You get my vote.

On a day in Alberta where people and parties are competing for the top spot, here's to my Mom, who I think is the best.

Goodbyes. Yecchh.

This weekend our family gathered together for a meal and to say goodbye to our Dad and Bestefar as he returns to do the work of our Father.  Though we are incredibly grateful for the extra time we had with him, the goodbyes still hurt.  A lot.  Days with airport hellos are just better. 

Thanks Dad for the airplane watching, outside swinging, cradle prepping, grandson snuggling, coffee sipping kind-of-days.  You are already missed but we do look forward to our weekly Skype chats!

Introducing...

On the morning you were born, the sun smiled with such wonder...

that the birds peeked in to see you...  

and the morning breeze whispered, "Life will never be the same."

Because there had never been anyone like you...ever in the world.

 

On September 10, 2011, at 1:20 pm, we welcomed with much joy, Joel Christian de Andrade, into our family.  He weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 21.5".

* words adapted from Nancy Tillman's children's book On the Night You Were Born *

At 3 months, Ellie...

* has discovered her hands and loves to look at them and suck on them

* smiles, laughs, and brings so much joy

* is so strong and can roll from her tummy to her back (did it for the first time on January 9th)

* celebrated her first holiday...Christmas and New Years

* is getting to be so alert and aware of what is going on around her

* loves to kick during bath time, push her feet against the edge of the tub and is so serious when she does

* likes to be wrapped up and snuggled with the blanket on her cheek with she's tired

* has at least 3 naps during the day and sleeps through the night from 10:30 pm to 8 am (has been doing this for over a month now :))

* sleeps with her hands folded like she's praying

* still has dark hair and brown eyes like her Daddy

* is beautiful and we love her so much!

Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy, when skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Twenty One

Today Ellie is 3 weeks old. As I was thinking back on the last 21 days, I started making a list about some of the things I love about her.

1. the way she fits on my chest

2. how she loves to snuggle

3. the way she rests her hands underneath her chin to let me know she's asleep

4. the way she sighs with contentment when her tummy is full and her bum is clean :)

5. her dark brown eyes and the way she looks up at me when I'm holding her in my arms

6. her ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes

7. her dark brown hair

8. the way she smells after a bath

9. the way she buries herself in the fuzzy, warm bath towel because she doesn't like being naked :)

10. how calm and peaceful she is

11. the indescribeable joy she brings to our family

12. the way she turns when she hears her Daddy's voice

13. whispering how much I love her

14. her yawn

15. her beauty

16. her many faces, especially when she scrunches up her little nose and eyebrows

17. the humming and little noises I hear as I walk by her cradle

18. she is our "El", "love", "pumpkin", "sunshine"...

19. that she is an answer to our prayers and she came at just the right time

20. that when I look at her I am reminded of our awesome Creator

21. "I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

Ellie Renae

Our Ellie ("light") Renae ("reborn") is 10 days old today.  She came into the world on October 27th at 4:03 am and weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz.  The last week and a bit we have been resting at home and enjoying the love that has been showered on us by grandparents, brothers, sisters, a great-grandmother, and friends. We are truly blessed! We have also been doing a lot of cuddling, especially in Daddy's safe and strong arms. The last two days our little family has gone for a drive into Red Deer.  The time together has been so special!

From Cookies to A Bun In the Oven

It's been a long time since my last post and a lot has changed for us! Thank you to all you faithful readers who have kept on checking for the last 9 months. Marco and I are eagerly anticipating the birth day of our baby and it could be any day now. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures that my talented sister Erika took on Thanksgiving Monday. I'm so glad I said "Yes" to being in front of the camera because we had such a wonderful time together and the pictures are beautiful!