Happy Halloween!

With all the growling we thought it would be fitting for Sarah to be a little bear for Halloween. I know that it's kind of silly to buy a costume for a little baby that won't be going to a party or trick or treating, but David and I just couldn't resist. Happy Halloween!

This photo is of the 'Baby Talk' group that I attended for the last two weeks. It was actually a 6 week program but I discovered it late. The girls were all really nice, all first time moms. It looks like we'll be doing some get togethers now that the class is over, should be fun.


All the babies dressed up!

Another Monday morning

So much for the days of sleeping in... a baby does indeed change everything (well almost). Mind you, without a baby I would be going to work in the morning and getting up at 6:30 to be out of the house by 7:30. Now I get up at around 7 and lay on the couch while Sarah plays and entertains herself after her feed. And if I'm feeling really lazy I can often put her back into her crib and she'll sleep for another hour and a half or so. I am trying to be good and not do that though, as I know it's best to keep her bed time and awake time consistent each day.
Oh well, the odd time doesn't really hurt though. So you could say that I'm getting more sleep with a baby than I did going to work.

For the past month Sarah's been waking once in the night, first teething then travelling then the time difference and now teething again, ughh. So now I'm just letting her fuss it out. She usually falls back to sleep after about a 1/2 hour or so, not too bad really, then wakes again at around 7am. She's always so happy in the morning!

This past weekend was pretty relaxed. On Friday evening we went to Lou and Vicky's (our landlors) son's hockey game. He's only nine, so it wasn't the most exciting game, but the kids were cute. I love how excited kids get in sports games. After each goal they all cheer each other on and give out high fives to everyone on their team. We then went over to Lou and Vicky's for the evening just to chat and relax.

On Saturday David had a wine tasting exam in the morning so Sarah and I took it easy at home together. In the afternoon we did some errands and shopping. In the evening our neighbour Cathy and her daughter Summer who is 9, came over to watch a movie with me while David played on the computer.

Yesterday, Sunday, we checked out Vineland MB Church. The people in the churches that we have gone to are all so friendly. The pastors have all come to talk to us, along with many different people in the congregation. I think that we'll probably go to this one again next Sunday. The one downer is that the church is nearly 20 minutes away, oh well.

It was so blustery yesterday! It was so... windy and rained hard off and on throughout the day. It was the perfect day to light some candles and stay indoors. We watched movies together, played on the computer and I did some sewing. I made Sarah a sleeping sack to wear for the cold nights. Now she can wear her 'footless' sleepers to bed and her feet will stay warm.

Anyways, that 's about it for now. It's amazing how the weeks just fly by, it will be Christmas before we know it!

Christmas in Abby

Just thought I would let you know that we bought our tickets to go home for Christmas. We arrive in Abbotsford on December 15 and return to Ontario on January 2, 2009. We're flying out of Hamilton which is only about 1/2 hour away so that will be great.

The quest for friends

Out for our daily walk. My happy girl wearing her new mittens from her Oma. It actually snowed a little yesterday evening, crazy!

Change is never easy. I left so many wonderful friends behind when we moved here just 2 months ago. I certainly don’t expect people to be knocking on our door looking for friendship. Therefore I know that the only way to make things happen is to go out there and change the situation myself. So I continue to look for new ways to meet people and hopefully make a few new friends along the way.

Here is the progress so far:

I feel like I’ve been making friends with my neighbour Cathy, she is a sweet woman who is currently not working. Therefore I have been able to drop by or she’s come by here for little visits. I’ve appreciated the conversation and her general hospitality.

I joined the St. Catharines photography club. I’ve only been once since I went away for Thanksgiving but will go again on Tuesday evening. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time and now it seems that the time is right. Unfortunately almost all of the members (aprox 60) are in the older generation and are mostly male. Oh well, they are all very friendly and seemed to like the idea of having someone young join their group.

