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Easter Pretty

Jaia and I had our Easter dinner last night with some friends and family.  It was low-key and absolutely delicious.  Auntie Liz had a good point: we didn’t really get to enjoy our traditional Christmas meal because we were all still so sick with the flu, so a turkey dinner was loooong overdue. 

We took the opportunity to get overdressed (Jaia, not me) and strut our adorable selves (Jaia, not me) around in our party dresses (Jaia, not me).

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Where’s Jaia?

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Lovin’ the shoes.

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Excited about our upcoming trip.

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March 27, 2008 - 9:58 am

Alciia - So, so, so, sooooooooooo pretty!

March 27, 2008 - 10:01 am

Alicia - I hate it when I spell my name wrong. grrrrrrrrrr

Surprise!

Dan’s birthday is at the end of the month.  In order to really pull off a surprise, it had to be nowhere near the actual birthdate, so with the help of Michelle and Sonja Lasagna, we pulled off an awesome and successful surprise for the birthday boy-to-be. 

The girls did the running around and I took Dan and Jaia to a lovely dinner at Haveli, our favourite Indian restaurant – and by lovely I mean rushed, messy and uncomfortable (the waiter was super rude to us and taking an active toddler to a ‘fancy’ restaurant is far from relaxing).  But the food was stellar, as we expected, and the time away from the house gave the party elves time to set-up and prepare for our return.

We arrived on schedule and Dan was beyond shocked.  It was brilliant.  He then spent the good part of the first hour putting the pieces of the secret planning and baby fibs together.  He was genuinely surprised and I was perfectly pleased.

Though the celebration was very last minute, we had an excellent turn-out and even had faces show up that we had not seen for some time.  And the definite crowd pleaser, besides the Drake sausage, was Rock Band.  Gary and Michelle, the proud owners, unhooked it all at home and brought it over for the evening.  It was awesome.  If you haven’t played, or if you aren’t into video games, give this one a try…you may change your tune.  No pun intended.  It’s seriously awesome.

Anyway, our small, quiet celebration turned into an all-night party that had Dan, who was leaving for Thailand at 7 am the next morning, packing at 4am and hitching a ride to the airport with Ryan who was on his way home.

A good time was had by all, and here are the pictures to prove it.

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The rest are up on Flickr, if you feel like checking ’em out.

 

March 18, 2008 - 9:26 pm

Auntie Jen - AWW! I”M SO SAD I MISS THESE THINGS! 🙁

March 18, 2008 - 9:31 pm

Auntie Jen - Does someone get to actually sing in the mic?

That would explain the need for shots of jager!

March 19, 2008 - 7:04 am

Dan - Thanks everyone! Good time had by all, especially by me. And it turns out staying up all night was a good strategy – I slept most of Sunday day, which reset my clock to asia time!

You definitely get to sing into the mike in Rock Band. It is a 1000% better party game than Guitar Hero. We covet it …

March 19, 2008 - 12:32 pm

Kris - Awesome! Happy Birthday to Dan.

Very jealous about the Haveli too…

April 11, 2008 - 2:13 pm

Jason - i’m glad someone took a bunch of pics, i thought most of us were too messed up to take any. that was a great night, not often am i gonna get drunk in farrhaven and spend 5pm-10am singing and faux drumming. good times. glad that caribou is gone cause i never wanna taste that stuff again

Mad About Jaia

Jaia has had a busy couple of months.  So have her parents.  We had a run of family visits starting in late January and ending in late February.  It was amazing to see everyone.  We seem to be down to a twice a year schedule and after a few days with family, I’m always reminded that a few days is never enough.  I wish everyone lived closer.

As I’ve already mentioned, Jaia has changed so much since she turned one.  And even in the last few months, I’m constantly amazed at how quickly she learns things and starts to use her new skills.  For instance, she’s been climbing the stairs for months now, but she couldn’t get down the stairs on her own.  I tried to teach her a few times, but she wasn’t interested and only wanted to climb up.  Last week I tried showing her again, and by the end of the day, she had it mastered and now wants nothing to do with being carried up or down.  She’s far too independent for that.  She’s also figured out how to climb on and off our bed, the couches and the lounge chairs.  It’s hilarious to look up from doing the dishes or cooking dinner only to find Jaia sitting comfortably in the middle of the couch reading a book.

As I prepared the oodles of photos for this post I noticed how much she has already changed since February.  It’s incredible.  Her hair is a little longer and she’s definitely a little taller.  And this just reminds me that I should post more often. 

