Happy Birthday Gracie!

Four years ago today I ventured out into a frigid winter day and met this:Grace D'Lee. As I held you I knew you were bound for great things. Truth be known, I hogged you all to myself a lot your first day on the "outside". I loved you instantly as only an Auntie could. Being an Auntie is one of my favoritist things ever (just ask Kelli!). I was so sad as I drove away to attend my pumpjacks and compressor. But I did get to come back and stay with you a bit later.

We've had our differences, mostly involving bodily fluids in my germaphobic atmosphere, but what's a little pee/barf between Aunties and Nieces? Don't answer that, Kelli. Anyway.

It doesn't seem like four years have passed by already, but sure enough they have. You are our blonde beauty, our wild child. Our lives haven't been the same for four years.

Don't change a thing, kid. We love you enormously.

Happy 4th Birthday Grace!

(Photo credit to Nana)

Happy Birthday Papa Ray!

If I'm counting backwards correctly, this would be your "53rd" birthday (or thereabouts). I have your birthday present all ready to go, all 27-wiggly-curly-tailed-pounds of her. She says she misses staying at your house. Did I mention it's thundering out here?

Growing up, I had no idea how much you did for us. Mowing the lawn, keeping the yard in order and building stuff for us - including a playhouse. It seemed effortless on your part. Now that I'm grown up and have a family of my own, I realize it's anything but effortless! It takes a lot of time and energy to keep up on things like yardwork (and the wishes of some demanding grandkids).

I remember going on trips in the big truck with you and talking your ear off, though probably not as bad as Dustin did. Hee! I remember sneaking cups of coffee out of your thermos because Gramma wouldn't let me have any in the house. Sorry Gramma, I was still getting that coffee! So much for it stunting my growth though.

Playing in the shop was a huge treat since it was mostly forbidden. Getting in trouble for watching the welding arc was fairly traumatizing though! And I'm very sorry for breaking all those welding rods too.

Growing up with you, we were able to do so much more than kids normally do. We were exposed to so much more - motor vehicles, horses, being safe around the dugout/lagoon, grass fires and countless others. I'm sorry we scared you when riding the little trike - enough that you took it back and got a little four wheeler instead! We had so much fun on that bike. Summer days were the best when you were around to supervise us since the ladies weren't too keen on it.

Summer also brought camping, and I'm very glad we got to go with you and Gramma on a few trips. I look back with the fondest memories of camping by the creek and playing in the mud. And being too scared to sleep under the window in the camper in case a bear looked in. I couldn't admit it to Gramma, but you knew what my problem was. I didn't have to sleep under the window after all, so thank you for that!

When I got all growed up, I followed along the same path that you did, working for the same company and with a lot of the same people. It was a great experience working in the same plant sites with the same people as my Dad and Grampa did before me. They had a lot of expectations of me based on who my dad and grandfather were, and I hope I lived up to their expectations and both of your high standards.

Thank you for the advice you've given me over the years. Thank you for looking after Bailey so much, I know she's a handful. Especially that burying of the toast in your bed and such behavior. For some reason we still love her, even if she is a huge pain. Thank you for kicking her in the bum when she tries to take food from Cailin. That is hilarious.

Speaking of which: just when you thought it was time to kick back and relax, the next batch of grandkids comes along with their demands! Thank you so much for building Cailin's playhouse, it just simply would not have gotten done if you weren't there.

We thought a lot about you on your birthday. I wish we could have been there to help celebrate and eat a bunch of your cake!

Birthday & Mother's Day Weekend

First of all, thank you everyone for your birthday wishes and your Happy Mother's Day greetings. They were all so very appreciated!

Cailin didn't feel good in the wee hours of Friday morning so we spent some snuggle time in the chair in her room until she could go back to sleep. Luckily she slept in a little. I didn't so much, I was excited for the day to start.

