Happy Birthday to me...

Yesterday, October 23, marked my 36th birthday. It was a nice day at work, no bad phone calls,(always a plus) lots of"Happy Birthday's" from my coworkers and my Facebook wall was covered. Made a girl feel special. After picking up Emmy and waiting for Keith to get home, we went for dinner at Boston Pizza where Em was very well behaved. We had a lovely dinner, and then spent 30 minutes in the washroom as Emmy was fascinated with the automatic foamy hand soap dispenser. Poor Keith was probably thinking we had deserted him as his daughter was ensuring her hands were the cleanest in the world :).

We came home and Keith took Emmy into the kitchen where obviously he was trying to get her to do something as she was talking in her faux whisper..aka a loud whisper you can hear across the room but is super-cute as she is actually trying to be quiet.

Here is what she brought me:



I had to scan it because it is completely captures a 3 year old's artwork...or perhaps just my 3 year old's typical artwork, but I think it's just perfect. It's a moment in time.

After that, Keith surprised me with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, which Emmy was EXTREMELY excited about. I am guessing we will be eating cake for a while as there is only the three of us. LOL

So, overall I am a year older, grateful for the time to spend with my loved ones, friends and maybe to have made the difference to a client or two.

Thankful...

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day...

I am thankful to God for the many blessings in my life, for the health and happiness of my family.
I am thankful for my family, for Keith and Emmy, and the joy they bring to each and every day.
I am thankful for my extended family, my brother, sister-in-law Julie, my niece Melissa and nephews Malcolm and Micah. Although I don't see them as often as I'd like, I am thankful for our relationship.
I am thankful for Keith's family, who have always made me feel included, cared for, and a part of the family.
I am thankful for my Aunts Anne and Trudy, who really have become closer thanks to the power of the internet. They both sent gifts for Emmy, despite never meeting her and really make me feel valued and that Emmy is part of their thoughts. Since my own parents have chosen to ignore their children/grandchildren, it makes it so valuable. Family is valuable.
I am thankful for my job, and the power I have to help people in need. At it's core, that is what I do. I remember telling a friend once that my job was what I dreamed to attain, and that was 5 years before I got the job. It truly is my dream job.
I am thankful for my friends, who despite my short-comings and screw-ups, still like me.

I know there are lurkers out there who never comment, it would warm my heart if you would tell me what you are thankful for.

The Wiggles invade Prince George

On Saturday, the event that Emmy had been counting the sleeps down to finally came. That would be the Wiggles concert, of course. To be honest, I was kind of dreading it as the last concert we went to (The Backyardigans) was so terrible that Emmy wanted to go home at intermission and we had to convince her to stay. So, I was expecting the worst.

And I cannot express just how wrong I was. Yes, internets, I am admitting I was wrong.

This was no cheap production. The sets alone were beautiful and colourful. There was no guy dressed in black that we had to pretend we couldn't see operate a puppet on the stage. *cough*Backyardigans*cough*
The Wiggles themselves were energetic, charming, funny and proved themselves to me anyhow that they know how to entertain.
Emmy had a great time, was clapping along, woohoooing after the songs and singing and dancing. I have to admit, I had fun as well. I was never once bored and the 90 minutes flew by. It was a great family afternoon out (Keith came home early to come with us).

I have added some pictures and video. The video is of my favorite part where Emmy sings along.

Things I will miss when she grows up...part 5,71

As infuriating Emmy can be at times, this is such an incredible age as she is such a little person now rather than a baby or even a toddler. She comes out with things that are so mature for a 3 1/2 year old!

Some of my recent favorites are:
-When I pick her up from daycare, on the way home she says, "So, how was your day?". She asks Keith as well when he gets home.
-She asks us to turn up music in the car and she sings along, which is the cutest thing ever.
-She asks where my coworkers are. Apparently she is concerned they work too hard and too long. LOL
-The nights she comes and sleeps in bed with me. There is nothing better than snuggling with my baby girl.
She recognizes Keith's work, my work, and the "Princess castle" aka the Sikh temple as we drive by them. She has only been to our workplaces a couple of times.
-She has an incredible memory. She was telling me yesterday that the book I was reading was from our neighbour.This is true - when I broke my ankle back in 2007, our neighbour dropped off a bag of books to keep me entertained while being laid up. It's not like we talk about it often, but she remembers!

Here are some pics and a short video from her most recent swim lessons.

Fall in Prince George

I have absolutely NO complaints about our fall so far. We have been enjoying a beautiful late summer, even hitting 30 degrees C last week. 30 degrees!!!

This weekend has been more normal as fall is making it's way here with blustery, cold winds. You will notice in the pics that Emmy is sportin' fall attire for PG - sandals with a winter jacket LOL.

