Reflection

Well another Christmas has come and gone.. I enjoyed it very much this year. Its fun now that alice gets the whole idea sorta, well she gets the presents part and she figured out who santa was. We had 5 christmases lol, we went to vermillion, the lightning gift exchange on xmas eve, xmas day we went to my moms and my bio dad and boxing day we went to wes's moms. Now our house basically looks like toys r us threw up in it but oh well once a year and alice is quite busy now playing with her toys and abbys lol.

So the new year is coming and i guess this is when we reflect on the past year and what we look forward to in the new.

My past top 10 memories of 2008
1. The birth of Abigail Patricia
2. Moving into our new house
3. Alice becoming a motor mouth and saying "hey baby"
4. My family trip to Victoria for a friends wedding.
5. My trip to banff with some great girls.
6. All the dinners with my super family , mom and sister and brothers
7. My great scrapbook nights with my friends
8. Taking alice to Calgary Zoo
9. Finally completing my articling
10. Taking alice to spray parks and lakes during the summer

What I look forward to in 2009
1. Watching abby and alice grow together
2. Becoming a real life lawyer
3. Finishing my yard
4 Enjoying everyday moments with all of you.

Hope you all have a great new years and had a great holiday.

alice is turning 2

Alice is turning 2 on December 18, 2008. My baby yep i still call her baby. She had a birthday party today in Leduc at the Rec Center. It began with crafts (kinda lol) and pizza and mostly for her cheetos and then she went swimming. The weather today was cold to say the least. We had some cancel due to weather and roads and illness but what can you do when its -30 out lol. But some great friends braved the cold to help us celebrate. She began being a bit shy and but she warmed up near the end, especially when she found out cake was involved. She loved every present. It was fun afternoon. She loved swimming with her cousin Hailey. I can't believe i am the mother of a 2yearold and a 4 month old.. if you knew me years back you would not think this lol.. Alice has her Hobbema party on the 17th yep we have 2 parties lol i am crazy, next year it is one party one shot deal lol.. but becasue her family is soo spread out it just works out better to have 2. I believe in celebrating birthdays to their fullest and they should be big deals with lots of friends, laughter and of course birthday cake. I love birthdays. And everyone person i know that has a bday around christmas tells me how much they hate it and I don't want alice to think that so she gets a huge shabang to celebrate her life. Everyone shoud feel super special at least one day out of the year.. well here is some pics from the day and i will post again after the next partay.. thanks for those that braved the cold to be with us it meant alot and for those that couldn't be there we completely understand.

Life with Alice

This is what happens when you let a 2 year old pick out her own shoes.

monkey updates

So I thought I would give an update on the two lil monkeys alice and abigail.

Abigail is going to be 4 months on the 10th. Its kinda crazy because to me she was just born and tiny and now she is getting so big and chubby. She is beginning to roll over although once shes there she doesn't know what to do lol. She tries to hold her own bottle, she loves her milk. Shes sooo calm I bring her with me to teach and to most meetings and no one even realizes she is there. She only cries really hard when we are grooming her lol cleaning her cheesy neck as she is the queen of spitting up or if she is is super hungry/tired. She wakes goes to sleep around 1030 or 9 and sometiems wakes up at 1 to eat if not then she definately wakes up at 530 to eat. but it depends how comfy she is. Yep i still sleep with her. But shes a lil sweetie and shes beginning to find her sister quite funny and probably pretty crazy. It is abby first xmas and we dont' know what to buy her any suggestions she is only 4 months off to toys r us for me lol.

Alice my lil bookworm loves to read this kid gets soo excited to read or if she gets a new book. We do the book a month club thing with growler she is now getting some disney books. She loves to dance dance dance its fun to watch as she is not exactly graceful. She loves abby and is protective of her. At a dinner someone grabbed abbys bottle and alice let them have it lol. Shes not as jealous anymore shes beginning to enjoy abby and especially now that abby laughs at her she thinks she has a bigger audience now. Alice is beginning to use sentaces small ones, "where did it go" but she pretty much will copy whatever you say sooooo we have to watch our language. The whole potty training thing she is not ready for yet maybe next month but we keep the option open for her if she ever gets the courage to try sit on the potty without a diaper. Even though i am at home I still try to take her to daycare once or twice a week since i have meetings and teach a class so she get some playtime in with her friends. She will be turning 2 in 2 weeks.. wow.. so the party planning has begun I am excited because this year she will get it and she will also get the whole idea of christmas.

Well the christmas season is upon us so we have lots to do and lots to be thankful for. It has been along time since I could genuinely look forward to christmas and this year I am pretty excited, i will make sure to keep you posted. Here is some silly pics for you to see.

