Abigail's birthday: June 13! She's one :)

One sure way to make Abi frustrated and start to cry is by eating salad in front of her. I’ve had greens with my supper a couple times in the past week, and every time she wants to try, yet gets mad at not being able to eat it (or disliking the vinegrette dressings), and then it’s down hill from there. Whether or not she grows out of that, it doesn’t matter much to me, as I wasn’t a big salad fan myself until I was older. Maybe I just need to eat it more often, rather than avoid it, so she gets use to seeing it? One more thing to keep in mind as little one grows.

 

The boot camp is going well. I was dreadfully sore after the first day, but have been pretty good to do at least 20 minutes of “work out” two to three times between camps, and so the second boot camp wasn’t quite at painful. Hopefully this trend will continue and getting myself in shape by spring won’t be so unrealistic afterall!

 

I started a book last night that is making me laugh. It's a detective novel, a Christian one, and I'm really hoping the author was meaning for it to be cheesy, because I should be taking my lactose pills while I read!  It's a fun change though. The last book I finished was called "The Book Theif" and was really good. The story is told from the perspective of the character "Death", which makes it interesting, and strange at times. I must admit it's nice to have a variety of books.

 

Abi loves her books still too. Lately she will bring you a book, make you sit on the floor, and assuming you're cross legged, she'll sit in that little spot on your lap and look at the book with you. It's fun. When she has her pig tails in, which is most of the time now to keep her bangs out of her face, I have to make sure that her spray of fine soft hair doesn't go up my nose. That tickles like crazy!!!

 

Enjoy the chinook weather!

Reading through the bulletin at church, I discovered a ladies boot camp that would be running this winter/spring on Monday nights. I have been wanting to get some of the Christmas padding off, and a boot camp would definitely help with that, and make me healthier in general.  The first class was on the 16th and it sure lived up to it's name! It had been a long time since I had sweated that much, and pushed myself that hard physically. Needless to say, the next few days my muscles were screaming at me, for an hour's work out was not what they were use to.

 

The instructor/trainer was great at getting us motivated to keep up with all we were to do.  The fifty or so ladies that showed up were of all fitness levels, so I didn't feel too out of place, which was great. I don't think I was even the least coordinated one, though I felt like it at times.  We were encouraged to do three 20min. workouts of some of the activities we did, on our own through the week, if we really wanted to work at getting in shape. Knowing I'm way out of shape (slim as I may be), I decided to go for it, and now have just one session left before Monday, to be able to say I have completed my homework. 

 

This week, being sore for most of it, helped keep my mind off the deep freeze we went through. We had -30 temperatures all week, and tomorrow a chinook will be forcing the arctic air out again for a while. That will be much appreciated, especially for the little ones who have been house bound.

 

So far this year, Branden and I have had a daily devotional time together each evening, which has been wonderful. We're going through a year long book by Selwyn Hughs that I have done before (2005 I believe) but it's a good format for us. A short Scripture reading, and a paragraph or two from the author with a prayer. Even if we don't always agree with what's being said, or understand the connection between the verses and his topic, it's at least a conversation starting point, and more than we've been doing in a long time. Without a small group especially, it's been a challenge for us to "share" the spiritual side of life. May this be the first step to an ever deepening connection between us!

It's been a long and wonderful holiday season. Tomorrow I return to work and get back into routine again. We had a lovely time together last week, lots of friends and family, and with all the warm weather, time outside too. Abi spent today at the day home so I could get the house undecorated and thoroughly cleaned up before I was left with weekends.

Our Christmas was a great one. We spent Christmas Eve anticipating the last service at church, which we all attended then came back to our house for presents. Abigail's gifs waited until the next day, as she went to bed as soon as we got home (sometimes a bedtime of 7:00 is great, other times hard, for us parents).  During the service, Grandma McPhail came prepared to keep Abi occupied, which worked well for the tired lil pumpkin. She had a mini snow globe, a small container of marshmallows, but most popular was a large sheet of tiny, sparkly stickers. The note pad that came with it received a few, but soon, all the stickers went onto Abi, mostly her cheek and hair. She wore them quite well, I must admit.

Christmas day was fun too. There were fourteen of us over at McPhail's for our turkey dinner. It was a fun day together, especially as we were able to assist Abi in opening her presents. She's so cute! (sorry I keep saying that, she just amazes me with all the wonder a mommy can have for our growing little one) She is getting pretty smart now too, though still not saying much. She'll say "duck" and "wowee" often without the first "w" (but not actually hurt). When we're at the park, she'll wave and say "hi" to each vehicle that goes by. With that ginormous red snowsuit she has, I think it's quite a smile maker, if the driver notices.

Ah, but I digress.  My parents came out the last week of November for their traditional early holiday celebration. The week they were here however, was full of croup and 24 hour flu bug hopping to each one of us.  Thankfully, Mom was more than happy to use her nursing skills and mothering skills to expertly care for us all. I think she wants to come out again in spring to spend some more time with the wee one.