I bought a new cake pan a while back and decided to try it out for making my birthday cake. Now, I'm not sure why Cailin and Bailey act up when I bake 'serious' cakes, but they sure kick up a fuss. They handle regular baking with ease - muffins, cupcakes, cookies and cakes that don't require much/any icing or decorating. But alas, Friday morning found me frantically trying to manage a new cake recipe on its maiden voyage in my kitchen while wrangling an angry toddler and unmanageable puggle. I don't know how they know, but they know how to lay it on really thick.

Cailin really wanted to crack an egg and I just didn't want to handle the mess and that started her meltdown. At any rate, the cake batter went together nicely, and baked up just right. Maiden voyage a success! To ease Cailin's baking-fury, I unplugged the big mixer and let her spoon bits of icing off the beater with her finger. It kept her busy while I pulled the cake out of the oven and cleaned the tornado that had somehow hit my kitchen. And yes, I'm still waiting for my Mother of the Year Award. It should be coming in the mail any day now.

One horrifying kitchen mess aggravated by toddler help plus underfoot dog made for a not very happy mommy - but once Cailin was escorted to an early nap (she needed it) I sat down with my icing and finished the cake up:
Ta da! Orange blossom cake with classic vanilla buttercream icing. I was expecting the cake part to taste a lot more orange-y, but the flavor was pretty subtle. Everyone loved it, so I'm happy.

After her nap, I packed Cailin a picnic lunch to eat in the car and headed out to the farm. She loves having her lunch in a little tupperware container and she ate the whole thing! GG and Papa Ray were there waiting for us when we arrived. Of course, Bailey got to go too, and the second we hit the farm's driveway she mellowed right out. Not a bit of her morning mood or status came through.

It took Cailin a little bit before she warmed up to GG and Papa Ray, but once she did, they were in trouble. She's got them both tied around her little finger. She played with GG like crazy before we ventured outside to play. Nana got a new lawn tractor and Cailin loved to sit on it and 'steer' with the steering arms.
We played outside until suppertime. Cailin was such a stinker at the dinner table, teasing Papa Ray by putting her feet up on the table until he would tickle them. Then she was stealing his napkins and throwing them on the floor. Dad was eyeballing my birthday cake and asked if we were going to dig into it. Since Cailin had been begging for cake all day, I didn't see why we'd wait, even if it wasn't my birthday until the next day.

Cailin entertained us until I realized how late it was. Mom suggested that we both stay over to avoid the long drive home. I agreed since I'm all for avoiding deer and moose on the highway like the plague.

Bedtime started out promising enough. Cailin refused to lay down in the playpen while I was in the room with her, so I rocked her to sleep. I made sure she was sleeping hard before I put her down. At 2:30am, she woke up crying. I picked her up and proceeded to try to rock her back to sleep like before. Ha, ha. Not so much. After a while, I relented and put her in the big bed with me. She proceeded to kick me and elbow me while she flailed around trying to get comfortable. After a while she got off the bed and starting winging toys around, laughing like crazy when they would bounce off of me. She talked loudly during this whole session, and her favorite phrase was to ask me if 'B went poopoo outside.' Did I mention Bailey was also in the bed with us? Yeah.

Eventually Cailin woke Bella up and she started meeping to get out of her kennel. Nana got up to walk her and Cailin started calling for Nana quite loudly. I tried to keep her laying down on the bed, but it just wasn't happening. That kid was so happy and so excited to be at Nana and Papa's that she simply could not sleep.

After a few things hit my forehead, including my Blackberry, I made her get back on the bed. I was trying to doze a little bit between watching her out of my one cracked eyelid. She managed to get the lid off the Gaviscon bottle and pour them out in the bed. I put them back in the bottle and let her out of the room. She wanted to see Buster and Bella, so I opened the office door and there was Nana, trying to shush the dogs. Cailin was so loud she had woken them up. So I walked the dogs with the sun rising across the field and Nana had a cup of tea. It was 5:30am.

