30!!!

On Saturday we celebrated Matthew's 30th birthday! The night before he and I went out for dinner and a movie, and then on Saturday the 3 of us celebrated by going out for cinnamon rolls and spending the first half of the day at the beach. That evening we had cupcakes. I think 30 will be a GREAT year for Matthew...a new daughter on the way and soon he will finish his M.Div!
Greta was really into the cinnamon roll experience and nearly ate a whole one (sometimes Matthew even has trouble doing this.....I don't...!) Her birthday is coming up soon too, and I think she is excited about the prospect of a birthday party. We're not really having an official "party" but we'll make it party-enough for our little 2 year old :-)
Tonight I was feeling a bit tired and decided to lie down on the couch before dinner. Greta doesn't like me to lie down (probably because it's so rare for me to do) and kept telling me "Mama sit up!" but I got her to join me instead and we read several of her favorite Pooh stories. I thought it would be a shame not to capture this time on camera, so Matthew took a few pictures. It was so snuggly! She's not really into snuggling, so this was extra special :-)
She is constantly chewing on her fingers lately--new teeth surely ought to be here soon!
More storytime.

All 3 of us went to the midwife appointment this afternoon (they are now on a weekly basis). Greta is often especially protective of me, for example when I've gotten ultrasounds done and things like that, so I wasn't sure how this would go...but Matthew hadn't yet met the third of the three possible midwives who will deliver our baby at BC Women's Hospital, so we thought it would be a good idea for us all to be there today. Anyway, Greta actually wasn't overprotective of me at all at this appointment! In fact, she was completely intrigued with the whole process. She got right up close to Carol the midwife as she measured my belly, listened to baby's heartbeat with a stethoscope and then the doppler, and felt around for the baby's position. Greta's face was so curious and she said "More!" when the whole thing was all over! Maybe she will grow up to be a midwife someday? :-)

I am doing well. Just hoping this baby comes sooner rather than later! So far baby's in a great position, my belly's size is good, my blood pressure continues to be very low, and I haven't even gotten swollen at all! With Greta by this time I couldn't wear my rings or most of my shoes! My one assignment is to spend about an hour a day on all 4's in some way, so as to make sure that when baby decides to make her way out, she doesn't slide into a posterior position--which would make her delivery more difficult.

Prayers for a safe, quick and natural-as-possible delivery would be much appreciated! Oh, and let's pray it happens SOON too :-)

New Haircut!

Times A-Changing

This photo was taken last week--one month before the due date. Now I am on my maternity leave and Greta is having to adjust to new routines...and soon she will have to adjust to even more newness! And to think--just the slightest change in her schedule can really obsess her for awhile: Storytime at the library has been on spring break for the last couple of weeks, and Greta says nearly every day "No storytime!"
Storytime with mama will have to suffice :-)
Last week Nana KaKa was here for a couple of days. Greta was really intrigued with her knitting and kept saying "Knit!" and wanting to sit with her. She loved the big ball of yarn too.
Chalk creations!
Last weekend Aunt Jenny and Uncle Dalton came for a visit. Greta had a great time being silly with Aunt Jenny.

Lately Greta has been mumbling "Oh, bad day, bad day" when something goes wrong. It's hilarious!!! (and I guess a little bit sad too...) Matthew pointed out that she must've gotten it from the Dr. Seuss book "Hop on Pop" where dad has a bad day..."what a day dad had."

Today Greta had a great day--even though there were a few "bad day" moments. We went to Granville Island and she got a hair cut (we succumbed to feeding her jelly beans nearly the entire time she was in the hair cut chair to ease her fears...she was pretty traumatized at first!), we looked at many geese and ducks at the pond, and then spent a lot of time at the Granville Island playground. After a relaxing nap (well, more like a quiet time...Greta didn't sleep the whole 2.5 hours in her crib but played contentedly...when I finally went in to get her she was standing up in her crib singing "Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah"!!), we spent the afternoon in the sunshine at the park down the street. Hopefully she will adjust fairly easily to me being around quite a bit more...but soon she will definitely have some more legitimate competition for my attention...yikes! But Baby: we all can't wait for you to come out!

Wish Lists

There is a new feature on this blog: you'll find links to Amazon.com wish lists for both Greta and Baby-B on the top left-hand side of the blog, just below the title block. These links take you to a list of gift ideas for each of the girls, and provide an easy way to shop for Greta's upcoming second birthday, or for Baby-B as she makes her entry into the world. If you have any interest in shopping for our little ladies, please take a look at the lists.

In the Snow and at the Table

A couple weeks ago we had some good snow. I love this picture!
Tromping around.
The girls!

Greta got cold pretty quick and mostly wanted to just walk around and look for snowmen. Today, long after the snow had melted, we were out for a walk and she mentioned snowmen ("no-man") many times! She loves them!

Eating breakfast in a big chair! She's growing up so much!
I turned away for one second and this is what happened!!!
Greta and I spent a lot of time painting together the other day.
When Greta is done with dinner she says over and over "All done!" urgently. She does not like waiting for Mama and Papa to finish. So the other night one trick to keeping her entertained was to give her an oven mitt. It worked for a short while...
I bought us a fresh pineapple over the weekend. Greta loves it!
Nana Kaka has come up for a visit. Tonight she gave Greta this adorable handmade (by her) dress and jacket. Perfect for Easter! Greta didn't want to model it...UNTIL it became apparent that Nana Kaka and Grandpa Shayne were leaving for the evening...then she decided to stall them by finally trying it on over her pajamas! :-)

Below is a video of Greta's comments during an enjoyable pineapple eating session:

Tigger!

Recently, our neighbour Jean took some pictures of Greta and Tigger at her apartment. I think these show how big Greta has gotten, and how much she loves her Tigger. Enjoy!

Family Time

A couple weeks ago we went down to Washington to visit with Grandpa Paul who was up from Arizona for a long weekend. One day we all went to the Children's Museum in Seattle--Greta had an especially great time there!
Playing in the ball room at the museum.
Having a lunch break: french fries and a milkshake were on the menu :-)
Greta is nearly toilet trained. Our outing to the Children's Museum was the first time she was really out and about with underwear (she calls them "unnos"); she did really well, considering all the excitement the outing involved.
With Grandpa Paul in the art room at the museum. She painted, colored and sculpted with clay.
Uncle Kristen enjoyed the art room too! Here he is drawing a picture with sleepy Poppy in his arms.
Clay with Grandpa Paul.

Greta's cousins Ida and Poppy!
Aunt Melissa and Poppy.
Uncle Kristen and Ida.
Tickle tickle tickle!
Reading with Nana Judy.
Oops, this is a little out of order...Greta likes to get in our bed when I make it. She says "make"! She is also really into being covered up at nap and bedtime: she says "Cover up" and we cover her with her Pooh blanket, and then she says "White one" and we cover her with the soft white blanket too :-) She is talking so much!
Back at Aunt Melissa's reading books with Grandpa Paul.
Back in Vancouver...we went out to one of our favorite restaurants: Moderne Burger. Embarrassingly enough, this blog post includes two milkshake and french fries meals for Greta! Here she is enjoying another milkshake!
So yummy!