I want to do my annual yearly review, but I feel like I should tell you how the rest of my year went first. So here we go...
September: I did the Big Bang Mud Run again! This year's went a lot better than last year. The run was organized way better and this time I didn't make the mistake of doing the 12k. I did the 7k with my SIL and we finished in 88 minutes!
The whole gang at the mud run
We love our visits to the farm.
Astrid and her cousins at the cornmaze!
October: My birthday was pretty quiet this year. I debated inviting a bunch of girls out to brunch or something, but instead I just watched Conference at home and had a friend come over to watch with me. Oh, I also made an impromptu trip back home for Thanksgiving. It was quick, but fun. And Halloween was great! For my friend's Halloween party I dressed up as a witch and did green-face and everything. I love dressing up. And then Astrid dressed up as Cookie Monster and we had so much fun trick-or-treating at the mall, and then doing trunk-or-treat and then doing a quick trip down our block with dad in the evening. It was a very busy day.
On the road to Lethbridge
Cookie Monster! She was so cute!
November: I got so many nosebleeds this month, it was stupid! I was even paranoid that I would get one at work and start bleeding all over a patient. Thank goodness that never happened. Me and some girls did an art date and it was so fun. It was good to get the creative juices going again, even though it was just recreating something someone else has already done. Ooh, MOANA also came out this month and Joe and I actually went out to the theatre to see it on the second night it was out (we don't go out to the movies anymore because we hate Cineplex so this was a big deal).
Nosebleeds. Blech.
Arting!
December: December could have gone so much better. It was still good, don't get me wrong, but with my calling at church and making preparations for Christmas down south, I was so done. Astrid's birthday was a quiet affair. We had originally wanted to do the sleigh rides they had going on just outside of town, but we were in the middle of a particularly cold snap that week, so the sleigh rides had been cancelled due to -40 weather. Yeah. Ridiculous. So instead we had some friends of ours with a little girl Astrid's age come over for cake and we let the girls play afterwards. And then of course we spent Christmas with my family and it was such a good visit. Astrid went ice fishing for the first time, we got to see a bunch of family we haven't seen in a long while, and we alllllmost got to see our new nephew - except we left a week too soon. Bummer. I guess we'll just have to make another trip to see him!
We went sledding just before the cold snap, thank goodness!
Astrid and her birthday presents.
Our family Nativity Pageant. All the second cousins!
Grampa was so proud to have Astrid ice fishing with him. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if we'd caught any fish!
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.
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!
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.
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.
I have always loved Halloween. I love the costumes, I love the candy, I love the dances (back when I went to those!), I love it all! Except the scary stuff, haha. This was my first Halloween with Astrid and now I love it even more!
The day started out with errands because we were nearly out of milk and I didn't think I had enough candy, so off to the store we went. On our way home, I saw a sign for the farmer's market and figured I'd stop by since Astrid was being good and we didn't need to rush home. Little did I know they were doing trick-or-treating at the farmer's market. So as soon as I walked in with baby in hand, people started throwing candy at me despite Astrid not even having a costume. It was awesome. I've learned that people love to give babies candy even though they can't eat it. I also learned that if I'm going to run errands with Astrid on Halloween I should just dress her up in her costume because, a) it's adorable and, b) you never know when people will want to throw candy at your child.
The middle part of the day was fairly uneventful. I spent it prepping the entry for the trick-or-treaters, prepping the Jeep for trunk-or-treat, getting dinner started since the evening was going to be busy, and making sure I had me and Astrid's costumes in order.
At 4:00 we went to the church parking lot for trunk-or-treat and it was so fun! Astrid had a rough start because as I was zipping up her monkey coat I caught her neck in the zipper :( She was pretty unhappy about that. So here I am with a wailing child in my arms and I'm going round to open up the trunk and before I even touch the handle I start getting swarmed by trick-or-treaters. In the 30 seconds it took me to open the jeep, set up my pumpkins and open the candy bowl I had at least 15 kids surrounding me shouting "trick-or-treat! trick-or-treat!! TRICK-OR-TREAT!!!"
Once I got through the first wave of kids, things went pretty smoothly. Handing out candy is so much fun! It's fun to make the kids do things in character to earn their treat. I had a wizard come by so I had him cast a spell for me (he chose wingardium leviosa) and then when I met a ninja I made sure he could do a proper karate chop for his candy. I made a rookie mistake though because at the beginning of the trunk-or-treat I was handing out 2-3 pieces of candy per kid and before I knew it my bowl was half empty with a whack-load of kids still to come. Even though it feels stingy, handing out one piece at a time is necessary. Besides, it's not like the kids aren't going to get a butt-load of candy by the end of the night anyway. I did run out of candy but it worked out because it gave me time to take Astrid around and collect some candy from those who were still left.
