The Waterloo Fords

My favourite website

2009-07-07T10:59:00.003-04:00

There are a million billion trillion websites out there, but I wanted to tell you about my favourite.

I am a bookworm. I have read a lot of books in my life, but I often forget about them and what it was I liked or disliked about them. Goodreads.com is a fabulous site that help you keep track of your book library. I can put my books on virtual 'bookshelves' that let me categorize my books however I want so I can find them again later. I can also rate them, and add review comments for myself and others to read. It has a large social-network aspect that I don't use a whole lot, but the groups they have a great for discovering new books to read.

One of the things that I like the most is the planning what I want to read in the future. I have a 'to-read' bookshelf that currently has 124 books, and it is growing all the time. I can wander around this site for hours looking at books and finding new things I want to read. Yes - I said hours.

I've added two side areas to our blog showing what James and I have read recently. Come check out our profiles to get the bigger picture.

Eowyn says...

2009-06-30T09:36:00.001-04:00

So we are in the car last night, and Eowyn has her travel bingo page in her hands and starts singing...

"I have a bingo in my pants..."

It's really hard to laugh at her without telling her why. It was just way too funny.

Father's Day

2009-06-25T08:58:00.002-04:00

James and the girls before the race
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

On Father's Day (June 21st), James ran the Waterloo Classic 10K race - his first race since starting his running regime. He did fantastic, finishing the race in 56min 57sec. The girls had a great time cheering for people as they finished their runs, and playing on the football field.

Yay James!

My Husband: The Running Man

2009-06-17T21:27:00.006-04:00

At the beginning of this year, I decided that 2009 was the I was going to get serious about losing weight and getting healthy. Being the wonderful husband that he is, James decided to do it with me. We joined a gym, started eating better, and began changing our lives.

James started working out at the gym, and started running on the treadmill. Once the weather got nice, the treadmill progressed to outside, and before I knew it, he was running on a regular basis. He has now registered for the Waterloo Classic 10k race on Father's Day (June 21st), and is talking about training for a marathon.

Since we began this journey 6 months ago, James has lost about 50 pounds, and is a lean, mean running machine! He has gone from an XL to a Medium, from a 38/40 pant to a 34, and now needs an entirely new wardrobe!

I am so proud of what he has accomplished, and how great he is doing with his goals! I know it will be only a matter of time before he is running that marathon, on his way to trying for Boston!

Look at my toothy grin!

2009-06-03T08:31:00.002-04:00

Look at my toothy grin!
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

Eowyn lost her first tooth last night. It has been very wiggly for a while now, but at dinner James noticed that the new tooth is visible behind the baby tooth. Eowyn was very brave and very excited about losing the tooth, so she let me pull it out (with a kleenex for traction).

She put it under her pillow for the toothfairy, who visited last night to replace the tooth with some coins. She is very proud of her gap, and is smiling all the time to show it off.

I can't believe she is old enough to have lost a tooth, and have adult teeth growing in. Or wait - is it that I can't believe I'm old enough to have a daughter who is old enough to...

All Better!

2009-05-14T08:32:00.004-04:00

Well, Kiera went to the doctor's on Tuesday, and was officially diagnosed with "Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease". Sounds appealing, doesn't it? There was nothing he could do for her - we just needed to wait it out and live through it.

And it figures, she went to daycare on Wednesday, and by lunch was fine. She is now eating and drinking like normal! YAY!

Wishing pain away

2009-05-12T09:32:00.003-04:00

Kiera has had a pretty miserable past few days. Since Wednesday night, she has had a lot of pain in her mouth, and hasn't been able to eat. When we can get a look, she has a lot of little cankers in her mouth that are making it very painful for her to eat or drink. The cankers seem to be getting better now, just in time for the doctor's appointment today (love our lack of doctors).

It has been awful not being able to help her! For the most part, just snuggling with her seems to help. Oh, and watching endless Pooh movies is also a big help. Now the fun part is going to be convincing her that it is ok to eat, and that her mouth won't hurt.

Wiggle, wiggle

2009-05-12T09:29:00.004-04:00

I had a great Mother's Day surprise on Sunday - Eowyn discovered that she has TWO loose teeth! Her bottom two center teeth are loose - one is acutally very wiggly! It's hard to believe that she is old enough to lose her teeth. She is very proud that she is getting her adult teeth. Now we just need to work on stopping the thumb sucking...

Our uber-emotional girl

2009-04-11T22:38:00.003-04:00

I was reminded today about Eowyn's emotional-ness, but in a good way this time.

When Eowyn watches a movie, small things will upset her to the point of crying and having to leave. For example, she was hysterical when Wall-E was being chased, and was upset every time the head chef-dude in Ratatouille appeared on the screen (because he was so mean). This usually happens in a theatre but does happen at home as well.

