Time Is Flying

The Challenger Aircraft in this photo isn't the only thing that's flying. In two and a half weeks we will be going to England. Yesterday, marked six weeks until I go back to work and tomorrow, I will only have one year left in my current military contract. Wow, where has the time gone?
Anyways, all is going well in our home. As you can see, Fiona is a happy, happy baby. You should also note the cute summer outfit she is wearing. The weather has been wonderful. It cooled off a bit today but the sun is still shining and we are enjoying fresh cut tulips from our backyard.

The boys are loving their swimming lessons. I have been busy searching material and sewing baby blankets for friends. My dream project is to sew cute matching summer dresses for the girls and I, but I don't think that'll get done this summer as Riley's birthday party is the next priority. Clay is working on the last details of our trip to England and a lot of French homework. As for his Masters Program, it is done, done, done. His convocation is May 14th. He is officially switched over from student to staff at RMC.

So many things to do, so little time. Better be off. Evelyn

A Rough Week for Riley

We were a little surprized at the end of this week when Children's Aid Services(CAS) didn't show up on our doorstep. No sooner had Riley's shiner healed up than he took a nose dive to the back patio, which can be clearly seen on this photo. A few nights later, while goofing around in bed, Brodie jammed a metal airplane into Riley's mouth in which Riley sustained a cut and a bit of a bulge to his lip. Clay and I were quite alarmed when we heard a yelp, then screaming, then turned the lights on in the boys room to reveal a profusely bleeding lip. You'll have to look a little closer but the damage to his lip is visible in the photo. If this wasn't enough, his lip was further injured and bled in the playground at school, which is probably the only reason that CAS didn't show up as Riley clearly demonstrated that he is accident prone. To top it all off, Riley skinned his knee on the sidewalk while chasing his soccerball. He dove to stop it from rolling into the street and now is missing some skin on his knee. What a week for Riley.

What's going on with the rest of them? Well, Brodie endured a bit of punishment this week. Seems he has a bad habit of jamming airplanes into people because he nailed Clay once last week and me today. He is banned from airplanes until further notice.

Grace is doing great and loving the many pairs of sunglasses she has. He vocabulary is getting better and better every day. We can't take our eyes off of her as she is quite dangerous. ei. hanging her head out the "Tim Hortons" window of our kitchen. She also likes to wander off with her friend Cecilia.

Fiona is a super happy baby. She is doing great as usual. She generally has a schedule but every once in awhile, she deviates from it. For example,today was actually the first day she slept through church from start until end and wasn't taken out of the carseat. What a treat.

As for Clay, he is sleeping off a really intersting night. He took the boys to the Kingston Airport to check out the Challenger Aircraft that Chris Strawson flew in last night. And now he is going recuperate from the social gathering he attended at the RMC Commandant's residence. He didn't get home until 430 am. I guess that's how long a keg, snacks and entertainment at BGen Lawson's house lasts.

As for me, I am truly loving my mat leave, my baby and big kids. I remembering being a basket case when I had only Riley in Edmonton. There were days when I wasn't out of my PJs before Clay came home from work. Now, I hit the gym early in the morning, sew and bake and keep up with the laundry all while going to the park in the mornings and hanging out with my girlfriends for coffee on Fridays. I am just getting good at this Mommy thing and I am calling it quits for more babies.

Anyways, here are the photos over the last week and a half. Since our last post, we have enjoyed the improving weather, removed the tarp off our patio furniture and watched a fly by at RMC with the Strawsons. Hope all is going well with everyone out there, Evelyn.

Fiona and Preston - 3 Month Photos

Fiona turned 3 months old yesterday. She has done a lot of serious growing in the last four weeks since her last doctor's appointment.
She is now 14 lbs 2 oz and 24 1/2 inches long, a gain of 2 lbs and 3 cms. Since her last update, she is up to a few new things. She started the jolly jumper a week and a half ago and is really good at bouncing around in it already. She is cooing a lot more now and likes to have conversations with people and she
has even started busting out the odd giggle here and there. Fiona continues to be a very happy baby and is generally quite easy going. She loves the JJ and will even be fussy until we put her in it. In previous blogs, I have mentioned that she has very long eyelashes. Well, they are even longer now. Compared to her siblings, she was born with very little hair and I am happy to report that her hair is growing quite quickly now too. Infact, she has more hair now than Riley had at this age, as he lost most of his hair by 3 months old.

The rest of the gang is doing great too. Grace is saying more and more words and putting words together every day. Riley is really enjoying school and the many friends that he has made there. Some of his classmates are French, so he learns a word or two from them and is eager to share that knowledge with us. As for Brodie, I am dubbing him as my official comedian. He has the funniest expressions and manners of saying everything. I made a comment on Grace's hair this morning and told her that we needed to do something with it. Brodie added, "Yeah Grace, your hair is a little crazy this morning."

As for Clay, he is doing great. He managed to make some arrangement for French training. As for his masters, he is at the final stage!!! He defended his thesis last Friday and gave an amazing presentation to his examining committee. Everything went well, and he only has minor revisions to make to his thesis publication.

We are getting very excited for our trip to England. We are wrapping up the final details of the trip such as train tickets, rental vehicle, hotels etc. It's going to be a great time.

That's it for now. Enjoy the photos from the past little while. Evelyn

A Very Good Big Brother

People always ask how we do it all with four kids. Well, it's not hard when the older ones help out so much. Here is a cute little clip of Riley keeping Fiona entertained while I prepare her bath.

An Jolly Little Jumper

Check out who is the latest to bounce around in the jolly jumper.

We put Fiona in the Jolly Jumper last Sunday March 30th. She absolutely loved it and was pretty good at it for her first time. As this week has progressed, we find that at times, she is not happy unless she is in the JJ.

Other than that, we had lots of visitors last Friday as I hosted Friday coffee and play date and a luncheon in honour of my friend Katie Strawson and her beautiful baby girl, Claudia. We also had Jeff and Joanna Hall over for a visit on Sunday afternoon.