Our Top 25 of 2010

2010 has been another fabulous year... here are some highlights and our "top 25 of 2010"

25. Lesley returned to work after 1 year maternity leave and teaches Grade 3
24. Lesley completed first 10 km race - Rotary Run in September
23. Fencing our yard so the kids can play more safely... love the privacy!
22. Camping nearly every weekend in the summer... with a generator or power :) (way better than camping without!)
21. Learning to make donuts and popcorn over the fire and buying the equipment to make our own... yum!
20. Joining to Mac world with our new MacBook Pro laptop. LOVE it!

19. New vehicles - sold "White Lightning" and bought a 2003 Chevrolet 1500HD truck in April and a 2011 Volkswagon Jetta in November

18. First trip to Las Vegas in February to celebrate Gerry's 30th birthday

17. Celebrating Jenna's 1st birthday and Colby's 3rd birthday
16. Reading and fostering a love of reading in our kids

15. Cooked our first Christmas dinner... was delicious too!

14. Trip to Strathmore to visit friends

13. Almost bought a puppy... whew! Thank goodness we came to our senses!

12. Summer holidays with Daddy at home

11. Enjoying the excitement and pure joy of Christmas with family and friends

10. Continuing family traditions

9. Family movie nights on rainy camping nights

8. Building sandcastles and playing at parks

7. Kids' snuggles, hugs, and wide-open-mouth kisses

6. Being a kid everyday and playing... coloring, play doh, cars, dress-up, tobogganing, you name it!

5. Teaching Colby to ride a bike - he LOVES his bike!

4. Seeing Jenna crawl, walk, and talk for the first time

3. Watching Colby and Jenna grow into the beautiful, more-and-more independent kids they are everyday!

2. Love and time spent with family and friends

1. Capturing amazing memories in pictures!

We are so blessed to have had a wonderful 2010. Looking forward to a fantastic 2011! Wishing you a 2011 filled with joy, love, health and happiness!

Happy New Year, everyone!
Love,

Gerry, Lesley, Colby, and Jenna

A Merry Little 'Green' Christmas Letter

This year, I decided to save a few more trees and do a 'green' Christmas letter! At school, we've been using a great program to create videos from photos and text, so I thought I'd try it for this project of mine! I created an Animoto video of photos from the year 2010, which tells the story of our year with a few highlights!

Turn up the volume and Enjoy "Our 2010 in Pictures"!

Colby is 3!

I can remember December 7, 2010 as clearly today as if it were yesterday! I can't believe our little man is 3 years old already! Happy birthday, Colby!! You are an amazing little guy who brings so much laughter, love and joy to our lives everyday. Mommy and Daddy love you so much... but secretly wish we could slow down time to keep you little for longer!! Fingers crossed!!

Colby truly is a wonderful kid. I love his expressions and often wonder, "Where did that come from?" He had his 3 year check-up on Monday and is doing well, as usual. Colby is 40.5" tall (90%ile) and is 35.4 lbs (80%ile). The doctor said he's doing great developmentally, so we have no concerns! :) Colby is a great big brother and really looks out for Jenna and loves playing with her. I love hearing him say, "Jenna, come play Aquadoodle (or trains... or insert topic here) with me!" So great to hear and see them playing together!!

He absolutely LOVES Toy Story right now, so it's only natural that he chose to have a "Buzz Party". On Sunday afternoon, we had 36 family and friends at our house to celebrate Colby's birthday. It was a great afternoon/evening with playing downstairs, "Pin the Sheriff on Woody" game, pizza for supper, Buzz and Woody cake and a little man spoiled with gifts. Thank you, everyone for coming!! He is one lucky guy!

November News!

Well, winter is here! We didn't even get 'eased into' it this year either... nice temperatures one

day and then -15/-20 and snow the next!! Brrr......

We had a great Halloween this year. Colby had a lot of fun being a dragon and Jenna didn't mind her butterfly costume at all :) Seemed very fitting that she was a butterfly this year, as she was a caterpillar last year! Both kids love coloring, so we did a few pumpkin crafts for Halloween!

Sadly, sickness has hit our house... and hard too! I had a cold for about a week, which turned into a sinus infection.

Surprise, surprise! Jenna has had a cold now for about a week too, but I'm hoping it doesn't turn into yet another ear infection. Colby has been hit the hardest of us all though. Last Wednesday at the dayhome, he napped (which he never does anymor

e!). When we came home, all he wanted to do was lie on the couch and nearly fell asleep at the dinner table. By 5:30, he had a fever of 39.1 degrees, was pale as a ghost, and had bright red ears. :( Poor guy... I took him up to the Stony Hospital to get him checked out at the walk-in clinic. Turns out it was 'just a virus' that hit him hard and fast... no infection. So just need to wait it out. I stayed home on Thursday with the kids and Gerry stayed home on Friday because his fever was back on Friday morning. Poor little man... his nose is like a fountain and looks so sore! Hopefully it gets better very soon!!!

Some exciting things from November so far:

- Jenna is walking... everywhere!! She is rarely crawling anymore and seems to be enjoying exploring her world in a whole new way! :)

- Our niece, Kendra, turned 2! We enjoyed her party on the 14th at Jody and Mike's house. She sure enjoyed her Dora party and yummy cake!

- We have a new member of the Cameron Family!!! Reese Peyton Anne Cameron was born on November 19th at 11:38 pm to loving parents, Cal and Tracy Cameron, and siblings, Blake and Emerson. Congratulations!! Can't wait to meet her tomorrow!!!

- Colby can't wait for his 'Happy Birthday Party'. He LOVES Toy Story these days, so we are having a Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story Party! Should be lots of fun :) He knows when his

birthday is and is excited to have his party in two weeks!

- Gerry and I booked our trip for Spring Break... to HAWAII!!! We are very excited for a great getaway with just the two of us! We really contemplated taking the kids, but they are too young to remember and truly enjoy the experience right now. I'm sure we're going to love it, so we'll have to go back later when the kids are older and experience Hawaii again!

- I'm continuing to enjoy my 0.8 FTE at work and can see myself staying part-time for a couple more years....??? It doesn't free up a whole lot of time, but enough for me to stay on top of things and best of all, get home a bit earlier (and not go back to school in the evenings!)

Some news with the kids:

- Colby is doing great... still enjoying the dayhome and playing with other kids really well. He loves learning new things and can identify more letters and their sounds now. He loves to count everything too :) He counts in sequence to 13, but then skips to 18, 17, 19, etc. Colby is very interested in Christmas coming! We went to the (very cold!) Christmas light-up event in downtown Stony Plain this week and he enjoyed seeing the huge Christmas tree and all of the decorations being lit up. Everywhere we go, he wants to look for lights and points out houses that are lit up. He keeps bugging his dad as to when ours will get hung..... As we say every year,

should've done it before the snow came!!

- Jenna is doing really well too... I love this age and seeing her learn and explore things every day. It's a lot of fun to see her walking everywhere now. She was quite unbalanced for a few weeks, but has now taken off and has great balance. She is also able to understand and follow one or two step commands, which is neat. I will ask her to give something to Colby or put something in her toy box and she will :) She still loves saying 'Hi' and talking on anything that resembles a phone. Yes... she's very much like her mommy!

I look forward to what the next few months have in store for us. One of the best parts of the Christmas season for me is seeing the magic of Christmas through the eyes of a child. I absolutely love seeing their pure excitement and joy!

Big Changes...

I know, I know, I don't have any excuse for my weeks in between blog posts. Same old, same old... I'm a working mom who has little time to sit down except for at 11:00 pm when I'm crawling into bed after working all day, playing with kids, housework, and school work after the kids go to bed. :) Everyone does it, right?!!

Things are going really well in our house and I'm pleased that everyone is doing well... dayhome, routines with work, etc. The kids are doing really great at the dayhome and Colby has even begun napping there again. This has been huge for his behavior and has made for much pleasant evenings and bedtimes in our house! Colby loves going to Becky's house and it makes working so much easier when you know your kids love going to the babysitter's everyday. We are so thankful to have such a great dayhome provider who truly cares for our kids! He is learning so much and loves learning a new letter and sound each week, along with increasing his counting in sequence. He can sing the alphabet song and tell us the sound that some letters make. Good job, Colby!! Colby is enjoying his time at 'Sports School' on Saturday mornings, which is usually followed by some time at the great playgym at the TLC.

