Thursday, July 23, 2009

Cade's room


Cade's room
Originally uploaded by trippykel
I'm hoping to paint Cade's room in August, and am at the paint-color-picking now. It's always such a conundrum!

Cade smiles a lot now-a-days

I wrote a lovely long letter to Aunt Tena, and it was so nice and newsy that I thought I'd post some bits of it here!

Things are going really well here. Jeremie’s work has cut back to more regular hours for the next bit, so he’s often home by 6:30 or 7pm instead of 10-11pm, which is a nice treat. It lets both Cade and I see him more, as well as letting him get a bit more downtime.

Cade is growing like a weed: he is at about 15 lbs and 24 inches, at 2 ½ months old. It’s great to know that he’s eating well and growing like children should. He now ‘talks’ to us a lot, smiles a lot, and enjoys being propped up so he can see the world. He’s a wiggly boy, always ready to try something new and fun. He really is enjoying playing in his exosaucer, as he can sit up on his own in it, and turn around to see whatever he wants to see. We do have a bit of a routine by now: Cade falls asleep around midnight (trying earlier doesn’t work, but I don’t mind), feeds around 5am and 8am (and sometimes once more), and we get up somewhere between 9 and 11am, depending on how tired I am. He’s awake until after lunch, and takes about an hours’ nap then. We go out or get things done around the house in the afternoon, and take a nap around 5pm. We nap until 6 or 7, usually when Jeremie gets home. Then it’s dinner time, and Cade is awake until bedtime. He’s mostly a content baby, and likes to play on his own for half-hour stints before he needs some company, so I am able to get a bit of this and that done around the house between caring for him. He likes going places, and so we go shopping together or visit friends several times a week.

I took over as the church librarian this past April, as the past librarian felt like she needed a break and was looking for someone new. I’ve had a lot of fun rearranging the library and updating the displays, and ordering new products – fiction books, bible CDs, some Christian movies, and children’s materials as well as the more traditional bible study materials. Jeremie watched Cade for me last night for a few hours while I went over to the church to put books away and add some new materials to the shelves. I always love to add new and great things for people to check out!

I’ve also been sewing a bit more than usual lately, and am now starting on some fun aprons for Maria and I.

I still also have fun designing some graphics for the fronts of t-shirts, and have been making a few more of those lately as well (check out my new Twilight shop on cafepress :). I’ve found that I can nurse Cade at the computer by propping him up on my nursing pillow and the desk. We both like it, since I don’t get so bored and he gets to stay with me longer while I work. I’ll have to enjoy this while it lasts, because once he starts crawling I don’t think he’ll just want to sit with Mom anymore!

My garden is doing really well, and I can no longer find the rows in my potato and kale patches – we had a good several days with rain last week, and the garden sure appreciated it! It’s not often that we get a lot of rain in a row, so we’re thankful that we did.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Cade's Mobile


Cade's Mobile
Originally uploaded by trippykel

I finished Cade's mobile and hung it in his room - I'm so glad to have all the little pieces and tools cleared out of the living room. The clutter made me feel claustrophobic, and it was there for a week or so since it took me awhile to find enough time to finish it. It just wasn't the kind of project I could pick up for five minutes between Cade-needs.

That being said, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It looks a bit better in person than in the photo, due to the weird flash-shadows on the wall. Hooray for having it done!

The first dance


The first dance
Originally uploaded by trippykel
This past little while has been busy, but good! We spent this past weekend staying with Jesse & Sheleena in Edmonton: Mom & Dad B were there too, so we got the full family together, which was great! We all attended Jill Sparling's wedding, and were glad that the event went off so well - almost wtihout a hitch! The couple looks really happy together, and I was very impressed with their print materials - invitations, programs, photos on the favor boxes, guest book, and seating chart - Nice font, well laid-out and printed. It added that extra touch of class. I also loved that the reception was in the penthouse ballroom of a hotel downtown - it means that we got a fabulous view of the city as a backdrop for the event.