Well, today, while watching The Heffalump Movie, she was very excited when Lumpy's mom came and saved Roo. This is usually accompanied by lots of cheering and jumping around. Today I noticed that she had tears (which she explained were happy tears).

I'm glad she is such a loving and emotional girl... I just wish I knew better how to help her with it.

Ford Family 2009

2009-03-19T09:57:00.007-04:00

Ford Family 2009
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

We had some new family pictures taken January 27, 2009 by Art & Soul Photography. Gordon and Grainne are fantastic to work with! They entertained the girls and got some great shots of them - it was really hard to choose what to print! There are a bunch more on our Flickr site, so check them out!

Eowyn's first day of school

2009-02-20T11:32:00.002-05:00

Eowyn's first day of school
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

Yeah... I should have blogged about this in September. Bad mom! But now that we are further into the school year, we have something to talk about!

Eowyn is loving school (most days). She is really learning lots - she can write all her letters pretty well, and is having a great time making new friends.

Oh no, its "oh-no"!

2008-07-16T14:47:00.002-04:00

Canadian girls
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

Long time no post... The girls are doing really well. Eowyn is getting excited about school in the fall, and Kiera is growing like a weed.

Eowyn has started swimming lessons, and is really loving it. She is much more comfortable around pools now, and has no problems jumping in (with her water wings) without anyone to catch her. She swims around the pool like a little fish!

Kiera is talking up a storm these days, but only 20% of the words are recognizable. Kiera's name for Eowyn is "oh-no" (hence the post title). She picked that up from one of the kids from daycare, as that is how Ashley could pronounce Eowyn's name.

James and I are doing well. I'm not traveling so much right now, but I suspect that will pick up again at the end of August. Its nice being home for such an extended period!

Bosom buddies

2008-06-19T15:38:00.001-04:00

I think they are getting along fine, what do you think? :-)

Mango

2008-06-12T10:18:00.002-04:00

Mango posing for the camera
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

The Waterloo Ford feline population has increased by one as of yesterday! We have a new kitten, an orange tabby we have named Mango. He (Mango is a boy) is about 7 weeks old, and is super tiny (especially compared to Mushu, who is 18lbs as of Monday).

Mango seems to be settling in well. He and Mushu were doing a lot of sniffing this morning, and Mango certainly wants to play with him. Morgan is taking a bit more time - she growls at Mango, and is still pretty wary of him.

Birthday girl!

2007-11-28T11:05:00.002-05:00

Messy girl, originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

Its hard to believe that a year has passed already! Kiera celebrated her first birthday at the beginning of the month (November 7th). Actually, she celebrated it three times - one with Grandma Penny and Grandpa Ray, once with us, and once with all the other Grandmas and Grandpas. She ate lots of cake, and got quite messy.

For her birthday, Kiera also gave herself three new teeth, bringing the count up to 6 - two on the bottom, and four on top.

She has also started walking! She isn't walking marathons yet, but she is definitely choosing to walk more often now, and is going longer distances - sometimes 20 steps! Won't be long and she will be doing it all the time!

What? Another Waterloo Ford blog?

2007-11-10T22:46:00.002-05:00

I know. You are thinking to yourself "She doesn't even update this one, and she is starting another one???". And the answer to that question is Yes. But this is a different kind of blog - its a cross-stitch blog.
I wasn't sure how to collect pictures of all of my pieces and "display" them, and this way seemed to be the easiest.

Come by and check it out! Only if you want to, that is. For now, its called "Life in Stitches". If you have a suggestion for a name, feel free to pass it on!

First steps!

2007-10-22T20:09:00.003-04:00

First steps!
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

Kiera took her first steps on Saturday! She has been cruising for a while now, and standing for a minute, but she has now shuffled her feet and taken a couple of steps. Then she plops onto her bum. Or, she walks on her hands and feet with her bum in the air, looking very much like a crab.

It is only a matter of time before she is fully walking. Probably just in time to grab the ornaments off the Christmas tree!

Eowyn just keeps growing

2007-10-16T16:26:00.003-04:00

That's a huge turkey leg!
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

I see her walking around the house in her cool jeans and new shirt, and I can't believe that she is almost 4, and I can't believe that she is only 4. She seem so grown up - especially when she says or does something exactly the way I do. That is scary to witness, and exciting to see at the same time.

The eating machine

2007-10-16T16:23:00.004-04:00

And now its empty
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

Well, its been a really really really long time since I posted, but I knew that would happen! Sorry! Not that anyone is actually checking this anymore...

