Easter weekend

Sarah's caught her parents' love of taking pictures. So we got her an instant camera so she could take pictures whenever she wants and she spends a good deal of every day doing just that. 

On Friday we went for a walk in Assiniboine Park. Here's a picture of the Assiniboine River which is only flooded just a bit.

Our little climber. She's climbing on a sculpture that is on the other side of the bridge over the river. We think they're supposed to be icebergs.

a wee little house in the park - its actually a gardener's shed but they've made it all fancy so it goes with the English Garden theme.

A good deal of the Leo Mol gardens is flooded - below are some dancing bears in the ice.

Dale took Sarah on a bike ride for the first time of the season on Friday afternoon when she wouldn't nap. She loved it and was so excited to put her helmet on.

I'm so tired but I'm not going to let on...

The rig...

Sarah made an Easter bag for craft at Indigo on Thurs...she's showing it off here. She wasn't happy at Indigo because there were so many people and kids there. She's not one for crowds. Dale took this set of pictures.

On Saturday morning Sarah opened her Easter present from Gramma and Grandpa Holm. She was thrilled with the dress (from the Philippines), window stickers, colouring books and crayons. Thanks!

I had to do a watch on Saturday at Chippawa for flood preps. We aren't officially called out but we're just getting ready in case we are. 

Dale took Sarah to Costco to do some shopping and then they went to the Officer's mess for the Easter Egg hunt. But all accounts Sarah had a great time. Her buddy Sonia was there so they iced cupcakes together - icing, gummy bears, etc and then ate it. The Easter bunny was interesting but she didn't want to go within 3 feet of him - just like Santa Claus at Christmas. Sarah fell asleep in the car on the way home.

These pictures were taken by my friend Janet (Sonia's mom).

Decorating a cupcake...

Easter egg hunting

Chocolate everywhere - in her mouth, on her hands...yummy! She loved her bunny rabbit face and was very sad when I washed it off that night.

On Easter Sunday morning Sarah had a little Easter hunt.  The Easter bunny brought her a little Melissa and Doug cart with letters/animals blocks, an Eric Carle book called 'the little seed' and some Easter eggs filled with things like hair clips, hairbands, balloons and chocolate eggs and the requisite chocolate Easter bunny. She ate some of her cereal for breakfast and drank her milk under protest - she wasn't getting the chocolate until she was done breakfast!




Did she eat part of of the chocolate bunny and save the rest? Not a chance! She ate the entire thing!

Sarah in her hairband. We're at the hair band stage of growing out her hair. Clips won't stay in her fine hair unless there's also pigtails in them so in order to keep the hair out of her eyes and the food she's now wearing the hairband. Looks cute, eh?

Sarah has decided that she's going to have a little brother, not a sister. When Dale asked her what his name should be she thought that it should be either Jet or Dick. Where in God's name did she get those two names?

Wee missy has quite the vocabulary these days - lots of sentences and complex thoughts and ideas. She's taken to my habit of saying 'hey' after sentences...a habit I didn't realise that I had until she started doing it. Its amazing what you learn about yourself when you become a parent. The tantrums have also kicked it up a notch - we think its a combination of the next phase (tantrum threes) and the fact that she isn't napping reliably anymore. It certainly makes for an interesting dinner and apres dinner time before bed. She's usually a screaming, crying mess.

Potty training continues but its certainly not a linear process. Sigh. Well - she won't be going to school in diapers!

Royal Winter Fair in Brandon

Dale had the day off on Monday so we drove to Brandon for the Royal Winter Fair. 4 hours in the car and about 3 1/2 at the Fair - only in North America would people do that kind of driving!

Sarah loved it all - the tractors - or anything with wheels including a golf cart - were a lot of fun. She had to get up to drive all of them.

There was a clown which we found annoying but Sarah thought was kind of interesting. She didn't last very long because she was pretty tired by that point. She's on Dale's shoulders watching the clown here.

There was a whole section called 'Thru the Farm Gate' which was a lot of fun. We got to see some Belgian and Percheron horses in their stalls (what huge horses!) and there was a petting zoo part so we got to touch rabbits, sheep, goats, puppies, etc. 

