Loralai playing dress up...

With Mommy's new undies that she found!

It was hilarious when Loralai decided to wear Mommy's undies like a skirt/belt/tutu? around her waist! She put them on and continued to play around like nothing was out of the ordinary! I am very much hoping that she turns out to be the pre-schooler that wants to wear a costume (not Mommy's undies of course lol) out to the mall or grocery shopping!

Loralai Fact:

Loralai has started to nod her head to say yes when you ask her a question and she wants something. I tell you it makes everything so much easier when she does not just say 'No' to everything even if she does want it!!

Niagara Falls

It has been a tradition for the last roughly 10 years that after Christmas all of our extended family on Grandpa's side of the family meets in Niagara Falls for a few days. Last year Daddy, Mommy and you did not get to go since Mommy had to work, so this was Loralai's first year away and her first time staying in a hotel. It was definitely not as relaxing as it normally has been in the past with a busy bee of a 18 month old, but it was still fun! We went to Buffalo shopping, swimming, we played A LOT in the hallway running back and forth, we went down to the Midway and played some games, and Mommy got the chance to go to the casino with your Grandpa one night.

It was a lot different not having Daddy there to help out but he had to work. Below are just some of the highlights of of our trip:

The first picture is of Loralai, Sarah, and Brandon having some fun swimming in the pool, then a picture of the falls, Loralai swimming with Grandpa, Loralai hitching a ride on the luggage cart, and last but not least since we shared a room with Grandma and Grandpa so Loralai and Mommy had to share a bed, we this is how Loralai decided that she was going to sleep right across the bed, not matter how many times Mommy tried to move you back! Mommy was left with only a tiny bit of bed! Good thing Loralai is cute :)

Christmas 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This holiday season started out a bit rocky since Loralai got pretty ill, and we ended up having to take her to the hospital on December 23rd. After over 4 hours of waiting with a very impatient crying 18 month old, 3 sets of stickers, 2 stuffed animals, and 1 popsicle, we found out that Loralai had a very bad throat infection and virus. Poor thing her entire face was runny, her voice was horse, she threw up, had an awful cough, and the reason why we took her to the doctors was that she would not sleep since every time she would fall asleep she would wake up choking. So there was a few sleepless nights for Mommy, which aided in Mommy's clumsiness and she fell down the stairs, and walked into the side of the bedroom door in the middle of the night which caused her to fall to the ground in pain. So although Christmas did not start out that ideal, it did end up being quite fun anyway!

Loralai had no problem at all catching on the concept of opening up her gifts at all! It was so much fun to see her face. She definitely speaks through her expressions, and she genuinely loved everything that she got!

Our Christmas started Christmas Eve when much of our family came up to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We ate appetizers, and played games. Then on Christmas morning the everyone came over to our house for breakfast, and because we are the only ones with a young child on that side of the family it just made sense. So Loralai got to open up her Santa gift and the ones from Daddy and I. Daddy made Eggs Benedict with hash browns for all 12 of us, which was delicious! The day then took us over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the traditional turkey and all the fixings for linner (lunch and dinner), and we shared in the spirit of Christmas of reconnecting, and of course opened up some gifts.


So after all the excitement Loralai's day ended quite early like this:



So Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

It is Christmas time!

I can not believe that Christmas is officially 8 days away!

We have gotten, put up and decorated our....We have bought gifts and wrapped them but because Loralai likes to ride, carry around, and throw the presents down the two steps, we have not placed them under the tree yet!

We have gone to a family Christmas Party....Where we played games, exchanged cookies, ate a yummy potluck, and finally caught up and shared stories with ones we to do not see often enough!

This month so far we have also played outside in the snow...and last but definitely not least taken pictures for our Christmas card this year. Of course I can not show the final card since not everyone has received one just yet, but I can of course show some of the fun outtakes/contenders that did not make the final card this year, but are just too cute to not show off!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

18 Months!

1/2 Birthday Fun Facts:

• Loralai is now 1.5 years old or 18 months!
• She weighs 24.12lbs and is 33.2 inches tall
• she can count 1,2,3!
• She has just started to call Daddy and Momma "Dad" and "Mom" lol
• She now sleeps in a big girl bed
• Her favourite food is anything protein (any kind of meat or eggs)
• If you ask her to pick up her toys she will, and then put the toy bucket away!
• Her favourite book is Thomas' Busy Day
• In the Christmas spirit she walks around saying Ho Ho Ho like Santa does
  
• She knows what sounds a Cow, Cat, Dog, and Duck make
• She says Thank you all the time, and has just started to say Help when she needs it!

Big Girl Bed!

Oh happy day!



