Happy Hallowe'en!

Just a quick post because I have lots to do before the kids start arriving for trick or treating. I'm going to take some pics of Addie in her lion costume and I'll post them later tonight. The costume was a gift from her Nana and Papa, and it's adorable! We're not going out this year but we'll dress her up for pics for sure. She seems to be doing a little better today with her cold, thanks I think in part to the humidifier I got yesterday and some vicks baby rub (thanks Tricia for the suggestion!), and probably the fact that kids just seem to be able to kick stuff out of their systems pretty quick.

Hope everyone has a very happy Hallowe'en! I'm trying to get prepared for the onslaught of kids...now that we're in such a family-focused neighbourhood I'm expecting lots of traffic. Luckily I already carved the pumpkin this morning and bought enough candy to keep all of Toronto on a sugar high : )

Sleep is restored and the cold is back.

Poor Addie. She has caught yet another cold. Her nose is so stuffed up that it's making it hard for her to do the basics, like feed and breathe. Poor little monkey. I feel so badly for her as she snuffles away, knowing there really isn't much I can do to help aside from give her lots of snuggles. I am however torturing her with the nasal aspirator and some saline nose spray. It's just so sad, especially because she doesn't seem to want to breathe through her mouth so she's struggling. I'm thinking this cold may explain some of the crankiness over the past couple of days...

We had a great visit with friends Amy and Cath yesterday, although Addie cried for about a third of the drive there and about half of the way home. Amy and I sang "Itsy bitsy spider" OVER AND OVER again on the way home (thanks to Amy for being such a good sport -her little guy was quiet and sleeping) because that seems to be about the only thing that calms her down when she's melting down in the car! I have probably sung that song about 1,000 times by now...

And as for the sleep, we seem to be back on track. Except for last night which was a bit rough due to the cold. Ok, have to run. My snuffle bug just woke herself up trying to breathe and I have to go and tend to her. Thanks for all the teething suggestions...when I get a spare moment I'll spend a little more time having a look.
Hope everyone is doing well!

Did someone hit the rewind button?

Last night we had a night that rivaled our worst night in the newborn phase. It was not good. My sweet, sleeping-through-the-night-since-11 weeks-baby would NOT sleep last night. We started the process around 10 pm, and it seemed like all was fine. But then I lay her down in her crib, asleep, and suddenly her eyes popped open and she started crying. Loudly. So I tried again to get her to sleep and put her down...same thing happened. This cycle continued until nearly 1am, when I finally gave up and put her in her bouncy chair while I settled into the couch for a nap. At 4:30am I woke up, she was still asleep, and so I thought I'd try to transfer her at that point. Bad idea. She woke up and started the shouting crying again. I would have given anything for someone to have a quiet baby pill at that moment...

I think I slept for about 4 hours in total last night. It sucked. And of course she's been more cranky today than usual, and of course Adam won't be home until late tonight. My joy of motherhood is being tested today. Not sure why, but it seems like Addie cries more these days than she did as a newborn. I think in the last 24 hours alone she's cried more than she did in the whole first two months of her life. She cries when I get her dressed, when her coat and mitts go on, when she goes in her car seat/stroller/the car, when the flow isn't coming fast enough when I'm BF her, when the bottle is empty...she cries often and LOUD.

Maybe it's teeth. That always gets blamed for any unknown bout of crankiness. She has been drooling and gnawing on everything a lot lately...but it's probably not that. It's more likely that I just have a very spirited baby on my hands. As she develops her personality what I'm finding is that she doesn't really have a middle ground: she's either happy, laughing and smiling, or she's pissed off about something. She's just not a chilled baby...never really has been so I suppose it wouldn't make sense for that to start now.

I should add that she is happy a lot of the time too. She smiles, laughs and coos when I sing to her, or dance for her, or play with her toys with her, and she loves going for walks in her baby bjorn. She loves to look out at the world. These are the times I try to remember during those moments when she's less than happy. I also remind myself this is her only form of communication, and it's my job to try to figure out what exactly it is that she needs. I've always enjoyed a good challenge...

However, it does get frustrating, the Jekell/Hyde thing. When she's at her worst, I feel like I might go a little crazy. It takes a lot of patience to just take a deep breath and hang in there. What got me through last night was focusing on the fact that it was just one night, the morning would arrive soon enough, tomorrow (today) was a new day, and there would be coffee in only a few hours : )

Being a mom is hard. It's also the most special job you can have. So I'll take the bad with the good, and HOPE beyond hope that tonight we all sleep soundly.