I did some glasses shopping while in E-town, and ended ordering with a pair of ridiculously expensive frames (at 40% off, or I wouldn't have gotten them at all) that were still at the point where I debated them for quite awhile before deciding to buy them. But I didn't find anything else that I liked half so well. I'll get them in a month or so, and will be sure to post photos!

While in E-town, the family went for a swim at Mill Woods Wave Pool - except for J, who was off skating the new park with Nick. Cade had his first swimming experience, and seemed to be okay with it - not a lot of smiles, but no complaining either - kind of like how he acts in the bath. Hopefully he'll get to like swimming more and more, since I love it so much - I'd like to keep going as our family grows.

There are several movies I'd like to see, and it's hard to choose what to see first. I hear the Star Trek movie is amazing, and I'm also looking forward to the new Harry Potter show. And I also want to see 17 Again, though that one probably on a cheap day or matinee or something of the sort.

I made barbecued chicken last night, for the first time ever, and fell in love with it. I often am not a big fan of chicken, just because it's so bland. But with this marinade.. mmm, mmm good. Check it out here: http://www.boulianne.net/recipes/?id=111

We're almost completely out of fresh groceries. That's on my to-do list for Friday, when I go into town to get Cade his 2-month shots. It's the first set, we'll have to see how it goes!

I'm also looking forward to camping in Jasper in August with the Snip side of the fam. Can't wait!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Oh, and... PS. -

Cade got his first Hanson shirt. I love it.

Fireworks and the weeks ahead


Fireworks
Originally uploaded by trippykel
We've had another couple of busy weeks. It seems that's just the way of life! This past week I met with a lady from USC about an education savings plan for Cade (we haven't decided for sure yet, but it looks good to me), spent an afternoon at Jana's with Tim and Owen, went for an evening visit at Heather & Dan's, caught their garage sale the next day (great prices!), spent several hours in the church library adding about 40 new items to the collection, and even found time to read Cade his first books - I chose "Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb", Dr Seuss' Alphabet book, and "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". I also finished seam-ripping some old upholstery and brought it in to get new stuff sewn together (my sewing machine won't do that thickness), and designed a random label for a pop bottle. When I look back on it now, it looks like I had a productive week, even if it didn't feel like it!

In the kidlet realm, Cade has been really gassy. It's nothing new, but I just found out recently that it's not normal for babies to wake up in the middle of the night from gas. I'm suspecting milk products are the cause, and so I've stopped eating & drinking them. It's difficult though, since I like dairy and it's in almost everything! There's some yogurt sitting in my fridge now that I won't get a chance to drink. I'll be trying soy and rice milk next week, but it sounds dreadful. I'll let you know how that goes. It's still growing like a weed. He's about 9.5 weeks old now. And last week, at 2 months he weighed in at 14.5 lbs - a big baby. And he's tall, too. More like Jack Sprat than his wife!

I snuck out for the fireworks on June 31st, and at midnight on Canada day got a lovely fireworks display to watch over Muskoseepi Park. I had to call around to several friends to find someone going, since Jeremie wasn't feeling up to it (more on that later), but found a group of people to go with - Shawn and Justin had brought their new digital SLRs and Darren brought his video camera, so we were a picture-ey bunch! We hung out afterwards for awhile too until the traffic cleared out - it was good to have a bit of a photo romp again, and a bit of time to relax and hang out.

As far as Jeremie goes, this past week he worked the weekend, 'til midnight Monday-Wednesday, 'til 3am Thursday, then worked Friday afternoon. He finally got home to relax Friday evening and we rented a few movies - I really enjoyed Inkheart - and headed to bed on time. He was up that night with the flu, and has been sick all weekend. He's getting a bit better now, but it's still pretty rotten - work 3 weeks more or less straight, then get sick, then have to work again. Blech.

This coming weekend we'll be visiting Jesse & Sheleena, and Mom & Dad B should be there as well - I'm sure they're looking forward to seeing their grandson again! We're also going to Jill & Jeremy's wedding, and really looking forward to that. Hooray for happy couples!

Anyway, Cade nodded off after his gassy-fussy period, so I'm off to get a few things done before he wakes up!