The time, where has it gone?

Well, it's been quite some time since I last blogged. What has happened? Sam is walking, started daycare, turned 1 yesterday and I went back to work. Nothing really. :)

The last few months have been chocabloc full of changes. We are all still just trying to figure them all out. Sam trying to figure out how to walk as fast as his older buddies, to keep up with them; me trying to figure out my job again, and how in world to be a working mom (what a silly term, all moms already have full time jobs); Steve and I trying to figure out where the time has gone, how it is possible that Sam is 1; the only change that's been pretty smooth is Sam and daycare. He loves it. Plain and simple.

Tis the Season

We had a great time at our annual Christmas visit with friends Crystal and Rick from Vancouver. Crystal is NOT a "baby person" so is holding Sam in this picture under coersion. Just as the picture was being taken, she was saying "Eww, he just farted on me!" Sam looks rather pleased with himself.




Sam enjoys Grandma's Christmas choir concert with Grandma, Grandpa and big cousin Micah whom he adores. If he looks very much like the previous picture, it's because they were taken a mere hour or two apart.




This is the baking exchange I have participated in for a few years now. Note to self: If I don't intentionally plan on gaining 10 pounds next December, do NOT participate in baking exchange.




This is Sam and Aureilia celebrating their moms' birthday on December 6. That's right, Jen Andison and I share the same birthday, only 5 years apart. This year Jen turned 27 and I turned twenty-twelve. Sam and Aureilia had a good time together, and Jen and Lee discovered that Aureilia does, in fact, know how to climb stairs. In the background you can see the "fence" that we installed around the Christmas tree to prevent Sam from ravaging it. It has sort of worked.




Steve, Brian and Kristine at the Tourism Victoria staff Christmas party. It was a very good time, except that we had to leave early to make it to another party, which was also a very good time. I didn't t take a picture, but our second party of the night was a Christmas dinner at the Black's. We particpated in our annual gift exchange, and we made out like bandits, taking home a tin of organic drinking chocolate and set of cool place mats. The following night we went to a Christmas dinner at the Lee's for the girls (husbands included) and we also had a gift exchange. This time, Steve picked a gift that was... ummmm... more meant for a lady, but luckily Allison saved him, and he ended up with a 4-pack of Red Bull, and I got a cool Japanese bowl set.




These are a couple of photos of our annual family visit to Butchart Gardens to see the lights display. It is so worth it... I look forward to it every year. I was hoping the lights would show up in the picture, but you will have to use your imagination. So, imagine Christmas lights, everywhere. There you go, you've got it.








A couple of other holiday events I forgot to take pictures at: Steve's staff Christmas party, where I got to meet all of his co-workers; the annual Westshore Presbyterian carol sing/family Christmas party which I totally love, and where Sam met Santa for the first time; and the annual (I never realized how many "annual" things I do until now) 20's club Christmas event. This year we had it at Lori's and we do an ornament exchange. We were talking about how there have been 8 (I think) babies born into the group and 2 weddings since the time that we first started. There was some debate about who would be the next to be pregnant, and my bet is with Jen Smith. :)





This picture was just taken a few hours ago. Steve is working today so Sam and I headed downtown for a Christmas trolley ride. They were being offered for free in the month of December. So, we hopped on and had a wonderful time. There were carollers on board, and Sam loved them. He just started jumping up and down, which we have discovered is his way of dancing. He does it whenever music is played. It was a beautifully warm day (about time!) and we had a perfect morning.

Looking forward to Christmas. We will take some pictures of Sam opening his presents, and then subsequently eating the wrapping paper (just an educated guess.)

Merry Christmas from the Follis fam!