I was tired. No bones about it. After she had been up for a while yet, Cailin started yawning like crazy and I took her back to bed. She brought a noisy toy into bed to play with and I laid down and tried to doze again amidst some annoying toy noises. I woke in a panic realizing that Cailin was being quiet. She was sleeping next to me on the pillow, snoring softly. Bailey was snoring at my feet. Every time I wiggled away from Cailin she would snuggle right back up to me. We fell asleep snuggling in a pile with Bailey. I had a nap until ten.

I got up to a glorious morning and coffee on the deck. I left Cailin sleeping on the pillow and went to greet my 30th birthday. It was going to be a beautiful day. Cailin slept til eleven or so, and we had A&W for birthday lunch. I'm not proud to say she had a cookie and french fries with some milkshake for breakfast. Again, Mother of the Year Award is in the mail.

At any rate, there was lots of playing outside and walking around the farm. The Papas got to work building Cailin's playhouse that Nana had bought for her birthday next month. Ryan came out with my birthday present - a brand new polarized filter for my camera. I tried it out a lot over the next few days, but this one is my favorite:
Eventually Cailin went for a nap, it rained a bunch and Nana and Papa made birthday supper. Steaks and potatoes and veggies oh my! There was hockey watching, dining with good family friends and more pictures. Cailin got coated in icing from the leftover cake and was escorted immediately to the tub after dinner. She got the sillies and really performed for us again. Since she was sporting a bit of a cold (and still is) I decided to take her home for a good night's sleep. We both needed it. I was scared to try to sleep in the same room with her again.

It was such a good day, I was sad for it to be over. But the next day was Mother's Day, so I was looking forward to that too.

We got up late in the morning to go to Mother's Day brunch with family friends. When we got to the hotel restaurant it was a complete zoo. They had opened up a conference room for the reservation-ed people and it was packed. The line for the buffet wound around the room through the tables and nearly touched the back wall. There was a 45 minute wait for food. Eventually the line got as short as it was going to get, and I lined up to dish myself and Cailin some food. She hung back at the table with Nana and Papa and Daddy. 35 long minutes later and full of rage from the woman-behind-me's unnecessary comments, I made it back to the table and fed Cailin and myself some sadly mediocre brunch food. The line had gotten long again in my absence. Ryan, Mom and Dad refused to stand in the line for pricey substandard food and I felt really bad that only Cailin and I had gotten to eat.

I was absolutely disgusted with the whole ordeal and I wish I had known that no one else was going to eat. We could have and should have left! But we did enjoy visiting with the family friends that were with us, so there was that. When we did finally leave, the hallways were lined with people on either side right back to the lobby entrance waiting to get a table. What a fiasco. Never again. We're doing Father's Day brunch at the farm and avoiding the hell that was.

Cailin and I caught a ride out to the farm with Nana and Papa and were really glad to see GG and Papa Ray again. Cailin loves them, and went crazy showing off for them in her own way. Poor Ryan had to go in to work, so while we waited for him we walked dogs (Bailey had stayed home) and played outside. Eventually Cailin asked Nana to put her down for a nap and went without a peep.

During her nap the Papas loaded up her new playhouse on the trailer and drove it to its new location by the deck and patio. I chose a spot against the lovely pine tree. We were excited for Cailin to wake up and check it out. It didn't take long before she was up and out there exploring her new house. She carefully figured out how to work the door and its tricky spring loaded hinges. She played with the taps and sink, toted the phone around and definitely worked over the doorbell. At one point she convinced GG to come inside with her and thought it was hilarious that GG did!
We had another lovely dinner and an all-round great day. Cailin grabbed Papa Ray's finger and lead him to the playpen where he was supposed to stand around and watch her jump for an indeterminate amount of time. Which he did. She thought it was hilarious. They played in the living room with the car seat for a long time too.

