:: Absence ::

We've been doing this.......

......pretty much every day.

So if I'm not around these parts much, it's cause I'm out enjoying the sun.

A lot.

:: Slowly Picking Away ::

Sooo, it would seem that my four year anniversary passed by on Thursday and I completely neglected to blog or take any photos for that matter.

Boo, me!

Bygones.

Husby and I had a lovely dinner out at a small restaurant in a small ocean bay on the patio, in the sun over looking the marina.

We leisurely strolled the docks (and even got to *gasp* hold hands!) before heading back to town for a stop at Timmy's for a Coldstone dessert.

Some of you with a good memory (and who care to remember anything I babble about on here) might remember my quest to sample most of the Signature Creations from Coldstone Creamery over the summer. Not only did I get to try two more flavours but we did it for half price with a BOGO coupon we got in the mail a couple days earlier! Score, us!

My pick was the Cookie Mintster consisting of mint ice cream, two whole oreos and fudge. Trev ordered the Mud Pie Mojo that was packed with coffee ice cream, REAL peanut butter, roasted almonds and fudge.

Yum, Yummy, Yum-Yum!

So, I'm slowly picking away at my list and I think next time I'll be ordering something with peanut butter in it.

We came home and before we could even get the doors to the truck opened, we heard our sweet, precious two-year-old baby yelling for us from the house and were greeted with very big and excited hugs.

Pretty much the perfect evening.

And here's a big holla out to my momma who left a very gorgeous bouquet of flowers on our doorstep.....so now I have two vases full of color and pretty-ness in my kitchen! Thanks Mom!

:: I went to bed and said hello to week 30 of my baby bump and pondered life and family and the perfect will of God that brought me from marriage four years ago to being on the verge of being a mom to two children with a beautiful home in the most beautiful place on earth with a life I wouldn't give up for anything. ::

Happy Anniversary Hunny!

Now, I'm going to help myself to a glass of chocolate milk and go to bed......

{Cheers all ya'll out there and much love from me to you}

{Introductions}

A couple weeks back, whilst wading in the lake on a hot summer day, I look up to see a head of curly blond hair bouncing towards me. It didn't take me long to recognize one of the sweetest people I know.

Michelle and I used to work together and have kept in touch over the years and I even had the privilege of photographing them a few months ago.

We got to catching up and I was delighted to hear that she'd started a blog.

{Meeting people who read my blog, and despite being subjected to the bizarre-ness that is my life, and decide to start a blog of their own always make me feel a tinge more normal}

Blah,blah.

Anywhoo.....Michelle asked if I'd mind getting together sometime and showing her the ropes, so to speak, and help her navigate Blogger and get her site looking the way she wanted.

We got together earlier this week and spent over two hours playing and fiddling and learning together.

:: Michelle showed up at my door with a gorgeous bouquet of fresh flowers.......I love having fresh flowers in my house! ::

Sooo......everyone, meet Michelle.

Michelle, meet, everyone.......

The Baby Bump Chronicles :: 29 Weeks

I LOVE BEING PREGNANT!!!

Ahhh. Feels good to get that out right at the top of the post.

Last Thursday marked the 29th week of this pregnancy and I truly can't believe that I only have two and a half months left to enjoy playing incubator for this baby.

With only a couple finishing touches left to complete the nursery, I am l.o.v.i.n.g being able to just soak up the summer and spend lots of time in the sun with my little sunshine before another being joins this family.

:: 29 Weeks ::

I saw the midwife earlier in the month and I'm growing about a centimeter behind and again, the heart rate was in the 140's. It all became very real when I was given my Home Birth supply list, hospital pre-admission form (just in case), my preferences for birth form and signed various other releases.

Only 74 more days to go........I cannot, cannot get enough of the increasing movement and feeling tiny feet bump and kick.

Have I mentioned how much I love being pregnant?

Oh, and check out this link to see my belly at (approximately) the same stage with Denay.....

Love you Baby!

Eclipse Review

WARNING: If you are new to this blog, be pre-warned that the writer of this blog (that would be me) is a fan of the Twilight Series. That is all.

I had plans with girlfriends to see the newest Twilight movie, Eclipse, when I got back from Ontario. I was super stoked when it turned out that there was nothing going on the Thursday night we were at my Aunt's, so all us girls went to see it.Unfortunately, I don't have many good things to say......to keep myself from going on and on and on, I'd have state that while Eclipse was, by far, my favourite book, New Moon would have to be my favourite movie.

I've chatted with my fellow Twilight-loving girlfriends and the consensus seems to be that, they feel the same about the movie being disappointing but liked it better after seeing it a second time.

I liked it, don't get me wrong, but it felt rushed and sort of thrown together. But I know it 's next to impossible to squash all that (awesome) book into a short two hour movie......so with the time they had, I guess they did the best that was possible.

Lemme know, you fellow followers, what were your thoughts on Eclipse??

