MarkusseFamily

Happy Halloween and catch up on some overdue photos!!!

2009-11-02T19:17:00.012-07:00

I know, I know!!! Sorry its been so long again. I hope these pictures make up for that.

As predicted, Jared chose his Halloween costume this year. He of course insisted that Joel have the same costume. He really enjoys it when his brother wears the same thing as he does, and i'm enjoying it while it lasts. Both Jared and Joel went Trick or Treating this year. It was much fun with Joel because he is walking. He had a ball walking along the sidewalk from house to house. Between them they got more candy than they will ever be able to eat. At least this year Jared understands that it is just this one day that you can randomly knock on doors to collect sweets.

These aren't the best quality pictures, but I managed to snap Jared and Joel playing together and sharing a moment over some wine gums!!

It really didn't take Joel long to figure out that the toilet paper unrolls. Here he is discovering this fun new toy.

"Ah, a job well done!!"

"Look mommy, you puuuullll it like this"

"Please don't be angry mommy."

"Oh yay, you're not angry. Now come over here and feel how soft this stuff is!

You can see the 3 blue marks on his forehead. These were pretty much a permanent fixture for a while. I think it's standard issue when one decides that 91/2 months is a good time to start walking.

Jared is so grown up now.

That's a teething necklace on Joel. Jared has the same one. I love them. Jared thinks they are pretty cool too. I think they look like little surfer boys.

My little farmer brown

My beautiful boy

Deep in thought, plotting mischief.

Our 2 little spiders for Halloween. On the steps outside about to go trick or treating.

'Till next time xxxx

My treasure...

2009-09-15T20:57:00.006-06:00

Both our boys are growing up so fast. Jared is such a big boy now and still such a precious soul. He is always full of bumps and bruises because he is so full of beans and into everything. He still loves baby Joelie (as he calls him) very much and is visibly excited to see him in the morning and will often come over just to pat him on the head or sometimes give him a kiss.

Joel it seems is in a huge rush to catch up to his brother. I wouldn't be surprised if he is walking by the end of the month. He is able to stand up from a sitting position with no support without any effort and earlier today I caught him halfway up the staircase taking one stair per knee. My heart skipped several beats but he was doing well. We're going to have to work on teaching him to get down again. We have a single stair in our bedroom that he likes to climb up and down but ends up coming down head first more often than not which will not work on the main staircase!!

Evidence of his latest party trick

His eyes are still 2 different colours

This makes a really nice drum!!

Our beautiful Jared

'Till next time xxxxx

It took all of 5 minutes for me to lose Joel...

2009-08-26T17:15:00.004-06:00

In my lounge!!!! I was busy in the kitchen and stuck my head over the couch to see why Joel was so quiet and he was GONE!!! I stepped around (ok ran around) and luckily saw this peeking out…

Ok, I'll come out now

Mmmmm... I'm not quite sure how to do this. Help me?

Fine!! Then I'll do it myself.

You really are just going to sit there with that camera and not help me aren't you!!!

Ha!!! I did it!!! All by myself!!!!

'Till next time xxx

Joel decided to wear his dinner

2009-08-18T11:54:00.005-06:00

Joel decided that it wasn't enough to just eat his dinner, he had to fling it around a bit too. He had so much fun mushing it up between his fingers and rubbing it all over his face and hair. The clean up was quite a challenge. We ended up having to undress him over the kitchen sink and I ran upstairs with him and put him in an empty bath with some toys until we were organised and ready for bathtime. He was happy as a lark. Even after his bath and a good scrubbing he still smelled a bit like bolognese. It was worth it though just to see this happy little face.

If you look carefully at his bottom gum in this photo you can see his 2 little teeth peeking through.

'Till next time xxx

Catch up photos

2009-08-16T19:19:00.009-06:00

Hi all. I know I'm very far behind. I'm not even going to try and catch up on the backlog. I'm just going to pretend it never happened and start with the recent stuff.

Hennie, these ones are for you especially. Your shortest little friend got his bike riding sorted out in May and since then has been zooming all over the neigbourhood. We've had lots of falls already but that hasn't stopped him from taking the corners on 2 wheels and going as fast as his little legs can peddle. He really loves riding his bike.

These next few photos were taken of the boys a month ago.

Joel after a really enjoyable dinner. He loves his food. We have no problems with feeding him anything.

These photos were taken 2 weeks ago

Just a little update. Joel cut his first tooth the day he turned 8 months old on the 10th of August. He cut his second one today 6 days later AND the big news is that he started to crawl this afternoon. He's been threatening for a month or so but just didn't get it right and then he started walking on the furniture and we were concerned that he might try to skip the crawling but today he just crawled like he'd been doing it secretly all along. He is still such a happy baby and Jared is still wonderful with him. He enjoys playing cars with him on the carpet. I do think with him being mobile now their relationship will get even better because Joel will be even more fun. Jared loves making him giggle and the 2 of them giggling at each other is one of my favorite sounds in the whole world.

'Till next time. I'll try not to make it so long xxx

Jared's first soccer game

2009-05-03T07:50:00.013-06:00

Jared has his first soccer lesson yesterday. It was absolutely priceless. I thought my heart would explode with how adorable these little ones were and how much fun they had. It was a little like herding cats to start with but as the hour went on they did better and better. The coach said that they had done very well for an under 4 team. He says it is usually a lot more chaotic.

They all got their team shirt and shorts and socks. We had to supply the boots and shin guards. Their colour is orange and they all decided that they will be known as the Tigers!! They also each got to choose the number that they wanted to be. Jared chose 6. The shirts were of course 3 sizes too big on all of them. But nodoby even seemed to notice.

The lesson started with 30 mins of warm up and excerises with the ball. Jared would not part with "his" ball for anything. He made sure if it wasn't in his hands that it was very close by at all times. They did some running between cones with the ball and some stretching once they were warmed up. All very professional for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. In the beginning I thought we were going to have to can the soccer idea and rather enroll Jared in Basketball because he wouldn't leave the ball on the ground. He insisted on picking it up and no amount of "no hands" was going to convince him that was a good idea. He caught on after a while though and seemed to get it.

After the warm up they all got a snack and a juice. And then the big moment of their first game against another team. They played against the grey team - The Dinasours. Now that was a sight!!! There were tears from one little guy because the children wouldn't play with him, they were all running away. He never realised they were chasing the ball and not running away from him. Jared cried because he couldn't get the ball. One of the others was crying because he just wanted a turn. Hannes went onto the field with Jared and explained to him that the game was to chase the ball and try and get it away from the other children. He shrieked with laughter declaring that was a fun game and was off and running. From that moment he was all over that ball like a rash.

I tried very hard to limit the photos but it was very difficult so here is my best selection from over 100 pictures.

Warming up between the cones. Notice Jared with his ball in his hands.

Getting the hang of the no hands rule finally.

Doing stretches for their warm up. Too cute to even try to describe.

Still stretching

Playing Red light, Green light. When the coach shouts "green light" they have to run kicking the ball. When he shouts "red light" they have to come to a stop and put their foot on top of their ball.

And it's a green light!!!

Soccer mom in training.

Snack time.

Soccer dad and the team mascott in training.

Jared fast on his way to get the ball from the coach.

GOT IT!!!!

A plane flying overhead with a beautiful vapor trail. Jared loves seeing this and is convinced that it is a shooting star. He spotted this one and the result is in the photo below...

He had the whole team stop what they were doing and all were trying to see the shooting star that he was all excitedly pointing out to them.

Team huddle before the start of THE BIG GAME!!!

Jared and this little guy were both after the ball. Jared was trailing behind...

He caught up and got the ball...

And this was the end result of that little run. No tears, these boys are tough.

I love how big these shirts all are. It's just a reminder of how small these little guys actually still are.

Running full tilt with the ball in his hands while the coach was shouting "no hands, no hands".

This was an awwwww moment. This is the coaches wife with her little boys. He little guy ran and went and sat down on her legs, Jared saw this and decided that would be a fun thing for him to do too. She totally just took it in her stride with a big smile as though it happens often.

Our beautiful little man.

'Till next time xxxx

A day at the zoo

2009-04-11T07:07:00.003-06:00

Spring has finally arrived. This has been the worst winter in terms of amount of snow and duration in the last 30 something years apparently. We all survived it though and nobody threatened to leave on a jet plane. In fact, if this is as tough as it gets, we have nothing to worry about.

We spent yesterday at the zoo enjoying the sunshine. Jared had a ball running around and jumping in all the puddles with his shark boots. Joel had fun too being pushed around and watching the world go by. It was a really lovely day out. Here are a few photos of our beautiful boys taken at the zoo.

This smile lights up the room. Joel was 4 months old yesterday.

Like his brother, Joel has beautiful blue eyes

We treated Jared to an Oreo cookie ice-cream. Let's just say he enjoyed every morsel

Our cool cat with his sunglasses

Check out the shark boots. The day we bought those we tried them on in store for size and he refused to take them off. The sales lady had to cut the tags off them while they were still on his feet and then he would pretty much only take them off for bedtime for a few weeks.

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake

2009-04-02T20:36:00.007-06:00

Jared and I decided to bake some cookies yesterday. We have never baked at home but he loves to help in the kitchen so I thought it would be fun. I usually keep him busy while I'm cooking by filling the sink with water and giving him measuring cups and spoons. He amuses himself for ages pouring water from one sink into the other. He doesn't always manage to keep it all in the sinks though!!

Anyway, the baking went really well. We had fun. It was a very easy recipe but I'm guessing it has to be in order for it to be flop proof. With the amount of tasting that Jared did and sticking his fingers into the mixture and poking and prodding I was sure that the recipe would flop but it didn't. I must say the cookies are not the nicest I've ever tasted but they are edible. Well Hannes and I think so anyway. Jared seems to think that "they are yucky mommy". It was fun to do though. Next time I think we'll try some cup cakes (pup cakes as Jared calls them).

Here are a few photos that I managed to snap in between the baking. We are still enjoying the I have a really silly grin on my face stage! I have faith that it too shall pass.

Very cute in one of my aprons and wearing his Chef's hat that he got at Christmas time at the cookie decorating stand

This is the closest I got to a normal smile

Concentrating really hard on getting everything well mixed

So much fun!!

Messy boy adding the M&M's

Very proud with his cookies all ready for the oven

The silly grin covered in chocolate from all the tasting

The finished product. Jared's Polka Dot Cookies

Twins almost 3 years apart...

2009-03-15T10:23:00.011-06:00

When Joel found his thumb a few weeks ago I decided to go through all Jared's baby photos to see how old he was when he found his thumb. I could not believe how alike they are in these photos. In fact, they really are such similar looking babies they would be easily confused.

Jared at just over 4 months old and Joel at just under 3 months old

I took the boys for some photos on Tuesday in celebration of Joel's 3 month birthday and Jared's upcoming 3rd birthday. While we were there I did some unplanned shots with the boys which I was very happy about in the end. I think she got some lovely pictures of us. When we go again for Joel's 6 month mark I think we'll do it as a family shoot again like we did in December. Here are the photos.

