Great Scot!

Our little man, in a kilt! Joel sure loved the Highland games. Especially the bagpipes! He was dancing the whole day (and this time, he wasn't beating his mom from the inside out!) People were constantly stopping us to take his photo and tell us how cute he was! By the end of the day, we were charging a fee to look at him!

An update on life

This month, so much has happened.
...so many things have changed in the lives of AmanDan and Joel.

We have become the proud new owners of the Purple People Eater, for lack of a better name. We have begun adjusting to the minivan ownership and all that it brings with it. We have enjoyed using it for two hikes, a trip to the parents house, and the Highland games. We still walk for everyday items from the grocery store, although that's been a bit difficult as we have three kids.

Oh, yah. Amanda is back to work for the month of June. Apparently, the other nanny had a mental breakdown, and Amanda was requested to begin working again. And since she is still waiting (3 months and counting) for the government to approve her continuing maternity leave, we decided to take the plunge and bump up the finances and start working. Its been a nice change of pace to be back at work. Cypress is a great help with Joel and River, well.....at least he's not that much of a challenge anymore. Its been great to have Joel in a more consistent routine since Cypress's preschool schedule has forced the napping and eating into set times.

Joel now has two teeth and is eating solids like a grown up. He sure loves anything that we eat, including Indian samosas, Chinese food, pizza, steak skewers, avocado.....oh, the list could go on. He has also started to become mobile. He doesn't quite crawl yet, but he does propel himself forward (and on some occasions backwards and under the couch!) He is also walking around the coffee table, but cannot pull himself up yet. He loves to walk when you hold his hands. Yesterday he walked almost all day at the Highland games.

Dan had a job interview the other day for a position at MEI Middle School. We hope that this will bring about a new job for him come September. We will find out later this week.

Add a trip to the zoo, a hike up Teapot Hill and to Lindeman Lake (with 3 kids, all under 5), the Highland Games, to your daily life and you'll have a glimpse of our lives over the past month. Its been busy, but good.  And its only about to get more adventurous. Bring on July!

The buggy before the horse...

...or in our case, the car seat before the car. Actually, its not even a car. Its a van. And what better to go with Joel's new car seat, than a new van?!
We were lovingly gifted G-ma's old van, since she is no longer able to drive. So, after much contemplation, and a very selfish act of Amanda's mother, we accepted the generous donation. We would have preferred to continue to live without a vehicle, but basically my mom said that she is forcing us to take the van so that she doesn't have to come out and pick us up all the time. And for taking the van, she would lovingly gift us a half years worth of insurance. How could we refuse?? Actually, we did refuse, but my mother forced us to take it anyway. She said she was being selfish. We will gladly accept her selfishness.
We feel quite hesitant about owning a vehicle. In some small way, we feel like we are violating our own morals of car free living. I guess for us, the temptation is to fall into the pattern of using the car for daily living and give up on walking. But our intention is to continue to walk. To only use the van for long distance trips. (yah! camping! road trips! vancouver!) Groceries will continue to be hauled home by hand and cart! Trips to the mall will still be on foot (or by bike if we can manage)!
There is a part of us that feels like we are giving up that "Car-Free, Care-Free" mentality we had for almost 5 years. Without a vehicle, you don't have to worry about gas prices, break-downs (and the exorbitant costs), and the various other issues that crop up with owning a vehicle (you never get a speeding ticket on foot!) Its going to be interesting to see if we can stick to our walking ways, even with the possession of a vehicle.

