Hanging stockings

We made sure mya hung her stocking by the chimney with care before settling into bed:

I can't wait for Christmas morning even though she doesn't know it's different than any other day. Christmas as a grown up is way more fun when you have kids! You get to be a kid again but through them. Time for me to go to bed so Santa can stop by!

Decorating the tree!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

Last night we decided to go cut down our very own christmas tree! This was our first ever time doing it and it was so much fun! It looks dark in the pics and true, it was GETTING dark by the time we made it out there, but it wasn't as dark as the pics make it look. We were just going to go this weekend cause we'd have more time and it would be daylight but then we'd only be able to enjoy it for a week before having to leave for christmas so we decided to just suck it up and go get the tree after adam got home from work.


From outdoors, to our living room:

We thought that this year it would be fun (and cost effective!) to string our own garland (as you can see). It was a little more time consuming than we thought it would be and i ended up stringing 4 of the 5 strings but it was still fun-ish and i think it looks cute too. We can't put any presents under it because that's the price of living with a 9 month old and we've only had to pull her away from the tree a couple times! She's actually not as interested in it as i thought she would be, so that's a plus!

Note: we had originally bought christmas tree lights from canadian tire and they're these net lights that people put on their bushes outside but they were for indoor christmas trees. they claim an "instant, hassle-free blanket of lights" and that is the biggest load of crap i have ever heard! i urge all of you (all 2 of you) to NOT buy these lights! This is nothing against canadian tire (i do love that store, i do not love the lights however) and we didn't realize we had purchased that kind until we took them out of the box. I almost had a melt down trying to put these on the tree! I couldn't help it....it was like it stressed me out just looking at the mess of wires and lights sitting on my pretty tree...so, we ripped them off, shoved them back in the box and went to walmart to buy NORMAL lights. There, now i was happy.

Side note:

Mya has graduated from Bumbo to booster seat with tray! It was an early christmas present from grammie and she loves it! I love it too...! Because of the tray, i no longer have to stand there handing her small pieces of food for her to feed herself. She's getting so big. *sniff*

9 month check up

Yesterday mya and I went to halifax for the day because miss mya needed her 9 month check up (by the way, nine months??? seriously? where has the time gone!?). I had thought she didnt need any needles this visit but the doctor claimed i must've misheard her last time...yeah right. Mya got just one needle (the same stuff she got last time) to help bring her up to speed with the canadian vaccine schedule. sadly, she'll need another one when she's 11 months and then she'll get her 1 yr needles the month after that. my poor baby is getting poked left, right and centre! This time, she weighed 21.4lbs and measured 29.5 inches! it seems she's growing in length more than in weight but i guess that's to be assumed now she's mobile and crawling all over the place!

Before our doctor visit we stopped to visit auntie elisa and to try on some clothes for christmas to see what fits. it's so nice that she's too young to know what christmas is or that they were her presents she was trying on. then off to the doctor we went! after the doctor, we stopped at nana's for lunch but unbeknown to me, i had lost my key to nana's house. i had it when i left that morning but now it was nowhere to be found...after searching the entire car, listening to the baby scream at the top of her lungs because she was hungry, even trying to break in through the back, we headed BACK to auntie elisa's to feed baby there. when we got there we found out she had already left for work but owen was home! yay for owen! he let us in (cause he's super nice!), and mya repaid the favor by being super quiet while she ate so owen could get his work done. wanna know where the key was? sitting on the purple chair in auntie elisa's living room where i had put my coat when we were there the first time. stupid chair.

after lunch, we left owen to get more work done and we were off again! this time to get some christmas/birthday shopping done and because mya loves shopping she was excellently behaved. shopping wasnt as stressful as i thought it would be...for the amount of cars in the parking lot, you would think there would've been more people in the store...but there were actually 3 (THREE!) empty checkouts with NO ONE in line! lucky me! back to nana's for one last stop to have an afternoon bottle and a chat with celeste and we were headed for home!

by the time we got home we were both tired so it was off to bed we went. it was a good day but a long day. this weekend we'll be going back to the city to have some birthday fun with auntie elisa and suzanne and hopefully when we get back we'll go cut down our christmas tree! yay! i love christmas!