October will be a fun month - Em starts swim lessons again, The Wiggles are coming to town, and "Where the wild things are" will be released to the movie theatres. This was one of my most beloved books as a child and I will admit, I am excited to take Emmy to the movie.

Here are some pics from today...

Excitement on Blair Crescent

We live in a nice, quiet crescent. We don't tend to get too much happening on our block...in fact, I think the last time there was any sort of emergency vehicle on my block was when I broke my ankle and and we had to call an ambulance. That caused all the neighbours to be abuzz for days.

Yesterday around 5pm, I had picked Em up from daycare and had pulled into my driveway as usual. I went to the backseat to unbuckle Emmy from the car seat and she started talking about a man. I didn't understand what she was saying, but unbeknownst to me, a man had walked up behind me as I was unbuckling her. When I stood up, I saw him, which gave me a fright as I didn't see him walk up or hear him for that matter. He was probably around 40-50, stocky build, 6' or so, with close shaved graying brown hair.

He had leaned over and was talking about my tires as he was touching them, referring to them as "heavy". It was quickly obvious that this guy was not all there...either off his meds or needs some new ones in a hurry. He was talking gibberish as I quickly ushered Emmy to the front door. I just knew that this guy was trouble and my first instinct was to protect my daughter and get her away from this guy.

He walked behind our carport as I was desperately praying that I could get the door open without dropping my keys for once. I kept telling him to go home and that my husband would be home in a few minutes (Keith was due home in about an hour). As I was opening the door, he reached into the carport and started touching Keith's spare tires that are in the corner, wrapped in plastic. Side note: Buddy?? What's with the fascination with the tires????
At this point, he started swearing and getting angry. I thankfully managed to open the door and get inside and lock it again.

I grabbed the cordless phone as I could still hear him ranting outside the door. I turned a movie on for Em as I called 911. I just lost it when the dispatcher answered and started crying. They took a description and dispatched police. I looked outside and he was pacing in the carport at this point. I looked again a few moments later and he was gone, or at least out of sight.

The cops found him still hanging around the house. Apparently, he is new to town and that was the third time he was picked up today. The cops kept taking him to the hospital, and they kept releasing him. (WTF???Buddy obviously needs help!) He also is known to be violent so the cops told me I did the right thing by calling.

So long story short (too late, I know!) he was on his way to talk to a mental heath social worker. Probably released 10 minutes later, but hopefully they dealt with him.

The good news? With all the stress I have had with Emmy not listening to me lately...she did exactly what I told her instantly as I tried to get her in the house. No back talk, no delaying. I asked, she did. Must have been my tone? Whatever it was, it worked.

Swimming Lessons, Part Two

Emmy officially passed "Sea Turtles 2" last night and is officially a "Salamander". She had to repeat Sea Turtles 2 the last time, as she just wasn't showing her comfort in the water. She also was the youngest in her class and it was her first lessons ever. However, repeating it was all she needed as she did great this time. Her comfort levels with blowing bubbles, putting her head under the water and jumping in have all improved greatly. Even Keith said last night that he saw a huge improvement from last time he went.(He attends the last class each time). She will start her next lessons on Sept 29, 2009. I am also hoping to put her into a dance class and/or a gymnastics class but I am awaiting for our new Leisure Guide to come out to see what is offered. Keith is not so excited when I mentioned gymnastics...after all, she in 50% my DNA, but I just calm him with the fact that I didn't start breaking bones until my 30's*GRIN*.

Here are some pics from last night...

Emmy's first day at the lake

On Wednesday, Aug 24, we finally made it out to the lake. By finally, I mean that the last time we were out, I was pregnant with Emmy. It was a perfect day weather-wise, and we all had a good time. I am still recovering from the massive sunburn I received despite the 2 coats of SPF 50 I had put on. Ugh.

2009 PGX

This afternoon, we took Emmy to this years Prince George Exhibition. To say she had fun would be an understatement. Such a difference from last year. A. She is a year older and just that much more aware, B. it was a gorgeous day, unlike last year.

We had some fair food for lunch and then Emmy went on two rides. It was the first year she got to try the rides and makes me wish we had a bigger fair where she could have tried more.

We toured the animal barns, but Emmy just wanted to get back to the "Fishy ride", so it was toured quickly. Emmy got another ride on the fishies and even won herself a stuffed duck at the duck game. Daddy won her a mini guitar at another game.

I have to admit, I have fond memories of my Dad at the PNE when I was young. My room was always filled with HUGE stuffed animals won from the games. My dad was a wizard at the baseball into the basket game, although now I think, "what didn't I know at that time?" since I tend to be jaded about my youth now. Ahh, that's a whole other post...lol

Bottom line, Emmy had lots of fun, we spent lots of money without much to show for it and she had more sugar than she's ever been allowed before. Sounds like a great family day to me.

