Yum Yum!

Giving Kalia solid foods over the last few months has been an adventure! It's fun watching her try new things (she has a very distict "what did you put in my mouth?!" face) and seeing whether she likes them or not. Cereal is a big hit - the first time we gave it to her, she squealed with excitement and ate it like a pro. It was as if she'd been waiting her whole life for that moment, and she giggled with almost every bite, and even helped with the spoon. We did enter a spitting out phase later on though, which is her way of showing off I think! She cries when I give her peaches, which is weird because I thought babies loved fruit! Her favorites are carrots and sweet potatoes. What a joy she is!

The Mystery of the Long Lost Blogger!

Sorry, but there's no juicy story for why I haven't blogged in, well, forever!! I've just been SO busy with my active little girl who doesn't seem to need that much sleep! I used to blog during her naptime, but lately I've been busy making jewellry while she sleeps! I was in a craft sale with my sister last weekend, and I'm also planning an open house in a couple of weeks. Plus, the farther behind I got, the more overwhelmed I got with what I all had to post to catch up. So, I decided to do a condensed version of some of the things that have happened since my last post. Enjoy!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!

Kalia had the exciting chance to see her first hockey this winter! We went in spur of the moment to see her Daddy play in Winnipeg at a late night game. I bundled her up in her snowsuit and she loved it! I don't know if it was the sounds, or the guys skating back and forth all over the ice but she watched even more than I did! She's also been to a few home games and in the picture above, she's sitting with her daddy watching Papa Joe play hockey. What a good sport! A couple of weekends ago was her true test as a hockey fan, though, as we braved 3 days of hockey at the EMCup! She was such a good girl and it was exciting because her daddy's team even won the cup (which she thought was delicious!)

Growing Up So Fast

Wow! It was crazy for me when Kalia turned 6 months old! Have we really had a baby for that long? My mom threw a little six month party for Kalia after church that Sunday with my family and she opened her first presents! She got some very special gifts, and had tons of fun with the balloons as usual. Mom even made a cake, which, of course Kalia didn't get to eat. Oh! It feels like my little baby is hardly even a baby anymore!

My Girl's Night

I went to the Scattered Seeds Craft Sale with Sherisse, Tracy, and Vickie in October and left Kalia for the longest time ever!! (over 6 hours!!) Scott and my parents and Cristina shared the responsibility so that she'd have lots of fun distrations. She actually took the bottle and fell asleep with it, which was an amazing answer to prayer! I had a really fun time too, except when at the restaurant another baby was making lots of noise and I almost started crying because I missed Kalia so much!

Kalia's First Family Gatherings

After all of this time, Kalia finally went to her first extended family gatherings! She did very well considering all of the activity and people. We had three gatherings within two days. It was fun to see her interact with my little cousins as well as her second cousins (Malachi and Hailey). It was exciting to see her and Malachi (3 days apart in age) side by side again, as we hadn't since they were only about a month old.

5 months OLD!!

Yes, I know this was ages ago, but I just couldn't continue blogging without these in my archives! Kalia was sitting on her own already when I took these, but she was still a bit wobbly so that's why I had the boppy pillow behind her - wouldn't want any "owies" for the sake of a photo shoot!

Daddy & Baby

We couldn't get Kalia to settle down one evening last month, so we decided to take her for a nice walk in Daddy's loving arms. We walked all over town, and don't you know on the last block she fell asleep. What a little snuggle-bum!! I didn't have a lot of outdoor shots of these two, and so I took this as a photo op as well.

Sleeping Like an Angel

I just can't resist snapping picture after picture of my little sleeping beauty! Every position seems so precious - luckily the flash never wakes her up! I just want to cuddle and squeese her to bits when I see her all cozy in a blanket or her little bum in the air. Oh! I love her SO MUCH!

More of Isabelle

Andrea and Isabelle came over for a visit last week and we had a fun time with our little dollies again! I always call this dress Kalia's cupcake dress because of its colorful layers and it was funny that Isabelle was wearing the same style without planning so we had to snap some pics. This was my favorite one.