I started going to a Mom To Mom group on Thursday mornings. It’s close by so I can walk if I need to. So far it is just the two organizers and I, so much for meeting lots of new people. Oh well, the two woman are really nice and I have enjoyed my time with them. I’m curious to see if there will be any new moms on Thursday, as the program just started.

This morning as I was going for a walk I saw that there was a church with an “Early Years” sign out front. I have heard this name before out here and thought I would check it out; all I knew is that it was an Ontario funded drop in centre for kids and their caregivers. So I took Sarah and walked into a class that was already in session for moms and their babies 3-6 months. I learned that every Wednesday morning from 9:30-11:30 there are mom and baby classes on a variety of different subjects, this one was on development. It seems like a great program "(and it's free)and I felt welcomed right away. So I think I will return next week, which is unfortunately the last class of the set of 6 sessions. But then something new will start the following week.

There is also a “Mommy and Me” play group in the area that meets at least once a week, but you only have to go to the ones that you want to. So I may go to that on Saturday morning with Sarah, as it’s their Halloween party. The whole play group thing isn’t really for me at the moment, but I am trying to force myself into this new world. It’s kind of funny, since I loved kids and am an Elementary teacher, but I just don’t love the idea of being in a room with lots of little kids and moms all talking about their little kids. Hopefully I’ll come around, since this seems like the best way to meet others at the moment.

Well that’s the friend update. We’re still looking for the right church, so hopefully that will be a good avenue to meet people as well. I continue to pray that God will put a couple (or even one) good friend in my life. I also pray for boldness and the guts to just get out there and do my part in the situation.

Have a lovely day!

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took a break from making applesauce and headed to the pumpkin patch. It was warm and beautiful outside, perfect for taking some family photos.

We've got our pumpkins and now it's time to head home. Check back after the 31st to see photos of Sarah in her Halloween costume. Too cute!

We make a great team!

By morning, it looked like yesterday was going to be a stay at home kind of day. Earlier this week our hot water has been coming out of the tap in a rusty colour, yuck! So we had to be home between 12-5 for the hot water company to come over to replace our water tank. Out here almost everybody seems to rent their hot water tanks which is a good thing when something goes wrong with the tank and it needs to be replaced. The downer is that as tenants we have to pay for our own water tank rental, thanks goodness it's just $12. per month.

With Sarah down for her morning nap David and I decided to get started on the apples. He ended up doing most of the peeling/ chopping and I did the cooking, mashing and canning. I feel so blessed to be married to a man that is so willing to pitch in and get the job done with me. Whether it be building a house, painting our rental houses, crushing grapes, or making applesauce we make a great team together. And now we have little Sarah to help out (or not). We just set up her activity centre in the kitchen and she played in their happily while we worked.

Well it seemed to take all day to make the applesauce! Thankfully the hot water tank people came by 1:30, so that was taken care of. We did to go out to get more canning jars, as well as to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon for a little break.

We weren't totally finished until about 9 in the evening. In the end we made 50 -250 ml jars as well as 6 quart jars! That's a lot of applesauce for our little girl.

It feels so good to see the shelves in the cellar full of preserves.

Life in the kitchen

I've always liked to bake and mostly like to cook, that is if I have the time and energy for it. Anyways, I have enjoyed spending more time in the kitchen canning these days. When I got home from Abbotsford I was greeted by several bags of apples (all given to us from 3 different neighbours). So I got out some jars and decided to make apple pie in a jar (aka pie filling). You make it with a cinnamon/ nutmeg syrup so it's all ready to dump into a pie shell or use for apple crisp. I was very pleased with the results.



On Friday afternoon we headed back out to the vineyard with one of David's classmates to pick more grapes. And whoah.. did we pick grapes! A full trunk full in fact. I gave a big bag to our neighbour and juiced a big batch of grapes myself. This juice is amazing, just like Welches! I've learned (thanks to David) that the Vinus Labrusca grapes (which are mostly the dark purple grapes) are the sweeter grapes best for juicing. Ideally I would have liked to measure out the concentrate with water and then can the jars so they are ready for drinking. However, I was a little short on jars so I just made all concentrate. For drinking, 1 part concentrate and 2-3 parts water seem to be best. So in reality we've actually got a lot of grape juice. I think that once we open a jar I will freeze the remaining amount in ice cube trays and then we can just mix it with water when we want to drink it.


