Going out with a bang and a cough and an earache...

Good bye 2007, and good riddance to you!

This has not been the easiest year for us - Hey! Let's have a baby and then move to a new job and new town several thousand kilometers away three weeks later! (ahem). Yes, some of it was our own doing, but throw a major back injury and a miserable 3rd trimester on top of it as well as a few other curveballs that life decided to throw our way, and, well, we're glad to be (almost) done with the year.

On the plus side, we love Smithers, Laurel is a pretty good kid, Ben probably knows more about the human body than most people reading this, Darren has a PERMANENT new job, and Tisha has a nice little 7 hour per week job that does not involve teaching (and, more importantly, marking).

Look out 2008, we're ready for you!

Merry Christmas!

Laurel's tour of the house, or, ten minutes in the life of a busy baby

Sorry about the poor quality of some of the pictures (taken with the old digital camera, which is not the smartest when it comes to using its flash).

I literally did sit there and take pictures of her for ten minutes or so...one of the pluses of the baby on the go. One of the negatives - the trunk and playpen that can be seen in some of the pictures are a part of our beautiful Christmas tree protection system.

View from our front window

View from our front window, originally uploaded by tishdar.

'nuff said.

And she's off....

...crawling that is.

No pictures, because I'm busy sweeping the floors EVERYWHERE. Plus she's pulling up on things, so it's not just the floor.

Dec 1/07

BEN IS 4!!

SH101359, originally uploaded by tishdar.

And here is the cake to prove it. (Because without cake, there is no proof)

Takin' Out the Trash

Currently listening to....

Mommy...

Mommy?

Mommy, you're WRONG!

And infinite variations of the above. Because wrong = not being able to read Ben's mind to the point of knowing EXACTLY how much milk he wanted in his glass. (As in: "Mommy, you were wrong, I only wanted a little bit of milk" OR "Mommy, you were wrong, I wanted one more mouthfull of milk than this")


Sure glad the girl can't talk yet (though the crawling is so, so, so close - she's making good distance and time now, but still backwards)

Looking forward to 2010...

...and not because we're big fans of the Olympics...

So far, there have been few similiarites between Ben and Laurel. Personality-wise, they are both pretty happy kids (thanking my lucky stars that I escaped colic. I don't think I would have handled colic well at all). But in everything else, they are really different - sleeping, eating, being - different. (Which briefly sidetracks me to say one of the best things about having a second kid is that while it turns out that everything that you thought you did great with #1 was really just the way #1 was, this also means that everything that you thought maybe you did wrong and screwed him up forever was also just the way #1 was)

ramble, ramble, I know. This brings me to the point of this post.

We've found another similiarity, and it is teething.

Turns out the genetics are strong in this family for rough teething experiences. Laurel popped tooth #1 right at 7 months, which is exactly when Ben got his first tooth. Sleep has been crummy since a couple of weeks before that, and has not gotten better, and there's still no sign of tooth #2.

teeny tiny tooth

So, by Ben's schedule, I can look forward to once again sleeping through the night in January 2010.

Nov 1/07

UP!

UP!, originally uploaded by tishdar.

Laurel discoverd a new direction this week.

Hopefully it will stall her "Learn to Crawl" program by a couple more weeks...

Dinner Time...

runrunrun, originally uploaded by tishdar.

A good time to do laps around your younger sister's feeding station. And do your best to NOT be photographed.

At the 4th Annual Pumpkin Toss (Darren's first post)

Pumpkin toss 07 (22), originally uploaded by tishdar.

... has to be a picture that Tisha would never herself post.

blurry baby

blurry baby, originally uploaded by tishdar.

Darren and Laurel at Thanksgiving dinner.

Not sure which is better - the blurriness of Laurel or the (apparent) complete inattention of Darren.

One reason why I haven't updated lately...

Expert, originally uploaded by tishdar.

It's hard when you have to share resources!

