His face and eye are looking better after a bath.  But his hair?  Not so much.  Any tips on how to get this kind of greasy goop out of hair???

The new year is up and running – and while I like to take time to reflect on life in general, I find that my thoughts around New Year’s time, both this year and last (and probably for the rest of my life), seem to revolve around the fact that it was at this time of year that we became parents.  It still boggles my mind when I think of all that has happened in our little family since then.  I thank God daily for our two little miracles.  I also pray daily for wisdom in raising them.  Parenting is a wonderful, but oh-so-challenging job!!

Anyways, on to our experiments…

Martin’s experiment: The new float switch on the sump pump.  Saturday found Martin spending the day preparing for possible flooding here again.  We got a huge dump of snow over the past week – and now we have warm weather with rain in the forecast.  Melting snow and rain = trouble with water around here – and so Martin had his work cut out for him.  He deemed it all an experiment when he came back upstairs because the switch wasn’t quite working as he’d like it to.  If the experiment works – no flooding… if it doesn’t work… well, let’s just say there will be some water in the basement.  Thankfully it’s just storage space down there, and everything is in rubbermaids.  Having said that, a couple weeks ago when we found out that the float had broken in the first place, there was about 4 inches of water down there – and our vacuum cleaner was not in a rubbermaid .  Needless to say, we have a new vacuum cleaner.  And it’s being stored upstairs right now

My experiment(s):  It’s been all about our kids’ eating for me.  For Justin, we’ve been noticing a few problems with his digestion (I’ll leave the details out ) over the last few months.  I finally decided that in the new year I would start to see if I could figure out a thing or two with it all.  I experimented with eliminating a couple of foods from his diet, but when the simple little things didn’t work, I decided to try the big one and cut gluten.  It seems to be helping…. and that’s a bittersweet thing.  Sweet because I’m glad that things are improving for him… Bitter because it’s not so fun, since gluten is in so much stuff!!  I’m thankful for many MANY good alternatives out there for him.  I suppose the real test is happening this week, since we have to give him gluten again for a while so the lab tests the doctor ordered will be accurate.

Sadie has been a bit of an experiment too… I thought it was a sleep experiment, as she wasn’t napping well anymore.  Turns out it was actually an eating experiment too.  I discovered that she’s been hungry and that’s why she wasn’t going to sleep.  I eventually came to terms with the fact that nursing was over and formula-feeding is the way to go for now.  She’s eating and sleeping (mostly) happily again – and that means Mommy is happy too

My attempt at getting a picture of the kids on Christmas day. The camera did a funny lighting thing and the kids did not sit still for a half a second... so this is the best there is

They're starting to learn to play together. Justin thought he was a pretty fantastic big brother when he put his hat on Sadie. She carried on playing like nothing had happened (and the hat didn't go on overly gently)

Justin’s experiment(s):  ”How many of Mommy’s buttons can I push before I make her go crazy?”  Just kidding.  We’re doing pretty good on the behavior side of things .  I’m pretty sure that everything Justin does right now is an experiment… from trying to make new sounds so words come out clearer, to seeing how high he can climb something without falling, to how many things he can “BANG” with the hammer he made from duplo before it breaks… the list goes on and on.  It’s an age of experimenting and discovery – and it’s so fun to watch!

We brought up the big bin of duplo for him. He loves his new play spot and loves to build hammers, houses and airplanes

Very excited about the tower Daddy helped him build

Lately when he gets a cold, laying flat causes lots of coughing fits - long and painful - so he slept a good part of the night in the chair.

Sadie’s experiment:  Moving.  Full-steam ahead.  Last week she discovered how to move forward on her tummy.  She takes this new skill very seriously – and when she wants something across the room, you can definitely see her determination as she motors her way there.  This week we can see her starting to think about getting those knees underneath her and before we know it she’ll be crawling on all fours.  Amazing.

Yup, she's under there... it's how I found her one day after her nap. Apparently she's not claustrophobic.

If she falls asleep in the stroller, I just wheel it into the laundry room and let her finish her nap in there

In case you started to think all she does is sleep

And that sums up life at our house these days.  Throw in a shift of work for me again here and there, and the regular things to do and places to go, and we have life as we know it.  Full of blessings – one after the other.

See, I put up our Christmas tree again this year. Most of the decorating went a little more low-key this year – but the tree is always a fun part for me. For the past couple years, I’ve had kind of a rustic-ish look – using burlap strips and berry garlands. My problem was when it came to the top. I like a star or something on the top to finish it off, but the one I had just didn’t go with the theme I had going. It was silver with little bells – and yeah… it just didn’t work.
I’ve looked at other stars… I know the ones I like… those ones made of dried grapevine or twigs or something. Don’t know the fancy name – just know that I like the look. But the cheap in me came out – and I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the $$ on it.
So last year, I left it.
But this year, after reading this about making twine tree ornaments with styrofoam balls (which I also did), I figured I’d try see if the twine could work as much wonder on a silver star as it could on a styrofoam ball.
And it could. And I’m pretty excited at the fact that I got a new-to-me star for the tree with just a bit of twine.

It’s been a busy, but good month.  The highlight was being able to be at Jeff & Holly’s wedding in Ontario.  It was a super quick, but incredibly special time to be with family.  Justin got to spend the time with his Nana & Papa – and he thoroughly enjoyed that too!  Sadie came to Ontario with us, and was a model baby the entire time.  At least I thought she was  

And a few other tidbits:

Sadie is 6 months now (did I mention that time flies?) and smiley as ever.  She’s such an easy, happy little girl.