Halloween post

It's better late than never, right? On Halloween we had a little bumblebee stop by our house.

Family and Alberta

Well, we're back from our trip out west. We had a lot of fun and got to see family and we even took a little trip to Edmonton! Mya wasn't enjoying the flight out there as much as I had hoped she would but she did MUCH better on the way back. She was so good on the flight home that people actually commented as they got off the plane that she did really well! They said she was a really good baby and that she didn't make a peep! and they're right, she didn't! We were lucky enough to get a whole row to ourselves too, awesome awesome awesome. On our stop over in Calgary on the way there, we took a bathroom break to change her and took some time to kiss the baby in the mirror:

She's quite fond of the baby in the mirror and is always willing to give her kisses! We had a bit of time to kill so we walked around and looked in the shops and took a couple more pictures:



































It wasn't nearly as cold as we thought it would be so Mya didn't even need to wear her super warm snowsuit but we did bring it just in case. Auntie Jessica took us to Edmonton one day to explore the West Edmonton Mall and we got to see some neat things, but first we stopped at Ikea to do some shopping and have lunch:



Let me just say, I LOVE Ikea and not just cause they sell awesome stuff but because they make it soo easy to feed the kids there! They have their own high chairs in the restaurant (which sells good cheap food, by the way), they have a microwave station to heat up bottles and baby's food, they offer bibs, booster seats, kid dishes and cutlery! Everything you need! AND whenever you buy an adult meal you get a free jar of baby food! How awesome is that?! So, after lunch we went onto West Edmonton Mall. Mya was so good all day! She slept the whole drive to Ikea/the mall and then was really good throughout the mall (she even took a little nap!) and then slept the whole way home. Couldn't ask for more. There were lots of neat things at West Ed, but mostly it just looked like a mall inside. However, I had never been in a mall with a skating rink before or its own Chinatown:

Or its own wave pool complete with waterslides:


I knew that alberta/saskatchewan was flat but i really had no idea until we were back on the plane to head home:



Isn't that insane!?

Ok, I think that's all I have patience to write and post right now. It's time to do something productive before baby Mya wakes up!

Adios!

We're here!

This is just a little post so that I won't have so much to write when i get back...two weeks would be a lot to account for in one post. The morning we left, everything was going well. Mya even woke up at 5am all on her own so i didnt have to wake her (which i hate doing). we were only a little late getting out the door but we still arrived in time to check our bags and go through security. the first flight was about 5.5hrs and mya was not impressed about 2 or so hours into the flight. i really think it would be beneficial to the airlines to have a play area on board the plane. more parents would travel with their bebes and the bebes would be happier. Mya didnt like being held the entire time and there was no where for me to lay her down or even sit her down so she was starting to get sick of me by the time we landed in calgary. unlucky for us, the guy sitting in the window seat next to us was not a baby person and was disgruntled everytime she cried. oh well, too bad for him. the airline staff was awesome though and held her for me to use the washroom and even took her for 10min to give me a little break...so nice! they even helped me board and de-board (?) the plane. when you travel alone with a baby even other travelers are nice (except the douche we sat next to who hated babies...who hate babies?!)...this one man kept talking to mya and making faces are her and carried my carry-on luggage off the plane for me...also so nice!
the second flight was only 45min so she did really well...considering she slept the whole time. by the time we landed in saskatoon she was one tired little girl and i was too. we got to moms and we fed her and bathed her and put her to bed around her normal time back home (7:30pm) but that felt like 10:30pm to her. After being awake since 5am with minimal napping...that made for a long day for her.

She's finally starting to adjust to the time change so that's good! yay! i'm off now to visit auntie jessica while baby sleeps.

i'll post more soon!