4 Month Pictures

I just love doing this photoshoot every month! It's fun to come up with new places to take the pictures, and I love watching her play with the balloons!

To the Cabin We Go!

"I want to play cards too!"

Trying out the night scenery option on my camera - you'd never know it was pitch black outside!

Playing with Papa Joe

This one's a little fuzzy because we were experimenting with my digital zoom feature from really far off

Even though it was forcasted to be cool, we headed of to the cabin last weekend.
Mom's sister Liz and her husband Leroy joined us and thankfully the weather was warmer than predicted so we could enjoy the outdoors. Dad, Leroy and Scott drove off to Pinawa for a round of golf, and Mom, Auntie Liz, Cristina and I went for a nice long walk, stopping at the docks for a photoshoot and to enjoy the calm lake. Kalia was psyched to sit in front with Scott and I in my dad's truck (yes, we did turn the airbags off) so it took her half of the way there to fall asleep. We had fun too watching her and playing with her. I wish we could drive like that all of the time!

Getting to Know Isabelle!

We had a great evening with Andrea and Graydon a couple of weeks ago! We brought supper there to treat them to a meal that Andrea didn't have to make herself and then she and I visited while the guys spent some quility time with Graydon's Xbox. We're hoping to spend lots of time acquainting Kalia and Isabelle so that they'll be great friends when they get older. We love that our precious little girls are so close in age!

Proud of our little darlings!

I had to have a chance to hold little Isabelle of course! Sad how foreign it already felt to hold a newborn and Kalia is only 4 months old!

Both daddies took time to play with their little girl while the "mommies" put supper out.

My Traumatic Experience

On August 24th, Scott and I were invited to a birthday party for our friend Terrilee at a mongolian buffet-style restaurant. We figured that since we'd be up and about so much, that it wouldn't be an ideal place to take Kalia, so we decided to leave her (sniff sniff) at my mom and dad's for the evening. Now, you may think that we're crazy for not having a babysitter sooner, but this little girl does NOT take a bottle!! Never mind the fact that she is the love and joy of my life and I feel like I could never get tired of her - I haven't even really wanted to leave her yet. We've been trying to give her a bottle since June, using different nipples and giving water as well as milk, but she doesn't even suck on them, she just chews, so the milk doesn't come out fast enough and she gets frustrated. (Just a little tidbit of information . . . she is like this with the soother as well). So, needless to say, I was quite apprehensive about leaving her. I pumped milk that day to make sure she had enough for a full bottle, but stored it in two or three ounce bags to avoid waste if she didn't drink it. I knew my Mom would do a great job (and Dad and Crissi too) and I knew she wouldn't just cry the whole time, but as we drove away I was a nervous wreck! Halfway to the city, I decided I would try to relax and have a good evening, and said a prayer or two (or three, or four or five . . .) and actually managed to mostly enjoy myself. At the end of the evening, my mom called and said that she wasn't taking the bottle, was crying and were we coming home soon? So, we left the restaurant and I was all upset at the thought of my poor baby unable to eat! After about 10 minutes or so, my dad called and said my mom had gotten Kalia to sleep and she wasn't crying anymore. Whew! So over all, it was a good experience and we all decided that it had been harder on me than on Kalia! :) We still have to conquer that bottle problem though . . . any ideas?!

Our Weekend Away!

The next day (Friday, August 25th) we took off for Fargo with my parents and Cristina. We hadn't been planning to go, but much to my delight Scott called me from work at lunch time and said he felt like going after all. So, this was Kalia's first trip out of the country, and first time in a hotel! The girls had a fun time shopping while Dad and Scott golfed a couple of times. The only downside was that Scott was sick, sick, sick! In the hotel, we played games, relaxed, and went in the pool. Why is it always so much better to shop in the states?

All ready to go Mom!!

Spending quality time with daddy in the hotel room

Lounging in the "bath"

All ready to go down to the pool in her cute little robe and slipper? I guess the other one fell off!

Enjoying the pool

Drying off and warming up with Auntie Crissi