She is eating solids and loving them.  It was fun to watch her figure it out – from the first day of not knowing what in the world to do with the weird stuff in her mouth, to a couple days later eagerly opening her mouth each time the spoon came her way.  Justin always has to have a bite of her cereal too.  Not sure why, because it’s pretty bland, but he thinks it’s pretty cool to be eating the same stuff as his sister

And then there’s Justin .  Our energetic, fun-loving boy.  He climbs on and up and over anything he can.  Though he did get a little scared on the highest level at the McDonald’s playplace the other day.  I have to admit, his fear took me a little by surprise.  But I’m okay with a little bit of healthy fear.  Maybe it’ll keep him out of trouble here and there?   

He imitates almost everything we say and do now.  Especially Martin.  He’s definitely a Daddy’s boy.  When we came home from Ontario, my Mom took him to meet us at the airport, and besides the 2-second hug I got, he never left his dad’s side.  Not to worry – I’m not jealous.  I love that he has a Dad like Martin – couldn’t ask for a better father for our children – and it’s an amazing thing to see our boy look up to him like that.  I pray their relationship will always be strong. 

Anyways, back to the imitating.  Like I said, he copies almost anything Martin does.  Bringing in wood…

Or listening to an MP3 player.  Before he sat down like this (there’s nothing playing on it), he actually jogged around the living room, holding the earbud in his ear (Martin almost always listens to his MP3 player when he goes for a run).

Of course, he spends most of his days with me, so he does copy a little of what I do too .  One of his favorite things to do is “help” me bake.  He runs for a chair the minute he figures out I’m starting to get my ingredients together.  Most times I let him help me add the flour to whatever we’re making – and for now he’s satisfied with that. 

And last but not least… we had some fun getting our family pictures taken the other day.  Our friend and photographer blogged a few of them here.

And that sums up our October!

Martin got to pick where we went – and he chose Palmer’s Pond, near Tulameen.   The drive is a story in itself – well not so much the drive, but how we managed to fit ourselves, carseats and all, into Martin’s extended cab truck.  I’m fairly certain that even though there is a seatbelt in the middle of the front bench, that seat is not meant to be sat in for longer than 5 minutes.  Trying to find a good spot for my legs beside the gearshift was a bit tough

The hike was perfect – not to hard, not too long.  Okay, maybe 10 minutes too long .  Rianne and I were pretty sure we didn’t want to keep going anymore, but then we got to the the little pond/lake at the top.

Sadie and Justin were troopers.  Both happy all day, both sleeping in their carriers by the end of the hike.  I packed pretty light… a little too light for Sadie – she pooped through her clothes twice – and I handn’t banked on that.  Oh well, a little creativity with some blankets and we managed with the little shorts I had packed as an extra (shorts for a baby in the mountains?  I was obviously not thinking clearly when I packed those).  Oh well – like I said, we just got creative with the blankets, and it was all good. 

Anyways, the pictures:

Always happiest outside – just like his Daddy:

Our attempt at a self-portrait with everyone.  It took three tries before we got one where everyone made it into the picture

The trail was a bit soggy in places, so we made a few of our own trails to try keep our feet dry:

This picture doesn’t show it well, but this whole area was covered in little blue, yellow and white flowers.  Beautiful!!

As I mentioned earlier, both kids fell asleep.  Justin was so out when we got to the truck that we just left him in his pack and propped him up against a tree stump to finish his nap. 

We kept both of them sleeping there along the side of the road while Martin took care of this:

Yes, we came back to find a flat tire .  Oh well – it didn’t wreck our day – we were too excited that we managed a full hike with two little ones!

The day we left it rained.  And I mean rained.  We thankfully got our tent and tarp set up before the really heavy rains hit, so it wasn’t so bad.  Justin didn’t mind the rain at all.  He LOVED the puddles he could jump in.  At one point, he found a row of 3 puddles, and happily hopped into the first one.  But as he stepped out, he tripped, and landed face-first in the next one.  Our little outdoorsman (not sure if that’s a word) was completely unphased by it, and just carried on running and splashing . 

I’m not sure if I would have lasted the whole time with that kind of rain.  Justin would have definitely run out of clothes – and it would definitely have added a bit of challenge to the week.  But God gave us absolutely beautiful weather the rest of the week – and we enjoyed a lot of time sitting at the beach, reading books, walking around the lake, etc., etc.  The week was definitely a highlight for us this summer!

A few pictures to share:

Happy camper

Sadie spent a lot of time in the stroller. She was a happy little camper too!

Fell asleep on our walk around the lake. She looks like she should be uncomfortable - but she really seemed to like this spot

This pack was a gift from the people I work with when Justin came home. He still loves riding in there!

I had high hopes of posting more often over the next while… mostly because I promised my sister, who is touring as an “Auntie” with the African Children’s Choir (www.africanchildrenschoir.com) for the next year that I would keep her updated with pics of her nephew and niece. 

So Stef – these are for you   Hopefully I get better at this

He's figured out the camera... says "cheeeeese" and then wants to see his picture

 

Reading the paper with Daddy

Oh so cute little feet

Decided to hang out on the steps while talking on the phone to Nana

Showing Sadie the best part of Ruffy - his ear He always puts his thumb in his mouth and holds Ruffy's ear when settling to sleep.

Somebody has been VERY busy growing... compare this picture to the one I posted in May!

Peek-a-boo

Big helper cleaning up after having supper outside

Well, our boy still loves his music.  He gets super excited every time Martin pulls out his guitar.  Check out this new video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q30BaTTaX8o

*note the extended drumroll at the end

He’s also very ready for her to play with him!

The other day he was having so much fun shoveling the little rocks – and he thought she might like to join in too!  She didn’t hop out and join him, but she didn’t seem to mind being included in the fun .