Jenna goes to Becky or Liam (her son) as soon as we walk in the door and her coat and shoes are off! She loves playing there and I think really has fun with Colby and the other little girl there. I absolutely LOVE this age... she is walking more and more (not all the time yet) and is very observant. She's into pointing at things... pointing at everything! I think she likes hearing the names of things around her. So cute! She waves hello and bye-bye, gives giant open-mouth kisses, and great snuggles and hugs!!! Jenna continues to love swimming lessons... she's our little fish!! Our weekly lessons on Saturday mornings are going really well and she has a lot of fun! We are doing really well with no bottles anymore. Yay, Jenna! Colby didn't have a bottle or formula after the day he turned 1, but Jenna was a bit later. She's just about 13 months and was having 1 bottle just at bedtime. But knock on wood, for the past three nights, she has gone to bed without it :) Both kids are sleeping great, so we're very lucky, especially without her last feeding right before bed.

I cherish every minute I get to be at home with the kids, especially because there aren't enough hours in a day! I have reduced my FTE at work from full-time to 0.8, so I'm done earlier every day. While I'm still staying at school and getting my planning and prep work done, I'm able to stay at home in the evenings and not go back to work! Yay!! :)

With my reduced time, I'm hoping there'll be a bit more couple time and 'me time'. Everything else always comes first, but I am working on trying to make more time for me, including working out and staying healthy. This is really important and something I believe every relationship needs. Gerry and I are trying to plan a tropical vacation for Spring Break, so we're having fun making travel plans for the end of March. Luckily, Gerry's mom offered a long time ago to come and stay with the kids. Colby and Jenna always enjoy spending time with Grandma Cameron :)

Last Sunday afternoon, we visited Gerry's Grandpa Alstad at the University Hospital. He was flown here by air ambulance with heart troubles. Thankfully, they are taking good care of him and doing tests to ensure there are no blockages, requiring surgery. They were talking about a pacemaker, so hopefully that fixes things and he'll be back to normal in no time. We had a great visit for about 2 hours with Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie Cheryl. The kids always do really well seeing their Great Grandparents and Colby sure chatted with Grandma and Grandpa! It was nice to see them, despite the circumstances.

We are getting ready for Halloween and look forward to decorating this weekend. Now that Colby is a year older, I think he's more into it already. The kids have their costumes... now to figure out what I will be at school......

Enjoy the wonderful fall weather we've been having. I hear talk of snow, but hopefully it will stay away a bit longer!! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Love,

Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Jenna is 1!!!

As you can tell from the length of time between each post, life in the Cameron house is a bit busy. Sadly, things like the blog don't get updated as often as I'd like when you're a full-time working mom. :( Anyway... our baby girl turned 1 this week!!! I know I always say this, but I truly can't believe it and how quickly time goes by. It feels like she should maybe be 6 or 7 months old! Time flies by so much quicker with two children. I think it's because we were so busy with activities and programs for Colby in the beginning that the first few months went by so fast.

Jenna is a healthy and very happy little girl. She had her 1 year check up and weighs 19 1/2 lbs. and is 28" long. She gained quite a lot of weight this past month (over 1 lb. compared to her typical 5 or 6 oz. as usual)! This puts her at the 50th percentile for weight and still just below the 25th percentile for height. So she's still on the shorter side, but nothing that the doctors are worried about. :) Jenna is close to walking and is taking a few steps at a time. She's up to about 5 or 6 now. She will often just stand independently, but then plop down and crawl. I think she realizes how much quicker it is to crawl than to walk! I'm sure one day she'll just go!! Jenna is usually a very content baby except for when she's tired, hungry, or wanting something you take away. She has a bit of a stubborn side of her... wonder where she gets that from?!? :) She's a great eater and has been eating everything we are eating at the table for a few months now. Jenna still has 2 bottles a day usually (sometimes only 1), but is on Homo milk now. It's so nice not making formula anymore! :) We love watching her grow, develop, reach milestones, and learn new things everyday! She's a very active baby who doesn't really sit still and just play with one thing for a while... we're always on the move!! All in all, we are so blessed to have a healthy baby girl who loves to have fun!

We celebrated Jenna's 1st birthday last weekend with a big party at our house. We had a house full! There were 39 people altogether, including us and all adults and children. Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate. It was especially great to see Gerry's mom and the Francis family travel from Grande Prairie to be here with us. We didn't know that Grandma Cameron was coming, so it was a wonderful surprise!! Carmen and her family usually stay with us when they come into town, so we had them overnight too, which is always nice. It was great to visit and catch up with them after the busy party ended. Jenna and Colby had many friends here to play with and thankfully, it wasn't raining or too cold, so we bundled up the kids and headed outside for some play time before dinner. To go with the theme of her party, this included a game of "Pin the Bee on the Flower". It was cute! Jenna was spoiled with a lot of great gifts including toys and adorable clothing! Thanks again, everyone!! Next was cake time! Jenna sure knew what to do with her cake!! Literally, she took fistfulls of cake and enjoyed it thoroughly... as it was everywhere!!!! I guess that's exactly what your first birthday cake is supposed to be like, right?! What a wonderful afternoon and evening of celebrating. We are thankful for such wonderful friends and family in our life who care deeply about our children. Love you all!! xoxo

Colby is still adjusting to the routine of dayhome everyday. He absolutely loves being there... so much that he often doesn't want to come home! This breaks Mom's heart to hear. We are also struggling with his no-napping schedule. Usually, he is SO tired and very grouchy from about 5:00 on until an early bedtime at 7:00 or 7:30 pm. Today, he had a nap before we headed to a birthday party and was absolutely great!!! He wasn't tired, grouchy, and played amazingly with all of the kids! The negative side? It took quite a while for him to fall asleep again at bedtime. What to do?!? It's so hard knowing what's best...... Every sleep book says something different and I know it completely depends on every child's individual scenario. Any thoughts or suggestions?? He is loving his parented program at the TLC that we call "Sports School". It is every Saturday morning and is a great time for him to engage in some sports activities with other children. We often play in the playgym for a bit afterwards, too! Also on Saturday mornings, Jenna just began her first session of swimming lessons. Below is a photo of her on her first day!

I am excited for next weekend's family photo shoot!! I won a gift certificate at an event I attended for a free session with a great photographer out of Spruce Grove. We are going to try to do it outside if the weather cooperates (would have been SO nice this weekend!!!), so we're crossing our fingers! Looking forward to seeing what she can do with our two busy kids who don't do well with photos...... I'm sure they'll do great and I can't wait to see their 1 and 3 year photos!

Have a great rest of your weekend, everyone!

xoxo

Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Exciting Day!

Yesterday (September 7th) was an exciting day in our world! Jenna finally stood by herself for a period of time, while clapping too! So cute to see! She has been pretty reluctant to try taking steps, but she surprised us! She took two steps toward me after standing for a while!!! They were very wobbly and quick little steps, but still her first steps nonetheless! :) I was SO happy to see them (as I missed Colby's first steps that he took at the dayhome). Daddy was lucky enough to see them when he got home when she did it again. Yay, Jenna!! You'll be walking in no time!

Jenna's new moves... standing and clapping!

September is always crazy in the life of a teacher, but oh my goodness, it has been pretty crazy around here for a couple of weeks now. I must admit, I had a rough start to the school year as my first day with my grade 3 class didn't go well, but things are definitely improving. I have a class of 23 students (16 boys and only 7 girls!) that are very busy and keep me on my toes. In that mix, I have 7 students who are new to the school... and 2 of which are showing some interesting behaviors. I have support now in the classroom with a half-time EA, so I'm very lucky!! She's great and I love every minute she's around to help!! It is very busy teaching full-time and getting out the door in the morning with two kids. I don't know how my mom did it with 3!! I feel bad when I have to wake the kids up (most mornings) to go to Becky's. Colby is tired in the mornings, which breaks my heart. They're getting much better with the routine, so that makes it easier. On a positive note, they are still doing great at the dayhome! We're so lucky they adjusted so quickly (really only had about 2-3 days of crying in the morning) and are doing well everyday! See, I knew kids were resilient and would adapt... ours anyway! :) It's definitely a juggling act fitting everything in through the day. I try to work every recess, lunch hour, and optimize minutes before and after school so I can pick them up relatively early and get home to make supper, play, bath, and bedtime. Whew!! It's busy, but we're doing well, so I can't complain!