We missed having Uncle Duster, Auntie Hedder and the cousins around, but can't wait for the weekend that we can all get together and share the farm with everyone. The kids are going to have so much fun playing on the extensive lawn (get mowing Nana!) and harassing Papa for rides in the Ranger. The next big event is Cailin's 2nd Birthday and it will be at the farm next month. Can't wait!

We said some sad goodbyes since GG and Papa Ray were heading home the next morning. We headed home ourselves and all slept in really late - except Ryan since he had to work.

We rolled out of bed, had a leisurely breakfast and rolled over to the playground in the new stroller. Cailin has no clue what a playground is. She didn't like the swings much, but the slide was pretty fun.

After nap and lunch, I finally put her water table together. No sooner than it was together and right side up, Cailin climbed aboard, sat in it and played with toys. I removed her from the table and filled it with water. She stared at me in disbelief - then a smile spread across her face as wide as it would go. Her little face beamed as she realized that yes, she was allowed to play in all that glorious water. And she did.

We had a nice little Monday. Missing you already GG and Papa Ray. Thank you so much for the fun and gifts and everything this weekend and all the hard work on Cailin's playhouse!

On Turning 30

Or alternate title: Call the Fire Department (that's a lot of candles!)

When I was a teenager, I dreaded turning 30. 30 was old! Old as dirt! 30 was wrinkles and grey hairs and one foot in the grave. 30 was the end of your youth; it meant minivans and succumbing to soccer mom-ness, high waisted jeans and the end of being cool. Anything about you that was hip died a horrible death when you turned 30.

I have a much different and educated view on 30 now. I may have found a grey hair the other day (either that or it was very blonde) and high waisted jeans have nothing on maternity jeans (let me tell you) but turning 30 ain't so bad. I have some wrinkles around my eyes, but that's because I laugh a lot and love the sun. 30? Isn't old.

Five years ago, I turned 25 (duh). I was very excited to turn a quarter century old, and put a lot of unrealistic expectations and goals on the upcoming year. It turned out to be the worst and hardest year I'd ever been through. I was in an accident that nearly claimed my life. I remember thinking that this was completely going to mess up "My Plans".

Turns out, the best way to make God laugh is tell Him about "My Plans".

Recovering from that accident was difficult. I will never be 100% again of course, and I carry a new diagnosis of Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD) in my lower back (yowch) with me everywhere I go, but I'm here and that's the important thing.

Every single one of those days since then has been a gift. On bad days when I'm pulling my hair out and being driven crazy, I remember that, 'Today is a gift.' I almost wasn't here to have those bad days. I would go through it all again in a heartbeat to have Ryan, Cailin and Jellybean in my life and I know how very blessed I am to have my little family.

So is turning 30 a Big Deal to me? Not really, and at the same time, yes. It's just a number, though I am glad to have the chance to have another birthday. I know people put a lot of emphasis on the passing of their 20s and embarking on a new decade, and celebrate by taking elaborate vacations and such, but that just isn't me.

While I would have loved to take a trip to Hawaii, I don't need to celebrate a milestone birthday to do that. I just need lots of money and time. Since we don't have much of either to spare, this will have to wait. I have a feeling that Disneyland is going to come first though. Kids will do that to you.

I also would have liked to use my 29th year to work my butt off (hee!) to get fit and healthy and lose a bunch of weight in honor of my 30th birthday, but being pregnant and all.... Well, maybe for my 31st birthday. It's going to happen eventually; I want to be really healthy for my kids.

This I do know: I'm going to celebrate in my own style. As it turns out, that means wearing flipflops and sporting a fairly big baby bump. With a large piece of cake in my hand. Shared with Cailin of course.

They don't tell you what life will be like after having kids. They don't tell you that you will organize your memories into those of Before Kids and those of After Kids. That you will split your life into those same categories.

The best part about turning 30? It will be the year I will have completed my family; both my kids will be here and we will have been married for two years. Bring it on, 30s. I'm ready for you (but take it easy on my back okay?).

