Happy Action Shots

Road Trip, Road Trip, Road Trip!!!

Hello Everyone - glad to see things are going alright for you all...

As you can tell by the title of this posting, I'm going on my road trip and am very excited about it! We leave tomorrow afternoon and are driving to our first stop, Golden, BC. However, depending on the weather we may stay in Revelstoke instead to avoid Rogers Pass at night.We've got a week full of sight seeing, driving and my favourite part time with my mom and step-dad. Yay!! What a great Easter weekend it will be.

Key - the documentary isn't neccessarily depressing....but it is a documentary....I really liked it. If you decide to watch it let me know what you thought of it.

Anyways happy belated St. Patty's Day & Happy Easter to All!! Take Care! xoxo

Spring is Sprung, the Grass is Riz

I am so happy about this nice weather. We've been going for walks in the afternoon and playing in the park! The other day though, it was so windy that Angelina's friend Tyler was almost blown over.

The kids got their shots last night, which was a nightmare, but at least I got to weigh them. Angelina is 27 lbs, Roman is 17 lbs! What a giant! He goes in the jolly jumper now and loves it! I need to get him one of those things that babies sit in and play with all the toys. I have a specific one in mind but I can't find it anywhere! It's one where the baby gets to walk along a track, and it's by Fisher Price, and I would pay any price for it. So if you come across it, let me know!

The nurse last night asked if Angelina can say 10 words yet. What?! Wow, she can say hundreds. The other day I was changing her diaper and she recited the entire song "You are my Sunshine". She also enjoys saying "mommy said..." and then repeating every word that I said, even multiple sentences. She also likes to read stories this way now: I read a sentence, she repeats it. I read the next sentence, she repeats it, and so on. It's so funny to see her concentrating on getting every little word. How studious.

Awh!! that sucks....

Come in on Friday!!!!

ya, we already have plans for other things on Sat... :( so I am affraid Fri still stands...
would have been nice to see you though!!

Keira?? you coming with a little singing princess...? leave the two boys at home to have a boys night.... that is if Matt is in town ???

Ang's house

I would love to come but I dont' get into town until Sat. If you guys can hold over until Sat evening then I can come and would love to do the sing-a-game. But now is boils down to Keira.
thanks for the invite!
Kirsten

I have an idea!!

Keira and Kristen should come over to Ang's on Friday evening. So far it's Ang, Lindsay, and myself making haystacks for dinner and then playing 'sing star' or watching a couple of movies. I'm sure Ang will agree the more the merrier. Ang's place is kid friendly too; well, except for a bunch of girls trying to sing their way to super stardom.
What do you think...huh, huh, huh?

Sammi

More More More

I had a wonderful birthday, with lots of unexpected phone calls and happy stuff. Pat came over and babysat while me and Matt went out for Indian food (my favourite!) Thank you guys for all your wishes, and thanks for the blogs! I love it when I'm not the only one writing on here! Keep it up, pleeease!

Matt has been corresponding with the company in Oshawa and is just waiting on their specific offer in terms of vacation, benefits, and salary. But he has already breifly talked this stuff over with them. I don't want to say it's for sure yet, but things would have to take a pretty bad unexpected turn to make us not go. Anyway we are just waiting for the last details and hopefully we'll get them this week. Matt told them he wouldn't take the job until next fall, but we still want to know right away!

It's true, Roman is really catching up fast to Angelina in size. He can sit up now if he's propped up with lots of pillows, and soon I'll try putting him in that bouncy doorway thing that Angelina used to love so much. Angelina is talking in complete sentences now even with all the little words like 'and', 'of' and 'the'. What a little grownup!

I'm excited that Kirsten is pregnant and think about it all the time. Maybe I'm annoying, but I feel like I have so much wisdom to pass along! I had two very different pregnancies, extremely different births and completely opposite babies, as well as some extra hospital experiences. Whenever I hear someone is pregnant I can't help but think about it all the time and wonder how they're doing, even if I don't know the person. I hope it happens to you all soon!

