Chris & Claire

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:52:00.005-06:00

Winter was kind, and decided to disappear this year for Halloween! We're back to no snow, and it was a beautiful day today with no wind!
We got busy carving pumpkins this morning. It started as "we" but as soon as Madalyn touched the mushy gushy stuff she was out, so I was left to carve five pumpkins all on my own. It ended up taking most of the morning!
Here are some photos of the pumpkins, Madalyn getting her Cinderella hair done, and of course the costumes! We took the kids out before dinner to visit some friends, and then after dinner, Chris took Madalyn up and down our street, while Owen and I handed out candy. As it stands now, we've had 55 kids, which is about 53 more than last year! Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Winter has arrived

2010-10-24T20:52:00.005-06:00

It has been a very snowy weekend. I think the expected was 5cm, but it has been snowing since Friday and I am fairly certain we have more than that. With temps being just below zero it has been that wet, heavy stuff that is perfect for snowballs and snowmen. That's what we've been using it for anyway!
This was the first weekend Chris hasn't worked in 3 weeks, so we took advantage of it. Lots of family fun in the snow and swimming at the pool as well. It was nice to just hang out together and play. Here are some photos.

After a "brief" hiatus

2010-09-03T03:13:00.003-06:00

Almost two years later and I'm back to the blog. I've been inspired by a friend who has just started one about living and teaching in northern BC. To keep myself busy during a bout of insomnia I decided to revisit the blog. It's been great fun to look back at all the pictures.
Two years later and Madalyn is almost four years old with a 14 month old brother. I'm about to go back to work for the second time (I think that's where the insomnia is coming from).
Enjoyed a great night tonight with friends chatting around the kitchen table, it always takes me a while to unwind after so much laughter!
I should probably head to bed now, since Chris and I are hosting a bbq at our place tomorrow, so there will be a house to clean, food to prepare, and the regular kid stuff to do tomorrow....

Madalyn's 2nd Birthday

2008-10-02T11:32:00.004-06:00

Madalyn seemed to have a drawn out birthday this year. We celebrated on the day, and then a week later we had her birthday party, which her Nanna and Grandad were able to attend as well. The night before it poured, but we showed up at the park early, with towels to wipe off the slides and picnic tables. It was a sunny morning, and everything was dry by the time the party started.
Madalyn was very happy to have her friends come to the park to play with her, and throughout the party she could be heard singing Happy Birthday to herself! She had a ladybug birthday cake this year and enjoyed it.

Back to Work

2008-09-07T11:30:00.004-06:00

Well, the first week back at school and daycare has come and gone. Madalyn was excited to go back to daycare. She is having lots of fun with the other kids and her daycare provider genuinely missed her and was happy to have her back. We're so lucky to have her somewhere where we know she is well cared for and loved. Back to work was not as thrilling for me. It always comes with mixed feelings. The good news is that we have all kept our same schools, so the familiarity and continuity have been a great way to start the year, and we are feeling much further ahead in our time lines than this time last year, for sure! We're planning to get into therapy almost a month earlier than previous years. We have three workshops to put on in the first three months and we are also getting a trip to Chicago in November for the whole department to go to ASHA (American Speech-Language and Hearing Association). Chris' school courses have started up again, and yesterday he put his name done for an adult bowling league, so we will all be keeping pretty busy this fall.
Scout and Indy have adjusted well to life back at work for the rest of us. They are spending all day outside and have figured out the dog door into their doghouse in case it rains.
Here are a few pictures from the week. Scout and Indy have become best buddies now. Madalyn found her baby bathtub in the shed and likes to pretend it is her boat. She also found a fishing rod and was fishing out of her little white boat. Madalyn's daycare provider spent a month in Pakistan and brought back this outfit for Madalyn. I think it is called a Shalwar, but I might have that spelled wrong. Today she was playing on her rocking horse in a sweater I made a few years ago. We just happened to try it on her yesterday and it fits! She just was looking so cute I had to share!

Kamloops and Kelowna

2008-09-01T14:33:00.004-06:00

We took a family vacation down to Kamloops and Kelowna while Chris was working down there for a few weeks this summer. We enjoyed the nice hot weather (it was 38 degrees every day we were there!) We had lots of fun in the pool and at the beach.

Kamloops and Kelowna

2008-09-01T14:20:00.002-06:00

Sleepy puppies

2008-09-01T14:16:00.004-06:00

Madalyn putting her puppies down for a nap.

The newest member to the Wylie family..

