Busy Life!

Well...what have we been up to? Life just seems to be passing us by these days. Harvie is incredibly busy with his work, working long hours and even on weekends. He will continue to be this busy until the end of March. I have had some Saturday and Sunday classes and jave been trying to work on my big paper. I have only nine weeks left on my masters, but there is much to do before I can say I am finished. My paper is due on March 29th and my presentation April 10th, 11th, or 17th (date not yet assigned). Adrianna has been keeping us very busy too. Active doesn't even begin to describe our little princess. She is in love with walking and the outdoors. Since the weather has been so nice, we have left the house in the mornings for a long walk and going to the park most afternoons. I am very thankful that she has been cooperating and taking one longer nap midday. I quite like the one nap thing...it gives me a longer block to write my paper and more time to enjoy the sunny outdoors (sunny at least for now...winter has to arrive sometime!). Here are some pictures of Adrianna enjoying the park...

First Steps

Finally, after months of waiting, Adrianna is learning to walk. During the Christmas season she began demonstrating interest in walking. Because she is such an independent little girl, she did not welcome any help from us. One day, Harvie just put the little walker in front of her (we had tried it time and time again) and off she went!

After a couple of weeks of using the walker, one day without us paying much attention she took three steps at my mom's place. The same day, at home she took six steps. We got the camera, and waited, and waited. Sure enough, she did it again.

Here she is again, just before her bath. I don't think it will be long now until she is walking!

Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is a time of celebrations. Celebrating Jesus' birth. Celebrating God's gift to us. Celebrating with family, friends and food. Christmas is receiving God's love wrapped up and given to us through the birth of a child. I love Christmas and part of it is giving gifts to those around me. I see gift giving as a symbol of Christmas because of God's gift to us. I give with love, I receive with love. Gift giving is partaking in the miracle that Christmas really is. It's sharing love and joy, wrapped up in a present.

We celebrated Christmas early with my family. My dad and brother headed down to Brazil for Christmas. My cousin and her family came from Bellingham to join us. Adrianna was very entertained by the three boys. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, but my cousin did. Unfortunately, her camera wasn't working well, so these are the best shots.

The presents that are the biggest hit in our house: the Little Tikes Wheels from Oma and Opa Buitelaar and the Princess Tent from Oma and Opa Duck.

On Wednesday, December 23rd, we celebrated Christmas with Harvie's family. We had turkey dinner first. This is the sixth year we host the Christmas dinner and each year we improve it a little. This year we added ham to the feast. It was great to be together and catch up. Next year we'll have another little Buitelaar around the table with the arrival of Marlen and Sue's little one in May. We are thrilled for them! Sue is beautiful pregnant and Harvie and I can't wait to become aunt and uncle for the first time!

Adrianna chose to eat goldfish crackers instead of the delicious meal. She doesn't realize what she is missing out on!

We couldn't resist and buy a Christmas gift from Adrianna to her cousin to be. As soon as Sue opened up the gift, Adrianna was eager to play with it. Thankfully I had thought ahead and bought one for her too. Sophie the giraffe has become one of her favourite toys now.

A cozy sweater from Oma Buitelaar.

And the big present from all: her own set of wheels!

It was quite the hit! She kept going in and out of this part of the car. It kept her happy past her bedtime, quite a challenging task at times!

Of course with two engineer brothers, they tried to put the car together right away. But they don't make it easy to put together...it becomes quite comic to watch, but not so fun for those putting it together. It took Harvie a good portion of Christmas eve day to make all the parts fit together!

Cozy sweaters for Oma and Opa Buitelaar...

December 24th, Christmas even morning. Harvie stayed home and before having breakfast, Adrianna just coudn't wait until Christmas day to give her present to daddy, a duo-blokus game, a vest/tie/shirt combo and some Rafaello chocolates. Harvie surprised me with beautiful earrings inside a box of hedgehog chocolates.

December 24th, Christmas eve, we got all dressed up and headed for a beautiful candlelight service at our Church. It was the first time we spent Christmas even just the three of us and I love it! It was quiet, calm and relaxing. (After finishing this post I realized I hadn't fixed the red-eyes...oh well, too late now!)

December 25th, Christmas morning comes with presents for the little girl. We all stayed in our pajamas for the big event. Adrianna was excited to rip the paper, more so than to see what was inside. Each gift was first seen as a place for sitting. Good thing there wasn't anything breakable!

Slowly, the gift wrapping was ripped...

But first, before enjoying its contents, let's jump on the box a little more!