The sow and her 12 new baby piglets were very popular. It was hard to get in close enough to see. In the picture above you can see Dale with Sarah behind the crowd.

Sarah's almost as tall as a Shetland pony - 10 hands high. We won't worry about the technicality that they measure height in horses to the whithers...

Sarah and I went into a little enclosure and we got to hold a few baby goats (kids)! She was sure excited to be able to do that. The sheep didn't really interest her.

a puppy dog

They had a mock-up of a silo there. The kids could fill their cups full of seeds, climb the stairs and dump the seeds down and watch them go down the silo. Pretty ingenious!

Sarah really wanted to touch this ram but the ram just didn't want to cooperate.

Sarah's very favourite part was watching the equestrian show jumping. We watched for a very long time. I enjoyed it as well - its been a long time since I used to do that! She told me that when she gets bigger she's going to ride horses. Gulp. Better start saving now!

the week of way too much snow!

We were back into the cold weather and a lot of snow this week. They're talking about flooding in North Dakota which means we might be in for it in a couple of weeks. On Wednesday I had to go to meet my accountant so despite the horrible weather I dropped Sarah off at Miss Janet's house and made the trek downtown. It normally takes about 15-20 minutes and it took me almost an hour to get there.

On Thursday I decided we weren't going anywhere. There was so much snow and the wind was so strong that the drifting was such that it just wasn't safe to drive unless I had to, and I didn't. Sarah and I walked over to Lisa and Sophia's and had a play date instead. It took me the better part of 1 1/2 hours to shovel that day!

On Friday I still didn't want to drive, although it was sunny, not very windy and the roads were better, so Sarah and I walked to Safeway instead to buy milk. Here are some pictures of Sarah all decked out in her snow outfit for posterity sake.

Dale shoveled the back deck on Friday afternoon when he got home from work. I was just too tired to shovel anymore! We had to get the deck done because the snow was covering the back door...leaving only one exit in case of fire. 

Sarah, like all kids, loves to eat snow...her Daddy taught her that trick. Here she is eating snow that came in from the back deck.

More snow in two or three days than we got all year it seems like!

On Saturday morning I ran a bunch of errands while Dale and Sarah went to Fort Whyte. Apparently she loves walking in the woods (out of the wind) and watching the birds. I found a bean bag chair at Home Sense that will be just perfect for Sarah's room. We're going to move the big chair out of her room and into the baby's room when we're closer to the due date. Sarah really likes the chair!

A couple of goofs being goofy - Sarah's wearing Dale's Air Force hat (which fits her head believe it or not!

Sarah loves all things to do with machinery - diggers, tractors, etc...that should warm her Bummpa's heart! Here she is reading the book inside Johnny Tractor (a John Deere, of course) which was a gift from Nana and Bummpa last year.

On Saturday night Dale and I did a major re-sort of all the bins of stuff that we have hanging around the house. We reorganised the closet in the guest room, took all the stuff out of the room that will become the new baby's, threw out a bunch of stuff and generally spent 3 hours working very hard and the result is great - far fewer things in a smaller area and empty totes! We should have done that sorting job before we left Nova Scotia, but when you're not moving yourself its hard to get the incentive to throw things out. Having a new baby and needing more room was the incentive we needed, I guess. Now the baby room is pretty much organised - it's already painted (blue) and we're going with a boat theme. I know - we're in the middle of the prairies so we should be doing something to do with tractors and crops, but we're bucking the trend. Besides, boat aren't gender specific.

a visit with the Hamptons and a Daddy's girl

This weekend our friends the Hamptons came for lunch on Saturday. They live in Petawawa (Ontario) but they were in Winnipeg visiting with Geoff's grandma and the rest of his family. Next stop for them is Edmonton to visit with Maggie's family. Geoff just got back from Afghanistan and they had a baby (Jack) a couple of months ago. Whew. They are a busy family!

Maggie and Maddie. Maddie will be 2 next month.

Master Jack. What a cutie!


Maddie

Clean up time for the girls and their Daddies.

On Sunday morning Sarah and her Daddy did some dancing. They're both sick with a cold so it was cute to see them cuddling together.

Tonight Sarah turned the tables - she tucked her Daddy into bed and sang him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Baa Baa Black Sheep (her two favourite must have good night songs). It was so cute!

