Happy Birthday, Baby!

Yes, Tuesday was Angelina's birthday and now she is two! I can hardly believe it. She's a wonderful, cool, sweet, smart, fun little kid. We're having a big party on Saturday. Oh, I have waited so long for her to be old enough to bake with! Here she is making gingerbread cookies. So much fun!
My baby loooves that ride at the mall. She talks about the "big red dog ride" all the time.
Swinging on the big girl swing. She also loves the big, high tire swing, which makes me so nervous!
This is what Roman usually does at the park. Oh, how I love that big fat chin!
Feed me, please.

Angelina Rose is TWO!!!!

Wow, can't believe Angelina turned 2 yesterday!! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Key are you having a birthday party for her this weekend?? Is there a theme?? Send my love to Gina and give her a big belated birthday hug and kiss for me. How's the family doing? By the recent posted pictures I'd say the kids are growing like weeds and are happy/doing very well. Lee and I will be up that way July 25 - Aug 4 hopefully in that time I can meet Roman and we can get a visit in with you four.

I have quite a lot to report but not a lot of time right now as I am at work....it's 8:30 and I've been here for an hour already, I wish I was still in bed. I'll write back in a few days, hope everyone is doing well.

Babes in Toyland

Roman's baby shower was so much fun! Roman got to do his favourite thing in the world, socialize, and Angelina got to play with his new toys and model his new clothes.

We'll get to do that stuff again at Angelina's birthday party next weekend. I can't believe she is almost 2! She is smat as a whip these days, and getting more and more fun. The other day we made cookies actually together; she poured the ingredients in and stirred them and stuff. And she has such an amazing imagination. Recently she had a whole conversation with herself in front of the mirror, like this:

"What is this pig's name?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do know. His name is Ortman!"

And she has great logic skills. She was telling Matt about her day yesterday and she had gone on that merry-go-round ride in the mall. She said to Matt (without my ever having said it) "Baby Roman is too small for the ride. It's just for kids."

Trying on mommy's new shoes

Hanging out, haha

figuring out how to crawl

With great-grandma at the shower

Hi, yes it has been a while. Sorry. Things have been so hectic with me lately. So no, I don't work at Kindale which is what you're thinking, Keira. I only worked there one day and then got my job at NONA. I think I posted this before but you must've forgotten. Kindale was not exactly what I was looking for, but NONA is in my field. I am a behaviour inteventionist for autistic children and their families. It's wicked great! I love it! I will work there until i go back to school in Vancouver or Victoria next Sept. I am excited for that too! Still studying for my GRE now though.

Wow, your babies are growing so fast!

April Shower

My cousin Teri is throwing me a shower this weekend for the Keough family. It's so nice of her! I can't wait. Angelina had more than one shower but Roman never got one. He will love it; all those Aunties and cousins to hold him and talk to him. He'll be in heaven. Angelina will like it too; all those presents to open and stuff to play with.

The other morning Angelina lined up some letters on the fridge and then pointed to them and said, "M-o-m-y. What does that spell? It spells mommy!" What a smart cookie. I certainly don't drill this stuff into her, she just picks it up so easily.


Roman already has two teeth coming up; these kids do everything early! He also has started eating pablum and rolling over. He's still a big jolly fat guy, and the most talkative kid ever! As soon as he wakes up in the morning he starts happily hollering, grunting and squawking.

Angelina wearing Roman's shirt a couple months ago...

...and now he wears it!

Rock on, pudgy prince

This is a picture of Roman's skinny legs in December...

...and here they are now, so big and squishy!

Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Stayin' Alive...

It was Kirsten's birthday on the 8th! Happy 26th, old lady. And happy telescoping! have you used it yet? I can't get that MLS number to work, is the condo still for sale?

Oh yeah, I don't think I ever mentioned moving east again. It's getting kind of complicated with this Ontario company; it looks like either we will stay here for one year and then take that job (that's what Matt's work is pushing and I am dreading) or we will just find something else and go in the fall like we want to. Either way, we do still want to move to Ontario.

It's so good to hear from you guys. Wow Robin, I haven't talked to you in ages! Are you still working at the mental health place? It's in Armstrong, right? Kirsten knows about it becuase her mom worked there.