A photo for comparison...

Jenna just sent me this pic from the fall 2003 - it was taken up at the cottage after I'd finished my chemo (hence the bald look I'm sporting.) She thought it would make a good comparison shot for the "who does Addie look like?" game - our hairstyles are almost the same : )

I still don't see that she looks like me, although lots of people have been saying that lately, but here's my bald shot and a recent shot of Addie for comparison. Thoughts? I'm thinking she might look more like Adam...

Picture time!

A few pics for a quiet Saturday afternoon - hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Happy 5 years to me!

October 24, 2003, was the day I had my very last radiation session, and marked the end of my cancer treatment journey. So today is the day I officially celebrate being "cured" - five years to the day my treatment ended. Woo hoo!

Don't know what I'll do to celebrate...it kind of snuck up on me. I'll definitely be enjoying a glass of wine tonight, but aside from that I think it will just have to be more of a quiet celebration. I'm a little tired today, seeing as Addie decided last night that after her last feed it was PLAYTIME! I fed her at 10:00 and then she was wide awake - no sleeping at that point (normally she's pretty tired after her last feed and isn't too hard to put down for the night.) So we hung out in the basement, watching a little Grey's Anatomy (I PVRd it) and practicing the roll over trick. Finally she started getting sleepy and I got her to go to sleep around midnight. And then this morning I was up at 5:30am with Adam - we have an old house and our floors are SO creaky that I find it impossible to go back to sleep once he's up. So here I am, enjoying a coffee and my blog, while Addie gets her beauty sleep : )

The other thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is writing - a book specifically. So many people have told me I should write a book about our experience but I just haven't figured out what that should look like. Should it be a resource for others? Should it be our story, told from both perspectives? Should it be fiction-based-on-real-life? I should probably just start writing *something* and see where it takes me, so maybe that's what I'll do. I'm definitely getting the itch to start writing again...not sure if I've mentioned it on here before but I've been writing a novel for a LONG time. I think I have about 16 chapters so far, so a LONG way to go. It's about a 39 year-old woman who only really learns about life, and about the lives of her best friends, after she dies. I have loved writing that book, and miss it but just haven't had the time to dedicate energy to it like I used to. But I think I need to pull it back out and dust it off and start again. So who knows...maybe I'll write that book, maybe I'll write a new one, maybe I'll do both...and where exactly do I think I'm finding the time for this? LOL!

Happy Friday everyone! And Happy Birthday to my friend Jenn - hope you you have a great one!

Movies for mommies.

This past Tuesday I went to my first movie for mommies (Thanks to A for inviting me along!) - it was actually a lot of fun (the theatre has a special movie showing each Tuesday for parents with babies where the sound is turned down). Not that I didn't think it would be fun, but I hadn't really considered the whole social aspect of the outing. Just sort of imagined Addie and I would sit there, she would eat a little, sleep a little, and I would try to watch the movie. I actually had a bit of a hard time imagining how we could sit there for nearly 2 hours, in a dark theatre, in front of a huge screen, but somehow it totally works. And it was PACKED! We went to see "The Secret Life of Bees" (a nice chick flick, which is probably why it was packed), and there were about a hundred moms with babies, and four old ladies right in the middle of all the chaos. Why they chose to come to a movie labelled "For parents with babies" I have no idea...

There were babies everywhere, and usually one was crying at any given moment. Sometimes one baby would start another crying, and then another, and before you knew it, the whole theatre had a concert of baby wailing going on. Occasionally it would reach such a crescendo that you *almost* couldn't hear the movie! There was always at least 10 moms in the aisles, bouncing their babies, and a mess of strollers parked up front. It was great : )

My new mommy friend A is part of a group of new moms who go to the movies every Tuesday. They all did prenatal yoga and prenatal classes together, so the babies are all around the same age. They're a great group of moms and it was fun chatting before and after the movie with everyone, comparing notes. I was reminded again of what I missed by not being pregnant - no big deal, just that it makes it harder to meet other moms at the same stage of the game as you if you aren't part of that whole prenatal network. I'm lucky that A lives right around the corner from me so it's been easy to get together and go for walks, or just have a quick daily chat on our respective porches as we pass by for walks. Even though I do well on my own, it was SO nice having a social outing on a Tuesday afternoon, and to be able to just hang out with other women in exactly the same place as me. I also joined up for a music and baby class starting in January, which should be fun as well.