Rainy weekend

This weekend Mya got to meet Dr. Z and they both fell in love. She said she's a good, healthy baby but that she needed one needle to get her vaccines up to par with the canadian ones and Mya did so good that she didn't even cry when the doctor pricked her little leg. Being the star she is, she got the star treatment and got weighed and measured as well (that is always my favorite part!). Any guesses as to how much she weighs now? She's a whopping 20lbs on the nose and 27 inches! Getting a precise measurement proved to be difficult because Mya didn't understand why we wanted her to lay still on the paper rather than have her crinkle it up in her tiny, little hands.

We also got to spend some time with Suzanne this weekend which is always a plus because it helps keep my Suzanne meter up and Mya never says no to a little Suzanne love.

We all went to Mic Mac to run some errands and me and Adam have decided that next year we should get our christmas shopping done in august. The amount of people who are at a mall on a saturday at the end of october is astounding! It instills this constant feeling of anxiety and stress that's only alleviated by leaving the mall. Christmas shopping is going to be fun!

Little Mya update: She has 3 (three!) teeth now! Her two bottom ones are through and she's working on one of her top ones! Her smiles are extra cute now with her little teeth poking through.

Oh! One more thing, if you have 20min to spare and want something interesting to watch, you should check out www.storyofstuff.com. I found it neat.

Bye bye for now!

Halifax weekend pt. 1

Adam has an inservice to attend this weekend so we'll be heading to Halifax thursday after school because he has to be there for friday morning. I'm going to use this trip to Halifax to finally take my baby to the doctor seeing as she hasn't seen one since we've been back in Canada. I sound like a bad mommy but it's better to take her late than not at all, right? Plus she hasn't been sick since we've been back (if you don't count the lactose intolerance and eczema) so she hasn't really NEEDED to go to the doctor anyway. I'm just taking this opportunity to get her registered, allow Dr. Z and Mya to get acquainted with each other, and to give the doctor a chance to get to know Mya's short medical history (ie. vaccines). I think I'll also bring up the random discovery of eczema on her scalp since that came out of nowhere and I don't entirely know why it's there. My child is proving to be more and more high maintenance everyday! haha...!

Next weekend we'll be making another trip to Halifax to show off Mya's Halloween costume and so we can stay at Nana's before leaving on our big trip! I'll have lots to blog about while I'm away/when I get back. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving in Cape Breton

This year we spent thanksgiving in cape breton with the conner clan. It was a full house with auntie elisa, grampie conner, monica, chance, dani and baby blake...and of course, the three of us! Mya seemed enamored with her new buddy blake (even though she was so big next to him, she could've probably had him for breakfast):


It was also grampie and monica's first thanksgiving as grandparents:


There was good food, good wine, good people. Everyone had a good time. I would say it was a pretty successful first thankgiving. So good in fact, i think we'll celebrate it next year too! Although, my favorite part of the weekend had to be this:




It's just too cute not to share!

In other mya news: she finally cut her first tooth and it's about time! I've been waiting patiently for this tooth and it has finally arrived! Now we just have to wait for the other 9 or so to come in and we'll be all set! Her crawling is coming along nicely as well. She gets up on all fours and lunges forward but doesn't move her arms. It's very cute to watch and i've tried getting a video of it but some things are hard to get on camera.

Our trip to Alberta is coming up soon! In a little over 2 weeks we'll be on a plane to the other side of the country. I've been obsessively making lists to avoid missing or forgetting something. Lists of things to pack, lists of things to buy before we go, lists of things to remember to put in the carry on rather than checked luggage. I don't think i'm going to like traveling alone with an infant, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

19 more days!

Lactose intolerance anyone?

This is what your kitchen counter looks like when your child is lactose intolerant:

It would appear that she's lactose intolerant based on her reaction to her old diet and her non-puking reaction to her new one. We have no firm diagnosis from a doctor, but we've eliminated her old formula and stopped feeding her products that have milk products in them (ie. baby cereal, baby mum mums) and in turn, she's done her part by keeping the throw up at bay.
It started a couple weeks ago. She would throw up everytime she breastfed, but it didn't concern me at first. Then she was throwing up after she ate, everytime she ate. Coincidentally, she got a bottle of formula after each meal but I knew it couldn't be the fruit/veg I was feeding her because we were smart about introducing solids by only giving her one at a time and not starting a new one until she had had one for a few days in a row. And it couldn't be the formula because she had been drinking it since we came back from England and she never had a problem with it before. I couldn't seem to figure it out but I knew that the throwing up wasn't normal since it came out of the blue and since it happened everytime she ate. She wasn't showing other signs of being sick; she didn't have a fever or diarrhea or a tummy ache. But then, I was talking to my mom one day and she said "maybe she's lactose intolerant." Hmm...now, there's a possibility that hadn't occurred to me. I started researching symptoms of lactose intolerance in babies online and found this list:

-showing signs of reflux
-is unsettled and unable to sleep (everyone knows we've been trying to get her to sleep through the night for months!)
-has excessive wind
-frequently vomits up whole feeds
-raised red blotches on the skin (also, eczema is a common reaction to lactose intolerance)

That last point really stood out to me because she's had red, rough blotches on her cheeks (along with the other symptoms) for a little while now but it didn't worry me because she's had them before and they've always gone away with time but these ones have stuck around for longer.


























With this new information fresh on my mind, I went to the pharmacy to ask a pharmacist what he thought (I didn't think it was serious enough to wait in out-patients with her and our family doctor is in Halifax). He suggested trying a lactose free formula to see if it made a difference. Luckily, the brand of formula we had been using for months makes a lactose free kind (I was glad, because I had reservations about giving her soy and because I didn't want to have to transition her onto another formula altogether). That night she had her first bottle of lactose free formula before bed and presto! no throwing up! she even drank the whole thing which is something she hasn't done in a long time. I now realize that it was probably bothering her stomach and she therefore didn't want to drink more. We've given her other foods on their own, without formula, to see if she's able to eat some products with milk in it. But unfortunately, skim milk powder is the second ingredient in nestle cereal and the third of four in baby mum mums and neither agreed with her stomach. It resulted in changing her outfit, or my outfit, or both.

So, this is the second day we've been puke free! I went to the store this morning to stock up on fruits and veggies to prepare for our trip to cape breton this weekend for thanksgiving. Without cereal, she's eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and I've become a puree making machine! Hopefully things will stay where they're at now and she'll eventually grow out of it. For now, all we can do is just keep the milk products away and maybe reintroduce them later down the road.

Gotta go make sweet potato puree! Ta ta!

A good day was had by all

Well, today was wonderful! I got to spend the whole day with another adult and have adult conversations and not once have someone cry or scream at me! I got to wear clothes that didn't once get drooled on or thrown up on and I even wore a bra and deodorant like real, everyday people! I think Mya enjoyed her one on one daddy time as well, but I'm glad she gave me a nice big smile when I came through the door at the end of the day. I like to think she missed me, cause I missed her lots. Adam even admitted that it was a lot more work than he thought it would be and that was without doing laundry and house work on top of it. He now thinks that his job is easier. While I was hanging out in Halifax we went shopping and I got her some cute leg warmers and barrettes.

Her hair isn't long enough yet to hold the barrettes in place though. Hopefully it'll grow in thicker soon because it's getting longer but she needs more to hold stuff in it!

Ok, time for bed. Tomorrow I'll have my girl all to myself again! ♥

I need a break!

Sunday can't come soon enough! I'm planning a trip to Halifax all by myself on Sunday. That means, no baby, no husband. I'm going to hang out with Suzanne and spend the day doing things that I like to do without arguing with someone over where to eat, or how late we're running or listening to someone cry because they're tired of sitting in the back seat. I realized today that I haven't had an official break from the baby since she's been born. Well actually, since I found out I was pregnant (cause for 9 months I was with her everyday as well). I've had the small recess here and there for maybe an hour each time, but never a real break. I think I'm overdue! I think it's necessary for me to be a better mommy and for me to retain my sanity. She'll be spending the day with her dad and neither he nor she has ever had to endure a whole day alone with each other. It should be interesting...too bad I won't be here to see it! Haha! Don't get me wrong, I love my kid to death and I would jump in front of an oncoming train for her but sometimes her cries are like nails on a chalkboard. I feel bad just saying that but I know I can't be the only mom out there who thinks/feels this way. Perhaps I'm one just brave enough to say it.