Loralai last month (I know I am a little late) started to sleep in her big girl bed! Loralai had not slept an entire night (and I do not mean without waking at least once) in her own bed since she got her first cold at 5 months, she got used to Mommy holding her all night long. Then she stopped liking her crib because when she started to roll around she would hit her head or get her leg stuck in the bars.

So for the past 11 months Loralai had been sleeping in between Daddy and Mommy. Needless to say, as Loralai got bigger Mommy got less and less room to sleep on. So when we moved into our new house, we tried moving her crib mattress out of the crib and on to the floor beside our bed, but that did not work she would still get up crying. So I told Todd I had enough, and desperately needed a full nights sleep, and that we should try a twin bed for her.

I wish I had gotten the twin bed months and months ago, because from the very first night we got it for her she LOVED it! Loralai has slept in her new big girl bed every night since we got it! Mommy has actually had to have several uninterrupted sleeps for the first time since Loralai was born!

Taking a look....

At the last few weeks:

We will start with my convocation. I would like to say my final but when you are someone who loves to continue learning, upgrading, and never just satisfied in one career direction, final is too much of a permanent word. I do have to say that this is one of my most proud graduations since is was the most challenging. Yes I say this even after receiving my law degree, but I started this educational journey when Loralai was just 11 weeks old. It was hard but I persevered, I even volunteered, and I came out not only with a sense of accomplishment but a job I love, and on the deans list!!

We decided to leave Loralai with my cousin for the evening since a 2.5 hour long ceremony does not always agree with a very busy 16 month old!!

The next highlight was Remembrance Day:


It is always so important to remember our history and the reason why we all enjoy our freedom today, and this is why we pay special thanks to the ones who have fallen. But throughout this day I also remembered those family members who suffered the loss of their loved ones for us, and I also take time to remember those who have fought and lost their lives even during our current war.

I have the very special privilege to support our military members on an everyday basis because I work on at CFB Borden. So on Remembrance Day I invited my parents to come along with Loralai and I to the ceremony that was taking place on Base that day. Loralai was very busy and I did send most of the ceremony chasing her around, but it was still amazing to see everyone come together. They set off two canons but Loralai did not even flinch, she looked up as to say what was that and then continued on her merry way. Above is just pictures of the ceremony on the parade square, and of course Loralai running around in the leaves.

Halloween 2009!

Happy Halloween!

It may have been a cold and windy day, but that did not stop us from enjoying a little candy and some flower power this Halloween!

Loralai at first did not like her costume at all. She cried and cried while trying desperately to take it off! But we stuck it out, and a little trip to the park helped distract her enough that she actually started to enjoy wearing it. The costume was then a hit for the rest of the evening!

So we have a TON of candy and chips left over. We had only about 20 kids stop by, and because this was our first Halloween we were not sure what to expect. My parents live about one block away and they had over 75 children trick or treat on by! I think what happened with us was that Todd and I both wanted to go out with Loralai, so we shut our light at the height of the tricker treaters on our street.

Loralai loved having the kids come to our door, she actually very much disliked when they left and cried every time until she got the jist that they were not coming by to play! lol. She is just too cute for words!

16 Month Fun Facts!

Loralai is 16 months old 0r

491 days old 0r 70 weeks and 1 days
Which is 1 years and 126 days,
(= 1 years, 18 weeks and 0 days.)
Therefore, she is 1.35 years old.

(This picture was taken on Thanksgiving part II which we celebrated on Sunday, we were playing at the park on the beautiful clear sky afternoon)


Fun Facts:

Loralai wears 12-18 month clothing
She knows where her eyes, nose, belly, head, and toes are.
She understands some requests such as "go and get your shoes", "bring (item) to Mommy", "Pick (item) up".
She can say about 19 words, and uses 13 of them very regularly, and uses them all the correct context.
If she sees a doggie or if you ask her were is the doggie she makes a barking noise.
If you count she always puts her index finger up for the #1.
If she sees a baby she always says "awww"

A couple of crazy stories:

One day at Loralai's Godmother and daycare provider Carrie's house Loralai's teeth were bugging her so she went and got the chair, pushed it over to the sink, climbed up and got the cloth so that she could chew on it. Of course Carrie watching all this did not allow her to actually use the dirty cloth but got her a new one. I just thought that for Loralai not even to indicate that she wanted a cloth beforehand, but just thoughtout the process herself and went for it. I think that this is such a great trait to have, it is also a trait that is bound to keep Mommy busy as well!!