Every little girl needs a doll for Christmas!

No, the little spoon is for your doll!

Ahh, a kiss for the new doll!

I think Adrianna likes her Christmas gifts!

After church and Adrianna's nap, we headed to my mom's place for a late lunch and more presents. First we called my dad in Brazil to wish him a Merry Christmas. We certainly missed Jeff and my dad on Christmas day, but we know he is enjoying his time with family in warm Curitiba. Aunt Jeni spoiled Adrianna with the Barbie camper. It will match the Barbie camping family she gave Adrianna for her birthday. Aunt Jeni is building Adrianna's Barbie collection. She is one lucky girl!

My mom gave three different dog stuffies to Adrianna, each one welcomed with a big hug, kiss and cuddles. Why is it that they receive her affection and we have to beg for it?

Now, the best gift of all. Harvie got a mooning Santa from my mom. Adrianna was cuirous and entertained by it.

On Sunday, December 27th, we had the Peters Family Christmas at Aunt Lydia's place. It was so nice to celebrate with the big family, enjoying a delicious meal and the chaos of opening gifts with eager children. Adrianna received books and stuffies, two of her most favourite things! My cousin Sandy took pictures during the gathering, which I'll post later.

On Monday, December 28th, Harvie's airport group had a holiday dinner at Gotham Restaurant. We took Adrianna along and she was the life of the party. Thankfully they had booked the private room. Adrianna spent most of the time crawling under the tables and walking alongside the perimeter of the room.

Adrianna decided to help out the staff at Gothams by taking down the Christmas decorations from the tree.

This is the fun Adrianna had while we ate the main course. Oh the fun a toddler can have!

We hope your Christmas was a joyous one. We hope the love and peace of Christmas follows you into the new year. May we spread God's love into 2010!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Let's start with the most important...Christ's birth. Thanks to my Aunt Cindy's present to Adrianna last Christmas, we took out from our "Christmas" bins this little "play" cloth nativity scene. I tried to "explain" it to Adrianna...here is how Adrianna understood it...

Oh, these cloth figures, I think I will try tasting it...

Oh, and the stable, this is what I can do with it! Maybe next year I will try telling her the story again...

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree! Protecting the tree from a curious toddler takes creativity.
.

But she finds her own creative ways to get close to it!

What a sight it must be for a little one, to have a real tree in the house.

A visit with Santa...

Harvie's work has a "family" Christmas party every year. This year it was up at Grouse Mountain. He ventured out with Adrianna, a diaper bag, snowsuit and accessories, stroller, courage and patience to the party without me. I had this semester's final class and had to miss the great event. Looks like it was fun...so much to see and do! A taste of Mr. Winter Wonderland.

Lucky for me, Mr. Winter Wonderland made a visit this past Sunday. Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Where's the baby?

Christmas tree is decorated. Presents are mostly bought, some are even wrapped! Our winter village is up. Christmas cards were sent. I hope the cards find their way to your home. May you find the peace, joy and hope of Christ in your hearts. Oh, come Emmanuel!

Christmas Season is Here!

Christmas season has arrived! Christmas tree is up, cards are sent, shopping nearly completed and elf mission accomplished! (Until I figure out how to attach it again to the blog, here is the connection)

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/U7xCb3p5fSbdIEwM

Farewell October Leaves, Welcome November Winds

The October leaves have fallen and we've been almost tooy busy to fully take in their beauty. Harvie has been working many hours in various projects. I have been working on my masters. I had the opportunity to TOC in the classroom I am doing my field work for an entire week. I took Adrianna to daycare the entire week. I had a little glimpse of what a working mom's life is like, and let me tell you...it's a busy one. It reaffirmed that the decision to take a year off to complete my studies was indeed the right one. Anyways, I'll let the pictures do the talking, after all a picture is worth a thousand words...

This is a picture from the MCC Sale back in September. We have a Friday dinner tradition that my grandfather began years ago . Going this year felt a little bit sad because it was the first time I went that he wasn't there. I missed it last year because I had just given birth to Adrianna. We did have a great time and Adrianna had a little taste of traditional Menno food. Yummy!

To balance out our Menno-Dutch influences, we headed out to the opening of the New West Dutch store for some good croquetes and dutch cheese. We couldn't resist the photo opportunity...
Now, this is one exciting place to explore, don't you think so?

This is what Adrianna thinks of cuddling in with someone:

One of Adrianna's favourite things to do: head for the stairs and climb, climb and climb. She is trying to learn making her way down, a little more frightening for mom!