So, come on Sunday! Only two more sleeps!

I'm leaving on a jet plane!

Me and mya that is. I booked a flight last night to go see mom and dad and jessica and the whole gang in alberta! We'll be going for a couple weeks at the start of november and i'm hoping she'll be a much better traveler than she was when we came back from england. Adam won't be able to make it because he has to work but we'll try to get out again next summer and he'll be able to come then...ah the joys of being a teacher and having the summers off! Now, I've got lots of planning to do!

Mya update time!

People may be wondering about mya's six month stats (maybe they aren't but i'm gonna write about it anyway). Because her life started in england, and she already received her 3 sets of vaccinations, she didn't get the regular six month doctor visit for her shots. Therefore, she didn't get her typical weigh in or measurements. So, we took it upon ourselves to weigh her ghetto-style with a regular scale where one of us holds her and we get on the scale and then that person weighs themselves without her. It turns out she weighed an inaccurate 19lbs! Not long ago we measured her height ourselves as well and she was around 27 inches! We've been told by several people that she's really long for her age, which i guess explains why half her clothes are a 12mos size...! She's so big we had to change the straps of her car seat to the next size up the other day. The only other slot available is the one for forward facing babies and seeing as she can't go forward facing for another 6 mos, she better slow down in the growing department!

She's doing really well eating with a spoon now. Mealtimes are getting less and less messy which makes me a happy mommy. So far, she's had sweet potato, peas, rutabega, carrots (which she hates), banana, apple sauce, and prunes! (and of course cereal!) I guess i shouldn't be surprised that she's growing so fast. I've also given in and started letting her have some juice but only because she won't drink water and she wasn't getting enough fluids to match the solids she was eating. And because I'm not a fan of juice from a bottle, she's started using her very first sippy cup! yay! She's still learning how to use it though and needs a little help holding it in the right place but she'll be mastering that in no time.

Baby sign language has kind of taken a back seat. I hate to admit that i'm someone who likes instant gratification but i am and seeing as teaching your baby how to sign takes some time for them to learn the signs and be able to sign back, i've unfortunately become really slack with that.

She's still learning to sit up all by herself but she'll have that down before long. She can kind of sit up on her own now but not for long and we can't leave her cause she'll fall over and smoosh her face and then cry and we don't want that.

Mya has started sleeping through the night again! (sort of). She's a bit of a tease and gives us a chance to remember what sleeping all night was like and she'll even do it a couple nights in a row...just long enough for us to get our hopes up and then she dashes those hopes in one fell swoop. BUT I am still hopeful that it's slowly getting better!

We took Mya out on her first trail walk/walk through the woods over the weekend

and she really seemed to like it. She has a thing for trees, so I thought she might enjoy going for a walk through the woods. Eventually she got tired and settled in for a little snooze

We thought about leaving her there for a bit


but decided to take her with us so the bears didn't get her. We're nice like that.

Maybe we'll do more trailblazing this weekend? We'll see!

Bathing beauty

"Mom! Not when I'm naked!!"

Is it wrong...

...that i'm actually saddened by the death of patrick swayze? or just patrick as i call him, cause, y'know...we're on a first name basis. I knew he was sick with pancreatic cancer but i thought he was getting treatment! i thought he was in remission! Plus, he was starring in that new show...the beast or something...you don't do that when you're really sick. i can't believe he's dead...i think i'll spend tomorrow watching dirty dancing and ghost and just revel in his hotness.

rest in peace patrick

Too cute!

My beautiful girl...