(Now, if I could just teach him to type accurately....)

White...

...but melting...

we start them early up here....

I still remember scraping the ice off of mom's car most mornings (now striking me as suspicious that MOM was never the first to be ready)

And so it begins

It's 2 degrees and snowing outside.

And sticking...

Ben is bouncing around the house chanting "snow, snow, snow, snow!"

On the to do list: order him some boots NOW.

Talented Boys

P8170049, originally uploaded by tishdar.

For those of you who missed the final product of Darren's giant trunk-making project.

Also a showcase of Ben's photographic abilities (he is currently specializing in objects in the house, random pictures of the floor, and "blurry ben" upsidedown self photography)

Country mice in the 'Big' City

So, we drove in to Prince George for a couple of nights this week.

A few observations....

1. It is beautiful up here this time of year. It was sunny and clear for the drive both ways. The colours were gorgeous - cottonwoods and aspen were bright yellow all along the route.

2. After 6 months of Smithers, I am not used to traffic noise. Or malls. Plus our chariot-built-for-two stroller does not fit on the bus.

3. I loved Fort George Park as a kid, and it held up well to adult scrutiny! The fire truck is still there (or there is another one now), plus there's a great little museum that we spent a good couple of hours at.

4. Babies like swings!

5. Ben was re-introduced to Treehouse TV in our hotel room. His brain dissolved away after about 5 minutes. It was truely amazing to see. He literally could not take his eyes off of the TV set. (and it's not like he's completely deprived of tv at home!)

Ben at Fort George Park - Sept 07

Laurel at Fort George Park - Sept 07

Music in my life

Ben has a little song to share with everyone:

poopy baby girl
you're so poopy
poop poop poop
poop poop poop
icky little baby
you're so icker
ickick ICK ick
such a stinky baby
I love my baby girl
ick ick ick
poop poop poop
(repeat (and repeat) and fade out as he is sent to his room until he's had enough)

In related news, Laurel started solids last week, thereby closing the chapter of our lives that involved (relatively) sweet, breastfed-baby poop.

We are coming down soon

For those of you on the coast, we will be in town from Oct 8-15. We will be in touch with many of you soon to arrange for visits and playdates.

Ben is especially excited about getting to visit with his cousin Emma and friends Andrew and Tova. He's also looking forward to the Aquarium and Pumpkin Patch.

Ben at the pumpkin patch - October 2005

Laurel is still waking up a couple of times in the night, so at least I don't have too many concerns about screwing up her sleep schedule.

Unfortunately, Darren won't be able to make it down this trip due to work committments - he's looking forward to a really good sleep schedule for a week!

And me? I'm really, really looking forward to spending 2 hours on a small plane with 2 small children. At least no one will be sitting directly beside us (Dash-8 airplane seats are 2 by 2). Thank goodness for breastfeeding, portable DVD players, and mini packs of smarties.

Ben and Laurel - September 2007

Happy first day of school!

Oops, its been a while, but things have been busy.

Today, Ben started preschool for 2 mornings a week today, so things are a bit less busy now. That's right, 6 hours per week of just me and one child. Who can't move yet, and likes to nap. Wheee!

I mean, how easy is this? If she's awake, I can sit her on the carpet and she stays there and doesn't even really whine. I can go make myself a cup of tea and when I come back she's still there and hasn't even really been able to make much of a mess. She's currently been napping for almost an hour and a half, and I've gotten more done this today already than I usually accomplish in an entire week. And this is with about 7 hours of broken sleep!

(For those of you with only one child, I mock with love. One child blew me away too. And really, two is nice too. Just waaay more work and less (I mean zero) downtime. For those of you with no children, I'm sure you're very busy too. And as for those of you who have more than 2 kids, wow. )

More posts soon, with pictures and everything!

