I'm having one of those days where I am just not in a good mood and I don't have a lot of patience in dealing with Arianna.  Just my luck, she's clingy and won't stay in her playpen even long enough for me to go to bathroom!  Thank goodness she's napping now.  My friend, Judy, came over to workout, which I didn't really want to do.  I'm glad we did, though.

I'm looking forward to when Chris comes home and I can take a break.  Right now, I have to take the sheets out of the dryer and make the bed and empty the diaper genie (yuck).  Ahhhhh!  It never ends!

What do you do to get back into a good mood?  I'd love any suggestions.

For at least a week I've thought that on Saturday Chris and I were going to a couple workshops.  Chris to one for dads and me to scrapbooking.  I had been calling Theresa and Mom all week trying to find out what I needed to bring and get more details about the day.  I made sure I had photos and embellishments and tools, exactly what I needed to spend the day doing my favourite hobby.  In fact, I even thought about going out to get more photos printed before we left in the morning!  We were planning to attend with my brother and sister-in-law (Tony and Theresa).  They even had childcare, so Arianna came, too.

We walked into my parents' church, where the workshops were being held, and I saw my mom.  Why is she here? I thought.  The room didn't look like it was set up for workshops.  I looked to my left and there was my sister, Selina, bringing in a chair.  I'm not surprised to see her,  was my thought.  She has also recently started to get into scrapbooking.  But then I saw my dad.  Okay, why is he here?  All this was going through my head as we walked into the room and then Theresa said, "Surprise!"  Apparently we were a little early, but I was still really surprised.  It was a birthday party for my brother and I!  Tony came later.  He didn't know it was a party for us either.  Theresa told him the same story.

We had a great day!  Soon after Tony got there, we all headed out for a car rally.  It was a video scavenger hunt.  We had to video team members doing different things or asking strangers different things.  One of the things was getting on the radio to wish Tony and I a Happy Birthday.  There were three teams and all of us got this one, so we received three radio birthday wishes.  I have to say that my team got a delayed wish, so we were all able to hear it back at the church.  After lunch and cake, we watched all the videos.  Who would've thought that a whole group of adults could have so much fun doing a scavenger hunt!

Later we went to my parents' house for dinner and to hang out.  It was very nice.  We didn't leave until about 9:00.  It was such a wonderful day.  I really do have a fabulous family.

Daddy was doing yard work so we went out to play in the sandbox.  There won't be too many more days warm enough to do this. 

I love her smiley boots.  I used to have a pair.

Yesterday I wrote in my blog that since it was my 30th birthday, I was missing my twin brother.  Well, we drove into the restaurant parking lot, headed toward the door and who was going into the restaurant?  My twin brother, Tony, and his wife, Theresa!  Tony didn't know we would be there and I didn't know they would be.  It was a wonderful surprise and we had a great time, laughing and talking and well, just hanging out.  The funny thing is, we met some other people that I know as well.   When I was still teaching, there was a set of twin boys who also shared my birthday.  They were at the restaurant as well!  The staff did their birthday song to all of us.  It wasn't too embarrassing for us, although those 13-year-old boys were embarrassed.

Today is my 30th birthday.  In a way, I can hardly believe it.  I certainly don't feel 30.  How does one "feel" 30, anyway?  We're not doing too much to celebrate, no big parties or anything like that.  We got a babysitter for tonight and Chris and I are going out for dinner.  Our first real date in quite a while.  He left me two cards this morning before going to work, one from him and the other from Arianna.  This has become a sort of tradition, to leave cards for each other.  I like it.

I decided that I was going to do my hair in curls today.  Chris likes my hair curly, says it looks fun.  That's my little treat to myself and I guess for him, too.  And Arianna stayed asleep long enough for me to get completely ready before she wanted up.  That was a nice gift.  We went to BLAST, our playgroup, this morning and had lots of fun as usual.

I'm feeling a little homesick, if that's possible when you're home.  I miss my brother today.  We're twins and it's been a long time since we've been able to celebrate our birthday together.  I used to hate the fact that I had to share my birthday with him.  I always wanted my own birthday party.  But the first year I was away from him on our birthday, my first year of university, I missed him like crazy.  I miss him like crazy today, too.  I guess because it's a milestone birthday.  We're planning to get together on Saturday. I hope it all works out.

I'm also feeling very blessed.  My family has had a rough time over the years.  Growing up, things were far from normal, with lots of wierd family things and financial difficulties.  When I look at my life today, I can hardly believe how blessed I am.  I have a wonderful husband, stable finances and an absolutely amazing daughter.  I am incredibly close to my brother and his wife, my sister and my parents.  I get along great with my in-laws.  I asked God, "What did I do to deserve so many blessings?"  He really has been pouring them out the last several years. 

I never expected to be thinking so many things on my birthday.  I guess birthdays sort of prompt you to take stock of life.  I definitely have many things to thank God for.