Finally...

we have internet again! and with only minimal swearing and calling the help line twice, i was able to get it connected. yay me!
we successfully moved all of our worldly goods to digby but we haven't fully unpacked yet. it would appear that we have to the untrained eye but if you were to peek behind any of the closed doors it would look like our closets have thrown up. maybe this weekend, when i have back up, i'll attempt getting mya's room in order...which is the hardest room by the way! she grows so fast that i'm sure she doesn't fit in the clothes she was wearing in halifax last month so that means i have to sort through everything i crammed into her bags and set aside the things she can't wear anymore and then make a frenchy's trip for all the things she needs now.

today was adam's first day of school and it's really exciting! compared to england, this set up is so much better. he gets his own classroom for starts! and the other pluses are that he doesn't have to stay at school until 5pm+ everyday, he doesn't have to go in at like 7:30am, he gets an actual lunch break and has the option of going to an actual staff room. craziness. can you believe the kids actually get the day off on friday for the wharf rat rally? what is up with that?

my baby has just woken up after he very long 45min nap so i should go get her. ta ta!

A little bit of everything

Where do i start? well, hurricane bill was a flop. we even prepared for it and everything! extra canned goods, extra water, flashlights, batteries. the whole kit and kaboodle and then nothing. oh well, i guess it's better to be prepared and then have nothing happen then the other way around. next on the list: i have a new found love of yard sales! growing up, my mother would go every weekend to all the yard sales around town looking for that deal and i just couldn't for the life of me understand why. as a grown up (a poor one) i can now appreciate finding that steal and maybe even maybe a bit of the haggle! a few of the awesome things we've picked up this summer:

-a good set of pots and pans
-an ironing board
-a wicker hamper
-a change table
-a lamp for the living room
-wooden hangers
-mixing bowls
-tupperware
-ikea kitchen chairs (these were actually found on the side of the road, so...free! and after adam's mom reupholstered them they look great!)

Tomorrow is moving day and i think it's gonna be a long one. i can't wait until there are no more moving days. thank goodness for family that want to help out cause i don't think we'd be able to get it all done without them.

We were really excited to find out that Adam's term is going to start sept 1 instead of oct 1st! no more worrying and wondering about supply work for the first month! but that means he'll be busy as a bee from the first day we arrive in digby...i'm sure he'll do just fine!

Mya is getting closer and closer to crawling. Her brain is saying "move! move!" but her poor little arms and legs don't understand how to coordinate it all yet. i'm afraid she'll be walking before she's crawling. when the day comes that she knows how to get from point a to point b, i will be sooo busy! i have a feeling she'll be a busy one and i won't be able to keep my eyes off of her for very long. Things she's trying to learn at the moment:

-learning her name
-learning to crawl
-teething!
-sitting up all by herself
-eating with a spoon
-learning how to sleep through the night again
-learning some basic baby sign language (more, milk, mom, dad)

we'll keep you posted on her progress! ok, time for bed as tomorrow is going to be a big day and i need my beauty sleep!

Yarmouth adventures

We got back from our Yarmouth visit today and just in time! Hurricane Bill is supposed to hit on sunday and i hear it might be a doozy...definitely not driving weather. My dad flew in from Lloyd last sunday and i picked him up from the airport and got to spend some time with him this week. I hadn't seen dad since my wedding 2 years ago so it was nice to see him and introduce him to mya. She also got to meet her cousin Ashton who's just 1 month older

and we finally got mya's crib from yarmouth set up so it's no more playpens for her! I'm hoping it'll help her sleep better at night.
We only have one more week before we move into our new place and i think we have almost everything we need. we were even able to score a washer and dryer! i'm getting really excited to be in our own place and not have to live out of a suitcase anymore. Apparently, there's something called "the wharf rat rally" that'll be going on the weekend we move in and i guess it's a big deal? we may have to start renting out rooms! 20,000 motorcycles! insanity really.

time to hurricane proof the place and stock up on groceries!

Teething Mya

We've been trying out cereal the last 3 nights and she's just getting better and better! But egad, she's teething as well and that makes for sleepless nights for the whole Conner family. I couldn't figure out why she was sleeping all night in England and then not sleeping all night in Canada but I've finally put my finger on it...or Adam has. It's a shame that you can't give them anbesol more than 4 times a day and with her not sleeping though, it has created a cranky baby during the day and cranky parents too. I just keep telling myself that every baby goes through this and the parents survive...and sometimes they even decide to have more kids! Jeesh...