Kiera's birthday is in three weeks, and I am amazed at how fast time has flown. She is eating better than Eowyn, and is furniture cruising all over the place. Its only a matter of time before she is walking!

James has been taking her to playgroup with Eowyn's daycare, and both girls seem to love it. James is heading back to work on November 12th, and Kiera is starting daycare full time on November 5th. Exciting changes for everyone.

Grandmas are crazy...

2007-04-16T15:06:00.002-04:00

Ruby playing dress-up
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

This isn't quite what I had in mind when I suggested that Eowyn and Grandma play dress-up. Its nice to see that Ruby can really get down to Eowyn's level though...

Happy 3rd Birthday Eowyn!

2007-02-02T18:00:00.002-05:00

Happy and excited
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

Eowyn celebrated her 3rd birthday on January 27th. We had the grandparents over on Saturday, and then on Sunday Eowyn had her first birthday party. There were four kids in total - Eowyn, Owen, Kayla,and Abby. They seemed to have a great time, but by the end of it James and I were exhausted. Its tough work keeping kids entertained!

Smiley girl

Kiera is growing like a weed. She had her two month doctors appointment on January 15th, and weighed in at 12lbs. She is doing really good at holding up her head, and is smiling all the time! She really seems to be a happy baby. We are really lucky to have such a good baby - she has her fussy times, but overall she is really good.

Its already been 5 weeks...

2006-12-11T21:55:00.003-05:00

Stocking Girls
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

...alternately, its only been 5 weeks. It feels like Kiera has been with us forever. She seems to be growing like a weed. After 2 weeks, she was up to 9 lbs 12 oz. We have another doctors appointment this week, so we will see what she is up to then. She is awake a lot more than before, but is also sleeping a lot still. Kiera smiled at me last week, but it was the imitation smile, not a spontaneous smile - but it was great none the less.

We are pretty much ready for Christmas here - we put up the tree two weeks ago, and Eowyn was a great help. She put the ornaments on the tree, and was really good at spreading them out. She got to visit Santa on Friday and sat on his lap. She is excited about Christmas, and I think that this holiday will be great - she will be really into the gifts and all the excitement of the holidays. The excitement is going to infect us all - but thats what is so great about Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Introducing Kiera Lynn Ford

2006-11-08T14:08:00.002-05:00

Kiera at home
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords.

James and I had our baby yesterday! We have a new daughter - Kiera! The important details first:

Birthdate: November 7, 2006, at 4:39am
Weight: 8lbs 11oz (apparently that's big for a girl)
Length: 21.25 inches

So here is the story... My water broke at 1:50am, so we called Aunt Candy, and she came over to stay with Eowyn. James and I were at the hospital by 2:30, and the contractions had already started and were getting worse each time. I got into a room, and the doc was there for the epidural at about 4:15am. It was in just in time - Kiera was delivered about 25 minutes later! There almost wasn't enough time for it! So from start to end was just under 3 hours.

Our day at the hospital was relatively quiet - lots of nurses bustling in and out checking us over. The pediatrician came in at about 9am, gave Kiera a clean bill of health, and signed her discharge papers. So now we just needed my 'clean bill of health'. That came at about 2:30pm, just after Kiera's first bath. So... We were almost out of there!

Art and Ruby brought Eowyn up to see us, and she was really excited about finally meeting Jellybean. She got a big smile on her face, and was really good about being gentle with her, and touching her really lightly. She is going to be a good big sister!

We left the hospital at about 3:30, and came home to start figuring out this newborn thing again. So our entire stay in the hospital was 13 hours.

Compared to Eowyn when she was born, Kiera is very fair in colouring, and is a bit chubby - there is definitely fat on her bones! She is eating well, and spends most of the time sleeping - but then of course, she is only 33 hours old right now...

Housekeeping Notes

Sorry for the lack of posts on our blog. I knew I wasn't going to be very good at this 'blogging' thing, but hopefully now that there are things to share, it will get better.

For those who are new to Flickr... We have posted all our family photos onto Flickr (follow the link to the right). You can download the the pictures by clicking the "All Sizes" link on each photo.

Operation: Jellybean

2006-06-13T15:31:00.001-04:00

As a first post, it seems appropriate to start with an intro to the new member of the family (or soon to be member of the family), Jellybean. Jellybean is expected to arrive November 8, 2006 (according to the doctors). To answer the other popular questions, I'm feeling fine - better than fine, which is scary in itself. And no, we don't know what we are having. It's a good surprise, so we have decided to wait to find out. Eowyn seems to be very interested in babies, and talks about being a big sister. Hopefully she will be that interested when Jellybean doesn't leave our house after a few days...

Well, we will try to keep this blog updated with the events from our lives, but I'm not making any promises here...