Colby has had a cough at nighttime for about a week and a half now. In the past two days, he has been coughing more throughout the day. Gerry took him into the doctor this afternoon and she said it's just a cough. No ear infections, lungs are clear, etc., so not even a cold. Hopefully it clears up soon... he's not getting enough rest when he wakes up coughing throughout the night!! Fingers crossed!

We had a great September long weekend! I really do wish every weekend was three days! :) Oddly enough, I didn't miss camping one bit. I think that's because we went so often throughout the entire summer that it was really nice to be home on one long weekend. On Saturday, we met Gerry's sister, Carmen, and the kids at WEM and did some shopping and went for lunch. It was great to see them and Colby always loves hanging out with the kids (especially Dylan!) Sunday I worked for a chunk of the day to try to get ahead for this week. I'm finding that if I plan for a week at a time, I haven't been going back to school in the evenings as much. Monday, we had a great family day! We went back to WEM and went to the Sea Lion show and Sea Life Caverns. It's been a while since we saw the show (Jenna was still sleeping in the sling), so both of them loved it! Jenna couldn't stop smiling and clapping and Colby couldn't take his eyes off of the show! Such a great time altogether! On Monday afternoon after Jenna's nap, we headed out to Jody's house for a family dinner. It was nice to have everyone together. :)

This is a busy time as we get ready to celebrate Jenna's 1st birthday soon! Next weekend is her party, so we're looking forward to seeing everyone here. Lots to do, but all worth it! :)

Here are some recent photos of the kids! Enjoy!


Colby LOVES riding his new bike!

11 1/2 months old!




They really do have a lot of fun together!

Have a great rest of your week!
Love,
The Cameron's

All great things must come to an end...

I had an amazing 14 months off work, but as the old saying goes, "All great things must come to an end". Today is my first day back at school after my maternity leave with Jenna. The start of a new school year begins with two PD Days before the students arrive on Wednesday morning. I truly have mixed feelings about returning to work... I wish we could afford for me to stay home with our kids full-time, but in reality, that's not an option right now financially. On the other hand, I really do love my job (but secretly wish it wasn't so much work!!) and enjoy it. I grew up with both parents working and I think it's important for our kids to be around other children too, so I know everything will work out fine. I'm sure the transition will be tough for the kids at first with the new dayhome, but if I learned anything from my first year of having Colby in dayhomes, kids are pretty resilient! They will adapt and do great at Becky's, I'm sure!! Fingers crossed for a good first week! :)

Gerry took Thursday and Friday off last week as holidays, which was SO nice!! I've been putting in quite a few hours at school in the evenings, but with him home on Thursday, I spent most of the day at work. The kids loved having Daddy at home! I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who supports everything I do and puts the kids to bed when I'm at school or if I can't be home. Gerry, you're truly the best dad in the world and your kids ADORE you (just like I do!!) We had a fun weekend of playing, going swimming, and doing a bit of shopping! So good to have some family time before the craziness of fall hits. As I've mentioned before, I'm worried about balancing everything, but just keep reminding myself to be the best wife, mom, and teacher I can be, while still making some time for myself.

I achieved a personal goal yesterday that I'm SO excited about!! I finally ran 10 km!! I am racing in the 10k Rotary Run on September 12th in Stony Plain and wasn't feeling ready (truly... had fallen off my "running bandwagon") so needed to get serious again and had a great run late yesterday afternoon. Yay... such a great feeling. Just need to continue it and look forward to race day. My Goal = Finish! :)

We are in major transition mode with Jenna... she has switched over to Homo milk now, so no more making up formula for us! She loves milk and is doing really well with it. Also, we are trying to eliminate her bottles... so far, we have eliminated her naptime bottle, so we'll keep working on the others. One last transition... into one nap a day instead of two. She seems so young (much younger than Colby) to drop her morning nap, but if she sleeps in later in the morning, it just doesn't work. Hopefully we can figure out her schedule now with the new routine of going to the dayhome everyday. She's growing up way too quickly... planning Jenna's 1st birthday party has only reminded me of this! How can my baby girl be one already!?!

Colby is doing great on his bike... it's so cute (and yes, brings tears to Mommy's eyes watching him!) He loves riding his bike and is really good at stopping, starting, and walking his bike across a road. I think he really enjoyed having Gerry home at the end of last week and was needing some Daddy time! We are still working on his "behavior" and are all hoping this "phase" soon passes! It's very draining and I truly hope he is good at the dayhome for Becky. Kids are always better for others, right?! :)

Have a great week, everyone!
Lesley

End of August Already?!

No new puppy...
Yes, you read it right... we are no longer getting a puppy. We decided that right now is not the best time for our family. I am returning to work very soon and we don't have the time to commit to a puppy with having a very young family right now. Colby also didn't understand (or like the idea) that the puppy is going to grow up to be very big. He says he wants a "Teddy" puppy (Kristy and Kyle's small dog), not a big puppy. So, he's clearly not ready and I'm very happy with our decision to keep our family the way it is now. :) Maybe when our kids are a bit older we'll think about it again, but for right now, it's not the best thing for us.

Camping season is over for us...
After being away from home for 7 weekends in a row (from July to mid-August), we went on our last camping trip last weekend to Wabamun Lake Provincial Park. It was a good last weekend (other than the fact Jenna got a cold and Colby became ill too). We really love how close it is to Wabamun and it has great features like beautiful sites (we're partial to one loop in particular!), great playgrounds, and of course, our kids love the beach! We truly love camping and love going places as a family! However, 7 weekends away in a row might be a bit much for me! Mental note for next year! LOL! The kids have a great time outside and I love the activity, but it's a lot of work with little kids, especially with one being a baby!! All definitely worth it though... :)

End of maternity leave... already?!
I have been on maternity leave for 14 months, but still can't believe it's that time again! Sssshhhhh....... Back to School time! This year I am teaching grade three at Forest Green School. Part of me is looking forward to going back because I really do love my job. I just wish it wasn't so much work!! LOL! I have been going in several times working in my classroom and trying to get things set up again. It's a lot of work to "move in" again and set everything up from scratch. Hopefully I'll be in my room for many years and not have to do that again any time soon! It has made for some very busy evenings trying to go to school in addition to the normal evening housework and exercise stuff! The kids are going to a dayhome here in Stony Plain and I hope the transition from home to dayhome everyday goes okay. They've had a rocky start (with not going consistently as "trial runs"), so I think the first week back is going to be a bit of a shock. With numbers, they are unable to go until my first day of work, August 30th and I work 5 full days that first week. Hopefully once they are going everyday and we all get into a routine, they will be fine. It's just hard to have kids upset when you drop them off or aren't there with them... :(

September means birthday time!
Jenna is 11 months old today! I need to go weigh and measure her, so will update with that soon! With the arrival of September comes Jenna's 1st birthday! I keep asking myself, 'How is that even possible?!?' It seems like she's still our little baby, but everyday, I'm reminded of how she's too quickly becoming a little girl. She's changing so quickly and growing so much! Every milestone and new discovery is exciting, but reminds me of how she's growing up. She's not walking on her own yet, but is a very fast little crawler, cruises along furniture, and walks really well with her walkers. Maybe soon she'll be an independent walker. :) She absolutely LOVES playing with Colby! She chases after him and tries to keep up with what he's playing. I love it! We're looking forward to celebrating Jenna's first birthday with lots of family and close friends. She's a very happy little girl (unless she wants something or gets mad she can't have something... then you can hear her a mile away!) and is fun to play with! She loves Little People and playing with the kitchen downstairs. She's recently been playing at the train table too, which is really fun! How do they know to "drive" things so early?! Jenna is a very independent little girl. Perhaps she's just a wee bit stubborn like her mommy?! She hasn't been eating "baby food" for a couple of months now and enjoys feeding herself anything and everything we eat. But when she's hungry, she's hungry! She's a VERY good eater... often eats more than Colby does, which makes me continually wonder how she's now bigger than she is! Love you so much, baby girl!!