2008-07-27T22:53:00.002-06:00

We've been thinking of getting Scout some company for a long time, and after several visits to the local SPCA we found Indy. He is about 5 months old and is a border collie cross like Scout. Crossed with something different though, we think. He is extremely calm for a puppy and very sweet natured. He loves to follow Scout where ever she goes. Scout puts up with it for the most part, but if he goes near her treat, she lets him know that she is not impressed!

2008-07-27T22:38:00.005-06:00

Chris' parents came up for about five days in mid-July. We had lots of fun with them and we got to celebrate Chris' dad's birthday as well! We saw some baseball games, hunted for geo-caches and spent lots of time at the playground!

And a couple more...

2008-07-03T16:33:00.000-06:00

Canada Day

2008-07-03T16:09:00.004-06:00

Chris had to work on Canada Day so Madalyn and I took my parents to the Canada Day parade. We all got pretty festive with red shirts and lots of Canada Day tattoos. Madalyn had ones on her arms that said, "Made in Canada." Pretty cute!

Boat Ride

2008-07-03T16:04:00.003-06:00

We spent the long weekend out on Charlie Lake in my dad's boat fishing, relaxing and having some fun. It was Madalyn's first time in the boat. She was petrified at first, but quickly warmed up to it. Now she loves it!! She really enjoyed getting to drive it! So did her daddy and we all enjoyed eating the yummy fish we caught!

May Long Pictures

2008-06-05T16:05:00.007-06:00

We also managed to get a great shot of the whole family (dogs included) on the front steps, but I will have to put it up another time because I don't have it on this computer.

2008-04-27T17:58:00.002-06:00

Okay, here are the pictures for the post below:

Playing outside

2008-04-27T17:43:00.002-06:00

We had some gorgeous weather this weekend so we spent most of our time outside. These are some pictures of us playing at the playground this morning and also Madalyn showing off her new bike helmet. At first she didn't want to try it on and then she didn't want to take it off!/Users/cwylie/Desktop/IMG_3548.JPG/Users/cwylie/Desktop/IMG_3546.JPG/Users/cwylie/Desktop/IMG_3527.JPG/Users/cwylie/Desktop/IMG_3530.JPG

Dressed up

2008-04-13T15:07:00.002-06:00

Last night we went out to dinner as a family to Boston Pizza. Something we haven't done in ages. Madalyn behaved so nicely at the restaurant and enjoyed watching the other kids who were there as well. She also chatted up the server! She's dressed up in some of her new spring clothes from Vegas.

Madalyn and Scout getting rowdy!

2008-04-13T15:04:00.003-06:00

Ready for Adventure in the Great Outdoors

2008-04-13T15:01:00.002-06:00

This picture is from a few weeks ago when I was off work on Spring Break. The snow melt was in full swing and so Madalyn, Scout and I spent a good amount of time outside! This is Madalyn ready to go out for a walk to the playground.

2008-03-25T14:09:00.001-06:00

Getting a taste of the good stuff! YUMMY!!

2008-03-24T22:56:00.000-06:00

Easter

2008-03-24T21:50:00.003-06:00

We spent Easter in Prince George with my parents and my brother. We had to celebrate a couple days early as my parents left for Ecuador on Easter Sunday. Madalyn really enjoyed actually hunting for eggs this year and she had lots of fun putting the eggs in her basket and then dumping them out again, only to put them back in the basket again. She also had her first taste of chocolate. We let her have a few smarties and she loved them!! As you can see from the photos, Scout also joined in on hunting for eggs.

Try again

2008-03-08T16:17:00.002-07:00

OK, let's try that again

Here's the link:
http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/recent_eq/2008/20080305.0259.02/index_e.php

Earthquake

2008-03-08T16:11:00.002-07:00

So Tuesday night we experienced our first earthquake in FSJ. It was a 3.3 on the richter scale. I thought it was a sudden big gust of wind blowing the house, but it turns out it was an earthquake. It only lasted a few short seconds and it was probably pretty easy for a lot of people to miss depending on what they were doing. Here's the link:

Dressing up

2008-03-02T14:32:00.004-07:00

Madalyn's new favorite game is to put on my shoes and mitts and then try and walk around the house. It's pretty funny to watch in action.

Sharing a cuddle with her favorite furry friend on a Saturday morning.

