Life's Sweetest Blessings

Randomness

2008-07-23T22:11:00.007-03:00

So now here are a whole wack of pictures of people! There really isn't any rhyme or reason to the order of the photos but I still hope you enjoy them and the captions.

Emma-Lyny just rolling around on the carpet. Our first day there she revealed her rolling prowess by not only rolling front to back but back to front as well...then she decided that she'd like to have her two front bottom teeth pop through while we were there...Exciting times they were!

Our first night and day there were so very cold!! I mean we even had to turn the furnace on if you can believe that. The rest of our stay we needed fans and trips to the beach to keep cool.

Sean and Grammie hanging out at the beach. Sean had so much fun at the beach. He loves to throw rock in the water and splash people.

So what do you think? Pretty sweet eh? I'm thinking this should be my profile pic in Facebook...

Or maybe this one instead, he looks far cuter in it than me!! :)

Another thing Sean loves is ICE CREAM!! He just sat quietly and gobbled the whole thing up!

He loves rough housing with his Auntie Linda!!

While we spent most of our time at the farmhouse we did get a couple of weekend passes to come in town and hang with the gang. This is at Mike's birthday party at Boston Pizza. Danielle seems ever so pleased with her magnetized cutlery!!

Summer isn't summer until you've had a bonfire at the beach!! Good times!

Sean is all set to mow the lawn. I'm very thankful for the headphones after cutting the lawn! There was a LOT of lawn to cut!

Would you just look at this cutie pie?!!

Got it made in the shade!

Doesn't she just look as pleased as punch?!! She loved playing ball with her big brother!

High Five!!

And now we topple over...

Got a fire? Emma-Lyn will come to your rescue and drool all over it until it's out!

And so this is a funny picture! Ever stand in line at a restaurant and start up a conversation with the people in line with you? Yeah? Well that's what happened here. The two ladies and I just started gabbing up a storm to the point that we exchanged phone numbers and emails!! Such a fun night!

And only in PEI do see this... A tractor parked at a Sobeys! We found out after that the owner (a rather elderly gentleman) had his driver's licence taken away but they can't take away his tractor licence...Now that's being resourceful!

The Scenery

2008-07-22T23:32:00.002-03:00

Just thought I'd do some photo album type posts for ya and so now I'll start with the scenery from our stay up East!

An Iris...
A bald eagle...now that was cool to see flying overhead! We also saw blue herons, beavers, bats, a family of ducks, and humming birds!

This is a blue heron that flew out into the road ahead of us...and apparently took a dump or so Marko tells me anyways.

Pond reflections.

What a glorious sky!

Just thought this was cool.

It's a really big pond.

and more purddy flowers...

Finally, Some Pictures!!!

2008-07-22T00:00:00.002-03:00

Indeed, I have some pictures for you and you can expect lots more to come in future posts! This'll be just a quick note as it's late now and I'm getting sleepy.

Emma-Lyn's appointment went well today. She is 13 lbs 9 oz and 24 3/4 inches long. This puts her on the small scale of things but she is healthy and strong. The doctor said that she was doing great and that he had no concerns about her health. Here's hoping the health nurses think the same when it comes to her vaccinations!

Now for the photo op:

So here is where we spent the past 3 weeks. The picture is taken from in a canoe in the pond out back...so beautiful.

Grammie with her babies!

Auntie Linda and our baby girl.

And I just thought this was purddy :)

And We're Back!!!

2008-07-20T22:48:00.002-03:00

Yes, we are finally back in Charlottetown! Sean was so excited! He ran around the apartment calling out, "This is MY bathroom, this is MY kitchen, this is MY bedroom!!!" And as he flung himself on the couch he exclaimed, "I'm so happy!!"

I have like a gazillion pictures to upload which is going to take awhile but hopefully I'll have some new pictures up for you by tomorrow night! :)

Tomorrow is Emma-Lyn's 6 month appointment! Hopefully she's gaining enough weight that by the time it's vaccination time, the health nurse won't freak and want to be over here all the live long day weighing and measuring her!!

Gonna Be Home Soon!

2008-07-17T23:15:00.001-03:00

Yes, for anyone out there who may actually still be checking into the ol' blog, we will be back in Charlottetown (and enjoying high speed internet once again) on Sunday!!! So I have lots to tell you and lots n' lots of pictures!!! See you then!!