Mr. Colby
Colby has definitely hit a new stage... at least I hope it's just a "stage"!! He has been quite defiant and is quite enjoying the word "No" lately, or "No thanks" if he's feeling especially polite! LOL! Makes for some difficult days, but hopefully it won't last too long. I think Colby is quite enjoying having a very mobile (and quick) little sister! He laughs when she comes to play and calls her to come and check out some toys. I love that they get along well! He's doing well with potty training still, but we're having some pooping issues still. I hear this is difficult for a lot of kids, boys in particular, so hoping that gets better soon too! All in all, he's a very active little boy who loves playing outside or downstairs, and even just chilling on the couch with a movie or an episode of his favorite Diego. Oh, Diego, you don't know how much you're loved by one little boy!! :) He has already decided he wants a Diego happy birthday party when he turns 3! Colby is growing up too quickly too... our little man now rides his new bike SO well!! We got him a little two-wheeler with training wheels. At first, it was a bit difficult and takes some practice because it's so different from a tricycle. One day when we were camping last weekend, it just clicked! He is super fast and LOVES riding his bike. Makes me sad to see him growing up and learning new things so quickly, but at the same time, it's so wonderful to see kids do and discover new things. Good job, Colby!! Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you! Love you, little buddy!!

Yay... date night!
Yes, for the first time in a year, Gerry and I went on a date last night! :) So fun! We haven't been out since before Jenna was born, so it was definitely overdue! We went out for dinner at Original Joe's and then to Cirque de Soleil Alegria. It was a great show and a wonderful evening out! Thanks Ger... love you!! Thanks to Auntie Tracy who came to spend the evening with Colby and Jenna. They loved having her here!!

Well, I think summer is officially gone.... it's beginning to feel like fall WAY too early this year! :( Enjoy the last week of August, everyone. September is right around the corner.

Love and hugs,
Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Sick Little Jenna... and our new puppy!

Sadly, our camping holiday this year is not going as planned. We did go to Cross Lake Provincial Park on this past August Long weekend with great friends, the Kluz Family. However, something was definitely up with Jenna. We thought she was teething (other middle bottom tooth just about to poke through) and we fought with a fever and very irritable little baby all weekend. Turns out, she has measles! :( Our nephew, Jordan, came down with the measles days before Jenna, so it all makes sense now. Her fever finally broke after three days when she woke up on Monday morning with spots all over. While she no longer has the fever, she is still a bit "off" and I'm hoping she back to normal very soon!! Poor baby girl... :(

It was a very eventful weekend! Had fun at the campground with great parks and Colby always enjoys playing with Brock and Braydi. The beach was great on Sunday afternoon and ended with a surprise!! We were walking back to our beach and found a family of puppies with their mama and the family they belong to. Several people were all around then and Colby asked to touch one! (Yes, our son who is petrified of most dogs!!) So I was cuddling one of the three week old puppies and Colby touched it, then asked to hold it!! Even more shocking. Then came the "I want one!!" Seriously?!? Yes, he was serious. So, I went back to the trailer to get Gerry (who was having an afternoon nap with Jenna) to come and check out these absolutely adorable puppies! All in all, we are getting a puppy!!! He is SO cute!! He's a black lab - shepherd cross puppy and we can pick him up in about 3 weeks. I keep thinking, "What are we doing?!" But it's great to see Colby so excited and of course, Gerry is so excited too! So... we're going to be dog owners!!??!! Should be interesting..... Still working on his name... will keep you posted!

Since Jenna was sick and not herself at all, we cancelled our reservations in Jasper for the week. It wasn't the best weekend camping with Jenna and we didn't want to put her through that for an entire week too. So we are enjoying a week with Daddy at home!! Lots of things to do around the house, little shopping/errand trips, and hanging out! Colby is loving the fact that Gerry is home during the day. Tomorrow, he's going to take Colby out to the farm to see the animals, tractors, and go for a quad ride or two. I'm sure he will love every minute!

Speaking of Colby, potty training is going great!! Well, "pee training" is going great. He's having no problems with going pee (when we tell him to... he doesn't tell us yet that he has to go), but going poop is another story. So frustrating, but hopefully soon he'll try to poop on the potty??!! Mom and Dad can't wait for that day to come!!

Have a great week everyone with the warm temperatures ahead! We are using our air conditioning all the time and LOVE it!! :)

Gerry, Lesley, Colby, Jenna (and new puppy!!)
xoxo

Camping, Camping, and More Camping!

That's been our summer weekends... and we're loving it!! I think camping is such a great family activity and I'm glad our kids enjoy it too! I grew up in a big "camping family" (both immediate and extended), so I'm thankful we have our trailer and take our own children on mini-vacations and travel around Alberta. We've had a great July (can't believe it's almost over!) camping and enjoying the summer weather (in between the rain storms)!

July 9-11 - We were supposed to camp with Strathmore Friends, the Koppel Family, but Mark had to work, so we decided on a whim to cancel our reservations and go to Strathmore for the weekend. It was SO great to be back in our old "home". I always love visiting Strathmore and catching up with great friends who I miss dearly. Colby had so much fun playing with Matthew (6) and Cameron (4)... he always loves playing with older kids and was quite attached to Matthew! We went to the Calgary Zoo and also visited good friends, the Plett Family. I really do miss our Strathmore friends and think about moving back (occasionally!)... if I could only find a job!! Not such a great scenario in GHSD right now! Thank goodness life is established here to keep us grounded and right here in Stony Plain. :)

July 16-18 - We camped with the "Edmonton Cameron's" and two other families at Miquelon Lake. It was a really nice weekend (minus the wind) and all of the kids had fun. It was Canada Parks Day 2010 on Saturday, so there were many activities, including face painting, quilt square craft, and pond dipping. Colby always enjoys playing with Blake and they had a lot of fun the entire weekend, especially playing in all of the water and mud around the campsites! Pond dipping was a great way to spend an hour out on a dock searching for living things in the wetland. Colby was more interested in seeing how much mud he could pick up in his net, but also seemed intrigued by the creatures the older kids found! I really like going to Miquelon Lake... it's been recently renovated and it's a great family campground! Close to home makes it even better!! We hope to go back next year!

- July 23-25 - Ol' Macdonald's Resort in Stettler!! One of my all-time favorites since we used to go all the time when I was a child!! This is such a great place for families and was even better this year, now that Colby is a year older. Being a very short weekend (we arrived Friday night and left Sunday), it was pretty jam-packed!! The kids absolutely loved the beach and the lake. We haven't really played too much at the beaches while camping with the not-so-great weather, so I was happy to have some fun in the sun this weekend!! Colby enjoyed building sandcastles and playing in the lake and taking his dolphin (inflatable lake toy) for "walks"! :) Jenna LOVES the sand... and everything about it. She ate a lot of it!! She loved crawling in it, crawling over sand castles, even going in the very chilly lake! SO much fun!! Check-out time is 11:00 (which I'm not a huge fan of!!), but we were able to park in an overflow area and spend some more time there today (Sunday). So we packed a picnic lunch and headed down to the beach again this morning for some more fun before getting cleaned up and heading home at nap time. Aaaahhhh, travelling at nap time! Nice and quiet! :)

I'm excited about our next camping adventure. On Friday, we are heading to Cross Lake for the August Long weekend with friends Rob and Christa Kluz. Then we're coming home on Monday for a couple of hours to re-pack, etc. before heading to Jasper. We will be in Jasper from Monday until Friday. I'm excited to explore the town as a family and do lots of activities together. On Friday, we're going to Crimson Lake (by Rocky Mountain House) for the weekend before heading home on Sunday. We're both really looking forward to getting away as a family on this year's little summer vacation!

Have a great week... and enjoy the sun!
Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Dear Colby...

My little Colby...

Where do I begin? You are such a funny, smart, and handsome little man who I'm proud to call my son! While I still can't believe that you're 2 1/2 years old already (I know...where did the time go?!) I have had so much fun watching you grow, explore, and learn. I absolutely love playing with you and having some very interesting conversations with you... you're one smart cookie! :) You come up with the funniest sayings sometimes!! Thank you for being such an amazing big brother to Jenna. It often brings me to tears watching you play and interact with her, giving her hugs, kisses, and snuggles, and telling people that she's your "baby sister". You will go far in life, no matter what you decide to do. (I think you might be a bit stubborn like your mom too... so I know you'll persevere and get whatever you desire out of life!!) I look forward to watching you continue to grow and learn about your world and having fun all along the way! Thank you for bringing so much joy and love to our lives!!

