It’s been more than two months since we last posted and a ton has been going on. We hosted Thanksgiving this year at our home and were joined by my parents and my brother’s family. It was great to see everyone and meet our nephew Quinlan for the first time. Unfortunately I was ill on the first day of the visit, so I didn’t get to enjoy too much of the dinner, but there were lots of left overs. We found a great pumpkin patch nearby in Maple Ridge and took the whole gang out there on the Sunday.
Our friend Cristi stayed with us for a few nights while she was here attending a wedding. It was great to have a visit and catch up. Thanks so much Cristi for introducing us to the world of Skype.
A couple of days later Christina’s mom and grandmother came out for a visit. Amy was lucky to have some time off work at the same time too. It was a relaxing few days of visiting, eating, and watching movies.
This was our first Halloween in the new neighbourhood and we took the kids out trick-or-treating. Natalie was a ladybug and Jasmine was a butterfly. They both had a great time and came home with quite the sack of candy which we’re still working our way through. :) Justin tagged along in the carrier, but didn’t dress up. Amy joined us for the evening of pumpkin carving and handed out candy while we trick-or-treated.
I’ve recently brought my trombone out of retirement and joined a local jazz band. I realized after my first practice that it has been 14 years since I played regularly, but I managed to keep up for the most part. It’s lots of fun playing again.
Natalie started in her new preschool back in September and is really enjoying it. She gets to do lots of art — she typically brings home at least two projects each day — and is learning lot of new things. Natalie has shown a lot more interest in drawing as of late and is getting quite skilled at drawing people, flowers, and the alphabet. We’ve also recently subscribed to the Reading Eggs activity website for her and already we’ve noticed her reading skills have improved.
Natalie has been going to the Power Hour swimming program at the local pool once a week. She loves being in the water and shows us all her mad skillz at bath time. Both Natalie and Jasmine are taking dance classes on Saturday mornings with Miss Annette. They love all the dancing, but the highlight is dressing up in their ballet outfits.
Jasmine also attends library and gym classes while Natalie is at her activities. It is a nice time for her and Christina to spend together as they are all still parent participation. Her imagination is blossoming, spending most of her time dressed as a princess. Or a fairy princess. Or a good witch. :) She is a very affectionate little girl, and showers her new baby brother with tons of kisses.
Justin is 2.5 months old now. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 12 lbs 2 ozs. He is a beautiful little boy, full of smiles and giggles all the time. We are quite pleased that he has started to go to bed at the same time as the girls, leaving the two of us with our evenings back again. He still wakes up a couple of times in the night to feed. He likes to spend time playing on his activity mat and is more interested in toys these days.
Now that all our children sleep in the evening, Christina and I have started scheduling regular date nights for the two us. We enjoyed a lovely stroll through the mall (sans kids), playing the new XBox Kinect at FutureShop, and dessert at Milestone’s for our first date night last week. I wouldn’t be surprised if this weeks date night included some Christmas shopping.
We have booked a family trip to Maui for the new year and are very excited. It will be our first big family trip and Justin’s first flight. Natalie has been talking about the trip lately. She explained that “we don’t need to bring cups because we can just drink coconut milk out of the coconut” and that “she will build us a house out of palm tree branches and vines”. Seriously, I don’t know where she gets this stuff. :)