Back to Bloggin'

2008-02-26T11:52:00.002-07:00

So, I haven't touched this thing in five months. Life and the Facebook monster have taken over, but Facebook is not the answer to everything, so here we are back at the blog again. For those of you who have missed it, I apologize for taking so long to get anything going.
Every Sunday morning, we go on a trip to Walmart. We can run errands and the store isn't busy so Madalyn can run around. She loves visiting the fish in the pet section and this weekend her daddy decided that it would be nice to have a few fishies at home. Madalyn loves her three new fish. We haven't given them names yet. Madalyn calls them "sishies." She loves to wave to them and give them kisses (well give the tank kisses, anyway) and she will just sit and watch them swim around.

Madalyn's first Birthday

2007-09-30T21:09:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated Madalyn's first birthday. It is so hard to believe that a whole year has gone by, but when we think of all the things she can do now, from when she was first born it is just amazing! We had a birthday party for her and my parents flew up from Winnipeg to be there. We had a great weekend and enjoyed her party with some friends - even Scout had a couple of doggy friends to play with in the backyard! Madalyn had lots of fun and enjoyed being the centre of attention. She loved her butterfly cake too!

Happy Birthday

2007-09-09T17:07:00.001-06:00

Madalyn has a birthday with for her Nana. We tried to post it yesterday, but it wasn't working for some reason so here it is today, a day late.

Back to Work

2007-09-06T22:22:00.000-06:00

It has almost been a week of back to work and so far we seem to be surviving. The mornings have been rushed, but each day we seem to get slightly better. This morning we even had ten minutes left before we went out the door to play with Madalyn and Scout.
Madalyn has just taken everything in stride. She is such a happy, easy-going kid. She likes the lady looking after her and she has such fun with the other kids there. This morning when I dropped her off all the other kids were already there. Madalyn looked up at the three of them and gave them a big smile and a happy exclamation. It was so cute!
I am somewhat happy to be back at work. I know we will be extremely busy as we get into things. I haven't been to the schools yet, but I am hoping to start visiting them by tomorrow. I have to get my caseload organized and figure out who and what I have where, which is always a big task. I think the year will go well, though. Positive attitude....I am already looking forward to the weekend, just so that I can sleep later than 6. I hate getting up that early but I like having time to walk the dog and get ready with Madalyn still asleep.
Anyway, hopefully everything continues this smoothly, fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday!!

2007-08-22T16:05:00.000-06:00

Madalyn has a birthday wish for her Nanna! We hope you have a great day and we wish we were joining you for dinner!!! Enjoy your prezzies!!

Chris' new specs!

2007-08-21T11:20:00.001-06:00

Madalyn thinks they are lots of fun!

2007-08-11T11:17:00.000-06:00

2007-08-11T11:12:00.000-06:00

2007-08-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

It's been quite awhile since we've posted, between visitors, camping and crappy internet service it's been hard to spend much time on the computer. And of course, Madalyn is now very mobile, which means we never sit down for long enough to turn the computer on! Here are some pictures from Audrey and Sarah's visit to Fort St John and some pictures from Madalyn and Scout's first camping trip.

2007-07-11T13:25:00.000-06:00

Madalyn has a birthday wish for her Papa today!

2007-07-09T15:12:00.000-06:00

Madalyn is cruising for her Daddy's wallet. Playing with Mummy

Madalyn's favorite game with Koala Lou. We say, "Koala Lou, I do love you!" and then Madalyn gives her a big hug!

She actually has enough hair for a little hairclip!

A few more pix from Canada Day

2007-07-03T23:21:00.000-06:00

An old fire truck that was in the parade

Relaxing after the parade back at home.

Madalyn enjoying her favorite past time - waving

Canada Day

2007-07-03T23:11:00.000-06:00

We spent Canada Day taking Madalyn to her first parade and then going down to Centennial Park for the party in the park. We had a yummy bbq dinner and then watched the fireworks from our back deck after Madalyn went to bed. It was also Scout's birthday so she came with us to the parade and enjoyed some special treats as well!

2007-06-14T15:55:00.000-06:00

A big girl standing in her crib. She keeps putting her head to the side lately. She thinks it's pretty cute, and she's right.

Super powers

2007-06-12T23:24:00.000-06:00

It happened sooner that I thought! Chris signed up for facebook tonight! Man, am I ever persuasive! I should be careful with my powers of persuasion - they are stronger than I realized

I surrender to Facebook

2007-06-12T17:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I have caved and joined Facebook. Everyone seems to be addicted to it and I can definitely see why. It is easy to spend long periods of time there and it is amazing the people that you find and who find you that you haven't thought about in years! Chris is still resisting it, but I keep showing him all the cool things about it and I think he is slowly starting to change his mind! Right now he is in Northern BC near the Northwest territories border. He'll be back by Friday. Meanwhile, I'll be heading to ball tonight with Madalyn and Scout.

