Mother's Day Brunch at Merridale Cidery

We did Mother's Day Brunch a day early as we had Amara's baptism the next day. This is where I thought we were going Friday night but I was surprised with a 'surprise party' at our house. The weather was wonderful at Merridale and the food was fantastic. I love this place...it is Cowichan valley at it's best.





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My Birthday - The Big 40!

Interesting to think I have officially entered middle-age. In alot of ways I feel like I haven't accomplished enough and then I think of my 2 healthy children and the feeling goes away. Children are reminders of what is truly important.....





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Walk at the Lieutenant Governor's House

This was a big weekend.....my 40th birthday and Amara's baptism. My parents arrived on Monday with my brother Dan as the surprise guest. His wife followed a couple of days later and we went for walk at the Lieutenant Governor's House.


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India at Play Group

One of the benefits of being off is that I can join in the routine that Trish and India have. Part of that routine is play group at Fairfield Community Centre. India has a blast here and her favourite thing to do is play with play-dough:

Friends and Family!

Through our first week of Amara's life our friends and family made sure that we did not have to cook dinner once. Every night of the week someone brought over dinner for us or cooked it for us at their house. It cannot be emphasized how helpful this is during this time. The last thing you feel like doing after a night and day of very little sleep is to get organized and make dinner. On Friday of last week our very dear friends Bev and Rob came over with an amazing dinner (and a quiche for the next day). Here is a picture of Bev with Amara:

My Girls!

Here are some quick picture of all my girls!! I am so outnumbered!!

India and Amara

One of the questions we are constantly being asked is: "How is India adjusting to being a big sister?". Well the answer is is that she is adjusting extremely well. She is actually quite helpful, particularly when it comes to changing diapers.

Amara Arrives!!!

Our beautiful second daughter was born April 16th, 2007 at 7:07 pm. Her full name is Amara Raine Marie-Ange (Marie-Ange was my Mom's moms name). Amara is a Sanskrit word that means 'Eternal'.



It was a wonderful journey! Pre-labour started early morning and we headed for the hospital around 4:45 pm -rush hour!! Trish was at 3 cm. It was not a fun ride but when we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 she was dilated 9cm! Two contractions later it was time to push so no time for drugs.



Trish did a V-BAC which means a vaginal birth after caesarean. I am so proud of Trish...she worked incredibly hard and did an amazing job!

She came into the world with a beautiful little squawk weighing exactly 7 pounds.



Here is Mom literally seconds after birth...the baby was placed on her with umblical cord still attached:



My eyes are closed because I was weeping...literally. We could not be happier.

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The Day Before

Here she is....big and beautiful.....

India Blowing Bubbles

Okay....you know it's spring when the bubbles come out!! One of India's top five things to do. Little did we know that our world WAS ABOUT TO BE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN!



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Chocolate Buffet at the Sutton Place

I think this was the highlight of the trip to Vancouver for Trish. The hotel was hosting a chocolate buffet on Saturday night which, as I was quickly informed, we were attending. It was pretty amazing. India had a blast as she befriended some kids and entertained the restaurant with her dancing.



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Science Centre with Euan and Julian

Trish and I decided to get away to Vancouver before our new little one arrived. We spent two nights in Vancouver and stayed at the 5 Star Sutton Place Hotel. What an incredibly stay! Amazing service and beautiful accomodations.....real duvets on the bed with beautiful feather pillows. India was a big fan of the pool....we were there twice during our stay and spent at least an hour and half each time. Met a semi-famous movie star in the pool as well....of course I had no idea who she was but I looked her up later and sure enough...she famous. Her name is Annie Potts.



Nice woman...she is in Vancouver filming on the television series called "Men in Tree's"

Anyway on Saturday we went to the Science Centre and met up with Jackie Cook (Paul Needham's wife) and her two children Euan and Julian. It was the first time I met their kids and it was the first time they met India. We had a great time with them - such wonderful kids:



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Purple Wrapping Paper from the Kippings

India loves receiving gifts. Her Aunty Bernadette knows exactly what she likes. She loved everything she got in this package but she had a blast with the purple paper that game with the gift.......one week later we are still picking up this stuff. Thanks Big Sis!



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India with Dad's Shoes

I just had to take some pictures of India with my shoes on. She just loves having her picture taken and on this day she was particularly hamish.



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London's Birthday

Great party! The kids had a blast and it was great for the parents for as well.



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India's Grandparent's Come to Visit

We just finished a wonderful visit with my parents. They were here for 10 days and as usual they were a delight. The help us so much while they are here that it is incredibly luxurious...we both come home to dinners every night and a full fridge!! We missed them before they left.
Thank you so much Mom and Dad!!

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Video Chat Technology

People who know me think that I like technology for technology's sake. This couldn't be further from the truth. I can be a bit of a gizmo guy but I really get cranked when technology really benefits us. For example, video chat using iChat on the Mac. This is by far the easiest and best quality video chat system around. It's ease of use is unparalleled. As a family we use it to keep in touch with my parents who are 800 kms away. India chats with them weekly and she will grow up thinking this is normal. This is where technology really shows its power - India hadn't seen her Grandparents for over 7 months (physically) but when they walked in the door last week she didn't skip a beat. It was like they were never a part. No playing strange...just straight into their arms. That's powerful.

Walk Around Swan Lake

The walk around this BEAUTIFUL bird sanctuary is over 5 km. Our little India ran over half of it! Did she ever sleep well that night :-).



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Hayden's Birthday

Looks like we are trend-setters!! Our friends from church, Tim and Kelly, also rented out the church hall for the youngest son's birthday. However Kelly blew us away with her organization skills and set-up....now we have something to learn for India's next birthday.




It was a great time! Check out the cupcake tree Kelly built above..that's awesome. All the kids had a blast.



The piniatta bags were a huge hit as well. Great job Tim and Kelly!!

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India in Her New Fairy Outfit

Okay perhaps in my last posting I should have said there are three things that India absolutely loves doing. Adding to the list:

1. Pretending to be a Fairy

Boy this can go on for hours and hours!! Imagine the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella going 'Bipiti Bopiti Boop' over and over again for hours!!! If she wasn't so darned cute.......

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Tea Party with Celia

Ahhh...this is in the top two favourite things India loves to do right now:

1. Playing Cinderella (I am often the ugly step-sister) and
2. Tea Parties

She recently had a couple of back to back parties with her friend Celia. They had a hoot. India and Celia get on remarkably well for toddlers. Not too much crying or 'that's mine' talk....they seem to be on the same wavelength.

Here's to more tea parties!!!

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