So here is my attempt to catch up. 

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March 14, 2008 - 9:28 pm

Auntie Jen - My gosh! She has changed.. how is that possible?! I’m already due for another visit I guess 🙂

March 14, 2008 - 10:38 pm

Julie - She is the cutest thing ever…next to my babies of course! I can’t believe that it was a year ago next month that I saw the two of you and I was speculating about having twins. Who woulda thunk it!

Sadly, we are back. And it’s snowing again.

If we could wrangle Dan and take him to Virginia, I’m not sure we’d come back.  Especially not when our northern neighbours are still shovelling their way out of 50cms of snow from the weekend and bracing for a few more later on this week.  I was not sad about missing this past weekend in Ottawa.  Nor was I sad about not having to wear a coat while in Virginia, or about getting to take Jaia out for her first walk on the actual ground (rather than the packed snow and ice that has been covering the ground since well before she started walking on her own) in a light spring coat and her beyond adorable pedipeds.  It was glorious.  Vitamin D makes me happy.

The trip also marked the first airplane ride for Jaia and I on our own.  Since the last time we flew, in November, she has started walking, become incredibly curious of other people and become very brave.  None of these changes make travelling on your own with a toddler very easy.  Especially since we left on Wednesday, at the tail end of the first snowstorm that week. 

Our plane left late, and Jaia refused to nap during the day, so by the time we boarded at 8:30 and took off at close to 9:30, she was beyond over-tired.  And I suddenly filled the shoes of every mother I’ve shot an evil glance at when their child seemed to be endlessly crying.  I tried my best to keep her busy, but trying to convince her to stay quiet and in her seat was useless.  I felt awful for her.  I felt awful for me.  I felt awful for everyone sitting within earshot of us.  It felt like the longest flight ever.

Thankfully the weekend improved with gorgeous weather, an amazing haircut and a phenomenal bachelorette party for my sister, Liz.  I hadn’t been out in Alexandria in years and it didn’t let me down.  And it spoiled the hell out of the girl of honour.  The wine tasting at Jane’s mom’s breathtaking house was delicious.  Our dinner at Overwood was mouth watering.  And the grand finale at Rock It grill…well, it rocked it.  And the proof was in Liz getting up the day after at around…4:30 pm.  Always a sign of good times. 

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March 13, 2008 - 2:22 pm

Dan - The haircut is definitely a cut above 🙂

March 13, 2008 - 8:47 pm

sonja - I want to see a picture of this amazing haircut!

Empty Nest

The girls are down in Virginia for Liz’s bachelorette party, so I’ve been home alone since Wednesday.  It’s very weird.  It’s not the first time I haven’t seen them for a week, but it’s very different being the one left at home.  There are reminders of them everywhere – very different than an austere hotel room and 12 hr days at a factory.  The house seems so empty!    I can’t wait for their return tonight.  There may be one or two kisses involved.

Big news from the weekend they missed:

  • 51 cms of snow!  They took both cameras, otherwise I would have posted a photo of our backyard, full to the top of the fence in some places with snow.  Humph could have hopped over to the neighbor’s yard.  We’re now a foot short of the all-time record for snowfall.  And snow is forecast for Wednesday.
  • Speaking of Humph, he had a rawhide bone in the back yard last weekend when we were building the snowman.  I let him out yesterday, and within 10 minutes he had dug the bone up, from under 5 feet of snow!  It’s amazing that he could find it by smell.
  • Our street was impassable even after the plow came by.  It moved a lot of the snow, but there was still a foot of snow left, too much for our little car without winter tires.  There’s been enough traffic that it’s OK today.
  • Our neighbor rocks – he snow-blowed (blew?) our driveway yesterday!  Twice, in fact.  He came back after the plow came by to remove the furrow of snow.  I did my part though – before he came I shoveled a car-width down the driveway.  A good 1 hr workout.
  • After 2.5 years of owning an xbox, I finally finished a game!  Mass Effect, a space opera from the makers of Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  Excellent rental.  Call of Duty 4?  Not so much.
  • I eat way better when the girls are around.  Solo, I revert to one meal a day, which is most often a shawarma 🙂
March 13, 2008 - 11:41 pm

Todd - Glad you guys are getting all the snow now. We are basking in the +12 temperatures here. COD 4 is a great game on Live, the campaign is a little short and easy, but online battles make up for it.