Here are some pictures and video...
Emmy on the fishy ride




And Again...




And yet again...





on the fire truck on the car ride



with her goodies from the fair

NOTE: The only kid screaming (even in joy)is Emmy lol

Bye Bye Pull-ups

Today, Emmy's Daycare provider advised me that Emmy can come in panties to daycare now, as she has proven she can remain dry all day and use the toilet. We weren't sure when this would come as she has 4 year old in pull ups still. However, our little girl proved to Denise that she is a big kid. It' bittersweet really. My baby is growing up. However, I AM DONE CHANGING DIAPERS!!!!!! Oh yeah, baby!!!

Here is a cute video of Emmy cooking some pancakes (imaginary) for her Daddy and me, and informing Keith what he needs to do before he can get an egg. By egg, they are referring to Kinder eggs, which we gave Emmy as rewards when she pooped on the potty.
She shuses me at one point as I was laughing so hard.
Not sure what crackaroni is... LOL

Emmy's first movie (in a theatre)

Today, after much anticipation, Daddy and I took Emmy to her first movie at the Famous Players 6 at Parkwood Mall. We went to Ice Age 3. Em calls the Ice Age movies the "Elephant" movies and she has been excited since Friday when I told her the plan. It was almost like Christmas around here, counting down the sleeps and everything.

She was actually free admission-wise, Keith and my tickets cost around $20. The the concession robbed Em of any inheritance. Oh, I kid, kinda.
We got her the Ice Age combo so she could experience movie-style popcorn, and a Strawberry Fruitopia (which was the closest thing to a "healthy" drink they had outside of the extremely expensive water. She absolutely adored it.
The movie was good, not as good as the first two, but funny and enjoyable the same.
Some highlights of Emmy's first theater experience:
1. Emmy saying, "Is my elephant movie coming on after all the commercials?"
2. During the movie, the word "stupid" is said, which is a no-no word at daycare and at home. Emmy says emphatically (and loudly) to the screen, "You no say that word!" which caused parents around us to giggle.
3. Emmy's laugh, which is quite distinctive and the kind the just makes you laugh with her, causing random strangers to laugh with her.
4.Keith and I actually went to a movie again. The last movie we attended was 50 First Dates, many moons before Emmy was here.
It was a great outing out for all of us.

Imaginary friend? Check.

Emmy introduced us to her imaginary friend this weekend. Although age seems to change from 1 to 3 intermittently, the other details are very consistent. Emmy's friend is named "Lisa" and she does everything with her from riding her trike to playing on her new swing set. I have moments of "This is normal part of childhood, right?" but have managed to Not Google it. That is a big accomplishment for me, being as neurotic as I am. LOL

Speaking of the swing set - Keith did come through with his promise of a swing set should Emmy be potty trained. Months ago, I swore she was done - then she took a giant leap back. Not good. However, she is definitely done now - I would say night too, but my aforementioned neurotic-ness prevents me from letting her sleep without a pullup - even though she always wakes up dry and takes it off herself when she has to pee in the morning. I promise I will let go of this before she's 20 LOL

I don't want to jinx it...

But the weather for the past week has been beautiful!! We have been outside as much as we could be to take advantage of it. The weekend has just flown by with the gorgeous weather and being outside. Emmy is still enjoying her swimming lessons, and did learn the hard way on why you don't run in the change rooms as she fell hard on Thursday, but was fine - just lots of tears and hugs. Didn't even get a goose-egg..Other than that, everything has been good. Good news? We have had a fabulous week. Bad news? Absolutely nothing witty to say. So here...look at my kid instead...LOL
I think she's pretty cute!!!

Swimming Lessons

Last week, Emmy started her first swimming lessons. She is in "Sea Turtles 2" which confuses me as she has never been in Sea Turtles 1...oh those wacky lesson names!
Anyhow, her first lesson last Tuesday, she played shy the whole half an hour, but still threw a fit when it was time to go. Thursday's lesson she was much more social, and interacted well with her instructors and keeps asking daily if she has swimming lessons tonight.

Here are some pics...

I am thankful

for so many things in my life. Keith, Emmy, my friends, my family, my job - I know I have many blessings in my life. And I am grateful for each and every one of them.

Yesterday, as I was out on my lunch break, I narrowly missed hitting a truck that ran a stop sign. The driver was going so fast I didn't even see a license plate, let alone get it. I had to slam my brakes on so hard that I am sure I left rubber on the road.

If I was going any faster down Victoria Street, I don't know that I would be here to write this blog post. It was that close. Although I was doing under the speed limit at the time (the upcoming light was red} I would say he was going at least 70 KM/H.

So, I am thankful. thanking God for keeping me safe. I am sure Keith and Em appreciate it too :-)