As for Addie news, she's starting to do all kinds of new things. She sucks her thumb more now, she can grab and pull on her toys, she's still working at perfecting her roll over, she chats CONSTANTLY, she giggles and sometimes lets out a HUGE belly laugh when I kiss her under he chin, she's trying to sit up when she lays flat (it's like she's doing an ab curl), she still is sleeping through the night IN HER OWN CRIB (fingers crossed this never changes), and mostly, she's just getting cuter with every passing day!

Hope everyone is having a great day - talk to you tomorrow.

A big milestone and a tough Sunday.

First for the big (happy) Addie Mae milestone news...she ROLLED OVER! And...I MISSED IT! I was changing the laundry over and Adam was hanging with Addie on the carpet when suddenly he said, "She just rolled over!" I ran out and sure enough, there she was perched on her elbows on her tummy, just checking things out. She did it a bunch more times after that - she's very proud of herself, our little roller. I've been putting her on her belly the past couple of weeks, because I read that they typically roll from front to back first, but she hasn't seemed all that interested. Obviously it's because she wanted to roll the other way! Now we have to be super careful about where we put her down - especially on the change table.

In other news, Quincy had a small seizure yesterday and Adam took him to the emergency vet clinic (because of course, it was Sunday) where he had to spend the night for observation. It was so sad and scary, our poor little puppy. He really is like our first born - we treat him like he's our child, so it was hard for us last night, worrying about him. We went to see our vet today and he said in 99% of these type of cases the dog is epileptic, which doesn't mean much right now except that we have to watch Q for other seizures. If they get more frequent, then he'll probably have to go on medication. He's happy to be back home and is *almost* back to his old self. I'm totally babying him today and giving him lots of love and treats : )

So that's it for this Monday's post. Hope you're all doing well.

We are what we eat?

As I think I've posted on here before, I have not given up coffee since I've been breastfeeding (although I have compromised to half caf/half decaf, and only decaf after the morning)...or chocolate...or wine...or the occasional beer. I will admit there have been a few evenings when I've been enjoying a glass of wine *while* breastfeeding - sort of just worked out that way. Thought Addie was down for the night, so we broke out the wine, and SURPRISE, she's up for one more feed. C'est la vie. Even the Newman clinic said it was okay to partake in the occasional drink, although I don't think they meant at the same time : )

I do feel a teensy bit of guilt when I'm drinking my coffee, or having the rare diet pop (horror of horrors - the aspartame!), or of course drinking wine while feeding my child...but obviously not enough guilt to stop. Besides, she's thriving and is a happy baby. She's actually blowing raspberries at me from her bouncy chair right now - too cute.

I have friends who gave up all this stuff and more when they were breastfeeding. They started when they were pregnant and just kept going through the months they breastfed. In some ways I wish I could be that committed, but on the other hand, I know it doesn't make me a bad mom because Addie gets a little caffeine in her diet.

This "everything in moderation" phase started when I was diagnosed. One might think that if you get a cancer diagnosis, you totally "clean up your act" in terms of lifestyle: You eat organic, no wheat, no dairy, no caffeine, no booze, no meat...in many ways, NO FUN. Some people choose to go this route, and obviously for them, this feels like the right choice. I went to the other extreme - Adam and I went on a "cheesecake tour" the summer I was diagnosed. We ate cheesecake as often as possible, trying all sorts of different kinds, and enjoyed every bite. I also started eating beef again, for the first time in over 10 years. For some reason the moment I started chemo I just HAD TO HAVE beef. I ate fewer vegetables, partly because I was so busy eating beef and cheesecake. I drank wine. I ate lots of chocolate and sugar. Essentially, I treated myself all summer to whatever I felt like. It worked for me. One of the reasons I think I felt so compelled to eat like this was because before my diagnosis, I was the picture of health.

