one month/4 weeks

                                   working on a smile...

                                                   eli reading a question to c.j.

                                   a little bit of kids trivial pursuit.

                                  c.j. bought ida a dress for valentines day.  men at work.

                                   fresh out of the tub.

this weekend we have been in invermere, b.c..  eli had school off thursday, friday and monday, so we thought it would be good to get away.  we haven't done much but sleep, play board games, shoot off model rockets and eat. we tried to go get pizza at "peppi's".  we were starving and REALLY excited to eat at our favourite pizza place but when we got there it was CLOSED. what??!  {peppi's is closed for renos until late april for all you calgary folk!}.  super bummer. 

for valentines day we had supper at "The Black Forest Inn" for some german cuisine.  ida slept, eli and c.j. dined on steak and lobster and i got the traditional schnitzel cordon bleu.  it was fun, the food was good and we ran into dieter and christine soellner to boot {an old work mate}.  

ida turned 1 month while we were here as you well know from my previous post.  time does fly.

we found out that these fine folks are having another baby.  what a surprise for the kids!  i love frame #6 and sophie's face.  priceless.  so exciting!  

we had a showing at our house while we were gone, who want's to buy a house???

i read that a piece of "soviet space junk" almost crash landed smack dab in calgary the other day. apparently it was a bit hairy for about 30 minutes while they tried to decide if they should inform the public.  the choice was made when they heard word that what was coming down hit the atmosphere and changed it's course.  it then landed in the ocean, off the tip of africa... wow, didn't know calgary and africa were so close in proximity...  

bitter/sweet

february 14th.  

today, 3 years ago, i began taking the required barrage of drugs starting the IVF process.  i tried to document it as best as i could through the blog. 

what a scene.  the drugs got the job done but did a number on me on so many different levels.  

today, ida is 4 weeks old.  yes, an entire month has passed since she was born.  i thought 3 years ago i would have a 3 year old by now.  here i have a 1 month old.  who knew...

these last 3 years have been exciting, difficult, worrisome, wonderful, sad, sad, sad.  you never know how things are going to turn out.  

i am so thankful ida is here.  i have this illustrated print in my house of a long road {see above}. in the distance is a green light, but every few feet getting to that green light is a stop sign on either side. written on the road is "patience".  that is how the last 3 years has felt to me.  every time i look at that print it speaks volumes.  now that ida is here, i feel like i have finally made it to that green light and i can now "go".   

final product

a week after ida was born, we had julie miller come over and take some family pictures.  i had mentioned this before a few entries ago.  today she popped over and delivered the negatives. super, extra, really happy with the results.  *!thanks julie!*

enjoy!

hot off the press

a bit of c.j.'s recent work.

enjoy.

st-st-st-studio + a little bit o'ida

whatch you look'in at willis?!

the hair...

casually posing with sophie the giraffe

surviving the cold winters...

today ida and i ventured out into the mini-blizzard {we now have clear skies and it's sunny.   bizzaro calgary weather...} to see c.j.'s new studio.  i saw it once before when he first leased it in december.  back then i was VERY pregnant and it was an open, empty space.  nothing much to see.  

now the space is fully functional. i thought it looked great! c.j. had built some movable walls, hung some lights and everything looks pretty snazzy.  way to go!  it is a bit chilly apparently on the colder days {since it IS such a large space}.  so you can see he huddles around a couple of space heaters on those days. 

ida has been more alert and awake over the last couple of days.  getting a bit more personable. she is great, we just love her so much.  i love her hair.  i also love her chubba cheeks.

our house went up for sale today.  the sign is out front.  the next few months are going to be hairy.  

random-ish

                                                                       zzzzzzz, taken by c.j., approximately 11:57 in the p.m.

on facebook, people are tagging me to write "25 random things" about myself.  i have thought a little bit about it over the last couple of days.  

today, a bunch of random things came to my head, not necessarily about myself, but just how life is going in general.  here are some things i thought of:

• i have decided that ida is a serious little girl.  i watch her as she sleeps and she is angelic, smiles often even giggles at times and is so calm.  when she awakes she morphs into "spock" and gets her eyebrows going, won't crack a smile and takes long hard looks at things.  i am hoping that she lightens up a little as time goes on, i mean come on, are things THAT serious at 2 1/2 weeks?
• we are going to move back to california this year.  it is a mixed bag for me.  i have decided to get a good attitude about it and make it a positive experience.  maybe i will make it a project, yeah... i will name it, make t-shirts, shoot video diaries of it and then sell it to the discovery channel... kind of like "long way round"...  c.j. can be ewan mcgregor and i will be his goofy buddy with bad teeth, we won't be on motorbikes and we will have 2 kids tagging along with us.  {i am sure it will be worth watching}
• new car seats are heavier than they used to be.  what is the story?
• i really like cadbury easter creme eggs, wow they are good.
• i lost my wedding ring yesterday.  it isn't my original wedding ring {that doesn't fit me anymore}, it is a ring c.j. gave me a couple of years ago as a replacement... must have slipped off my finger, *tear*...
• i have been organizing my 2009 files the last 2 days {that's what happens in january... oh crap, its february???!!!}
• i can officially fall asleep anywhere, anytime sitting up lately.  it is kind of awesome. when it happened this afternoon on the couch, i dreamt that i was sitting in church.  i have never slept in church.  that's weird...
• are we human or are we dancer?
• ida has been fussy today, must have been the easter creme eggs... {sorry little lady}
• yup, the conclusion is:  i eat chocolate, i wear spit up.  {now i feel sorry for myself *sigh*}
• i should be sleeping when she is sleeping, why aren't i?

kathy's visit

well, what can i say.  grandma kathy is a party animal.

c.j.'s mom, kathy, came to town on tuesday night and left yesterday.  we had a very nice time with her here.  eli was the game master and talked her into playing SORRY! several times a day. we did a lot of relaxing.  c.j. was able to show her his new studio.  we went out to eat a couple of times.  just nice, easy going stuff.  ida snuck into the action in between eating and sleeping {she does a lot of that}.

on sunday mom had us over for brunch.  it was a crepe filled meal, with crepes for the main dish and crepes for dessert.  poor kathy had the nozzle turned the wrong way and ended up with a face splattered with whip cream.  i told you she liked to party.  we all had a good laugh and she was the best sport about it.  

eli cried and cried last night, sad that she had left.  

we will see her again at the end of the month when we bless ida, we told him.  it's going to be o.k...