in a week and a half ago...the other should follow soon. Lately sleep for us has been horrible. Thomas is waking up at 4:45-5:00 every morning - yucky! I cut back his napping yesterday and he slept until 6:45!!!:) We'll try it again today and see if less napping is the key. The weather has also turned colder. Fall is finally here. I'm looking forward to cozy nights inside. I just wish there weren't so many of these nights, but that's what you get for living in Winnipeg. I'll be heading to BC on Wednesday for Thanksgiving, which I'm super excited about. I'm a little bit nervous about the plane flight with Thomas, but let's hope for the best. He was awesome the last time I went. That's pretty much it in our life here. Work is going well for Chris, and Thomas is eating more and more food every day. He finally seems to like it!

Well, Thomas is officially crawling. He made it all the way down our hallway to our bedroom last night! I can't believe it. We went into Linden today to meet Steph for lunch and pop in to see friends. It was nice to be there, but also nice to not have to worry about school. I love teaching, but having a break this year is really nice. School is so busy! Thomas gets his 6 month shots tomorrow and I hope they go well. The other ones have been fine and Thomas seems to just sleep it off. Hopefully tomorrow will be no different. Also on Friday I'm beginning an hour long exercise program at the Pan Am Pool with Thomas. It's every Friday for an hour and I hope it'll be fun. It'll be nice just to get moving. So, I'm keeping my life busy, but also enjoying relaxing and reading a book once in a while. I know these times will go by fast so I'm trying to enjoy every moment!

What a gorgeous Friday - 30 degrees outside! Chris is mowing the grass, Thomas is sleeping and I'm catching up on pictures. My goal is to get pictures from our past 5 years of marriage organized and into photo albums. I'm doing pretty good so far. It's neat to look back on everything Chris and I have done together! So, Thomas is basically crawling! He gets up on his hands and knees, throws himself forward on his tummy and then does this again. He can move all across our floor this way! Today he also sat up from being on his tummy!! I can't believe how much everything changes. A funny thing happened the other day too. I was reading Thomas a bedtime story called "From Head to Toe." I finished reading that book and proceeded to read another book called "I Love you Goodnight." Well, Thomas all of a sudden turned on my lap and reached for the first book! I thought "He can't already know what book he wants?" So I tried reading the second book again, but he continued to reach for the first book! I couldn't believe it. What a little turkey!

Life's been pretty good lately. We've had beautiful sunny weather, which is nice; however, the mosquitoes make it pretty impossible to enjoy it!:( It feels weird to not be back at school with my teacher friends, but I know I'll enjoy being home with Thomas. He is sooooo near to crawling!!!!!! He pulls himself up on his hands and knees and then kind of throws himself forward on his tummy to reach a toy. He can get around very well like this! It's only a matter of days... The past few nights he's been waking up at 5:30 a.m. I'm not impressed with this and don't know why. Hopefully he'll go back to sleeping at least until 6:30 soon...I'm pretty tired! I've been taking 6 month pictures of him the past few days, but I cannot get him to smile. Whenever he sees the camera he gets his typical "Thomas" look - just staring at the camera! I'm going to try again tomorrow to get at least a glimpse of a smile. He has such a cute one! Well, we're staying home today. It's raining so maybe I'll make some cinnamon buns!

What a beautiful day today! Unfortunately there are so many mosquitoes that we can't go outside to play:( They are horrible now that it's sunny and warm. We had our first corn from Chris' parents two days ago - yummy! Thomas can eat it next year! Today I went to the spa while Chris looked after Thomas. It was my birthday present and it was so nice! I had a body scrub; then washed off under this amazing shower with 6 shower heads raining water on me while I lay down; then a body wrap; finally another shower! It was so relaxing except for 2 women I could hear nattering in the room next to me. Oh well. The shower actually also stopped working the second time under it so I got a free body wrap gift certificate - yeah!!! Chris and Thomas hung out at his sister's house. Then, they picked me up and we headed home for some BBQ salmon dinner. We're actually going to eat it when Thomas is in bed. It's nicer to eat when he's in bed because he's kind of fussy in the evening. He's doing so well. I'm feeding him a little cereal every morning now. He doesn't really eat it, but it's just getting used to sitting in the high chair and eating from a spoon. I can't wait until he actually starts showing interest in food. He's almost 6 months - wow! What a lot of growing he has done in 6 months. He is amazing!

We have had a beautiful few days in Landmark and Thomas and I have gone swimming! It was his first time in a swimming pool and he liked it a lot. He looked so cute in his swimming suit. It will be so much fun next summer when he can walk and we can play at the park! Chris has been working evenings this week which makes for some long days for me, but he's off on Monday! I booked a spa day for myself on Tuesday which should be very nice. Chris is looking after Thomas - Yeah!:) Today we're just hanging out at home and working on naps. Not going so good right now as Thomas is crying in the background, but he will fall asleep eventually!

Thomas has found his toes! I was wondering when it would happen and it did just the other day. Now he's putting them in his mouth all the time! Nap time is not going well, but I hope it's just a phase. Poor baby was so tired today: ) At least he's sleeping through the night! I'm keeping busy with seeing friends and visiting family. We visited Great-grandpa today and that was fun! He loves seeing Thomas (and me). We're also heading out to Bird's Hill for church on Sunday. Should be fun and it looks like there's going to be great weather. Thank goodness since the weather this summer has been horrible. It feels weird to not go back to work this fall, but I know I'll enjoy being with Thomas. I'm signing up for some fitness classes with him! Gotta lose the last few pounds.

What a night last night! The thunder was so loud, and it actually hailed. The storm woke me up, but not Thomas! This past week has been a great week of visiting friends and a trip to Grand Forks. Thomas made his first trip out of Canada yesterday and he did great. He only got fussy and annoyed the last couple hours of our car ride home. He spent most of the last hour in the car yelling and blowing bubbles - I think he had had enough of the car seat! He was so good all day, though, even in plus 34 weather! When we got home and I put him on the floor to stretch out, he was sooooooo happy:) He is moving so well on the floor - turning circles and pushing himself up so high. I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling in the next month or month and a half. I also tried today giving him some rice cereal today since he gagged up the sweet potatoes I tried last week. I made it nice and runny, but he still wouldn't eat it. So, I'm thinking he's not quite ready for food, even though he liked the bananas. We'll try again next week. Not much planned for this week-end, just hanging out at home.

Last night was the first night I didn't feed Thomas at night, and he did great! He only fussed for a few minutes at 11:30 and 3 and then for about 45 minutes at 4:30. We'll see how tonight goes. Thank goodness he wasn't up for an hour at night like he was a couple nights ago. I peeked my head in his room and he was playing in his crib at 1:30 in the morning! What a little stinker:) I am so glad it's sunny and hot - finally! I enjoyed sitting on my deck and reading a book this afternoon for a bit. I love summer!!

I don't think Thomas likes sweet potato! I put him in his high chair and gave him a few spoonfuls, but he made gagging sounds. Oh, well. I'll try again in a couple days. He also has managed to grab his toes in the last couple days. Pretty soon they'll be in his mouth! Napping today has been going so well, even though I have to get up early at 6 or 6:30 when he wakes up. I figured out I was letting him sleep too long at night, which was messing up his naps. So many things to figure out. Happy Anniversary to Chris and Me - 5 years today!!