beneath those rolls there must be some strong leg muscles!!!  She is really quite steady standing up.  She is leaning up against the bench, but her balance is amazing.

Kailey has been asking for 'sea goggles' so I got her some and they are such a hit that she wears them ALL the time.  She wanted to wear them on our walk/shopping/lunch outing today BUT I quickly veto'd that one.  What you don't see is the snorkel part of this...wow...

cheque please.

And this is why we are NOT NOT NOT coming to Edmonton any time soon.  Went to bed at 9:45pm woke up at 1am and is still up at 3:43am!!!!  Last night she slept through the night (first time in weeeeeks) so I was hoping we turned a corner...no such luck.  Teething?  There is no way I can function on a couple of hours of sleep and drive all over Edmonton visiting people, let alone wake Kailey up all night as well... and did I mention she is not a good traveller???  The other night I had to get Jack up to take her as I was seriously gonna snap...man, I wish I was him sometimes.  First time he had to get up with her in 7 months - I am guessing men really like when babies are nursed.  Dont'e get me wrong, he is more than amazing for me during waking hours when he is not working and I am so thankful for that. OMG - so my options are: wean her and have her totally colicky all day and night(formula does not agree with her) or play this hit and miss game and at least have her happy and content during the day and NIGHT (she is pretty happy when she is up all night - go figure) because nursing seems to calm her...grrrrrrr.  Oh yeah, my neck is seriously F'd up as well...like I am in a perma hunched over thing happening.  To add to this country song that is my life - I miss my Marley so much still. :-(

Maybe she is out for a bit...silence....

soooo frustrated......there is no teeth yet either btw.

my little garden fairy - doesn't everyone garden in a tu-tu?

Ella Bella - mini-Princess

Road Trip to Lloydminster.

gorgeous Bud Miller Park!!!  What a find.  It was +31 that day so it was a tad too warm for Ella Bella to really enjoy it other than hanging out in the shade and watching her big Sister, but she did manage to let us stay there for almost 2 hours.  We headed for the mall after that and the minute we were in the air conditioning she fell asleep for an hour or so and then woke up ravenous. :-)  She ate a whole jar of food and was a happy camper for the rest of out shopping trip.  Kailey went to Claire's for the first time and was in HEAVEN.  She picked out wedge flip flops in a nice plaid...hahha.  She loves travelling so much and was good as gold and loved the entire trip.  Ella Bella is not so much a fan of being strapped in for so long. :-(  She slept for half of the trip home, but then was pretty fussy for the last half.  Thankfully she likes to have a sippy cup of water and those rice husk snacks.  phew.  She is sooooo loud when she is unhappy though.  Kailey says to her, "tone it down yappy doodle".  hahaha.  Kailey had to have a potty break on the highway, which she thought was rather cool...go figure.  All in all, very nice to get out of Cold Lake for the day, but made me realize how much work a trip to Edmonton would be...yikes.  I am hoping she gets better at travelling when she is older.  She is not a fan of the stroller, so she will be 16 and still in the Bjorn carrier I guess...hahaha.  (I laugh, but it was very tiring at some points lugging her around).

We have Internet!!!

WOW, we are back online!!! yahoooooooo.  Being without internet was.....well, how did we all survive before facebook and email?  Sheesh.
There will be a ton of pictures and updates as soon as I have time.

 IT HAS BEEN AWFUL with Ella lately.  She is teething and she is up a ton at night. Last night she went down at 9:30pm was up at 11:30pm, back down at midnight and then started her day at 4am!!!  OMG.  I finally had to call Jack for help.  SOOOOOO totally wore out.  She is eating a ton of solid food and will take the odd bottle no problem now (taking her off them for the time being to see if maybe she is reacting to the formula) so I am assuming she is not hungry at all.   Major drool - putting everything in her mouth she can....baby orajel works for a little bit, but you can only give it to them 4x a day....I would love to make some sort of baby mouth guard and fill it with the stuff and strap it to her....sigh. We went to Lloyminster on Saturday for a road trip and moral of that story is....she doesn't appreciate heading out on the open road like her sister. :-(  So...doesn't sleep at all at night, hates travelling in the car (she slept most of the way there so that was good, but when she woke up it was not ideal)...all in all - lucky she is sooooooo cute.  :-)  We did manage to have a great time in Lloyd though.  Pictures to follow - along with pictures of kailey wearing a tutu gardening and doing ballet in the front yard!

more pictures of our special visit.

click below to view them <3

click here

Grandma Joy and Grandpa Phil are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo excited to see them.  They drove here over the past 3 days from Anaheim and we are so thrilled for them to meet Ella (it was amazing).  Kailey is talking 90 mph - like she is making up for lost time.  Talking more than usual if you can believe that. Internet is slow so there will be more pictures later - Kailey sporting some of her new stuff they brought - curly haired Tinkerbell with pink converse...hahaha.  Tomorrow we are going to the big fair that is in town and I am sure we will hit the beach as well. :-)  You don't really realize how much you miss someone until you are reunited again.  It has been over a year already.

Grandma Joy's first cuddle with Ella

Kailey loves feeding Ella and she is very good at it!!!

Nan comes for a visit

Nan came for a couple of days and we had a great time.  Wanted to do more but Ella had her shots and we needed to stay close to home.  Kailey did manage to show off her biking skills though. :-)  Jack's parents leave right away to come here to meet Ella and reconnect with Kailey.  We cannot wait to see them. 

Ella zonked...

Getting Ella ready for bed the other night and she just gave up the fight and zonked right out while I was changing her diaper.

Happy Canada Day!!

We went to the public beach today to celebrate.  We got there around 11am and got home around 3pm.  Kailey had a blast and ran into all her little friends from Miss Kim's.  I love the small town atmosphere so much.  There was a stage set up for dancers and some local bands, bounce houses, face painting, tons of vendors...good food.  Ella had her first nap while we were there and it was cool enough.  She woke up and ate half a jar of carrots, but needed the real thing...crap.  I tried to pull up a piece of land...there is no way I can Nurse in public so off to the car we went and I fed her there while Jack was holding a blanket up...jeez.  Tell me this is easier than bringing a bottle...NAWT. hahaha.  It is my hang up I guess.  She ate and then was good for another hour.  Kailey is napping and Ella is asleep on Jack.

Kailey: "do I have a dirty face?"  Ummmmm, a little bit ...maybe.