Buffalo Sisters and Brothers

Well I here is another of my favorite families that I did a photoshoot for. I have known this family for years we road the bus together way back in the day and I played ball with some of these women. These are sisters and brothers (adults) and all of their kids from the Buffalos. There was i think 4 or 5 kids missing and 1 more brother. It was super cold this day but they were still pumped and the kids sat still for a long time, police officer had to come check up what the heck we doing lol. I am glad they like them I had a fun day that day.

Mommy Time

So I have been home for 2 weeks... wow this is way harder than working lol. I love it. Its so much fun to be able to spend the days with my kids.. I went shopping with both of them by myself (technically i met friends) but i did it. I still get no sleep just like I am working.. abby goes to bed late.. although tonight she was out by 930 and alice wakes up at 6 sometimes 630 if I am lucky. Good thing for coffee.
Last weekend I had a scrapbook weekend with the girls. It was super. abby is a great scrapbooker lol. It was cold due to it being in an arena but super fun. My scrapbook group meets once a month but lately we find more reasons than once a month to meet. I love being able to just relax and have an evening away, that is pretty much my only evening activity besides the odd coffee night.
Xmas is coming up super fast, I think I will put up my tree soon. This will be the first year since me and wes met that we have a fake tree. But with 2 kids and a white rug its the best option just until alice gets past the knock everything over stage lol. Plus every single year there is always a morning where we come downstairs and our tree is on the floor.
Well hopefully my next post will be more inspiring.. i have all these great ideas but then i sit down and blank blank. oh and ps I was one of the 10% that did not see the big flash of light.. and i think everyone else is crazy hehe.

I can wear jeans

So today is my last day at Sasakamoose Law office with Samson Cree Nation. My last day as an articling student. I have been here for one year. It has been a great year full of learning, laughing and growing. I work with some pretty amazing ppl that always make the day brighter. (I know they are blog stalking lol). Working in my community really makes a difference, my daughter gets to go to daycare with her cousin, I get to see my family on a regular basis. I get to help people in my community which is why I went to law school, that and to support my shopping habit. Its been quite a year. It is hard leaving behind a desk for awhile. What do i do next..
Well I get to go on mat leave, I get to relax, I get to BREATHE. I still teach classes on monday afternoon at the college until December and I still sit on 2 boards so that will keep my mind busy. And it will give Alice a chance to still go to daycare 1 or 2 times a week.
But now its time to get my mommy heart busy. Time to organize my home, do crafts with alice, watch more tree house, change more diapers, potty train, bottle wean, take mega pics of my daughters, go to playdates, go to gymboree, have coffee with great friends. Its time to slow down, my abby is already 2.5 months almost 3 and I need to be there for her and alice is going to be 2 and she needs me. The Law will always be there but this tiny age with 2 lil girls only comes around once.
In the new year will bring many changes, I will be a real live lawyer not just a 'student' anymore. My bar call ceremony will likely be in feb and then after that I will return to work either here or somewhere. The new year will bring new possibilities. But after many years of school and books I need to just take a step back and decide on where I want life to go next.

Our Halloween

So for Halloween Alice dressed up as snowwhite.. This kid had 3 costumes to chose from lol. My mom bought her an elmo but she won't put it on, we think she thinks she is wearing elmo skin. lol. I bought her a unicorn costume and she wouldn't put that on either.. So finally my husband said get her something with a dress and viola she wears it. The daycare took them trick or treating around the band office so when i picked her she had a pumpkin full. After work my cousin brought her daughter mehkwan over shes 2 weeks older than alice and they went around the block hunting for candy. They had fun. Alice for some reason didn't believe chips should go in her pumpkin so when ppl would give her chips she would scream no and throw them on the ground lol, but she welcomed chocolate of course lol. That nice alice when to sleep pretty easy.
A few days before we carved a pumpkin, a classic nothing fancy. Alice watched in awe and was pretty proud of her 'punkit' and would kiss it before bed and say hello in the morning. It was to cold to take abby out but we took pics of her in catepillar costume and she did come to work with me in her costume and her halloween pjs. I think halloween is right up there with christmas for me. Now i have to decorate for xmas, the day after halloween both my neighbours put up all their xmas lights and decorations.. i better one up them lol.

Halloween Photoshoot

So for Halloween I set up a backdrop in a spare office at my work and took kiddy pics. I charged 12 buckeroos and they got 1 8x10 and 2 4x6 and on online album. If they wanted a CD or more pics it was for an extra charge. So here is an snapshot of one of the cuties. Click on my photoalbum link for the rest. Only the first 10 are edited the rest are not.

plane rides

Life has been busy,, but when has my life not been busy lol. I went to Toronto last week for an Indigenous Bar Association conference. I took abby with me and my baby sitter Kendra, my sister. The flight there was good, abby was really good on the plane and she was quite the conversation peice at the conference. Alice went to Vermillion to the farm for a few days while I was in Toronto and Wes was working. Apparenlty she only cried for abby lol. she was very happy to see her when we got home. It was sweet.