We started planting our bulbs today.  This is the first time we've done this.  I just didn't have time last fall, but when our few tulips didn't even flower this past spring, I was determined to try.  We planted snow drops, crocus, some tulips, and daffoldils.  We still need to plant a few more tulips in the flowerbed beside the house, but we're done for today.

I'm so excited.  It's another step in the road to making our house our own.  It was so fun picking colours and types.  Hopefully we'll get our gardens to the point where we won't have to plant any annuals.  Babysteps.  Can't get too carried away.

And now we wait.  ... 

I hate waiting.

We had a nasty day last week.  The wind was so strong it did strange things to the vine outside our front door. 

I loved the way the leaves looked and was so sad to see them gone.  The wind took my precious leaves, but left the stems behind!  The leaves you see are the only ones left and the whole wall used to be filled.  Although I'm sad to see the leaves gone, I had to laugh at this sight.

I feel really blessed today.  This whole week has been crazy.  One of us has been out every night, mostly me.  And on top of that, Arianna has been sick and so have I.  My meetings have been fairly early, meaning I didn't have time to do the supper dishes before I had to leave.  I asked Chris to do them on Tuesday after one time of doing them the next day.  (not fun)  He told me that he really didn't like doing them, but he'd do them anyway.  One brownie point.

Anyway, last night I was supposed to be at drama rehearsal for two hours, after a really hard day, physically.  I was so drained of energy from my cold.  (When I get sick, it hits me pretty hard.)  He said that he would do the dishes.  Well, for frustrating reasons that I won't get into, I was home within the hour.  He hadn't gotten to the dishes yet.  I was all ready to do them, when he told me that he would do them.  He said he would, so even though I was home and willing to do them, he took care of them.  I could just veg out on the couch and cross stitch.  Oh, my man is wonderful!  That was worth about 50 brownie points!

I was just watching the news and they were discussing Madonna's adoption of little David from Malawi.

I am still a little surprised by her actions.  First of all, Malawi doesn't usually let people from other countries adopt their children.  Second, this little boy still has a father!  That is the point that really gets me.  There are so many children who no longer have either parent or any family.  I have heard so much about orphanages in Easter Europe and other countries, where children are much worse off.  Why didn't she go there, where the children actually do need a new family?  At least those countries allow these type of adoptions and rules don't need to bent.  And then I think about all the children here in the "wealthy west" that are waiting to be adopted.  There are so many children who need help here, why couldn't she and her husband have looked closer to home?

Just my humble opinion.

After four nights of waking up, coughing away for at least an hour at a time, and a day of constant crying, Arianna is back to her old self.  She still has a runny nose and we stayed home from church today, but she's chipper and chatty and happy.

I felt so bad for her yesterday.  My sister and sister-in-law came over to scrapbook all day and so Daddy had to deal with her.  She hardly had any breakfast and was just miserable.  He took her out to get some groceries, but they only made it through one store before she was just so unhappy that he had to come home.  Then apparently (we were out shopping) she refused to eat and just cried.  He put her to bed and she ended up sleeping for almost four hours!  When she got up she had a fever and was extremely unhappy.  We gave her Tylenol and it took her a while, but she settled down.   She ate her lunch (much later than normal) and her dinner and slept very well last night.

Thank goodness her first bout with sickness is over.  I couldn't believe how helpless I felt.  I just wanted to take it all away.  Yesterday afternoon she was so warm and her eyes were so watery.  She was only happy if I cuddled her and sang songs.  She kept signing more when I got close to the end of a verse.  Then when I got her ready for bed I gave her some more medicine and she just wailed.  I felt so awful that I caused her to cry even more.  It almost made me cry.  Will dealing with her being sick get any easier?

Here is another photo of my daughter, Arianna, taken the beginning of July.  Thankfully she doesn't do this anymore.

I am so tired.  Arianna's cold settled into her chest yesterday and last night she was awake, coughing, for at least 45 minutes.  This is around 2:30, not while we were still awake.  There wasn't much we could do for her and of course, my Mommy ear wouldn't let me go back to sleep.  Finally, Chris thought maybe some water would help.  He is a genius!  Why didn't I think of that?  She only coughed two more times and then all was quiet. 

I really hope this doesn't happen again tonight.

Here are a couple photos of Arianna doing her very important job.

I love the look on her face in this photo!

Arianna has been so independent this morning!  We have had two days of having people to play with and I expected that she would want my constant attention this morning.  Since she got up this morning, she has only wanted me about three times.  Each time I sat down with her, read to her, played with her doll with her, etc., gave her my undivided attention.  After a little bit she would go off and play on her own.  She's been playing on her own for long periods of time, up to a half hour!  Maybe she was tired of playing with so many people and wanted to be by herself.

Is this a normal stage of development?  Can I look forward to more of this?  Please tell me yes!

We had a wonderful dinner with my family yesterday.  My mom and sister, brother, sister-in-law and their two boys came over in the afternoon.  My dad missed out, staying home with a headache.  It's unfortunate, but it seems like he gets headaches a lot.  Sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't feel like hanging out with us, or if his depression is coming back.