Enjoying the beauty of fall...

On a sunny Sunday afternoon we went to the pumpkin patch. It was the first for Harvie, Adrianna and myself. Adrianna was feverish that day so she didn't want to smile for the pictures...a little fresh air is just what she needed, she just didn't know it!

One of our few family pictures... (I've noticed that most only have one of us)

This was our first really bad nose bleed with Adrianna...poor little girl met the the kitchen floor nose first one morning.

I've learned that one must secure a Halloween costume early on...all the cute ones were sold by mid-October. Thanks to Andrea, Adrianna was a cute kitten. Unfortunately, our little kitten was starting to get quite sick (with croup we later learned) and rather than going trick or treat, we headed to ER in order to administer something to make her breathe easier.

The November winds are upon us. The weather has changed and with that the fall-back of our clocks. What used to be a the best night of the year for me, is no longer. Little ones just don't appreciate an extra hour of sleep like we do. Adrianna's bedtime is now 6 o'clock, keeping her up longer than that just seems cruel. Especially when she's had croup that now developed into bronchitis. Poor little girl, hasn't slept well for a few nights, and neither have Harvie and I. We are both under the weather too. November winds, please blow away quickly and let the Christmas season emerge with warm greetings and blessings of health not only for our household but to all!

First Birthday Celebrations

A year's gone by,

How time has flown,

We can't believe

How Adrianna's grown!

She's such a joy

And so much fun,

Oh my! Our baby's

Turned One!

Unknown Author

September 16th, 2009

It was morning of Adrianna's first birthday. Harvie stayed home in the morning to celebrate the grand occasion. Of course, it is the one day that Adrianna decided to sleep in, but we waited patiently for her to wake up. The first order of the day: open birthday presents! It took her a little bit of time to figure out what was happening...she kept crawling away from the wrapped gifts towards her usual toys. So with a little help of her mom, Adrianna discovered that there was something underneath the paper worth some attention...

And once it was all unwrapped and out of the boxes the fun began...


What do eat for a birthday breakfast? Cupcakes of course! Although Adrianna wasn't quite sure of what to do, she did have a LITTLE taste of cool whip and cake. Yes, even cake and cool whip did not make our little girl eat...

On Sunday, September 20th we celebrated her birthday with a family gathering including both sides of the family. She enjoyed a lunch with her cousins first (or as Gabriel calls is...cousuncle and cousauntie, after all they are my cousins).

We enjoyed a last summer burger barbecue for Adrianna's birthday...

...and cake for dessert. This time Adrianna ate a little bit more of her cupcake.

Then it was time for opening the wonderful and thoughtful presents from her loving family. She is well stocked up with toys, books and clothes for a while now! She got a Barbie set from Auntie Jennie, an early start for her Barbie collection. And, she even received her first cheque, an addition to her college fund from Uncle Marlen and Auntie Sue. Thank you for the generosity of all!

Sharing a moment with Auntie Sandy...while having a little taste of a book.

And the moment Uncle Jeff has been waiting for an entire year...holding Adrianna without her screaming! We have made some great progress this year. Yes, Adrianna, he may look scary and act funny, but he loves you!

Adrianna,

You're as cute as a bug

So precious to hug

A darling child

Who's nice to be near.

So.. hope turning one

Is happy and fun

And takes you along

To a second great year!

Author Unknown

12 Months

This past month, Adrianna has not only mastered the art of crawling, but has become very confident in her ability to "furniture walk" and even crawl up the stairs. Although she understands the word "no" quite well, sometimes she chooses to ignore it. Especially when approaching all the buttons on the electronics, much to Harvie's dismay. We had to start to child proof the house and slowly we are figuring out what we still need to do as she explores and discovers the many different things around her. At the moment she has a fascination with the fridge, dishwasher and the pantry. It's amazing how quickly she crawls when one of them is opened. She is becoming very playful. She loves to play pekaboo, clap her hands, play ball with someone and have books read to her. She loves to look at books herself, but needs to be supervised because at times she confused the edges of books with food. Adrianna has a remarkable liking to dogs, much to our surprise. Her smiles and squeals when she sees dogs are incredibly precious. I always said I would never had a dog for a pet, but watching her eyes shine around dogs is slowly chaging my heart. Maybe my heart will overpower my mind. As for challenges, Adrianna is finally not throwing up anymore. She continues to be very difficult with feeding, and as a result has only gained one pound in three months. The doctors are not concerned at this point, so I guess I should relax a bit on the feeding thing. She is now 20 pounds and 31 inches...making her long and lean (unfortunately they don't make baby clothes that are long and lean). She hasn't quite figure out that she is too big to crawl through certain places...funny girl!