After trunk-or-treat was done we hurried home to hand out candy at our house. This was our first time handing out candy from our own home! Since we've been married we've lived in a basement suite, at my parents', and in an apartment building so we've never had the chance to hand out candy ourselves. I was smart and didn't bring all my candy to the trunk-or-treat and I left one 24-piece bag of candy behind. I had a feeling we weren't going to be a high traffic area and I was right. We had 18 kids come to our door. It worked out though, because it was quiet enough to allow me and Astrid to eat dinner without me having to get up every 30 seconds to answer the door.
At the end of the night my favourite costumes I saw were the little sisters dressed up as Darth Vader (I love it when girls opt for the non-princess costumes!) and the kids dressed as the characters from Five Nights at Freddy's. The game scares me, but they had some good costumes.
I want to blog. But I haven't known what exactly I should write for the last little while. I've had lots of ideas, but nothing fully developed. So here I am setting a 5 minute timer and just - going for it.
I'm starting to really like my calling. I am the Compassionate Service Leader in my ward and that means that when something big happens like a baby, or a move or sickness or even death, it is my job to contact those in need and find out what we can do for them. And then I get those needs met. Not by myself, heavens, that would be exhausting. I call other members of the ward and ask them to provide meals or assistance or whatever is needed. The first couple months that I had my calling were quiet. But now I've had the chance to fulfil my calling a couple times and I've liked it. I have a lot to learn, but I think this will be something that is really good for me.
When my Bishop told me that the Relief Society president wanted me to do this job, I didn't even know what it was. But as I learned about it, I felt that it was right and it was something that God wanted me to do that will help me to grow. I'm excited to have this calling and to help others. One of my favourite things about this church is how well its members can come together in a crisis. I get to be a big part of that now and I'm excited.
I am an early riser and like to start my days at the crack of dawn. (which around here is about 5:30)
Daddy usually comes to me and changes my bum, but sometimes mommy does. Then I am brought to mommy and she feeds me the good stuff. Usually after this point, if daddy brought me in he will hide for the rest of the day and I will spend my day looking for him with mommy. Though she doesn't try as hard to find daddy as I do. Sometimes daddy doesn't hide though and those days are awesome. Anyway, daddy hides most mornings and on those mornings after I'm done eating I will either fall back asleep until later, or I will crawl around the bed and explore while mom snoozes. I think she just pretends though because every time I get close to leaving the bed, she pulls me right back. It's no fun. Eventually I get my way and mom will let me play on the floor while she continues to pretend to sleep. I don't get her game. She's weird.
Once mommy gets out of bed, then we go downstairs and she puts me in my eating chair and gives me a snack while she eats food of her own. Her food looks way better than mine, but she promises I'll get some one day.
After we eat, mommy will either put me in my stroller and run me around the neighbourhood to spy on everyone or she will bring me downstairs while she does these funny movements and sometimes she carries me while she does her movements. I think this is a game as well, but I don't really get it. Either way, when mom is done running me around or carrying me around, we go upstairs into the noisy room that gets damp. Mom will plop me in my bouncy chair while she hides behind the foggy glass.
By this point I'm usually pretty sleepy and I let mom know by yelling and crying at her. Sometimes she takes a while to catch my hint, but she's learning. I have to be so patient with her.
After my morning nap, that's when the days can really vary. Sometimes mom takes me shopping and sometimes I go play with other kids while mommy hides. When we stay at home mommy is usually playing in the kitchen with the dishes or in the laundry room with clothes and I am usually looking all over and calling out for daddy by saying, "dadadadada!". Sometimes mom calls for daddy with me but she always says it wrong by saying, "mamamama!" and she always looks right at me! So I correct her and tell her we're looking for "dadadada" and then she'll respond back with, "mamamama". This can sometimes go on for a while. It's very frustrating. I love my mom, but I don't think she's the brightest light on the Baby Einstein keyboard if you know what I mean.
Anyway, the rest of my day tends to go pretty standard. We'll have lunch and mom will try to feed me some new food which I may like or reject, but she always makes up for it by nursing me afterward. Mom will play in some part of the house either with me or with something else while I continue my vigilant search for dad. Then I'll have an afternoon nap and when I wake up, mom has usually started making dinner. It's around this time that dad's game of hide and seek is almost up and I frantically try to find him before he comes out of his hiding spot. I still have yet to succeed. Sometimes daddy will hide for many days and I'll be stuck with mom 24/7. I don't know why he thinks it's a good idea to hide that long, but I'll be having words with him about it soon.
Either way, when daddy finally comes out of hiding I'm pretty happy about it. Then we'll all have dinner as a family and then play downstairs in the living room or outside. Then mom and dad read me stories and on some nights dad will give me a bath. Every night ends the same though and that is with a nursing from mom. It puts me right out (most nights) so they bundle me up and put me to bed.