What an Affectionate Boy!

2008-07-08T23:20:00.002-03:00

Maybe it's the country air or maybe it's in the water but whatever it is, it has turned my boy into a kissing machine!! He LOVES to give kisses and BIG kisses at that. He'll come running up to you, gleefully calling out, "I'm gonna kiss you!" and he'll grab you and try to hold your head while he lays a big wet one right on your lips! And truly there is no getting out of the kiss until he's ready to let you go, so make sure you take a deep breath! So funny!

Tonight was Bible study night and we actually had a few adventurous souls who made the long trek out here! It was great to have friends in to chat and study God's Word. Since there's a piano here we even ventured some singing, which brought Sean down out of his bed. So there we all were standing around the piano belting out a couple hymns! Good times!

We Are in Upton

2008-07-05T08:08:00.002-03:00

And enjoying a much slower pace of life. The internet access is dial up so things go pretty slow. I don't think I'll post any pictures until we're home and they will upload quickly instead of taking days!

Just a quick couple of highlights:

On the first day Emma-Lyn showed us just how agile she is by rolling over both ways! A first for her!

Sean loves the wide open spaces and the beautiful pond in the backyard. He loves to throw rocks in it! He also loves having his Grammie Peric and Auntie Linda around to play with. He's already put to good use the knowledge he learned from Monkey George...While helping Auntie Linda fix the bikes he picked up a tool and said, "Lefty loosey, righty tighty!" Such a clever boy. Grammie Peric has been making up lots of stories for Sean that he just loves.

The weather has been amazing and Linda and I have mowed the expansive lawn over the past couple of days and enjoyed dips in the pond afterwards! So refreshing!

Anyhoo, I'd better go. Emma-Lyn is up and ready to play. I'll share more later.

STAND!!

2008-06-25T13:25:00.002-03:00

All of 5 months old and a bit and she thinks that she would like to stand!

Hmmmm, do you suppose she likes it?

Oh, yeah I'd say she likes it alright!! :)

Such a little sweetie!

Sean took this picture! I think I have a budding photographer on my hands!! :)

And he's just so darn cute himself!!

Beaches and Bath Time

2008-06-24T23:48:00.003-03:00

Today was the first time we went to the beach so far this summer! We went with Jennie to Canoe Cove and had a wonderful time. Emma-Lyn was cooing and giggling and smiling up a storm (I think this girl is gonna be an out-doorsy type gal! :) And Sean was super thrilled when he was actually allowed to throw the rocks in the water! As seen here:

Got a good arm on this boy!

Jennie took him out deeper to get him wet ( I was wearing white at the time so really didn't want to chance falling in) He didn't want to get completely wet but did let Jennie dunk his toes in.

Here's Emma-Lyn's first glimpse of the ocean:
She's totally mesmerized! And look at her just sitting up by herself! And while it does look good, she hasn't quite mastered this skill since seconds later she was looking like this:
"Mmmmm, yummmy sand!!"

Now to the joys of bath time. Not that long ago I had tried bathing both the kids together in the big tub with Emma-Lyn in a bathing chair (essentially her baby bath converts to the chair) and she just wasn't physically ready for that leap. Last night I tried again...And that just wasn't a good idea, I had left her too long in her exersaucer and she had worked herself up into quite a lather that was not to be abated by some fun new experience in the tub. She screamed bloody blue murder the entire time. Sean, bless his little heart, just cupped his ears and said, "Mommy, she's loud!"

But tonight was a whole different story (apparently, third times a charm!) She had a whale of a time tonight! She and Sean had a great time together. Sean really wanted her to be there and had fun amusing her with his antics.

"Look at me Momma, I'm a big girl now!"

Good Times.

Our little angel...this was Sean's idea to put this tub toy on her head!

The Pictures I Promised of the Pool Party

2008-06-24T23:43:00.002-03:00

Gettin' ready to take the plunge.

One foot in...

Having a splash-tastic time!

Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun!

Sweet Precious Moments

2008-06-21T20:54:00.002-03:00

I guess it's just been in the past couple of days that I noticed something so cute about Emma-Lyn. When she's fuss-potting in her exersaucer and if I come over with my arms outstretched to lift her outta there, she'll look up at me with those big beautiful blue eyes and raise her little arms up! So sweet.