Joel took to his new cot very well. In fact, it was a good move because he went to sleeping for 12 hours straight a night after the first night in his own room. I go in when he wakes up in the morning and feed him and then he goes straight back to sleep until he wakes up himself or until I have to wake him on school days. He is growing beautifully. I will hopefully get to the clinic to have him weighed and measured on Wednesday but my arms tell me that there is no doubt that he is gaining weight well. He is still a very happy little baby and loves to chat. He loves to watch his big brother and hardly takes his eyes off him when he is in the room.

Jared is doing very well. He still loves school. He knows exactly what he wants and isn't afraid to let you know. He is a very confident little boy who talks to anybody and always has a smile ready. He loves his brother and still calls him baby Joel or Joelie. He will often just walk past him and stroke his little head and sometimes give him a kiss. We have been incredibly lucky that he has had no jealousy issues or real adjusment issues since Joel arrived. It's hard to explain but it's almost like he just understands that Joel is here to stay and is still small and so needs my attention often. He loves lying next to him on the bed and thinks it is very funny when Joel "pumps me" (that is Jared speak for bumps him) with his hand or foot.

We are thoroughly enjoying our little boys and life couldn't be any more perfect with them in our lives.

'Till next time xxxxxx

My gorgeous little boys

2009-02-16T19:58:00.004-07:00

Joel was already 2 months old on the 10th. It feels like he has always been with us though, he has really fitted in so nicely. Jared loves his baby brother and is still very good with him. We do have to remind him from time to time that Joel is still little. He will try and give him a train or a car to hold and I'm not sure he understands why Joel won't hold it. I wish I could bottle it to show him in a few years time when he is frustrated with Joel who won't leave his toys alone!!!

We moved Joel into his own room tonight. It is a month earlier than we did with Jared but he sleeps so much better than Jared did at this age, and also the house is so much warmer than the house we were living in when Jared was born was. I don't have to freeze walking down the passage to the nursery and I don't have to worry about Joel getting cold in the middle of the night. Our house is a constant 22 degrees so it's really nice and toasty. Not to mention the ease of the breastfeeding versus the bottle feeding and fighting with kettles and bottle warmers etc etc. Joel's early morning feed is 15 to 20 minutes start to finish!! Now it's just a question of him liking his new, bigger bed as opposed to the cozy little crib he's been in for the last 2 months. Mmmm... I'll update you all on that soon.

Here are a few photos I took of the boys just before bathtime tonight. I managed to get a few of Jared too. You'll see the proof of the cheesy grin I mentioned in my last post.

Baby Joel at 8 Weeks

2009-02-07T16:20:00.003-07:00

Look at this little frown!! So many people comment on how cute his frown is. It is terribly cute and he has frowned like that from birth. It is a really enquiring little look he gets. Joel is doing really well. Let me just say that he is the chairman of the marketing department. He sleeps for 8 hours at a stretch at night. He is breastfeeding like a pro and is just overall an incredibly content and happy baby. We are very blessed indeed.

Jared is still doing very well and he is enjoying his little brother. He takes great pride in introducing him to people as "this is my friend, baby brother Joel". I am also "my friend mommy" and Hannes is "my friend dada". It is very precious. We have enrolled him to start playing soccer at the end of April. I have no idea how they control a bunch of 3 year olds with 1 ball so I'm thinking they must surely give them each a ball!! We'll see how they do it. We may even learn a thing or 3. He still loves school. We may have to concede and send him 5 days a week for 3 hrs after the summer break. I don't have any new photos of him to post I'm afraid. It is a challenge getting decent photos of him these days. We're at the pull a funny face when I see the camera stage. You'll just have to take my word for it, he is still beautiful and still has the happiest most contagious smile I know!!

'Till next time xxx

Joel at 7 weeks

2009-01-31T10:03:00.006-07:00

I can't believe that it's been more than 7 weeks since this precious little boy joined our family. He is really such a happy, content little guy. He feeds like a pro and sleep really well (for the most part). He loves watching his big brother and is very generous with his smiles. He is incredibly chatty and will talk to you and smile at you for ages. He still loves his bath at night. We're really all enjoying him tremendously.
Here are some photos I managed to snap on the bed a few days ago. I even got a bit of a smile captured. He was very funny, he would be smiling until I lifted the camera up to my face. Then I would get this cute little frown, a kind of "hey, where did you go" look.

Our family of 4 and other bits and bobs

2009-01-23T06:10:00.010-07:00

We had our first family of 4 photoshoot done on the 29th December. It was fun. Jared was on form and we got some lovely photos. She managed to capture Jared's personality really well I think. Here is a selection of a few of my favorites.

We've had a week or so of really nice weather so the other day I decided to go for a walk with Jared and Joel. I thought that it would be a good idea to take Jared for a haircut while we were out. Let me just say that haircuts are not a pleasant task. For some reason he is petrified and so he cries and shakes throughout the whole thing. I have to have him sitting on my lap, it's actually awful and I don't know why he is so afraid. I'm sure like all these little things though he will outgrow it. Anyway, I bribed him with ice-cream this time thinking that might make a difference but it never did, he still cried. After the lady was done she offered him a mohawk and a choice of colour for his mohawk. He chose purple and thought it was very cool. In his words, "my mocork is very very smart". Thankfully it was a temporary style that washed out that night in the bath. Maybe next time the mocork will be motivation enough not to have him scared *crossing fingers*.

A little update on our newest family member. Joel is doing really well. We had his 6 week check-up yesterday and he now weighs 4.9kgs. The biggest shock was his length. He is now 60cms long. He has grown 7cms in 6 weeks!!! I wondered why he is almost too long for the 0-3 month babygros and now I know. He is an angel baby though. He sleeps really well. He goes for 6-8 hrs at night, in fact last night he slept for 8 1/2 hours. This is even more astounding since he is an exclusively breastfed baby. (that feels so good to say!!!) He is a really happy baby and loves to smile already and is very generous with his smiles. It is so interesting to see how different and also how similar he and Jared are at the same stage. Joel like Jared won't take a dummy anymore. He took one for a few weeks and has now decided he no longer likes them. He has started to rediscover his fingers though so I recon he'll have his thumb in his mouth before long. He loves to be held. His favorite place to sleep is on my chest. Jared wasn't that much of a cuddly baby. He seems to be a real mommy's boy and often won't settle until I take him. Jared would go to pretty much anyone.

Jared is loving his baby brother. He calls him baby Joel or baby brother. He really is very sweet with him. I often find him just chatting to Joel and he gets very excited if Joel smiles at him. We have had no jealousy issues so far and no issues of him being too rough. He really seems to have gotten the whole baby thing very easily. He doesn't seem to mind if people hold him in the house but I have had him politely ask 2 people to please give his baby brother back to his mommy when we were out!! Thankfully he did it in his usual polite way though.

Hannes, Jared and now Joel all bath together at night. Jared likes to help to wash Joel. We've had to tell him a few times that Joel doesn't like to have water put on his head but other than that there have been no issues. Thankfully Joel seems to take after his brother and he loves the water. He really enjoys his bath and I started massaging him a few weeks ago and he loves that too.

Here are a couple of photos of Joel taken on Wednesday on his 6 week birthday. I need to work a bit harder on getting a shot of his smile.

'Till next time xxx

Catching up...

2009-01-10T16:53:00.001-07:00

Part of the midwives service is that they come to the house and visit for as long as you need them to help you with breastfeeding and just generally to make sure that you are both doing ok. They are also still available 24/7 on the pager while you are under their care for 6 weeks.

Luba made one of the house calls that required Joel to be weighed just to make sure that he was gaining weight since we were trying to get breastfeeding established. The babies get weighed in a fish scale on their home visits and we thought it was just too cute not to take photos of. Joel left his mark on the sling though hee hee!!

Sunette arrived on the 17th December for a 3 week visit. Jared was so happy to see her. It was amazing that he remembered her immediately even though he hadn't seen her since July.

Our first outing with Joel and Jared together was to the Southcentre Mall to have their annual Santa pics done. We of course had to stop in at Mrs Clause's kitchen again this year so that Jared could decorate his gingerbread cookie again. (Here is the link to last years pics http://markussefamily.blogspot.com/2007/12/run-run-as-fast-as-you-can.html ) He had loads of fun again this year and spent a lot of the time eating the icing and the sprinkles.

The finished product

And it tastes as good as it looks!

The set where the Santa photos were taken

Our tree went up a little bit late this year with all the excitement of the new baby in the house. Here are some photos of our special ornaments. Last year we started the tradition of a new ornament every year for Jared and so this year for Joel too. We also got a really cute family one. (I never realised the photos were out of focus until it was too late, sorry!!)

Both of these for the boys say "baby's first Christmas".

Christmas Eve was met with loads of excitement. Hannes, Jared and Sunette went off the see the Zoo Lights. Joel and I stayed in for a night of pizza and movies hee hee!! When they got home we put out milk and cookies for Santa and Santa's elves had delivered new PJ's again together with a letter. He brought Jared and Joel matching PJ's which was very cute and Jared thought just great.

Some photos of the Zoo Lights. It is an annual Christmas event and very popular.

The tree after Santa had been and left all the presents. He ate the cookies and drank the milk.

Our beautiful boys on Christmas morning in their matching PJ's

Joel in his special "My First Christmas" babygro. Isn't he gorgeous!

Joel in his swing watching all the paper ripping excitement.

Christmas was loads of fun this year again. Jared really understood this year and he loved opening all his presents.

Here are a few photos of Joel taken over the first few days of his life.

'till next time xxx

The birth of our new baby

2009-01-09T14:27:00.009-07:00

I am desperately trying to catch up on the blog. I am sure I will get there sometime but there is so much to post and so many photos I want to share that I seem to never get there.

I thought I'd start with the birth of our new baby boy. I am going to share his birth story that I jotted down on paper to keep the memory alive forever. Here it is...

The birth story of Joel Christopher Markusse

After the birth of my first son I had decided that I would really like to have a Vaginal Birth after caesarean (VBAC). So when I fell pregnant with our second I spent a lot of time researching what my best chances of achieving a VBAC would be. We decided to enlist the care of a team of midwives instead of using an OBGYN for this pregnancy.

My pregnancy was textbook – as it was the first time around. Pregnancy is a great time for me, my body responds very well to it and I really do love the whole experience.

We’d been on weekly visits with the midwives since 36 weeks. I had been having spates of regular contractions for at least a week since about 38 weeks. The contractions just never progressed though. They were strong enough that I was aware of them but that was where it ended. I had started with acupuncture to help move things along as well. On Tuesday 9 Dec I had my 3rd acupuncture appointment at the clinic. When I arrived, midwife Asia and I had a chat in the passage. I mentioned to her that I’d had some nice contractions the night before that had amounted to nothing and she then offered to do a stretch and sweep for me after my appointment to see if that helped to get things going.

She did the sweep and I left the clinic having gone from 0 – around 2-3cms dilated. She was very happy but when I asked her what the chances were that this would bring on labour she said “possible but really not likely”. She said she’d do another sweep in clinic at my appointment on Friday. I was very crampy for the rest of the afternoon but nothing too major and no contractions.

