Skype

Today has been a busy day of talking to family. We caught up with Grandma, Momo, Auntie Melanie and Jeff. It is pretty amazing that we can see each other so easily. Last night was another sleepless night, with Anna being up from 1am to 4:30am. I am hoping that tonight will be better, as I'm feeling pretty exhausted. This morning Anna went for a walk with Caleb and Trang, and they had a great time. Anna is loving all of the attention from Trang and Mrs. Sau. She is also loving hanging out with her cousin. She seems to want to copy everything that he is doing, so if Caleb is pushing a chair across the room, then she needs to do it. Or if he sticks a block in his mouth, Anna needs to do it. They are getting along really well, but the one thing that Anna isn't copying is how much Caleb eats. She hasn't been interested in eating very much since we got here, so hopefully that will change once her internal clock is switched around. That's about it for news from here. I will try to have Skype on most of the time, but there is the occasional power outage and low battery that will mean that the computer is off. The 14 hour time difference makes it a bit challenging to catch people online, but we love hearing from all of you...

We made it!

Anushka and I travelled across the Pacific with no major meltdowns or disasters. The jet lag recovery has been a little rough, with night wakings for a few hours, but hopefully Anna will get sorted out soon. She has her naps and nights mixed up right now. I have started an album for the trip, so look for it with the other albums to the right.
We had a relaxing Sunday as our first day here, with a trip to the pool and lunch at the restaurant on the river right next to Kevin and Lori's house. Then they had guests for dinner and Kevin barbequed up some Alberta beef. Today we started the day early with a walk to the bakery to pass the time until the rest of the house got up. After breakfast I took Anna for a walk with Caleb and the nanny around the compound. It is nice and quiet around here, which I have been enjoying. Lori helped me venture out of the compound, too. We walked to a local cafe called "Snap", which has a cool playground for kids, so I am sure I will be back. I think I am going to join Anushka for her nap now, since we may be up in the middle of the night again. I am updating my Twitter more often than the blog (it is super easy with my iTouch), so if you want more frequent updates, you can read about our adventures there. I will keep adding pictures and hopefully I will catch more people on Skype, too.

Homemade pizza

Reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle inspired me to make homemade pizza this week. Made the dough in the bread machine, but I learned that the dough setting is not as forgiving as the bread setting when it comes to adding more water. Jeff had to deal with the gooey dough and saved the day by adding tonnes more flour. Above was the result, and surprisingly, it was still fluffy and tasty. How can you go wrong with a pepperoni and mushroom pizza?

Anna's new table

Anna helping put the table together.

Colouring and loving the new table - thanks Grandma for the awesome Christmas present!

Helping load the coffee grinder

I love my Travis

Especially when he brings me Cookies by George!

I like bacon

The picture says it all. See video below to hear her say bacon.

Wheels on the bus

Getting ready for the trip

The things that happen when I turn around...

Anna has become an expert climber. This morning she climbed into the freezer while I was making breakfast. She really likes to sit in fridges that have the fridge on the bottom (see previous post), so I guess this is the closest she could come...

Pickle obsession

On Monday at Momo's, Anna got her pickle that she persistently asked for, and then decided the best place to eat it would be sitting in the fridge. I think she would live on pickles and suckers and ketchup right now if I let her.

Jumping

Sweetpea3

For our long trip to Vietnam, I thought Anna would be entertained by her very own MP3 player (I had been eyeing this for her for a while). I was telling this to Maureen and she offered to get it for Anna for Christmas. I think she is going to love it. As an added bonus, it was a Calgary dad that invented it. When I purchased it online, they offered free shipping on future orders, with this code: 26RFG (enter in the Promotional Code box on the order page). For more info, check out their website:

www.sweetpeatoyco.com

Moby

Jeff and I got a night out to see Moby. It was fun to see him in concert, I thought it was excellent. Here is a video of my favorite song of his, Porcelain:



Thanks for looking after the Pants, Melanie and Jeremy!

Halloween

We headed to Sherwood Park for trick or treating after picking up the costume from mom. Gathered up the kids (Travis, Kailey and her friend) and headed to Maureen's. Did a bit of the neighbourhood, then headed back to the Meyer's for the trek over the Doug's. It was a successful evening, with Anushka totally getting into it, mumbling something like trick or treat and wanting to go to every house with the kids. We got her to take a break from walking by sitting in the wagon with a sucker. Can't wait for next year!