I have heard about that Born into Brothels movie more than once. Thanks for the recommendation, Sam. Is it sad and depressing? If not, i'll go rent it.

Can't wait to see your website, Ang! I'll add it, and Kirsten's blog, to my links.

Yay, call me as soon as you're here, Kirsten. I'll give you my pregnancy book if you don't already have it. How was your first ultrasound? I can't wait untill a couple months from now when you find out if you're having a boy or a girl!

i'm coming up

hey Key.
I"m coming up this weekend! I"ll be in the Okanangan until Wed. wanna hang out. I still haven't met little baby boy!

He's Almost out growing her!!!

Ummm.... What happens when he is only a fraction of her age and is way bigger than her!!!??? :) WOW! He sure looks like MAtt!! I know, I've said that before...
So what is the news on moving Keira?? Did Matt take the job over east??
What have you been up to??

Congrats Kirsten!!! I am soo happy for you both! you will have to keep us updated.

What is everyone else up to?? Nothing new here.... just trying to get rid of this Bronchial pneumonia for the last 3 weeks... and well.. the usual... work work work! I cant wait to start playint Paintball in a couple of weeks though when the weather gets nice.... and get our in the sun and do some hiking and take some pictures.... I have lots of people wanting couples or family shots... still working on my web page though.... I have had it designed for weeks but have to wait for Bryce to get time to put it all together.

Well take care.

Bedtime

I'll write later... meanwhile here are some pictures!

Yay, matching jammies!
Storytime
Bedtime snack
Goodnight kisses

Happy Birthday & Catching Up

Happy Birthday Key!! Hope you have a fabulous day! Your little munchkins are just adorable, thanks for posting new pics every once in awhile....love seeing how much they are growing up. Gina just looks like a little princess now, and Roman what a handsome lad! Can't wait to meet him this summer. Hey what ever happened with Matt's possible news? Are you guys moving to Ontario?? Details!!

Congrats to Kirsten and Drew - what wonderful news!! Will Drew be back before the baby is born? Did you find a place downtown yet?

Sammi - hey stranger!! How's it going?? Glad to hear from you sounds like you're super busy with school. Good luck with midterms

To Everyone: Things are a bit crazy in my world right now I'm busy with 3 weddings this year, 1 baby and then a few adult life things (long story, don't ask).....and to add to it I'm sick (again) I've got bronchitis, an ear infection and the beginnings of a sinus infection...the Doctor hopes that we caught it in time and the anti-biotics will make it better, before it gets worse. Lee and I leave for a 8 day road trip to Alberta on March 19th - it's all I think about!! LOL.....We're driving to Calgary the first day and spending some time there visiting with a couple friends, and hopefully do breakfast or lunch with cousin Chris, then driving down to Medicine Hat to spend Easter with my mom and step dad. On the way back we're going to try to go to Banff and/or Lake Louise. Lee has never been to either of those towns so we'd like to do a day or at least afternoon being tourists. I saw an awesome movie a couple months ago and I've been meaning to mention it...it was called "Born into Brothels" sort of a documentary type, but it was very good....I'd recommend it to people who like documentary type movies about other cultures.

Anywho...I'm at work so I should probably work.....although sickness keeps me distracted. Talk to you all soon! xoxox

Happy Birthday Keira!!!

Two posts in two days... Have a great birthday Keira. We will have to do brunch again when Matt gets back.
Congrats to Kristen and Drew on the new baby!
I have to get to writing a midterm in a couple minutes, so I'll stop writing now.

Birthday Kisses and Hugs,
Sammi

I"m on the baby bandwagon

well I"m so excited I wanted everyone one to know that Drew and I have a bun in the oven as well. I"m going to work on a blog of my pregnancy.. though I haven't quite figured it out as of yet.
but yes.. I though I would let everyone know!
Kirsten

an hour later: figured it out and this is my site.. I guess I started one last year and now I have re-buffed it. http://loverbover.blogspot.com/

Pudgy and Sweet

Nice to hear from you, Sammi. Stores in small towns are often closed at funny times. I guess there's only one person to run them and they take a slow day off. We should do brunch again. That cafe was great and there are other good places around here too.


