Already over?!?

Wow... 2008 is almost over! Where did it go?! I cannot believe how quickly time flies... those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I mention that a lot! Must be a mom thing, as time seems to fly by much faster now that I have a little man in my life!!

We had a wonderful Christmas season again this year. We went up to Grande Prairie on Christmas Eve and spent a few days there. It was definitely different not being at home for Christmas this year, but good to see a lot of Gerry's extended family, as we don't see them very often. Colby had a rough couple of nights sleeping (or lack thereof) up there, so the past couple of days have been "catch up days". We headed home on Boxing Day and unpacked from Christmas #1. Saturday, Dec. 27th was Christmas Day again for us! We spent the day with my family for our Christmas, which was great!! The kids were definitely spoiled and it's so great to see the magic of Christmas in their eyes! We opened gifts, had dinner, hung out and played a couple of games. Colby decided he didn't want to go to sleep at Grandma and Grandpa's, so he was up until we left!! Crazy boy! I love Christmas, but can't believe how quickly it passes once it finally arrives!!

We have had a couple of quiet days at home since then. We took down the Christmas decorations, cleaned up, and are working on organizing the house. Colby's toys are taking up more and more room and we can't wait to finish the basement! He needs more room to run and play! Last night, Gerry and I did the first coat of paint in the spare (scrapbooking) room downstairs!! It's so exciting to see more progress and we absolutely LOVE the color!! It's a bright aqua-bluey color... very hard to describe, but so inspiring and fun!! We're hoping to continue pushing ahead with the basement development. It's all about finding time, which is difficult!! Not sure how to find more of it.... hmmm.....

I am enjoying my second week of vacation at home and love spending time with Colby! We're playing, playing, and more playing all around the house. I love watching him play with his new toys and "driving" his cars, trucks, quad, airplane.... (and the list goes on) all around. It's so cute how he makes the 'driving' sounds, too! Colby did his first coloring yesterday with his new Crayola TaDoodles crayons, so that was fun. He tried to eat them, so we need to convince him somehow that crayons are not food (like most other things he tries to eat!!) I am not looking forward to tomorrow's 1 year immunizations, but luckily they're tomorrow night, so Gerry is coming along too. I look forward to ringing in the New Year on Wednesday night with friends at Jen and Dave's house! Should be fun at the New Year's Eve Red Carpet Gala!! :)

Happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you all the best in 2009!
Love,
Gerry, Lesley and Colby
xoxo

Ready for Christmas?!

I cannot believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! I'm definitely excited to be done work and spend some much needed quality time with my two favourite boys and the rest of our families. The last week of school was a busy and tiring one, trying to keep kids entertained and do some relatively productive work too. With the deep freeze we are in, we had many indoor recesses, which is needed to stay safe out of the cold, but is also really hard on the kids being "cooped up" inside all day! I was spoiled by my class this year and received many lovely gifts from them! On Thursday after work, I went to our staff Christmas party. We met at Original Joe's for drinks and dinner... definitely a lot of fun! Many laughs had by all!!

On Saturday morning, we braved the cold and headed out to Spruce Grove to do a bit of last-minute shopping. We took Colby to see Santa again and it went much like the first attempt... not well. We did end up getting a picture from 2008 (the first one they snapped very quickly before the full-blown screaming!) Poor little guy... not so jolly meeting Santa Claus at the age of 1, I guess! We went to Joe and Tara's last night for a Christmas party and had a lot of fun! It's so nice to get together with friends who have kids so that Colby is entertained! All of the kids played really well together and Colby stayed up playing until we left at 10:30. I know, I know, night owls!! He crashed on the way home and transferred to PJ's and bed without waking up when we got home!! Sleepy boy!! My mom and I did some Christmas baking today at our house, which was a lot of fun. We don't get to spend a lot of time together anymore it seems, so I really enjoyed myself! Now the trick is to not eat all of it before Christmas!! :)

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of days, as Colby and I are not up to a whole lot Monday or Tuesday. I have a few errands to do around town and would like to see Jen at some point in the city too before we head out on Wednesday morning. Looking forward to spending time with Colby and not leaving the house at 7 am for a couple of weeks!!