That evening I had a La Leche League meeting at 7. My mucus plug had def gone after the stretch and sweep and I was feeling quite uncomfortable. I sat through the meeting having very noticeable and regular contractions but I didn’t do any timing because I never thought they could possibly be the real thing and I didn’t want to make a big deal of anything in front of the other ladies just in case it wasn’t the real deal.

I got home just after 8 and Hannes had cooked us dinner. I ate my dinner having to stop quite often for some strong and noticeable contractions. At around 9pm they became unavoidable. We started to time them. They were at 8 mins apart and lasting 45 – 60 seconds. They moved to 5 mins apart within 2 hours and were getting much stronger. I was in bed and trying to sleep at this stage and realised it wasn’t going to happen. By now we were thinking ok, maybe this IS it!! We still were in denial though. I don’t think we wanted to get our hopes up. Eventually after I realised that the contractions weren’t going away I decided to go and have a bath. Hannes ran me a nice warm bath which was wonderful to get into. The contractions started to come faster after that though so we pretty much had to admit that this was it, the show was finally on the road. I spent some time in the bath and eventually we decided to give the midwives a page just to check in and let them know what was happening. It was around midnight by then. Asia was on call. We had a chat and she spent quite a long time on the phone with me through a few contractions just to try and get a sense of where I was. She asked if I wanted her to come through and I said I didn’t think it was necessary just yet and that she should go back to bed and we’d call her later.

After I got out of the bath and back into bed things really picked up. Sleep was not even nearly a possibility. I decided to go downstairs on my own for a while and just try and get through a few contractions on my own. I thought if I got on the couch and sat in the recliner I might be able to snooze between contractions. It doesn’t work like that though. I found that being woken from a sleep intensified the pain I felt. I managed on my own until around 3:30 and then asked Hannes to come down and be with me. (Jared was fast asleep through all of this).

Finally at around 4:30 I got Hannes to call Asia and asked her to pop over. I went and got back into the bath. It was very comfy in the bath, by far the most comfy place I could find. Asia arrived just after 5. The contractions were by now coming every 3 and sometimes 4 minutes and were very strong but when she checked me I was only at 3cms. I don’t think any of us could believe it. I had thinned out to nothing but there had been no real further dilation. I told Asia to go back home and at least have her get some more sleep. I didn’t see the sense in 3 of us sitting and watching the clock.

By 6:30am I decided I had enough. I told Hannes that I wanted to go to the hospital. I had until then never considered an epidural but at that moment it was all I wanted. I think the fact that I was in so much pain for so little progress really impacted me. I also think that at that stage I may have gotten a little bit of a 6th sense of things to come.

We called our support person for Jared and asked her to come over, we called Asia and told her to meet us at the hospital and then we started to get ready. We had to do everything in 3 minute increments because I was not able to move during a contraction. Hannes was amazing. So supportive and understanding. I would never have lasted as long as I did if it wasn’t for him.

Michelle arrived just after 8 to be with Jared. He actually only woke for the day once she had arrived. He was very happy to see her and he didn’t seem at all distressed by me being in pain or by the fact that we were leaving him to go to the hospital.

We finally arrived at the hospital at around 9:30. Asia had already admitted me so we went straight up to labour and delivery where Asia was waiting. I was put straight onto the monitor to check baby. He was doing very well. Asia checked me and there had still been no real progress. She was concerned that baby was lying posterior and asked if I would agree to have one of the doctors come in and give us a second opinion.

The doctor arrived and did a check and confirmed that they head was still very high and that there had not been much dilation for the contractions I was having. Her recommendation was that we break my water and see if that got things going at all. They then offered me something for pain. I decided on the epidural. I think they got that going at around 12pm finally. After 15 hours without pain relief and knowing that this was going to be a long haul I could have proposed marriage to the anaesthetist at that point.

Not long after that Asia called the doctor back in to come and break my water. She wanted it to be done as a controlled break because his head was still so high and so she wasn’t going to take any chances with a possible cord prolapse. My waters broke and they were clear, baby was doing well on the monitor. My epidural was working and we were good to go for a while longer. The epidural was actually amazing. I could move around but I could feel no pain. I felt some pressure when I was having a contraction but no pain. The fact that I could still feel my feet and legs and move made such a difference.

We got me up onto hands and knees to try and encourage baby to turn some and to try and get the contractions up a bit more. They had all but stopped by that stage. Things were really not looking good. The only thing left that we hadn’t tried was an Oxytocin drip. Knowing the added risks that came with that we weren’t sure if we wanted to try it. Asia decided to get another doctor in for another opinion.

The doctor arrived and checked me. He told us that although I was sitting at around 6cm by then (and had been for a good few hours) the baby’s head had not descended down and so there was nothing putting any pressure on my cervix which is what it needs in order to dilate. He said that he did not see any merit in giving the oxytocin and that the possible risks were far too great taking into account that it would not alter the course of my labour anyway. He told me that he was sorry to say that I was starting another c-section in the face. He did say that I could take as long as I wanted to try and get things going again since baby was happy but that in his opinion it was futile. He didn’t want me to feel forced into it though.

We talked about it after he left and both Hannes and I and Asia decided that it was silly to prolong the inevitable and that we would prefer to get it done while the baby was still happy and there were no emergencies.

I was wheeled into theatre just after 4:30pm and baby Joel Christopher Markusse was born at 4:55pm. He came out shouting and was perfect!! He weighed 4.12kgs and was 53cms long. We’re all healthy and happy and have no regrets. We always knew there was a chance we would need another c-section, we are just happy we got the chance to give a VBAC our best shot.

Here are a few photos from the day.

Here he is all 4.1kgs of him!!

Just back in the ward after spending close on 3 hours in recovery. Jared spent most of that time in there with us. Our first new family of 4 photograph.

Jared getting a really good look at his new baby brother.

The view from the hospital room window on the day Joel was born.

All cleaned up. Joel had this lil bro hat and Jared had a "Big Brother" t-shirt.

'till next time xxx

New Beginnings

2008-11-18T07:25:00.005-07:00

It seems our lives are currently full of special new beginnings. We have a new baby on the way any day now and our big baby had his first day at school yesterday.

We have visited the school quite a number of times since enrolling him so when we arrived yesterday it wasn't at all a strange place. We had told him that we would leave him with his new teacher and friends and come back to fetch him later. He seemed ok with that. When we got there he was a bit clingy and wanted me to pick him up. I hung up his jacket and put on his inside shoes and it wasn't 10 minutes and he told the teacher that he wants to go and build a tower. So off they went and got out his mat and the tower. The teacher asked if mommy and daddy could leave and he then said yes and very excitedly kissed us both goodbye. So we left and went off to have a nice long breakfast together all the while discussing what we thought Jared was up to at the time :o)

When we arrived to collect him he spotted us through the window and was very happy to see us. The teacher (who is also South African) said that he didn't ask for us once and that he fitted in very well and really enjoyed all the activities. It is a Montessori School so he was pretty much left to do what he wanted to do yesterday. She feels that he is going to adjust and adapt very easily. Picking him up yesterday was a very proud mommy moment for me. I realised that even though he is only 2 1/2 he is a self confident little boy with a lot of trust in me. We said we'd be back and he knew we would. He walked into a strange place and just fitted in. I'm very proud and very proud of our little boy.

Here he is with his lunch box. Being that it is only 3 hours he just takes a little snack of fruit or vegetables. Yesterday he took a banana. They are not allowed to take bags to school purely because there isn't enough space in the classroom without it becoming terribly crowded.

Yummy banana

I'm going to schooooool!!

We finished off the final preparations for the arrival of our new bundle of blue this weekend. We've had fun doing and it has definitely finally hit home for me that in not too long I get to do all this wonderful baby stuff again and I can't wait!! The nursery is done (even though he'll be in our room for a while like his big brother was), the bags are packed and waiting and the car seat is even in the car. We're on weekly visits with the midwives now and things are looking great. Both baby and I are happy and healthy and growing (some more than others ;o) )

Here are some pics of our little boy's brand new bedroom.

And this is his little moses basket which is on a rocking stand which we'll use for him for the first while in our bedroom.

'Till next time xxxxx

Boo!! Trick or Treat!!

2008-10-31T19:37:00.003-06:00

It was Halloween today!! Since this is likely to be the last year that I get to choose Jared's costume for him I thought it would be nice to dress him as a vet. I figured he would also have fun playing with the stuff after Halloween.

He loved his costume and was particularly excited about the puppy that came in the pocket and his "heart" (stethoscope).

Hannes had the task of taking him trick or treating around the neighbourhood whilst I stayed home to face my own entertainment of the kiddies ringing the doorbell looking for treats. I must say I saw some really cute characters including "Taptain Hook".

Hannes says Jared had an absolute ball ringing the door bells and announcing trick or treat as the door opened. (I'm anticipating having an interesting time explaining to him that we can only ring people's doors for sweets once a year!!) He had fun telling the people he was a puppy doctor. Hannes says he was very chatty with everyone he met and i'm very proud that he remembered his please and thank you. Although Hannes says that the thank you did earn him an extra chocolate bar or two.

The weather was gorgeous out tonight. No jackets required so the streets were really teeming with children all dressed up. It also meant that they could stay out much longer collecting their stash.

Here he is, the world's most handsome Veterinarian.

"Trick or Treat"

"Oh dear puppy!! Are you hurt? Here, let me help you."

"Don't be scared, I just want to listen to your heart"

"Ah yes. It seems to be working just fine. I think you'll be ok."

Till next time xxxx

Pumpkin Hunt

2008-10-20T20:44:00.013-06:00

I cannot believe that it is a year ago already that we last did this. Here is the link in case you don't remember. Look how little Jared was teehee!!http://markussefamily.blogspot.com/2007/10/pumpkins-hayrides-goats-and-bunnies.html

It was loads of fun again. Jared loved the tractor and the hayride. He wasn't as interested in the animals this year as he was about pulling the wagon. The weather had turned on us a day before the hunt so we were all bundled up nice and warm. Our high was 7 degrees for the day. Here are the pics.

Getting the rundown on how the hunt works and getting the little ones all excited.

Practising to shout puuummmmpppkkkiiiiinnnnssss so the tractor knows to stop at the pumpkin patch

There was a little boy who rolled down the hill and I knew Jared would want to do the same. He watched, walked straight to the top of the hill and tried it. He didn't quite manage though...

He did however decide that it was as much fun to scoot down the hill on his bum. Luckily he wasn't in a designer outfit!!

He was not going to give up that easily though. He came and told us that he couldn't roll down the hill and asked his dad to please come and help him. So dad helped him roll down the hill amid much shrieking and giggling.

It was also loads of fun to run up and down the hill again and again.

Dada got roped into that too more than once.

A cuddle for mommy too.

He missed nothing this little man of ours.

Isn't he perfect!

The tractor and wagons that took us on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Mmmmm... I wonder what's under here?

If I just move these leaves.

I see it!! It's my pumpkin!!

I'll get it!!