Remember Linus from the Peanuts (Charlie brown)?

Hi guys
Wow, so many of you have all this great news to report! For me, it's same old... going to work everyday forever, coming home and making dinner or going out for dinner, doing the dishes, sometimes watching a movie or going out with friends, and then going to bed. Pretty boring life I lead LOL.

So Angela, I saw that you know Sheena from paintballing with all those people. That's cool! I have never been paintballing, but it sounds like you're hardcore and way too good for me to go with! :P

Keira, your kids are adorable! I love them! Are you guys moving away? What have you been up to? Matt is all fancy and formal with his job now. Sounds really cool and interesting!

Well just thought I would check in and catch up with you guys. Have a nice week.

Puppies!

Lola Beans had her Puppies April 12th. one male and one female. They are so cute. the male has more brown then the female. Both will be under 5 pounds and will be non-shedding.

Little bits of news

Keira thank you so much for visiting with me when I came down. And sorry I couldn't make it back to your place after Costco. I found that I had to barf like crazy after a all to yummy ice cream cone...
But yes, a little new from our way. Drew and I are moving to Kamloops and buying a nice condo. its on MLS in south Kamloops listed at 189900 if you wanted to check it out.
I have some job interviews in Kamloops on the 9th and also will be looking at the condo along with some others as well.
Lola is getting so friggen fat with her puppies ready to pop out in 10 days! I can't wait to see them all.
My pregnancy isn't working very well and i have had an AC check up and the results came back pretty harsh.I wont go into details in case I offend someone. But yes it was apparent from the begining with an ultra sound that showed the babies heart beating at an extra slow pace. And it doesn't help that I have now lost 30 pounds in total in the 5 weeks I have known I was pregnant.
This has been a really hard last couple of days. Besides me and my pregnancy we found that Drews mom is doing really quite badly. Thus the move back to Kamloops to be close to her.
other then those couple of hard things to deal with Life is still staying pretty exciting with Lolas puppies and the new place we buy.
Oh My birthday is on Tuesday and my lovely husband bought me a telescope! I can't wait till I get away from overcast Vancouver to sunny Kamloops so I can use it.
thats it.
hope everyone has a great week

Can't believe it's April already!!

Hello Everyone!!
Just thought I'd write a quick note to say hello.....been a busy couple of weeks with work, social life, family, friends etc....sometimes I wish I was a teenager again everything seemed so much easier.
Mine and Lee's road trip was wonderful - if you're on facebook all the photos are on there, I'll try to post some on here soon. Overall the weather was great, cold but good....the roads were all clear, the skies were clear for the driving days. We stopped in a lot of cool towns, saw some cool things (World's largest teepee, largest piggy bank, largest truck). Had a wonderful 4 days visit with my Mom and Bill (step-dad) - 4 days was just enough though hahaha - good news though lee and bill got along marvelously well and his 2nd time meeting mom was just as good as the first. Love it!!

Anywho...I'm at work so I should get working, I'm off to Whistler tonight until Monday afternoon....going away with Lee and his buddy Adam, we rented a cabin and we're going to do some skiing, snowboarding, drinking, playing wii, movie watching etc. Good times for sure!

Hope all is well with everyone - keep blogging!

Easter Feaster

What a great easter weekend we had. I hardly remember it now but it was a good one. Three days off is always exciting, and we had the Garcias over here for easter.

That was also when Roman really laughed for the first time! It's so priceless, he makes a huge fat smile and then starts making low noises and snorts. I finally found him that play saucer where he can walk along. He's too young to do the walking and turning but he loves it and especially loves that Gina plays with it too (he absolutely loves to watch her do anything).

Angelina can sing you are my sunshine and a sesame street song. She thinks it's hillarious to count to 20 or say the alphabet while running around and dancing.

Can you believe it was snowing here this week! I saw lots of snow in Vancouver on the news and Bill said Salmon arm still has snow on the ground. Weird!

What have you guys been up to? Did you have a good Easter? Sam, how was your awesome road trip?

Roman and his cousin Laynee at Easter. She is eight days older, but if she was born three hours ealier and he was born two hours later, she would be 10 days older.

My little comedian, pretending to be a baby.

Just chillin

Playing on that toy I mentioned

I just took this one now, they're still asleep.

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?!