Abby is sleeping longer at nights, last night she didn't wake up till 630 this morning.. she sleeps for about 8 hrs straight now.. hmm.. shes only 2 .5 months but she eats an increadible amount during the day to store up for night i guess and she has enough chubby on her so I don't worry. Alice's talks lot now. She will tell you what an owl says and what sheep say lol. and she calls pumpkin a 'punkit' lol. She was very interested when we carved the pumpkin last night but thought the slimy stuff was i quote 'gross' .

Its been one year since my dad passed away, its very unreal to me but real at the same time. We had a tea dance and I was so amazed at how much food was made. We are lucky to have such a wonderful group of women who can make mean pots of soup and loads of bannock and 15 cakes in one day lol.

I have 3 photoshoots to post once i get more time. For the next two days i am taking halloween pictures at my office we have a lil backdrop set up for when all the kids come trick or treatin tommorrow.. alice is going to be snow white and abby is catepillar or a hotdog lol. well thats all for now.. wow november is in 2 sleeps

My sister Kelci and Nico

I finally worked on my sisters photos.. this was the worlds shortest shoot lol.. Nico was not into having his picture that day. "no pictures auntie" soo I will have to try again.. and all his facial expressions were of pokemon lmao. Charzard lol. But click on the side bar of my blog under my photography for views of all.

Thanksgiving

We had a great weekend that went by wayyyyy to fast. Abby turned 2months old, turkey dinner, visitors, grandparents, more turkey, yard work and a wedding reception. My good friend Christine Thompson now Swift got married on Saturday and we went to her turkey day reception. alice danced the night away.. heres a story to tear at your heartstrings

Alice has always been an independant kid, there will be a whole room of kids and she is content playing in the corner with some toy. Shes happy if kids play with her but is quite happy playing alone. So we went to the wedding and she was running around dancing up a storm on the dance floor and then some other lil girls around ages 3 and 4 were dancing. Alice tried to join them but they walked away, so she continued to twirl on her own. then they 4 other girls paired off and began twirling with each other and then fall down and laughing. Alice put her hand out to one girl so she could twirl and the lil girl snubbed her and walked away and then Alice just kind of stood there like why won't you play with me look on her face. Then the four girls all held hands and danced while alice danced on her own outside of their circle. One girl tried to include her but then another girl in teh group said no. Poor lil alice just continued to twirl and dance regardless. It broke my heart to watch but made me happy that she got over it quickly and enjoyed herself regardless. If only we could protect them from all heartbreak and all the mean girls who might snub them but sadly we have to let them dance alone sometimes. Here are some pics from the wedding and the weekend.

2 months

Abby will be two months old on friday. Wow, I can't believe it has been two months. Feels like forever yet feels like just yesterday. She smiles, laughs and crys. She is a perfect baby that I love more and more each day. It breaks my heart that I had to go back to work so soon but in November I will be able to take 3 months off ormore until I decide what to do next with my life. In two months Abby has already travelled to BC, she has won over many hearts and has become an eating machine lol. I am a sucker and she sleeps with me but its the only time it can just be us and we enjoy it. (Wes sleeps with alice as we are complete suckers lol) But hey at least alice has a room and a bed. Baby steps baby steps they are only small once and it will be too soon when they want to shut us out of their bedrooms and be independant. wow 2 months and so many more to go life doesn't get any better than that.

Jack of all Trades

Lately my friends have been calling me jack of all trades. I tend to be super busy and do a million things. Our wonderful receptionist at work was amazed at the million of things I do. So currently I am an articling student, I chair the Samson Cree Nation Safe Community Task Force, I sit on SML Board, IBA board. I teach Business law on mondays lol. and do photography on weekends. I also am addicted to scrapbooking, tv and shopping. I also make shell jewelery and i recently found the stuff i made last year. I am also a professional fundraiser. And I still am home at night to watch my shows and make supper and play with my wonderful daughters.. life is busy lol. I like to keep a full plate, there are so many things in life I want to do or see, so if i am presented with an opportunity I take, good thing i like coffee. Here are some silly pics of the girls. off to i go to edit some photos. alices new thing is saying oohh no and having super messy hair lol

Jamie & Jared Buffalo

I did this familys shoot last sunday as well. This is my wonderful friend Jaime who I have know since we were punks and I have known her husband probably since I was in Kindergarten.. Their family is so beautiful and her kids were great. Thanks for letting me take wonderful pictures. Click on my webalbums for more.