Thursday was an absolutely gorgeous day! The sun was shining and it was actually hot outside! It was a perfect day to play in the kiddie pool. Sean was super excited about that. I let him splash about in his undies while Emma-Lyn and I watched from a distance...not too far but not so close as to get wet. I have pictures but the batteries in the camera are dead so we'll just have to wait a bit to see those ones.

I worked with my oldies today and I'm pretty tired so although this is a short post (would have been a bit longer if I could have included the pictures) I think I'll leave it at that.

Playing With the Jeep

2008-06-18T23:36:00.000-03:00

Untitled from lauraperic on Vimeo.

The Verdict Is..

2008-06-18T21:47:00.002-03:00

Baby girl is a perfectly happy and healthy little girl!

Both the health nurse and her new side kick, the lactation consultant stopped by today. And again the nurse weighed her and measured her. Just before I got Emma-Lyn dressed the L.C came over to have a wee look at her. She looked at her, checked the measurements (she gained 100 grams) and then after a couple questions about feedings, declared that baby girl looked great. She has fat in all the right places which means she's getting all the right stuff. YAY!! And so now I don't have to see another health nurse until we go in for her 6 month vaccinations.

The Visit That Went By Way Too Fast!

2008-06-17T22:43:00.005-03:00

Yesterday one of my most favouritest people came for a visit. Here she is with my kiddos:

This is my friend Amanda. We've been friends since...well since like 3rd year of University at Mount A! Now thats been awhile. Amanda is just one of those people that makes me laugh soo much. I wish this visit could have been longer. I'm sure we both could have told lots more stories and had many more laughs with a lot less interruptions of one sort or another. Sean really had a great time with her. It took him a little while to warm up to her but by bath time he was calling for her to come watch just so he could be with her! How cute is that?!

Sean was quite the little love bug today. For no apparent reason at all he came up beside me, hugged my legs, looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I love you." I could have melted into a big puddle of mush after he said that. The best part is that he did that quite a few times today. Sometimes patting me on the back while I helped him on with his shoes and telling me he loved me. It was so super sweet.

Now for some randomish photos from Amanda's visit:

"Ahhh, your baby girl is just such a sweetie pie."

"Gack! What on earth is she trying to do to me?!"

"My BRAINS, she's sucking out my brains!! This isn't your daughter at all!! This is some kind of alien being!!!"

Emma-Lyn's first and last words were, "Beam me up Scotty!"

And Here is the Photo Gallery

2008-06-16T22:47:00.004-03:00

A pretty happy Father I'd say!

And with sweet little kiddies like these how couldn't you be happy?!!!

This is my girly in her Snuggly on the boat...one happy camper!

My big bad boy going down the slide. He seems to like turning his hat backwards.

Ladies through 4 generations!

One pretty happy Grampa!! Happy Thank You Day Grampa!! :)

I LOVE her expression in this photo!

Gramma adoring her sweet baby grand-daughter.

What a Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T22:03:00.002-03:00

We had a great little trip to the mainland yesterday which I have plenty of pictures of, but for some reason Blogger just isn't interested in posting right now...

I am soooo super tired right now but I'll try and give a pretty concise overview of how things went. We got to the boat just in time to jump in the middle of the line (my folks book our ticket for us and like to add on the assured passage, hence the ability to just butt in). The bad part of butting in line was that we had to go down in the hold...that is my least favourite part of traveling on the Confederation, everything else about the boat I love! And I love it a whole heapings lot more than the Holiday Island! Sean just loved going on the boat. He loved the play area and had a great time taking Daddy and I on little walks around the deck. I had Emma-Lyn in the Sunggly and she was pretty happy just to watch all the excitement.

Once on the mainland we headed right over to to Valley View Villa where my Beppe lives. She's over 90 years old and hadn't met Emma-Lyn yet so we made sure to make this our first stop! Beppe seemed really pleased to finally meet her little grand-daughter. I think Emma-Lyn was pretty pleased too!

From there it was off to my folks place for some lunch! Sean was much more interested in Gramma and Grampa's toys to do much eating so after a few bites he went off to the dining room to play. After lunch we sat and talked and then went outside to check out Gramma's gardens.