Shew!! It's heavy but I'll do it "by myself"

You see mommy, I told you I could do it!

Back on the hayride, off to the farmyard to go and decorate the pumpkin.

He was not going to let that pumpking go. Not for 1 minute!!

Decorating the pumpkin with dad.

Such fun and messy stuff to touch in here!

The finished masterpiece. He is very proudly displayed on our front step for Halloween.

Pulling the wagon. This was a huge hit!!

That's it for now. Till next time xxx

Princes Island Park

2008-09-28T19:53:00.008-06:00

It was such a gorgeous day today that we decided to visit one of the parks that we haven't yet been to. It is situated in the centre of town. It was busy with people just sitting on the benches reading their books or cycling or rollerblading. Lots of families just enjoying the sunshine. Hannes managed to snap some beautiful photos of Jared which I thought I'd share with you.

Looking at part of the city skyline

"Let's go this way"

"Please can I go and walk in the water?"

"Hey! Look at the airplane"

And he's off again.

People just milling around enjoying the day out.

And I just love these. His daddy managed to get him to sit still for, oh about a minute. And he managed to get him to do a little bit of posing. Too cute!

My absolute favorite of the day.

Next weekend we're hoping to get out to another park and go and play in some of the autumn leaves. We never really managed to capture the trees today. We have fantastic weather lined up for the week. We had a giggle when we saw that our weather is actually warmer than the weather in Cape Town this week. Gotta love it!!!

Till next time xxx

A quick blog

2008-09-27T19:55:00.004-06:00

Jared came to his father this afternoon and asked him to take off his shoes. "Please dada I want to walk with my feet". I should have known something was up. His little splash pool was standing on the deck and had quite a bit of water in it from the rain we've had and before we knew it he was in it clothes and all. He had such fun and that water was cold. Here are a few pics we managed to snap when we finally thought about the camera.

You can see the roastie he has on his nose. He got that on Friday when he was jumping on the couch (that he knows he isn't allowed to do) when I wasn't looking and he fell off. The roastie is carpet burn (I promise I'm not laughing!!!) Other than his nose and a bit of a bruised ego he is fine. So fine that we have had to remind him several times since then what happens when you jump on the couch!!

It wasn't long after this and he was sitting in the water on his bum after the jumping and splashing got too boring.

Teasing his father trying to take his photo saying "smile"

Deep concentration at the sandpit

Next to got boring so he decided to try inside!!

Till the next time xxx

The Road To The Sun

2008-09-15T09:19:00.006-06:00

I know my updates are getting less and less but I realised how tough it is for me to find stuff that I think you will find exciting now since we are so settled over here with the way our new lives are. I don't want to bore you with everyday things so always wait until we do something new. Anyway, here is something new :o)

On Saturday morning we woke up and decided to hop across the border and take a chance on finding a room for the night and to drive to the Glacier National Park. There is a road there called The Road To The Sun that we had heard is really spectacular.

We are only 2 hours from Kalispell Montana here in Fernie and the Park is only about 20 minutes from there so we decided to try and stay in Kalispell so that we could do some shopping and then get a start from there on Sunday morning to the Park. We battled to find accommodation since it is a really popular destination but eventually found a stunning room at the Holiday Inn Express. It was really a fantastic find. It was very reasonably priced, had 2 queen size beds in the room and it included a yummy continental breakfast. We honestly couldn't have done better if we had actually planned the trip months in advance. Jared of course loved the idea of having us in the bed in the room with him. It was a challenge getting him to stop talking and go to sleep but he was really well natured about it so we had to stiffle giggles more than anything. He did of course get up really early on Sunday morning when he saw us lying in the bed next to him. That suited us though because it forced us to get an early start.

The drive through the park was indescribably beautiful. As usual the pictures don't even do it justice. I have included some photos anyway, but believe me, it is like nothing you have seen. You climb so high on these gorgeous mountain roads. When you look up you can see the cars travelling higher up ahead of you and you can't believe that that is where you are going to be going.

We never realised just how much there is to see in the park, so we have decided that we will have to go back again but do a 2 night stay next time and hopefully we'll get to see more of the park then.

We left the mommy mobile at home and took Hannes's Tonka Toy out.

My happy little boy

Waving wildly at dada

This is what we were looking at

Too beautiful to describe

"The Weeping Wall". Water coninuously runs out of this wall.

We were very high up here already.

I suppose the little patches of snow still lying around here and there even though summer is almost over are a good indicator of just how high up we really were.

'Till next time xxx

It's all about the holidays!

2008-07-30T13:59:00.014-06:00

I don't know where to start with this post. We have been so busy and had so many fun things on the go that choosing photos was another near impossible task.

In order of how things happened is a good start I guess.

We decided to take a little long weekend break together as a family and chose a place called Panorama Mountain Resort. Here is their website if anyone is interested. http://www.panoramaresort.com/index.htm So off we went from Friday night and left on Tuesday morning. It was a lovely little get away. The weather was amazing. It was actually too hot on some days, reaching 35 degrees. We spent our time at the pools for the most part. Jared is such a fearless little waterbaby. We also had it confirmed that he is a charmer of note. We were in the pool and some random lady looked at him and said "you are very cute" to which he replied "you are very beautiful". We all nearly fell over laughing.

We saw our first bear on this trip. We never got any pics worth posting unfortunately as it sprinted off into the woods before we could get any decent shots at all. We did however get a good look at a mommy deer with her twin babies. So special.

Panorama is a ski resort and in the summer they open the slopes and ski lifts to the mountain bikers. The speeds at which they come down those hills is hair raising beyond description. Hannes went for a ride up the lift to get some pics. Jared and I stayed on the ground though.

The resort from the ski lift

The pools taken from the ski lift

Mommy deer with her twin Bambi's

The little ones were very curious but skittish

Getting a wash. Look at him peeking at us.

Mommy. Isn't she beautiful!

I just love this flower that Hannes photographed.

So after that nice little holiday it was a matter of days before Sunette arrived for her quick 10 day visit. We spent some time in Calgary which was a must for shopping :o) and we made a trip to Banff and Lake Louise just because Sunette hadn't seen it in summer and it is so close to home it is a nice day trip. And then it was off to Fernie for the last few days before she jetted off back to SA. Here are some pics from her trip. I know you have seen loads of Lake Louise pics, but it is too beautiful not to post again.

I love these pics of Jared in the bath having fun with his dad. Bathtime is still an event in our household.

Oh, we also did a quick drive out to Bragg Creek to the waterfall there. All the rivers and streams etc are quite low now since all the snow has been melted for a while.

These little guys are all over and very tame.

The lake. Oh, the weather was horrible up there compared to off the mountain top. Luckily we all had something warm in the car. It was raining as well. It is really strange how different the weather often is when you get up there.

Sunette and I

My handsome boys. It is so funny when they wear these shirts, you get some many knowing nods and smiles from passers by. There are so many South Africans here.

Jared and Sunette. It was a near impossiblity to get him to sit still for a photo.

All boy!

When we got home we decided to put Jared's pool up and let him play off his last bit of energy before bed. These pics were taken at about 6pm. With it getting dark so late it is still the same temperature as it was in the middle of the day at this time of the night which is really nice. We put the slide going into the pool and he loves it!! He is fearless this child and a total adrenaline junkie.

He could not leave the hose alone while it was filling the pool and had to have a drink. That water is COLD. All the pipes are buried deep underground so they don't freeze in winter so the cold water is really cold here. Lovely to drink!

Wheeee!!!

The ball needs a turn too.

"My turn"

I have no words!

So much fun!!

And then it was off to Fernie.
Taken somewhere on the road between Calgary and Fernie. (It is about a 3 hour drive)

We spent the day at a lake close to Sparwood one Sunday with some friends. Jared had fun swimming and playing with the dogs.

The lake. There are so many of these lakes all over and people swim and boat and ski and jet ski.

Taken en-route to the Lake.

We decided on Brunch up the mountain at one of the beautiful hotels. We had been up there before but hadn't eaten there.

The backend of the lodge where they serve brunch

Having some brunch. Who me? *flutter flutter*

Winking at us.

These are taken at various points on the way down the mountain after brunch.

This lady was out for a stroll and stopped us. She was very excited and asked if we wanted a photo of her 4 leaf clover. It was the first that any of us had ever seen. I wonder if she went off to buy a lottery ticket.

Sunette, Jared and I went off to feed the ducks. They were like dogs on this day. They were all out of the water boxing to get first shot at the bread we had for them. The followed us when we left as well.

This is how the other side live. These are some pics of a couple of the houses up on one of the ski slopes. They are very beautiful.

Shew, and finally just 2 really cute pics of our nunu. (taken at the Fernie house) He really is such a precious little boy. We must have done something really right to deserve him.

At the top of the stairs

Pushing his car on the deck.

Till next time xxxx

Our summer home in the Hamptons

2008-06-26T10:27:00.015-06:00

Ok, not quite but we are in a summer home in the mountains :o) Hannes's project is nearing the first go-live and has to spend all his time close to the mines now until all is running smoothly. The company very kindly agreed to put us all up in a house for the duration that he needs to be here. It was a win win situation. They save on hotel bills and we don't have to be apart. We are in a little town called Fernie which is right up in the mountains. It is a ski town so in winter that is all people come here to do. The house we are staying in has 6 bedrooms (3 on each level) and is rented out in winter to families who come here for ski holidays. We have been lucky enough to rent the whole house for the whole summer. Hannes is working in Sparwood which is 31 kms from here so it isn't far for him to travel at all. I cannot describe to you how beautiful it is here. The contrast between winter and summer is breathtaking. Everything is so green and lush. The animal life is exquisite and completely untouched. There is so much to see and so many little roads to drive on that take you up mountains and into the bush. We are loving the exploring.

The view from our back deck. People do not have back or front fences here for the most part.

Taken from the back sliding door onto the deck

On Sunday we decided to go for a drive (Luckily we took the 4x4). We ended up in a reserve with a gorgeous little hotel in it and loads of camping sites. Then we decided to just take a drive and see where we ended up. Well, I am sure we ended up on top of the world! We climbed up and up and up a mountain. We were so high up that there was still snow lying on the ground in parts and it was quite thick. Considering the warm weather we have been having it really must have been very high up. We didn't have a GPS with us to measure the altitude unfortunately. We will definitely do that route again sometime in the hopes that the snow has melted by then and we will be able to get even higher up.

So close you can almost touch it

This lake is at the hotel in the reserve I mentioned earlier in my post

This river too

Our mountain climb start. That's Hennie in front (yes the poor man is visiting again) and us at the back

That's us going up and up...

And higher still

Hennie getting through the snow behind us after we decided to turn around. It was very deep and slippery

And down we come!

Taken at the start of the 4x4 climb

Right next to the road

On top of the world!

These little squirrels were on the side of the road. So cute!!

As was this little guy. I think he looks like a Dassie but not sure what he is called here.

I don't know if you remember I said we had bought Jared a train table for his birthday and had decided not to give it to him till we got here because it was just too big to move so many times? Well we finally gave it to him the day after we arrived here. He loves it and 2 weeks later I still have to drag him away from it. He plays with it all day.