I have always been active, and when I was diagnosed I was working out 5x week. I was in great shape. I had awesome abs. I never ate red meat and often ate tofu. I had the occasional drink but was usually the DD. Didn't touch diet pop and rarely ate dessert. I was super healthy, and I got cancer anyways. Go figure. So it felt counter intuitive to me to give up all the stuff I really enjoyed to go pure vegan/no wheat/dairy/chocolate etc. And somehow that attitude has stuck with me...I treat myself regularly now, and don't worry too much if it isn't the *most* healthy choice. But two general rules for me are that I try not to drink from plastic bottles and I really never eat fast food. I will say my abs are not as defined as they were back then, but overall I'm still a very healthy person. I continue to eat tofu and get my recommended servings of fruits and veggies, and I haven't really eaten much cheesecake since that summer. : )

Now when it comes to Addie's food, I will be more diligent. Once she starts solids (in only 2 months tops! Can't believe it...) I plan to make my own baby food for a while. Buy organic veggies and puree them. Buy organic meat and puree that too (how gross is the thought of pureed chicken? Yuck.) Adam and I have big plans for how active we're going to be as a family, and I know we will stick to that. It's so important to instill that in Addie - I want her to love exercise and tofu, AND to know the pure enjoyment of a mile-high moist chocolate cake covered in chocolate icing. Yum. Everything in moderation.

Cold misery and stroller joy.

This cold is kicking my ass. So I apologize in advance for the less than creative post you're about to read. Not to mention, I can't take anything for it because I'm BF. Well, I can take Tyle.nol and saline nose spray - yipee! That does absolutely squat. Not being able to take cold meds bites - I long for the neo citron lullaby, or the dayquil daytime relief. Sigh...

Addie also seems to have the lingering cold and it was so sad this morning when she was trying to suck her thumb in her crib but couldn't because she had to breathe through her mouth. She kept trying and would get one or two sucks in before she realized (again) she couldn't breathe through her nose. Poor baby. Adam seems to have kicked his cold so at least one of us is healthy in this house!

We had our four month appointment today and all is looking great. Addie gained a pound this past month and now weighs 15.6 lbs. That puts her in the 90th percentile for her weight. She measures 25.6 inches in length, which places her also in the 90th percentile for her height. She just loves riding the top of the curve!

Picked up the new stroller I bought off craigs.list yesterday and I absolutely LOVE it. Love it. It's changed my life...well, at least my stroller life. It's so small and nimble (yes, I used the word nimble but honestly, it really is!) and I don't feel like I'm taking over entire store aisles when I'm using it. Addie also seems to really like it as she gets all cocooned inside the canopy - she actually slept in her stroller yesterday when my mom and I took her out for a coffee. Anyway, for those wondering, the stroller is a Buga.boo Bee (see pic below). So far, so good. I have found my stroller.

Thanksgiving pictures.

E & G walking Quincy on cottage road.

Family Thanksgiving walk.

Beautiful day & fall leaves.

Smiling girl.

Sleeping baby.

Addie with her tree her Grammy planted for her (right by her feet).

Opa & Grammy with grandkids.

Early morning cottage view.

Addie & Daddy on deck.

Brown family photo.

I'm flying!

Sitting pretty.

Loving the fall leaves - wish I could get them in my mouth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year - a great marriage, new house, Adam's clinic doing so well, my cured status, our family and friends, and of course...miss Addison Mae!!! It feels great to be able to say "thanks" for so many wonderful things.

Our cottage Thanksgiving weekend was great - busy, but lots of fun. We went for a hike to enjoy the fall leaves with the fam when we got up there on Saturday, had our big Thanksgiving dinner with the whole cottage gang (16 adults and 5 kids) that night, and spent some quality time with my mom and stepdad, and Jenn, D'arce and the kids on Sunday. The weekend went by so quickly but I'm so glad we were able to go up and introduce Addie to our cottage traditions. We took a lot of pics and got some great ones of Addie propped up in the leaves, which I'll post soon. I think she really enjoyed her first Thanksgiving weekend up north!

Well, not much else to say today. Addie and Adam's cold has finally caught up with me so I'm pretty much sitting here typing with kleenex stuffed up my nose. Nice!

For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, I hope you had a great time with lots of turkey and family time. For everyone else, hope you had a nice weekend as well : )

New mommy friends & pics.

Yesterday I spent four hours walking in High Park with a new friend, A, who lives around the corner and has a son one month younger than Addie. She also happens to be friends with two of my best friends...small world. We met one of her friends (A) from her prenatal class at the park and we had a great walk - it was a beautiful day. I'm now hooked into a whole new mommy network - they go to the movies for parents with babies (they keep the sound lower) every Tuesday, and often get together for walks. So I'm joining them this coming Tuesday for a movie day, which I'm excited about - thought the movies were out for a while yet!

I also BF at the outdoor cafe in the park yesterday! So now I've done it twice and you know what? I don't think I care that much anymore. As long as I have my hooter hider, I'm good to go. Now I know I can do it. I even totally ignored the fact that the place was packed, and there really wasn't any privacy, until this young-ish guy walked by, smiled, and said *loudly*, "There's the $2.99 lunch!" Two of us were BF at the time and we just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. As if. What an idiot.