Date night

2007-06-09T14:18:00.000-06:00

Chris and I get to go out on a date tonight! Michelle has gratiously agreed to babysit not only Madalyn, but Scout as well! This will be our first movie since before Madalyn was born. I don't even remember the last movie we saw in the theatre together - maybe the 2nd Pirates of the Carribean. Our two choices tonight are Pirates 3 or Knocked Up, and since we have heard good things about Knocked Up, we've decided that's the one. We might have high expectations after being away from the theatre for so long!

2007-06-07T15:50:00.000-06:00

Silly little goofball

2007-06-07T15:38:00.000-06:00

Scout making faces at Madalyn and the two of them thinking they are pretty funny!

So pretty!

pool time

2007-06-07T12:10:00.000-06:00

These pictures show Madalyn getting ready for and then enjoying her pool. She has not yet learned to share and is punishing the duck who dared to swim in her pool as well. Off with his head - as she is too young to use sharp things, no guilletine (I think I spelled that wrong), she must use her teeth instead!

Busted

2007-06-07T12:02:00.000-06:00

They totally look like they got caught conspiring about something. Lucky for them we don't speak Dog or Baby!

Swings!

2007-05-22T10:43:00.000-06:00

Well, it may be a rather blustery day today with snow as well (big sigh), but it was nice enough on the weekend to play in the park. Madalyn has discovered swings and she loves them! Here she is enjoying herself.

Chris' Birthday

2007-05-20T15:34:00.000-06:00

Today is Chris' birthday and he has been enjoying it so far. He got to sleep in (as much as anyone can with a baby in the house), have crepes for breakfast, open some presents, go out for lunch and play some video games. Tonight we're having a good dinner and Oreo cheesecake for a birthday cake. Very yummy, if I do say so myself! Madalyn also turned 8 months old today. Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them! Aren't they cute?

It's winter again? Where was summer?

2007-05-18T08:52:00.000-06:00

It may have been t-shirts and capri pant weather all week, but it is the start of the May long weekend so naturally this is what we woke up to. I hope none of the plants die!

Baseball Blunders

2007-05-16T09:50:00.000-06:00

So last night was my first baseball game since jr high. Playing, that is. Chris and I have joined a co-ed softball team. My first inning in the field I had a ball come right at me, I got down on the ground behind it to scoop it up, but I missed and it slammed into my leg just above the knee. Then I had to get up to grab it again and tripped over myself. I did end up with the ball but it certainly was not the most graceful way to go about getting it! I have a nice egg on my leg as a souvenir and all I can say is I am so thankful I am on a team that is in it just to have a good time! Chris makes up for me sucking at it anyway. He had a few nice catches last night and he hits the ball better than me too! Next game is Thursday.

Happy Birthday Grandad

2007-05-09T14:34:00.000-06:00

Madalyn has a birthday wish for her Grandad for May 10th. We hope you have a great birthday! The sign was a team effort. I did the cutting and she held on to the gluestick. You're never too young to start crafting!!

Here are the pictures

2007-05-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

Since apparently we have resorted to name-calling you will find a bunch of pictures below. Shout out to Dan and Nadine!!! They got engaged last week and we are all very excited for them!!

2007-05-07T11:38:00.000-06:00

Madalyn showing off her two little pearly whites and then putting them to good use. She did end up eating the whole cracker.

2007-05-07T11:30:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah, I'm stylin' in my flourescent plastic sunglasses from the 80s.

2007-05-07T11:20:00.000-06:00

Can you spot the baby among the toys?

2007-05-07T11:16:00.000-06:00

The cutest little Easter bunny that ever was!

Madalyn got so excited on Easter morning when I put these on her head that she almost hopped right out of her highchair! Good thing she was strapped in!

2007-05-07T11:11:00.000-06:00

Madalyn is on the right sharing a cuddle with her friends Audrey (in the middle) and Sarah (on the left)

2007-05-07T11:07:00.000-06:00

At the early age of six and a half months, Madalyn has decided that airline safety is important, so she is reviewing her emergency exits before flying back to Winnipeg from Toronto

2007-05-07T11:02:00.000-06:00

A tasteful nude in the tub at her GreatNana and GreatPapa's house in Toronto

2007-05-07T10:55:00.000-06:00

Madalyn the day before we left for Winnipeg happy and excited about her upcoming trip

April

2007-04-30T13:23:00.001-06:00

The past month has been pretty busy which is why we have been so slack with the blogging.