Oh, and happy back-to-school for those of you who are schooly/teachery types (hee hee hee)

Our House - The Front Yard

So, finally, here is a picture of the house:



It's about 2000 square feet (not including the garage), which seemed huge until we started trying to fit all of our worldly goods into it. Conclusion: lots of living space, but not so much storage space!

We have one big tree in the middle of the front yard, which looks like it will probably produce crabapples. It has already earned its keep by producing beautiful pink flowers in May:


The front yard also consists of a paltry little flowerbed which we have planted with irises and daylillies so far (Thanks J&C - more about how your contributions are doing when we hit the back yard!). The concrete walk is crumbling badly - it can't take a hosing without falling apart - so it's due to be replaced sooner rather than later.

Now if we could just figure out how to keep the neighbourhood cats from using our garden as a litterbox...

Small Town Living

So, we had to fill up the tank with gas AGAIN this week

(last time was June 8)

Aaahhhh......

Sushi, Smithers style

Sushi!, originally uploaded by tishdar.

Darren's new career possibility: sushi chef

There is actually a sushi place in town, but last time we were here they were charging over $5 for a 6-piece, standard california roll. It was fine, but it was an expensive meal out.

We figure we will be popular at potlucks!

And we were hoping she'd be the quiet one...

Laurel is four months old next week, and in celebration, decided to start sitting up this week!

Ha! Lying down is for babies and chumps!

Ben sat up at five months, and we thought that was fairly impressive. On the plus side, sitting up made him pretty happy, so he actually crawled late. We're hoping for a similar trend with Laurel! (Otherwise, stay tuned for the post where we discover her on top of the fridge or bookcase)

Ben and Laurel - July 2007

All in all, she's pretty pleased with herself, but we are getting the usual associated crummy sleep patterns that come with reaching developmental milestones (why would she want to nap when she can sit?) resulting in much evening crying from an overtired baby.

Now, if I could just figure out how to read...

Ben Quote of the Week

As we were sorting photos last week, we came across this one of Ben last summer:

Freshly-shorn Ben eating peas

Ben's observation: "In this one, I look kind of like Oli" (said with the reverence that Ben uses only for Oli)

The Oli in question Always good to know you're missed!

Giggles!

We've got baby laughs in the house!

Darren got the first giggles Friday evening, which by the "Ben Timeline", would mean that I should be expecting them sometime early August (The boy would NOT laugh for me. Our relationship was very serious). But giggles for mommy and came by Sunday.

Not quite so cheerful now though, thanks to a bit of a cold. Baby snot is not funny.

Baby Tricks

Laurel is 12 weeks old this weekend, so in celebration, here is a list of what she is currently up to...

(Warning: this post is about babies and their cuteness. In particular, the cuteness of OUR baby. If you are not into babies, you might want to check back in next week, when I'm planning to go on and on about our garden instead. There is a brief bit about Ben at the end of the post, but it's about the cuteness of him.)

So far, Laurel can:

• Stick out her tongue (she's been doing this for a while now, but it's still cute)
• Get us to stick out our tongues by sticking out her tongue (she's always quite pleased when this works)
• Chirp for attention, then awards us with big smiles
• Blow bubbles
• Blow raspberries
• Grab with her hands - toys, fingers, hair

got my hands....

She is currently working on:

• Smacking her lips
• Fake coughing
  
• Sitting up (she's getting increasingly unimpressed with prone positions)
• Standing up (again, lying down is for chumps)
• Thumbsucking (she hasn't poked herself in the eye yet, but has gagged several times when she jammed all of her fingers down her throat)

looking for that thumb

That's about all for now. All in all, she's a smiley, happy baby who loves cuddles, attention, and watching her big brother zoom around.

As for Ben, he's loving his little sister (sometimes a bit too much), he's very into insects and gardening and construction vehicles (often all at once) and last night got up in the middle of the night, used the toilet by himself, and went back to bed in his own bed.

Construction in the garden

Big Brudder and his Litl Sweetie

We're still alive, and mostly well

Hello to all from the North!