Love and hugs,
Mommy
xoxo

Dear Jenna...

My dearest Jenna...

I often ask myself, "Why does time need to pass so quickly?" I truly believe time goes by quicker when you have children and even more so with your second baby. You were so close to crawling for so long (lots of creeping around on your tummy for a couple of months!) and are now unstoppable with your crawling! First it was crawling, now it's taking a few steps behind a walker toy, and climbing two stairs on your own!! You're growing up way too quickly!! You've even said your first word, "Hi!" and use it in context whenever someone is talking to you. It's adorable!! While I like to see you grow and discover things, I wish you could stay our little baby girl forever! You are such a beautiful and happy little girl who brings such joy to our lives! You are loved more than you will ever know and I am so proud to have you as my daughter!!

Love and hugs,
Mommy
xoxo

Our little girl is on the move!

I can't believe how quickly Jenna moves these days! She has been "creeping" for quite a while now, but once she began crawling, there's no stopping her now! She loves chasing around after Colby and playing with him. I adore watching them play together! She has been pulling herself up on anything and everything in sight, including standing in her crib now, climbing onto the treadmill, up to Colby's train table (and stealing trains... which he is not a fan of!), to the couch, and the list goes on...... She's walking a lot when holding onto our fingers, so maybe she'll be an early walker too?!

Jenna has made a great transition from baby food to eating our food... and I'm loving it! She's mainly eating everything that we eat, just without sauces, etc. She loves feeding herself, which makes it a bit easier too. She loves fruit, yogurt, bread (must be my girl!!)... everything, really! :)

We've had a busy week already and it's only Tuesday! Yesterday, Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson came over for a visit mid-afternoon and the kids stayed here for a while when Cal and Tracy went to pick up their new minivan! Colby and Blake play really well together and Emerson fits in there perfectly with the boys and Jenna too! It was busy with the four kids, but we had a lot of fun playing outside. They all stayed for a yummy steak dinner too. Thanks for the visit, Edmonton Cameron's! :) Today, I watched Connor (my cousin Leanne's little guy) all day. Colby and Connor are inseparable when they're together, so it was a great day of playing and fun at the park. We went to Kristy's for lunch and more playing in the backyard before heading home for naptime. Can you believe all 3 kids slept at the same time?!? Woo hoo!! :) Okay, the overlap was not really all that long, but still... there were a few minutes of quiet!

We are leaving tomorrow evening for Gull Lake until Sunday. A great little extra-long weekend camping trip! Gerry took Friday off, so he's staying the entire time too, which is great. Tomorrow, the kids are going to Kristy's for a little while around lunch time so I can attend a Retirement Luncheon for one of the teachers at my school. Susan Fulmore is an incredible teacher who has so much wisdom and guidance to share! Her passion for literacy is infectious and she makes me want to become a better teacher and continue to work on my programming. She actually taught Gerry grade one at Forest Green School!!! (From what I hear, he was a bit of a trouble maker back then too!!) LOL! I'm really going to miss her and our lovely chats and her endless positive energy, but wish her a wonderful time in her retirement! Hugs to you, Susan!!

Have a great rest of the week, everyone! Enjoy Canada Day with family and friends!

xoxo
Lesley

Father's Day Weekend!

Our little Jenna turned 9 months old yesterday! I took her to be weighed and measured today and she is slowly, but surely continuing to gain weight. She is gaining about 1/2 pound every month and is now up to 17 lbs. 8 oz. and about 27 1/4" long. I find it really hard to measure her length... she's kind of a wiggle worm! All in all, doing great, I'd say! :)

We had a great weekend! I went to Jubilations on Friday night to the production "Greased"! It was a lot of fun with 11 other fabulous ladies. We hit the road bright and early Saturday morning for Grande Prairie. We got there at noon, so we had plenty of time to visit. The kids did alright... Colby was fine, but Jenna is not a great traveller. She hardly napped at all, so that didn't help. It was great to visit with Gerry's Grandma and Grandpa Alstad for a few hours, then to see both of Gerry's sisters for a little while too. We had a nice dinner with Gerry's mom and she took us out for ice cream after dinner! Colby loved it and had his strawberry sundae up to his elbows!! Jenna enjoyed her first little taste of ice cream on her soother... thanks, Grandma! :) After the kids were in bed, Gerry and I headed over to Carmen and Darren's house for a visit. They were having a block party, but it was nice to see them and their close neighbor friends. The kids were up bright and early on Sunday morning (sorry Grandma and Grandpa!!) and we went to watch Dylan's baseball game. Colby LOVES Dylan and had a great little picture afterwards with him... "on the baseball field". He thought that was pretty neat! We visited with Kathy and the kids back at the house and then hit the highway just after noon. The kids did much better on the way home... leaving just before nap time was definitely key! :)

We got home, unpacked, and then headed over to my parents' house for a Father's Day dinner with my family. Happy Father's Day to all of the Dad's in our lives! We love you!!

I always knew that Gerry was great with kids... nieces, nephews, and kids of our friends. But it is amazing to see him every day with our own children! He is such an wonderful, caring, loving, and fun daddy and I know Colby and Jenna are so incredibly lucky to have you in their lives! You are truly wonderful Ger... we all love you so very much!! xoxo

Have a great week, everyone!

Lesley

Loving life!

Some fun events in our lives lately...

- Kristy and I took the kids to the International Children's Festival in St. Albert. Colby LOVED riding the bus, seeing "real" firemen and a fire truck, seeing all the people, and watching Bobs and Lolo on stage for a bit. I hope to go next year... he was still a bit young for it this year.

- I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Gala. It was a great event and I'm so proud of Jen, who won this year's award in the category of Athletics, Recreation, and Fitness!

- Farmer's Days 2010!! To follow tradition, we watched the parade and had a BBQ at my parents' house after on Saturday. Colby loved the parade and enjoyed seeing the floats, horses, tractors, police cars, and the fire trucks! It was too late to head to the grounds on Saturday afternoon, so we went on Sunday instead. It was great! Very well laid-out this year and Colby had a blast on a few of the rides and the Kids' Zone! I'm really glad we went and look forward to more festivals this summer... I LOVE going to the Street Performer's Festival, so can't wait for that!

- Group Camping Weekend! Again, to follow tradition, my entire family went with the entire Schram family for our annual camping weekend. It is so special that we still all keep in contact and are close after growing up with the three great Schram girls! We are all so close in age and now have kids very close in age too! Between the six of us girls, we have 10 children... with 9 of them being 3 years of age and younger!! Whew! It was busy! We had a group site at Wabamun Provincial Park and had 10 RV's there. It was such a wonderful weekend... great weather, great company, great fun for the kids (without having to worry about anyone being on the road!), great food, and of course, great drinks!! :) Mental note... take more shooters next year!!

- We are driving to Grande Prairie on Saturday morning for an overnight visit with Gerry's family. I'm looking forward to seeing Gerry's family (the last time we saw them was at New Year's). We're hoping to see Gerry's Grandma and Grandpa as well, celebrate Kourtney and Dylan's birthdays, and take in one of Dylan's baseball games! Colby's pretty excited to go and stay at Grandma's... he has his Thomas suitcase packed already!

Update on our babies...

- I really shouldn't call them both "our babies" anymore... but it's a habit I need to work on. (Yes, I still often call Colby my baby boy!) Colby is busier than ever these days! He's loving that our fence is finally finished and playing outside with friends, Jenna and Mom. Colby's last day of "I'm Big Enough for Preschool" was last week. I think he is sure going to miss his teachers! They had a little party and had a cookie to decorate with icing and sprinkles. He helped himself to just the icing though, so needless to say, he was a bit "wired" for the rest of the day!! He was getting out of his naps for a while, but now he's been falling asleep almost instantly at nap time. While the two hour nap is welcomed by Mom, a difficult bed time is not! It is taking longer and longer for him to fall asleep, going to sleep pretty late, and then getting up earlier! Hopefully we can figure it out soon and move out of this difficult transition time... He's getting to the "Why?" stage! Everything has a "Why, Mom?" attached to it! He's enjoying playing with Jenna more now that she's moving, but occasionally gets annoyed that she likes to follow him around. I love it when he gets her going with laughter! It's so cute! He does love his baby sister and worries when she's upset. He will often go up to her and say, "What's wrong, Jenna?" or "Why is Jenna crying?" Usually a kiss and/or hug foll0ws to help make her happy again. Awe! Maybe they'll still be best buds in 10 years?!? ;)

Colby excited with his new "deca-ations" in his room...Mud? What mud?! Before outdoor shower after driving dump trucks through the mud while camping...