We arrived in Winnipeg on March 31 at 2 in the morning after waiting out a snowstorm in Brandon. We were going to get a hotel room in Brandon and then just drive to Winnipeg in the morning, but the Brandon Winter Fair was going on so there were no rooms to be had!

We spent two days in Winnipeg and then flew off to Toronto to introduce Madalyn to her extended Wylie family and see David and Jamie. Our time in Toronto was very short and very busy and basically felt like a whirlwind. We were happy to get back to Winnipeg and relax for a couple of weeks before driving back to Fort St John.

Madalyn was able to enjoy her first Easter with all of her grandparents and most of her aunts and uncles. We also managed to squeeze in her first trip to the zoo with her little friends Audrey and Sarah.

We had a much less eventful drive back to FSJ and were glad to be home. After unpacking and having some dinner, Chris decided to check the crawlspace to see if we had any water since a HUGE amount of snow had melted. Well, the pump that was down there was not work and there was a lot of water down there! Not a nice thing to come home to! We had to throw out some things that got wrecked by the water and after getting a wetvac from Canadian Tire everything is nice and dry now. We'll have to get a new pump before next Spring!

I found out last week that I will be going to LA for a conference at the end of June for a few days so my mum has graciously agreed to come up and look after Madalyn while Chris is working. I've been busy trying to renew my passport for the trip since it expires at the end of May. It'll be a big step to leave Madalyn over night for a few days, but at least I know she will be well taken care of.

Chris and I have joined a slowpitch team and games start on the 8th. We had a meet and greet last week and I think it will be fun. Most people on the team are around our age and most are married with about half having small kids. I'm a bit nervous about it because I don't think I have swung a baseball bat since jr high! Hopefully I can hit a ball every once in a while.

Well, I think that is the news for us. I'll try and get some pictures downloaded for an update

Hittin' the road

2007-03-28T20:48:00.000-06:00

This time tomorrow we'll be somewhere between Grande Prairie and Edmonton!! We'll be seeing everyone in Winnipeg soon!

Spring is coming

2007-03-22T10:55:00.000-06:00

Madalyn turned 6 months old a couple of days ago and she has changed a lot in the last month. She can roll over and sit by herself. She makes all kinds of noises and knows she can make them to get our attention. She is very ticklish and that is a sure fire way to get a giggle out of her. She has started eating solid food and so far really likes peas and carrots but is not all that impresses with baby rice cereal. She has tried corn, but didn't like it, so we will try it again later. She went for six month appointment last week and weighed 14.5 pounds, so she has now gone from the 10th percentile up to just below the 50th. She is getting very rolypoly!
In other news, we will be showing up in Winnipeg in a week and a day and we are very excited for our road trip home! Hopefully Madalyn, Scout and the weather will all cooperate with us!
Spring is finally on it's way up North! Today it was 2 degrees this morning and it is supposed to be above zero for the next week for sure. We'll need it up there for quite some time to melt the 7 feet for snow we have accumulated (no exaggeration there, that's really how much we've had).
I'm having problems downloading pictures right now, but I will post some later!
Hope everyone else has had a good month!

2007-03-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Cuddle time!

Weekend with Nanna and Grandad

2007-03-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Madalyn's Nanna and Grandad came up for a visit this past weekend on their way to Prince George. Madalyn had a blast getting lots of kisses, cuddles, stories and playtime. They bought her a high chair as an early Easter present and she just loves it! She looks very proud of herself sitting in it!

2007-02-19T16:33:00.000-07:00

whoops, forgot the pix. Here they are

Five months old

2007-02-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Madalyn turns five months old tomorrow, so I thought I would share some photos that have been taken over the last week. A bit of an update for everyone: Madalyn had her ecchocardiogram at the beginning of the month and the results are in - she has a perfectly normal, properly functioning heart, so nothing to worry about there. She spent the past week slogging through her first cold. The poor little bug was extremely stuffed up and had an awful wet cough. She just sounded like she was having such a hard time breathing, especially when she was lying down that none of us got much sleep because we were worried she would stop breathing and she kept waking herself up with her cough. She is feeling much better now and we are all getting more sleep again! Enjoy the pictures!