:: Couponing, Again ::

While my SIL was out on the weekend, she helped me sort through my coupons, check the flyers, and see if I had any good deals to take advantage of.

I definitely still feel very inept with this whole couponing thing. I've had a few people contact me about giving them the gears on how it works but the truth is that I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out.....so a big shout out to my S* for helping me get these great deals :)

Here's what I came home with.......

- a Gillette Fusion Power razor (with extra cartridge)

-a 15 pack of Cascade Action Packs

-two bottles of Dawn dish soap

-an 84 pack of Pampers Size 1 Diapers

-a box of Pampers Sensitive wipes

The bill was more than just these items as I bought some birthday gifts and other small groceries at the same time but I saved $35.98 in coupons and only spent a total of $9.00 (excluding total taxes at $6) on the products in the picture (thanks again to S* for figuring out the math for me).

Crazy, right?

I'm hoping my next round, I'll be able to do it all by my big-girl self......but I'm sure that will be preceeded by a double check phone call to a certain sister-in-law of mine :)

Two years ago today......

......in the peace and quiet of our home we welcomed a dark-haired, 7lbs 2oz perfect baby girl into our lives and we couldn't imagine life any other way.

Today she turns two.

She can sing her ABC's.

She can count to 12.

She has an uncanny memory.

She can speak impecably well.

She loves sand and water and Oma's puppies.

She is beautiful, thoughtful, helpful and sensitive.

I love you Denay.

Happy Birthday.

:: Cousins ::

Trev's parents and sister and her family came over for the weekend for Denay's party and on Sunday we spent the whole day just hanging out and eating and enjoying the sun......just a couple shots from Denay's time with her big-boy cousins and grampy and grammie.......

:: I love watching these three play together! ::

~ Ontario 2010 ~

My week back east was a bit of a blur, but now that we are home and recovered, I'm so glad that Denay and I went.

Denay was such an angel on the plane and I was so grateful to have my parents for an extra couple set of hands and a couple extra laps. We spent the first few nights at my grandparents house and celebrated my grandma's 85th birthday while we were there. My mom had an amazing three tier cake made (in very Dutch form) as a gift.

:: Then it was off to my Aunt's (my mom's sister) house where we got to celebrate my cousins Brittany's grade eight graduation and her brother, James' grade 12 graduation. My aunt has fainting goats, miniature horses, sheep and lots of dogs (including four baby puppies) so there was always lots for Denay to do ::

:: We spent Canada Day at the fairgrounds in my Aunt's town. We had a pony ride (so proud of Denay), a wagon ride, enjoyed the petting zoo and made sure to get Denay a balloon and lots of Canadian flags ::

:: Our last day was finally warm enough to enjoy the weather and we all headed off to a lake for some fun in the water before heading back to my grandparents again for our flight the next morning ::

By the end of the week I was definitely ready to be at home and all together as a family again for the first time in three weeks. Denay was such a trooper.....between all the different houses and the time difference, she made it so easy on everyone!

I feel lucky to have been able to take this trip with my great parents and spend the week with nothing to do except be with family that I get to see very infrequently....treasured memories for sure.

:: Happy Birthday Baby Girl ::

We have had an absolutely crazy, exhausting whirlwind past few weeks around here......Trevor left on the 13th of June for two straight weeks of work training in Vernon. He came home at 6:00 on the 25th and 16 hours later was saying goodbye (again) to his wife and daughter as we took off for a week long to trip to Ontario with my parents for my grandma's birthday and cousins graduations. We landed at 11:30 the following Saturday morning, got home just after 1:00 and welcomed our friends and family at 4:30 to celebrate Miss Denay's 2nd birthday.

I had so much help from my husband, mom and MIL and SIL to make this party a fun and happy celebration for my sweet girly. Denay and I and my parents were running on very little sleep after an almost five hour flight and a three hour time change but it was so nice be home!

:: Details.......purple, green and white were the simple theme....all Denay cared about was cake and balloons ::

:: Our growing family......in purple, green and white to match the theme ::

(continued in post below)

{Birthday Continued}

:: The fabulous and perfect cake done by my friend Alana of CAKE By Alana....gimmie a holla if you're in my area and need a cake for a special occasion ::

:: Denay loved her cake (thank you so much Alana!) ::

:: Presents.....we asked our friends to bring newborn baby items, instead of gifts for Denay, for a mom in my area that is pregnant and in need. We got Denay a new, red, shiny tricycle with a big silver bow on it......she was in heaven ::

With lots of help from my awesome family and amazing husband, everything was tidy and cleaned and put away and thrown out and put back together in no time.....with little help from this pregnant momma who was having serious stomach pain.

I couldn't believe how aware Denay was of the fact that everything was for her. I asked her just after the party started, who's birthday it was and she yelled "Oh, my birthday party!".

We were so grateful to be surrounded with family and friends to celebrate our Denay.