- Jenna is our happy little baby girl. She is usually quite happy except when dinner and bath/bed time is nearing. Later on in the afternoon, she often wants to be held and isn't happy being on the ground playing. While I enjoy our snuggles, it's often difficult to make dinner and everything at this time of the day! As I mentioned, she is a girl on the move! She's been "creeping" around for quite a while now, but officially began crawling last Sunday in the trailer. Still this week, she'll crawl for a little bit, then plop down to her tummy and continue. I think she knows she's faster with her creeping still! :) She is now pulling herself up on things, which has caused us to do some major baby-proofing again. She pulls up to laundry baskets, toy boxes, even the TV stand. Since she has always loved to stand since being a newborn, I think she might be "cruising" in no time. She loves to watch... everything! Especially Colby! She tries to follow him around the house, particularly when he's racing cars on the floor. She laughs when he does and grabs at everything, including his arms, hair, feet, everything! Another little quirk... she kind of has a shoe fetish! Yes, at the age of 9 months, she is obsessed with shoes and has been for a while. Those close to me blame it on me!! :) Wherever we are, she'll find shoes and chew on them! This annoys Colby when she's chewing on his slippers... while they're on his feet!! LOL! As I said, she's nearly 9 months old (early next week) and is doing really well. She is sleeping much better lately and not waking up in the very early morning hours anymore. Thank goodness!! She eats quite a bit, so I'm curious to know how much she weighs now. I will take her in next week to check it out!
Daddy and his girl... (yes, she is most always chewing on something!!)...

I'm taking in every moment of being at home in my last few months of maternity leave. Then it's back to the real world of a full-time working mom. I'm a bit nervous about teaching full-time with two small children now, but I know it will all work out... with balance. That's key, I think!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy the beautiful weather on the way again!

xoxo
Lesley

Fun weekend!

I had a great weekend, despite the busyness of it! On Friday night, I went with a friend to a big sale at Dragon Lillies (baby/kids boutique in Spruce Grove). To make a little date even better... I won one of the door prizes!! They called me later Friday evening and told me that I had won $150 to a photographer in Spruce Grove!! So exciting! I was beginning to think about possibly doing Jenna's 1 year photos and a family photo shoot at the end of August/beginning of September. Will be contacting her soon! :)

On Saturday, Gerry and Jenna came to watch Colby and I at gymnastics. He has a great time and truly, it's a great outlet of energy! :) He's becoming more comfortable with the beam, so that's a plus too! He isn't a huge fan of the really high one, but is coming around. From there, we headed to South Edmonton Common for a couple of quick stops and then to Costco. I was wanting to get some outdoor flowers to plant, but good thing I didn't! The rain, snow, sleet, and hail has not been nice this weekend! Hopefully the weather turns around for a beautiful week ahead. Last night, I went to my friend Amie's house for a Creative Memories party. My goodness, how things have changed! I got some beautiful paper packages and got me thinking more and more about some digital scrapbooking in my near future.....

Today was Painting and Redecorating Day! Jenna was up bright and early, so I was able to finish taping and prepping her room for painting. It was a LONG day of painting... but 3 coats later, I am SO happy with the results!! A nice bright pink and some redecoration including some very cute flower decals makes it a great girly-girl room!! :) (I think Gerry is a bit tired today from having the kids all day!!)

Aaahh... not too much happening this week... preschool and my fitness classes, as usual. Ooh, and I'm attending the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Gala on Thursday night. My best friend, Jen, is nominated for an award. I'm looking forward to a fun night of fancy clothes out with some fabulous people! Good luck, Jen!!

Have a great week, everyone!
xoxo
Lesley

May Update!

Yes, I know it has been nearly 3 weeks since my last post! I just can't keep up! I attribute it to having 2 kids that rarely nap at the same time and not being home in the evenings! Sure... that's all I got! I really need to try harder at this! :)

It has been a busy, but great month!! I celebrated my 29th birthday on Tuesday, May 11th. It was a nice day and went out for lunch with my mom and sister. We didn't do much in the evening, as it was my first spin class of the session, so didn't skip out on it. Gerry and I would still like to go for dinner or something sometime... just the two of us.

We headed out for our first camping trip of the year on the May Long Weekend. It was a quading weekend out at Cynthia RV Campground (just west of Drayton Valley). It was a good weekend... but cold!! We got a bit of rain and snow flurries on Friday night and Saturday, but Sunday was better and of course, Monday was beautiful because we had to head home! That's the way it always goes, doesn't it?! Colby had a great time playing outside and enjoyed some quick little rides on the quad with Mommy and Daddy. He loves that he and I now have "matching helmets" and enjoyed riding in the mud! Colby and Gerry had a lot of fun... I think we have a future quader on our hands! Jenna did fairly well... slept her usual times, but had a bit of troubles falling asleep. It's a new place and she is quite an observer, so she was more interested in looking around, etc. She stayed nice and warm in her toque, mitts, and snowsuit too, just like the big kids! All in all, it was a great weekend... besides the fact that our cooler and some alcohol was stolen the first night from right outside of the door of our trailer!!!

We enjoyed a great trip to the zoo yesterday with Tracy, Blake and Em, and Kristy, Landon, and Jordan. There were more animals out this time and the kids loved being able to run around! Thank goodness there wasn't many people there in the morning when we arrived. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, then headed to the southside to see Ger at work! Colby always loves going to see Daddy at work and enjoys driving the forklifts!

Our little Jenna is already 8 months old! I weighed and measured her last week and she contines to grow... slowly. She's 16 lbs. 15 oz. and 26 3/4" long. It's crazy how much smaller she is than Colby was... At 8 months old, Colby was a whopping 21 lbs. 5 oz!!! Big difference between the two! I sure enjoy having my little girl! :) She is SO close to crawling... gets up onto her hands and knees, rocks a bit, and then plops back onto her tummy. She's been doing the "army crawl" for quite a while now and is so quick! She can move around a room and get any toy she sets out to! I don't think it will be too long before she's crawling and moving even faster!

She's is beginning to get more of a 'schedule' now. We are trying to get her to not eat during the night and it seems like we're making progress! She's usually in bed sleeping by 7:00 or 7:15 and was eating at about 4 or 4:30. But last night she slept from 7:00 until 6:10!!!! Hopefully this is a permanent change! I like it! :) She's napping really well too during the day, which is helpful. She is truly a generally happy baby and quite content unless she needs something... then you can hear her a mile away, I'm sure! ;)

Colby is such a little boy... he has so much energy these days and enjoys playing outside. He loves his new playhouse and monkey bars in the backyard and riding his plasma car on the driveway and the sidewalks. He is really good at playing with Jenna and likes to have little conversations with her. However, he's not such a fan when she reaches for one of his trucks or cars!! He has been showing her how to crawl and encouraging her lots! It's pretty cute! He's into trucks, quads, hockey, Thomas... anything really! He's doing well at Gymnastics and really enjoys most of the activities. He's not such a huge fan of the high beams though. The trampoline and foam pit are a couple of his favorites! Preschool is nearly over for the session and he continues to do really well. I drop him off and enjoy an hour chat with other moms and friends from the class!! It's a nice little break! :) He has made some really cute crafts and enjoys telling me about the songs he learns and toys he plays with. I'm going to miss it when it's over! I think it has been really good for him! I am trying to soak up every day with the kids and am going to miss it when I'm back to work in a few months. I especially love the summers because it's nice out and we can spend a lot of time outdoors! :)

We've been enjoying the nice spring days and spend a lot of time at the parks, out for walks, and enjoying play time in the backyard. We are currently getting our fence built and can't wait for it to be done!!! Soon... if the weather would ever cooperate!

Congratulations to my cousin, Jenn and her husband, Rick on the birth of their son, Jack Richard Sultanian on May 27th! Can't wait to meet him! All the best to everyone!

