Chicken Anyone?

After much debating about what do on Halloween this year, we ended up heading to the mall in Richmond. The weather forcast for this year was blustery (aka, raining and windy). As it turned out it was a nice evening, the rain held off and it wasn't very windy afterall, but it appeared that everyone else thought trick or treating at the mall would be fun as well. Despite all the people we had a great time. After we got a bag for Katie to use, we went to the first store. Katie really wasn't sure what was happening but after a little coaxing she held her bag out. As soon as the candy dropped in the bag we heard a shocked squeak from Katie. "What was this? If I just hold out my bag people will put candy in it?" And off we went fully enthusiastic! She did a great job of saying thank you and we had a lot of fun. We also met up with Brad, Carolyne, Joel and Nathan later. The community of Hamilton has fireworks for the community on Halloween, so we walked to the park and had a great time watching the fireworks. Katie liked the show, but wasn't so crazy about the volume. I think most of us would agree. You always forget just how loud they are, until you are there covering someone else's little ears!

Picking Pumpkins

On Thursday morning Katie and I met Melissa and David for a morning at the pumpkin patch. Although cold, it wasn't raining, and it wasn't too muddy either. Katie was thrilled to see David! I think she has missed seeing all her friends. She didn't seem too excited about the outing, but she was very happy as long as she could hold Davids hand the whole time (poor David). We had fun listening the music, enjoying the hayride and of course picking a pumpkin. I must agree with Melissa though, next year I will make sure that I find a very small pumpkin to carry around. They don't feel heavy in the beginning but after a while, you realize how heavy they really are. I had a hard time getting a good picture of Katie or David since there were so many things to see, but below is a sample of some of the passable ones.

Someone New To Be Grateful For...

For those of you who haven't heard, we are expecting another baby due April 21,22,23 or 24th. We have been given all of the above due dates at different appointments. I am sticking to the 21st for obvious reasons though.

Thanksgiving Weekend

On Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed for Alberta. This is the first time that we have driven a long distance with Katie (not counting the truck since she can move around and watch movies). We drove to Revelstoke and then continued on to Lacombe on Saturday morning. We had a great trip and the weather was amazing! I checked the whole way on Saturday and didn't see one cloud the whole drive. We celebrated Thanksgiving at my grandparents house with all the family, and it is in that type of a situation, that you wonder how you can ever be ungrateful. We were also able to get together with Travis and Jen on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun to see Jen's ring (yes, they are finally engaged!) and look at wedding magazines with Jen. All too soon though we were back in the car for the drive home on Monday morning. The weather was not quite as nice, and we ran into a good amount of snow at the Rogers Pass, but now I can't wait for the first snowfall here. It was beautiful up there, if you could look past the sanding truck in front of us! Overall, it was far too quick of a trip home, but I am still very glad that we did it. Happy late Thanksgiving Everyone!

Soother Free

Last Monday, Katie had her 2nd dentist appointment. All was fine, but we were told that we really needed to try to get rid of her soother. I kept thinking the whole time, that they would understand more if they knew how difficult this was going to be. We had tried weaning her slowly from it, and it doesn't work! On Friday, I was at the park with Carolyne, Joel and Nathan, when Katie had a complete meltdown for her soother (which was in the car and no where close). The tantrum lasted all the way to the car, the trip home and in total about an hour. By the end of it, I was so mad that I wouldn't have given it to her even if she had become a complete angel and said please over and over. It was then that I decided she would never see it again, since it couldn't be worse than what had just happened. Surprise, surprise, it was a piece of cake. She hasn't stopped sleeping or napping, and although for a couple of days she would ask for it from time to time, it has been soo easy! If I had know it would be this simple we would have been rid of it long ago.

Katie Turns 2

I can hardly believe that 2 years have come and gone already, but yesterday it was official, Katie turned 2. Unfortunately for her, she had a terrible cold, so it wasn't a very fun day for her. Thankfully she perked up after her nap in the afternoon, and was able to have a little fun, but she still didn't even eat a piece of her birthday cake. My parents were here for a couple days, and yesterday as her birthday present they built her a swing. She was so excited when she figured out what was actually happening. She tried to squeel but only a whisper came out, but the jumping up and down was enough of a sign that she was excited. In the evening, we still opened gifts and the rest of us enjoyed her cake. Here are a couple pictures of her birthday.

A Late Summer Vacation

This past week Aaron took the last of his holiday time. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end as this week has. We began the week up in Whistler from Sunday until Tuesday. We hadn't been up since before Katie was born, and it was nice to go back. We did a lot of walking and just enjoying the outdoors, and of course we had to spend time at the pool. Unfortunately for Katie, it was an outdoor pool, and although it was heated, she was so cold after about 15 minutes, we would have to get out. We did get to go several times though, and she loved it. She also had fun just being able to run, and us not worrying about cars or streets. Hopefully we can go up again this winter.

We also went to Maplewood Farms on Thursday morning. What a great place! We enjoyed it almost as much as Katie. On Thursday evening we met the Breedvelds for a walk and on the way to meet them we asked Katie if she knew who we were going to see. She answered "Goats?" By far the ducks and goats were the highlight of the day.

Tomorrow Aaron is headed back to work, and Katie and I are headed to Alberta. I know who got the better end of the deal! Once again it was a great week together, we were able to relax as well as play tourist.