whoops, forgot the pix. Here they are

Five months old

Madalyn turns five months old tomorrow, so I thought I would share some photos that have been taken over the last week. A bit of an update for everyone: Madalyn had her ecchocardiogram at the beginning of the month and the results are in - she has a perfectly normal, properly functioning heart, so nothing to worry about there. She spent the past week slogging through her first cold. The poor little bug was extremely stuffed up and had an awful wet cough. She just sounded like she was having such a hard time breathing, especially when she was lying down that none of us got much sleep because we were worried she would stop breathing and she kept waking herself up with her cough. She is feeling much better now and we are all getting more sleep again! Enjoy the pictures!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Shal, Blair and Audrey for adding a new beautiful baby girl to their family. Her name is Sarah and she's a cutie. We've seen a few pictures so far and Audrey looks like a very proud big sister. We're sure she'll do a great job and be very helpful to her Mummy and Daddy.

the dangers of ice cream

Last night I was feeling like a sweet treat and even though it was frickin' freezing outside (and still is today) I thought I would eat some of the yummy oreo ice cream that has been sitting in the freezer. So I scooped some into a bowl and stuck the spoon in. I put that yummy spoonful into my mouth and when I went to pull the spoon back out, it ripped off the skin on my bottom lip!! OUCH!!! So I ran to the bathroom to look at the damage and found myself the new owner of a very bloody lip. I was so disappointed in the ice cream after that and I wished I hadn't had any. I put some lanolin on it, which is the best stuff ever for more reasons than one, and today the lip is looking much better and doesn't hurt anymore. A quick recovery at least. Who knew eating ice cream could be so dangerous! Let that be a warning to all of you, that a cold spoon can be like a metal flag pole and you shouldn't stick your tongue or lips on it!!!

fingers and pooh bears

I had to post this picture of Madalyn with her fingers in her mouth because there are tons of pictures of me doing the exact same thing. I thought my parents would get a kick out of Madalyn doing it too! The other picture shows Madalyn enjoying her glo-Pooh that Audrey gave her for Christmas. Today is Audrey's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday big girl!!

Exersaucing

We had a great dinner on Sunday night at a friend's place. Scout had fun playing in the backyard with another dog, Madalyn and fun getting lots of cuddles and we enjoyed the conversation as well as the food! An exersaucer was sitting in the friend's basement and she has graciously loaned it to Madalyn. I got it ready to go yesterday while Madalyn was having a nap and it was all ready by the time she woke up. She was pretty excited about it and thinks it is pretty interesting. This is her enjoying it yesterday and today.

birthday cake

My birthday was last Friday, so Chris and I decided to get dressed up, leave Madalyn with a friendand have a nice evening just the two of us. We went to the Uptown Grill for a delicious dinner and had a really nice time. Before dinner we had some birthday cake (because when it's your birthday you don't have to do things in order).

some pix

Happy Birthday

It was a day of birthdays on the 20th. Cole turned 8, so Happy Birthday Buddy!! I hope you had a fun day! There is something in the mail heading your way! It was also the day that Madalyn reached the 4 month mark! To celebrate we went to Grande Prairie. We had to take my computer to Future Shop to get it fixed and we had some Christmas gift certs to spend at Michaels and Zellers. We managed to get Madalyn a snowsuit for next year from Sears for only 20 bucks! We were pretty impressed with ourselves! Let's hope it fits her then!
The day was running perfectly. We got all the things accomplished that we wanted to and had fun doing it. On the way home we were talking about how wellbehaved Madalyn had been and how well behaved Scout had been. Of course, no trip is complete without some explosive diarrhea. That's right, you read that correctly. We were driving in the dark about 20 minutes from home when we heard a most disturbing sound. Oh how we wish it had been Madalyn, but no, alas, it was Scout!! We pulled over at the first available place (the top of the Taylor hill at the truck pulloff)to discover that Scout had hit the floor, the door the back of the seat and of course the blanket on the seat she had been sitting! What a mess!! We ending up wiping up what we could, and throwing out the blanket which was a lost cause. Luckily we had a second blanket we could cover the seat with so Scout could sit there until we got home without getting any more on her. Of course the sudden stop coupled with cold air from the doors opening (and I am sure the smell as well) caused Madalyn to wake up in an unhappy mood and she then cried for the last 15 minutes home!
It all ends well though. Madalyn calmed down as soon as we walked in the door and fed her and changed her. Scout had a bath as did the back of the car. The stains have come out and the smell has disappeared as well. So it all turned out fine in the end! From now on, I will not comment on good behaviour from either of them until we are home safe and sound!