I am back at school, taking another semester at SFU towards my masters. This semester I am also going into a friend's classroom to complete the field work part of my studies. It should be a pretty busy three months ahead, but hopefully Adrianna will cooperate and take some good naps so I can read, write and research. Harvie continues to have more than his share of work at his job. He is working on a project for the Abbotsford Airport and is able to be home in the mornings once in a while when he has a meeting in Abbotsford. It's so nice to have Harvie home a little more, if only once in a while for the morning. Most days he leaves before either one of us is awake and comes up for 7 pm just in time to kiss Adrianna's good night.

It's amazing how a little one changes life. Dinner out in Vancouver was a regular event before she came. I would head out after school on Friday, shop on Robson till Harvie was finished work and we would eat out. That doesn't happen very often anymore. This month I headed out that way again, thanks to my mom's babysitting services. It was great to reconnect with Marlen and Sue and hear all about their Europe adventures. Thanks for a great dinner and night out!

As tradition have it, Marlen had is annual birthday bbq at the beach. Adrianna was already eager to go last year. On the way there last year my contractions increased, but sure enough they slowed down once we got there. This year Adrianna made her full appearance at the bbq!

What is summer without a beach and gelato? We headed out one afternoon to White Rock. It's so close, but it's the first time Adrianna ventured that way. It was beautiful and we ended the outing with a great gelato that even Adrianna enjoyed.

This past month we invested on a season's pass to the zoo. With Adrianna's love for the outdoors and animals we thought we would get some great use out of the pass. Already in one month we paid it off. I went three times, two of which with Harvie. The first time I went with Pam and Lyra, the second with Marlen and Sue and the third time we met Kevin and Sheri there. We still need to see Shadow, the bear. We are planning to head to Seattle's zoo as well in the next year since the passes give us entry there too. Check out our little biker chick on Kev's beautiful bike at the zoo's parking lot! One year and the training wheels are already off.

We had our first, and I am sure not our last, trip to the emergency room. We were at a bridal store in Chilliwack with my cousin Sandy who is getting married (Adrianna will be one of the flower girls!). As Sandy was trying out a beautiful dress, Adrianna crawled over to the mirror, found something, and before any of us knew had something in her mouth. When I rushed over to see it, all I saw was a metal type of pin on a pearl. My first thought was an earring, but at a bridal store it could also have been a sharper item like a pin. So off to the ER I went, with my cousin Becky to keep me calm. Two hours later the doctor showed me the x-ray which displayed an obvious earring. Two days later, it made its way through Adrianna's digestive track and into the garbage it went. The doctor thought it would be an interesting memory keep, but I wasn't about to clean and keep it. Yuck! If Adrianna wanted earring I think she found a very creative way of letting us know! Through it all she was incredibly cute, laughing and entertaining all in the ER waiting room.

One year! What a milestone! We are planning a birthday party with our families this coming weekend for our little girl. We look forward to celebration. We feel so blessed by her smiles, giggles, and playfulness. She is a gift from our heavenly Father. Thank you, God for giving her to us. May You bless her this coming year with your love, joy and faithfulness. May we be your vessel of love in her life and may we teach her about your faithfulness each and every day. May we live with your joy this coming year, remembering that the blessings we have are from you. Happy Birthday my dear little one!

11 Months

Adrianna is finally crawling! It was so cute watching her figure out how to move around. She had some very interesting and awkward ways at first, but seems to be getting the hang of it now. She has learned to pull herself up and is pretty quick at it. She seems to rely on her head to put herself in the crawling or sitting position. She is so much fun to play with these days. She loves to laugh, make faces, chat, and squeal. Silly girl!

Eating has been a challenge once again. Adrianna has decided she no longer wants to be fed by anyone...making meal times a war of wills between her and me. I am trying to get her to eat soft pieces of food but she seems to think the soft pieces are better used for squishing and playing rather than eating.

A rare moment...feeling cuddly after waking up from a nap...so precious!!!

This month Adrianna outgrew a couple of her favourite toys...the swing and the exersaucer. Just in time for the first birthday where I am sure she will replace it with some new toys!

Adrianna loves to pull herself up...but already got a couple of bruises on her forehead because of it! It sure hasn't stopped her! Falling asleep has become challenging at times since she is constantly standing. Now that she has figured out how to lay down by herself it made the whole sleeping thing easier. Hanging on and kissing the orange monkey is a daily ritual.