Take care everyone! Try and stay warm during these few days before Christmas! It's definitely going to be a White Christmas, which I love!! Wishing everyone a safe and blessed Christmas filled with love, laughter and happiness! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love,
Lesley, Gerry and Colby

Ready for vacation!

We had an incredibly busy weekend... not quite ready for the work week to begin again yet!! On Friday night, I had my Stampin' Up! Card Club, which is always a lot of fun! The projects were fun and the swap cards were great!! On Friday night after I got home, we put up the Christmas tree. We wanted to do it while Colby was sleeping. I thought that if he helped us decorate it, then he would want to keep touching it. He was very curious on Saturday morning when he saw this new tree by his toys in the living room! We had to keep telling him "No touch" and Gerry eventually moved several ornaments to higher locations on the tree. He grabbed one part of the ribbon and pulled... I quickly grabbed the tree as it was toppling and Colby to keep it from hitting him!! Yikes! I think he scared himself so much that he has decided not to touch it anymore!! One year olds and Christmas trees don't always mesh well together, I've decided! (Not this one year old, anyway!)

On Saturday morning, we did some Christmas shopping and errands around Spruce Grove and Stony Plain. We didn't venture out too far from home or too long with the cold snap we've entered. I think we're close to being done our shopping. Just a couple more things to get! Then the fun of wrapping begins! Colby had a sleepover at my parents' house on Saturday night! It was Gerry's work Christmas party in Edmonton and instead of waking him (and them) up when we came home, he stayed overnight. Thankfully, he slept pretty well and didn't get up too early for Grandma and Grandpa! I appreciate how much time they spend with Colby and want to play with their grandchildren!! It's so great living so close to family!! The Christmas party was pretty good, but there sure wasn't very many people there this year. We didn't go last year, as Colby was only 5 days old. So it was nice to go again this year.

Today we held a baby shower for my sister, Jody, and her daughter, Kendra. It was a great time. It was so nice to visit with everyone, as it is hard to find time with very busy lives these days! Kendra is going to be one well-dressed little girl!! :) Very cute clothes!! Colby entertained himself quite well today with the stairs in Grandma and Grandpa's house. He is so fast going up stairs and has now begun going backward down them too! Who needs toys when you have stairs, tupperware, spatulas, and tissue paper!?!

Hope you're staying toasty warm inside these days! It has not been a pleasant weekend weather-wise! With a windchill factor of -37 today, I feel like I haven't been warm all day!

Take care. Only 11 more days until Christmas!!! Only 5 more days of teaching until Christmas vacation!!! :)
Lesley

Colby Turns 1!!!

As unbelievable as it was, Colby turned 1 year old on Sunday, December 7th! I still am having a hard time believing that my little baby is growing up and is now a toddler! We had a birthday party with about 30 guests on Saturday afternoon and into the evening. It was a great time and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves. The kids were really fun to watch, as I think they really enjoyed playing together (okay, more like stealing toys and chasing each other than 'playing'). Colby definitely got spoiled and we are very thankful for all of his gifts! He's got more toys than most 5 year olds, I swear! He's also going to be one of the best dressed boys around town too! Love little boy clothes!!!

The past year has definitely been amazing... we've had a lot of fun times and also some frustrating and worrysome times. That comes with the territory of having a baby, I guess! It amazes me where Colby learns all of the things that he can do... one day, all of a sudden, he'll do something new and shock us! He can now go up an entire flight of stairs and come down backward! So cute to see! He's a pretty fearless kid, which is causing some bumps, bruises, and tears! We are so lucky to have such a great little boy and are proud to be his parents!!