Hibernation

Its been a while since i last blogged. Excuses abound, renovation, work, baby, are key words which take up vast amounts of time. Other moments amount to just wanting to rest, or doing some type of leisurely task. This last weekend though, gave us a white cold offering which has provided the gift of time. It started Saturday night. Forecast called for snow to arrive Sunday, which, on the Island, means that we will get a shot of wet snow that quickly turns to rain except in higher elevated areas. We do get a few cold snaps but they seem to come in January or February. Saturday evening we saw the usual wet snow begin to fall, nothing of substance. Sunday morning, Sam and I went for a walk in the early morning. No snow, just rain and wind, but the temperature was definitely dropping. Sunday morning around 8 A.M., which signals the beginning of Football festivities with the ESPN pregame primetime show hosted by Chris Bermann (aka Fred Flinstone), rain turned to fat snow flakes. I thought, "sweet - could be a whole day of football watching". This would mean not going to Church, which i don't mind because of the crazy evening taking Sam to the emergency (see previous post for details) and the temptation watching action on the gridiron poses. I mentioned to Heath that the snow was beginning to fall and that the roads might be getting a little dicy around the church viscinity. Heather mentioned the notion that i was saying this in order to skip Church to watch football. I denied this - feeling a tinge of guilt for my selfish leanings. Heath suggested to phone the Church to see what the roads were like. I phoned and Pastor Gary answered. I asked him about the roads. He said they seemed fine. But he then added that if we decided not to come to Church, make sure to what some type of religious programming to make up for our absence. He said, only to watch football after a good fill of televangelism. I told him that we'll make it. I thought after to let him know that i could pull out a great amount of theology from a good football tilt. Especially in the area of patience and suffering because of my leanings to follow the Seahawks. Gary would understand because he follows the Chiefs.
The drive to Church was winter madness. Everyone was driving 30 and the wipers could not keep the snow off the windshield. Reminders of past journeys up mountain passes to go skiing resounded. Memory of a time driving up mid-week to go skiing when my brother (Mike) had to put on his ski goggles and have the window rolled down to get a better look at the road. Actually there was no view of the road going down the Trans-Canada towards Banff. The only guide were the red lights on the back of a Semi-truck which we followed. It worked out fine till we realized the trucker had pulled off the highway onto an other road - which led us off the highway. We had to throw out a quick heartfelt prayer before making a partially blind turn back onto the highway,- leading us on towards a day of powder bliss.
The drive back from church was just as crazy. Everyone driving slow - which suited me fine. When reaching closer to home, we noticed that trees had fallen from the weight of the snow. I tried to keep the car away from heavily tree'd areas. When driving through tree-lined streets, it felt like a game of Russian roulette. We made it out fine - and we have had a relaxing time at home. I have not been able to work this week because the roofs are all snow-covered. There is not too much we can do except relax. It feels like an early Christmas vacation. Heath and I been able to hang out a lot with Sammy, we've watched some movies, and i started a good book,- a biography on John Belushi. So its been nice to holed up for a bit. Its Thursday now and things are starting to thaw out. Probably by Monday things will be back to normal. There is a bit of seasonal confusion because it feels like a bit of spring feel because of the melting snow and warmer temperatures. For the last few days the outside streets have had winter Winnipeg look,- so to see it all melt feels like were in April (is Christas over?). But we are in late, late November and a busy December is upon us. Make me realize that even with hectic pace we probably all experience,- it is still nice to reflect on the silence of falling snow on a late November night.

Snow day!

We are officially in winter's snowy grip... it's a snow day! It started snowing yesterday morning, but we decided to head out for church anyways. While we were there, it really started coming down, and we had a pretty tense drive home. We bundled Sam up in the evening and took him out for his first snow experience. Steve gave him some snow advice from years living on the praries, like "Son, never eat yellow snow," and "Don't forget to dot the 'i' if you are writing in the snow." Teaching him bad habits already. We woke up this morning and everything was covered in snow! With Steve working on roofs, it was pretty clear he wasn't going to be working today, or probably for a few days. So, we got all suited up and went out for a walk on the deserted streets. I wore my winter boots that I don't think have been worn since Winnipeg days, and we put Sam in about 5 layers of clothes. He seemed sort of confused by the snow, and sat very quietly in the stoller while we walked for about an hour... sort of a record for him. We had a great walk, then a nice cozy rest of the day indoors. We were talking about how much fun it is because it is such a novelty. I remember living in Winnipeg, and even Calgary too, and after a month or two of snow it's hard to feel particularly enthused about it. But we are enjoying it right now. If it last for much more than a week, I think most people will be feeling a little grumpy about it.

