There once was a boy in a pale blue coat yodel-ley-hee-hooooooo!

Jasper and I just got back from a 5 day jaunt to the Island. Unfortunately I spent most of the time there laid out with a nasty cold, so much thanks to Grandma for looking after both of us so well!

Jasper loved chaseing the "ah-t" (aka Sullivan) around the house for a few days, so to give Sully a break we took Jasper to the Beacon Hill Petting zoo. Spring time means baby goat bonanza time, and the great thing about baby goats is they seemingly have no fear, especially when it comes to a bunch of screaming babies and toddlers grabbing and poking them! Coincedentally, we ran into Lynelle, Patrick and Sophia at the petting zoo as well - I guess great minds think alike non? : )

Long gone are the days when the old gang would get together in Victoria at the pub for a pint or two or three - these days its coffee and low-fat muffins and a playdate at Lisa's house!

Saturday was baby Hannah's shower at Jen's mom's house. Hannah is already 7 weeks old and is the spitting image of her daddy (isn't that always the case!). I can't believe how fast time is flying by...Jasper just turned 10 months old last week as well...egad!

We left our hearts in San Francisco

Jasper and I just returned from 4 sun and fun filled days in San Francisco. I was a little nervous since this was my first solo flying trip with Jasper but he was a perfect angel despite the chaos on the way down (Air Canada "forgot" to schedule a pilot for our plane down to SF and this was discovered only after we had all boarded and thus we sat there for 1.5 hours on the ground) and his extreme fatigue on the way back (he slept the entire flight!). Needless to say he made many friends on the plane and many people took the time to tell me what a cute and lovely and well behaved little man he was.

 

We stayed with my good friend Janet and her lovely family at their beautiful townhouse in Mountain View. Both of Janet's adorable little girls - Claire and Molly - took a liking to Jasper right away and vice versa. We spent the first day recovering from the epic trip down and Jasper's cold by taking a leisurely stroll to the local park and of course visiting the local Starbucks (but with the nice weather it was frappucino time!). I also squeezed in a visit with an old friend from Ultimate which was Starbucks trip #2 for me for the day - YUM!

One of the best moments for me on the entire trip was Saturday morning when I went to wake Jasper and he reached for me with a big smile and an even bigger "Mama!". Until now he has being saying "mum-mum" a little bit, but not intentionally and not with such exuberance. So, I continued to work on his "mamas" for the rest of the trip much to his daddy's chagrin I am sure : )

   

Saturday was an action packed day for everyone. We went to a nice little park to watch Claire's soccer game and hang out at the playground, and then we stopped at my favorite of favorite stores - TARGE (aka Target!)and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Happy Hollow - a cute little zoo and amusement park for kids, Needless to say we had 3 very tired little ones and 2 very tired mummies! Janet, Brian and I then capped off the day with a yummy Indian dinner and of course a well deserved large glass of wine for the mummies!

We spent Sunday morning walking around the Stanford campus and met my friend Lesley for a late lunch in Menlo Park - a great way to spend our last day in the Bay Area. Luckily for us the trip home went very smoothly and we can't wait for our next adventure!

Happy Birthday Mimi and Olde (aka Val and Inge) !

JAC headed up to the Okanagan this weekend to celebrate not one, but two birthdays!
Mimi had her birthday on friday at the cabin, which we celebrated with MEL of MELK.

 

We had a short but sweet visit with Shark and Ty in Peachland, love the sideswept bangs Shark!

Sunday was Olde's 80 years young birthday! The entire clan along with a gaggle of Olde's friends were spoiled with a 4 course meal at Summerland's finest dining establishment..YUM!

 

Rub a dub dub.....

So in my infinate brilliance I managed to lose the plug for our little baby bathtub for Jasper. And until Jasper's daddy decides to buy us a house with a real bathtub, we will just have to enjoy bathing in a friendly storage bin - thanks rubbermaid!

Buckie!?

Well, we won't change his nickname yet, but Jasper is finally getting his top front teeth! Two little white nubs have finally broken through (complete with a cute little gap). No pics of the buckies yet, but here are a few others taken by Grandma and Grandpa this past weekend.

  

Happy 3rd Birthday Marley!

Our little Marley turned 3 yesterday. The entire fam spent a few crazy hours in Ladner with a frenzied group of toddlers jacked up on sugar, and an hour spent at "Go Bananas". Despite the madness, the entire party was executed with military precision by Greg and Al and much fun was had by all : )
I couldn't get a good picture of the bday girl due to above mentioned sugar induced madness so this one will have to do...

Jasper and Paige partied it up quite hard!

 

Week in review

   

Well another week has gone by, not a remarkable week by any stretch, but still a lovely week spent with my boy. On Monday we got to meet wee Hannah for the first time - so cute and so tiny! We had a lovely afternoon in the sunshine at the Isle Granville with Tanis and Kayna (and a lovely afternoon shopping!) and lunchies with Uncle Jeffie on friday. Now that the weather is improving and Jasper is getting to the age where playgrounds actually are something he can use (but not totally enjoy - yet), I have been introducing him to the swing, and slide, and other apparati...however he seems far more interested in watching the other kids play than playing himself. His new boots are tres cute non?