The kids are motoring along as usual. That still seems funny to me to say "my kids" and not just "my baby". Anyway Roman is colossal now, and sucks on his finger just like Gina. He's just learning to get it into his mouth, though, so it's pretty funny watching him squish his little fists up into his pudgy face. The other day I heard Gina talking away in the other room... then I looked down and Gina was right beside me; it was Roman who was talking! He never even cries when he's upset, he just hollers. Like, "Excuse me, will someone come pick me up?"

Gina knows new stuff every day. She knows all her letters and the alphabet, she can count like nobody's business, and she says please, thank you, excuse me and bless you completely on her own. She also likes to talk about her day and what we did, and she speaks very grown up, like "Mommy Gina both walk upstairs! Good excercise!" She's doing this funny thing lately where she pushes back her chin, purses her lips and talks in a low voice. I love how funny my kids are.

This morning Gina decided all on her own to read Roman a story.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have the best little kids!

Hello there, Mister Turtle

Handsome handsome handsome, just like daddy.

Look at that pudgy chin! Roman is so fricking cute. I just want to squeeze him!

Wow

Hello Everyone,

So much is happening to everyone while my head is stuck in textbooks.
Matt is climbing the corporate ladder very quickly; he is being head-hunted by a large company in Ont for a CFO postion...Wow. CFO at his age; people who build large multi-million dollar companies were CFO's at a young age.
Gina and Roman are getting cutier with every picture, and it was great seeing everyone at brunch. We should do it again. I wanted to take Dave to the 'Wooden Nickel' but it was closed on Tuesday. What an odd day to be closed.
Anyway, I should get back to homework. It's great hearing from everyone.

Chow,
Sammi

News...maybe.

Matt just called from Oshawa, just outside of Toronto. He has been offered a job there as CFO of a company. It's a big company, and an amazing career advancement.

Matt is meeting up with a realtor there tomorrow and checking out the city. Ahh, things always happen so fast with us! Somebody hand me a paper bag to breathe into.

Well, we'll see. Just wanted to share some exciting news. I told the babies but it's not the same.

Munchkinland

Wow Kirsten, downtown Vancouver! Are you sometimes afraid of being shot by gangsters or blown up or something? I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, that's terrible. Who is Nav Canada, is that IGA? When does Drew leave and aren't you going with him? Did you get a new job? What an eventful life you lead.

I am busy as a motherf*&$er here, with two little ones and Matt gone every other week. These kids are growing before my eyes, and they're so cool. Roman will smile and talk as long as anyone is willing to listen, and he's wearing 6-month clothes (like Gina did when she was 1!) He is such a jolly, happy little man, and I am nuts about him.

I laugh my ass off all the time. Earlier this week at playgroup, there were like 20-30 kids sitting around in this giant circle singing songs. Gina and two big kids ran into the middle and danced. Then we all sang this song where we pause and one kid shouts out her name, then we sing and then pause and the next kid shouts out her name, and so on. I can't even tell this story to anyone, I laugh so hard I can't get it out- every single time the song paused so a kid could shout out her name, Gina would stand up and call out, "more songs, please!" Ah, I love my little critters.

Not that I want to draw attention away from my lovely, rosy-faced princess, but what the heck is on my wall?!
He learned this face from the kids. Ask any little kid to smile for a picture and this is what you get!
Haha
Wow, a clear picture! The reason little baby pictures are blurry, by the way, is that babies are so wiggly! They are never totally still when they're awake; they almost vibrate.
Are you just about done taking pictures?

I'm alive and well

Well hello everyone. Crazy weather we have been having in Vancouver... Snow, rain, hail, sunshine... god.we are now Living on Main Street and love it.. its so trendy and I can walk for hours on it and window shop. I got a new car.. well actually its a really ols Volvo wagon. But I love her.. though she hates the snow and refuses to take me to work on snow days. Drews mom has cancer and is giving us her car for the time being. This weekend we are breeding Lola with a yorkie!! I"m so excited to have cute little puppies! Also Drew is moving to Ontario for 6 months to train for working for Nav Canada!!!! We are so excited. Hopefully we can land a transfer in Kamloops. I miss it there.
'I have had a couple of job interviews last week and they went really well. I'm wanting to take one at a car dealership here in town. I hope I get it so baddly. I'm sick of nurse aid. To much work with not enough pay.
but yes.. I think that is about it.
bye!

