A Deal for you!

This past week I thought I would play around with my camera a bit and ended up reformatting the card - not once but twice. I'm not the quickest at times! I wasn't too upset b/c there had been no major events on the card - only day to day stuff - which is still important when you have a babe around. I thought I would try to download a program to get the pictures off of the card - I found one and downloaded a free demo. It worked. It was finding most of the pictures, however, when I went to try to save the pictures onto our computer it was no longer free - the demo was over and I would have to pay 45 or so to buy the program. Well, I thought that I would phone London Drugs to see which way was cheaper - for a one time deal London Drugs would have been cheaper unless they found a thousand pics on my card -though they said they didn't think they would find anything since it had been reformatted, not just deleted. Anyways, I thought I would do a search this time for a completely free program and I found one. It is called MJM Data recovery. It took some playing around b/f it would find complete pictures but once I got it right this program was amazing. It was finding every single picture from Christmas until present day and then it went backwards. I finally stopped it b/c it was taking hours and it had found my pictures that I hadn't saved!!!!! when I stopped it, the program was only 60% done and it had found I think over 700 pictures. London drugs would have cost me tonnes if they had found that many. Anyways, if you ever delete your memory card download this program it works like a charm. the recovered pics. were the same size as usual and even had all the data (time taken, camera, etc) encoded in them.

9months

Callia received the above dress fr. my cousin when she was just born. It is 0-3 months so in the first picture Callia is about 3 or 4 weeks old - and the dress was slightly HUGE on her - I thought that I would try it on her again a couple of weeks ago and that is the second picture. I think the dress fits her better at nine months! It is a little short when standing (not too bad though) and is fine when sitting. I'm glad she was able to wear it again!!

So Miss Callia hasn't changed too much since last month. She isn't crawling but she does manage to push herself around a little bit - she has quite the stretch when reaching for something she really wants. She has no teeth yet she manages to eat pancakes at breakfast (don't worry, no syrup). She hasn't been weighed since b/f Christmas but will be weighed later this week for the next part of the flu shot so I'll up date that then. She LOVES to be upside down. She LOVES to do her funny face. She LOVES yogurt and fruit. She LOVES any type of finger food. She LOVES her mama best!;) She LOVES to play with balls, cars and dolls. She would LOVE to get into the boys lego already - it won't be a good scene in our house when she starts to move b/c we have TONNES of lego. That about sums her up for this month. Oh - she's not eating anymore at 10:30 - kinda nice to be able to go to bed early if I want to - of course that hasn't happened yet.

WEEEE!

Hey there - wow- I can't believe I have a minute to sit down and blog. The house is clean, the youngest are sleeping, Aiden has a friend over and Ethan's at school. The laundry is going, the dishwasher is emptied and dinner is figured out -phew! One thing that has taken up some of my time is our family Christmas gift. We've never bought ourselves a "family" gift b/f but Rich received money fr. work as a recognition for being with his company for 10 years and so with it we bought a Wii. Let me tell you we have so much fun on it! If you're going go to have a gaming system in your house the wii is a great one to have. It gets ya moving, kids and adults can play the same games, it something "active" they can do in the house, and it's fun when people are over (big or little). I received the Wii fit fr. Rich for Christmas so we've been having fun trying to beat each other's top scores. I don't think I'll lose a ton of weight on it but it can get your heart going if you do certain exercises on it and I figure moving a bit is better then just laying on the couch watching TV. I think boys are really geared for playing video games - it's just in them - so I"m glad we have one that gets them running and jumping (our neighbours my disagree a bit!).

Doing something right...