Back to the Great White North

Well, we have all made it safely back to Fort St John. It did take us longer to get back than we had planned due to a blizzard, but it all worked out all right in the end.
Madalyn and Scout and I arrived in Grande Prairie on Tuesday afternoon and the pilot had mentioned, prior to landing, that it was -6 with a bit of snow. When we actually stepped out of the plane the snow was blowing and it seemed a lot colder than -6.
We met Chris inside the terminal where he told us a storm was coming so we had better head on the road for the two hour drive to FSJ. Originally we had planned to spend the afternoon in GP and get some shopping done, but we had to abandon that in hopes of beating the weather. We made it just past the half way point when we decided to give up because of white out conditions. For those of you who read the blog and do not live in snowy parts of the world, white out conditions are caused by blowing snow, where you can't see anything but white, so you suddenly lose any point of reference and have no idea what direction you're driving in or if you are still on the road. Very Scary!
So, we spent the night at the Super 8 in Dawson Creek. Madalyn seemed to take her first hotel stay in stride. She was just happy after a day of travelling to be able to stretch out and do some wiggling! She spent the night sharing a queen-sized bed with Scout! Here's a picture of her during her first hotel experience.

Baptism photos

Madalyn was baptized in Winnipeg on Thursday Decemeber 28th, and these are a couple of pictures that are just too cute to not share!

Happy New Year

We've ended offf 2006 by spending time with family and friends in Winnipeg and that is how we're starting 2007! I think we've got a good start to the year.
From Madalyn, Scout, Chris and me: Happy 2007!

Countdown!

Ten hours to go and we'll be in Winnipeg!

Hittin' the Jackpot in more ways than one

#1. Miss Madalyn has decided that it is now a good idea to sleep through the night! She has done it two nights in a row. What's funny is the panic it causes in us, when we both leap out of bed at 630 in the morning realizing she hasn't woken up in the night, and run to the crib to make sure she is still breathing! Hopefully we'll get used to the idea soon and relax!

#2. My work Christmas party was last night and Chris and I each won the two top prizes! I came away with a beautiful basket filled with wine, wine glasses, and some fancy wine accessories! Chris came away with printer that is also a copier and fax machine! It can also pring photos right from the camera card! We paid 15 bucks for one dinner ticket and came away with over 300 dollars worth of prizes. I'd say that's a pretty good deal!

In other news: We left Madalyn with a babysitter last night and had our first night out together without her. We had lots of fun while Madalyn had a good time with a friend's mum. Aside from everyone asking me how I was doing without her every five minutes it was a great night! For the record, I thought of her often throughout the night and did miss her, but I was not worried a bit about her!

Chris' work party is this afternoon and kids are going to this one, so I imagine it will be shorter than the one last night. We'll be having two turkey dinners in two days! I guess that is how you know Christmas is fast approaching!

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

The bravery of a scaredy-cat dog

So the weather has finally turned and we've gone from -40 to +5!!! Such a relief! Scout, Madalyn and I have been able to get back into our routine of daily walks, which have been real workouts since we have to trudge through heavy melting snow now! For anyone who has not met Scout, she is known to be one of the wussiest, most skittish dogs on the planet! She is such a chicken! Usually she is scared of anyone new and different, and if given the choice, would run the other way. This past week, though, she has decided that she is now a guard dog, and must protect her mummy and baby. Three times this week we have come across different people on our walk and each time they have come close to us and said something (usually "hi") Scout gets her heckles up and barks at them! I don't know where this timid creature has found these little moments of bravery, but it is a tad distressing! It would be one thing if it was some strange suspicious man and we were in a dark alley, but no, she seems to now do it at anyone who walks by. We'll now have to get her out of that habit!! The mail carrier tamed her today with a doggie treat on our walk. If only all non-threatening strangers carried dog treats!

More cuteness

Cute as a Button

So, we've been getting complaints about our lack of blogging in the last few weeks, so here's an update. We've been busy with visitors lately. Chris' friend Matt from Saskatoon came up for just shy of a week and then Allison and Sang arrived for four days. We enjoyed the company and had fun with everybody.
We've had bucket loads of snow up here and it has been pretty cold (between -10 and -25 for the past few weeks. It feels like the middle of January not November. It's a far cry from last November when there was no snow on the ground and it was above zero until after Christmas!!
Madalyn is becoming more and more interactive every day and therefore more and more fun! She's making all sorts of fun faces and really starting to enjoy looking at and touching her toys.
We're getting excited for our trip back to Winnipeg. I think we have 3 weeks and two days to go!

Getting Strong

Madalyn is getting better and better at holding up her head and keeping it up for quite some time.