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