last days of summer

three weeks have come and gone and little sylvie has, i think, grown so much. it's hard to tell since i see her everyday. i wish so much for sylvie to just stay small...just stay a little baby. my little baby, because my other little baby isn't so little anymore. he's talking so much now. no sentences yet but his first three syllable word is chewbacca. impressive, huh? and he just loves his little sister. we haven't run into too many problems with conrad since bringing her home but i suspect he just gets a little fed up with her from time to time. even so, i think he is adjusting very well and the girl is adjusting pretty well too. for a 3 week old baby she still sleeps a lot of the time so much so i think it's the calm before the storm. i don't think conrad slept as much as she does but i'm not complaining at all. i'm sure she'll let us know once she's caught up on her sleep.

as for me, i've been coping well because jay's been home and that has been such a big help. i can't imagine how it'd be like if it were just me, but soon he will have to return to work, sigh. i'm sure i'll be calling on my newly retired mother for some help for she's just a phone call away!

the last days of summer have snuck up on us but luckily the days have still been beautiful. it's been a little more difficult to spend the time outside with sylvie but when we do it's been so much fun just hanging out and horsing around with conrad. i hope the days stay like this for a bit longer before the dark and gloomy vancouver days become the norm...

...though you can always find the beauty in nature no matter which season.

i can still remember when we had to catch him at the bottom of the slide. not anymore!

the boy's getting heavy but you wouldn't be able to tell in this photo.

this really is the best way to spend the time.

oh, my boy...

and my sleepy girl

still sleepy.

a gentle morning nuzzle

not so sleepy here

i love it when conrad hams it up for the cam.

our friends, alice, johnny, marcus and their newest not so little edition, kyle, were back in town for a visit. marcus is still very tall, just like johnny and kyle is not light weight either. the boys warmed up ratherly quickly despite not having seen each other for almost a year ago! kara's still has her eye on conrad but there weren't too many sparks between kyle and sylvie because they both enjoy sleeping more. alice and family braved the 10+ hour flight from hong kong...they lived to tell about it...i wonder when we can do that same, unfortunately whenever that will be conrad will have to pay full fare. oh, well, at least sylvie will still get to fly for free!

photo evidence that kara thinks conrad's a stud muffin

awww...

buddy picture on the couch!

when there is an alice there is always a sherri nearby.

(2+1) +1 = 4

the gestation period for humans is generally 280 days plus/minus 10-14 days. for myself this period had come and gone already and this is a really, really long overdue post. we never intended to keep this pregnancy on the downlow so i'm sure some of you folks are surely in for a shock but things just seemed to happen that way when you have a rambunctious little boy to run after on top of the serious fatigue factor when you carry a little human being inside of you. sorry folks.

anyway, back to gestation periods, did you know that the gestation period for an elephant is 645 days and a giraffe is 420-450 days?!? so for all you pregnant ladies still out there, i know you probably feel like an elephant but aren't you glad you aren't an elephant?

we now have a new roommate and she is all of nine days old. her name is sylvie claire and we love her to pieces! not to be outdone by her big brother, she too decided to come 11 days early. today is my due day actually but she sure didn't stay inside and came flying out in half the time that conrad did but don't get too jealous ladies. half the time means double the pain and it was (insert censor here) painful. i've had women tell me that once they hand baby over to you that you instantly forget about the pain. not so. i still remember it, yes, very clearly in fact.

we didn't really have any hunches whether sylvie was going to be a boy or a girl this time. for simplicity's sake i was hoping for another little boy but i sure wouldn't have it any other way now. she is so lovely and she completes our little family of four. welcome home, my sweet lovely girl.

but enough of my babble, i'm sure you all want to see photos of our new baby girl.

fresh out of the oven

thanks for keeping me warm, papa!

hello, world!

big bro's missing. he's at popo's watching (too much) tv.

i love my new baby sister!

proud popo and baba with baby sylvie

our new little family (sorry conrad, it's not your best face, i know)

how cute is this?

so cute.

happy st. paddy's day!

two monsters + st. paddy's day crowns = FUN! (yep, she's having fun, really)

puh-leez, mom! NO MORE photos!

happy FIRST birthday, max

i can't believe that it was a year today that our little buddy max was born. how time flies! i think most of conrad's pals now are over a year in age and he's now got a couple of pals still baking in the oven. max had a kick ass birthday party over the weekend and as always the food was delish but poor little conrad was feeling under the weather but despite that he still had a good time giving high fives all around and blowing kisses to the ladies.

oh, max, how you've changed and grown over the last year...can i hold you like a baby?

fresh from the womb

i love sleeping babies

fergus, please don't eat my face

max: conrad why do you have a dish rag on your head?

conrad: because my dad is ukrainian.

mmm...sophie


mom and dad, thanks for protecting my ears

did someone say fish and chips?

happy valentine schalentine's day

super sauve ladies man, pierre lafontaine, graces ring around the rosie to help us celebrate valentine's day. smooches to all the ladies!

