I asked Monster this morning if he would like it if I took some pictures of him, and he enthusiastically responded "Okay Mommy!" Then of course, as soon as I took the camera out he got all shy and withdrawn on me, then became totally uncooperative. So this is all I managed to grab of him.
I cannot believe how long his hair is getting. It sits on his shoulders now! I love, yet hate it at the same time. He recoils every time I wash it or attempt to comb and tame it, yet I can't get him to sit still for a haircut either. Not to mention, a couple weeks ago someone mistook him for a girl... so I thought, that's it! It needs a serious trim. I'll have to get him in for a "real" haircut one of these days.
After giving up on him, I turned to Munchkin who turned on the ham factor to eleven.
My new absolutefavoritetodiefor photo of her. I can't believe she's mine... I'm so freaking blessed.
I don't know why, but she suddenly looks so grown up here. I think it might be the hair... it's actually long enough now to get a bit tousled, but not for a ponytail. Sigh.
Labels: monster, munchkin
Found a couple pics that I forgot to upload from the camera.
I'm still not feeling remotely inspired to do anything creative... could the winter blahs be setting in already?? Gosh I hope not.
Labels: monster, munchkin, nature
Yikes! IT'S NOVEMBER. I have no idea how October disappeared so quickly. It was a very busy month, hardly any photos snapped. (I'm very disappointed in myself) I really need to get back into the swing of things photography-wise; I've become very lax, and when that happens I tend to fall into a slump of uninspiredness... need to snap out of it!
Brief summary of October's happenings:
~ Visits. Both sets of grandparents came, on back-to-back weekends, one of which was Thanksgiving weekend. Mom helped me (or more accurately, I helped her) make a turkey, which was deliciously scrumptuoso!! Mmmmmmmm, turkey.
~ Surgery. I had my wisdom teeth removed on the 21st. Not fun, but now that I've recovered, save for some bruising on my jaw that seemingly refuses to fade, it was worth it. I had all four taken out, and two were impacted... I can still feel the stitches in my mouth, so gross. I can't wait until they dissolve.
~ Dance. Monday nights I've been attending a hip hop class with a close friend, which is a lot of fun and a real workout to boot! I'm about to sign up for another 6 week block, so hopefully I can learn a few more moves and dazzle everyone at the Christmas party dance!! Haha.
~ Helo. She is not fairing very well these days. She's been having gastrointestinal issues since we brought her home from the shelter... I thought at the beginning that it was just stress and the change in food, but it never went away so we went to the vet for some tests. The results are not good. She tested positive for giardia and cryptosporidium, which are a type of protozoa that attack the intestines. So she and Hershey are both on antibiotics for 14 days (they share litter boxes so Hershey could have it too). The worst part is that although rare, it's possible that it can spread to humans... and since Helo has not been, ahem... 'faithfully using the litter box', we've had to be very careful in disinfecting, washing hands, and staying clean... which is hard when your kids are 3 and 1. And have I mentioned that giving cats medicine in liquid form is almost impossible? Seriously, all medication for animals should be available in pill form. But I digress.
~ Monster. Continues to attend playschool on Tuesdays and is absolutely thriving there. Last week was his best day ever; he was compliant, he participated, and he remembered his manners!! He's come a long way in the few short weeks he's been going there. His new-found fun activity is singing, thanks to playschool. He loves to sing along to songs from movies and TV shows, especially Cars and nanalan'. If I can, I'll try to catch him doing it on video... it's priceless!
~ Munchkin. Has FINALLY started walking. Though not consistent, she does give it an honest effort, though she requires lots and lots of encouragement, and once she's had enough, she's done. She is a total chatterbox and still jabbers nonstop. Some words she does say are: mom, daddy, this, what's this?, what's that?, juice, done, fall down, uh oh, and kiss. That's her new thing - kissing. She kisses people, the kitties, her stuffies... always ready for a kiss. And her stuffies, oh my goodness. She has an entourage of animals that she MUST sleep with and MUST come downstairs with her when she wakes up, or she becomes very, very sad. The current tally is four, but if we let her she'd likely have many more!
~ Snow. Or lack thereof. I cannot believe we made it through October without a snowfall. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel like it should be November yet. It's been chilly out, with temps dipping below freezing, but no snow. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Winter will be here soon enough and last for half a year, so I'm perfectly happy with the weather as it stands. Just to clarify.
~ Guitar Hero. We got World Tour on release day (thanks to my WONDERFUL, AMAZING HUSBAND WHOM I LOVE for standing in line at Walmart at 7:30am in the freezing cold) and I'm hopelessly addicted to the thing. I played for 4 hours today... hehe. I'm very much a n00b, but I've almost completed Guitar Career on Easy, and will be moving up to the next difficulty very shortly. It's terrible much fun :)
Well, I think I've blabbered enough for today. Next time I'll try and get pics up.
