Christmas Eve

Our immediate family always gets together on Christmas eve. When I was young this was always the time that us kids would open our gifts, since we were always off to a larger family gathering on Christmas day. It's amazing how big our immediate gathering is already. David I would normally host Christmas, so it was a little different this year at my moms. She lives in a condo so space is limited, but the people make it just as great.


Pre dinner gaming. They're playing one of our new Christmas games, Agricola. I know it looks pretty complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun!

Sarah found some bells on the bottom of my mom's Christmas tree, jingle bells, jingle bells...

Dinner with the Family, there sure are a lot of us!

My mom in the kitchen

Sarah opening gifts. Here she is with her rag doll that my mom made for her. She made one for me when I was little too.
Sarah opening up her "Pooh knows you" from auntie Anna. It's actually pre programmed to say her name and talk to her. She loves it!

Andy, Sharalee and sweet little cousin Chloe

Sarah and auntie Anna. Sarah's all about big open toothy smiles.

A few more gifts

Christmas with the Voth Family

On the 21st our family (on my dads side), got together for Christmas. It was great to see everyone.

David and his little girl. Our land lords gave Sarah this dress the stockings for Christmas. I love how the shoes are actually a part of the stockings. Brilliant!

Sarah opening her gift from GG (Great Grandma).
It's Bugs Bunny!

Exchanging gifts. David got the Princess Bride Movie and I got a box of Lindt Chocolates. Thank goodness for the "mad dash" at the end of the game.

Off to BC

I wasn't planning on bloging until we returned to BC, but after several people told me that they missed reading our blog this past week I thought I would post some pics. We brought our lap top with us, so accessing photos, etc is really easy. It just means that we need to be around to do so.

Sarah helping pack for our big trip back to Abbotsford. She is enjoying pulling herself up to standing on anything in sight.

My mom was more than delighted to see us and happy that we're staying with her for the first week and a half that we're out. Sarah spending time with my mom and Cricket (her bird). Sarah is fearless when it comes to animals. Thankfully Cricket didn't bite her!

Having a nap with Uncle Michael

On Friday morning I got together with Tracy, Jackie, Jeanette and their little girls. We all used to work together at MEI, now we're home with our babies. It was great to see friends and see their little girls.

Sarah and her uncle Barrie.

Sarah is so curious about her little cousin Chloe. The girls are just 4 1/2 months apart (Chloe was also 6 weeks early though). It's amazing how different they are.

Sarah loves looking at herself in Oma's mirror.

Engaged!

We are thrilled to share that Michael and Rebecca are engaged! Yahoo, we are so happy for them. Michael had filled us in ahead of time on what was going on, so all day yesterday I felt like I kept looking at my watch thinking of them. I couldn't wait until it was finally time to be able to call and congratulate them. Rebecca's a wonderful girl and I am so excited to have her as a future sister in law. There's no official date set as of yet, but they're thinking that the wedding will most likely be in July. Looks like that's the next time we'll be out to BC. Now it's just a matter of hours until we get to see the happy couple. Congrats you two! We love you!

Happy Birthday Mom!

The above photo was taken at the airpor just before we left to Ontario.



Today is my mom’s birthday. I adore my mom! I love our closeness and the way that we can say anything to each other. I treasure the openness and honesty in our relationship. My mom is an amazing person. She is one of those people with a heart of gold. She always believes the best in people, even when I think that there’s not much to believe in. She’s always ready to give people the benefit of the doubt. She is positive, caring and sincerely kind. There are things that can drive me crazy about her, but they are all things that help make her who she is, so I wouldn’t change anything. I really do admire my mom.

I have always had a close relationship with my mom but I have truly appreciated how our relationship has grown and changed this past year. When Sarah was born she would come over every 2 to 3 days (sometimes more often). We wanted her to be able to see her granddaughter as much as possible before we moved away and while she was teeny tiny. She was more than happy to see Sarah and we were more than happy to spend time with her. I know I will always treasure the chats on the couch, walks and the memories that we made together during that time.