The photos are a bit dark because I didn't take out the big flash.

And to finish off this long, overdue update, there was a fireworks display in Sparwood last week Friday. Now because it only gets dark here after 10:30pm in summer the display only started at 11pm so Hannes had to go alone. He desperately wanted to take some photos and as you can see he got some gorgeous shots as usual.

Our precious little boy turned 2!

2008-05-25T20:18:00.010-06:00

Wow!!! I can honestly hardly believe that 2 years have gone by since this amazing little being came into our lives. These 2 years have been the best years of both mine and Hannes's lives. It is such a privilege to be this little boy's mommy and daddy. He has brought us both so much joy and happiness and this journey has been more than we could have ever imagined it would be and we are so excited to see what the future holds for us as a family.

We decided to have his party at home this year with just a few friends who are close to his age. There were 5 children in total. We arranged with one of the petting farms to bring in some animals for the little ones to be able to touch and play with. A friend of mine baked him a gorgeous Thomas cake and Hannes cooked up some traditional Canadian BBQ fare - hamburgers for the big people and hotdogs for the little ones. We had the most magnificent weather with temperatures reaching around 31 degrees so we all spent the afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine and the kiddies played in the sandpit and the water trough and of course with the animals.

The animals were really sweet. They brought along 2 baby goats, 2 little lambs, 2 bunnies and about 4 baby chicks. Jared got to feed the lambs and the goats their bottle for lunch which was great fun. He got the hang of it quite quickly although I would love to know what he was thinking. He quite fancied the little chicks and it didn't take him long to get the farm lady to get one out of the cage for him to pet a bit. Everytime he touched any of the animals he would say "wow, it's so soft" followed closely by "so cute". He really does love animals this little guy.

His actual birthday was spent away in Fernie so we took only a few small gifts along just so that he would have something to open on the morning. Hayley, Paul and Jessica sent him some gorgeous Thomas stuff including Harold the Helicopter which was a great hit. He recognised Jessica on the photo on the card they sent without any prompting from us. One of Hannes's colleagues RJ went out and got Jared a gift too which he opened that morning. It was a huge bag filled with all sorts of outdoor games. He was really spoilt. I must confess that he has not yet had his "big" gift from us. We bought him a huge train table. We are thinking of just packing it in the car and setting it up in the house we are moving into for the summer in Fernie. I do think this is the last year that we will get away with a trick like this for his birthday though. I will post some pics of the table once we have actually given it to him.

Here are the pics. It was a tough choice as usual.

Taking his bear for a ride on his motorbike

His new toolbench

Inspecting the photo of Jessica

Wow! Harold the helicopter

So excited to see what was in his gift from RJ

He couldn't wait to try out the ball games

The birthday boy ready to receive his guests. When I had pinned the rosette to his shirt he instructed me to take a picture.

His really gorgeous cake. It was all sugar icing not marzipan and was a delicious creamy vanilla cake inside. In fact, here is her website in case you are ever in Calgary and want one of the world's yummiest cakes :o) http://www.simplysweetltd.com/

This hat did the rounds between him and Pippa.

Lunchtime

"Look at all the sheep"

The goats and lambs each got a bandana around their necks which he was told were their party clothes and he got to help dress them and choose which one wore which bandana. He decided since it was his party he needed one too.

Helping to dress them

One of the 2 bunnies that came along

Lunchtime for the little lambs. This was soooo cute.

"Look the baby chicks"

"So cute"

"It's so soft"

Blowing out his candle. He was very confused as to why everyone was standing around singing to him

And it's out!! And so we begin on our journey to 3!

A Day Out With Thomas

2008-05-10T16:13:00.009-06:00

Thomas came to town and we bought tickets and took Jared to see him since he loves Thomas. It was a lovely morning out. We had an early start since we had to be there at 8:30am. The weather was nice. It was a bit cool in the morning but warmed up to be a lovely spring day. Jared was totally overwhelmed by Thomas. I don't think he could quite believe his little eyes. Our ticket purchase included a 20 min ride on Thomas around the park which was really nice. We tried to get some photos of Jared standing in front of Thomas but he was too interested in looking over his shoulder at Thomas and then he wanted uppie because I really don't think he could understand how it was that Thomas was real. We were a bit concerned that there might be tears, but there were none. He was very excited and nearly waved his arms off when we left to come home. I just don't quite know how we are going to get him to understand that Thomas isn't permanently at Heritage Park!

Again, it was a huge task choosing a few photos for the blog, so here are as many as I could whittle it down to. Enjoy!!!

The attempt at a pose in front of Thomas

Come get me please mommy

2 Cool dudes watching Thomas get ready to leave for his first trip

Incredibly overwhelmed but not taking his eyes off Thomas

Daddy and Jared off for a walk

He had his first taste of Candyfloss (cotton candy as it is called here) and wasn't too sure at first and then he decided that it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

I must do what with this?

Blergh! You can have it back!!

Hey!! Where did it go? I want to give it back to you!

That's very funny mommy

Ok, I'll try again...

Spring in Calgary

2008-04-22T19:55:00.004-06:00

The snow is back. These photos were taken exactly 1 week after the ones last week of Jared in his new sandpit. We had about 20cm's of snow fall over a couple of days. Apparently it is very normal for Calgary at this time of the year since it is the rainy season here but because it hasn't warmed up enough it snows instead of rains. On the whole it is short lived though so it really isn't a big deal and Jared loves playing in the snow so it isn't torture. We had friends over with their 3 kids on Sunday and we even managed a braai!! Well Hannes did anyway ;o)

We have had an exciting few weeks which I will update about as and when we go along but the most exciting so far that I'd like to share is that our family is growing. We are having another baby in December and we are both over the moon with excitement. I was always really sceptical about having a December baby, but after doing lots of healing and growing I realise now that this was written a long time ago and I can't wait to do it all in a wonderful and loving way. In fact in the last few months I have kind of just known that a December baby is on the cards, so this was honestly no surprise when it happened.

Here are the pics taken from our back deck on Sunday.

Sun and sand

2008-04-16T20:17:00.009-06:00

We bought Jared a cute sandpit and water trough on the weekend. The weather was stunning so he spent most of the weekend enjoying his new toy. Sunday was a gorgeous 25 degrees. He loves putting the sand into the water trough. We knew it would happen, but decided that at $5 a bag of sand it really didn't matter. The wind picked up a little late on Sunday afternoon so we all went over the road to the park to fly Jared's kite. The wind wasn't as great as we thought it was, but the kite did stay up for a while and Jared had fun with it.

This is the look you get when you tell him not to put the sand in the water. "whaaaaat"!?

"Help you"

My forgotten post

2008-03-30T15:47:00.004-06:00

In all the Easter excitement I forgot that we started swimming lessons with Jared again on Easter Monday. With Hannes being home that day he got into the pool with Jared and I got to stay dry and take pics. We go back tomorrow with our gymnastics buddies (Amy and Pippa) and so it will be moms in the pool then. That doesn't concern me... I have no idea how I am going to get dressed afterwards without streaking through the change rooms after my munchkin who cannot sit still without a very good reason. I am thinking Amy and I will have to take turns getting dressed while the other chases the toddlers ha ha!!

Floating. They lifejackets are law.

Singing the shark song

It's fun to kick!

All that effort payed off...

2008-03-24T16:59:00.005-06:00

We obviously helped the Easter Bunny get back on track because he delivered a whole herd of eggs to our house on Sunday. Jared had an absolute ball finding them all and putting them in his little basket. He was running all over the garden saying "I see it", "I'll get it", "Got it" and lots of "Wow"!!! He is very animated and terribly cute.

We had friends over for lunch. Their baby is 5 months old. They really spoiled Jared too with a big blue bunny and lots of easter eggs.

We really had a wonderful Easter this year.

Just as he was about to send the egg down the slide which he did with much glee.

I got it!!

Where?

Big story

The loot

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T14:54:00.014-06:00

Yesterday we went to Butterfield Acres for their annual easter egg hunt. (this is the same place we did the pumpkin hunt at). It was a really fun filled day. I hope you are up to looking at photos because I had 140 photos to choose from so it really was tough to pick.

Our morning started with Farmer Mandy and Farmer Heather telling us all about the Legend of The Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny collects rocks which are starting to change colour and he takes them to his secret factory where he turns these rocks into easter eggs. This year though he has been very busy and somehow has managed to fall behind in his orders for Easter, so he requested some help from all the children who were visiting Butterfield Acres.

The instructions to the children were to each pick up a basket and to head out and find some of these magical rocks that had started changing colour. They could collect 1 rock for every year of their life. Mommy and daddy could collect 1 rock each too just for luck. After that they were to take the rocks to the Easter Bunny's secret workshop where they were to drop them down the passage. They had to remember to shout "rocks coming" before dropping the rocks in so that they didn't bop the Easter Bunny on the head. That would have been a real disaster for children around the world eagerly awaiting their Easter egg delivery.

After they had done their bit to help the Easter Bunny with his backlog they all got to go and do a bit of gardening. They planted oats (I have no idea what is going to grow, but will post pics once it does - if I don't kill it first!!). After the gardening was done we all got to go and explore the farm and visit with all the animals.

I wondered how Jared would be with the animals this time since he is 6 months older than when he was last there. I was concerned that he would be afraid of them this time around. Not a chance!!! He followed the goats around with a stone or a piece of grass that he picked up off the ground with "please goat" trying to entice it to come and have a nibble of his offering. Hannes went and got some food for him to feed them and that is when the sports really started. The goats are wild when they see the food. The bump and push and make sure that they get their little mouths on the cone. (it is an ice-cream cone filled with oats). Jared thought it was very funny. You will see the one pic with Jared tasting the goat food and the goat chewing on Jared's jacket.

The baby lambs were very sweet but not interested in the food. They are still on milk. They are very happy to just lie and be petted.

The piglets were not a hit yesterday. I think it might be because when we walked into the sty Jared made his pig noise which made the piglet grunt which gave him a scare which made him fall over and he didn't appreciate the pig nose in his face. He tried to be brave, but was much happier on my hip and out of the sty.

The bunnies didn't draw too much interest either yesterday, but I think that is because there was a tree house in the enclosure which was a lot more fun to climb up and down on.

So, that was our day. The Easter bunny hasn't been to visit our house yet. He will hopefully be around tonight. Jared did however get a new slide for Easter. I will post some pics of that soon.

The story tellers

Listening to the story

All the helpers on the hunt

Jared with his basket collecting the stones

There was 1 little patch of snow left on the ground and he insisted on walking on it. This child loves the "snowies".

Another one with mom in the bright sun. Dad was behind the camera all day.

The workshop where we went to put the rocks down the tunnel
Sending the rocks down the tunnel.

Putting his name on his pot

Filling it with soil

Planting the seeds

Watering the seeds

Perfectly timed shot as the goat bit into the food

No fear!!! Either of them!

Jared tasting the goats food and the goat tasting his jacket

If the mountain won't come to Mohammed...

