End of summer :(

I know, I know, I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated the blog with a new post. Summer has flown by so quickly and I just haven't found the time (or remembered, to be honest!) to do it. So here's a huge update from the past 3 weeks. Colby quickly mastered pulling himself up on furniture and is now getting up on everything! The baby-proofing was in full swing and I think we're good now. We went swimming for the first time as a family on Sunday, Aug. 17th at the TLC and loved it! Colby was kicking his legs and moving his arms just like a real swimmer! He definitely didn't like being held and just wanted to go, but wasn't an option quite yet! He had his 9 month check-up on Wednesday, Aug. 20th (although he was only 8 1/2 months old, but had to do it before I went back to work!). He sure sprouted up in the past few months, as he now weighs 22 1/2 lbs. and is 30.7" long. He's in the 90th percentile for weight and is off the chart in height. So he's a big, healthy kid! :)

My grandfather (Mom's dad) passed away on Monday, Aug. 18th after a fall and a long weekend of struggling for breath and making it through pain and suffering in the hospital. While it was a relief for him to be out of pain and with God now, it was a rough week. The funeral was Friday of that week and I had the honor of doing the eulogy. This was definitely one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do, but I hope I made Grandpa proud and portrayed his life accurately and thoroughly. Miss and love you, Grandpa! Sadly, on the way back to the church from the cemetary, Colby was stung by a wasp. They are sure bad this year! He was okay and didn`t react, which I worried about since I am allergic to stings. He was back to his normal self in no time, which was a relief.

Also that week, Gerry's sister, Kathy and her 3-week old baby, Katie, came to stay at our house. She was in a wedding on Saturday, Aug. 23rd, so came to stay before. It was so great to meet Katie... can't believe how tiny she is!! So hard to believe that Colby was once that small too! Man, how quickly time flies and you forget these things!! Gerry's mom, Bev, was also down on the weekend for the wedding and stayed at our place. It was so nice to see her and we look forward to seeing her again very soon.

We went swimming again one morning with a few friends from Mom`s group, which Colby loved again. I really had wanted to go swimming more often this summer, but hope to in the future! On Wednesday, Aug. 27th, we met up with Carmen and her kids in Edmonton for breakfast. They were down for back to school shopping, so that was fun to see them! My how the kids are growing... Kourtney is nearly as tall as me!! And the twins are adorable! Dylan`s still pretty quiet and entertained himself with his beloved DS. Kristy and I then headed to South Edmonton Common with the boys for a great day of shopping!! I`m going to miss being able to go shopping in the middle of the day... this work thing is really going to cramp my style!! :)

I headed back to work on Thursday morning for my first `official`day back. I had of course spent many hours previous to that setting up my classroom and getting ready for the new year! Colby did fairly well on Thursday and did great on Friday at the day home, so I was very happy! He`s going to adjust very well, I know it. I`m so thankful for Laura and Marlin, who are absolutely loving and wonderful with him! That makes the very difficult task of returning to work from mat leave easier.

Since I needed a really good, productive day at school this weekend, Gerry and Colby headed up to meet the quadding group up at Trapper Leas Campground for the day. My mom watched Colby while Gerry hit the trails with the crew. They both had a great (but very long!) day and I had a productive (and also very long!) day at school. I really wanted one more really wonderful family outing day before the craziness of school begins. So today (Sunday, Aug. 31st), Gerry, Colby and I headed to WEM. We went to Galaxyland!! All children under 2 are FREE on all rides, so we spent just over an hour there on a few rides. Colby LOVED the ball pit the best and didn`t want to leave! I think we could`ve stayed there all day playing with the balls! So cute! :) We did a bit of shopping, then headed home for some playing and then a walk, ending with some play time at the park. Colby loves the swing and slide at this little park near our house! :)

Whew, what an update! Sorry for the long post, and I promise to make these a more regular task! Wish me luck for an exciting first day back! It`s going to be kind of strange to be teaching again after being off for so long... I think I might have `forgotten`how to teach!! Yikes! :)

Happy September, everyone!
Lesley
xoxo

WOW... Where has the time gone?!?

I cannot believe it's already the middle of August and am sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blogs! I can't seem to find the time lately!! Since my last blog entry, a lot has changed in Colby's world! He has begun eating lunch everyday, so we've added a meal of solid foods. He loves to eat (usually), so it's been fun. Toward the end of July, Colby was SO close to crawling. He would get up onto all fours and rock for a bit, but then would drop, not knowing what to do. Then, all of a sudden, on Wednesday, August 6th (the day before he turned 8 months old), he crawled for the first time!!! He's unstoppable now! I absolutely love watching him explore the house, but definitely need to do some more baby-proofing as I follow him around, trying to keep him away from certain things. So exciting to see, but unreal how quickly he is growing and changing!! Colby was also beginning to take a few steps when holding onto our hands at the end of July. Now he is motoring when holding onto our hands and enjoys walking around... and not so much of the sitting in one place anymore!! LOL! I think it's crazy how we're so excited to see him start to move and want him to start doing things, but then don't want him to once he starts!! Diaper changing is becoming quite a difficult task these days... such is life with an 8 month old, I suppose. I hear it doesn't get much easier as he grows too... yikes!!

We had such a great summer of camping this year... we just got home from our last weekend of the year. We added it up and we slept in our trailer 23 nights this year. We were pretty happy to use it so much! At the end of July, Gerry, Colby, and I headed out on a week-long holiday with the truck and trailer. We met up with our friends from Strathmore, Mark, Corinne and the boys, at Pigeon Lake. Then we headed to Pine Lake and finally went to Ol' MacDonald's Resort at Buffalo Lake! Such a great time!! We used to go to Buffalo Lake when I was a kid and it's definilely one of my favorite campgrounds. There is so much to do for kids and we had a great time! Colby absolutely LOVES playing in the sand and in the lakes, so we spent a lot of time at the beach with his sand toys! Good thing we have an outside shower on the trailer to hose him off when we get back to the campsite!! To finish off our holidays, we went to the Elbrey Family Reunion (my grandma's side). We only have the reunion once every 3 years, so it's always great to catch up and see how everyone has changed! Definitely lots of changes with babies and kids now that a lot of my generation are becoming parents!

We became Auntie and Uncle again on Thursday, July 29th! Gerry's sister, Kathy, had a beautiful baby girl named Kathleen Marie! We're excited to meet her next week when they're here for several days!

I am hoping to get into my classroom this week to start assembling everything and getting organized at school. My days are rather limited, so I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with Colby while trying to get some things done for school. Definitely starting to worry about going back to work so early and trying to juggle everything... being a good mommy, wife, and teacher. I've had a few slight little breakdowns, but am hoping that it all works out well. I truly am excited to be so close to home, but am just not quite 'ready' to be headed back to work already.

Take care and enjoy the beautiful weather! The summer is almost over... man, how time flies!!

Gerry, Lesley and Colby
xoxo