Congratulations

2007-02-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Shal, Blair and Audrey for adding a new beautiful baby girl to their family. Her name is Sarah and she's a cutie. We've seen a few pictures so far and Audrey looks like a very proud big sister. We're sure she'll do a great job and be very helpful to her Mummy and Daddy.

the dangers of ice cream

2007-02-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I was feeling like a sweet treat and even though it was frickin' freezing outside (and still is today) I thought I would eat some of the yummy oreo ice cream that has been sitting in the freezer. So I scooped some into a bowl and stuck the spoon in. I put that yummy spoonful into my mouth and when I went to pull the spoon back out, it ripped off the skin on my bottom lip!! OUCH!!! So I ran to the bathroom to look at the damage and found myself the new owner of a very bloody lip. I was so disappointed in the ice cream after that and I wished I hadn't had any. I put some lanolin on it, which is the best stuff ever for more reasons than one, and today the lip is looking much better and doesn't hurt anymore. A quick recovery at least. Who knew eating ice cream could be so dangerous! Let that be a warning to all of you, that a cold spoon can be like a metal flag pole and you shouldn't stick your tongue or lips on it!!!

fingers and pooh bears

2007-02-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

I had to post this picture of Madalyn with her fingers in her mouth because there are tons of pictures of me doing the exact same thing. I thought my parents would get a kick out of Madalyn doing it too! The other picture shows Madalyn enjoying her glo-Pooh that Audrey gave her for Christmas. Today is Audrey's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday big girl!!

Exersaucing

2007-02-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

We had a great dinner on Sunday night at a friend's place. Scout had fun playing in the backyard with another dog, Madalyn and fun getting lots of cuddles and we enjoyed the conversation as well as the food! An exersaucer was sitting in the friend's basement and she has graciously loaned it to Madalyn. I got it ready to go yesterday while Madalyn was having a nap and it was all ready by the time she woke up. She was pretty excited about it and thinks it is pretty interesting. This is her enjoying it yesterday and today.

birthday cake

2007-02-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last Friday, so Chris and I decided to get dressed up, leave Madalyn with a friendand have a nice evening just the two of us. We went to the Uptown Grill for a delicious dinner and had a really nice time. Before dinner we had some birthday cake (because when it's your birthday you don't have to do things in order).

some pix

2007-01-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday

2007-01-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

It was a day of birthdays on the 20th. Cole turned 8, so Happy Birthday Buddy!! I hope you had a fun day! There is something in the mail heading your way! It was also the day that Madalyn reached the 4 month mark! To celebrate we went to Grande Prairie. We had to take my computer to Future Shop to get it fixed and we had some Christmas gift certs to spend at Michaels and Zellers. We managed to get Madalyn a snowsuit for next year from Sears for only 20 bucks! We were pretty impressed with ourselves! Let's hope it fits her then!
The day was running perfectly. We got all the things accomplished that we wanted to and had fun doing it. On the way home we were talking about how wellbehaved Madalyn had been and how well behaved Scout had been. Of course, no trip is complete without some explosive diarrhea. That's right, you read that correctly. We were driving in the dark about 20 minutes from home when we heard a most disturbing sound. Oh how we wish it had been Madalyn, but no, alas, it was Scout!! We pulled over at the first available place (the top of the Taylor hill at the truck pulloff)to discover that Scout had hit the floor, the door the back of the seat and of course the blanket on the seat she had been sitting! What a mess!! We ending up wiping up what we could, and throwing out the blanket which was a lost cause. Luckily we had a second blanket we could cover the seat with so Scout could sit there until we got home without getting any more on her. Of course the sudden stop coupled with cold air from the doors opening (and I am sure the smell as well) caused Madalyn to wake up in an unhappy mood and she then cried for the last 15 minutes home!
It all ends well though. Madalyn calmed down as soon as we walked in the door and fed her and changed her. Scout had a bath as did the back of the car. The stains have come out and the smell has disappeared as well. So it all turned out fine in the end! From now on, I will not comment on good behaviour from either of them until we are home safe and sound!

Back to the Great White North

2007-01-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we have all made it safely back to Fort St John. It did take us longer to get back than we had planned due to a blizzard, but it all worked out all right in the end.
Madalyn and Scout and I arrived in Grande Prairie on Tuesday afternoon and the pilot had mentioned, prior to landing, that it was -6 with a bit of snow. When we actually stepped out of the plane the snow was blowing and it seemed a lot colder than -6.
We met Chris inside the terminal where he told us a storm was coming so we had better head on the road for the two hour drive to FSJ. Originally we had planned to spend the afternoon in GP and get some shopping done, but we had to abandon that in hopes of beating the weather. We made it just past the half way point when we decided to give up because of white out conditions. For those of you who read the blog and do not live in snowy parts of the world, white out conditions are caused by blowing snow, where you can't see anything but white, so you suddenly lose any point of reference and have no idea what direction you're driving in or if you are still on the road. Very Scary!
So, we spent the night at the Super 8 in Dawson Creek. Madalyn seemed to take her first hotel stay in stride. She was just happy after a day of travelling to be able to stretch out and do some wiggling! She spent the night sharing a queen-sized bed with Scout! Here's a picture of her during her first hotel experience.