Labels: monster, munchkin
On Sunday my husband and I celebrated 6 years of marital bliss!! Well, it hasn't been exactly
blissful the whole time so, how about... marital togetherness? Haha. We've had our ups and downs, but we haven't strangled each other yet, so we must be doing something right! So, to mark this momentous occasion, the four of us headed out for some desperately needed family photos. I can't tell you how insanely happy I am at how some of these turned out!! This was also the first time I took my tripod on location (that is so sad... my noviceness is showing!) so I didn't get too creative (unfortunately :( ) with different angles and whatnot. But regardless, these photos to me are precious, and I hope you enjoy them too!!
Daddy realizes he's a tad too big for the slide...
I loooooove this one. It's been so long since I got a shot of Munchkin genuinely smiling and happy. :)
This one cracks me up. Her face is like "Moooommmm!"
The last photo taken of all four of us together was when Munchkin was only a few weeks old, and the lighting was so awful that no amount of photoshopping could salvage it. So I'm pretty happy with these here. :)
Monster wasn't a fan of sitting still for long, and he thought yanking grass out would be more fun. Even better if you can throw it on people.
There are seriously NO PHOTOS, PERIOD of just me and the kids. Until now.
A couple attempts of just the two of us. (I'm desperately trying not to crack up in this one)
I didn't want to post this one due to.. ahem, its
mature theme and suggestive nature, but HE insisted! (Typical guy, right?) But, for the record, I agree that it's very funny.
Click if you dare.We packed up and walked around the park for a bit. Monster went to check out the gaggle of Canada geese that flew in.
We had so much fun that afternoon, it was just a wonderful family bonding time. We've decided to make this a tradition... every fall, around our anniversary... family photos. I can't wait for next year already!
Labels: couple, family, monster, munchkin
The four of us went to visit my in-laws last weekend, and it was a great (although totally packed) 4 days of fun. On Sunday we decided to take a trip to Banff, but the weather was uncooperative... so we opted to drive through Kananaskis instead. The mountains and scenery were still gorgeous, regardless of the pelting rain and gloomy skies.
Our faithful roadies, Chimpynuts and Burrito.
Munchkin crashed early on during the drive.
We took a slight detour to Dead Man's Flats to see my brother- and sister-in-law's condo... I'm extremely envious of their patio's mountain view :)
Munchkin travels so amazingly well... I don't remember her complaining the whole day.
Monster on the other hand, was a different story.
The clouds finally decided to clear up on the last third of the trip.
This is my favorite shot.
That's a mischievious look if I've ever seen one!
Posing with Grandma at a waterfall in the Kananaskis village.
Labels: monster, munchkin, nature
The kids and I went to the lake 2 weekends ago for a family reunion and had a total BLAST. The weather was perfect, the water was icy, the food was amazing and the company was awesome. I want to freaking LIVE THERE.
Jonah was completely in his glory, running around with a lifejacket on and throwing hundreds of rocks from the beach in the water. The highlight of the day was riding in my uncle's boat. He loved it so much they took him out 3 times! He was totally enraptured - the roar of the motor, the wind and water spray in his face and the sensation of speed - it was pure, unadulterated joy.
I wasn't brave enough to venture in the water, but others didn't mind.
Anni had fun on the beach. I tried to coax her into the water but she screamed like a banshee when I dipped her feet in...
This is as far as I went in.
Jonah wouldn't let me put sunscreen on his face and wound up with a nasty sunburn. Poor little guy...
(experimenting with cross-processing...)
Our dog came along with us and had a heyday.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmdarkchocolatedippedstrawberries!!!!
We stayed at my mom and dad's for an extra day before heading home. This is the nest of baby blackbirds that's in the shrub right next to their deck. I'd never seen baby birds before!
The kids got treated to a tractor ride by my dad. Anni was scared at first, but she grew to like it.
Labels: monster, munchkin
It's sprinkler time!
I thought he wouldn't like the sensation of being sprayed, but he LOVED IT. He got completely soaked and didn't want to come inside and dry off.
His shorts got so bogged down with water... it made me giggle.
Munchkin didn't want to get wet. She preferred to just sit and watch by the sidelines.
Labels: monster, munchkin
A random theme for a photo project struck my brain and I am SOOOOO happy how it turned out. I thought at first that I would put these on my lovely, freshly painted hallway walls (yes, it's nearly finished!) but now I'm reconsidering hanging them in the living room, which means I'd be moving some artwork around... but hey, change is good.
I was largely inspired by
this amazing living room wall, and I followed her links to find some ttv shots to use in Flickr.
Here's the one I used. Choosing which photos to use was relatively easy (considering I have thousands!), as I wanted each virtue to be conveyed by the photo, and when I thought for a bit, a bunch sprang from my memory. The only difficult part was remembering in which folder I had filed them!! Now all I need is some frames and decide where in my house they shall live!
Labels: monster, munchkin
Just a couple of quick shots from this morning. I ADORE the one of Jonah, crooked bangs and all.
And Anni has a new nickname: Polka Dot.
Labels: monster, munchkin
So yeah. Didn't get the hallway painted.
