Sign of Hope

At the end of June in 2007, I had another miscarriage (that made 3 losses). Shortly after I was recovering, my sweet friend Shawna came by with an apple tree which was from a small group of girl friends. The thought behind the tree was that there is "hope" and that each spring and summer, this tree would bud and one year [hopefully] will provide me with fruit. Last year, I wasn't even sure this little thing would make it, but it survived yet another harsh Alberta winter and has even blessed me with a few sweet pink buds. I know our summer season isn't very long so I don't know if it will even bear fruit this year but I was again reminded of the "hope" I have. That hope also came in the form of a precious baby girl named Sarah who was born exactly one year after the miscarriage.
May we all have hope.

Baby Legs

So I have a few on-line friends whose little ones are sporting these new "Baby Legs" and after seeing my 11 week old niece receive a pair at her baby shower, I decided to get Sarah a pair. After all, now that she's crawling and the weather is not always warm, they would suit her nicely. Of course, I had a terrible time choosing just ONE pair, so we came home with... three pairs. At least she WILL wear them for quite a while as they are very big on her short little legs. And now, to show them off to you...

And she's on the move!

We're SO proud of her!

Today...

Sarah learned to crawl. She's not very coordinated yet but I can see her potential and she is certainly mobile. It is so wonderful to watch her pleasure as she accomplishes something that she's been working so hard on for so long. I can also see how un-baby friendly my house is yet. I'll have to watch the little things on the floor, the outlets, the open stereo cabinet... the list goes on. I suppose my next few days will be spent ensuring the living room is safe for my curious baby!

In just a month

...my "baby" girl will be a year old and I'm sure I'll document that day as well. Today was fun as we went to a playground and Sarah went on the swings for the first time. She loved it. Her giggles and full faced grins were infectious and it was wonderful to watch her experience it for the first time.









~She is about 13.5 pounds
~She does not sleep through the night
~She loves to nurse frequently
~She is so close to crawling
~She ADORES her older siblings
~She is so much fun and has changed so much in these 11 months

I look forward to this next month of changes for her and then to see what will happen with her in her second year.

Time for the summer cut

Joshua had been wanting to grow his hair long but with warmer days upon us, he decided that he wanted it short again. I brought out the clippers and off it came!

It's Mother's Day...

~Shirley Van Neck~

Had I known 10 years ago that it would have been the last Mother's Day I spent with my mom, I wonder if I'd have done anything different. Knowing that in 9 weeks, she would be physically gone from me. It's been so long and I find myself forgetting more and more what she was like, what she did, how she sounded, even the scent of her perfume.

I try hard to keep her memory alive:

• a beautiful picture of her shines on a small part of my living room
• my babies all wore a simple pale green sleeper that she bought her first grandchild
• I consider yellow roses to be my favorite because they were HER favorite
• I have friends who use the same turkey dinner stuffing recipe that she did
• my first daughter has her name... Shirley
• I drink my tea the way she liked... lots of sugar and milk
• I usually make sure my babies are dressed, especially when we leave the house. She didn't think a baby should go out in pyjamas
• I cook like her, using many of the same ingredients that she did
• I do things a certain way because that's how she did them

I know that no one is perfect but my mom was. Maybe I just picture her "perfect" because my memory won't allow anything negative to be thought of her but that's ok. She didn't yell at us kids, the house was always clean because I don't remember what it was like when she had four kids all under 9 years old, supper was always on the table when my dad got home, life was organized, she was always in control. I put her on a very high pedestal. I looked up to her and when she was gone, I didn't know how I would go on. Here I was, 7 week old baby in arms and no mom to tell me what to do for diaper rash, colic, or sleepless nights. There were (and still are) things I wish I asked her about and wonder what she'd think of me now. I hope she'd tell me that I'm doing a great job of being a mom. That if the laundry isn't done right away, that's alright. That if the house is a mess when my husband comes home, that's ok too. That burnt potatos will be fine with some gravy on top. I'd like to think she's super proud of me. That she would look at her four beautiful grandchildren and say how pleased she was of them.

On Mother's Day, I try not to get too self absorbed in missing my mom. I have four kids who adore me and want to serve me and make me as happy as possible. I will receive a bouquet of yellow flowers (ok, dandilions), handmade cards, breakfast in bed and coffee. I will delight in their faces as they gift me with treasures they have found or made in school. During "Mother's Day" I will do my best to be cheerful and happy for my excited kids who want to bless me.

May you all have a Happy Mother's Day!

Happy 10th Birthday Joshua

Ten candles on the cake this year! I am a mom of a... PRE-TEEN!! Double digits! *sigh* It's an old cliché but "where'd the time go?" On to the next stage of parenting now.

Playing with PSE 7.0

I recently started taking pictures in RAW form and am having fun editing them in Photoshop...

Through the years of Arianna

I had to post just a "few" of my favorites of my little girl!

Five years ago...

I give birth to our third baby and second daughter, Arianna Joy. She came into this world on May 4, 2004. It was hard to decide which of the hundreds of pictures I would use to document this day so I chose one picture from each birthday or at least as close as I could. Wow... how the years have flown by. Happy Birthday Arianna!

Newborn...

One year old...

Two years old...

Three years old...

Four years old...

And now, five years old...