Canadian adventures

Craziness has ensured that i havent had time to blog since being back in the old country. We just got back from visiting adam's dad in cape breton last night and holy moly was it hot there! i can't really complain about the weather though cause it only rained once. we took mya to the beach for the first time and she loved the water even though it was colder than her bath, but my baby is a water babe:

I've successfully gotten mya a canadian health card so hopefully she wont need it any time soon but i still have to get her a doctor and brush up on my canadian childhood vaccinations. i wish it was the same all over but it isnt so i have to do my homework!

Mya seems to have finally adjusted to the new time zone and has resumed her usual schedule which i am soooo thankful for because waking up at 4am for the day wasnt my idea of fun...or adam's.


We found somewhere to live in digby for sept 1st which is a weight lifted off our shoulders but we still have to pick up a few things in the furniture department. Thanks to our wonderful parents, though, we have almost everything we need. It seems like we're gonna be living in the new place for such a short period of time but then i think about all the new things mya is going to learn (ie. walking, eating solids, sitting up on her own) and it blows my mind.

Alright! i promise i'll try to be more on top of blogging and facebooking now that things have died down a bit, but for now im off to eat supper.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

And here we are! After some crappy fly time (mya does not like flying) we finally arrived thursday night and were soooooooo happy to finally be home! We've learned that traveling with a baby gets you things that you wouldn't get otherwise, such as: getting to the front of the customs line and getting the row on the plane to yourself. Mind you, the only reason we got both of those things is cause she was screaming. On the second part of the flight, we managed to actually get her to sleep and made a makeshift bed on the seat between us:


I wish i was still small enough to sleep for hours on an airplane seat. As of today (saturday) we're still trying to get her adjusted to the time change and hopefully it won't take too much longer since i'm tired of waking up at 5am when she thinks its actually 9am...

On the weekend before we left we had a bbq at ashley and rachel's to see everyone one last time before being gone for good.

The weather turned out beautifully, the food was good and the kids really enjoyed it. It was sad to leave at the end though. Mya also got to spend some time with her boyfriend and future husband, Harri (who adores her):


He kept giving her kisses and rubbing her cheeks and head! It was love. She even took a nap in his bed and rachel said it was the first girl harri ever had in his bed...haha!

One last thing to post before going to have breakfast: Mya learned a couple days ago that she has a tongue so we've been getting a tongue stuck out at us all the time now. I keep thinking how cute it is now, but how rude it'll be when she's 13.
Ok, time for breakfast! and i have to go relieve adam of his morning shift with mya as she thinks it's normal to be awake right now.

The search is over!

So........Adam got a full time teaching job back home!!! He'll be teaching at the Digby Regional High School so that means we'll be living either in Digby, Annapolis Royal, or some other place nearby. We are both super excited that there will be a job waiting for him when we get back...now we can just sit back and enjoy our summer vacation. The question now is do we rent or do we buy? Buying would be so much fun, but it's so permanent and we aren't sure where we'll be at this time next year and we don't want the hassle of having to sell if we're moving far away. Also, we'll be arriving back in the country with zero furniture and a lot more furniture is involved in a house than an apartment. I. just. hate. renting! I hate dealing with landlords, and damage deposits, and leases and always less than enough room! And, I'm tired of moving around all the time...a new place every year...as Mya grows up she's gonna think we're on the run or something.

buy? rent? buy? rent? arghhhhhh!!!!!

Goings on

I don't know how i'm finding the time to do this considering mya never sleeps during the week when i'm here alone with her. she's a model child on the weekends when adam is home from work and it's 2 vs. 1, but during the week she knows it's even and breaks out the big guns. i guess i shouldn't complain cause they only stay little for so long...

