October 30th - Christmas Dinner Dress Rehearsal

So midweek Heather decides to host a last minute Hallowe'en-Christmas dinner complete with cranberries and costumes... she's random like that, which is why I love her. It turns out she's right; when it comes to preparing turkey dinners, practice makes perfect and timing is truly everything. It's no surprise that us "newbies" didn't sit down to eat until 8-8:30pm and our gravy required 4 different attempts - there's no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

Fashioning a dress out of butcher paper and masking tape is my kind of sewing. 

If you can believe it, this is the first Halloween in 7 years that Trev and I actually dressed up for; I guess having a kid has brought out the kid in both of us. 

Heather's costume choice for her and Quincy was hysterical - a snobby, rich horse owner and her jockey. Not many men can pull off a pair of see through, elasticized waist ladies' capris and a billowy silk blouse, but "Percy" somehow made it work.

You'd think pirate Lori and I - being office mates and all - would need some space on the weekends, but us curly haired comrades just can't get enough. I can't get enough of her guy Chris either - knee slapping funny that guy is - literally, I have the marks to prove it. 

In case it's not blatantly obvious, I went as the Paperbag Princess which is quite possibly the the cheapest costume on the face of the earth - $4.00 + HST.

Roll of brown packaging paper... $1

Guady gold crown... $2

Several meters of twine to braid a belt... $1

Arriving for Christmas dinner - two month early - dressed as a Robert Munsch character... priceless.

It was definitely one kickin' party - just read the napkins.

The selection of desserts was to die for... caramel granny smith apples anyone? umm, yes please x 4!!

Oh and thank you Gramma and 'Papa' for watching the munchkin while mommy got her drink on. Just kidding (sort of).

October 21st to 29th - Alberta Bound (or more specifically Red Deer Bound)

Apparently this week's post title "Alberta Bound" is actually a Paul Brandt song (you'd think I'd know that being the country music fan that I am):

Maybe it's my down-home redneck roots

Or these dusty 'ol Alberta boots

But like a Chinook wind keeps coming back again
Im Alberta Bound

I'm sure those lyrics are a huge hit with Calgary Stampeders, an event I one day dream of attending.

Well without getting into too much detail, Saige and I had the most amazing - albeit exhausting - visit with Auntie Jill and "Unky" Ken. Fortunately Saige was an absolute saint on both 50 minute flights to and from Calgary, but the same can't be said for our many shopping excursions (ie. her mini-meltdown in Banana Republic, her air pollution in the Old Navy dressing room, her impatience in the Aeropostale checkout line... or was that me?)

Here are just a few photo highlights from our Red Deer adventure...

It's a good thing we packed our winter attire because we witnessed the city's first snowfall... brrr.

We baked sugar cookies and decorated them Easter style. Jill has the most delicious buttercream icing recipe courtesy of her Michael's cake decorating course... yum! 

Saige making hilarious faces in the backseat of Auntie's Mustang - I bet she never thought her "baby" would have a carseat in it.

We shopped 'til we dropped at the enormous CrossIron Mills.

We took Saigelette swimming at the Enmax Water Park.

Guzoo, never again.

Airport good-byes.

The flight home.

Thanks again to my bestest big sister (and her mister) for being the hostesses with the mostesses. Xoxoxo!

P.S. - Come home soon.

October 20th - Nature Walk

I find myself less inclined to post a blog entry on the days I work and since we're having friends over for dinner tonight I thought I should get this update up and out there...

Saige is definitely an outdoorsy kind of kid and doesn't mind getting dirty. I love that I have at least one camera with me at all times so I can whip it out for kodak moments like these. I just love her leaf bouquet and the sun in place of her head! Obviously I need to take some more photography courses, but it doesn't help that my model is uncooperative 90% of the time. Saigerella has no interest in the camera at all - she'll say cheese with her head down and I have a collection of photos starring the back of her head.

She had fun pulling the shells off of ____________? I have no idea what these are - I thought they were chestnuts, but they aren't prickly. Hmmm... I hope it's okay that I let her play with them!? Notice the cat stamp she's sporting, that's from toddler time at the library, but she did get a sticker this morning for using the potty!!

A photo of my favourite part of the day :)

Before daycare Saige was a so-so napper, but thanks to Nadine and her magic, Saige has become the most amazing noon-hour napper. Ever since February Saige has been willingly falling asleep at 12 o'clock sharp with no arguments or tears. It's seriously the best thing ever and I cannot thank Dean enough (hence this evening's long overdue thank you dinner).

Oh and guess who just woke up from their 2 hour nap? Onto my 2nd favourite part of the day...

October 15th to 19th - Creative Hiatus

I definitely miss my pre-mommyhood leisure time. Gone are the days when I could craft for hours on end - leaving unfinished projects sprawled on the kitchen table waiting for a later time. Fingers crossed that one day I'll have my very own office space, a place that I can close the door on my mess until the next naptime or bedtime. 

Instead of crafting, I find myself following the blogs of complete strangers - photographers, designers, do-it-yourself'ers - envious of both their talent and seemingly endless free time.

Another confession: my obsession with Etsy is out of hand, it's almost as out of control as my project wish list. Unfortunatley the one project I can't seem to get excited about is Saige's upcoming January birthday. Planning a winter party for a gaggle of 2 year olds in a 2 bedroom house is proving to be a challenge. I was tossing around the idea of toboganning followed by hot chocolate, but visions of mini toilet trainers in snowsuits yelling "I have to go pee" Robert Munsch style is giving me second thoughts.