Baptism photos

2007-01-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

Madalyn was baptized in Winnipeg on Thursday Decemeber 28th, and these are a couple of pictures that are just too cute to not share!

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

We've ended offf 2006 by spending time with family and friends in Winnipeg and that is how we're starting 2007! I think we've got a good start to the year.
From Madalyn, Scout, Chris and me: Happy 2007!

Countdown!

2006-12-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ten hours to go and we'll be in Winnipeg!

Hittin' the Jackpot in more ways than one

2006-12-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

#1. Miss Madalyn has decided that it is now a good idea to sleep through the night! She has done it two nights in a row. What's funny is the panic it causes in us, when we both leap out of bed at 630 in the morning realizing she hasn't woken up in the night, and run to the crib to make sure she is still breathing! Hopefully we'll get used to the idea soon and relax!

#2. My work Christmas party was last night and Chris and I each won the two top prizes! I came away with a beautiful basket filled with wine, wine glasses, and some fancy wine accessories! Chris came away with printer that is also a copier and fax machine! It can also pring photos right from the camera card! We paid 15 bucks for one dinner ticket and came away with over 300 dollars worth of prizes. I'd say that's a pretty good deal!

In other news: We left Madalyn with a babysitter last night and had our first night out together without her. We had lots of fun while Madalyn had a good time with a friend's mum. Aside from everyone asking me how I was doing without her every five minutes it was a great night! For the record, I thought of her often throughout the night and did miss her, but I was not worried a bit about her!

Chris' work party is this afternoon and kids are going to this one, so I imagine it will be shorter than the one last night. We'll be having two turkey dinners in two days! I guess that is how you know Christmas is fast approaching!

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

The bravery of a scaredy-cat dog

2006-12-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

So the weather has finally turned and we've gone from -40 to +5!!! Such a relief! Scout, Madalyn and I have been able to get back into our routine of daily walks, which have been real workouts since we have to trudge through heavy melting snow now! For anyone who has not met Scout, she is known to be one of the wussiest, most skittish dogs on the planet! She is such a chicken! Usually she is scared of anyone new and different, and if given the choice, would run the other way. This past week, though, she has decided that she is now a guard dog, and must protect her mummy and baby. Three times this week we have come across different people on our walk and each time they have come close to us and said something (usually "hi") Scout gets her heckles up and barks at them! I don't know where this timid creature has found these little moments of bravery, but it is a tad distressing! It would be one thing if it was some strange suspicious man and we were in a dark alley, but no, she seems to now do it at anyone who walks by. We'll now have to get her out of that habit!! The mail carrier tamed her today with a doggie treat on our walk. If only all non-threatening strangers carried dog treats!

More cuteness

2006-12-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Cute as a Button

2006-12-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

2006-11-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

2006-11-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

So, we've been getting complaints about our lack of blogging in the last few weeks, so here's an update. We've been busy with visitors lately. Chris' friend Matt from Saskatoon came up for just shy of a week and then Allison and Sang arrived for four days. We enjoyed the company and had fun with everybody.
We've had bucket loads of snow up here and it has been pretty cold (between -10 and -25 for the past few weeks. It feels like the middle of January not November. It's a far cry from last November when there was no snow on the ground and it was above zero until after Christmas!!
Madalyn is becoming more and more interactive every day and therefore more and more fun! She's making all sorts of fun faces and really starting to enjoy looking at and touching her toys.
We're getting excited for our trip back to Winnipeg. I think we have 3 weeks and two days to go!

Getting Strong

2006-11-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Madalyn is getting better and better at holding up her head and keeping it up for quite some time.

Playtime

2006-11-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Madalyn and Scout spend part of every morning playing on the floor gym and they both love it. We've even caught Scout playing with it by herself! She loves to push the nose of the train so that it plays music!

Visitors

2006-11-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Allison and Sang came up for a visit a few weeks ago and we were very happy to see them. It was fun to hang out together and show off Madalyn. Madalyn enjoyed all the extra cuddles and they even had the patience to teach me and Chris canasta (I am terrible at card games.

Sweetpea

2006-11-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is Madalyn a few days ago after a bath. Usually she is very calm and relaxed when she' in the tub, but she hates getting out and will scream until she is dry and dressed again! Well, the other night she only fussed for a couple of seconds when coming out of the tub and was quiet! Here she is all wrapped up in her towel looking like a little pea in a pod!