Since we’ve moved I have loved talking to her on the phone about every other day. I have loved how connected I feel to her and how connected she has helped me feel to life back in BC with family, etc. I truly appreciate the times that she takes to give me a call or a quick e-mail to say hello, it has meant so much to me. Sometimes I wonder if I would talk to her as much if we were still living in Abby. I think that I would, there would just be more visits in person.


Mom, I will always cherish our friendship and the relationship that I have with you. I feel honoured to have you as my mom and honoured that you are our daughter’s Oma. You are an incredible woman of faith! Birthday blessings to you! Wishing you a fantastic year!

St. Jacob's

Today we spent the day in St. Jacobs, which is about an hour and a half north of us, just past Kitchener. St. Jacob's is an old Mennonite/ Amish town. We had a great day! We love going on drives together, experiencing new things and seeing interesting places. It was the perfect day. Wonderful conversation, being with my favourite two people, snow on the ground, a few flakes in the air, sweet Amish people in a quaint little town.

I love farms, especially with the snow. So... pretty!

Horses and buggies! We didn't see any, but I appreciated the signs anyways. The man at the visitor centre said to come on a Sunday morning, then you can see them all on their way to church. Apparently the church parking lots are filled with horses and buggies.

St. Jacob's has a lovely indoor market. Loved it!

Near the market was an outlet mall, with a LEGO store outlet! I loved all the huge LEGO displays. Here's a photo of just one of them.

Pickles on sticks? Thought it was interesting, I love pickles. Perhaps the pickle eaters in my family will enjoy this. Sorry Libby, at least you don't have to smell our breath. Ha ha

The Mennonite woman sure know how to bake! The sheets of Platz were huge! Thick with tons of fruit... I'm learning the secrets to great Menno food.

We also bought a dozen cookies from "Grace's Christmas Cookies." David is a die hard for real butter and corn starch shortbread...and these didn't disappoint. They sold for $5. a dozen for small little cookies. People were lined up buying dozens of them, what a business these Menno women are running. We were impressed.

Our little girl was pretty tuckered out towards the end of the day and had a nap on daddy.

And then it happened! We were like kids in a candy store, except we were in a toy store! One of the last stores we went into was a big quality toy store at the end of the main street. A wall covered in quality games. I'm not talking about Monopoly, Clue, Life or games of that sort (while those are good games). There were ALL the Ticket to Ride games, Settlers (with all expansions) and a ton of other games that we had only read and dreamed about in those little booklets that have come with other games that we have bought in the past. We always look in game stores and have never seen a selection this big. Since my mom had told me that she didn't know what to get us for Christmas and wanted us to think of what we would like to get... we could justify purchasing THREE games. Yahoo!

Check out our amazing purchases, now we just have to try them all out. They are all winners of big game awards and made by reputable game companies. Agricola seems to be a mix of Harvest Moon, The Farming Game, Setters and Ticket. We'll be bringing a couple of our 'gifts' to BC to play while we're out... can't wait!

Oh the wonderful feeling of opening up a new game and unwrapping the packs of cards and sorting all the pieces.

Eating my piece of Bienenstich at home. They put a layer of custard/ pudding below the whipping cream, yummy! Also something that I'm going to have to try in my Menno baking. Good food and good games... the end of a great day!

Just 2 more sleeps!

Christmas Decorations

In just 2 days we'll be back in BC! We're so excited to see all of our family and friends! It will be a very different Christmas for us since we'll be the guests and not the hosts. We love having people over, so this has been an adjustment for us. I have to admit that I am looking forward to the whole guest thing though.

I have debated if I should take our Christmas stuff down before we leave or when we come back. However, since my 2nd cousins will be staying at our place while we are gone I thought I would leave it all up. It will also be nice to come home to when we get back from BC.

Since you can't come over I thought I would post a few pics of our house at Christmas.