But it wasn't for lack of trying. I was super jazzed and excited to get this painting project done... but May was a psycho crazy month with many unforseen (not to mention stupid) things thrown my way. Let's sum up:
Week 1: Chest pain acted up big time. Felt like crap. There was much hurt.
Week 2: Gone to visit family for a week.
Week 3: Picked up a nasty bug from somewhere. Had a sore throat for 9 agonizing days. Hurt so bad I hardly slept for 4 NIGHTS STRAIGHT. High winds blew a tree onto our fence, nearly taking it right down to the ground. Spent $$$ having a landscape company cut it down to save the fence. Took Goobie to the vet after he used the ENTIRE MAIN FLOOR as his litter box. Spent $$$ on special food and meds for him.
Week 4: This was Weeko Stupido.
~ Monday: Took Munchkin to the doctor about her rash. Got referred to a specialist.
~ Tuesday: Drove 5 hours to see said specialist. This excursion deserves its own entry, but the abridged version is that this specialist was a complete and utter hag, and diagnosed Munchkin with exzema WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT HER or listening to anything I had to say. Oh and after getting home, I promptly went to the ER and was told my throat looked 'perfect' (I was incredulous; I thought I had either tonsillitis or strep) and was hastily given an Rx and sent on my way. It was a very very long day.
~ Wednesday: Woke up with an excruciating migraine, thought I was literally going to die. Fortunately my parents took pity on me and drove all the way up to help me out for the rest of the week.
~ Thursday: This was the one bright day of the week. My meds took effect and my throat pain finally disappeared. Had the first uninterrupted full night's rest in over a week.
~ Friday: Woke up to more cat poop all over the house. Said goodbye to Goobie. My heart broke. My will broke from sheer stress.
~ Saturday: Laid Goobie to rest in the backyard under the lilac bush. I planted a columbine flower to mark his grave. Many tears were shed.
******
So yeah. That's that.
I'm okay now, but I didn't think I was going to be. I'm leaving it all behind and moving on.
And. I'm still going to finish the project. Watch for after shots by June 30.
Labels: munchkin, OPAM
When my dad first saw this photo, he burst out laughing: "It's Blucher Gothic!!"
It's only really funny if you know the personalities of these two (and my dad, who sees humour in the strangest things... they're strange to me anyhow). So this is for Dad... I couldn't resist.
Labels: munchkin
Snow in April is wrong. Just plain wrong. That's all there is to it. Last weekend there was a weird, freakish blizzard that blew through the entire province, shutting down highways and trapping vehicles in driveways. It was crazy! And it's been below freezing for this whole week so there hasn't been much melting going on. I WANT SPRING!!
View from my front door. Lovely, huh?
Check this out. Horizontal icicles??
Poor robin. There won't be worms for a while!
This little birdie was pecking his way through the branch, apparently trying to make a home for himself. The hole is so deep he almost disappears completely inside it.
***************
Switching gears.
Something nasty has afflicted our Munchkin for the last 2 weeks. We're not sure what it is - at first we thought she was having a reaction to her 12 month immunizations, so I took her in to the ER and the doctor there agreed that that's what it likely was, and I shouldn't worry, it would go away within a few days. This is how she looked that day.
But it only got worse, so I (amazingly) managed to have our family doctor examine her, and he's not entirely sure what's going on, but that it's definitely not a reaction from her shots. Best guess is either an allergic reaction to God knows what, or she actually has full-blown measles. Hopefully the ton of bloodwork he ordered will give us some kind of answer. This was yesterday evening.
Poor baby! She's so itchy and is scratching her skin raw on her arms and feet. Yet she managed to give me a goofy face - she's hanging in there. What a trooper.
Of course I couldn't leave Monster out. He always has to have his picture taken whenever he sees the camera.
Labels: monster, munchkin, nature
I still can't believe it's been a year already. That tired old cliche "Time flies by once you have kids" is absolutely true. Before I know it they'll both be in school, hit adolescence, learn to drive, and then leave home and live their own lives... has anyone invented a machine that freezes time yet?? I want one. Now.
In the meantime, I suppose my camera shall have to suffice... for freezing moments in time, if not time itself.
Happy Birthday baby girl.
Labels: munchkin
Snaps from last Sunday. Had to capture Munchy in her pretty Easter dress.
We had friends over for dinner and just kicked back and hung out all day. It was a blast and the kids had fun playing with each other.
Munchy's little friend - they're only a month apart in age. She's unbelievably photogenic, has oodles of personality and has the most ridiculously gorgeous eyes and smile! I totally adore her, she's so lovable!!
Labels: munchkin
May the luck of the Irish be yours today! Happy Saint Paddy's.
Labels: munchkin
This is just an excuse to post on Leap Day... and to say, Happy 11 Months Munchkin!
Labels: monster, munchkin
My newest favorite photo.
Labels: monster, munchkin
Growing up, I always dreamed of having a little girl. And my wish came true. My beautiful, wonderful, joyous daughter... you're all I could hope for.
Labels: munchkin