Ooooh before I go on I should ask, did you know that the proper response to "Happy Father's Day!" is, "Happy Thank you day"? Well, maybe it isn't the proper response, but it was my Dad's response and I think it's gonna stick. :)

Sean did really well in the potty department on the trip. He did all his business at Gramma and Grampa's without too much fuss (although there was some) but all things considered he did great. That was until the boat ride back. He was on the play place and just let her rip. I was nursing Emma-Lyn at the time so I told Marko and he let Sean finish (not much point in moving him at that point) and off to the washroom they went to get cleaned up. I was thankful for the other parents that were there. I apologized about it but they all just looked at me sympathetically and said, "Don't worry about it, been there, done that." :)

We ended up following a biker gang (that sounds kinda bad, they were more like motorcycle enthusiasts) just about all the way home. It was kinda funny to see them up ahead of us. There was like 12 or 14 of them. It seemed to make the trip home go a lot faster!

Oh, and here's a little tip for those long trips and the sun is right on the horizon and so shining right in the windshield, bring along a smallish board book. This reduces complaints (i.e screams) about the sun shining in rear seat passengers eyes! Sean just held the book up and was shielded from the menacing rays while enjoying his book at the same time! :)

We got the kids bathed and put to bed by 8:30 with very little fuss or muss! :)
Yeah, so I think that's pretty much everything except the photos...I'll have to try and get those up for ya soon!

He's in Love...

2008-06-14T00:11:00.002-03:00

Yes, he is. As we were heading out the door the other day I told Sean that I loved him. Then I asked him who loved him and he quickly replied that mommy did. Then I asked if anyone else loved him...guess who else loves him?! Jennie! Jennie loves Sean! This response was quickly followed with, "I love Jennie!"

So Jennie, do you think you could wait for him?!! ;)

So Here's the Scoop...

2008-06-13T23:42:00.002-03:00

In case there is anyone out there just waiting on pins and needles to find out what happened this week with the health nut...er I mean nurse, here is the scoop.

She weighed and measured Emma-Lyn yet again. Everything was up. She is now 12 lbs 10 oz, her length is somewhere in the 24 inches ball park and her head has grown. (I don't remember what the actual measurement was.) I thought that all of this would be enough proof that baby girl is doing great and that our days of health nurse visits were over. I was even encouraged when the nurse mentioned that most of their stats are based on formula fed babies which put weight on faster than breastfed...BUT guess what? She's coming again next Wednesday and for more excitement she's bringing the lactation consultant with her! YAY for me!

In other news, I cut Sean's hair today and the best part was just how good he was for it! When I needed him to tilt his head this way or that way, he was more than happy to oblige! It was great and now you can see that he does in fact have ears. He is such a sweetie pie.

This Sunday should be a fun one, as we are headed to the mainland to celebrate Father's day with my family. I'm sure Sean will have great fun checking out Gramma and Grampa's fish. They have 8 really colourful Koi in the pond behind the house. I can't wait to see Sean's reaction to that.

Like I said, such a sweetie pie.

"I'm gonna come tickle you Mommy!!" This is his favourite thing to do to me in the morning. Other Mommies get hugs and kisses, I get tickled!!

"Mmmmm, yummy coffee Mommy!" Hmmmm, maybe I'm putting too much sugar in my coffee.

She loves the camera.

"You've got the eyeeeeeeeees...."

Jumping for Joy

2008-06-12T21:23:00.000-03:00

Untitled from lauraperic on Vimeo.

My Jolly Jumpin' Jiggle-Bug

2008-06-11T22:15:00.003-03:00

Today was baby girl's first go at hanging out in the Jolly Jumper and man did she love it!! It was so different from Sean's first time in it. He just sorta hung there, happy to be there but not really jumping all that much. With Emma-Lyn I pretty much barely got her in the thing and she was jumping all over the place, it was so funny. I have a video that I hope to have uploaded soon.