A night night kiss. She told him she was closing the door after her so he could sleep.  

Sarah's potty training seems to be going well at the moment - at home anyway. We've decided to wait until the at home part of potty training is well established and successful before we try it outside the house. Why go looking for trouble? We're in no hurry!

a long weekend at Pinewood Lodge, Manitoba

On Thursday night on the way home from work Dale was in an accident with his Altima. He's doing fine but the car may be a write off. We'll see what MPI has to say when they get to it. Luckily we had a bit of a holiday planned for the next week because I think we all needed a break from life. 

We left Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon on the way East to the Whiteshell Prov. Park and Pinewood Lodge  http://mypinewood.com which is on the south side of the lake from Pinawa. We booked a suite with a full kitchen so we brought our own food with us. Good thing too because other than a small convenience store that's part of the Lodge complex, there isn't much around for miles and miles! The facilities were beautiful and Sarah really enjoyed the pool. We were in there at least twice a day for the two days we were there. On Monday it was nice and mild (-10 or so) so we did some tobogganing  down the hill and onto the lake. Sarah just wouldn't believe us that we were actually on the lake because it was frozen over and had about a foot of snow on it. Sarah had so much fun that she desperately didn't want to come home today. Of course, once she was home life was good - she was getting tired of the toys that we brought with us.  

Sarah's vocabulary continues to expand and she just gets busier and busier. Her latest is her pronunciation of avocado (africado) which is hilarious. 

Sarah is also starting to lose her afternoon nap (such a sad state of affairs for me) so some days she'll sleep and some days she won't but she still stays in her room for an hour and a half (I need the break) if she doesn't sleep. 

The pool which was in the middle of the resort building. The rooms were set up around the outside of it. We were in one of the biggest rooms - our room was the one just above Dale's head. We had a view of the lake outside our kitchen window. Very nice. This is a very popular place during the summer. Its very much cottage country.

Super swimmer Sarah now has no fear in the water. What a change from 2 months ago when we started swimming lessons again. She'll launch herself out of your arms into the water. She's so sure that you're going to catch her... 

Sunset from our kitchen window with the lake on the other side of the trees. I used an upside down pot on the window sill as a tripod. Too bad about the hydro pole - I couldn't avoid it.

newest baby pictures

20 week ultrasound pictures. I'm at 24 weeks now but I just got these in the mail yesterday from the hospital. 

Head down on the right side, and chest up in the upper left of the picture.

Acrobat?

Head down in the middle, belly/umbilical cord in the middle (I think).

The weekend of trains and a new TV (or treehouse as Sarah calls it)

Sarah and I grabbed the bin of train tracks and Thomas and all his friends on Friday when we were at the MFRC for our weekly mom's group. When Dale got home after a very long week of work he was so excited. He wasn't sure who was enjoying building more - Sarah or Daddy!

By the time Sunday rolled around we'd moved the carpet and really got down to business!

Thomas on the track. Look out!

Dale worked on Saturday (he had to fly all day) so Sarah and I set out to buy her some plastic covered potty training pants at Toys 'r us.  She's started to show a great interest in all things to do with potty training so I thought it was time to try it out. We bought a new toilet ring and the training pants. Oh - and some paints and a book that I've been looking everywhere for. Man - that's a dangerous store! Anyway - she did very well in the morning but had an accident after lunch. Apparently being pregnant makes me more likely to gag. Gross! First time for a poo in the panties. You'd think I wouldn't care because I'm used to cloth diapers but I still gagged. So - we washed them and they were back on again that night until bedtime. She's managing to remember to pee on the toilet but the poo part of things may take a while.

Today (Sunday) Dale took Sarah for swimming lessons. She now has absolutely no fear in the pool and can float on her back with hardly any support and can kick her feet and move her arms at the same time. What a difference from a couple of months ago when she was clinging on to a parent for dear life!

 This afternoon Dale went to Costco for the big purchase - a 37" LG HDTV. He's going to finish setting it up tonight. Gone will be the days of waiting for the TV to warm up for 1/2 an hour before we can watch it! Dale's pretty happy about the 19 years that his old TV lived for, though. I bet this TV won't last that long!