My Nativity set! I love Nativity sets. My mom has been giving me parts of this Willow Tree set for the last couple of years. I've got several different kinds of Nativity sets that I didn't set up this year due to space and knowing that we're leaving. Perhaps next year Sarah will enjoy setting them all up and playing with the figurines, just as we did when we were kids.

I love Santas! Pretty much every year I get a new Santa (often as a gift) to add to my collection. My first 2 Santas were gifts from my friend Kristy, and then they just kept coming. I have several others that aren't pictured here.

Stockings! Poor Sarah has no stocking this year, just us and Keisha. Since I am particular and like things to match I think I'll just have to make a bunch of new matching ones. I think I'll make a few extra while I'm at it so that I am prepared for more possible children in the future. No sense doing the work twice.

Well we're heading out for the day. There's snow on the ground, just enough to be pretty and not enough to cause bad driving conditions, my favourite. We're planning on going north on a little road trip, we'll see what adventures we'll have. Have a wonderful day!

8 Months

As of Wednesday, Sarah is 8 months! It just keeps getting better and better. I loved the newborn and little baby satge, but this is the best so far (I'll probably say that next month too). I love how interactive and responsive she is. She smiles lots, laughs easily and giggles when we tickle her. I also love how her eating times are aligned with ours. Not to mention the wonderful freedom that I am now experiencing during the day time now that she takes the bottle. Her great napping pattern and sleeping schedule have also been a blessing.

Sometimes people ask if she's on a schedule since she always eats and sleeps at roughly the same time. I never liked the word schedule, it just sounds too rigid to me, I prefer pattern or routine (but that's just me). Whatever you want to call it, I suppose she is on one. I never intentionally planned it that way, it just kind of happened. However, I feel like we still have lots of flexibility to change it up, I never feel tied down to her routine or feel like it has taken over our lives. She has always been a girl that has needed her rest, so she always has two naps a day (used to be 3). If we're out and about she can often handle just one nap at home, as long as she gets a little cat nap in the car or stroller.

We have continued to enjoy 7 pm bedtimes and 7-8 am mornings. This has taken effort and consistency on our part, and has not always been the easiest. If we're out at someone’s house we always bring her pack and play crib and put her to bed in there. I am so... glad that we started that right away when she was just a wee baby. It gives us freedom to go out and we know that our child is getting the rest that she needs. Every so often she will decide that she wants to wake up at some time in the night and we may have to go through a night or two where she has a period of crying, consoling, and crying it out to get her back on track (usually takes about 1/2 hour, really not that bad, but it feels MUCH longer). If she wakes up around 6/ 6:30 I can almost always feed her a little bit and put her back to bed, then she'll sleep to 8:30/9 am, again, not that bad.

There are so many things that I have learned these past 8 months as a mom. Consistency and routine have been so important for Sarah (just like teaching). With a semi structured day, I know that she knows what to expect and seems very content. I have also found that when we do totally disregard the structure for a day (naps, play time, etc) she easily gets back on track the following day since it's already well established. I've also realized the importance of being flexible and being ok to go back to the drawing board when something isn't working. She's obviously constantly growing and changing, therefore our daily routine and the way we do things with her has to change too.

What's working great today may not work tomorrow, and if that's the case, it's ok. Some days will always be worse than others. Be calm, don't panic. She definitely senses our reaction when figuring out how to react herself. If she falls and hits her head and I smile and act like nothing happened, then she seems to do the same thing. So we are continually learning and growing as parents. We by no means have all the answers, and never will. We just do the best that we can and recognize that each child is an individual. What we’ve been doing with Sarah may not work at all for another child. But I do think that consistency pays off, whatever the situation, at least that's what I remind myself when I am letting her have a cry at night or covering her mouth when she is spitting food out just for the fun of it.

I must admit that I am not looking forward to the 3 hour time difference when we go back to BC in a few days. I anticipate some grouchy evenings and very early mornings. Oh well, it's just the way that it is.

How is it that by the time I check over a post I have written so much? I suppose I am just enjoying writing these days. yikes

I found another great use for my braces elastics... Sarah's hair! They are perfect for making one little pony tail on the top. I love it!