I can't believe I have to return to work tomorrow. Not that I mind work itself, more getting up and having little time to prepare suppers, and all the driving. I realize my commute is nothing compared to many, but it's not my favourite past time. 

Thinking of past times, our "national past time" isn't going so well against Russia in the semi final world junior game tonight. It's the end of the second period and they're winning 5-1. Our boys need to settle down and recollect to have a chance at evening the score.

This Christmas time I kept myself busy with baking, card making and necklace making as our gifts to others. It was quite enjoyable, and I could do that kind of hobby regularly. Actually, I'm thinking that I might make enough cards to give as gift packages, with a variety of card types. Perhaps I shall follow in my Grandma Lee's legacy of card making. There are are so many ideas I get when I see other cards, but especially if I wander into the craft areas of stores or Michaels (dangerous for me! )

I think it is time for me to conclude this epic entry. Tis another year, and I should start the work year with a good night's rest. Thanks for reading!

Wow, time has been passing on with great speed. Work has been very, very busy. I have been welcoming any lunch time destraction/meeting to make myself take time to get a decent noon meal. It has been nice actually to go over to Trinity School across the street, to meet with some of my teacher friends. Also, a friend from church who happens to be on maternity leave right now, lives very close by, so I have gone over there for visits too.

Abigail is growing up a lot. She is "talking" a lot more, and continues to tease us with saying a clear word. There are lots of new things she does, like running, or just clomping in her winter boots, or bringing Daddy his pop, or picking up any phone looking thing and putting it to her ear and babbling, or giving her stuffed animals hugs where she squeezes them tight while rotating some. It's entertaining to see her develop.

My folks will be here for their early Christmas next week. I hope they don't bring the snow with them just yet! Thought that would make it feel/look more festive, I'm just as happy not to have to deal with that white stuff.
Time for bed. Good night!

So, I was kind of nervous about my performance review today, as I didn’t know this higher-up manager that would be conducting it.  On top of the unfamiliarity, he had emailed me last week after seeing my time sheet had more than usual “down” time (not busy).  I wasn’t worried about my job at all, as I know we just won a huge project that needs to be done before Christmas, but at the same time, the tummy flutters were still there.

 

With 6 minutes still before the scheduled time to meet, he came by and we went over to his office. His screen saver was on, with a picture of his family with a bunch of friends he has over in Ethiopia. I made a comment, attempting small talk to calm myself and show confidence, if those were people he had seen on his last trip over (as I had heard he was recently over there). Well, open the flood gates! It was fantastic to learn that he is the head of Hope Ethiopia, which can only be best described as a mission community, with schools, medical clinics, and many orphanages on his own 4000 acres of land there.  Long story short, he is a Christian that God has abundantly blessed with growing businesses, and in turn he puts the profits towards his ministries (of which Hope is but one). He studies under Clyde Glass, but goes to First as his kids have tons of friends there.  The connections he has, and the ability to do business well… all I can say is I’ve never had such nerves turn to such internal praise and thanksgiving before, finding out that someone like that is in charge of my office!

It's the end of August. Hard to believe. As time passes, I'm grateful for many things, though usually after I'm able to mentally take a step back from the immediate situation. This pertains to more than just Abi too. For work lately, I've been on oodles of little jobs, litterally an hour here, half an hour for this one, maybe a day or two for that... you get the picture. Sometimes it's really frustrating to hop around from job to job, as your brain has to re-orient to the multitude of variables for each of them. Once I got thinking about it however, I do believe I'd be rather bored if I had but one large project that occupied all of my time for more than a couple months. It may give more of a sense of satisfaction when all complete, but I have to admit that I do enjoy the challenge of having my hand in so many different types of projects (creating a portfolio for the structural department, working on bridges for trains, drawing up a change room building for a large mining site, modelling a pipe support bridge for a meat plant... to name a few!)

As I mentioned, needing to take a step back to find the parts to be thankful for (on a regular basis at least) with Abi too. She's been kind of whiney lately, usually once we try to sit down for supper, and then again when it's time to have story and get into bed. In one sense, it will be wonderful when she can finally talk to us, to tell us what's making her so frutrated (even it is more trivial than need be, we'd at least know!). In another sense, I do know that this phase won't last forever, and she does seem pleased as punch when we're all on the same page, playing together. Merely picking her up doesn't automatically fix the problem anymore  either, which is kind of hard, but she's getting bigger, and being more independant isn't such a bad thing.

Tomorrow starts another month, and for many, the begining of another "year." School speed zones come into affect, boo, but there's a good feeling about getting the start to new programs. Bible studies will begin again, small groups, and many of the "resolutions" made have a renewed sense of needing completion.

Just a couple weeks until Mom and Dad arrive too! That makes me very happy... and now tis time to move on to other things this evening.

Abi has started scrunching her nose and all out giggling at lots of things now. It's very amusing. Really nice too when she gets all excited to see me at day home, squealing and smiling with that lil scrunched nose, and either runs away wanting to be chased or runs towards me for a hug. I love being a mom! She gets super happy when we arrive home and Daddy comes around to see her come in too.