The adventures await outdoors...

But look at the fun I can still have indoors! (so much for a folded basket of laundry!)

I had my proposal to finish up by August 10th. Glad that is done! Harvie helped out by taking Adrianna to visit his parents for the afternoon. Adrianna is definitely loved by her opa and oma!

We went to the Agrifair in Abbotsford with Adrianna. It's amazing how much we enjoyed it...simply because of Adrianna's delight as she watch...and even touched (to the dismay of the poor donkey, her favourite) the animals. She got a little confused with feeding the lama...she tried to eat the grass herself! I think a trip to the zoo is in our plans for the coming month.

We had quite the summer heat wave out here in July. It set record high temperatures. We definitely put our ACs to good use and tried to keep cool by going to the waterpark with friends and using a little pool in our back deck. Adrianna loves the water...just like her mom!

We went to a wedding barbecue for one of Harvie's work friends. Adrianna fell in love with the dogs and even enjoyed getting licked by one. We went of a hayride, saw some calfs, posed for some pictures and had some yummy summer food. She did love the day...despite her face in the picture!

We retired the baby bathtub for good now. Bathtimes continues to be a highlight for Adrianna. Check out her funny face...

picture pending!

Harvie enjoys working in the backyard on the weekends. He planted a little vegetable garden and we have already enjoyed zuchinis and tomatoes. I am looking forward to the leeks, grapes, and squash in the coming months.

The last month of her first year of life is upon us. I will try to treasure this month as it certainly is a special one. Amidst the challenges from day to day are many moments of joy and laughter. When I look back at the first six months it's pretty amazing that I recall the good and seem to forget the bad. It's the blessings that touch my heart and make the lasting imprint in my heart. I think God intended it to be that way. He carries you through the tough times and after it is all said and done, it's his love, care, grace, and faithfulness that you remember. Parenthood is definitely the toughest, most challenging thing I have ever experienced, but more importantly it is also the source of the greastest joy and love!

10 Months

Ten months old...I have come to realize that time quickly goes by when it comes to little ones growing up. I am trying to treasure each stage Adrianna goes through. I love her smiles and babble. I see her personality evolve with each passing month. She got her first two bottom teeth this month, replacing her toothless smile with little white tidbits. Although she is not crawling yet, she is moving in her own way. We never know how or where we will find her in her crib. Her favourite sleeping position is now on her tummy.

I started my two week course for my masters. My mom has been extremely generous and is taking her holidays from work to take care of Adrianna during the two week summer course. What a blessing that is! As for the classes...I can find better ways of spending a hot summer day. Harvie has had more than his share of work. He is trying to balance his worktime with his playtime. We treasure every moment he is here with us and know that when he is away he is thinking of us. His little girl is always very excited to see him when he comes home and eagerly seeks his attention the minute he walks in the door.

We celebrated Father's Day in June. It was Harvie's first Father's Day and Adrianna made sure it was a special one. She found a perfect card for her daddy and gave him a mug with her picture for the office. We hosted a family bbq for my dad with alot of filet mignon, guarana, a little bit of other sides and a DQ ice-cream cake.

We went out for Tawainese food with Harvie's family to celebrate Father's Day, Sue's birthday and graduation. After lunch, we went to the Buitelaar's house and while Harvie and Marlen picked blueberries with his parents, Sue and I went for a walk with Adrianna so she could have a much needed nap.

On the July long weekend we went camping as a first family mini-vacation with some great friends. This year is the second year of the Okanagan Lake camping trip. Last year I was seven months pregnant. It was definitely different camping with a little one. She did great most of the time, only having some troubles falling asleep because of all the heat and activities going on. We shared a trailer with our friends Nancy and Todd and their toddler Ethan. Adrianna loved interacting with Ethan and even let him hold her hand on a long morning walk the two husbands took with the little ones while leaving the two women to sleep in. She loved the mango ice-cream at Summerland Sweets.

The weekend after camping we went on a family getaway just the three of us to Whistler. It was our first attempt taking Adrianna to a hotel and restaurants with just us. We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to go out for dinner both evenings with her. She loved the pool in the late afternoon and enjoyed the peak to peak gondola. She needed a nap while we were at the top of Blackcomb so we ended up doing some 3 wheeling with our Bob stroller. We were quite amazed that she slept as the trail was quite bumpy.

Enjoy the sun and warm weather...and if you are down the equator, hopefully you'll still get some sunny warm days between cold ones!