Oh, and since Jasper has now figured out how to crawl UP the stairs, we installed the first baby gate this weekend - Jasper was none to thrilled about it....

What goes up.....

Well, I knew there had to be a downside to all this crawling business. Jasper has already figured out how to climb the stairs. I have found him 3 times now 3 stairs high and headed for the summit...ack! Jasper has also found the downside to being able to pull himself to standing on all the furniture and that is of course that he has to get down somehow, and the floor is hard, and sometimes he lands on his head.....

Bienvenidos al mundo bebe Hannah!

My good friend Jennifer and her husband Craig welcomed Hannah into the world this past weekend - 3 weeks early! Sorry to Jen for my lack of photography skills - again the camera was doing something funky, but I did manage to salvage one good pic of the beautiful wee girl. Another girlfriend for Jasper!

My Sweetheart

Finally a post that isn't about Jasper (even though he is my little sweetheart). Today is our three year wedding anniversary and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband. Aaron is the love of my life and I am thankful every day for him. I love you sweetheart!

Nuestras Vacaciones en México

  

I remember the good old days when a vacation in Mexico used to consist of lots of lying in the sun, relaxing, reading, sleeping in til noon, cervezas and of course lots of eating. Well, travelling with an 8 month old takes all but two of those aforementioned items out of the occasion - the cervezas and lots of eating. Please don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, and will gladly suffer the hell known as airline travel with a baby to do it again in the future, but it certainly was a different experience this time.

For the first time in my adult life I was also very conscious to not get any sun - am really starting to notice the mess know as my dermis over the past few years, and thus I am probably the exact same shade of pale pasty white as when I left! I am sure I will be happy for it in 20 years though.

So, on to the good part - the trip! We stayed in a little village called Puerto Morelos which is nestled in between Cancun and Playa del Carmen on the Mayan Riveria. Puerto Morelos took a absolute beating from Hurricane Wilma back in 2005 and is still recovering today. Basically our casa was surrounded by devastation - to land and sea - and rebuilding of hotels, casas, roads and other infrastructure was in full swing (including the road leading to the house, if you could even call it a road - am not sure there are any shocks left on our rental car!). So, I am glad we went there and helped support the local economy - the area is definately suffering from a lack of tourist dollars.

 

It was about a 30 minute drive from our casa to either Cancun or Playa del Carmen. We spent a day at each, my preference was definately for Playa del Carmen despite the hoardes of touristas. We also spent a lovely (but expensive!) day at Xcaret (pronounced 'Ish-kah-rayt') which is an amazing eco-park/zoo/aquarium/beach/snorkeling area all in one. We also enjoyed spending some qt with the Nielsen/Miller clan. All of the kids held up pretty well considering the trip and the strange surroundings and high heat. Jasper loved spending time with his cousins and by the end of the trip didn't even cry each time cousin Logan "played" with him - guess the little one is toughening up finally! : )

 

So, now we are back and ready to book our next beach holiday (Maui - next winter). I got a nice jump start on my quest to learn Espanol (via classes and software) and none of us had a visit from Montezema and her revenge so we are all thankful!

Oh, and never let anyone tell you it doesn't rain in Mexico - here's proof!

 

8 Month Report Card

Crawling - check!
Pulling myself up to standing using furniture - check!
Saying Mama - check!
Taking major headers out of my carseat - check!
Taking headers just about everywhere - check!
Clappin my hands - check!

Now we just need to work on eating and things will be perfect!

Hack, hack......

Well, there is not much to report since my last entry. I finally got hit with a nasty cold, at the same time Aaron has been away all week, and its snowing - again! So, poor Jasper has been stuck inside with his sniffling snotting mummy who is surviving on Advil Cold & Sinus and anything cold and liquidy. Only one week til our Mexican siesta so that is getting me through. We did take some pics today from the bedroom window - the sun is out and the view is fabu-lous!

Da-da-da-da-dum.......

Ok, I concede. Even though Aaron "claims" that Jasper actually says "mum-mum-mum-mum" on occasion (esp. when upset), I think his first real word was da-da, which seems to be his favorite little phrase now besides "phhhhhhhhtttttt" (always accompanied by copios amounts of spit bubbles)!

Holiday Madness Part II - The Cabin

First off, let me begin by saying that Jasper does in fact smile, he does so a lot, just never in front of the camera : )

A typical trip to the cabin usually consists of lots of drinking and eating, game-playing and lots of good zzzzzzz's. This trip certainly did not disappoint in any of those areas, well except for maybe in the "lots of zzzzzz's" department, but what can you expect with 2 - 7 month olds in da house.

Jasper was once again spoiled rotten by Mimi/Papa C and his Auntie/Uncle and cousins...the favorite gift by far being the little stride to ride car, I think Logan would have been happy if he could have taken it home as well!

We decided to ring in the New Year with a little Mexican flair in preparation for the Nielsen family trip to Mexico on the 19th. Mimi produced a buffet that would rival any all-inclusive and Uncle Kent blended up some magical margs - Ole! Despite the fact that most of the cabin was in bed by 9pm, I think we all rang in the New Year to the tune of said 7 month olds crying, fireworks exploding, and crazy late night snowmobilerers snowmobiling!