Christmas Pics

So frustrating!

Is anyone else having this problem? I switched to the "new blogger' and I hate it! I never know if my blogs will publish or not. It's been at least 3 times that I've blogged from Picasa and they haven't gone through. I am so annoyed. So sorry for the lack of pictures but you can blame the stupid site.

Happy 2007!

Happy New Year everyone! We had a great evening last night with family and friends and some tenderloin, crab, scallops and prawns and a whole lot of butter. I think we all gained 5 pounds in food we ate but it was worth it and now we have a new year to start all over! The past week has been very busy celebrating Christmas with Brad's family on the 25th, with his extended family on the 26th and with my family on the 27th. Joel has taken it all in and has been such a good boy. I think he loves Christmas!! We hope you have all been able to enjoy this holiday season and we wish everyone all the best for 2007!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Babies!

Here's a little pic of most of the 2006 babies at Bethany (1 is missing due to some tears). They range in age from 11 months to 1 month. From left to right, oldest to youngest we have, Susanna, Joel, Isabella (who's already falling for Joely), Tyler, David, Natalie, Jackson, Katie, Max, Elijah (yes, we know he actually belongs in PG) and Madison. Aren't they cute!!

Lights

We had a lovely evening at VanDusen Gardens on Tuesday with our friends. The rain actually stopped for a while and the lights were amazing. So many lights!! I can't imagine what they would have looked like with some snow!

Santa, I know him!!

Finally I got it to work! Last Wednesday Brad took the day off work and we took Joel shopping and to see Santa. He didn't quite know what to think but he didn't cry! He also would not smile. None of our tactics would work. Oh well.
One week and Christmas will once again be over. What is happening to time? I hope that all of you take the time to relax with your families, reflect on the beauty of the season and celebrate the birth of our Saviour. What a wonderful gift we have been given! Set aside the stresses and focus on the fact that God loves each one of us so much that He sent His son in the form of a baby, knowing that one day He would pay the ultimate price on the cross for our sins. What a reason to celebrate! Take the peace, joy, love and freedom that He offers and spread the word! Love this time of year for what it really is.

Our crazy week.

Joel and Cooper are acting crazy with Christmas approaching. The first picture is of Joel and Natalie. It was so cute - he kept trying to hold her hands when they were facing eachother! In the picture on the bottom left, I put Joel down for a nap, went to have a shower thinking he would fall asleep and that is how I found him 45 min later, wide awake playing with a giraffe.

Jealous

I was just looking at some pics from my family in PG and well, the snow there is sooooooo nice!!! We have had snow here for over a week now (what a milestone) and well, it's above zero and feels like March. At least the ground is still somewhat white and our street is still icy. For anyone who watches the news from down here, you would already know that since snow and ice seems to be all they can talk about.
We have had a busy weekend. On Friday night we had some friends over, I have to post a picture of Joel and Natalie later. Last night I went alone to my work Christmas party and the dinner was great and it was nice to see everyone but I left as soon as the "entertainment" started. They always keep it a big secret and had I know two men dressed up as not very dressed women were going to be singing and dancing, I would not have even shown my face. Tonight we relaxed over at Karen and Ty's new house and checked out Brad's parents pics from Hawaii. I am so ready to go back there!! Not much else is new. We have a busy week ahead of us. December is always like that! Go, go, go. Where is the stop?

I forgot

Joel had his 9 month check up today and he's as healthy as a horse - whatever that means. He is 24 lbs (95th percentile) and 29 1/2 inches long (90th percentile). So he's not the ogre baby everyone seems to think he is. The doctor did say he is/will be a big boy but at least he's not the biggest ever!! In 3 months he's only gained 2 lbs. I wonder how many I've gained.

Too tired. Must sleep.