Our day home provider mentioned today that Abi is pretty much settled in now. No more wimpers at tiny falls. The routine of their schedule is just ducky for her (her afternoon nap, when she tries one still, is usually her just talking to herself in the playpen for 45min or so...). She enjoys playing with the other little ones and their little dog. It's very nice to know she's very much at home, and in a good place while we're at work.

What a lovely morning it is! Even as it is much cooler than the past couple days, I'll take it. It's really too bad that I got up on "the wrong side of the bed" today, with how lovely it is outside. I was woken up by snoring, more than once, then by crying, and was wide awake from all this a good 30 min. before my alarm and was not able to fall back asleep. My tummy seems quite bloated from something I ate yesterday, and that often adds to any grumpiness that already exists. On a good note though, Abi was in a great mood once she saw me, and Branden seemed well rested and happy this morning too.

 

Though a rather rough start to the day, it can and has been getting better. Time to begin the work day. Hopefully this part goes well too!

This past week, Abi and I have done some girly things together. We've painted our nails (pink of course!), and have have tried little fountain pony tails. She's good about leaving them in too. It's short enough that it sticks straight up and isn't curly or anything, so it's really quite a spray.

Another things that's more grown up than girly, was that Abi is eating from a fork! I decided to try giving her some of her supper with it when it seemed she was getting restless, and she gobbled up her food, willingly giving her fork back to me for more! I expect there will eventually be some experimenting with biting it the wrong way, or unintentinal poking, but it's neat to see her growing up more. And we've also done 2 full days now of only milk, no formula! Woohoo! This last half a canister may be the last I buy in a long time.

Something on my end of things: the shirt I wore today I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of obtaining, either by buying or receiving as a gift or swap. It's a lovely navy blue t-shirt. It's not new, no tags, but really cute, and is totally beyond me where it came from!

There are some lovely places to be when the weather is warm and summery. It seems however, that most of Calgary has the same ideas. We were to meet some friends at Sikome Lake for a bbq supper, but found that there wasn't any parking, and even had roads closed due to the amount of people already there. So, back to our place to hang out. Our deck was in shade for most of the time, so it turned out pretty good anyway.

I am so happy to have some great weather for the weekends. The next few weekends we have some plans, so hopefully this trend will continue. While out in our front yard this afternoon, I finally figured out a way to keep Abi in one spot while I used the watering can to feed my plants (using the rain barrel water). If I left the rain barrel spiket just barely trickling with water, she'd stay there to play in the little stream, and I'd have the chance to get to part of my garden and return for more without worrying if she was off in someone else's yard.

Abi has really started to get more vocal lately. She's getting more emotionally expressive too. By that, I mean that she is starting to realize she can get pouty, and grumpy then giggle, all within 2 mintues or so. She gets a really cute grin though, when she's in her high chair, and I return from the basement to get something from the freezer or something. That look of anticipation, then, our eyes meet, and a grin of beautiful proportions emerges! What a blessing to have in our lives!

Oh sweet Abigail! She is getting so much personality. I love watching her walk around. She likes to bring things to you and then either walk away, or take them right back. If it's cloth, like a sock, then she'll put it on her head and continue walking around. Often however, she'll reach too far back, which ends up dropping down her back whatever it was that was suppose to be on top of her head.

In the bath, she likes to leave her wash cloth on her wherever I'll leave it (head, shoulder, back) and check herself out in the overflow drain "mirror". Same with sucking on a soother or wet cloth, she'll put it in her mouth, look for a moment having intentionally put her hand down, then take it back out of her mouth and look again. "Does that look good, or should I try this?"

There's something else she's recently gotten into. For some reason, she likes to go from standing, to lay on her tummy for a moment, then get back up and continue on. Sometimes I really wish I knew what was going through her head. Soon enough she'll be telling me things, but right now, I'll have fun guessing. Hopefully too, her facination with the red dust pan means she'll help clean up her crumbs!

So, with summer now here, and lovely air conditioning in our house, we do tend to stay inside once Abi's in bed (just after 7 o'clock). We have been watching some good shows through their respective seasons, and it's refreshing to have a good unexpected laugh. Top Gear is a recent favourite, the UK version of course. Season 8 is turning out to be pretty good, with some Winter Olympic specials, and other contests they have fun with. I never knew there was so much to know about cars!

Another one that Branden has gotten for me is Murdoch Mysteries. I like a good detective story, and this is a fun one based in Toronto (I know...) but in the 1890's. I hope there are a lot more seasons to come, as they just get better as time goes on!  Admittedly, I will take a story over most anything else for TV, other than a few documentaries that are really interesting, like "Through the Wormhole". Generally though, if I am to sit down to turn off my brain in front of the tube, I'd rather be somewhat engaged, without having to "process" if that makes sense. (Star Trek, pretty much any version, is good that way for me)

Time to sleep now though. Sounds like a good thunder storm may be rolling in.