Wow, I can harldy believe that Christmas is only 5 short weeks away! Time to haul out the boxes and get decorating!
Yesterday I was able to leave the boys with Dee and get the rest of my shopping completed. It is such a good feeling to be finished the shopping and now I can just concentrate on the gifts that require a bit of handmade love.
I have so many thoughts of Christmas this year. To be so blessed with 2 wonderful little boys fills my heart. To have a husband that is my rock, my best friend and partner in every sense of the word makes me feel so very blessed. I'm not sure why but Christmas brings out those thoughts of appreciation for those in our lives. We should feel that way all year long, not just at Christmas.
This Christmas especially I am missing my Grandpa. I so wish that he could have met my sons. Some days I can still hear his voice, the way that when he said hello it sounded like "yellow". The way that he always cleared his throat. His comfoting arms when he pulled you in for a hug against his soft belly. The talent he had for laying down to "rest his eyes" after a meal and promptly fell sound asleep. "Grandpa cheese" (Velveta) on toast in the mornings with coffee. But most of all I miss the love that radiated from him. There was never a doubt of his feelings for his family.
So many things remind me of Grandpa, and as my dad gets older and is now a grandfather himself, he reminds me of what I saw in my Grandpa Johnson. I know that my boys have as special a Grandpa J as I did...afterall, my dad had a great role model in his dad and inherited his soft heart and comforting presense. This is something to be truly thankful for.
This Christmas, I am going to make sure that those around me know how loved and appreciated they are. Many of my gifts this year are homemade and were chosen with great thought and love for the recipients. I am going to try to get back to the true spirit of Christmas and not let it become so much about the actual gift but the thought that went into it to show our love. I challenge you all to do the same.
Wishing you a blessed and love-filled Christmas season.
XOXO
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Over a year since my last post...sheesh!
Ok, ok, I've had comments from more than a few people to update my blog already, so here we go....
How to cram a year's worth of stuff into one post so it doesn't become a novel?
Well, let's start back where I left off.....
Last September I was just beginning my new job as a Resource Teacher in Airdrie. It was very quickly proving to be an intense experience. While I was enjoying the children that I was working with (for the most part) and was forging new friendships with coworkers, I was having a very difficult time leaving Luca at his dayhome every day. I was also finding that the job I thought was my dream job quite simply wasn't. I won't go into details, but that combined with having to leave my little man every day made going to work difficult.
Chris and I were very surprised to find out around our 5th anniversary in September last year that we were expecting! This came as a bit of a surprise to us as most of you know, we had suffered a miscarriage at the beginning of August. And, with me having started a full time teaching job, we had sort of decided to wait until closer to Christmas to begin thinking of another pregnancy so that I could finish the school year before the baby would be born. Little did we know I was pregnant before I had even taken the job at the school.
So, another layer to my unhappiness at my job- feeling sick ALL THE TIME made it difficult to want to get up in the mornings, get myself and Luca ready for the day and be on my feet all day. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to Christmas vacation! :)
And, vacation we did. Chris and I went to Las Vegas on January 1 for 4 days. It was wonderful to spend the time together and experience a new place together. We knew that with a new baby coming that the opportunity for us to get away alone would probably not present itself again for a while. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights of Vegas and taking in some shows. We very much look forward to going back one day. The warm weather was certainly nice, too as it was cold and snowy at home.
As my pregnancy progressed and work became more stressful, I began to have cramping around my 28th week. I was sent for an ultrasound that didn't show any major issues except that the baby was measuring quite large- a few weeks ahead of schedule. My doctor was just keeping tabs on my growth, but after a few weeks, when the cramping didn't subside, I was instructed to take a medical leave from work. Obviously, this was not necessarily a bad thing as this meant that I would get to spend more time with Luca before the baby came and I wasn't really enjoying my job anyway. So, at 30 weeks, on March 1 I began the day by having a leisurly breakfast with Luca and just hanging out. It was fantastic! :)
I was so thankful to be able to spend some quality time with Luca. We were able to paint his room (Curious George theme) and get him into a big boy bed without much turmoil. I then started on the nursery, which I really enjoyed designing and decorating.
To no one else's knowledge, just after Christmas, Chris and I had actually found out that we were having another boy. We decided to keep that we even knew a secret from our families and most of our friends. It proved to be a tough secret to keep, especially when decorating the room. I think though, that somehow we managed to keep people in the dark. I know that there were definitely some bets that we were getting ready to welcome a girl! :)
On April 25th, 2 weeks before my due date, we welcomed our little Levi Allan. It was a rather dramatic arrival, with only 3 hours from the beginning contractions to delivery, a fast drive down the QEII highway and 14 whirlwind minutes at the hospital. Levi was in a hurry to make his entrance, that's for sure! :)
Luca was curious and nervous around his new brother. Once we were home with Levi, Luca began to be more comfortable "checking him out" and was very quick to inform us if he was crying.
Now, with Levi 5 1/2 months old, Luca loves talking to him and kissing him and Levi equally loves to watch his big brother and babbles away at him. It warms my heart to see the love that they have for eachother reflected in their eyes. I hope that they turn out to be the best of friends as they grow up.