Things have been busy here. We had a really nice weekend, I worked on Saturday for my oldies. It was nice to be with them again. On Sunday we went out for supper since next Sunday we will be on the mainland for Father's Day, this was Marko's Father's Day meal. I am so happy to tell you that the kiddos did great! Sean pretty near ate everything with nary a whine or cry. He was quite thrilled to check out the bathrooms at the restaurant too. We went to Swiss Chalet, one of my favourite family restaurants! I always get the quarter chicken dinner (dark meat) with traditional sauce and fries. I love dipping my fries in the sauce...YUM!

On Monday night we went out to the Christensen's for supper. They live in Upton and they just happen to be where my mother and sister in law will be staying for the better part of July. And with them out there (it's quite a ways out of town so to go visit them would be quite the ordeal) it seemed only fitting that we move out there to be with them for that time. So come June 28 we will be living out there too. We went this past Monday to get a feel for the place. They only have dial up internet so I'm just warning you now that posts here on the blog could get a little scarce (and I know, I've been a little scatter shot lately with the posts.) But I will still be taking plenty of photos!

Tonight I was out for dessert with some girl friends that I haven't hung out with in a long time. It was so nice to sit and chat and get all caught up. And then it was ever so embarrassing and funny to realize when it came time to pay my bill that I didn't have my debit card on me! And all I had for real money was dimes and nickels! Thanks again Amanda, next one is on me! :) I came home only to realize that Marko had my card.

Here is my sweet little Jiggle-Bug:

"Oooh Mommy I really love this thing!"

Action shot.

"Weeeeeeeee!"

Living In Exciting Times...

2008-06-07T23:26:00.003-03:00

You know, the other day I got to thinking about my past. I thought back to the time when I was like 18 months old (no, I don't actually remember the incident but I have the scar to prove it happened) and I grabbed my mother's ever-so-sharp sewing scissors and took off with them, only to trip and jab myself in the arm. I ended up in the hospital where they put a handy dandy cast on my arm.

Now as I thought back to this time I was wondering what must have gone through my mother's head as it happened. What did she think? What did she say? How quickly did she react? And as I continued to reflect about this, I realized that Sean is much older than 18 months and really hasn't had anything major happen to him. So I began to wonder what I would do if he did anything like I did. (I should mention that my nickname when I was growing up was Calamity Jane! So you can just imagine what kind of trouble I got myself into.) I hoped that I would be the picture of calmness while reacting quickly to the situation.

You know, ya really shouldn't wonder about these thing unless you're fully prepared to find out the answer. Can you see where I'm going with this?!

We, that is Sean and I, were doing the dishes and all was well with the world. Then Sean got interested in the recyclables that were accumulating on the counter. He grabbed for the tin can, which I immediately took from him and told him not to touch since it might have sharp edges. No sooner had I put it down than he had picked it up again and was now screaming!! I asked him what was wrong but he only screamed. I told him to take his hand off the tin. Turns out he couldn't. The lid had effectively caught his hand in the can. There was no budging of his hand. I couldn't push the lid up or down without it catching on his hand. I figured I just had to get his hand free so gave it a good tug. I did get it out but cut his ring finger and pinky finger in the process.

And what were my words of compassion and love for my little boy?!!!! "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THAT!!!" Lovely, no?!

Anyhoo, after shoving his hand under the tap for awhile, I grabbed a cloth and applied pressure to his cuts to stop the bleeding. And as Sean and I were thus engaged, in walks my friend Melissa with her daughter Menita. (oh and I guess I should mention that Emma-Lyn was up and squawking in her exersaucer) Melissa immediately asked if there was anything she could do to help. I asked her to pick up Emma-Lyn then to come look at Sean's fingers. Turns out the cut on the ring finger wasn't all that bad, but the pinky one was a bit more serious. I looked for some Polysporin, I even checked the first aid kit I got for mother's day. No Polysporin. I ended up having to go upstairs to get some from Sharon.

We got the polysporin and a couple bandaids on him and all was well again! Phew....Oh, and did I mention that like moments before the incident Sean was asking for a band aid for his arm that had nary a cut much less a nick on it?! Guess he got what he wanted and then some eh?!

After that fun adventure we did manage to have a good day. I got my piddly little vegetable garden in the ground as seen here:

I don't have much in there, just some carrots, onions, peas and dill.

Here is Sean showing off my makeshift watering can. You'll also note the band aids on his fingers.

She is such a sweetie.