Yellowbird/Palmers

I finally posted in my webalbum one of my photoshoots. With my bff Carmen's family lol. I have known her for way to many years and could write a book about our experiences together. Her family is wonderful and beautiful. The boys were very entertaining. Click on the link on the side to view the album.

Sweet Dreams

This is abby dreaming very happy.. What do babies dream about.. food, hugs and kisses lol. I just love this photo. Today we were leaving for our day and abby was lying on the couch and alice playing with toys. I went to the bathroom and heard abby cry a bit. When I came out abby was still on the couch but had a bottle in her mouth and it was propped up perfectly with a blanket. I asked Wes "did you give abby a bottle" nope he replied. So alice went into the diaper bag grabbed abbys bottle and blanket.. and got abby all set up lol.. it was the sweetest thing i saw. So i gave alice a high five and hug for being a good sister. then she said.. "abby happy". What a great way to start a morning..

finally

i finally figured out how to put music on here lol.. a real variety lol.

Busy bee weekends

So we had our usual busy weekend.. seems like all our weekends are busy, weekend warriors. lol. Saturday I went to a baby sale and got some good deals, i bought alice an elmo for 2$ it sings the song "Shout" over and over and over again. I now know why it was being sold lol. Then we flew to Hobbema for miss Lakinias 4th bday. She wasn't into having her picture taken a bit shy.

We had babies everywhere.. here is a pic of the new lightning babies left to right is Summer Lightning, Dominik Desjarlias, and Abby lol. the girls are only 8 days apart and Dom is about 2 months older . but much heavier lol

After the dinner we went swimming, my uncle rented out the pool for all 10 of us lol.. only about 10 went swimming and we pretty much stayed in the baby pool. alice the meatball had fun.

Then Sunday I took family photos of 3 wonderful family friends. I will post them in my picasa web albums after i work on them. I don't exactly want to be a photograher, after all i got the whole law thing going on lol. i just love taking pictures for people, i think its my hobby and a wonderful hobby it is. If i get good maybe i will actually charge money but for now i just want to get experience so i can get better and maybe some day i will be as good as some of my photography friends.. We all want to be good at something and being a good photographer is on my bucket list lol. Then after all the photoshoots I went to hobbema, to help out at the poker tournament.

Our family is having weekly poker tournments to raise money for my dads one year anniversay tea dance. We also raise money for the Walk for cancer our family particiaptes in every June and we also want to have a special in Honour of my dad at the next samson powwow. overall busy and fun weekend.. and today i get half day off from work so i can go enjoy the beautiful weather and hopefully take alice to the park...life is good.

So I got a new haircut.. Its the shortest I ever had it.. now i have to style it lol. my hair was driving me crazy and i needed a change, i was wearing way to many ponytails. but i like it, its my professional cut.. maybe alice and her crazy hair need a cut lol.

life as we know it

So in the past 3 days i have heard of 3 ppl being diagnosed with terminal cancer.. wow. Life is getting shorter and shorter. One of the people is my friends mother, i hit the floor when she told me because all i could think of was how hard this will be for her and how i didn't want her to go through that kind of loss. But it seems we are all getting older, with growing up comes consequences.. the realization that as we get older so do our parents and at some point we may face the day my friend faced yesterday or the day I faced a year ago.. is that morbid to think about. yes but no. Life is precious. We grow up always thinking our parents will be there for the rest of our lives and I never really thought about my parents not being there. Would I have appreciated them more when i was a teenager if i had that thought? All we can do I can do is continue to live each day with joy and passion and enjoy the people that come into my life.

family photos

The wonderful photos of my family and abby were taken by my friend Jaimey.. her photoblog is on the sidebar.

So i begin..

Finally I have time to update this blog.. which i apparently started 8 months ago lol.. so i decided I should start blogging about our lil family. it also gives me a place to rant and rave and show you all the wonderful things we do.

Life so far, we now live in Leduc, a nice lil yellow house with a soon to be yard. Its the perfect house for us. messy but perfect. I work in Hobbema finishing my articling year under Sasakamoose Law Office, Wes works for Graham construction (currently on pat leave), alice goes to daycare and abby is beginning her life as a baby.

Abigail (Abby) was born August 10, 2008. Alice loves her and loves being a big sister. Abby loves to talk and stare deeply into your eyes and loves her swing. Alice loves to be silly, dance, jump and run. Her passions lately are reading books or rather having us read to her.

Life is good we are getting ready for October and with that comes many things. Wes going back to work, I go to toronto for a week and my late dads one year anniversary and of course Halloween.

Hopefully I can post daily or at least weekly.. enjoy reading

The Beginning

Well it is 2008 and I decied to start a new blog on a new page. MSN was just not functional for me and I wanted to try something different. Welcome everyone and I promise to keep you entertained.