Thanks for making the adorable duck costume, mom!

Ridiculous

I like my uncle Jeremy

Giving Uncle Jeremy "love pats".

We both fit, really :)

Helping dad

The Svan highchair needed some adjusting, so Jeff patiently let Anna "help". She was very interested in the Allen key and not so much in actually completing the job.

Smarties

Mall shopping

Anna got to check out Southgate with Momo and Auntie Melanie (or Auntie Poopoo, as Anna calls her) recently. I know she had an awesome time, but I am going to have to keep the Visa away from her when she gets older!

Swine flu paranoia

I got this in an e-mail today. Too funny. It is such a polarized issue right now. The Alberta government has made the choice for me. I am not in a high enough risk category to get the vaccine yet, but Anna got it last week. I don't want her to get severely sick while we are gone. But it's a personal choice and I won't hassle anyone for making the choice either way. I'm okay with one less needle in my life, though!

Um, dad, I don't think you fit in there...

Inside water play time

What does mom do when she needs to get lots done in the kitchen? Turn on the tap, put some towels out and let Anna go to town...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a busy weekend. Jeff's dad got married on Saturday and on Sunday I cooked a 37 pound turkey. Yup, 37 pounds. Why that big? Well, a friend had a connection to get an organic free range chicken from a farmer near Vermillion, so I said, why not? It just fit in the oven, and I had to borrow a roaster that was big enough to fit it, but it was the tastiest bird I have ever had. It took less time to cook than anticipated, which I was thankful for, because I feared we would be eating at 8pm. Everything turned out wonderfully, except that when everyone was leaving Armande fell on the front steps and injured her foot. It is still in a cast :(
The next day my family came over and we ate leftovers and hung out and played games. It was a packed weekend, but I had lots of fun hanging with all of my family.

Wearing grandma's mitts and earmuffs

Where's the water?

We spend a lot of time at the park these days. Anna still hasn't clued in that it is cold. She still wants to play on the spray deck, which is next to the local park. I think she would play in the water if it was still running. She will have to be content with the swing for a while now until spring:

I love this picture of Jeff and Anna walking to the park:

Anna and Mia - best friends

Anna and Mia have a lot in common. It has been neat watching them grow up and now to see them play together. I think there will be many years ahead of playing and fighting!

Oh, I had a birthday, too...

Well I still have another year before I am 30, but 29 feels okay. This year I got to celebrate by having brunch with my family (no pictures, we were too busy stuffing ourselves with yummy food). Jeff's family did a Mexican night, with a homemade pinata (thanks guys!). I had various other celebrations, it was about 2 weeks of getting gifts, visiting and good food. Thanks everyone for putting so much effort to make this a special birthday.

I think socks on my hands is really funny.

Ready for Halloween

In preparation for Halloween, Momo got Anna a pumpkin bucket (behind her in the picture). She carries it around all the time, it is so cute. She also likes her Indiana Jones bucket (which is pretty funny, since it is the bucket I got when I was in labour with her!).

BPA in aluminum bottles, really???

I was distressed to read about BPA leaching from aluminum bottles as well as plastic:

http://www.mnn.com/family/baby/blogs/aluminum-bottle-manufacturer-admits-bottles-leach-bpa

I guess we will stick with the Klean Kanteens.

No updates for over a month!?!?!?

Well I had started a bunch of posts from September, but never got around to writing them, but we have been busy and getting out a lot in the last little while. We went to an Eskimo's game at the beginning of the season - Anna's first. I don't think I watched 5 minutes of the game between having to look after Anna and play with the other kids we were with. No loss, I'm not a huge fan, anyways (sorry sports fans).
Kristi and I did a fun trail run out at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre the end of September (that long ago, wow, time has gone by SO quickly). It was lots of fun to get out running again, since that has been a low priority lately. Anna wasn't so impressed with the bumpy ride, so Kristi and I had to sing to her, and she would sing back (that was her job on the uphill portions). Then I had her on my back in the Ergo for a while, and then Anna ran to the finish line.
I also discovered the downtown farmer's market in September - absolutely love it! The open air and all the fresh produce is so refreshing compared to the cramped Strathcona market. I went a few times and look forward to going when it opens again in the spring.

No pictures of any of these outings, since I have been negligent in bringing my camera...