This is adam's last week at brooke weston! woo hoo! we're both super pumped (him probably more than me)...and that means we're coming home in 10 days! we've actually started crossing things off our to do list which makes me feel a little less like i'm spiraling into a crazy moving-away-i'm-never-doing-this-again fit of hysteria.
we still have to:
-set up the car insurance
-close our bank account here
-sell adam's golf clubs
-buy some last minute things that you can only get here

This weekend we'll be renting a car and having a going away bbq at ashley and rachel's to see everyone one last time before we take off. it should be good fun and we'll try to get some pics with our wicked awesome disposable camera. And before we take the car back next week we're planning a trip to THE BABY MEGASTORE! i know. it's going to be insanity. I've been wanting to go there since we arrived in this country and i found out it existed, but havent had a chance until now. it is only the biggest baby store i have ever seen. think costco but filled with everything baby. literally.

ok, enough blogging for today. i have to try and get other things done while baby girl conner is in dreamland.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 2nd anniversary! I can't believe 2 years have gone by already...where has the time gone? Speaking of time going by fast, this is also mya's four month birthday! When adam gets home from work and showers (today was sports day at school) maybe we'll get out for a celebratory supper. Although that would require a last minute babysitter and when you don't know anyone who babysits that poses a bit of a problem. We could always take the baby with us, but that sort of puts a damper on the romantic occasion now doesn't it? Oh well, we'll figure something out.

Is it the first 2 years they say are the hardest? Or is it the first five? Either way, the first 2 years have been amazing and if it's the first five they talk about i'm sure the next three will be even better. I'm excited to see what's in store for us in the next fifty years!

Packing! Packing! Packing!

Well, the packing has officially started and i didn't realize how much baby stuff mya has! We already knew we'd have to pack one more bag than we're allowed, but we didnt know it would be filled with baby things! So, i guess today marks the day our apt starts to look messy and crappy until we leave. By the way, i HATE moving...and moving overseas is only one of the biggest moves you can make. We definitely won't be moving to another country any time soon, that's for sure. We're glad we made the decision to come here, though, cause it was a good experience and i think we'll look back and realize what a good time we had, it just blows having to pack your whole life into a couple suitcases and fly into the next (unknown) chapter of your life. It feels like we've been doing this moving from place to place thing for awhile now and we can't wait to buy a house and settle down somewhere for longer than a year. It'll be nice to have a place to call home.

Anyways, enough rambling. Time to shower and get mya ready for bed. I think we'll be done packing for tonight, but we'll pick up again tomorrow. Night!

3 week countdown and a new first!

Exactly three weeks from today we'll be boarding a plane at Heathrow to fly back to good ol' Nova Scotia! yay us! We're both really excited about the move and I can tell Mya is excited too even though she doesn't say anything.

In other news: Mya rolled over today for the very first time and i missed it cause my back was turned long enough to put the camera down. stupid camera. When i turned back she was on her belly...! I msged adam at work to let him know and while i was typing she rolled onto her back! Both in one day! I was so happy and proud of her! She's been working on it for quite some time now and i'm realizing how much she's grown in her four little months of life! it's a very sad and happy day.

Three weeks! yay! rolling over! yay!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to all our fellow Canadians back home! The brits don't tend to celebrate canada day over here so we've been hard pressed to find some canadian flags, fireworks and little canadian flag tattoos...so i guess you guys will just have to do a little extra celebrating for us! Hope everyone ends up having an awesome day and we'll be home soon!

Warwick Castle

This past weekend we rented a car so we could go to warwick castle. The good thing is that the weather turned out really nice even though the bbc weather said it would be raining, but the crappy thing is that our camera died on our last adventure to london. Luckily for us, we were able to borrow someone's camera for the day and we got a couple nice shots.



This was as close as i was going to let adam get my baby to any of the birds! There were a lot of peacocks there and they got a little too close for comfort especially the birds of prey at the bird show...! i was talked into going but now realize it would've just been smarter to stay in the picnic area. they swoop much too low and close to your head for my liking, but mya didn't seem fazed at all and slept through the whole thing.


We decided to go inside where it was nice and cool to hang out with the knights for awhile before going to watch the trebuchet demonstration. We had a really good time and would like to go back but maybe when mya is a little bit older and we don't have to push a stroller around.

On a side note: mya laughed for the very first time the other day! We wished we could've had a little video of it but oh well! Speaking of mya, she seems to be awake from her nap now so I should get going.

Bye bye for now!