Every parent has those moments where they wonder if the values they want to instil in their children are actually sticking (at least I do) and then every once in a while your child does something that makes you go "Yes, they're getting it" (at least mine do). I had one of those moments tonite. Before Christmas I was feeling a little blah about our kids going to public school and only being exposed to Santa stuff (among other less favourable stuff) - not that I'm opposed to Santa but he's not the true meaning of Christmas. So all of December we talked about the real meaning of Christmas every night at dinner (diff. aspects each night) to counteract everything at school. Well, we had one of those moments (phew, something is sticking) when Ethan handed me some art he had done at school. I asked him about it and he said he had to draw something about Christmas and he - now wait, this is it - drew the manger scene - Mary, Joseph, Jesus, animals and the star. He could have drawn Santa or a tree or reindeer but he chose to draw the nativity - he was the only kid - kinda cool I think.

It's come and gone!

Callia was having loads of fun sucking on the baby's soother and then trying to stick it back into the baby's mouth.

Callia loves bling - she is always looking at necklaces, earings, watches so she received a beautiful neclace and locket from her nana and grandad

We gave Callia these little paints for small hands for when she is a bit older - we let her suck on them until we noticed that she had turned orange! oops, guess the paint comes out when you let a baby suck on the end of the container!

playing Ethan's fav. game - pictionary

The kids in their snow fort.

I can't believe that our Christmas break is all over as of tomorrow. It is my most favourite time of year. I love Christmas Eve and Christmas day - I love the food, I love seeing the family, and I love the presents (mostly reactions to what I've given) but I absolutely LOVE the week following Christmas. It is so relaxing, Rich is off, the kids have new toys and the schedule is free. This year was no exception. We were out every night from the week b/f Christmas to Boxing Day so life was very busy. But starting on Boxing Day when our plans were cancelled b/c of the snow life settled down. We were still out every night or had people over but the days were quiet. We stayed in sweats or the boys stayed in pjs practically all day. We went to Chuck E Cheese one day and had a blast. We had some friends over, we went to friends for New Years, we went ice skating, bowling, movies and the boys had a sleep over at their grandma and poppas (YIPEE). They also played outside in the snow.

That was the best part about Christmas Eve -the snow. My family came over early since it was snowing so hard so we had lots of time to go out. The snow was up to my knees. I don't really remember too many white Christmases so this was a special one. Callia was also so much fun. Her being 8months for her first Christmas was a lot diff. than the boys who were either 2 months or 4 months for their first. She liked the wrapping paper and boxes - she took everything in and was such an angel. Christian couldn't wait for Christmas to happen and he kept asking for hot wheels - he was SO excited when my parents bought him a hot wheels race track and santa brought him a hot wheels Trick Tracks. Aiden and Ethan were pretty excited too. Ethan kept mentioning that some kids at his school don't believe in Santa and think it's their parents. He never asked us directly if he is real or not - if he does we'll tell him - right now we're lying by omission not out right lying to his face (is there a diff?). We had two yummy dinners one on CE and one on CD - it was great being with Rich's fam. Anyways, tomorrow it's back to the grind of regular life - no more pjs till noon or later - no more being holed up in the house (and enjoying it) until it's time to do something fun. No more sleeping in till 9:30 (the eldest two). Hope you all had a great Christmas break!

"N"

My cousin Amanda gave me the letter "N" to post 10 things that I like/favourite etc. N has been a TOUGH letter!! None of my absolute favs. start with N - no kids, no hubby- so it has taken A LOT of thought. So here it goes - in no particular order - oh, I only have 8 so far but I will keep thinking until I get all ten!

1. Nativity - I love the nativity and all that it represents. Christmas is such a fun time of year - love the family time, love the decorations, food, presents but my desire for my kids (and for me) is that they truly understand Christmas and the Nativity, of course, is the true meaning. I saw a clip from the movie "the nativity" and it was so moving as they showed Mary giving birth and baby Jesus - moving b/c I'm a mom and couldn't imagine having a baby that would one day carry the weight of the world - all of its sin on His shoulders - moving b/c it reinforced the humanness of Jesus and of Mary and of Joseph. Just as God used Mary and Joseph He can use us!

