1 stroller, hoodie, blanket, and soother

2 winter boots 

3 pictures snapped

4 rosy cheeks after our walk

     

So Much Joy

"...Your laugh, baby
To me it’s just like helium
I breathe it in until I am
Ten feet off the ground

Oh, your laugh darlin’
It warms me up like sunshine
It is golden, it is so fine
Baby, when you laugh..."   --Carolyn Arends--

At 4 months, Ellie...

* wears 6 month clothing and size 3 diapers.  She is a long baby!

* goes to bed around 7/730 and sleeps through the night with a little snack before I head to bed      at 1030/11.  We are so very blessed!

* wakes up from her sleeps happy and calls out from her crib with a voice like "Mommy, I'm ready now..."

* had a weekend sleepover with her Bestemor and Bestefar while Marco and I were at BreakForth

* had her first set of shots and we both did okay :)

* enjoys tummy-time and playing with her Clutch Cube 

* is happy to sit in her bouncy chair while I have my breakfast or make supper

* has the best smile and is full of giggles and laughs

* thinks her Daddy is pretty fun

* is so content

* had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa de Andrade from Abbotsford, BC

Outside Our Window

I woke up this morning to it looking like this outside our window and the weather report saying it is -30C with the wind chill:

So it is a good day for a warm oven, rhubarb muffins,

and a second cup.

Hope you are keeping warm!

Monday Mornings

I love Monday mornings because of moments like these and a little girl who brings so much joy.

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!

Tree Day

My sister has eagerly anticipated the Advent Season and "Tree Day" this year. I must admit that her excitement has rubbed off on me too. Tree Day is not a day that is on our calendars but it's a day we count the number of sleeps until it's here. We get bundled up, go to the nearest tree lot, and choose the tree to fit our home. Then it doesn't mater how young or old you are but the time it takes to let the tree defrost and open up seems to take a LONG time.

In our home, Marco always fits the tree in the stand and does the lights so they are just right. Then we decorate the tree together with old, new, and treasured ornaments. This year, Ellie sat next to us gazing at the lights as we decorated. It's like our second-first Christmas!

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!

Quote of the week

Here is a story that made me smile this week:

One boy in my class brought cookies that looked just like this on Thursday. He really wanted to share them with his friends for Valentine's Day. After passing them out, one boy took a bite and said, "These are the best cookies I've had in years!"

Isn't it great to be 7!

Philippians 1:9-11

May your love increase to affect every action you take...

Listen to the "Abound" sermon by Rob Bell at Mars Hill to learn more. Let me know what you think.

To Grandma's House We Go...

Here are a few pictures of our trip to visit my Grandma in Coronation at the end of December.

It was a beautiful drive. The horror-frost on the trees was breath-taking.

The trip was relaxing. We took our time getting there and enjoyed drinking a travel mug of coffee, listening to Stuart McLean on CBC, and stopping to take pictures. Thanks for going with us Erika and Arden :).

Christmas In Our New Home

It was such a blessing this year to spend Christmas in our new home although we did miss being with our family. I am already looking forward to next year when we will be a little closer to each other.

In front of our fireplace Christmas Eve

We enjoyed many cups of coffee and a "sit down" breakfast together over the holidays instead of a quick bowl of cereal before dashing off to work :).

We made turkey dinner on Christmas Day. So good..

Happy Thanksgiving

Last weekend was beautiful and sunny (much like today). So after church Marco and I went for a walk and took some pictures. It was so relaxing and wonderful to spend time together! We wanted to share a few of the shots we took. I also wanted to take this time to say "Happy Thanksgiving". I hope the time that you spend with family and friends around the table will be a wonderful time! I know I am blessed and I need to turn back and praise Him for all the things He has done in my life!

About half an hour ago, I watched as Marco drove away in a white 15 passenger van, not filled with people, but filled with dishes, glasses, prepared food, knives, and his red tool box. He is on his way to Calgary. Tonight Marco is cooking a revolving, six dish meal for 25 people.

I am so proud of him and am honored to call him my husband. He left cooking and working as a chef in the Fairmont Hotels about 7 years ago because he knew he was putting cooking before his relationship with God. He started pursuing God and seeking after Him with all of his heart.

When Marco moved to Red Deer and friends found out he was a chef they would ask him to cook for them. Over the last few years he has willingly done a few functions like Christmas dinners, youth fundraisers, and my grandpa's memorial service but he has not pursued cooking full time, even though it is his passion. At each of these events I would stand back and watch as he used his talents and gifts with food to serve people :). He always felt awkward and a bit unsure when people would say "Wow! This is amazing..." because he knew that God deserved the praise, not himself.

As I go to school each morning and get to work with kids (my passion), I've prayed that we would both know in a real way if and when Marco was to do a catering event. So, this weekend is different. It is not just a catering...it is an answer to prayer!

I love you Marco!

Our Summer Through Pictures

I can't believe that it is Labor Day weekend already. It seems like we were just at the beginning of summer. I thought I'd post a few pictures to let you see what we've been up to.

At the end of July we were all together to celebrate Erika and Arden's wedding :). It was a beautiful day but very hot!
















On August long weekend, we went camping with friends to Horburg (near Rocky Mountain House).






























 

 

 

I spent most of my days at home which was wonderful. I really enjoyed being able to read a book in my quiet house while drinking a good cup of coffee of course :). I was also able to pick some berries which was a lot of fun!

     
Last weekend, I flew to Winnipeg to celebrate Tanya and Todd's special day. I was blessed to be there.










I hope you enjoy the last few days of summer before heading back to school...or work :). Can you tell that I'm already thinking about Grade 2!

6 weeks and counting...

...we get to move into our new house. We are really excited and thankful for this home that God has blessed us with. As Marco and I have been praying for God to direct our next steps, He led us to this house in Lacombe. Come and have a tour :). It has a spare bedroom so we'd love for you to come and visit us in the summer. Then we can tell you the whole story.

After Dinner...

Marco and I just finished eating supper. For some reason I was really looking forward to tonight even though we try really hard to make eating together a part of our normal routine. Over the last month, life has been extremely busy with "more"...more meetings after school, more errands to run, more jobs to do, more lists to keep track of, more late nights.... After another busy day and with those other things in the back of my mind I was looking forward to sharing my day with Marco. He is such a good listener. Tonight while we ate supper at the island I often got excited about teaching and kids and he patiently and intently listened about my day.

Here are some of the highlights :):
* At 8:30 I took my Grade 2 class to gym. They were really excited to play tag games and floor hockey early this morning.
* For the rest of the morning, we wrote Dr. Seuss-like stories. Even if you are not a kid you should visit www.seussville.com. It's a lot of fun!
* After recess, I spent 20 minutes sorting out a bullying issue that happened on the playground because it was more important than doing math.
* Shortly after 2:30, I had a boy take a huge nose-dive on the classroom floor. There were lots of tears and blood. After doing the basic first aid, we took a little walk to the office.
* When I came back to the classroom, no one was focused so we had some free time at the end of the day :).