Oh, and the health nurse was in to check Emma-Lyn's weight. I'm not really sure why since it hadn't even been a week yet. But anyways, the nurse will be back next Thursday to check in yet again. Now the thing that really cheeses me off about this whole process is that while she's weighing her she mentions that the result may not be accurate or coinicide with the scales at the clinic. So if it's not accurate, why do it?! She also measured her height...Now get this... At the doctor's office she was 23 and 3/4 inches long. At the health clinic she was 23 and 1/2 inches long. On my kitchen table she was a mere 22 and 1/2 inches long!! The poor girl is shrinking! Again she mentions the whole probably not accurate thing!! And again I ask, then why in the world would you bother doing it if it's not going to be accurate in the first place?!!!

P.S. This is just a warning, don't buy the Tim Horton's Iced Coffee, it is a total scam! I bought one tonight and essentially spent a $1.61 on five huge ice cubes and about a shot of actual coffee! While it did taste good, it only lasted like 2 mouthfuls!!!

Gotta Get My Hands on This...

2008-06-04T23:31:00.002-03:00

And maybe you would like one too! Especially if you have a little one that needs to be carried around. I know that if we keep going to the park every Tuesday it sure would be nice to have one of these...Curious yet? Click here and check out the cool contest 5 Minutes for Mom is hosting!

My Sacrifice for Adult Company

2008-06-04T21:44:00.002-03:00

On Sunday I was invited to go to the park with a bunch of the gals! I was super excited as this meant that Sean would get to play with kids he knew and I would get to sit and chat and listen to some adult conversation. My heart was all a flutter. Now the only thing standing in my way of this monumental occasion was the shear distance from my place to the park in question. The park is just over 4 kilometers from here and as Marko so handily pointed out I would have to walk back too! Thank you honey for the heads up on that one!!

I was not to be deterred so come Tuesday morning I got everything packed up, stuck Emma-Lyn in her snuggly, grabbed the stroller and off we went! I think I was so excited about the challenge before me that I was near dragging Sean down the street. He was basically running to keep up with me. We were nearly out of our subdivision when Sean decided that keeping up with Mommy was basically impossible and settled for sitting in the stroller and classifying each vehicle as it sped by.

It was a beautiful day for a walk, the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze. Most of the gals were shocked to realize that I had walked over but I was more than willing to walk the distance if it meant company and good times for Sean with friends. I was so glad we went. The walk back was a bit of a hike. We stopped at the Superstore for a cookie and some water, then we were off once again. The toughest part of the hike was getting into our subdivision, it was all uphill!

It wasn't until I had checked the messages on my answering machine that I found out that I had lost my wallet! The man who found it had called and left his number for me to call him back! He was a really sweet guy, too bad he was a Canadiens fan! :)

The health nurse was in today to check Emma-Lyn's weight. It hasn't even been a week yet so there wasn't a whole lot to measure and so now she'll be back next Thursday! Yay!

And now for some random pics:

Sean is just loving playing in the backyard! He is always asking to go outside.

Emma-Lyn watching her big brother goof around.

The rest of these pictures are just some flowers (mostly out of my landlord's garden) that I really like.

I love the colours in this tulip.

I love taking pictures of raindrops...so neat.

And this is a rose Marko got me the other day...just cause...he's such a sweetie!

Shock of Shocks...

2008-06-02T22:40:00.002-03:00

I know this is just gonna shock the socks right off you, but I've actually responded to readers' recent comments in the comments section related to each post!! How wild and wonderful is that? Hmmm, I wonder how long I can keep this up?! ;)

Sold on Solids

2008-06-02T22:14:00.002-03:00

Baby girl had quite the insatiable appetite today so today was her very first go of solid food. Yummmy rice cereal for the girl. She was quite taken with it. Although a lot of it ended up on her bib, she really did seem to enjoy that which actually made it into her mouth. She was flailing her arms about trying to grab the spoon from me! Sean even had a hand at feeding her, he thought it was pretty funny when the cereal kept popping right back out of her mouth.

Speaking of mouths, I happened to notice Sean is cutting his second year molars. The bottom left is completely in while the bottom right is just cutting through the gums now. And I can only feel bumps on his upper jaw.

Here she is trying out the real goodness of rice!

"Mmmmmm, yummmy!"