A few days ago a woman brought me a FULL large size laundry basket full of red delicious apples, for free! I posted an ad on Kijiji wanting any unwanted apples. I couldn't believe that she even picked them and delievered them to us, the people here are just so kind! So my job for today and tomorrow will be making all of the apples into sauce for little Sarah. I think I'm going to need to get more jars. Thankfully, jars are just 15 cents at the MCC.

Sarah is 6 Months!

It's hard for us to believe that Sarah is 6 months old already. All those people that tell you the same thing, "to enjoy the time you have with your baby since it goes by so fast," really are correct. The last 6 months have gone by so fast that I know it will be no time until I'm writing about Sarah being 1 year old.

Sarah is "talking" all the time now and has become quite mobile. She can get on her hands and knees and crawl along the floor with ease. I'm sure that very soon she will combine the two acts together and be quickly crawling around the house, yikes! Sarah loves food! She has now eaten (and enjoyed) pabulum, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, peaches and apple sauce. This also means fun times in the diaper changing department. Solids really do bring on a whole new meaning to the number 2! As with all babies, everything seems to go into her mouth these days.

She had her 6 m doctors appointment the other day and weighed in at 16 lbs 1 oz. She's a happy and healthy little girl. We have been asking our doctor for more information on when and where she will get her skin tag removed. It looks like we'll meet with a specialist in Hamilton sometime in the next couple of months for more information and details about what will happen.

Sarah giving Keisha a belly rub

The other day I watched as Keisha went and lay on her back right in front of Sarah. The video clip only catches the last seconds of the pair, but it gives you the idea. The two were hilarious, I was laughing so hard watching the two.

On the clip it looks like Keisha's legs are right on Sarah's face, I assure you that they're not. Don't worry all is well.

Loving the Colours of fall

On the day that Sarah and I got back from Abbotsford we went for a drive to Niagara on the Lake and to go for a walk around the town. The weather was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. People were walking around eating ice-cream cones- wierd for October.

The trees are incredible here! Every time I go for a walk or we go for a drive I am in awe of the beauty of the fall colours.
David sure did miss his little girl!

I am truly in love with our little family! It was so good to get home (to Ontario) and be with David again. When I left Ontario I felt like I was going home, but when I came back to Ontario I felt like I was going home too. Home really is where the ones you love are.

The river, near the falls.

Abbotsford for Thanksgiving

Last week Sarah and I flew home to Abbotsford for Thanksgiving. Sadly, David wasn't able to come as he had school and mid terms to write. I was a little nervous about flying on my own with Sarah but she did great. I was so relieved that she just slept there and back on the plane. 6 months and 3 flights already! Playing on the floor at the airport

Sophia and Sarah. Sophia was so curious about Sarah, she kept sayiny baby.

Sarah and her great Oma

This is the red fish at my Oma and Opa's house that I used to play with when I was a kid.

A bunch of the girls from our care group organized a little lunch while we were out. It was great to see friends and catch up.

Spending time with the lovely Laura

Sarah meets Owyn (Dustin and Mery's little guy) at White Spot

Just before we had to leave to catch the plane Sarah got up on her hands and knees and raised herself off the ground. She's crawling along the ground already and lunging herself forward on her hands and knees.



It was wonderful to spend time with our family and friends. I didn't get to see everybody since I was just out for one week. However, I consider this trip a bonus trip since it wasn't expected, therefore I am just happy to have seen who I did. Mom, I realized when I got home that I didn't even get any photos of you and Sarah. I suppose we'll just have to take lots at Christmas. We had a great time!