Anyway, we had a great day with lots of talk, fun, laughter, and food.  Boy did we have a lot of food.  There's lots of turkey left, yum.  My mom made her delicious sweet potatoes and my sister-in-law made this great dessert that she put into a dish made from a carved pumpkin!  Talk about ambitious.

Arianna was great, dealing with all the upheaval.  She played so well with her cousins and had big smiles for everyone who walked through the door.  It's great to see that she is starting to remember people from visit to visit.

Today, we're still cleaning up.  Let's just say, thank goodness for dishwashers!  In fact, I should be doing dishes right now as not everything fits in our's.  But you know, all the clean-up is worth it.  I love having everyone over; spending time with family is so precious.  Now I'd better get off my butt and get to work. 

This is one of my favourite photos of Arianna.  She's 8 months old here.  I love the look on her face and how I was able to capture it.  She was completely enraptured by the falling snow. 

We went to our local indoor pool this morning and had a great time!  This being our first trip, I was excited and a little anxious about the whole thing.  My friend, Judy who I've mentioned here before, came with us.  I'm so glad because I don't think I could have done it without her help.

Here's how it all went down:

Arianna was so excited when we walked into the building, but as soon as we got to the changeroom she started wailing.  Boy, she can be loud in an echo-y changeroom!    She clung to me the whole time I was getting her out of her clothes.  I was smart and got us both in our swimsuits before we left home.  Thankfully she's not scared of Judy and willingly went to her while I got out of my clothes.  She perked right up when we went into the pool area and gave us a great big grin and giggle when we got in the water.    The pool we were at has an area with a very gradual decline, perfect for Arianna and other little people.  Actually the whole pool is very child-friendly.  It was great to swim in.  She loved walking in the water and didn't want me to hold her hand or help her at all.  This was the first time Arianna has been swimming since she learned to walk so I think she was having a hoot with the way walking changes in the water.  She did take a couple spills where she went under, which of course made her cry, but she calmed down pretty quick.  We tried to put a life jacket on her, but she wouldn't have any of that.  There were some water toys and she carried around a plastic watering can the whole time.  She had so much fun that she cried when it was time to go.  I should explain that this was a special Parent and Tot swim time, so there weren't a lot of people and it was all parents and little kids, very relaxing and quiet, as relaxing swimming with a toddler can be.

Here came the "fun" part, where I was grateful for Judy's presence.  I had to get both of us rinsed, dried off and changed, and by this time Arianna is quite comfortable exploring.  I changed her first and then as I got changed, Judy was able to watch Arianna.  Phew!  I must admit that Arianna listened very well, staying close by while she investigated the lockers and lock Judy gave her to play with.

All in all, it was a good time and we look forward to going to the pool more regularly.  Hopefully next time she won't create her own "music" in the changeroom.

After 16 months of sniffle-free life, Arianna is experiencing her very first cold.  I'm not complaining.  It's great that she's been so healthy for so long.  I think we've been blessed.  But I must say, I don't like the consistently runny nose.  How do you teach a 16-month-old how to blow?   Thankfully, she doesn't mind having her nose wiped, at least not yet.  I'm also loving the, shall we say, icky fingers as Arianna discovers this new "substance" dripping out of her. 

Another first today made me laugh out loud!  I was getting our lunch ready in the kitchen.  Arianna was in the living room playing.  All of a sudden she comes around the corner ... carrying her pants!  She's been having lots of fun pulling off her socks and then putting them back on, but this was a first for the pants.  I don't know how she got them off, but she was trying to put them back on, upside down.  I got a good giggle from that.

Arianna has begun playing with her doll, putting its soother into its mouth, taking off its hat and then asking Mommy to put it back on.  She has previously fed her sippy cup to her big stuffed bear, but until now sort of ignored her doll.  It's so much fun to see her playing develop.

Today, my friend, Judy, and I finally got back to working out with our exercise balls.  She came over this morning to work out to my DVD with me.  It's amazing how much easier it is to work out with someone than by yourself.

Well, since Arianna just recently dropped her morning nap, I wasn't sure how she would react to this new thing.  I was concerned that she might just want to be held, since that was what she was like all morning.  I shouldn't have worried at all.  It was so entertaining watching her watching us.  She would look at the TV and then look at us, completely enthralled by what was going on.  It didn't take her long to start putting her arms up over her head and "bouncing" on her feet when we bounced on our balls.

I can't wait to see what else she picks up the next time Judy and I work out.

Well, after two whole days of only looking at my daughter in her crib, sleeping, I got home on Saturday in time to spend some time with her.  I didn't realize that I would miss her as much as I did.  It wasn't the first time I've spent a few days apart from her.

Today we're back to our normal, regular schedule.  Chris is back at work and I'm back to spending the whole day with my dear, sweet Arianna.  We're having a good day.  Unfortunately, I also have all kinds of household duties to catch up on since my dear hubby doesn't do those things when he has the day off.  So, cleaning up and laundry, here I come.