New People, Cold People

Matt's sister Nicole had a baby 8 days before us (Nov 24). Her name is Laynee Marie and now I finally have pictures of her (Nicole sent them)!

Laynee

Deigan and Laynee

Matt is back from Saskatchewan now, but he'll be back there at the end of the month. He said with the wind chill it is 50 below zero out there! My friend Lindsay lives near Dawson Creek and it's just as cold there; she can't even take her kid outside.

In Saskatchewan there are plug-ins at the parking spots so people can plug in their block heaters while they are at work or wherever. Otherwise, they have to leave their cars running or they get too cold. Matt said everybody in the restaurants left their cars running in the parking lots while they had dinner. Isn't that so weird?!

Smiles!

I have been in Vancouver during a snowy January. No one knew how to drive and there were so many cars in the ditch! It has been bitterly cold here, on account of the wind. I'm not sure if that's because we're on the lake or if everyone else is getting that too. But we all can't complain too much: Matt is in Saskatchewan this week. Brrr! Last week he was in Mexico, what a change!

Gina is motoring along as usual. She knows her alphabet and numbers and does surprisingly freaky stuff, like biting her apples into shapes or drawing letters. She also is speaking more properly all the time. And as of this morning she says "I love you" not in the baby way like before, but really clearly!

Roman is my friendly giant. Last week he weighed 12 lbs 8 oz; he is in the 90th percentile for height and weight. I can't wait to see how long it takes him to catch up to Gina in size! I predict a year. Matt and Nicole have a bet going about whose baby will reach 20 lbs first.

Sam, it's good that your landlords hadn't already found someone else and that you have extra time to find a good place. Kirsten has told me how hard it is to find somewhere to rent in Vancouver. Are you still working at the casino site? I got a very nice card from Veronika. She is married now, right?

This was at a baby birthday party last weekend. Gina and other kids her age always hug each other; even strange kids we meet at the store. Kids are so friendly and sweet.
Yay, a smiley picture! These are so hard to get. The pictures that is, not the smiles.
Hello Handsome!
We call him Longfellow (for his height).
My little Roman is so sweet. He loves to give kisses!

It's a winter wonderland in Vancouver!!

Hello Everyone!
So the last week has been weather mania down here in Vancouver....with the temperature having highs of +6 and lows of -3 and did i mention the snow!! OMG! Depending on where you live depends on how much you have...at work there's about 15 -20 cm and still snowing...however at my house in Coquitlam...I have about 40cm and it's still snowing!! I love the snow, especially cause it's actually powdery compared to normal but people from Vancouver cannot commute in it....so many car crashes, so many buses that don't show etc etc....it took me 1 hour 35 mins to travel 40 minutes this morning.
How's the weather every where else??

(This is a picture of my work/jobsite yesterday....nice and snowy out)

On other news....Lee and I are no longer moving March 1st....we've postponed it, yet again, and the new date is May 31/June 1. We couldn't find anything in our price range that we liked and Lee needs some more time to get some financial stuff figured out as he has never not lived at home....big change for him! So I have a few more months in my tiny little place to keep on looking and to save some money up. Good news/Bad news! Right?
Anywho....I'm at work so should get back at it...Hope everyone is doing well!!

Saturday

Sounds good for us.... I will talk to sammi...
What time do you want to meet?? Should we meet at your house or the restaurant? Bryce would like to see your new pad... Just let us know a time and place.... talk to you soon.

Ahh, Momentary Silence

Wow, I can't believe both my kids are asleep right now. I should eat lunch and clean the house but it feels good to sit for a few minutes! You wouldn't believe how busy it is to have two babies... it's crazy! Getting out of the house is a colossal effort. But I have the best two kids I could ask for. Angelina loves to help with Roman and even says "I love Roman". Actually, she says "I la Roro".

