What have I been up to??

My, my, my. I can't believe it's been 8 months since I posted anything. Whoops. My bad.

It's been a really great 8 months. Let me see if I can sum up what's happened...

February: Katee and David (Joe's sister and her husband) came to visit for a weekend with their three boys. We took them to the Jump Yard, a big trampoline place here in town and they loved it! Afterward there was a lot of sickness in our household: first Astrid was sick and then I got it. I missed a lot of work that month.

The Jump Yard!
[EDIT: Sorry, it looks like the video won't work. I may try something else later...]

March: More sickness. Astrid and I took turns. But the snow started melting so we started going for walks down the block. Astrid was just starting to get good at walking at this point. One on set of Joe's days off we went to the temple and left Astrid with Aunty Katee. I think that was the longest I'd ever been away from her at that point. My parents also came for a visit at the end of the month! Dad could only stay a couple days and mom stayed for 5.

Joe clearing the ice from our spot. Yay! 

April: On April 2nd, the quintet I had been playing with since September played our one and only concert. We played Mozart's Quintett in A (KV 581 if you want to look it up) and we didn't do too bad except for the second movement. Thankfully we had a good start and a good end, so hopefully the mess in the middle wasn't the only thing people remembered. Playing with that group was a fun experience though and it was great to have a reason to play my violin for a bit. April was also the month when I started checking out the playgrounds with Astrid. She loved this.

We went for a lot of walks in April

May: My youngest brother, Keanu, came home from his mission! Me and Astrid flew down to Lethbridge and it was awesome. What is usually a 9-10 hour trip turned into a 3 hour trip! Including the lay-over in Calgary! It was weird to get to town with half the day still left to go. Joe joined us a couple days later when his days off started.

The plane we took from Calgary to Lethbridge. So tiny! 

June: I received a new calling in June to be the Primary President for my ward. If you don't know what that means, it means that I am in charge of all the children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years old. Along with 2 counsellors and a secretary we make sure all the classes have teachers as well as prepare lessons to teach with all the children together. It's a lot more work than I imagined, but hopefully once we find our rhythm things will be a piece of cake.

Astrid experienced her first thunderstorms in June and she loved it! 
[EDIT: Sorry, this video's not working either. Just know it's super cute!]

July: We drove out to Cherry Grove for the first week of July to reconnect with Joe's hometown and old friends. It was a great trip! We hope to go back every other year for Pioneer Days because apparently it's quite the shindig. When we got home from Cherry Grove, I was given the opportunity to teach a Water Rehabilitation class once a week in a small town 30 minutes from GP. I was nervous going into the first class, but it was a lot of fun working with the people who came out, so every class since then has been a piece of cake!

I busted out my good camera for the first time since November for our trip to Cherry Grove and this was the first picture I took: Astrid in front of the hotel we stayed at in Barrhead. 

August: This has been the month of visits for us. I forgot to mention, at the end of July my mom and sister came up to visit for 5 days. Then, Joe's mom came to visit for the first week of August. This was great because she and Astrid have never spent any one-on-one time together. She lives with Joe's sister, so whenever we see her, Astrid's cousins are always around and so Astrid usually runs off with them. So it was great that she could come see us on her own because she and Astrid were really able to bond. My water class ended for the summer, but it went well enough that they want to run the class again in the fall! I'm excited to do another session and I look forward to see where this will go from here.

Astrid and Ninnin at the dino museum. Best buds! 

The time me and astrid stayed home from church

Sigh.

When I first sat down to blog something, I had all this desire to let you all in on what I've been doing lately. But when I go to write it all down, very little of it is interesting and then all I really want to do is talk about Astrid. But it's been so long since I've talked about her on here that I don't know where to begin. So let's just start with today, shall we?

Today I didn't go to church. And it sucked. I just stayed home all day with the munchkin. I pulled some muscles in my back yesterday and I was pretty sore and stiff today so I didn't feel up to chasing Astrid around at church. If she was one of those babies who is content to sit in your lap for an hour or more, I totally would have gone. But Astrid is not one of those babies. She is nearly 14 months old and will have you know that she is an independant woman! Until I drop her off at playcare. Then she realizes that she can't live without me and if I dare try to leave her while I go to work, she will not survive.

So yeah. Today was a quiet day. I made up for our not going to church by having a little church meeting of our own. I played some MoTab as prelude music and we had an opening prayer (given by Astrid - sort of) and an opening song (Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam). Then I gave a lesson about the First Article of Faith; we read it through and I explained what it meant and I showed her pictures of Jesus. She actually seemed pretty interested by all of it, I was impressed. Then we had singing time and sang some wiggle songs and ended with I Am A Child Of God. Then we had a closing prayer to end the meeting. The whole thing lasted like, 5 minutes.