Daddy and Loralai were playing on the floor in a little alcove that we have, and I guess Loralai decided it would be much more comfortable sitting aginist the wall with a pillow behind her back, so she got up and retrieved the little pillow and brought it back down the two steps and placed it behind her back. Well Daddy making a joke says to her "Oh yea you are only thinking about yourself" well Loralai proceeds to get up and walk up the two steps gets the bigger pillow and brings it back down to Daddy, while Daddy and I watch in amazement! She even went up to him and tried to pull his shoulder forward (I kid not). I would have never believed it if I did not see it for myself. Obviously I get that it may have been a coincidence that Todd said this and she was going to do it anyway, or I definitely do not give her enough credit for how much she actually gets...I think that it maybe a bit of both!!

Pumpkin Farm

Getting into the Halloween mood Daddy, Loralai, Aunt Mindy, and Mommy, decided to head out to Chappell farms and have what turned out to be a little muddy, little scary, pumpkin picking fun!

My cute little pumpkin! Chappell Farms is actually a really fun place to even take Toddlers too! They have a petting zoo, a train and pickup truck made out of wood, a large sandbox with lots of toys, and a little park. Now next year when Loralai is a bit older we will also get to enjoy the hay and corn maze, and the jumping castle that they also had there. Of course we did take a fun tractor ride out the pumpkin field and got to pick out the perfect pumpkins for us!

Aunt Mindy and I tested our courage and went through the haunted barn, and I was not expecting it to actually be as good as it was. Most of the haunted barn was in the complete pitch black, and you had to climb through the back seat of a car before you reached the exit, definitely something that I have not seen in a haunted barn/house before!


It was a beautiful day to enjoy sometime at the farm, mostly after it has rained almost solid for the past week and a half. Loralai was so excited to just get out there a run and explore. Now we can take our perfect pumpkins we picked and paint and carve them for Halloween! Happy Fall!

Bindertwine Festival Fun!!

There is an event that is held every year in this beautiful little town called Keinburg, the entire main street is closed down and there are a ton of vendors that sell their homemade one of a kind items, which are absolutely my favourite!! (which is why I love Etsy.com so much!)

I ended up buying a cute hair clip for Loralai, and a painted wooden pumpkin on a stake to place outside in garden for our first Halloween in our new house!!

We had such a great time taking pictures and there was SO many to choose from, but I thought that these represented our day the best. The first picture is the 4 generations; 2nd picture is Loralai riding on a pony, now do not be fooled she started crying almost as soon as I finished taking this picture!; 3rd picture was taken in the children's section and I could not help myself 'one bad apple'! hehe! The final picture was Loralai taking a break on the steps of a cute little chapel, she just looked so tall sitting there!

and they are off...

There was a family day at the race track a couple of weeks ago; we decided that it would be something different to do so went went, and I am so glad that we did because Loralai had such a great time watching the horses race!!

Do you see that huge smile on her face in the 2nd picture, well that was her perma smile for about an hour, which for a 14 month old was amazing!!

In the picture on the right my cousin Carrie is trying to persuade Loralai that it was ok to touch the 'horses' hand, but she was not convinced! lol.

We just bought....

Our First Home!!

We are so excited! It is a three bedroom townhouse with a great deck in the backyard, a cute kitchen, and just about 2 streets away from a huge park!!

The current owners have kept the house in great condition so it is definitely move in ready, and they have two children so it is already pretty child proof i.e.: a chain lock on the top of the door down to the basement, and a hardware mounted gate at the top of stairs that they are leaving. Of course there are many cosmetic changes that we would like to make eventually like paint, kitchen hardware, drapes, and light fixtures just to make it our own; We would also like to add a door from the house out to the car and a half garage.

Now Loralai will have more space to run around, and finally her own room!! We are planning are starting her in a big girl bed in the new house since she does not care much for her crib, and would much prefer to sleep in a bed, more specifically Mommy and Daddy's bed!

We can not wait until October 2nd! For now there will be a lot of packing and saving going on!!

Our last two weeks....

Looked a little something like this...

Today we took Loralai to her very first concert. Toopy and Binoo were so much fun, they had all the kids singing, dancing, and laughing. Loralai was not too sure what to think in the beginning and only wanted Mommy, but as she realized everything was ok, she loved it! She only lasted for about 30 minutes before her 14 month old attention span ran out, but that is about what I had expected, and it was just perfect for Daddy, Grandma, and Mommy because there was about 100 kids and parents there to watch in one small space and it was so warm!



Yesterday we went to celebrate Loralai's Great Grandma's 96th birthday! I love that Loralai has been able to have a relationship with her Great Grandmother, and I know the feeling is definitely mutual Grandma Eva LOVES Loralai so much! My parents take Loralai to visit her almost every week or so, and everytime that Grandma Eva calls the first thing she asks is "how is Loralai" and is always saying "our baby..." it is just so wonderful! I make sure that I take lots of pictures because as Loralai gets older I want her to look fondly back on the time that she got to spend with her Great Grandma Eva.