Happy Birthday Uncle Duster!

Dear Uncle Duster,

Cailin wants to wish you - her very favorite Uncle - the bestest birthday ever! Hope you had a great birthday - and I'm pretty sure you did, since the Canucks won the game tonight and you got cake and pizza. Mmmm, cake and pizza....

Wish we were there to help celebrate, and it did cross my mind to jump in the car and drive up for the day... That is, until your dear niece decided to desecrate my clean clothes and easy chair (and herself) with early morning toddler barf action.

Instead, we spent the day as far away from her room as possible. Namely, we went to the bank and then to the shoe store for much needed sandals. Cailin wasn't quite herself though, and even a quick trip into the pet store to oogle the puppies didn't help much. She really liked the Chocolate Lab pups though. Why yes, I did think of getting you one! Either that or the bulldog. He was really cute and oh! so wrinkly.

However, after eating until I was sure she would pop (again), and a long nap, Cailin felt like herself. Enough to walk all the way to the grocery store on her own two feet (in her new shoes). She did ride in the stroller on the way back though and we still had to stop and oogle all the puppies we saw.

You would laugh at her antics. Cailin loves to sit in the new truck and start it/shut if off, run the wipers (even the washer fluid), lock and unlock the doors, run the radio.... She can't reach the brake pedal so shifting isn't so easy, but she knows how to put the truck in gear too.

You would have laughed at me scrubbing barf out of the easy chair too - then dumping half a bottle of Febreeze on it, opening the window and walking away. Twice.

So I thought about you lots on your birthday, wishing we were there too. I'm glad we got to text each other all afternoon. I miss you and can't wait to spend more time with you and the family this summer. Beaver City awaits!

Happy happy joy joy! 29 For-evah!

Kelli's 8th Birthday Party

Way back in May, Kelli asked me to make her birthday cake. She wanted Hello Kitty with a halter top dress, a picnic table and watermelons. Since we were camping, I made everything before hand and decorated her cake on a real picnic table at the campground. After a run-in with the table cloth, a huge gust of wind and some smashed cake followed by bad words and frantic repair work, this is what her cake looked like:
I think it still turned out cute despite its issues. Kelli loved it, so that is all that matters, really. Her birthday party was lovely. After losing her iron will power, she begged to open her presents. I think her favorite present was a tie between a certificate to get a mani/pedi with our cousin Dani and a Webkinz from her sister and brother:

As following tradition, Cailin, Grace and Odin all got little presents as well for Kelli's birthday. It was a really nice party and a good time was had by all. Kelli had a great day too.

After the party, everyone came out to the campground and we played at the playground and had a great time at the campsite. It's hard to believe that summer is winding down!

Ryan's West Coast Birthday

We all got together to celebrate Ryan's birthday. We got him a Care Bear birthday cake. Because, you know, we care. Everyone enjoyed the cake, and by everyone, I mean especially the kids. Our nephew Odin loved it (and he's wearing his Nova Scotia shirt!):Kelli and her friend Haley were quite a bit tidier than the other two.
Grace must be thinking about one of two things here: why don't they make cake with just icing cuz the cake part is blah, or, holy crap Cailin is messy.
See? Cailin is messy. Told ya.
We had a nice visit, and I know it's not Nova Scotia but... Happy birthday hon. Love you!

Cailin's Eastcoast Birthday

It was raining when we got up this morning, but it cleared off in time for the party. Guests started arriving at 3 o'clock and it was so exciting to see everyone again, meet new relatives and for everyone to meet Cailin. She did really well to start with, but is nervous around new people, so there were a few minor tears.

This time around, Cailin fully cooperated in the present opening department. She sat on the floor with me and ate tissue paper while I opened her gifts. She got a ton of books, and once she saw those, she didn't have any interest in anything else. She leafed through her new books while the rest of us ooh'd and aahh'd at her beautiful new clothes. Cailin tossed the books aside though when I pulled two stuffed lab puppies out of a bag. She held on to them for a long time considering her usual attention span. She got a movie, money, a toy remote and cell phone, clothes, stuffed animals and more. Cailin was sure spoiled!