Ever since Astrid hit her year mark it's been really cool to discover how much she actually understands. I can tell her to pick something up and she'll do it. After I change her bum she loves to put her diaper in the garbage. She says hello and bye-bye and has even been learning a little bit of Tongan. Whenever my dad is on facetime he always has her point to her mata (eyes), ihu (nose), ngutu (mouth) and telinga (ears). Astrid's favourites are her ngutu and telinga - she's really good at those. She can repeat a lot of the things we say, which has made us watch our language around her because one time I heard her say something that sounded very much like "shut up" after I said it.

I know I'm biased, but my kid rocks. She's tough, she's smart, she's loud, she's super happy, and she just gets better everyday. I'm pleased to report that so far, having a one year old is a lot of fun!

2015 in review

2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010

1. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

We didn't make New Year's Resolutions last year, and we didn't really have a family theme this year and I didn't like it. So this year I will make sure we come up with something.  

2. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, one of my co-workers had a baby girl in September and she lives just a couple blocks away from me.

3. Did anyone close to you die?

No. Still no close deaths for us. Though my dad's mom was in the hospital at the end of this year and my dad is currently in Australia to spend time with her. She's still holding on though. Gramma Mele is certainly a fighter.

4. What countries did you visit?

None. We did do a lot of travelling within Alberta though.

5. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

Sun! More sun!

6. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

None. This year was a bit of a blur.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I did a 12k mud run even though there was an option to run 7k. We came in dead last. It was awful and I'll never do it again. But I'll maybe give the 7k a try next year. Ooh, and I also sewed a pretty awesome looking stocking for Astrid and I am so proud of it.

8. What was your biggest failure?

Maybe that mud run since I came in last, haha.  

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?

There was this one time in April that I went to the hospital twice in a 24 hour period. The first time because I had a mild allergic reaction to an injection I received and the second time because my eyes were in searing pain because of something they gave me at the hospital earlier to counteract the allergic reaction. It was a rough night. Other than that we were good! Even Astrid came out unscathed.

10. What was the best thing someone bought you?

My parents got me a watch last year for Christmas and not only was it great for when I started working again, but it's been great with Astrid to keep track of feedings, naps and even when I last changed her diaper.  

11. Where did most of your money go?

Into stuff. Lots of stuff. We shouldn't need to buy any more stuff this year.

12. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Joe's sister and her husband are pregnant with their fourth child after having three boys. On Christmas day we all found out that they're having a girl! We are so excited for them. 

Oh, and when I got Astrid's first steps on video, I was pretty excited about that.

13. What song will always remind you of 2015?

Can't Feel My Face, Worth It, and the Cheerleader song.

14. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier.

b) fatter or skinnier? Skinnier! It's not hard since I had just had a baby this time last year, haha.

c) richer or poorer? Richer.

15. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Being outside.

16. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Driving! We did so much driving this year. This year we plan on staying home for more weekends.

17. Did you fall in love in 2015?

Not with anyone new.

18. What was your favourite TV program?

We watched a lot of Bones. I got back into Glee again at the end of the year. And Once Upon a Time. We finished that season all too fast.

19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No.  

20. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I found some pretty cute Sesame Street songs for Astrid this year. That's about it. I'm lame.

NO WAIT! I discovered this channel on youtube called Postmodern Jukebox and they are so awesome. They redo current songs in older styles, like the 50s, 20s, etc. So, my favourite genre basically. Some of my favourite covers they've done are All About That Bass and My Heart Will Go On.  

21. What was your favourite film of this year?

Inside Out, but more importantly, the short that came out with it: Lava.

22. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

We drove out to Joe's sister's place and 2 days later we all did that stupid mud run I mentioned earlier. I was 25, and I nearly died.

23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Being home more. I missed out on a lot of fun events this year because we were gone.

24. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?

Trying not to look like a frumpy mom.

25. What kept you sane?

Joe, my mom, and finding time to do things for myself.

26. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I think everybody had a thing for Chris Pratt this year. He's just an awesome dude.  

27. Who do you miss?

My family back home.

28. Who was the best new person you met?

I have a new friend named Angie who is great and she also has a little girl who is a few months older than Astrid so it's fun to get together for the little ones to play.

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015:

Babies are a ton of fun, but don't forget to stay connected to your spouse.