As if we weren't busy enough, we decided to get a puppy. Life just wasn't the same around here after the death of our beloved Beagle, Hope. Plus, I never realized how much food needed to be swept off the floor after a meal without a dog to clean up the crumbs! haha
So, we found a black lab/ sheperd cross puppy and brought her home. She was 10 weeks when she joined our family. We named her Loki. She is growing so very quickly that I can hardly keep up buying her new collars to fit her growing neck! She will surely be a large dog in the next few months. She is a gentle girl that has fit into our family nicely and the boys both love her. Our family is feeling very complete. :)
Now with fall upon us, we are going to playgroups, I have joined a mom's group called MOPS, I have also joined a card club making cards. I am also enjoying working on my quilts, a fairly new-found hobby. I have realized that I can't be a good mother without taking some time to be myself once in a while as well.
And, one of the most exciting things to happen recently is that our best friends, Dee and Layne and their daughter Adelynn have moved to Crossfield, just 17 houses away from us! I am so excited to be able to spend much more time with them, especially with our children so close in age and being best buds.
Now it is almost time to begin thinking about Christmas......
I promise to try to update my blog a bit more often in the year to come! ;)
How to cram a year's worth of stuff into one post so it doesn't become a novel?
Well, let's start back where I left off.....
Last September I was just beginning my new job as a Resource Teacher in Airdrie. It was very quickly proving to be an intense experience. While I was enjoying the children that I was working with (for the most part) and was forging new friendships with coworkers, I was having a very difficult time leaving Luca at his dayhome every day. I was also finding that the job I thought was my dream job quite simply wasn't. I won't go into details, but that combined with having to leave my little man every day made going to work difficult.
Chris and I were very surprised to find out around our 5th anniversary in September last year that we were expecting! This came as a bit of a surprise to us as most of you know, we had suffered a miscarriage at the beginning of August. And, with me having started a full time teaching job, we had sort of decided to wait until closer to Christmas to begin thinking of another pregnancy so that I could finish the school year before the baby would be born. Little did we know I was pregnant before I had even taken the job at the school.
So, another layer to my unhappiness at my job- feeling sick ALL THE TIME made it difficult to want to get up in the mornings, get myself and Luca ready for the day and be on my feet all day. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to Christmas vacation! :)
And, vacation we did. Chris and I went to Las Vegas on January 1 for 4 days. It was wonderful to spend the time together and experience a new place together. We knew that with a new baby coming that the opportunity for us to get away alone would probably not present itself again for a while. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights of Vegas and taking in some shows. We very much look forward to going back one day. The warm weather was certainly nice, too as it was cold and snowy at home.
As my pregnancy progressed and work became more stressful, I began to have cramping around my 28th week. I was sent for an ultrasound that didn't show any major issues except that the baby was measuring quite large- a few weeks ahead of schedule. My doctor was just keeping tabs on my growth, but after a few weeks, when the cramping didn't subside, I was instructed to take a medical leave from work. Obviously, this was not necessarily a bad thing as this meant that I would get to spend more time with Luca before the baby came and I wasn't really enjoying my job anyway. So, at 30 weeks, on March 1 I began the day by having a leisurly breakfast with Luca and just hanging out. It was fantastic! :)
I was so thankful to be able to spend some quality time with Luca. We were able to paint his room (Curious George theme) and get him into a big boy bed without much turmoil. I then started on the nursery, which I really enjoyed designing and decorating.
To no one else's knowledge, just after Christmas, Chris and I had actually found out that we were having another boy. We decided to keep that we even knew a secret from our families and most of our friends. It proved to be a tough secret to keep, especially when decorating the room. I think though, that somehow we managed to keep people in the dark. I know that there were definitely some bets that we were getting ready to welcome a girl! :)
On April 25th, 2 weeks before my due date, we welcomed our little Levi Allan. It was a rather dramatic arrival, with only 3 hours from the beginning contractions to delivery, a fast drive down the QEII highway and 14 whirlwind minutes at the hospital. Levi was in a hurry to make his entrance, that's for sure! :)
Luca was curious and nervous around his new brother. Once we were home with Levi, Luca began to be more comfortable "checking him out" and was very quick to inform us if he was crying.
Now, with Levi 5 1/2 months old, Luca loves talking to him and kissing him and Levi equally loves to watch his big brother and babbles away at him. It warms my heart to see the love that they have for eachother reflected in their eyes. I hope that they turn out to be the best of friends as they grow up.
As if we weren't busy enough, we decided to get a puppy. Life just wasn't the same around here after the death of our beloved Beagle, Hope. Plus, I never realized how much food needed to be swept off the floor after a meal without a dog to clean up the crumbs! haha
So, we found a black lab/ sheperd cross puppy and brought her home. She was 10 weeks when she joined our family. We named her Loki. She is growing so very quickly that I can hardly keep up buying her new collars to fit her growing neck! She will surely be a large dog in the next few months. She is a gentle girl that has fit into our family nicely and the boys both love her. Our family is feeling very complete. :)
Now with fall upon us, we are going to playgroups, I have joined a mom's group called MOPS, I have also joined a card club making cards. I am also enjoying working on my quilts, a fairly new-found hobby. I have realized that I can't be a good mother without taking some time to be myself once in a while as well.
And, one of the most exciting things to happen recently is that our best friends, Dee and Layne and their daughter Adelynn have moved to Crossfield, just 17 houses away from us! I am so excited to be able to spend much more time with them, especially with our children so close in age and being best buds.
Now it is almost time to begin thinking about Christmas......
I promise to try to update my blog a bit more often in the year to come! ;)
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