almost famous

check it out, yo! conrad's on the robeez website! just click on the link. here are some other proofs from the photoshoot. this is soooo (con)RAD! I can't believe he made the cut! too bad his cross dressing bloomer shots didn't make it though! oh, well! enjoy!

inauguration day

there's no denying that even here in canada there is an excitement about barack obama's inauguration tomorrow. i'm in no way a politic hound but we are witnessing an historic event. never in my lifetime did i think there would be an african-american man taking the oval office. not because i think there was not a capable, intelligent enough african-american individual to hold this position but because i just did not think the united states of america would be ready for one. i mean, the american civil rights movement was just a mere 50ish years ago when blacks couldn't go to the same schools as whites, had to sit at the back of the bus, had designated water fountains to drink from and other countless forms of racial segregation all of which seems like such a foreign concept that these things even took place but frankly, i'm sure these types of events still happen in today's world but starting with the beginning of tomorrow's events i feel that there is a renewed sense of hope. this is not just a step forward but a tremendous leap forward for humanity. i feel very fortunate to witness a black american president take power in my lifetime because this gives me hope that in conrad's lifetime there will be less hate and less war. change we can believe in.

working 5 to 9

some of you may know i've started working again. it has been a few months now but i still don't feel like it's a good fit but the reality of it is i need 600 hours to qualify for EI. i just got paid last week and i officially have 218 hours under my belt. sigh, only 382 hours to go - insert picture of me blowing on a party horn. so on my name tag i am a "sales advisor" i mean being a "mom on one", which is also on my name tag, you'd think it would help me advise people but i feel like a big portion of the merchandise is just a lot of "not necessary but nice to have stuff"...most definately you'll be needing that wipes warmer and the $400 organic crib bedding. jason and i were most fortunate as we were given a lot of baby stuff so we only researched on a need to research basis and needless to say i am still traumatized by the adult diaper fetish sites i came across when i was researching cloth diapers but had i known the amount of baby stuff you can buy and stuff that people actually do buy, i would have thought twice about working there but beggers cannot be choosers...until they win the lottery.
i would have believed you if you told me there was a recession before christmas. there were many night shifts where i was just twiddling my thumbs, dusting and re-dusting the same display case but if you asked me this weekend i would have retorted, "what recession?" the clientele i serve is mostly of all walks of life but we carry some higher end merch so i do have the luck of "advising" snooty ass preggo ladies who think they are the only ones who are with child, grumble, grumble. when i first started i was just flabbergasted how people would spend their money but i'm jaded now, apparently it's the norm to spend upwards of $1000 on a crib, guess i've been living under a rock all this time.

but enough of this "woe is me" crap. our hard work is starting to finally pay off. just a few weeks ago conrad went to the potty all by himself. he didn't tell me or indicate to me he needed to go he just went to the potty all by himself! i'm even taking him out on walks sans diaper. he even peed on the snow for the first time last week. we don't have too many accidents on the carpet anymore but sometimes i'll miss him going to the potty and he'll end up going to the potty with his pants on, thank goodness it's only been number 1 but the good thing i think he's starting to understand the concept of pulling his pants off and on when he needs to go, just needs a little more practice. exciting isn't it?

the snow is just about gone now much to conrad's dismay, can't you tell he's having a ball?

check out his new kicks, courtesy of auntie wendy and tucker.

and his oh so chic bathrobe also courtesy of auntie wendy

happy birthday, tong tong! i love your tutu!

i'm glad you like your black apple doll! here she is with her proud popo.

happy 2009.

i resolve. i don't usually resolve much because i know i'll never stick to it but i resolve to not procrastinate --- please don't laugh. i know, i know, it's probably much more that i can chew but i'm tired of playing catch up! it was a good start to the end of the year because we got our christmas cards drawn, coloured, written up and stamped all ready for the merry elves at the post office on december 18th. how about them apples? positive reinforcement is much appreciated.

christmas this year was pretty low-key. the snow wreaked havoc on rita's flight out from calgary but we were all happy she was able to make it back despite all that silly white stuff falling from the sky. when i was little someone once told me that white stuff was god's dandruff. ick, but anyways, i digress. as always we had christmas dinner at the usual, so "christmas story" but so nice and easy! my MIL hopped on the big grey dog and we celebrated post christmas day which meant we didn't have turkey and cranberries until the 28th! mmm-mmm but is was all worth it. all three of us were spoiled again this year, especially the little monster. the monster is still a monster who runs around like a wild banshee and pulling all the books and dvds off the shelves and climbs on to the rocking chair and coffee table but that why we love him so.

ooh, snow!

ooh! more snow!

whoa. snow.

i like snow.

not this much.

my first backpack, MEC of course!

bring it on rain! i'm newt-ified!

goofing with the cuz and aunt

hmm, not so sure about this roughriders t-shirt! thanks garth and donna!

classic toque hair