2. Nuts - gotta love nuts - especially almonds. Last year when I lost a lot of weight nuts were a great snack to stave off hunger and to fill me up!! I still eat them every day. I also love peanut butter, especially with chocolate! Also love them in salads and stir fries.

3. Nuptials - I love being married. Rich and I have been married for almost nine years (okay three more months) and it's been pretty great. As a little girl I always wanted to be married - it's not like the movies but in many ways it's even better. I couldn't imagine my life without Rich in it.

4. Naps - I couldn't get thru the days without my kids having naps. The baby naps 2-3 times a day, Christian naps a few times a week and Aiden naps the odd time too. They are the time I can either rush around like a crazy lady and get loads done without feeling like I"m neglecting my kids or they're a time I can laze around on the computer reading blogs etc. Usually it's a combination of both.

5. Nighttime - I love the evening when Rich and I are finally by ourselves. I love relaxing. I've always been a night owl - though now that I have kids that have to get up for school I have to get to bed at a pretty decent time. I also love sleeping - nothing better than my head hitting the pillow after a long day - usually it only takes me a second or two to drift off to lala land.

6. Nation - I love our nation of Canada - I love the freedom to worship God, to express our opinions - to work, shop, live how we want to. I love the beauty of the mountains, the smell of the ocean, the sun, the snow (for a day). I love that we are free to travel - to come and go as we want - that we are welcome in other countries (generally).

7. Nations- I also love other countries. Missions is so important to me. When looking for a church that had to be its focus. So many people need God - hey so many people in our own country need God too I know but there is just something about foreign countries. I've been to Estonia, Russia, New York and Uganda doing missions stuff and would love to continue to do things in the future with our family. I love hearing about other countries and whats going on. One day Rich and I want to take our kids to Africa on a combo missions/travel trip before that we would love to do more local things like the food bank or things in Vancouver. We think it would change all of us! We've always been open if we felt God calling - who knows!?!

8. Nissi- as in Jehovah Nissi - The Lord is My Banner! God is the most important person in my life. He is my all in all. God has many names and this one is used in Exodus 17:8-16 with Moses. He had just one a battle and he called God Jehovah Nissi - the Lord was his Banner, God was victorious. Just as God was victorious in many battles in the Bible He can be victorious in every situation in our own lives. God is my strength, my peace - when life seems crazy, when I don't know what is going on I just have to remember that HE is in control and it brings life into perspective and gives me a sense of peace.

9. ????? It'll come. It has come. NEW YEAR! Not necessarily New Years Eve but the start of a new year. For me this comes twice a year - once in September when the school year starts and then of course in January. I love both b/c it gives me a chance to organize our lives, to start new things and to have a beginning date to start different things such as goals to lose weight (ha), do better on devotions, be better mom, spouse etc. I'm not big into resolutions but sometimes when you know you have to improve on something having a September or Jan. helps you to begin that improvement.
10.?????? This one will show up too.

So there you have it 8 out of 10 n words that mean something to me!

8 Months and going strong

I do have other things than my baby girl to blog about however, life has been busy and my other thoughts can wait - if I don't blog her monthly update I'll forget what's new. So, Callia is 8 months! She is weighing in at 14lbs. She LOVES her food. So far Callia will eat anything, except the fish I made for her - don't blame her it stinks. I have to make new stuff. Callia is sitting all the time, she sleeps on her belly for naps. She naps usually twice, sometimes three times a day. She is eating all her veggies, fruit, meat, cereal and yogurt. She loves Cheerios - though most still end up on the floor. Callia will not be a pacifist. She gets so excited when she watches her brothers wrestles. Her little legs start going a mile a minute. She can be very vocal - not so much with specific sounds but kind of yelling. The boys get irratated with her when she is noisy and they are trying to watch TV. Callia loves to give hugs and grabs our faces to give nice open mouthed kisses. Callia loves music - her legs and arms go nuts when she hears it. Love you little girl!!