Sorry for the lack of communication with many of you, but we have been a bit busy over the last few months. We are now mostly settled in our new home in Smithers, and are getting used to being a family of four. This post may be a bit detailed for some of you, but all new materials for others (sorry if you were missed on birth announcement emails – we were a bit rushed and tired at the time).

To get everyone up to speed, here is a brief timeline:

FEBRUARY:

Darren was finally offered a job for sure for the provincial government in Smithers (he’s been playing some form of job tag with this office since early October). We had spent 8 months in Smithers in 2005 while he had a co-op job with the same office, and were eager to move back.

Some fun facts about Smithers:

Population: about 5000 people, one of the most educated-per-capita towns in Canada

Housing: we bought a 3 bdrm house for the approximate price of a 1 bdrm apartment in Burnaby

Commute: Darren’s commute to work is about 800 meters.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with BC geography, Smithers is approximately half way between Prince George and Prince Rupert. We have gorgeous mountains that are not covered with large pink houses. There is one sushi place in town, but it is insanely expensive.

We actually don't have a picture of the outside of the house yet, so I'll post one soon. (whoops)

MARCH:

Darren's official start time in Smithers was set for mid-April - a month after baby due date (other options were the month before the due date, or the due date) Darren was working from home in Mission for the government and I was pretty much on bed rest due to extreme pelvic pain – I had to finish work at the beginning of my third trimester, right after Christmas. Laurel Katherine Witt was FINALLY born on March 31 (8lbs, 12oz). And we were packing.

APRIL:

Darren started work in Smithers on the 23^rd, so the week before was moving week. Most of you have moved, so enough said. It is not easier if you have a newborn! Poor Ben, who had held up pretty well so far, melted down completely in our now-empty old house, and was miserable until we flew up to Smithers the next week. Darren, his brother Brad, and his father drove our overstuffed van, car and trailer to Smithers (only 13 hours from the coast, folks!)

MAY:

We started garden work in earnest and continued to unpack. Our yard is dead flat, all grass (and dandelions) with 3 unidentified fruit trees – we dug up sod all over the place for gardens – and Ben has a great sod hill to climb on now. Hit a BIG glitch when Darren put out his back at the beginning of the long weekend. He went to bed on the Friday and pretty much didn’t get up until the Monday, when he went into emergency because he couldn't take the pain anymore. He was in such rough shape as he headed to the hospital that I was half expecting to get a phone call from him as he was entering surgery. No surgery, but an x-ray and a ct scan later show 3 herniated discs – he’s back at work after missing a week and on the mend, but still has a way to go.

JUNE:

We still have many boxes to unpack, but our main living space is pretty livable, Ben is much happier, and Laurel has been an incredibly easy baby so far (I had NO IDEA how easy a baby could be – I deal with my resentment of people who had it easy with the first one by thinking that if you only get one easy one, its probably better to have it second. Who knew that with some babies, you can put them in their crib and they really do just go to sleep?) Darren is still limited in what he can do, so I have been very busy unpacking, keeping house, raising the kids, and putting in a garden - we now have strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and are hopefully adding to this this weekend. Also a big veggie garden and the beginnings of a flower garden or two.

So, that's us up to date. Feel free to contact us through comments here or on our personal email. We are also very happy to host visitors to the north. Smithers really is a cute little place to come and visit, and the flood waters will be receding soon. (The main town area is actually high and dry above the river, though the golf course is looking a bit lake-like right now). We have a brand new, queen-sized futon as well as a tent trailer for accommodations. We are kid and dog friendly!

trying photos

testing, testing....

This is a trial post for the life and times of the Witts in our new home in Smithers, BC. We're not there yet, so no pressure on the updating for me just now!

Things to pressure me about instead:

• 2 weeks and counting to our newest arrival
• did I mention we're moving? 6 weeks or so and counting to pack etc
• Ben has entered the "age of why" (or should I say WHYYYY??)