I'm glad you think Roman looks like Matt, Ang, because we're not very good at figuring that stuff out. I have noticed that Roman has some of Matt's features though, like his exact mouth and ears and I think the same nose too.

Ang, how about we all do brunch this weekend? I'll call to see if Turtle Bay is open Saturday mornings, or there's another nice breakfast place nearby. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your photography business! Anyone else from around here should come too!

I did get your card, thanks Sam, but not Veronika's. You and Lee are moving in together soon; that is so exciting!

Liitle Garcia Man

WOW.... he sure looks like a Garcia Boy!!!! From the pictures anyways... I cant wait to meet him!

Well things with us have been going great.... still working lots... recovering from my fall just before christmas still, but at least I am back to work now..... still $%^&#*@ sore though!
I will be working on my webpage soon, and trying to get my portfolio up and running... I'm excited... I am going to go do my name search this week... wish me luck... I really like the name I picked.
So ya, busy, but welcoming the new year...

What is everyone else up to???

My Big Handsome Men

Too busy to write. So, so busy you wouldn't believe. Lots of fun though. I love my sweet little munchkins!

Welcome 2008!

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope 2008 has been going well so far for you all! Things are going great for me, besides the fact I have an awful cold.

Hey Key...no the snowy house picture is my place (I'm in the basement around the left side), its hard to recognize with the white everywhere I know...haha....but hey it'll only be my place for less than 2 more months!! Yippee!! Lee and I move in together March 1st - we're going to start looking for places in a week or so and hopefully we find a nice apartment or basement suite that will suit both our needs. Angelina and Roman look adorable thanks for all the recent posted pics! (Did you get my cards I mailed?? Did you get Veronika's?)

So yesterday I went to a 3 year olds birthday party - there's a place in one of the malls down here called Build-A-Bear - has anyone heard of it before?? Anyways what you do is you pick a stuffed animal you like then you stuff it yourself, give it a heart(little plush one you put inside before he gets stitched up), name it, dress it etc. It's a really cool place and the employees basically run the party for you...so fun!! Anyways, Lee got me a bear...it's so cute I picked a soft brown one stuffed him so he's cuddly, dressed him as a fireman (hahaha I know funny eh?) and named him Hero. He is simply adorable, and fun to make. I forgot how much fun it is to be a kid sometimes....

I should get this off now and go finish putting all the Christmas stuff away. Keep in touch!

Happy Holidays

Good to see you back on, Sam. Is that Lee's mom's house? It's nice. You guys are so cute. We had a great Christmas too, with lots of activity and visits as usual. Now we've all got a bad cold-will the sickness never end?!- but that's okay, hopefully we'll be healthy again by this weekend.

Roman is growing at an amazing rate. He is such a big guy, but very lean. On Wednesday he will be one month old; I can't believe it. What a fast month, with all the things that have happened and all the activity of having two kids. He is looking around, doing little pushups and making adorable little gooing and sighing noises. He is a very happy little guy.

Angelina is so smart it is stupefying. She has the vocabulary of a much older kid and is even talking in sentences, like "mama daddy eat taco" or "mama help open box". She can play more and more fun games too. Now when I sing "old Macdonald" I let her fill in the blanks of the animals and their noises, and she also fills in other things too. Like "old Macdonald had a chair, with a sit sit here and a sit sit there". What a riot.

Here are a couple of pictures of Gina wearing clothes that Roman got for Christmas.

I'm baaack!!

Yay I'm finally back to the blog!! For some reason I lost complete access, but I'm back!

Hope everyone's Christmas went well....Lee and I had a wonderful time, I am on holidays until January 2nd but Lee went back today....I'm enjoying my time off but am surprised how fast I am getting bored hahaha! Anyways here is some recent pics of us and our lifes....(most pics on facebook for those who have it)

Us...being us...

More Xmas

Guess who is the center of attention!
My little princess
Sitting pretty
So dashing in his little Mexx outfit
What a sweet little pair

Xmas Part One