Once the presents were done and the cake was getting in order, Grampy took Cailin outside for a breather. She picked herself some flowers from Pammy's hanging basket and Grampy put them in her hair for her.

Now it was time for cake and ice cream! Cailin got a Tinkerbell cake from the local bakery (I'm on vacation so I didn't make it). It was so cute! And delicious. Cailin sat in her highchair and mashed to her heart's content. She also ate a whole pile of it.

Then it was naptime. What a nice party that was! Thank you to everyone for coming and for your beautiful gifts!

Happy 1st Birthday Cailin!

Today is Cailin's first birthday. I can hardly believe that it's been a whole year already! We feel really lucky to be able to be here at Grampy and Pammy's (all the way across Canada!) to celebrate. Today will be a quiet day while we settle in, and tomorrow we meet the rest of the family at Cailin's birthday party.

To start with though, we went into town and did some shopping. Cailin wore her new hat from nanny and thoroughly enjoyed her ride in the shopping cart. She got a new pair of shoes since I didn't pack her any (oops) and a new swimsuit since I forgot to bring her one (oops again).

We also picked up boring items like diapers and baby food. And Cailin's favorite, toddler cheesies!

Cailin is teething right now, but it doesn't look like she'll get her two front teeth for her birthday after all.

1st Birthday Party, Westcoast Style!

We woke up to a beautiful Saturday. It was a perfect day to have a 1st birthday party. Guests were coming from all around. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from B.C, friends from across town, and more cousins. I had decorated a few days before, made and decorated the cakes the day before, and it was finally the big day.

The birthday girl was quite taken by the paper cups.Cailin was suitably underwhelmed by her surprisingly heavy, hot dress. But look, polka-dots!
I fancy myself to be a bit of a cake decorator, a Cake Boss if you will. I even made sure her bears were wearing matching polka-dot dresses! The main cake is on the left and the little white bear is her smash cake for the highchair.
The decorations were raspberry pink and chocolate brown with stars all around. Cailin would just stare at them and look, and look, and look....
Cailin got a kiddie pool later on when opening the presents, and since it was such a hot day, it was immediately set up and enjoyed by all the kids and babies. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the pool since I was furiously trying to keep Cailin from drinking the pool water. She drank some anyway.

It was a beautiful day. A good time was had by all.

I Love Pink and Brown

I finally put the last touches of Cailin's room together. I found the perfect chocolate curtains, installed the hot pink curtain rod and finished sewing her pink and brown rag quilt. I got the rest of the pictures up - handmade Hello Kitty scenes from Valentine's Day cards etc - and put down the throw rug. Figures I would make my kid have a Hello Kitty room. Mom bought her matching pink and brown Hello Kitty bedding for her big girl bed for her birthday. I'm definitely more excited about it than Cailin is. We'll have to wait a while since I'm sure she won't be in a big girl bed anytime soon.I needed to take photos to put in her birthday invites, so I put Cailin in my favorite pink and brown dress (see? I'm crazy about those colors right now) and took lots of pics. Some of my favorites:
Cailin is not quite crawling yet. She's nearly 11 months here. The flower is from a boutique of my cousin's - BumbleBerries. Her website is down at the moment, but you can find BumbleBerries on Facebook. Her work is beautiful.

We have a pug/beagle mix (they call it a 'puggle') named Bailey. Bailey and Cailin get along famously. They have many days of plotting mischief ahead of them. I do not approve of the dog licking my kid, but this pic is actually kind of cute:
And I love this one - it looks like they are very kind and gentle to one another. Which is true typically, but they also like to beat on each other quite often....
I'm very excited to get the invitations to Cailin's birthday made and sent out. Also, I can hardly wait for the party!