Speaking of potty training, Saige went twice today!! She's no pro, but two out of three pees isn't bad. We usually have to sit there for a good 10 minutes so in between singing songs and reading books ("The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs" is her choice book these days), Saige tells me how happy her going potty makes me - "pee-pee, mommy happy. yah!" I'm happy that she cares about my happiness...

In my attempt to add a little creativity to my day - any excuse to use the right side of my brain - I played around with photoshop and youtube tutorials.

Look how long her hair is when wet. I'm just waiting for the bangs to grow out as seeing them in her eyes drives me crazy (I can only imagine how annoying the must be for her). I debated cutting them, but we'll see if the giant ponytail answers our hair woes. 

Cedar, Kael and Saige had a playdate before Monday's Ready-Set-Learn and I couldn't for the life of me get a photo of all 3 looking at the camera. They're  so cute together, Saige and Kael - as daycare mates - fight like brother and sister while Cedar acts as the mediator.

This is Kael's actual sister Andie - also known as "the best baby ever" - she's so content and full of smiles, I've never heard her cry, but I'm sure it's cute sounding. Should Saige get herself a sibling please, please, please let he/she be a clone of Andie.

We had a good day at kidnastics today mainly because Joanne played the music really loud which allowed Saige to do her favourite thing - dance. We continue to have daily dance parties and "lessons" which Saige is surprisingly good at. Maybe I can convince our neighbourhood ballet school to take her on before birthday #3.  I adore her stretching where she'll sit in the straddle position and say "ouch" - something she picked up from my initial demonstration (it sucks getting old and inflexible).

Well Saige and I are leaving for Red Deer this Saturday morn and I can't wait to spend some quality time with my Jillian... oh the shopping we will do. 

Ready or not Alberta here we come!!



October 12th to 14th - Chatterbox

We've all been feeling a bit under the weather so we've been sticking close to home. I've taken a total of 2 photos in the past three days and they're none too exciting.

Saige's appetite is dismal on the best of days and her bird-like eating habits become almost non-existent when she's fighting a cold or flu. All I can say is thank goodness for cereal; it's the one food Saige never turns down and as such, a Costco-size box of plain Cheerios is in our cupboards at all times (it's become a Knol house staple).

The highlight of our Tuesday included gymnastics, Saige going potty and an après-dinner family walk. The road construction around Vernon is horrendous so a typical stroll around the neighbourhood has turned into a crazy off-road experience. Plus the commute to daycare has gone from 8 minutes to 15 minutes - detours suck.

I had to work Wednesday which meant Saige got to spend the entire day with Gramma Knol. Gramma brought Saige a new "princess" colouring/activity book which thrilled her to no end. And in other news, I finally got to order Saige's Pottery Barn duvet! Thanks to Trev's family in Washington for being the middle man - I LOVE YOU!

 

Isn't it purdy?? I just love all the colours... so many possibilities.

Thursday was an absolute gong show at work... I was literally on the phone or consulting from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. - I guess the saying's true, "no rest for the wicked". Saige has been waking up through the night thanks to her cough and teething so I'm 100% exhausted (and not ready to go back to the newborn stage). Even when Trev goes down to console her I find myself lying awake listening to them on the baby monitor.

I think my next post should be all about Saige's new developments. For example, it's unbelievable how chatty Saige has become and she may have a bit of a lisp which we're keeping an eye (errr... ear) on. It's soooo adorable though; the way she says Hobbeeze (our cat Hobbes' nickname) is perhaps the cutest thing I have ever heard.

I can't squeeze that kid enough.

one of my all time favourites - July 2009



October 1st to 11th - Upload Overload

It seems I have once again fallen behind on my blogging duties and so I give to you a buffet of October photos just in time for Thanksgiving. But first...

A big congratulations to Lindsay, Kyle and Sienna on their new addition... Zoey Ryanne!!

Gramma and her grandbabies go for a walk.

 

I love these impromptu leaf photos so much that they are now framed and sitting side-by-side on our mantle.

We finally celebrated Trev's 32nd birthday with ice cream cake and a late night poker game.

I took Saige to Strong Start for the first time and we both LOVED it! A big thanks to Kael's mom for recommending it to us.

I don't know about you, but "Beauty & the Beast" has been on continuous replay ever since it's release debut last Tuesday. Saige & I had ourselves a little afternoon viewing party (see above). I can now convince Saige to do just about anything if I reference "Printhess Belle".

Example: "Saige come let mommy put the Princess barrette in your hair" - I say that and she comes running - thank you Disney.

Is it just mine or do other people's children eat bubbles by the handful?

One "game" Saige plays quite often is dump everything, put back, dump everything, put back. On this particular night she emptied her entire toy chest and then hopped in. I love that she sings "clean up, clean up, clean up..." while putting stuff away. 

I'm finding Saige extremely helpful these days - a phase I pray she'll never grow out of (ha) - here she is trying to unlock the front door on her tippy toes. 

  

Baba with our Thanksgiving feast!!

My contributions: PIE

* sweet potato pie & pumpkin pie *

Both recipes came from Trev's side of the family - yum! 

Saige loves owls. She's so into them that I'm thinking of using the little woodland creature as her birthday theme. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not big on clothes having words or graphics on them, but I broke down and bought Saige an "owl" shirt (see here) which she's absolutely obsesses over. She tries to wear it every chance she can get and even rescues it from the dirty clothes hamper. 

Caleb carrying Saige's purse - he'll make a good husband one day.

The kids' table.

Saige went for a quad around the neighbourhood and Daddy captured her ride on film.

Our little turkey is gobbled out.

I can count on one hand the amount of times Saige's been sick and unfortunately I think this is one of them. She's been uncharacteristically fussy, had two naps today (unheard of) and is running a temperature.

Poor Little Boogs.