A few months in one post...

Oh my goodness, its been forever.  I am not going to try to pick up where I left off, because I left off quite a few months ago and a lot has happened.  Here are the main things that have gone on:

• We moved. Twice. Once from the home we were housesitting in Terwillegar to a mobile home off 17th Street, and again from said mobile home to our very own half duplex in Laurel.
• Various holidays:  Canada Day - spent here in Edmonton, Clara was too sleepy to really care about the fireworks.  August long - spent at the beautiful Norbury Lake in BC with Taylor's family  Labour Day - uneventful, Halloween - COLD, Clara dressed up in her bunny snow suit and we went to one house. Christmas - spent with the entire Hills clan on the farm in Dawson Creek  and New Years - spent at Taylor's sister's place in Calgary with the Wolsey sibs.   Taylor's birthday also happened, as did Clara's.
• Taylor and I spent a week, sans Clara, in the Dominican Republic.  It was wonderful, beautiful and amazing.  Clara spent her time being loved by Taylor's wonderful family.
• We were sick.  We had 2 different versions of the flu during flu season.  No fun.
• Oh!  And in October, we said "au revoir" to me dear sister Laura, who is serving a mission in southern France.  My, do I miss her.  We were living together before she left, and I went through some serious Laura withdrawals.  Even now, 4 months later, I still wish that I could call her on a daily basis.  In fact, she is still in my "frequently called" list on my phone.  She has moved down from her number one space, but she is still on the list.
• Taylor started playing hockey again.  He plays in a beginner's league for the Edmonton Rangers.  He loves it!
• I still sing with la Chorale St Jean.  Spring concert coming up in March!
• Clara's milestones:  crawling (she is super speedy) opening, emptying, tearing, destruction in general, standing, 2 or 3 steps on her own, her first birthday, waving, clapping, giving high fives, dancing, head banging, humming, sleeping through the night, climbing up and down stairs and growing her third tooth.

That about sums it up.  Here are some pictures of the last few months!
  

Garden Adventures

This year I was very excited to rent a community garden plot and plant a garden.  A friend and I went in together and oh, what a garden it would be.  I could almost taste the peas and carrots...yum.
Getting a community garden plot is trickier than it seems, but, after a lot of hoop jumping, we were finally ready.  Taylor and I were out of town when we were told that we could begin work in the garden, so our friends took care of weeding and preparing the soil.  Then, the following week, Taylor, Clara and I planted.  Unfortunately, we planted in the wrong plot.  In all fairness, the plot map was very confusing.  When I realized what we had done, I quickly sent an e-mail to the garden committee.  I was sure that all would be well, as we could just give our plot to the person whose plot we mistakenly planted.  Alas, it was not to be.  The plot we had planted in was a very special plot, I guess, and the owner was not willing to trade.  Before we knew what had happened, our happy little garden had been planted over.  I was so disappointed.  Sigh.  I can't say that I didn't greatly enjoy the time I spent planting, watering and working with Taylor and Clara though.  It was nice to have a project like that to work on together, despite its short life and lack of edible benefits.  Oh well.  There's always next year, right?

Oh how happy we were when we were ignorant of the fact that this was not actually our plot.  :)

The North Country

 I grew up outside of Dawson Creek BC, which is about 650 km north of here.  A few weeks ago, Taylor told me that he would need to leave for work and that he would be gone about a week, so I took the opportunity to travel back home to visit my parents and my youngest sister.  This is the second time that Clara has made the trip, and she was very good.  We are fortunate enough to have wonderful friends in Valleyview (which is about halfway) so we were able to split the trip in half.  A three hour drive is much easier with a baby than a 6 hour drive.

Clara LOVES being outside, so we had a wonderful time walking the many trails on my parent's beautiful property with Lucy the dog and Linus the cat.  Clara saw her first beaver, as well as her first beaver-decimated forest. 

 

 Clara is so loved by her Grandma and Grandpa Hills, as well as her Auntie Leta, and it was wonderful for me to be surrounded by family instead of at home alone!

Thanks for a wonderful week!

Spring on the farm

Yesterday we made a trip out to the Kastendieck's farm.  It was a day of firsts for Clara.  First time seeing pigs and newborn piglets, first time feeling fuzzy baby turkeys and chickens, first time seeing a llama, first time napping in a water bed  etc. 

 Clara was not very impressed with the baby birds.  She only looked at them when they cheeped.  :)

We had a wonderful time.  I was reminded of how spring was for me on my parents acreage.  We always had chicks in the spring, the garden was plowed up and smelled so...good.  Earthy.  The trees were full of life, our rubber boots were tested, and our feet got wet.  The creek started running again, and the robins came back.  I really miss that. 

I can't wait to be able to be outside all the time with Clara.  She is sure enjoying the warmer weather.

Talking with Daddy

Clara loves to talk.  Here is a video of a recent conversation she had with her daddy.

A Lovely Spring Evening

Saturday was such a beautiful day, we just had to get outside.  Since no one we knew answered their phones, we decided to take a walk, just the three of us, in our neighbourhood.  We bundled Clara up in her too big snowsuit and secured her to Taylor's chest (she just loves facing out, so that she can see the world). 




 As we left the house Clara had a look of sheer delight on her face.  It was really fun for me to see, since I am usually the one carrying her when we go walking.  We wandered around for a while  enjoyed the springy feel everything seemed to have.  The trees are just about ready to explode with green, and the sky was oh so blue. 

We made a couple of different turns on this particular walk, and we soon found ourselves on some beautiful paths along the whitemud ravine.

I realized how much I miss living outside of the city and walking through the forest on a daily basis.  Little walks like this sure do cheer me up, especially when I'm accompanied by my two favourtie people!

It wasn't long before Clara was sleeping comfortably on her daddy's chest.  What a cutie! 

Ear prints

Clara loves nursing.  Alot.  When I have the time, I often let her nurse as long as she wants.  The other day, after she had finished, I noticed that I had a perfect little ear print on my arm.

I am glad that Clara enjoys being close to me, I sure enjoy holding her close.