Christmas Eve

It is pretty hard to get a good picture of 3 little ones. This is the best we could do before the Christmas Eve service on Monday night.

Santa's little helper

Christmas Morning!

Saturday

We started off the weekend with our traditional Saturday morning pancake breakfast. We have discoverd in the past couple of weeks though, that the meal is more about the Maple syrup than it is about eating the pancakes. :) Shaylah could not wait to get out into the first snowfall of the year. Good thing the snowsuit that Great Gran gave her last year still fit!

Stanley Park Christmas Train and Petting Zoo

We enjoyed a fun Sunday evening at Stanley Park with Grammy and Grampy. Grandpa wanted to come too, but he got snowed in at home. We missed you Grandpa!

Stall tactics

Shaylah has learned to art of stalling. She has discovered that yelling "potty" will get her out of going to bed for an extra few minutes. She has also been hearding yelling "kiss", "water", "book" and "stuck", all of which get some extra parent time. It has been very hard on her the past week because she has not seen her parents nearly as much as she would like.

Grandma

Once again we have come to another significant date in our journey of life without Grandma Marlyn. Today is her birthday and it is yet another day that we wish we could celebrate with her. Thoughts of her still bring many tears, not just because we are sad that she is gone, but because we remember the many wonderful moments that occurred while she was still with us. We will always love her and wish that life was different.

"No, Shaylah's hand!"

Shaylah is into the stage where she likes to do everything herself, including holding her own hand for help. It makes going up the stairs very difficult, but she does quite well walking down the hallway in the hospital.

Our little queen!

Even if the crown is upside-down!

Trick or Treat

Shaylah had so much fun handing out candy this year. She would eagerly watch for the next group of kids to arrive, grab some candy and then run to give it to them. It was quite fun to watch her.

Laity Pumpkin Patch

Baby Googah

"Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea..."

Potty-time

I love a good read while sitting on the toilet (like father, like daughter). By the way, I have pooped in the potty 3 days in a row now!

Surprise!

Last Thursday we had a surprise visit from Auntie Heather and her good friend Jill...all the way from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Sorry about the rainy weekend weather, but we sure had fun seeing you!

Shaylah at home

2 of my favorite things to do....

1) Reading a good book

and 2) making a big mess!

Autumn Day

Out for a walk (actually it was more of a run!) before the rain comes.

What's new with Shaylah

If you are wondering why there have been only a few pictures of Shaylah on the blog lately, it is not because we are too busy with the twins. It is mainly because she will not let us take her picture anymore. If she catches a glimpse of the camera, she needs to have it in her hands so she can look at the view screen. We will give you an update on what is new in her world though...

1.) She has discovered a new love of music. She sings the words to her favorite songs and even predicts which song is coming next on her CD's before they even start playing. Favorite songs include Baby Beluga; Row, Row, Row Your Boat (the action version) and If You're Happy and you Know it. Her favorite CD is "Go Diego Go", from which she knows most of the songs.

2) We think she is on the verge of starting to potty train. She tells us when she has a "stinky bummy" and she has even peed on the toilet once at daycare. I would be thrilled to have one less kid to change in the New Year! I guess I will have to start working on that one soon.

3) She has started counting to 10. Thanks to her wonderful daycare provider (whom she loves!), she even knows a few numbers in Spanish.

4) She is a Dora the Explorer fan. It is the only show she likes to watch on TV. She is much more of a book lover than anything else, but when it comes to Dora, the rules all change.

5) Her favorite word is "again". Anything fun has to be done over and over again (and most things are fun to her). She has also discovered screaming when she is excited.

6) 90% of the time she calls us "Mommy" and "Daddy", but if we don't respond right away we become "Mars" and "Johnny".

7) The things she hates most in life are getting her hair and her teeth brushed.

High five for Caelan

I was very nervous about touching Caelan, but really wanted to give him a high five. Daddy had to help me to be gentle.

Visiting Caelan (video)

Shaylah has finally figured out that Caelan is not named "Ashlyn".

My new favorite activity (video)

I am not sure why, but this makes me laugh every time.

Another visit

Daddy and I are just checking out Caelan's stats for the day.

My new babies

I have seen lots of pictures of my new babies, but yesterday I was able to go to the hospital and meet them in person for the first time. I couldn't tell them apart yet...I kept calling them both "baby Ashlyn". I am sure that as they get bigger, it will get easier for me.

Missing Shaylah

Shaylah is still on the Island with her Grammy and Grampy, but she is being spoiled and is having a wonderful time. We did get a quick visit last Tuesday and Wednesday, but it makes us miss her more. She was quite excited to see her mommy and daddy, but most of all, I think it was Jackpot that got the biggest smiles. She will be coming home for good on Sept. 11th and we can't wait to see her!

Having fun!

With Mommy just coming home from the hospital, I decided that I would like to go and spend some time with my Grammy and Grampy in Port Alberni. I was a little nervous because it was my first time away from home without my parents, but I am having a fabulous time. I have made 2 new friends in Spoke and Elwood and have discovered blackberry bushes. Yummy!

There is now a link to catch up on what is happening with my new brother and sister on their own blog site. Check it out!

Dora and Diego No More

So it took a few days, but my siblings finally have names.

Caelan Geoffrey Black - 980 g

(Rare photo op between having ventilator removed and nose tube (CPAP) put in.)

Ashlyn Faith Black - 943 g

(We still need a better picture of her.)

Dora and Diego

Many of you know that I now have a new baby brother and sister. Mom and Dad haven't named them yet, so I'm going to call them Dora and Diego for now. I'll put lots more information up in the near future, but some of you wanted to see some pictures.

Diego sleeping. He has more hair than Dora.

Diego again. Notice how big his diaper looks. This is a "Preemie" diaper - the smallest they make.

Diego's window.

Dora in her incubator

Dora again. She's a bit more bruised than Diego.

Diego's home (for now). Dora gets the spot right next to him. There are probably 12 preemies in this room.

I haven't been allowed to see Dora and Diego yet, but I was able to help Mommy take her first walk.

Baby Update

People have been asking me why I haven't updated my blog lately. The main reason is that I've been enjoying my summer, but it's also because Mommy has been busy getting ready for my new siblings. Unfortunately Mommy also had quite a scare the other day with the twins and went into premature labour. She's now in the hospital and will need to stay there on strict bed rest until the babies are born. Right now we don't know if that will be a few days, a few weeks or a few months. While I miss Mommy, we're hoping that she's there for a long time so the babies can be healthy. They're only 25 weeks old right now so they still need at least another month of growing.

Please pray for Mommy that she'll stay healthy.

A break from the heat

Check out my new pool!

Fun at Birch Bay

We spent the long weekend at Grandpa's cabin in Birch Bay. The weather was beautiful and I got to play on the beach.

By the way, Happy 9th Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!

I love my Grandpa!

And he loves me too!

A walk in the park

We took Jackpot to Barnet Marine Park this morning. I am not sure who had more fun though!