Oh no you don't!! I'll have that back thanks greedy goat!!

Checking out the little lambs

Still at the goats

These goats are really funny!

On the bridge that the trolls live under in the goat enclosure

Laughing at the goat on the bridge eating the hat of the little girl in front of him!

Trying to feed the horse. He wasn't biting though

Riding the trike. His feet nearly reach now.

The tree house in the rabbit enclosure

Gymnastic fun

2008-03-15T23:06:00.006-06:00

I have been taking Jared to a gymnastics class for the last 10 weeks. It is a fun class and they get an opportunity to try out all the different equipment with some structure and different activities on each. He has really enjoyed it. He loves to run around and climb on all the stuff and loves doing somersaults and log rolls especially. Wednesday was our last class so Hannes took the morning off and came and took some photos for us.

The warm up to start the class

They had to put the sponge between their knees and hop like a bunny.

Here they had to pick a piece of fruit from a basket and run to the other side of the room and hide it under a cone

Trampoline fun

Doing log rolls

Ready, steady

GO!!!!

Ok, I'm in can someone help me out now please.

To Banff for the day or not...

2008-03-09T15:56:00.019-06:00

Yesterday we popped out to the shops to get a few things for the house. While we were out we decided that with Banff only being an hour drive from home it might be nice to drive through there for the day and spend some time in the mountains, so off we went...

We got to Banff and when we hit the main road we looked at each other and said mmmm... it would be nice to spend the night. That was the end of that. We went off to find a place to stay, which was actually really easy all things considered. We found a room at the 3rd place we tried. We then popped off to the shops and bought toothbrushes and a costume for each of us and some food to cook for supper. We then went back to the room with our luggage in plasic bags (an experience I am not unfamiliar with, but that is a story for another day ha ha) and off we went to the pools at the hotel.

There was a very cute little kiddie pool with 2 little slides in it which is where we started off. Jared had an absolute ball climbing up the slide and then sliding down into the water. One of us had to be stationed at the bottom of the slide because he would just go straight under with absolutely no fear at all. He comes up spluttering while howling with laughter.

There were 2 HUGE supertubes there too. After some serious consideration we decided to let Jared go down the tube with Hannes thinking that if he hated it he just wouldn't take him again. (it really was a very long tube and it was quite fast too). Off they went. I sat at the bottom holding my breath waiting for the tell-tale look on Jared's face as they came out at the bottom. All I can say is that we have a little adrenalin junkie on our hands!! He was shrieking with laughter and excitement. He had barely wiped the water out of his eyes and was already instructing his father to "slide again". Hannes says he would sit him down in the basin at the top and Jared would wait for him to sit down behind him and he would then hold onto his legs and say "ready, steady, go" followed by giggles and shrieks and shouts of wheeeeeee all the way down. I lost count how many times they went down the slide. I think they must have done it at least 10 times. I never got a photo of them at the bottom of the slide because it was a bit dicey with all the kids (and adult men LOL) splashing around the camera.

Jared really loved it and this morning was telling us that we needed to go and swim again.

We took a slow drive home and we are ready for the week ahead after a really lovely weekend.

Here are some pics taken on our impulsive but wonderful night away :o)

The view from our hotel balcony

Another shot from the balcony

On the way home

Climbing to the top

Getting ready

I have no idea why his ear was so red. He never complained though.

Family Day

2008-02-21T15:16:00.006-07:00

Monday was a public holiday here. It was Family Day. We have had a complete turnaround in weather since my last post with temps of up to 10 degrees. Monday was a lovely day too so we decided to go to the zoo.

We hadn't been in a while with Jared (2 months or so) so it was really nice to get there again. It is amazing what a difference 2 months makes in a little persons development though. He walked all over holding our hand. He could identify most of the animals by name as well as provide some of the sounds. He would get so excited when he saw an animal that he would shout it's name on the top of his voice over and over again to anyone who would listen. At the elephant enclosure one of the elephants trumpeted and he piped up with "bless you". We (and the people around us) found that very funny.

Hannes got some gorgeous shots of one of the tigers which I though I would share. I added one of Jared just because he is so cute :o)

Snow fun

2008-02-11T09:47:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a long time :o)

We have had some real winter weather since Friday which means we've had lots of snow too.

We spent some time in the backyard yesterday afternoon playing on the slide and swing. Jared loves the slide snow and all.

Try to sit on the swing. The bottom isn't stable so he has to hold on and keep his balance.

He couldn't hang on with his gloves!

Getting into position at the top of the slide

Are you watching?

Ready, steady (he says that by the way)

GO!!

Here I come! (he says that too!)

On top of the world.

Family visit January 2008

2008-01-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

Our family arrived with much excitement all round on the 30th December. We were all so busy getting ourselves organised shopping, packing etc that we forgot to even see in 2008.

What a way to start a New Year though. We left for our holiday in the early hours of the morning on the 1st. We started off at cabins about 1 hour past Jasper. The trip took about 9 hours because we kept having to stop to take photos. We were all absolutely enthralled with the beauty. It is impossible to describe. Even the photos don't really do it justice although they are lovely :o)

The highlight of the holiday (for all of us I think) was a dogsled ride through the Rockies. 2 people per sled. 1 in and 1 driving. My parents in law were living proof that you are never too old to have a bit of fun and they joined us on the ride. Hannes drove Jared and I, my sister in law Sunette drove my father in law and my mom in law went with one of the guides. Nothing I say here can even begin to describe to you what an experience it was. It was a 3 hour trip with a stop in the mountains for lunch. Jared was so relaxed in the sled with me that he fell asleep and only woke up after a lot of nudging and poking when we stopped for lunch.

We then spent 2 nights in Banff on the way home. That was beautiful as it always is.

We were happy to have gone to the mountains with the family because we have had no snow here at all. In fact, we have had temperatures up to 9 degrees. So much for bitterly cold snowy weather in Calgary ha ha!! We'll see what February brings since that is supposed to be the coldest month of the year...

Here are some pics. It was a real task choosing so I went a bit overboard! Enjoy!!

Just because I like this pic. Taken on my birthday.

These were actually taken at Bragg Creek which is 20 mins or so from our house. Hannes took our new camera and went and played a little.

Jared walking on a very frozen Lake Louise. You will remember my earlier blog entry with the pics of Lake Louise in summer. What a different place!!!

Stream at Lake Louise. Look how thick the snow is there. Beautiful!

The first view of the hotel

Jared, Sunette and I on the bridge over that little stream in the pic above. Notice Sunette isn't bundled up. I finally have someone who knows what I mean when I say -9 doesn't feel like you would imagine it to feel :o)

The ice castle they have built on Lake Louise. They also skate on there and play hockey.

Me looking through one of the ice castle windows

My little family.

Taken out the car window on the side of the road on the way home from Jasper.

These guys were roaming around our chalet in Banff. They would stroll onto the patio and were so tame. The were not at all afraid of Jared even and all he wanted to do was touch them. They are so gorgeous.

The whole family.

The 2 babies :o)

Jared very upset because he couldn't go and touch the reindeer.

One of the roads in Banff

Looking the other way. There are mountains everywhere you look.

The Athabasca Falls in the Jasper National Park. We'll definitely go back there in summer as I am sure it will be breathtaking in a totally different way.

The dogsled teams!! The dogs were priceless while we were waiting to leave. They howl and bark as soon as they know it is nearly time. They get so excited. They love it. And the more you praise them while they are running and tell them good dogs the faster they run. Adorable.

That's Sunette in the white jacket. I swear she was an eskimo in a past life she looked so graceful on that sled. (we were behind her)

You can just make out Jared peering over the top.

The lunch spot

Me checking the scene in the falling snow.

Jared running around at lunch time. He just wanted to go and pet the dogs. He had just woken up and his batteries were fully charged. Did I mention that he seldom sits still ha ha!!

It is unreal how this child loves the snow.

How beautiful is our boy...

He has a love for stickers at the moment. It comes from our playgroup where they each get a sticker before we leave. I just loved this look he gave me when I stuck the sticker on his head.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived to much excitement from mommy and daddy :o)

We managed to get Jared past the playroom door without him seeing the presents so that we could give him breakfast first, since we knew we probably wouldn't get him away from the new toys once he saw them. He is incredibly observant though and did spot the "doggie" in his stocking hanging on the fireplace.

After breakfast we took him and showed him all the presents. He was quite overwhelmed to start with and not quite sure where to start or what to do. He got into the swing of things really quickly though. It was really nice though that he would open a present and then spend time playing with it. He never rushed off to open something else, in fact, we had to try and prise the stuff out of his hands to give him something else to open. (I am sure that come next Christmas things will be much different though ha ha!!) Eventually we decided to leave him with each toy until he had had a chance to have a good look and play and only then to encourage him open the next thing. So present opening took a looooong time which was actually really special.

After getting through all the presents we sat down to a yummy lunch and then we all had a nice long afternoon sleep. How's that for a wonderfully relaxing Christmas Day! After our battery recharge we were all ready to go another round and spent the rest of the day playing with all the new toys. I think Hannes and I had just as much fun as Jared did today. Children are a wonderful excuse to behave like a child yourself. To say we are having fun being parents is an understatement :o)

Here are a few of the pics taken over the course of the day. It was a tough choice, we took 274 photos in total. WOW!!! These aren't all the toys he got, I ran out of space to post everything.

Breakfast before presents

His stocking on the fireplace

His first look at all the stuff that wasn't there yesterday!

His new drum and instruments. They are all sorts of insects. The drumsticks are centipedes.

I don't think he could believe his eyes when he opened Barney.

His new talking bear

Kisses for the bear. He is so affectionate that even the centipedes got kisses. Adorable!

Shrieking because we were all throwing balls at each other.

Saying "oh no"! Everything that does not meet his approval is met with this phrase and matching face.

I'm tired of eating now, can we go and find more presents rather peese?

Teehee!!! That was funny!

Christmas came a little early...

2007-12-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, a bit of Christmas anyway!

Hennie has been visiting for the last 10 days and he spoilt Jared rotten on the weekend. He bought him the most divine little easel. You can also put the top down which then converts it into a desk. Jared of course loves it. We bought him the cleverest (for mommy anyway) paints. They only work on the special paper which is wonderful because he like to test the floor, walls, his hands etc if you give him half a chance.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

2007-12-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Christmas is coming up at a rate of knots and with all the festivities going on around Calgary it is difficult to keep up and even more difficult to decide what to go and take part in. We went to Heritage Park on Sunday. They do The Twelve Days of Christmas every year. It was lovely. The day started off chilly but it got really nice. How nice, 0 degrees nice. Can you imagine wondering why it is so warm and finding out it is 0! Nope, neither could I, but it happened. Anyway, they had Santa on the train for the kiddies to meet. We gave that a skip because of Jared's last encounter with the man in red. We still live in hope of getting a nice pic in one of the malls with Santa so we don't want to totally scare him. :o) We did a hayride though, that was great. There was an outdoor skating rink which was fun to watch. The kiddies start skating here as early as 2 so it is really adorable. It is very easy to make a skating rink here, all you need is a body of water and the rest is self made. Seriously!!! There was also a lovely Christmas Market with all sorts of quaint little goodies for sale. My favourite was a kiddies only section where your children can go and buy a Christmas present for their parents. No parents are allowed in that stall. There are adults to help the kiddies on the other side with their shopping.