 

Feels like home

Our winter wonderland reminds me so much of growing up in PG (minus all the bad drivers - lol). I have to admit that it's cold outside. I think I've become a little soft. I don't know what I would do in -36 when -5 feels like I'm going to freeze. Vancouveriteism has set in, except that I still prefer snow over rain and I would like it to stay like this until the end of February. The thought of it being 4 degrees on Thursday actually makes me sad. Goodbye pretty snow. Come again.
Cooper is so curious. I tossed him out there and now he can't get enough. You can take the cat out of the barn but you can't take the barn out of the cat.
 

Out in the snow.

Our little family. This was Joel's first time ever standing in the snow. He has seen lots of it before but he's never actually felt it. He fell on his bum shortly after the bottom picture was taken and was not very happy about it. 

Weekend pics and Joel with his great-grandparents

 

Happy 9 months!

Joel is 9 months old today (the 26th). Hopefully the date still says the 26th. We have had a busy day at church, painting, eating fondue and watching MI III. Except Joel went to bed before the movie.

Okay, it looks like the clock changed to Monday. So happy 9 months yesterday Joel. It has been snowing since Saturday night. It's such a winter wonderland here. I've even had the Christmas music going. No decorations yet though! That will wait a while yet.

The Real Thing!

Yay! It's snowing! It's actually snowing. Not rain, not hail, just snow. And the Christmas lights (those that are up and lit, not ours because we can't put any up because of our construction) look beautiful.

Sleepy or not.

This is how Joel fell asleep a few nights ago. He was crying and crying and just waiting for one of us to come get him as his head is at the wrong end of the bed and is facing the door. He's in the crawling position with a blanket bunched under him. What a monkey.
And this is Joel that morning. He just loves sitting on Bernice and usually ends up with a mouthful of black fluff. 

Cruisin'

This is a "whoa baby" of a different kind!



















Happy boy! He loves walking! 

Finally!

Just a note to let you all know that Joel is officially crawling as of today. He has finally figured out to use his knees and hands together for more than just one stride! I can't wait for you all you PG people to see him at Christmas! He is getting so big!

New stuff

Here's our little guy in action. He has started clapping and waving and he's even taken a few steps on his own! I don't think I'm ready for him to walk yet. He still isn't fully crawling but that doesn't keep him from getting around. He is cruising around the furniture and exploring new places in our living room every day. He can get from his belly to a sitting position too now. I think life is getting a little less frustrating for him! 

Silly boy

Here's our little guy. As you can see in the first picture, Joel does take after his dad - for those of you who have ever taken a picture of Brad....
As you can also see, Joel loves Cheerios and standing and cruising along the furniture. He also loves to chew on the head of that toy from Hannah and Josh.

Picasa

I have some new pics of Joel that I want to post but Picasa won't open for me so it'll have to wait for us to figure it out.
Our water advisory has been lifted. Yay, no more boiling water!! I never realized how much water I actually use just to brush my teeth! Another storm is brewing for the weekend though so we'll see what happens. At least the work is still getting done on our place. It is taking forever but they were here all day hammering away outside Joel's bedroom - thus the half hour nap this morning (he usually does 2 hours). The poor little guy is still suffering from his cold. He is still so stuffed up and that makes even sucking on his soother difficult which then makes falling asleep difficult and so he cries and cries and cries and gets even more stuffy. Poor thing.

Enough already

Okay, so I know it seems like I'm complaining a lot lately but for crying out loud, I have another cold - Stay away people!! Actually, this time Joel had it first, poor little guy can hardly breathe and keeps waking up because of it! I have started taking Cold-FX. Let's hope it really does work. Otherwise we're all okay. I haven't taken many pictures lately because frankly, a baby with goobers running down his face is only cute to his parents! Just be glad you all don't have to wipe them. Why do kids hate having their faces wiped??

So, Westjet did give us the other price for the flights. However, they only give Westjet credit, which of course we'll use eventually, and they also wanted to charge us $40 twice for the changes. They compromised with us and only charged us the $40 once. They really do drive me crazy but I am thankful that they were able to get us some money back.

