Evergreen

Disclaimer: If you are squeamish or are about to eat I would not recommend watching this video clip.

For the rest of you check out this bizarre discovery from Russia. Please note the flies buzzing around in the footage of the surgery!

The Terrible Not Quite 1's?

I know that in my last post I lamented the travel antics our 11 month, but I am going to vent a bit more. This entire week has been an adventure in parenting that has caused me to laugh, cry, gasp in shock and reconsider the idea of ever having another child.

One morning Lily decided to try to drink from a tiny tin of ant poison that had been left in my bedroom while we were down in California. After a bit of hysterics (on my part), I called the poison control hotline and was informed that the most she would suffer was an upset stomach. Phew....

Another recent afternoon, Lily decided that it was time to visit our 'beloved' cat Bella on her favorite chair in the dining room. I walked into the room just as my baby wedged herself under the dining room table, her chubby cheeks a three inch proximity from the threatened feline. Lily wanted to pet and hug Bella, Bella had something more bloody in mind for Lily. My child decided to return to this exact same spot every 20 minutes for the remainder of the day.

Blood. That segues into my next account. While I was on the phone yesterday, Lily decided to play with her special tea set. The little set is complete with tea cups, a pot, a picnic blanket and utensils. Rather than sipping from her tiny teacup Lily thought that it would be more enjoyable to bash the cups together. Apparently these cups are easily broken. Hence the shattered glass and tiny cuts on her body.

Up to this point I have been resistant to gate in our playroom (didn't want for her to feel imprisoned or abandoned). This past week has me reconsidering the value of imprisonment for the sake self-preservation. Bring on the gates!

Traveler Beware

Lily is an infant jet-setter. This kid has 8 stamps in her Canadian Passport and all of which are made possible by airmiles. If you do not have a credit card that lets you earn airmiles I highly recommend signing up for one right now. I digress...

When you travel with an infant alone you receive two different reactions from fellow passengers. The first reaction is that of pity from other people who sympathize with your situation. The second reaction is that of disgust and a little disbelief, ' how dare she bring a baby on our quiet plane.'

On our trip home, earlier in the week, I had the joy of being sandwiched on the plane by both Lily (on my lap) and a rather musky scented man to my left. Earlier in the day I had purchased a pack of California Rolls thinking that my baby would be able to enjoy a little Japanese cuisine for a protein-packed lunch. Lily definitely enjoyed the sushi rolls-probably a bit more than I would have liked. She was determined to shred those little buggers and then throw the imitation crab meat around the plane's cabin. She even offered our musky co-traveler a tasty handful of crab. After a rather heinous trip, I thought that I would offer a couple of key travel trips for traveling with a baby or small child.

1. Bring lots of Crackers. A surefire way to shut up a yelling babe is to offer some tasty treats.

2. Splurge and buy a portable DVD player. Lily is transfixed by her Sesame Street DVD, so I keep it as secret ammunition when I need for her to sit still.

3. Bring earplugs with you. Not for you but for your fellow passengers.

4. Cheap new toys. I have not tried this one yet but I have heard it can be a very effective distraction technique.

Happy Travels!

April Parties Bring June Babies

We're back! Lil and I had a busy extended weekend down in San Francisco celebrating the babies that will soon be joining our family.

About 40 ladies showed up for my sister, Tiffany's, baby shower last Saturday night. Not only did we get to see lots of friends and family but we did it all in the 95 (37C) degree sunshine! I do not have a lot of photos from Tiff's shower because I was running around, but if you check back in a few days I am sure that my sister Lizzy (the official shower photographer) will post some of the pics on her blog. Here are a couple of shots from the past weekend.

The Preggie Ones. Lil's Aunt Tiff and Second Cousin Victoria are both due at the end of June.

Ladies get together to celebrate Victoria's baby girl, Kaylin.

Lil giving Sophie the Doberman a hug and kiss.

Pulling out the grass action shot.

City By the Bay

Beware...I am going on another brief blogging break for the next week or so. The Lil and I are back in the Bay Area for the next few days to celebrate the impending birth of my sister Tiff's babe. I will update with many glorious details and juicy pics when we return to the frozen north. Oh and just to rub it in a bit, it is going to be 85 degrees this weekend (approximately 27 degrees my Canadian friends). Bring on the Sun!

Extended Easter

Have you ever heard of Easter Monday? Neither had I until I moved to BC. For some reason Ben was granted a 4 day Easter weekend which also included Easter Monday off. I did a little wikipedia research and learned that Easter Monday is primarily a Roman Catholic day celebrated in Eastern Europe. In Poland they call this day Dyngus Day. Ha! I like that name better. So Ben and I celebrated Dyngus by cleaning our house, doing crafts (me), playing XBOX (him), and pulling things out of cabinets (Lily).

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend hanging out with friends, family and each other. Here are a couple of pics from the past weekend.

Good Friday Brunch with our lovely friends the Carrs.