The pictures below are all Grandma Eva's great grandchildren (Oldest to youngest):
Sarah 14 yrs
Mackenzie 10 yrs
Brandon 9 yrs
Charlie 6 yrs
Riley 4 yrs
Alex 3 yrs
Loralai 14 mths
Sofia 2 mths.

My two favourite things about my grandmother are the fact that she is such an inspiration, she has always been very independent and strong, and that she is exactly 70 years and two days older then I am, so I will always remember how old she is.

Last weekend my grandmothers retirement home had their annual family day, it was a carnival theme and everyone had a great time. There was vintage car rides, bbq, face painting, games, cotton candy, balloons, and pony rides. Loralai also got her picture in the local news paper!! When I find a scanner I will make sure I upload it.

I know I have been a bad blogger lately but life lately has been busy...my next blog post will explain just why!!

All tuckered out!

We went to a friends BBQ on the weekend, there was good food, and great friends! Loralai even met a new little friend named Emma (18 months), they ran around the back yard, laughed, and got into trouble together! lol.

The start of the evening looked like this....


and ended like this...

Ooh baby baby!

Loralai LOVES her baby!

Mommy: "Loralai where is your baby"
(and she will look around, then will run over and pick her up)
Loralai: "hi hi" (to the baby with a huge smile on her face!)

Below is Loralai taking her baby with her to the park! She is a very good Mommy :)

Little Toddler!

I know that Loralai is technically a toddler now at 13 months but she had still looked (most of the time) like a baby, but now with her stylish big girl outfit that Marianne gave to her yesterday as a late birthday present, and Mommy realizing today that Loralai finally had enough hair on top for a pebbles pony tail (oh happy day!)...she finally looked officially like a little toddler.

Some fun in the backyard on a beautiful summer morning sporting her big girl look!

Blueberry Patch Fun!

We went to the Barrie Hill blueberry pancake festival this past Saturday and what a yummy time it was! After we ate our pancakes we took the tractor out to the blueberry fields and collected a container of blueberries. Loralai liked picking the berries, she ate one but I guess it was a sour one and she spit it out right away, but she loved just being outside walking in the dirt!

Bits and Pieces

I think that this is my favourite Loralai age so far! She is just so much fun, interactive, she can entertain her self for longer periods, she is starting to listen more, she learns new gestures, words, and actions so fast now! It is so amazing and such a pleasure to be able to watch the kind, sweet, driven, a bit stubborn, little person she is, and has become.

#1 - Mommy and Loralai just having hanging out on the floor fun!

#2 - Loralai is trying to walk and dance down the lawn...so hilarious, the picture definitely does not capture the moment well enough!

#3 - Playing with the water table in the backyard on a sunny afternoon.

#4 - Loralai LOVES sitting in boxes! This is one of the boxes that she keeps all of her toys in, she tossed the toys and played with the box lol...always the way!

My favourite picture by far is number #5! Loralai is just the perfect height to climb inside the tupperwear cupboard! I of course had to take her out since it is dangerous, but definitely not before I snapped a picture...so priceless!!

#6 - Loralai took Grandpa's hand to help her walk up the little hill. She had never done that before and it just made me tear up a little bit! Too sweet.

#7 - We have a little garden in front of our house and Loralai loves to just have a seat on stone edging, it is the perfect height to take a break.

#8 - There was a beautiful rainbow that made the day full of rain worth every minute.

You have to get a little messy before you can get clean!

I am the type of mom that feels getting messy is a great way to not only have fun but also to learn!! I have absoultely no qualms about Loralai getting messy, I figure I can always give her a bath and do a load of laundry, while she can get used to using a spoon and love doing it! So below are a few pictures from dinner time, she ate for almost a solid hour tonight! Must be growth spurt time.

Hey Mom, doesn't orange go really well with my blue eyes? lol.

Now time to get clean!!

Do you like my faux hawk??!!

We still bath Loralai in the sink. I figure she still fits in there, it saves our backs, and she still has lots of fun! Plus she does not try to stand and walk around in there!!

Strawberry Picking

We went to the strawberry patch today to pick our own strawberries! We had so much fun, Loralai especially. We road on a tractor, in the patch Loralai stayed in the isle and did not step on any of the strawberries, she of course ate quite a few of them! When we got back to the main gate there was a store that sold frozen yogurt, so we all got one and I shared mine with Loralai, she just went crazy for it! The very last photo is the end result lol.