Cheesecake again

Tonight we had a nice dinner with Jen and Aaron and Katie. She is 7 weeks old tomorrow! Time flies. She is such a cute, sweet little girl! So, for dessert we had turtle cheesecake from PriceMart (our little Save-On). Twice now in one week now I've had it and I love it. But yesterday I did go for a little run... yes, I am trying to justify it! It was so good.
So, I am sooooo irritated with Westjet. Last week I was trying to book our flights to PG for Christmas and they went down to $89 but I didn't book them because I needed to talk to Brad about them. Next thing I knew they were way up again. So on Wednesday we bit the bullet and booked them, seeing as the sales usually show up on Wednesdays and some of the flights were already going way up in price. One flight was high and the other was on sale - not bad. Then today I get an e-mail of my itinerary and there's a link that says, check out our website. So I do. And the flights that were $156 are now $82. How can they do that???? We fly with them all the time and it is getting so frustrating how the prices jump up and down. Brad is talking to them right now so hopefully they can work something out. He just laughed. That might be a good sign.

Anticappointment

That is a word I learned at Women of Faith. Someone made it up, but it makes a little sense. So the half marathon sold out in 12 hours. So much for 4 days. So much for getting someone to talk me back into it at the last minute. Sorry Jen and Aaron. Maybe I'll have to start with something a bit shorter, like a 10k. Part of me was hoping it would sell out and part of me is a little disappointed in myself. I'll get over it.

For all you "Office" fans out there

Okay, so Mike has been compared to Jamie Oliver and Curtis Stone but I think he looks like Jim Halpert. 

Flying

Here's the little guy on what is actually his 4th flight. He had fun on the plane but it was definitely more difficult than when he was only 6 weeks old. He's slightly more active now and just a little more difficult to restrain on take-off and landing. At least he wasn't one of "those" babies that makes everyone run for the nearest exit! He only let out a couple of shrieks - mostly happy. 

Dwight Schrute

This always makes me laugh.

Joel likes snow too.

 

I'd rather eat cheesecake

Okay, so tomorrow is the day when sign-up begins for the Vancouver half. Last year it sold out in 4 days and I am completely lacking motivation to sign up for it. Who wants to spent 2 to 2 1/2 hours running in the middle of February? It just doesn't sound like me. Why does my mind/body prefer not to do anything physical? When I actually go running it feels great and I feel great afterwards but to go is the really hard part. I don't like going. I don't want to go. So somebody encourage me to sign up. Part of me just hopes it will sell out before I actually decide.
The weather is absolutely miserable here. Rain. I don't like the rain. I would much rather have it snow and be cold and have to bundle up. Rain is just wet and chilly and ugly. Snow is bright and crisp and beautiful, even snow in November. Winter needs snow and I need winter. Christmas lights just don't look right here.

Just a mish-mash of pics

Family and Friends. We've got, from left to right, top to bottom:
Joyel, Dezene & Elijah; Maren, Ethan & Joel; Uncle Mike, Auntie Julie & Joel;
Joel & Grandma; Auntie Nikki & Joel; Grandpa & Joel;
Joel and the Leafs!!(for all you Canucks fans - don't worry, we're not Leafs fans; Josh and Joel playing old school Fisher Price; and Josh, Hannah & Joel.

The much anticipated.... Chicken Big!!

We had a fun Halloween up in PG. As you can see Joel was thrilled to be forced into a hot chicken suit with layers and layers underneath! We went to a few houses on the street where I grew up and then we went up to Uncle Mike and Auntie Julie's house and then we went to the high school to watch the fireworks. It was a busy night and Joel was very happy to get undressed. He talked and rolled around the floor for almost an hour afterwards!!


 

Joel's costume

Sorry all, but the pictures will have to wait until at least tomorrow. We are at my parent's house right now and can't get the pics from the camera to the computer! We'll be home tomorrow night!