A day in my life

I decided that on Monday, I would record everything that I did in one day. I did it partly to show Dan why I'm so tired at the end of the day, and partly to brag to him about what I CAN do in one day (thanks to the 3 hour nap). It was quite amazing to quantify everything that I accomplished in one day. It also showed why I don't get MORE done in a day (yah, a whole hour of crying/snuggling) So I decided to share it with you. Please don't take this to be a regular day....the stars just happened to align and I got a lot done. The next day was full of tears (Joel's) and teething. Nothing else really got done. Believe me...I think I reheated a meal from the freezer to eat for dinner. 8:15 am I woke up to hear Joel munching around. I refused to get up quite yet (I just need those few extra minutes) and I know that Joel will go back to sleep 8:30 am I finally wake up (somewhat reluctantly) and start pumping while I watch some early morning tv (family feud anyone?) 9:15 am Finish pumping, clean up supplies, prepare for a shower 9:30 am Shower (oh glorious hot, hot water!) 9:45 am Breakfast, say good-bye to Dan 10:00 am Start first load of laundry, wash bottles, fill water glasses 10:15 am Wake up Joel, change his diaper and realize that he smells! Bathe Joel, lotion him, dress him and brush his hair 10:35 am Switch laundry to dryer, start second load 10:45 am Feed Joel, wash bottle 10:55 am Empty laundry rack, and hang non-dryerable laundry on drying rack, replace change pad cover since Joel peed on it earlier, get mail and read it 11:07 am Joel plays on play mat, I hand wash laundry (two sweaters) and salad spin it dry. Two breaks to change Joel to different activities, to help suffice him until I'm done 11:20 am Feed Joel, change him (second of the day), put him to bed 11:31 am Remove plastic wrappers from breast pads, prepare recycling to take across the hall while I... 11:39 am Switch laundry over, wash salad spinner, fold first load of laundry and put it away 11:52 am Make lunch, prepare pump 12:00 pm Watch news while eating lunch 12:10 pm Start pumping 12:40 pm Remove laundry from dryer, wash dishes, eat salad, fold laundry 1:15 pm Organize Joel's clothes (just had a baby shower, and need to organize sizes) 2:05 pm Joel wakes up, change diaper (#3), feed him 2:20 pm Back to organizing Joel's clothes, with a small break to answer the door and receive a package 2:45 pm Feed Joel, clean up last of laundry 3:05 pm Playtime with Joel (that didn't last long!), Feed again, He cries and teethes. I make a new bottle, and change diaper (#4) 4:06 pm Snuggles with Joel, intermittent crying, talk with Dan on the phone 4:30 pm Joel to bed, clean up last of laundry, fill water glasses again, clean bottles and pump from lunch 4:45pm Make dinner (throw leftovers in a pot soup), run dishwasher, clean up 5:00 pm Pump while menu planning for the week and creating shopping list 5:40 pm Relax...and stir the soup 4 times 6:00 pm Check email, wash pump and bottles 6:20 pm Dan comes home, Joel wakes up, diaper change (#5) 6:25 pm Diaper change (#6) Gotta love those surprise squirts 6:33 pm Eat dinner 6:46 pm Clean up dinner, talk with Dan and feed Joel, prepare to go out 7:22 pm Walk to grocery store and get groceries 8:42pm Return home, put away groceries, diaper change (#7) 9:03 pm Play with Joel, change him into PJ's, feed him, 9:33 pm Let the crying begin, intermittent with trying to feed him 10:47 pm Joel finally falls asleep, I quickly get ready for bed 11:00 pm In bed, and fall asleep in about 10 minutes

It wasn't me!

 Honestly! I didn't do it! A complete change of clothes, new sheets, one bath, and a few tears later and Joel was back in bed. Good thing we cleaned all that puke off his face.

Bike Ride

 It was very evident what Joel thought about his first bike ride. Eventually he did calm down and actually fell asleep.

 We went for a quick ride around Fishtrap Creek. 

I actually took this picture while riding my bike. You can see that Joel seemed to calm down and started to enjoy it.

Free the Fridge Friday!

Its time to rid the fridge of those leftovers! Free the Fridge Friday is what its dubbed in our household. And in the words of 4 year old Cypress, "I like the way it sounds. But I don't like the way it tastes."

Cake Monster

 Quick! Nobodys looking! 

Just one little bite!

 Mmmmm! So tasty! 

BUSTED! I swear it wasn't me!

Dang! My frugal ways!

I couldn't let it go to waste. I just couldn't throw out that top layer of cake or the white chocolate cream cheese layer underneath. So I put it on the cake. The sad thing is that I would rather have an ugly cake, than waste a layer! Its not like I don't have enough cake to go around. For some reason this recipe makes 1.5 tuxedo cakes, but I stretch it to make 2 whole cakes. (But my stretching skills this time around weren't as good since I cut the cake too thin and it broke, hence its ugliness).

Earth Day

This year, for Joel's first Earth Day, we celebrated by lighting candles and playing board games. Joel was enthralled by the candles and even tried to reach out and touch them.