Have a great weekend everyone. Hopefully the rain doesn't last all weekend... I'm looking forward to some 20+ temperatures for next week!

xoxo

Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Happy Mother's Day!

May 9, 2010

Dear Colby and Jenna,

I love you so very much! So much that it's difficult to describe! You two wonderful kids are the absolute loves of my life (yes, I do love Daddy too very much, but I think he realizes that he's no longer number one!!) Having children has been the most rewarding thing in my life and I am so blessed every single day to have such amazing kids! You bring so much joy to my life and fill each and every day with love, laughter, playfulness, and pride! I am so proud to be your mommy!

Being a mom means so many things to me! Some of my favorites are hearing the words, "I wuv you Mommy!" the come with a big hug and kiss from Colby and seeing Jenna's big smiles and hearing her laughter when we see each other in the morning or after nap time. I love seeing you discover new things and learn how to do things for the first time. Your excitement and love of discovery is so exciting. This is why we play so much! I love it (and well, you do too!!)

I can't believe how quickly you've both grown. Maybe it's just part of my nature, but I shed a tear or two when I look back at your newborn photos and remember how small you were. Sometimes I wish I could just hit a "Pause" button on time! But on the other hand, I look forward to you growing up because it means seeing you hit more milestones and engage in new activities at different stages of your life. Seeing your first smiles, first laughs, first crawl, first step, first words are all moments that I'll never forget! They're so exciting! (Thank goodness for our videocamera!!)

I absolutely love being your mom and wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I have the best (and sometimes hardest) job in the world! But you make it all worth every minute of it! You mean the world to me and I'm so proud to call you my children!

Love you... so much... now and always!!

xoxo

Mommy

Life with the Cameron's

Jenna was 7 months old on April 21st... I weighed and measured her and she continues to grow at a good pace. She put on just over 1 pound in the last month and now weighs 16 lbs. 5 oz. and is about 26 1/4" long (still short, but growing nonetheless!) She is getting closer to crawling... I think it helps that she loves being on her tummy so much! If ever put on her back, she'll instantly roll onto her tummy... and then around a room! She's doing better with solid foods too. She's now eating 3 meals a day! Big girl! She seems to enjoy vegetables much more than Colby did, so hopefully that doesn't turn into a huge battle like it continues to be with him! Fingers crossed! :)


I adore watching Colby and Jenna interact! I think he is loving the fact that she can sit up now and play with toys. They often just start giggling at each other, especially when she's in the Jumperoo! Warms my heart to see them laughing and playing together!


Colby loves playing outside and we can't wait to get a fence... very soon!! We have hired someone to build our fence and are hoping it will be done next weekend. We have quite a few bigger toys in the backyard (new playhouse, monkey bars, fire truck, etc.) and it makes me a little nervous to have them all in the backyard with no fence. Oh well... soon!! :)


We've had a couple of very busy weeks again... or should I say, still?! We had a multi-family garage sale at my parents' house this past weekend, which was a whole lot of work! Hours and hours pricing things (mainly the baby clothes that took all of that time!), arranging things, and then actually being there for the sale. All in all, it was quite successful, so in my eyes, it was worth it! Not as many baby clothes were sold as I had anticipated, so I guess it's time to pack them up again for a little while. Thank goodness the rain held off... it was cold and windy at times, but I welcomed the chilly weather over the rain! Thank you, Rain Gods!!


Saturday was our nephew, Blake Cameron's, 3rd birthday party! It's hard to believe that he's 3 years old already! It was a great time and the kids had fun playing outside, enjoying hot dogs for supper, and lots of playing! Thank you, Cal and Tracy, for a fun party!

The kids and I enjoyed a nice, quiet day at home yesterday. With so much go-go-go lately, I really enjoy a great jammie day at home! I'm hoping the weather turns around soon... what's with the blizzard on May 4th?! Spring is more than welcome... now if it would just arrive (again) and stay this time!! Have a great week, everyone!

The Cameron's xoxo

Phew... Life is busy these days!

I can't believe I've left our blog this long before updating... it's been difficult to find a few minutes to blog lately! So here it is... very overdue!

Decisions as a parent are more difficult to make than decisions before kids! True? Some might agree with me, but in my mind, they definitely are! Everything affects the family and we put our family first. That's why making the decision about returning to work was more difficult this time than it was returning to work after having Colby. Long story short, after weighing all of the pros and cons with varying FTE's, I will be returning to work full-time at the end of August for the next school year. I'm happy with the decision now, but it wasn't easy. I am fully prepared for even more less 'me time' once I go back to work full-time. Hopefully we'll be able to balance everything well as a family. :)

We've been pretty busy lately with spring programs beginning recently. Colby is attending "I'm Big Enough for Preschool" again until the end of June every Tuesday morning at the TLC. He's doing really well and this past week, I actually didn't stay in the room with him and he did great the entire time!! The idea is for the kids to progress to not having a parent in the room and I'm happy we're getting there! Tick Tock Time also began last week, so we are going to that every Friday morning. It's a really great program with a fantastic facilitator! She knows how to captivate all of the kids' attention!! A definite must in these kinds of programs! Also, Colby began Gymnastics this morning. It's a Parent and Tot Program through Aerials Gymnastics and he enjoyed it! I look forward to going again next week. I think it's nice for him to have a one-on-one activity with Mom or Dad!

We had our niece, Kourtney, stay with us for four days last week. It was so wonderful having a 14 year old around! She's great with the kids and Colby loved having her here! I took her grad dress shopping on Saturday... without the kids!!! Wow, I had forgotten how nice it is to shop sometimes without any kids with you. Could be a factor in how much shopping I did for myself!?! A great day of shopping ended in a great night of scrapbooking at our house until the wee hours in the morning with 6 fabulous ladies! It was a lot of fun and I began Jenna's scrapbook... finally!! I only accomplished 6 pages, but it's a start! :)

Colby is such a funny kid and often leaves us wondering, "Where did he get that from?" He's definitely a backseat driver... yes, our 2 year old tells me to "Watch out, Mommy!" "Slow down, Mommy. You're going too fast." "If you fall off this bend, Mom, I'll pick you up." He often surprises us with words and phrases too. I love this age and it's so fun to have a full conversation with a toddler! He's loving the beautiful weather and wants to be outside all the time! Going for walks, playing in the backyard or at playgrounds, and driving his new Plasma car are some of his faves outside. He is so cute with Jenna... he likes to get her toys, tell her "It's okay, Jenna" when she's crying, and kiss and hug her good night. I love it! :)

Jenna is growing up too fast... she's almost 7 months old and is learning to do more and more things all the time. She is rolling like crazy. She rolled fairly early, but now this is her main mode of transportation around any given room! When put on her back, she instantly flips to her tummy and would rather play with toys on her tummy. She is sitting up and enjoying the world in a whole new way now! She's still not a great eater of solids, but we're working on it. The sleeping is getting better... still not a great napper and continues to wake up once a night crying. Eventually, we feed her, but know that we need to "Ferberize" her and get her back to her 11 or 12 hours a night that she was doing for months before she was sick. We'll get there one day... I hope!!

Congratulations to Gerry's sister, Kathy, and her boyfriend, Rob, who became parents to Grayson Micheal on Monday, April 12th. Haven't seen him yet, but Carmen says he's pretty cute!

Gerry and I are going to his Curling Banquet tonight, so I'm looking forward to visiting with some other adults and dressing up a bit! How sad is it that I'm looking forward to wearing some nice clothes!?! :) Thank you to Leanne and Ryan who will be babysitting... I know Leanne and Ryan will enjoy their Jenna time and Colby is so excited to play with Connor!

Have a great rest of the weekend... enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather!!
xoxo Lesley

Our baby girl is 6 months old!

While I still can't believe it, yes... our baby girl is 6 months old already! I thought time flew by too quickly with only one child, but I often find myself wondering where the time actually goes! It seems to fly by much quicker with having a toddler and a baby! The days, weeks, and months seem to disappear right in front of our eyes. If nothing else, it is a good reminder that we need to live every day to its fullest and cherish every second because they truly do go by too fast!