Lots of walks over the long weekend.

Daddy & Lil at Easter Dinner

4 Generations at Easter.

Lil playing the newly painted piano. She plays us a tune every day.

Our Hope

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, and came right up to where there were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.

The angel spoke to the women: " There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ' He is risen from the dead.' "
Matthew 28:1-7, The Message

Happy Easter!

Ahoy Me Maties!

Has anyone else been following the bizarre headlines about the US Ship attacked by pirates, off the coast of Somalia?

We have CNN set as our homepage so am I am able to constantly see the world's top news stories. Since yesterday morning, CNN has been following the Pirate Saga going on around Somalia. Of course when I first see the word 'pirate' in headlines it makes me giggle and think of a crusty man with an eye patch, skull and crossbones hat and a parrot perched upon his shoulder. I know that in reality, modern day pirates are just glorified thieves that happen to steal stuff by water rather than land, but I like the images created by movies better.

Since the original headline piqued my interest I have been following the story for the last 36 hours. Yesterday at noon the headline read US Crew Members Take Down Pirates. What?! They swash buckled their ship back? Then yesterday evening the headline read Pirates Hold Captain Hostage. This story keeps getting better!The most recent headline read FBI Negotiating with Pirates- again funny imagery comes to mind with this headline. Black suits and one legged men with striped tights, negotiating.

I know that for the people involved this is probably a horrific life experience, but for a random reader it is difficult for these headlines not to evoke some type of humor. You can check it out for yourself by clicking HERE.

Strike a Pose

Taking an 11-month-old's picture by yourself is trickier than it might seem. I have done 3 different outdoor 'photo shoots' with Lily over the last couple of days in hopes of capturing the perfect image for her Birthday Party invitations. Not the easiest endeavor of my life.

To capture Lil's attention I proceeded to dance around, make funny noises and wave around random sticks between my toes, all in an effort to capture this kid's attention. All of this took place on our driveway, which happens to be angled in such a way that drivers from a very busy road close to our home could easily take a gander at my antics. I think during one of the morning 'shoots' I may have even still been in my bathrobe.

After approximately 200 tries I think that I finally have my money shot. You will have to wait and see what it looks like once the invites are in the mail. For now you can enjoy a few of the shots that did not make the cut...

Ducky Day

Spring has finally come to our island. The grass is growing and daffodils are popping up all over the place.

We live close to a large bog that acts as a home all types of ducks during the spring and summer months. The bog is an ideal place for a short jog or a casual stroll through the quasi-wilderness. At least wilderness smack dab in the middle of the suburbs. The other evening we decided that Lily needed to see some ducks, so we sauntered on over to the bog- bread in hand. After fighting off a few nasty, hissing geese (Canadian geese attack people here), we were able to throw a few crumbs to some ducky friends.

Invite for Ben's Friends...

This is what Ben is planning while the Lil and I head down to California in a week and a half. He is getting excited for a whole weekend of eating pizza and sitting in front of his XBOX.

Crafting Obsession?

I have a new online obsession in my life. I am completely addicted to etsy.com. For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, the site is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade.
It is like a an attractive, crafty ebay (minus the auctions). Apparently this site has been around since 2005, but it is only within the last few months that I clued in and jumped on the bandwagon.

In the last week I have purchased a few handmade items from Etsy that I am itching to receive in the mail. I would not consider myself a hardcore craft enthusiast but the handmade items on this site range from jewelry, children's attire, vintage clothing, home decor and pretty much anything else that you could possibly dream of. Etsy reconnects the producer and consumer, and swings the pendulum back to a time when we bought our bread from the baker, food from the farmer, and shoes from the cobbler. For a very nominal fee you can even start your own Etsy store- I am considering putting up a few of my crocheted items.

You can sign up for your own Etsy account for free Here . But be warned, you will end up spending way more of your free (or work) time surfing this delicious site.

Poor Little Lil

Last night was an adventure in parenting. Poor little Lil contracted a fever around dinner time and miserably woke up every two hours during the night. Our normally independent and happy girl has been highly emotional and just wants to lay around the house today.

Since I am not feeling so great myself, Ben decided to stay home and help out with the sick babe. To cheer up Lily, Ben placed one of her fur coats on her favorite baby doll. Lily thought this was the funniest thing she had ever seen. During her playtime this morning, I happened upon Lils laying with her head upon the finely dressed baby doll. I decided to exploit the cuteness of some of these moments of recovery with her baby.

Play room shot with the baby.

She insisted on taking her baby into her bed for napping.

Watching cartoons with baby.

Poor girly. We are praying she feels better fast.

A New Pet Sheep

No, not really. But there was a large black sheep in our front yard this morning enjoying our dead plants. We have a feeling that in celebration of a little April foolery we had the 'wool pulled over our eyes' by family members with a sense of humor. I hear that the sheep is on the move, maybe he will be coming to your house next?