It has been too many weeks since I posted - I guess that is just part of this time of year! So, since I posted last, Jeff and I went to visit our project in Gibson's, Kim and Sven's place. Construction is comin' along, though it is funny that, as the designer, you see more things that could have been done better or should be fixed than you just appreciate how cool it is.
Otherwise, Jeff and I also went to his work's Christmas party a couple weekends ago where the inept Valet company actually had our car stolen! Yup, 2 cars and 4 sets of keys were taken under their watch, and our car happened to be one of the victim's. Well, long story short, our car was found! It is still sitting in forensics at the Police Station while we drive a rental with the 2 new car seats we bought, but we don't really mind since the rental is newer, fancier and an automatic!
Christmas Eve is tomorrow (!) and I have edited my to-do list to be more realistic and not completely disappoint myself. Next year, I am starting Christmas preparations in October. I should go to bed now since it will be another rough night - Max's fever was up to 103.7 today, so I sure hope he is alright.
Regular life stuff has been going on the past couple weeks, like Callum and Max getting bigger, cuter and smarter. They play amazingly well together and especially love wrestling in the crib and having a bath together. If I ever get upset with Max (like when he smears his blueberry breakfast on my white shirt!), Callum is quick to remind me, "he's just a baby, Mom". My 2 year old is scolding me.
Max has also managed to get his legs coordinated enough to crawl in the forward direction! And he has finally popped his first tooth, well, his 2 bottom teeth, actually! What a big boy!
Here's a pic someone took of Jeff at work - you know, inspecting stuff and making sure people do what he wants - he sometime calls himself a babysitter, actually.
Myself, I participated in the Festival of Nativities last weekend, playing the part of a singing shepherd in a group variation of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
So, it is now officially Christmas time and I will stop blogging so Callum and I can set out our decorations and maybe tomorrow we will go get a tree! How is it that this time of year always sneaks up on us!
I just sent an e-mail to my family and, because of my wonderful mood, I decided to share it on my blog (which I am sure to regret when I am feeling less resentful towards my dear son):
"Baby for sale, baby for sale! Oh, what the heck - I'll give him away if that's what it will take! He would be very usefull as an alarm clock with an effective snooze button, especially for those who may need to get up around 5:00-5:30am but you need a good couple of hours before that to actually get up. For example, he would go off at around 3:04am, 3:32am, then 4:10am, 4:30am, 4:55am, and finally 5:28am. He is very reliable, as he will do this every single morning, though he may have a tendency to go off at additional times, like 11:30pm, 12:20am or 1:10am. In order for the snooze button to work, however, you need to locate his soother (which is either stuck under the middle of his back, or buried and very-well hidden in his blankets around him) and plug it back into the hole from which the alarm is sounding. He is very talented, too, at getting the whole family up - I mean, if you have to get up, why not share the darkness of the middle of the night with everyone else! Besides, it is always better to be tired and grumpy with your kids than to do it alone, right?...."
I guess I feel less motivated to publish a new post when we just spend a lot of time at home, hiding from the rain and trying to get work done. Nevertheless, the kids are still growing and changing everyday, while Jeff and I watch with pride and awe.
Callum has been practicing his photography skills, and I LOVE this self-portrait:
He also observes the people around him doing what they do, i.e. Max playing;
And his mother working on the computer:
While I observe my boys doing funny things, like Callum hiding;
And Max repeatedly backwards-crawling his way under the couch:
Or Callum putting on my glasses and saying that he is a Doctor:
Since Jeff started his new job several weeks ago, we don't see him much, especially Max, since Jeff is so rushed in the mornings and comes home after Max is in bed - we hope that the crazy-busy schedule Jeff has been keeping might possibly slow down soon, but we're not sure when. We miss him.
Max is now sitting up, eating a lot of solid foods and has a relatively-regular sleeping schedule. It is still a tough task to get him to really laugh and he is so heavy (probably 22lbs!), but such a sweetheart. He plays with his toys happily, pretends that he can crawl, and the jolly jumper is his best friend - well, no, he so obviously adores his big brother as he grins everytime Callum looks at him.
Callum loves his Mom, his blankeys, his bike, Star Wars, Transformers, trains and cars, in that order - though when he is home, his Dad fits between his bike and Star Wars (hee). He laughs at everything, uses words like "frustrated" and says his Please+Thanks You's without being reminded (mostly). I have never, ever, felt as proud of anything/anyone in my entire life as I am of my little man Callum.
This is a happy life, this is my family.
I finally bought the cable I need to upload videos, so here is my first try to see how this works...
Jeff has a job. Yup, started working as an employee again yesterday. So, before he began the grind again, we filled the first few weeks of September with as much fun as we could.
Hmmm, what did we do... well, we hung out with Scott, Sam and Lorelei at my parents one day, so Callum played a bit with his youngest cousin.
One day, Kami's boys came to hang out with Callum, Max and I, so we met them at Queen Elizabeth Park.
Then we had a week with Jeff's parents. We only get to see them about once a year, so they met us in Kelowna. We ended up getting a sweet deal on a condo (Barona Beach Resort), and the weather certainly cooperated. We swam in the pool everyday, hiked a bit of the Kettle Valley Railway (after Callum puked his guts out on the way there), walked along the beach, visited the scenic Mission Hill winery, and relaxed.
Jeff's parents then came back with us to Vancouver for a few days. We took them to Fort Langley, where Callum and Larry (Jeff's Dad), bonded over train stuff. It was good to see them, if only for a short time. We think, though, it was long enough for Callum to get over his confusion about 'the other grandma and grandpa".
Kettle Valley Railway.
Callum's skills is the pool.
Max and Inge (Jeff's Mom) watching us in the pool from the balcony of our condo.
Mission Hill Winery.
,
Fort Langley (the blacksmith at the Fort gave Callum a forged keychain).
The miniature train inside a real train at the Fort Langley Train station.