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday afternoon when Jared woke up from his nap after getting home. It was fun and Jared was actually very good. He of course insisted on helping (which was the idea) which was really cute. He gets an ornament and rests it on a branch, steps back, pats his chest looking very proud and says "there you go". If he drops something he is very quick to pick it up and tell you "I got it". He is honestly so adorable. 100% edible. Being our first real family Christmas we are working very hard at starting some of our own traditions. One of which is buying a special ornament for Jared every year. When he leaves home one day he can then take all his ornaments with him for his own family tree and hopefully he will have some really special memories attached to each year. This year he got a bear in a stocking on which we had his name and the year painted. He saw it for the first time last night and was really enamoured with it. He kissed it and told us "cute" and then just wouldn't put it on the tree. He would think about it and then decide otherwise. He was very funny. We have decided against putting out any presents just yet because Mr Chatterbox will definitely get stuck into those. They are staying in the basement until the 24th. Oh, and our tree topper is too big! He is gorgeous though so we have decided that he will be an ornament instead.

I think that's all the news for now. Here come all the pics xxx

This was taken on the hayride

Our little helper "hanging" the ornaments. You can see one of the bears he hung lying on the branch. (If you double click the pics they enlarge just in case you never knew)

The finished tree, except for our tree topper which we need to go and buy still.

Jared's special ornament

Oooohhhh!!! You're kinda cute Mr Bear!

So cute in fact that I think I'll kiss you.

And now I'll put you with on the tree with the other bears so you won't be lonely.

Jared's stocking that we have hanging on the fireplace mantle.

Our treetop Santa who is now an ornament because he is too big

The fireplace which is a work in progress. I will show you another pic once it's done

Run, run as fast as you can.

2007-12-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!!!

Jared and I met some friends at one of the malls today. We had a lovely time looking at all the beautiful displays. Each mall has their own Father Christmas and you can have photos taken with Santa. We will go back on the weekend and have some done because we would like to have some done as a family too. BUT, Mrs Clause was very busy with the children in her cookie kitchen today so we stopped in for a visit. It was adorable. They had little tables and chairs out with little gingerbread aprons. Each child was given a colouring in book, a gingerbread man and a cup of icing and some sprinkles. They then got to decorate their gingerbread man and they got a little bag to take him home in afterwards.

Jared had lots of fun. He thought it was great. He quite fancied eating the sprinkles straight out of the cup rather than putting them on his cookie. Also, once he decided he was finished decorating he started to eat his gingerbread man. The little girls who were sharing the table with him were still diligently decorating and he was already munching. He is a real little boy. Oh, and just a side note, this was all free of charge!

Mrs Clause in her kitchen

This looks like fun...

Oh, this IS fun!

Heavy concentration. The sprinkles were in this cup

The finished product.

And just for good measure because I know I haven't been here for a while some snow pics. We were playing on the snow board over the road again last night. It is loads and loads of fun. Jared loves it as do both Hannes and I. You go to the top of the hill, put Jared on the board, get on it yourself and yeehaaaaa, off you go, down the hill.

We were trying to throw snowballs again yesterday, but the snow is still so powdery it isn't even wet. I am sure our chance with that will come though.

The weather was also not so cold, unless you were whoosing down the hill then it really wasn't bad. I didn't even have my gloves on while I was taking the pics.

On the way back to the top of the hill. If you aren't fast enough he goes back up on his own.

With daddy after a ride down together.

SNOW FIGHT!!!!

With mommy at the bottom of the hill

Santa's Parade of Lights

2007-11-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in Banff for their parade of lights. It was so stunning. We stayed in a gorgeous cabin at one of the lodges in the mountains. There was a bedroom with 2 beds and a lounge with a gorgeous fireplace. Jared slept in one of the beds and thought it was very funny to chat to us at 4am when he realised we were in the room with him.

Saturday night was the Parade of Lights down the main street in Banff. It was very pretty in the snow. It was cold though. We were all dressed warmly though, but we had a good taste of real minus weather. We have decided that we will survive it just and in fact we may even enjoy it ;o) We did feel sorry for Miss Canada who was part of the Parade. She certainly earned her crown, you could see the poor girl was freezing!! Unfortunately the photos never came out of the parade because of the light. I managed to get a few, and next year we will be better prepared with a camera suited for the job.

Sunday morning was breakfast with Santa. Jared did not like the man in red. I managed 1 photo and it is of him making a run for it. He wouldn't even sit on his lap for a minute. We decided not to traumatise him for life and left it at that. Poor Santa said he had had his fair share of screamers over the weekend.

After breakfast we went up the cable car again. It is really so beautiful up there. The view is just amazing. And of course it is different from the last time we were up there because there is now some snow on the ground.

We then decided to take a drive through to Lake Louise. We found an interesting looking side road that indicated it was going to Lake Louise and so we tried that route. WOW!!!! We kept having to stop along the way to take photos because it is just so beautiful. We chose the place and designed and built the house that we would like to retire in one day ha ha ha!!!

You will see a train track in the one photo, that is the route the train runs from here to Vancouver. We have put that on our list of things we want to do.

Here are the photos. Lots of them I know, but it was a weekend of memories to share :o)

Jared wrapped up nice and warm waiting for the parade to start. It was easily -15!

Not the best shot, but an idea of the lights in the main street

The start of the parade

One of the floats

He was off faster than if he'd had an electric shock

Looking down on Banff from the top of the mountain

Standing in front of the SA flag on the mountain. It is marked with Pretoria. The listed direction is heavily disputed ;o)

The view down the mountain taken out of the cable car window. It's HIGH!!!

A very tired but toasty munchkin on the way down the mountain.

These were all taken on the side road to Lake Louise. It is breathtaking!!

You can see the train track in this pic.

Tada!!!!

2007-11-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

We're back :o)

These photos, although funny and really cute, come with a bit of a warning too. If you have children, never ever run the hot water before you have run the cold as you never know what can happen when you turn your back...

We were busy getting the bath organised for Jared the other night. We had decided to bath him in the small bath on his own so that it would be a quick in and out. We were running the water while getting PJ's etc ready for him. Hannes walked past the bathroom door and this is what he found

Jared was as happy as Larry already playing in the bath. He must have been really determined to get in there because the bath is actually very high. He was ready to bath and was not going to wait for us. We were VERY happy that we are in the habit of running hot and cold water together and also that he did not have any shoes on :o)

No more posts for a while

2007-11-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hi family and friends. I am sad to report that I will not be able to update the blog for then next while due to some technical problems on my side.

I promise to get back to it as soon as I can with some back issues :o)

Love Carol

A Winter Wonderland

2007-11-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

We had what we consider to be our first real snow today. It started at around 5am and has been snowing on and off since then. It was really well timed because our clocks were turned back at 2am, so we are now 9 hours behind SA.

We decided to drive out to Bragg Creek this morning. The snow was really coming down there. We drove a little bit out of town and pulled off on the side of the road to have a bit of a run around in the snow, and boy did we have fun!!! Just after we had pulled over a gentleman in a bakkie stopped and asked us if we needed help. He thought we were in trouble and needed a hand. Imagine, "we are fine thank you, we have just stopped here so we can beat each other with snowballs"!!!

We had so much fun in the snow. Hannes and I chased each other throwing snow balls at each other and Jared. He thought it was an absolute scream and did his best to retaliate. I was amazed at the snow though. I always imagined it to be wet. This was so dry that you could barely get it into a ball. Our jackets and gloves were dry after we had finished. That really wasn't what I had expected at all.

So, we have officially had our first play in the snow, although, I have been told that today's snowfall is nothing compared to what is still to come.

Our next fun purchase is going to be a toboggan. I wish you could have seen the kiddies in the park over the road riding up and down the hillside this morning. And the dad's pulling the little ones on the pavement on a sled. We wondered how long these children have spent waiting for the snow to arrive, since it is late this year.

While we were getting ourselves organised to leave, Jared sat on a chair at the window and watched the world go by and the snow fall.

Putting in fuel in Bragg Creek. You can take the monkey out of the bush... :o) My crazy South African love in nothing but a T-Shirt!!!

Making a run for it!! That big stretch of white to the left is the highway.

"Let me go mommy!!!" He doesn't stand still for a minute.

Me and my daddy.

We now know for sure that every cent we spent on his snow suit was worth it. He loved the snow. Or in Jared speak the "nowe"

When we got home Jared and daddy shared a story on our very comfy new lounge suite before they both went and had a well deserved sleep.

My little frog prince

2007-11-02T14:10:00.000-06:00

So as you know we celebrated our first Halloween on Wednesday, and boy did we all have fun!!

We were invited to a late afternoon party which was great for the smaller kiddies because they don't get the trick or treating thing just yet.

We did a few neighbours when we got home though, but Jared was more interested in running up and down the pavement than he was in ringing doorbells and asking for sweets. It is only funny the first time when you get to the door and as it is answered you realise that the real trick or treater isn't there anymore but rather running down the road!!! You have to wonder if the people think you are really that desperate for sweets :o)

The party was really nice, we had a whole menagerie there. We had a few skunks, a bear, a few ducks and of course a frog. Unfortunately I never managed to get a photo of all the little animals in a row because they honestly don't sit still for long enough. You will see in the photo that I did manage that this may not be the little ducks favourite holiday so far :o)

By the end of the evening Jared was honestly exhausted. He managed to charm his way into us giving him one of his little chocolate bars that he had trick or treated. He was not a happy froggie when it was finished though.

Here are the pics :o)

We are not very happy ducks and the frog just wants to make a run for it!!

The tantrum!! I want more!!

It was luckily very short lived and our happy boy was back.

Weather Watch

2007-10-25T09:48:00.000-06:00

We had about 1cm of snow overnight last night. Yippeee!!! Get this though, the high yesterday was 22deg. It went from that to snow and a high for today forecast for 5deg. They weren't joking when they said that the temperatures fluctuate here.

So here are a few pics I took out of our front and back doors this morning. It was about 7:30am so the sun was coming up. It is a beautiful sunshine day outside now. I just checked the weather though and it is -1!! Jared and I are on our way to our first Halloween Party so we will be nice and warm :o)

Our little Springbok

2007-10-23T09:50:00.000-06:00

Better late than never I suppose!!

We got into the rugby fever here on Saturday too. Jared spent the day in his little Springbok tracksuit. It is very difficult to get photos of him with my camera at the moment because he never stands or sits still long enough to take the pic, so here is a photo of his back side - it is really the best I could do :o)

The independant bug hit our home later than is the average, but it seems to be here in full force ha ha!! Jared now insists on feeding himself, brushing his own teeth, washing his hair and body and pretty much anything else that he feels like doing alone. All except holding his own bottle or cup, that is still mommy's job. (am I allowed to be secretly happy?!!)