I also made a decision about our stroller. I've talked in the past about how cumbersome it feels to be pushing the stroller around - I'm such a klutz with it and find that it often won't fit through small stores very easily (even though it isn't that big). Generally I find it annoying to go out with the stroller, although at times it's totally necessary. So I sold it, and bought a smaller one which I'm picking up next week. All done on craigs.list - love that site.

We're heading up north to the cottage tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to get some pics with Addie in the leaves. It's so pretty up there at this time of year. We also have a tradition that involves three cottages and we all get together for dinner - there are usually more than 20 of us at the dinner, which is so fun.

Here are a few pics before I sign off and a little video of Addie chomping on Sophie the giraffe (please ignore my baby-talking). Have a great holiday weekend!

Daddy hanging with Addie.

Sophie the giraffe.

I love my giraffe. Get your own!

The reset button of every day.

Lately I've been feeling a little like Bill Murray in the movie, Groundhog Day. Remember that one? It's where he keeps repeating the same day, over and over again. Usually by the end of my day I feel good with all I was able to accomplish, and then as I'm going to bed I realize I have to start from scratch again the next day. *Sigh*

For example, every day generally involves cleaning the kitchen up and making dinner. When I've been able to do that, either while Addie naps or is in her bum.bo seat, I feel good. I feel like it's a big accomplishment to keep the house tidy, and make a homemade dinner, with a baby. But then dinner is over, there are dirty dishes and dirty countertops, and I know in the morning I'll have to clean up AGAIN and start the whole dinner process AGAIN. The reset button is engaged.

Now this isn't a totally new thing for me, this feeling of resetting my day. There were days when I was working where I almost couldn't bear the idea of waking up, getting ready for work, blow drying my hair, driving to work...just wanted to do something different, or at least get a break in the routine. Having said that, I do like routine most of the time, but after a while I need to shake things up. That used to happen on the weekends - no need to start the morning routine until I was ready, and usually it involved Adam and I having coffee on our porch, or enjoying a leisurely brunch somewhere. It was very different from my work morning routine. But now with Addie, the weekend is not that different from the rest of the week for me - except that Adam is home, which we both love. So I find myself looking for ways to break the day up in to different chunks, to take walks as often as possible, to pop in and out of shops on a daily basis (whether I buy something or not), to drive to the mall to look for nothing but mittens (which I did yesterday)...

Our day is really dictated by Addie, and what her schedule is. There is the predictable eat, play, sleep pattern, which generally takes about 3 hours from beginning to end (give or take 30 minutes). And she does better if we're home for her naps, or if she can get a longer sleep in her stroller while we wander Bloor St. or the mall (she sleeps like a champ at the mall - all the smooth linoleum flooring). So in many ways my days are easier, if not entirely predictable, if we stick to the routine.

But she is changing nearly every day, doing something new, so in that sense I feel like each day is really quite different. And I love spending time with her, whether we're doing the same thing we did the day before or not. She's fun, and I'm learning a whole lot, like patience for example (a BIG learning curve for me on this one!)

So even if today looks a lot like yesterday, and the day before, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Our 1-year Transfer-versary!

This time last year we were at the clinic, waiting to hear about how our embryos were doing (they thawed them and let them grow out for a day), and hoping that we would have a successful transfer. It's really nerve wracking because you don't know how many survived, or how they're doing, until you get to the clinic for the report. I was feeling anxious, just wanting to hear it was good news.

It was Thanksgiving Monday (here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving in October), which I took as a good sign. It was also a beautiful day, and we had just bought our new house, which felt like two other "good signs". Jenna, always the overachiever, had baked Dr. Hannam an apple crisp as a little extra "thanks" for spending his holiday Monday with us, and we were all in really high spirits.

I remember the anticipation, the excitement, the fear (our previous transfer only a few months before had been successful but resulted in an ectopic pregnancy) - but I did have a really good feeling that *this* was going to be *the* cycle that worked. And sure enough, it did! So this time last year Addie was a 4 day-old embryo, on her way from a morula to a blastocyst, and about to be transferred into her aunt's waiting uterus.

Here are a few pics from our transfer day. I can't believe it's been a year...

D'Arcy, Jenna, me & Adam right before the transfer.

Me & Jenn, about to go in!

Jenn, Adam and me, right after the transfer was done.