Our little Jenna is doing really well. At her 6 month check-up last week, she weighed in at 15 lbs. and was 25.4" long. She's definitely growing! She was always on the shorter side of the spectrum and is now finally making her way up the growth chart... slowly, but surely. This puts her at the 50%ile for height and weight, so she's doing great. Up until this point, she was either not on the growth chart, at the 10%ile or the 25%ile for height, so she's steadily growing! Must be all of those healthy vegetables she's eating!!

Jenna is such a happy little girl. We don't really hear her cry unless she needs something... and then, you can hear her next door, I'm sure! She definitely has a good set of lungs on her! She has the biggest, toothless grin... I love it! She loves to giggle and has an adorable little laugh, especially when she's being tickled. She loves to cuddle, be held, and snuggle! Of course, this is one of my favorite times of the day... when it's just Jenna and Mommy, cuddling and reading stories, singing songs, or just talking! She is one observant little girl! One of her favorite things to do is sit and watch... everything! She loves to watch Colby play and just giggles when he tries to make her laugh. It's so cute to watch them interact! He is such a great brother and we are blessed he is so gentle and caring (usually). He enjoys getting her toys, helping me feed Jenna, reading stories to her, and playing with her on the floor. She is very close to sitting up independently, but isn't there quite yet. She will be soon though, I'm sure. She loves to roll over! As soon as she's put on her back, she instantly rolls onto her tummy. She enjoys being on her tummy too, so maybe she'll be crawling soon too?!? She loves to stand up and jump, too! She absolutely loves her Jumperoo! It's pretty cute to see her jumping like crazy in it! Jenna also enjoys being outside and going for walks in the stroller. She hasn't been a fan of her car seat since birth, but really enjoys sitting up in the stroller and looking around. We are very fortunate that she is a good sleeper, too! She usually naps three times a day and her early afternoon nap is slowly increasing in length, which is great. And she is still sleeping great at night, too. Jenna has been sleeping through the night since she was about 8 weeks old and she's still doing well at night. She usually sleeps for about 11-12 hours. She must know how much her mommy loves to sleep, right?!

We're working on the solids now... honestly, she's not a great eater of solid foods. She is not a huge fan of the cereals, but is doing much better with the vegetables, so that's good news. I hope it continues to get a bit better everyday. While I truly love newborns, I am really enjoying her being a bit older now and being more interactive. Although, I always say that every stage is my favorite stage! It's great to see her holding onto objects, chewing on absolutely everything!, playing with toys, discovering things (like finding her feet!) and learning so much about her environment everyday.

Sadly, Jenna has already been a patient of the Stollery Children's Hospital. Last Monday morning, I was concerned with her in-drawing and crackly chest as she breathed. Luckily, she had her regular check-up that morning. Long story short, our doctor sent us to the Stony Hospital where she was treated for shortness of breath and what we would eventually find out was RSV and Bronchialitis. She was treated with several medications, but her oxygen level wasn't staying up high enough without the support of oxygen. We were taken by ambulance to the Stollery where she was seen in the ER there. She was doing much better by this time and only required one more dose of Ventilin that night. She was admitted for observation overnight to monitor her oxygen level. Thankfully, she did great and was discharged the next day. Whew... now that both of our kids have been there, I hope we don't have to go back again! We are very fortunate to have such a fabulous facility in Edmonton. All of the nurses and doctors there are truly wonderful!

Being a mom is definitely the best job in the entire world. While it's also a difficult job, I wouldn't trade it for the world. We have amazing kids who we love to pieces! What would we do without children? I think we would all have a whole lot more time on our hands!! LOL!

Love,

Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

xoxo

Dear Grandma...

First off, let me say, I love you, Grandma.
May your days ahead be filled with love and
joy as you are re-united with Grandpa and other
loved ones again.

This is a very difficult blog, as it has been a rough week. On Sunday morning, we awoke to a phone call from my mom saying that my grandma has passed away overnight. It was completely unexpected and shocking, to say the least. She was such a gentle woman who was so proud of her family and life history. Even though we heard her stories (many) times due to Alzheimer's, they never got old. One of my favorite sayings of hers was when she'd look all around, seeing her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and say, "Just think... all of this because of me" or "I never imagined all of this." She kept her promise to come to Canada after her first husband was killed in World War II. As she and my Auntie Ann (who was 3 at the time) travelled west to Alberta, she met and married my Grandpa. And the rest is history... 10 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild was due in a few months.

As I sit here this evening, I am still finding it difficult to believe that she's gone. Even though it's been a week of planning, extended family arriving from out-of-town, I still feel like it's a dream. Tomorrow is Grandma's funeral and it's going to be a very long and tiring day. She was my last remaining grandparent and it's difficult to say good-bye, especially because it was so sudden. To quote a poem written by a friend of my sister's for her funeral tomorrow...

Dear Grandma,

Fond memories flood us
As we cry,
We were not ready
To say good-bye.
Though we knew
Your time would come,
You are our Grandma,
Friend and Mom.
We'll miss your smile,
Your selfless way,
We have so much
We'd like to say.
You walked this earth
With love and grace,
And in our hearts
You'll hold your place.
If you could have spoken
Before you died,
These are the words
You would have replied.
This life for me
Has truly passed,
I've loved you all
'Til the very last.
Weep not for me
But courage take,
And love one another
For my sake.

We love you, Grandma. I am proud to call you my Grandma. You lived an amazing 92 years and had a very successful life filled with loved ones, joy, laughter, and many memories. Rest in peace.

Love and hugs,
Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna xoxo

Is it that time already?!

Yes, it is nearly April, which, in the education world, means it's "time to start thinking about next year's assignment" time! When I was granted my maternity leave, the paperwork indicated I had to let the school division know my intentions for next year by April 30th. Turns out, they're wanting to get a "jump start" on staffing, so they've been calling me wanting my letter. After putting off the decision and many, many discussions, we finally made a very tough decision... I will be returning to work full-time at the end of August for the coming school year. I was considering the option of working part-time, about 0.8 FTE or so, but financially, it didn't even make sense with the cost of full-time childcare. So, back to full-time work in too few of months!

I really do love being home with my kids and I can't believe how quickly life flies by, especially when you have two children. I do enjoy my job though (as much work as it is and the many extra hours I put in) and I'm confident everything will work out. Hopefully this year is much more positive on the childcare front... let's not go there!! LOL! It's all about finding a good balance for the family and yourself. I've always worked full-time in the past, so I am fully aware that it's going to be hard. Thank goodness I have an amazing husband who helps out and does so much around the house! If only the school day was shorter so I could be home earlier... hmmmm.... :)

We have had a difficult couple of weeks. Colby broke out with some sort of terribly itchy face, resulting in major scratching and marks on his face that wouldn't clear up with medication or ointments. Still not sure what it is... but now he is on oral antibiotics and it seems to be helping greatly. Very strange, but it has improved tremendously, so hopefully it's gone for good soon! He also came down with a pretty bad cold last weekend. He was running a fever, had a bad cough, runny nose, and wasn't able to get much rest due to the cough. Thank goodness he was napping in the afternoons and I think he is almost back to himself. The only problem now? Jenna has a cough and runny nose.... grrr!! When it's in the house, it's inevitable that both kids will get it, right?! So frustrating! Hopefully it is a mild one for her and she'll be back to normal quickly too. She's still her happy, content little self, just a stuffed up, coughing little girl now. :(

We are in between sessions of Preschool and Tick Tock Time now, so it has been great having a rather low-key week. Besides Colby being sick, it was truly really nice to not have plans everyday and running out every morning. It's great to stay home and just PLAY!! Tonight was Colby's last swimming lesson of this session and he passed the "Duck" level. Good job, buddy! :) He got a check mark for each one of the skills/activities and will go to "Sea Turtle" next when he turns 3. I registered him in gymnastics beginning the middle of April. It's a Parent and Tot class that we will attend on Saturday mornings. I think it will be a great outlet of energy for our very energetic little man!

We have a busy weekend ahead with Gerry playing in another bonspiel tomorrow afternoon. We also have Jenna's 6 month pictures on Sunday morning, followed by a date with some friends, Joe and Tara, at Jubilations Sunday evening. I hope Colby and Jenna will be good for their first "non-grandparent" babysitting night. Chantel will be great, I know it!

Have a great weekend everyone and Welcome Spring!!

The Cameron Family
xoxo