He does quite well with the spoon, but the mess is always horrendous. I took some pics on Saturday. He was a real grouch though so I never got any dry eyed ones of him. This is what the kitchen floor looks like after a normal mealtime in our house at the moment. Thank goodness for central vaccuum and fancy mops :o) Once he has decided he has had enough to eat the bowl and spoon are systematically flung from the high chair, each met with a shocked "oh no" as they hit the floor!

Pumpkins, Hayrides, goats and bunnies

2007-10-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

Jared and I went for a pumpkin hunt at a petting farm. It was really so well done. You go for a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. The kiddies then get to hunt their pumpkins. Then, you ride back (again a hayride) to a place where they have everything set out and you get to decorate your pumpkin. Then you can go and spend time with the animals. You can go into all the pens and love the animals. They are so tame. We never got further than the goats, pigs and bunnies cos Jared wouldn't leave. He especially loved the goats. He shrieked with laughter when he saw the bunnies hopping, that was very funny. We were both filthy by the time we left to go home and we both slept very well last night.

On the hayride

The hunt is on...

My pumpkin, I see my pumpkin!!!

Now if only I can just hold onto it

I got it!!! Here I come.

Please, no pictures!

The decorating room

So many goats, so little time!!

I love you goat!

Eeya!!! (ear!!!) :o)

Hello goat! I see you eat leaves, so I brought you one.

Our beautiful, beautiful boy.

All fall down...

2007-10-09T15:11:00.000-06:00

I put Jared down for his afternoon nap yesterday. I heard him get off his bed and then he was very busy playing. (I could hear the noise, it sounded like he was building on another room). I left him because he was happy. After it while it got quiet and I decided to go and see what the damage was and that he was ok. This is what I found…

General Jared update:

He is talking like a champion. He copies any word that you tell him to say. He gives them all his best shot. He will tell you the noise a dog, cat, bird, pig and sheep make. He points to and names his mouth, eyes, nose, ears and teeth. He understands and says “no” to anything he doesn’t want or knows he shouldn’t be doing (he does it anyway though :o). He says “more” when he wants something. He says biscuit. He is a big tease. He will pretend to ignore you for a while and then burst out laughing when he can’t take the suspense any longer. He says “there you are” when you do something for him like take him out of his highchair. He understands up and down and can say both and will also tell me downstairs when he wants to go down in the morning. He can throw and kick a ball. He loves playing cars, complete with car sounds and hooter noises. He still loves music and dancing. Anything with even the slightest beat gets him dancing. He still flirts with the ladies, although now he first pretends to be shy for a bit. He also says “thank you” when you give him something and when he gives you something. When he bumps his head he rubs the spot and says “ow”. He still refuses to hold his own bottle – he has 3 a day. 1 in the morning before he gets up, 1 at naptime and 1 at bedtime. He will also not hold his sippy cup. When he is thirsty he will bring it to me arms outstretched saying “more” with a big smile on his face. His vocabulary really is great, I have honestly lost count of how many words he can say. He is coming along in leaps and bounds and we are loving him to bits. He is a really amazing little guy.

My Beanie Boys

2007-10-08T16:06:00.000-06:00

Aren't my boys handsome! We woke up to our first snow on the ground on Friday. It was -1 outside and according to the weather it felt like -6. Jared and I spent the day doing our usual stuff and we were able to keep warm.

When Hannes gets home in the afternoon he and Jared run around outside for a while playing ball in the garden or across the road or swinging in the back yard. This day was no different. They bundled up with their warm jackets and beanies, Jared with his mittens too and spent some time running around in the back yard having a ball. It is so precious to see how they enjoy each other. My very special boys...

Our back yard

Out the front door

Finished running around

So funny!!!

Kananaskis

2007-10-07T16:05:00.000-06:00

It was a very special day on the 2nd October. It was Hannes's birthday. He took the day off to spend with Jared and I and so we decided to drive out to the mountains. We drove to Kananskis and took a random road up into the mountains. It was amazing. The higher we got the colder it got until eventually we were in a full snow storm!! This was so strange since down below where we had just come from wasn't even cold enough for a jacket.

We saw our first wild Moose on the side of the road. You can see from the picture how the snow was coming down. We managed to get a few pictures of the view by taking turns at jumping out the car and taking a shot. We had to do it this way since we were both in short sleeve shirts ha ha ha!!! Let's just say that snow and summer attire are not an intelligent combination. :o)

Autumn Leaves

2007-10-02T19:28:00.000-06:00

We spent the morning enjoying autumn on Sunday at one of the parks. It is really beautiful here at the moment. The trees are all shades of yellow and some reds. It really is spectacular to see. Although we are looking forward to experiencing a snowy winter for the first time we are really loving seeing autumn in its true form.

Jared had a ball as usual and made friends with all the doggies that crossed our path. The one in the pic was especially sweet. He has grown up with 2 children who are now teenagers and so he was very happy to love Jared a bit and Jared was happy to reciprocate. He really does love animals.

Meeting old friends

2007-09-25T13:05:00.000-06:00

Our container finally arrived!! We have been giving Jared his toys a few at a time so that he isn't completely overwhelmed.

We gave him his big bear on the weekend and as you can see it was a reunion of note lol!!!

He absolutely loves bears, so he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw this big bear. If he sees toys anywhere and there is a bear in amongst them that is the first thing he grabs. It is quite fitting since his bedroom theme in South Africa was bears.

Jared's very first haircut

2007-09-23T15:51:00.000-06:00

So, we finally gave in and took Jared for his first ever haircut on Friday. His hair was really long in parts (as you can see in my blackmail photos :o) and we just decided that it was time to let a little bit more of the baby go.

Jared was so good. He got to sit in a bright pink Jeep - the yellow ones were too big. He just sat there pushing buttons and chatting up a storm. She even used the clippers on his ears and neck and he never said a word. She showed them to him, he touched them and checked them out and that was it. The only thing that he didn't seem to enjoy was the feeling of the cut hair on his face, I think it tickled him.

I of course collected all his hair in a tupperware as only a mother would lol!!!

Blackmail photo taken the day before.

Chasing bubbles

2007-09-16T20:44:00.000-06:00

Jared is crazy about bubbles. We blow them in the bath using the soap and decided to get some real bubbles to see what he thought about those. We played in the garden with them and he had a ball. Unfortunately I only managed to get 1 decent photo and some video.

Blowing Raspberries

2007-09-10T15:25:00.000-06:00

Jared loves blowing raspberries and up until yesterday I hadn't managed to get any decent photos of him doing it.

We went up to Lake Moraine yesterday and then stopped off and had lunch at Banff. The photos and videos of Jared were taken in the car on the way home.

The little streamy river is still one of my favourite things about Canada so far. They are all over the place and they are so beautiful.

Lake Moraine was pretty but not as gorgeous as Lake Louise. There was a little boy climbing on some logs at the lake and he lost his footing and fell. Jared laughed until I am sure his tummy ached. The little guy's mom couldn't help herself either and laughed when she saw how Jared was laughing. The poor child who fell didn't find it too funny though :o)

Lake Moreine

My favourite. A little stream we stopped for on the roadside.

Saturday Fun

2007-09-01T22:47:00.000-06:00

We spent most of the day out shopping today. We finally saw a lounge suite that we loved and decided to buy it only to find that it is out of stock and only due in the next 4 to 6 weeks. We decided that we wanted it anyway, so we are happy to wait for it :o)

After Jareds afternoon nap we went across the road to play in the field for a while. He loves running around there and especially loves going up the hill. He isn't too eager to come down on his own since he now knows that he usually ends up head over heels in a speed wobble, so he has worked out how to come down on his bum, or else he just waits to grab your hand and get a hand down lol!!!

Here are some photos that I managed to take. He is getting tougher and tougher to photograph because he is never in 1 place for very long. Out of interest, these pics were taken at 6:40pm - as you can see we are still enjoying gorgeous weather (mostly!) and sunshine, although I do think autumn is fast approaching...

And one of us just in case you have forgotten what we look like ;o)

Jareds new bed

2007-08-26T20:18:00.000-06:00

We went shopping yesterday and came across this gorgeous little bed and decided to buy it for Jared. We decided that we would introduce him to it and not put him under any pressure to use it for now but that eventually he would move into it.

Last night at bedtime we put him in it and he was asleep almost immediately, never to be heard from again!! He woke at 8:30am with meows and woofs as he was showing us the pictures of the animals on his duvet cover. He had gotten out of bed himself and was happily exploring his room. He then napped there this afternoon again and is now fast asleep in it for the night.

I think that maybe we will be moving the cot out of his room in the next few days. We have left it there just in case lol!!! :o) He really is growing up so fast.

He's already worked out that it is fun to jump on the bed!!

Kissing his bear

Happy boy!!!

Another first...

2007-08-24T20:32:00.001-06:00

After our playdate yesterday Jared and I went out to lunch with Ty and Alyssa (who has just turned 2). They each had a kiddies meal after which they were presented with their free ice-cream cones.

Let me just say that whomever designed their menu does not have children because they were presented with not 1 but 3 ice-cream cones each!!!!! Anyway, so Jared had his first (and second and almost third) ice-cream cone ever and to say he loved it is a huge understatement. He couldn't get enough. I had to really convince him to try it to start with, but once he'd had a taste he wouldn't let go. In fact, he managed to get one back into the little holder and wouldn't even stop eating it for long enought to get it out again.

Luckily the third one came off the cone or he really would have happily chomped that one too. He was one sticky mess from head to toe, but he had an absolute ball with it. Here are quite a few pics (I took loads and found it difficult to choose as usual :o)

Beautiful Butterflies

2007-08-20T18:41:00.000-06:00

We went to the zoo yesterday and spent some time in the butterfly enclosure. There are some breathtaking butterflies in there. Here are a few pics.

We also saw the giraffes snacktime which they allow the public to participate in. I always knew giraffes had really long tongues, but I don't think I realised they were this long!!!

Jared really enjoyed walking around in his new squeaky shoes and is a real little entertainer. He was entertaining perfect strangers lol!! He has figured out that if he jumps the shoes squeak louder. He is adorable!!

A brand new Zoo baby

2007-08-16T17:02:00.000-06:00

Jared and I popped in at the Zoo this morning and were lucky enough to see a brand new baby Elk. She must have been less than an hour old. When we got there the mom was still cleaning her off and she was trying very hard to get up on her long wobbly legs. It really was amazing to see. Unfortunately I only had my little digital camera so the pics are from quite far away, but I had to share them with you anyway.

I also took some video (again, with my small camera so a bit far). Here is the link if you want to go and have a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atOmDQC0yJo

A day at home

2007-08-15T20:33:00.000-06:00

Today Jared and I spent a quiet day at home. We popped across the road to the field and did some running around and ball chasing!! There is quite a steep hill right around it and it was so funny to watch him climb it and then come down with a huge speed wobble!!! He thought it was very funny.

He is FINALLY drinking happily from his sippy cup. It is my new favourite thing to see him drinking from it and walking around with it under his arm. He will still only have water though, he really doesn't like juice. (I am not complaining :o) )