On another note, we had our first journey to the emergency room with Sam this past weekend. We were putting together an ottoman in the living room, and Sam popped something in his mouth too quick for us to see what it was. Steve tried to grab it out, but Sam was too quick. He swallowed it right away, started choking and sputtering, and was very upset. We knew he was breathing fine, but were concerned with what it was he had swallowed...specifically if it was a screw or something else from the ottoman. So, we took him to emerg, and they were amazing there. They got us in right away, and took x-rays of his throat, chest and abdomen. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, which meant whatever it was he swallowed wasn't metal. That was a relief. So, they sent us home. And last night, we discovered what it was he had eaten. Steve was changing his dipaer, and lo and behold there was a pear stem, about the same width of a pencil and about an inch long. No wonder he was so upset! Anyways, he is totally fine, and we got that out of the way. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

Other than swallowing everything, which he loves to do, Sam is changing and doing new things everyday. He has perfected crawling. He started crawling pretty early at 5 months, but it was a funky little worm crawl which looked a little like break dancing. Like father, like son. Now he is doing a traditional crawl, and is moving about 5 times faster than before. Which means he can reach things 5 times faster, and is 5 times faster in ripping books off of shelves, grabbing cats tails, and pulling on all manner of cords. He is also a total pro at standing up, and is cruising around the furniture. He hasn't taken any steps away from furniture yet, but we are OK with waiting for that milestone. He hasn't started saying "mama" or "dada" yet, but does say dadadadada, and mamamamama. He has also started shaking his head no. Ummmmm... that's fun. He likes to do that especially when I am trying to feed him. We think he is going to be a little stubborn, and can't figure out where he gets that from...

Velma and the Superman Bear

Ok, so I am a little late in posting this, but I wanted to post a picture of what Sam was dressed up as for Halloween. He had two costumes, and indoor one and an outdoor one. The indoor one was Superman, the outdoor one was a bear. Both were very cute. Thanks to a wig and some glasses from Megan's tickle trunk, I was Velma, from Scooby Doo. I even own the green VW van, just like the Mystery Machine. For some reason my costume makes me look about 30 pounds heavier than I am. Seriously, I don't know why. And I have worked hard to get rid of this baby weight, so I am not even sure I want to post the picture here, but I guess I will anyways.
Sam is really giving us a run for our money lately... he is a very busy boy (an understatement.) He is always on the move, and loves to throw, pull, grab and chew on everything. Add to that the fact that he has learned how to stand up, and our babyproofing has to go to a whole new level now. Yikes. As well, he loves to chew on everything with his seven big chompers, which Steve recently discovered when Sam bit his hand and actually drew blood. Ah yes, we are in for a busy few years!

Last week Steve's mom came to visit us... who am I kidding, she came to visit Sam! No, we had a great visit with her, and it was nice that she and Sam got to spend so much time together, especially since Grandma and Grandpa Follis live in Calgary and don't get to see the little rascal very often. It was also great for me, as I booked two massage appointments, a manicure and a pedicure during the week. You need to take advantage of free, live-in babysitting when you can.

Our reno is almost complete, but I have come to believe that a reno is like a black hole... once you start it, it is never actually finished. There is always something that needs to be done. For us, though, it really is not finished. Our carpet is only half installed, and been that way for three weeks... that's what you get when you go to Home Depoo (not a spelling error). Steve is actually helping Calvin and Ceri with their bathroom reno tonight and tomorrow. Ah, another one falls into the black hole.