And here's our little miracle baby. What a year!

A great day to be on mat leave.

Today was one of those perfect Ontario fall days - leaves turning, sun shining, air just brisk enough to warrant a turtleneck sweater...love it. Addie and I spent more time outdoors than in today, running errands, walking the dog, enjoying a Star.bucks run. I'm determined to really enjoy the fall because once winter comes, it's going to be much harder to get out for these enjoyable, leisurely walks. Once the snow flies our trips outside are going to be a lot more purposeful (re: give Quincy a quick, around the block pee break).

I'm really enjoying being "off" with Addie - we're having so much fun (well, to be honest, we have SO much fun *most* of the time) and she's just growing so fast. She's "talking" now, the kind of baby babble that doesn't sound like anything you've ever heard before, but is still so communicative. She's starting to blow raspberries and squeal - adorable. She's also putting absolutely EVERYTHING in her mouth, including my cheeks and chin when she manages to latch on. I can't believe how much she has changed since she was born. This is the stage I was waiting for back when things were so tough in the beginning - this is the light at the end of the tunnel for sure. Now I want things to slow down. I love her gummy smile and it makes me a little sad to know that in a couple of months she'll have teeth so her smile, while still precious, will look different. I love her wobbly legs when I prop her up to standing, and how she kicks her legs in her bath, and how she still suckles in her sleep sometimes.

I also realized today that in a few short weeks I'll be halfway through my maternity leave (technically parental leave). Nine months isn't feeling like a long time now. And then she'll be going to daycare...*sigh*. I actually hate the idea of her going to daycare right now - I can't imagine someone else spending more time with her than me. That makes me sad. But who knows what the next few months will bring. Maybe it will be easier to "let go" once she's a little older, and maybe not. For now I'm just going to enjoy each and every day, and soak it all in.

Well, I'm off to grab some dinner before she decides nap time is over. Hope everyone is having a great day. Tune back in tomorrow for a special anniversary announcement...

Pictures.

It's felt like a busy week, with visits from two sets of Addie's grandparents (Adam's dad and stepmom and my dad and stepmom), so we have a few pictures to share.

Hope everyone is having a really nice weekend, enjoying this amazing fall weather.

I'd like to live at the spa.

Today was a very exciting day - it was the day I had a facial booked at a downtown spa. A real high-end spa, with bathrobes and slippers, and soothing features like fireplaces, water walls, and of course, people to pamper you. My old roommate, Julie, and I met at the spa, caught up while lounging in our robes and slippers over coffee and biscotti, enjoyed our facials, and then walked Bloor Street window shopping. It was a great morning. I wish I could do it once a month!

The facial was heavenly. I haven't felt that relaxed in 3.5 months. My eyebrows are now perfectly groomed and my skin is glowing. Glowing people. I feel five years younger, almost like I had a long weekend vacation...I know it's a bit dramatic but wow, what a great morning.

Adam hung out with Addie and the two of them had lots of daddy-daughter bonding time. Addie thinks her dad is pretty funny - she is constantly smiling and laughing when she looks at him. It's adorable.

Because I'm so relaxed I don't have much to say. I do have some new pics to post but I'll save that for tomorrow. Off to watch a movie and hang out with my hubby while the baby sleeps. A perfect end to a perfect day.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Gran and Grandpa are here for a visit!

Adam's dad and stepmom are here from Victoria for a visit, and are spending a few days with us. This is the first time they've met Addie since she was born so everyone was very excited : ) We had a great couple of days catching up and spending time together - now Addie has met ALL of her grandparents.

She's one lucky girl: She has a Gran & Grandpa, a Grammy & Opa (my mom and stepdad), a Nana & Papa (my dad and stepmom), and a Grandma (Adam's mom). Lots of grandparently love surrounds this kid - she is going to be super spoiled. I think she already knows that, and was laying the smiles and coos on pretty thick that last couple of days : )

Here are a few pics:

Who you looking at?

I know I'm cute Mommy!

Adam's dad, Malcolm. Addie's Scottish Grandpa.

Adam's stepmom, and Addie's Gran, Kate.

Adam and Addie playing some guitar.

On another note, I found reference to a "great idea" product when I was browsing through another blog I visit. It's by SmartMom and is called "Teething bling" - basically it's a necklace, made of teething-friendly material, that babies can chew on (because they're always grabbing your hair, necklace, earrings, jacket collar...etc. etc., and putting it in their mouths!). Might have to get me one...