Trick or Treat!

2006-10-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is Madalyn on her first Halloween. Since it seemed near impossible to find a Halloween costume to fit her, we decided to add some brown ears to a fleecy brown outfit she had for going outside in. She is supposed to be a little bear cub. So cute!! No trick or treating for her tonight although she did visit Mummy's work today and is helping Daddy hand out candy tonight. Hope everyone is having a safe and fun Halloween!

5 weeks old

2006-10-26T20:10:00.000-06:00

Madalyn turned 5 weeks old yesterday. Claire took a whole bunch of photos of her yesterday. Here are a couple of them. Enjoy!!!!

Sweet Smiles

2006-10-23T13:37:00.000-06:00

Madalyn is down for her midday nap, so I thought I would take the time to do a little blogging. I don't think I've posted anything since she's been born!
She turned one month old last Friday and over the weekend she has begun to grace us with genuine smiles! She gets all excited and then gives a big smile that has a nice little cooing sound that goes along with it. The first time she gave me one she made me cry because it was just the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen! She loves giving smiles to Chris when he talks to her in funny voices. She's still quite the night owl, but getting a bit better.
In other news, Scout, Madalyn and I went for our daily walk yesterday (Chris was at home watching Sunday football)and we came across a group of deer. We were walking down the sidewalk and this deer came out of the bushes. She stood there looking at us, so we stopped and looked back. Then I thought, "Deer are harmless, right? I can walk towards it and past it." So I started walking towards it, and then it started to walk towards me, which made me think hat wasn't such a good idea. So we turned to walk back the way we had come and then the deer ran across the road. Two more deer jumped across the road after the first, and we then continued on our normal route. Scout was very interested in the deer. I'd love to know what she thinks of them. Does she think they are really big dogs, or other animals? It would be so interesting to get inside their heads and see what goes on in there.
Madalyn is starting to wake up, so that's my cue to sign off!

Madalyn @ 4 weeks old

2006-10-18T21:18:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of Madalyn's brand new snow suit. Claire got a great deal on it at Zellers in Dawson Creek and absolutely loves it because it has Pooh all over it. The other picture is of Madalyn wearing her brand new dress that she is going to wear to a baby shower tomorrow evening.

3 weeks old

2006-10-11T22:40:00.000-06:00

Madalyn turned 3 weeks old today. She is getting to be such a big girl. The time just seems to be flying and our little newborn is growing up too quick. She is still super cute though!!!!!

Nana & Papa are visiting

2006-10-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

My parents arrived for a visit this afternoon. They flew into Grande Prairie and then rented a car and drove the 2 hours north to Fort St. John. We had salmon for dinner that my neighbour dropped off a few weeks ago when he got back from a fishing trip to Vancouver Island. The salmon was really good cooked on the BBQ.

14 days old

2006-10-05T19:55:00.000-06:00

Madalyn is now 2 weeks old and boy does she already look different. She hasn't grown very much yet but her colour is much better and there seems to be no sign of jaundice. Claire is doing well also. We are both just a little tired but that was to be expected. Enjoy the photos. To make sure that Scout doesn't begin to feel left out, I am including a photo of her as well.

Nap time

2006-09-30T21:51:00.000-06:00

All of my girls having a nap on the couch.

A few more photos

2006-09-30T20:23:00.000-06:00

These are some photos from a few days ago when Claire's parents were still visiting. They left on Tuesday to go down to Kelowna but I think they had a fantastic time in Fort St. John with their first granddaughter. Doesn't Madalyn have the strangest facial expression in that photo?

A Family Portrait

2006-09-30T20:15:00.000-06:00

Hey,

My boss took this photo of the 3 of us yesterday when we brought Madalyn to the office for a visit. Everyone there thought that she was just the cutest little girl. I can't say that I can blame them for thinking that because I think she is as well. Enjoy.

Chris

Bottle time

2006-09-24T12:11:00.000-06:00

We have only had to bottle feed Madalyn twice now so that Claire can have a break and I won't be doing this much anymore for a few weeks now that Claire's milk has come in and we can concentrate on getting Madalyn to breast feed. It is so amazing to get a chance to feed Madalyn and gives me such a great opportunity for some bonding.

Bath time

2006-09-24T12:04:00.000-06:00

This was last night. Madalyn was quite good in the bath and by the end of it, she was even trying to swim by kicking her cute little legs. Perhaps she will SCUBA dive with me in a couple of decades.

Chris