Things that go bump in the night

Each year around Halloween, we like to do something spooky. We usually go on one of the many ghost tours around the city... some are good, some are less good. Victoria is supposedly a very haunted city... maybe because it is older than most Canadian cities. Other theories say that ghosts (if they exist) are found closer to sources of water, and Victoria is surrounded by water, except to the north. Who knows. In any case, we love to learn more about the ghosts in Victoria... the spookier the better. We have gone on ghostly walking tours of downtown on Halloween night, ghost bus tours around the city, tours of the haunted Maritime Museum, ghost tours of Point Ellice house, and more. This year we decided to go on a ghost tour of St Ann's Academy, an old convent and Catholic school. It was lame. No other way to say it. It just wasn't scary. It was more of a historical tour, which would be OK, but that's not what we were looking for. We wanted spine tingling ghost stories. We got weak ghost connections, at best. The tour guide would take us through a portion of the building, tell us about the history of it for 10 or 15 minutes, then, almost as an afterthought, say something like, "Oh, and someone thought they saw a ghostly figure over there once." Ummm.... lame. We both agree that the absolute scariest one was the tour of Point Ellice House. Darn freakin' scary. I wouldn't let Steve leave my side. I also would totally go on the ghostly walking tours again. The picture above is of Steve and Sam in front of St. Ann's Academy. Even Sam wasn't scared.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow, it has been awhile since either of us has posted to this blog. We have been a little busy. We have embarked upon our first ever real reno in our new house, totally re-doing our bathroom. In short, doing a reno is H-E-double hockey sticks. It's tiring, and expensive, but darn it if the bathroom doesn't look awesome! I am glad we have done it, because it looks really good and has improved the value of our home, but I don't think we will be too quick to jump into any more reno's in the near future. Other than replacing our carpet. But WE are not actually doing that, the fine folks at Home Depot will be doing all the hard work. All we do is leave in the morning... then at the end of the day we have beautiful new carpet. Yay! We have been taking advantage of the fact that we are getting new carpet and being quite cavalier about how we are treating the old carpet. Spill a glass of pop on the carpet? Oh well! Acidentally cut a hole in it while doing the reno? No worries! Cat scratching it bare! No problem (unless of course this problem continues with the new carpet, and then there will most certainly be a problem.) So Steve, with the help of my dad, Kevin, John, Sean and Erik, completed the bathroom... we, 95% at least. There are still a few little things left to do, so when it is entirely complete I will post of picture of it.
On the family front, Sam is now the proud owner of four teeth... his bottom two, and his top two eye teeth. Not the top two centre ones yet... makes for a cute little smile. He is learning new things all the time, at an absolutely amazing rate. If we ask him where the light is, he looks and points at whatever light is closest. He will also do that with cats, and Daddy. Not with Mommy, yet. I guess I am around to much to be any kind of novelty, and therefore not really worthy of his new party trick. He is crawling like a mad man, but not yet expressing a desire to cruise or walk, thank goodness! In the last few weeks it has really occurred to me how he is transforming from a little baby into a little boy. He will just make a silly noise on purpose and then laugh, or pass a ball back and forth between his hands, and i will think... wow, where does he learn this? Not that this is the stuff of rocket science, but it's not like I taught him to do those things. He just looks at us, and picks stuff up. Children really are a miracle, no cliche here.
So tomorrow we go for the big family Thanksgiving dinner, and Steve will be bringing his family recipe sweet potato casserole, which everyone loves. Sam will have his own little turkey and yam dinner, with some applesauce instead of apple pie. I figure it's a pretty good facsimlie of what the adults will be eating.
I have plenty of things to be thankful for this year... beautiful baby boy, my health, the loves of family and friends... the list goes on. Also, a new camper van, which I will blog about shortly when I have a picture to back it up!
Happy thanksgiving to you all.