Colby had his one year check-up on Monday, Dec. 8th. Our regular doctor got called out to a delivery, so we had to see a different doctor. This was fine with me, as I didn't want to have to make another appointment and come back and wait some more!! He has continued on his weight gain path and is now about 25 1/2 lbs.! Wow! Guess he gets those genes from his mom!! His growth in height has definitely slowed down (to 75th percentile), as he is 31.1 inches long. He has 8 teeth now and all 4 eye teeth gums have been very white the past few days. Yikes! Teething pain is the worst!! The doctor asked a bunch of questions about what he can do and was impressed by his walking and running so early! He is only saying "Mom" and of course, babbles on and on, and we're trying to figure out if there are some "words" in there! All in all, he's a healthy, happy kid, which is good news after a not-so-great fall that we've been through!

Things have been really busy at work lately and I'm definitely ready for Christmas vacation. A definite perk of my job is the break at Christmas!! Our new dayhome is working out very well and we are very happy with the care that Amie provides for Colby. He has so much fun and doesn't ever want to put down toys, put on his coat, or get into his car seat. Sad for me that he doesn't want to come home, but good because he is having so much fun there! I think he definitely keeps Amie on her toes!!

Keep warm during this ridiculous cold spell we're entering!! Take care everyone!
Lesley

Lots of changes

The past couple of weeks have been very busy and emotional for us all! Colby is now going to a new dayhome, after many, many issues with the first one. I haven't been happy there with her for a while and things were really bothering me. When she decided not to care for Colby anymore, we quickly had to find someone to watch him instead of keeping him there for two more weeks, as she had offered. Luckily, a friend of mine, (and fellow scrapper!) was looking to take in a child and begin care in her home. The timing was perfect... I called her, told her the situation, we went and played there for a while, and it was a perfect fit! Amie has a 2 year old son, who Colby loves chasing after! Colby and Karter seem to be doing very well together. I was worried about Colby adjusting to the sudden change, but he is doing fine, which makes me thrilled!! I thank Amie everyday for the love and attention she gives my little guy when I have to be at work. Thank goodness for people you trust to care for your children!!

We made the big trek up to Grande Prairie last weekend! We hadn't been up there in far too long (February was the last time) and since our plans changed at Thanksgiving, we thought we'd go up once before Christmas. It was really great to see a lot of Gerry's family. We stayed at Gerry's parents' house and spent a great deal of time with his sisters and their kids, which was really fun! We all went swimming (even the waterslide twice!), had dinner, played, and just hung out. It was a whirlwind of a trip, leaving at 6:00 pm on Friday night and returning on Sunday afternoon, but everything was fine. Colby's schedule was pretty messed up, as he didn't sleep or nap as usual, but that was to be expected. I wonder how he's going to do at Christmas up there again. Hopefully he decides that napping is something that good little boys do before Santa comes!! :)

So... Colby is officially a walker... or should I say a runner?!? He is on the move and is unstoppable now! I LOVE watching him go all around the house and he keeps us very busy! :) He doesn't crawl very much at all anymore (just gets up and takes off on his feet!) Very cute, but I still can't believe how quickly they grow up! The last week has been difficult with his teething... he is getting his top two eye teeth, which hasn't been very fun. He wasn't sleeping well, was very irritable, and quite clingy. Things seem to have settled down a bit, although they haven't cut through yet. Hopefully soon. Amie was trying to move Colby to one nap a day at her house last week, but we decided that he wasn't quite ready yet. He was VERY grouchy from the minute we got home in the late afternoon until bedtime. Not sure how much was teething pain, but I also know that lack of sleep was a huge factor. So now he is back to napping twice a day and has been sleeping much better at night again (meaning sleeping past 5 am!!)

It's going to be a very busy week. Our week was kicked off by a fun-filled morning of swimming at the TRI with Kristy and Landon Sunday morning. The boys did very well, despite having their lifejackets on. It's a bit hard for them to move, but all in all, they did really well. Colby's 1st birthday party is this Saturday, December 6th. I can't believe my baby boy turns 1 on Sunday!! It's unbelievable how quickly time flies by (I know I keep saying that!!) Going back to work has really made the past 4 months fly by! :( I hope he has a great 1st birthday as we celebrate with family and friends!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of warm weather before winter arrives! Happy Holidays... the craziness of December is beginning!!
Lesley