Matt's new ride

He bought it off of his brother Mark and at first I was really worried about my husband riding a bike, but I know he is responsible and not an idiot.  One of his 'FireFighter' co-workers said 'just drive like everyone is out to kill you' so in other words drive extra cautious which is what he does.  It's a great bike though, nice and comfy:)

Calgary Stampede

Well I can officially say I have been to the Calgary Stampede, we (Matt's mom, Parks, Grace and I, Kristi and her two kids, Mark, Caitlin and Anderson) went yesterday for the 'SuperDOGS' show.  It was really cute, Parks loved seeing all the dogs ofcorse.  It was super HOT outside (thankfully it was indoors) but we managed to get the kids on some rides too afterwards.  This was Parks first time on rides, we did the carousel, train ride, and a mini roller coaster caterpillar one.  Thanks Gran for the tickets!  Afterwards we hit up the mini princess pool (that is all Sue could find at Walmart) at Matt's parents place and had the kids play while we enjoyed the sun:)  Later that night Kristi, Caitlin and I went out to do some shopping and had a fast dinner.  Thanks again girls, it was a blast!

Sue didn't want Grace to go deaf with the loud music...lol

On the carousel with the kiddos

Parks and Morgan cooling off

so cute, I cant wait to show them this when they are older:)

SMILES

This is Gracie's first smile on camera!  Its not full force but its still a smile:)

Grace 6 weeks old!

 She is healthier than can be at 12lbs 3 oz. Her weight puts her into the 90th percentile for her age group. Just like her brother was. She is 57cm long which puts her into the 75th percentile for height. Her head measured at 41cm which puts her in the 95th percentile! haha which doesn't surprise us at all...She has Matt's forehead that pops out in the front, which is why her measurements are so big.
She gave her Mommy first smiles when she was 5 1/2 weeks old and now gives them to both of us (especially when she first wakes up in the morning) so cute. After we got back from Tie Lake, Grace was so use to being bounced around in her stroller or constantly being held by someone, that she drove me crazy when we got back home. I had so much to do, Matt was working and I was ready to pull my hair out! My incision was getting so sore because I had been doing way too much. Every time I would put Grace down she would wake up, pick her up and she fell asleep instantly...she was exhausted. She woke up at 7am that day and stayed up until about 1:30pm...at which point I called Matt and begged him to come home. My incision was swollen and red (not good) too much bouncing and carrying her in the snuggly around the house. Anyways to make a very happy ending. I went on Facebook that night desperate for some advice when I saw 2 of my girlfriends posts...one talking about how to change the way you pray, don't expect to have your baby changed magically just because you asked. Rather, ask for the strength/patience to deal with your baby and guidance/help to know what you can do differently to help sooth and comfort her. It was very uplifting to read and know that someone else was feeling what I was feeling. THAN later on that day help was given to me by another friend that had mentioned about 'The Happiest Baby on the Block' by Dr. Harvey Karp. WOW! Revolutionary. I didn't pay much attention when she first told me about this technique because Grace slept on her tummy and was doing okay. But things obvioiusly changed! This Doctor's technique is the 5 s's to help sooth and calm a fussy/colic baby. It is 98% effective EVERY time. He says there are very few babies it wont work on because they are in actual pain, and therefore it is more than just 'colic'. (swaddling, side/stomach positon, shushing, swinging movement, and sucking). Do them in order and you will have a happy little baby in seconds.  I watched a 5 minute preview on youtube and all I can say is that this guy knows his stuff. I cant wait to watch his dvd and learn more. The first day that I did this to Grace she slept the entire day just woke for a bit to eat:) (I got soooo much done!) Than we decided to try swaddling her at night and lay her on her side (she usually sleeps on her tummy). She went 7 hours! It added on 2 glorious hours of sleep! Lastnight sucked cuz she got out of her swaddle and woke up after 5 hours but I can deffinately see the light now:) I know it wont be perfect every night, but it is way better than what i was doing before. Thank you so much Catherine and Anona. I wanted to make sure to post about this in hopes that someone else will read it that is in need:)

Our beautiful girl at 6 weeks old

Finishing June...SURPRISE it's July!

Wow this summer is flying by...I guess that's what happens when you have a baby right at the beginning. June is a blur, thank goodness I found the time to write my blog. Shortly after my mom left for home...the next day we started packing up for our first Tie Lake week with Grace. Matt's brother Peter, his wife Kristi and their two kids were driving out their from Utah to stay in Canada for the month. We are so happy they are going to be staying in Okotoks nice and close to us:) We had some good times at Tie, but some crappy weather...Matt, Mark and Peter helped build a new dock and it is HUGE. We had to drive home for 2 days so Matt could work. He is officially on paternity leave for the next 4 months! WOOHOO! We figured the kids are only so young for so long and life is too short, so why not have a kick A summer:) lol. We headed back up to Tie and stayed for another few days with Mark, Caitlin, Pete, Kristi and Mum and Dad. Parks went wakeboarding with Matt for the first time EVER! We were sooo pumped for him. He did awesome, no crying and very excited about doing it! So far he is the youngest in the family to do it...at 2 1/2 years old:) He LOVES being at the lake, he jumps off the dock for Matt or I to catch him...and a great perk this year is that he loves wearing his life jacket! so I don't have to have a heart attack when he's on the dock by himself:) Grace is doing fantastic...sleeping better and better each night usually 4-5 hours, eat, than up every 3 hours. She's mostly in her stroller at Tie so she sleeps well with all the bumpin around:)
When we got back to Okotoks, Matt's bike wasn't working...after charging the battery all day, getting eatin alive by mosquitos on the side of the hwy, having to push it onto his dad's trailer, buying a new battery, pushing back on to his dad's trailer, taking it apart at his parents house only to find out it needed gas and was EMPTY! lol nice one babe:)
Besides that it has been great having Kristi and her two little rippers here in Okotoks, they are staying at Matt's parents place, so we are able to get together alot. On the last really hot day we set up the sprinkler in my front yard and let the kids have some fun...I'm sure the neighbours were wondering why we weren't in the backyard like most people would do, but the kids had a blast so it didn't matter:)

Parks holding Grace at 4 weeks old

I just love this face!

Having 'snuggle' time

Cutiest bikini ever! Thanks to Auntie Bin Bin

Our brave water boy

With Daddy

The cabin life...where its fun to play anywhere

Mark and Matt building their parents a new dock

Anderson and Parks getting into trouble

still getting into trouble:)

Parks,Chase and Morgan playing in the canoe with water inside...now we're gettin creative

Our sweet little girl being a good little baby

Lifting the HEAVY dock...

The new dock

Parks jumping from the loft

Parks showing off his new moth friend

Parks and Anderson gettin some sweet air!

Parks first time getting ready to go wakeboarding AND they did a dock start!

Waving at his Mommy, what a brave boy!

WOOHOO

soooo much to blog!

We have been having so much fun with Nana and Papa visiting (my Mom and Dad). Parks is loving life! It has made his transition as a big brother so easy. Having my parents here has helped me to not have to completely abandon the things that he and I use to do before Gracie arrived... snuggling mostly. He loves Grace to pieces. His only 'jealous' thing that he does is try to take my breastfeeding pillow from me when I'm feeding Grace...weird but yes that's what he does. He also asks to sleep with it at nighttime sometimes, which I let him do now cuz I feed her in bed at nighttime. anyways Parks considers this sharing, so it works out well. I know it wont last long. The weather is FINALLY starting to cooperate with us now, it rained the whole week my dad was here! We had one good day when we went for a walk down the Sheep River. Now that he's been gone the weather has been SUNNY! sorry Dad:) Mom, Matt, Parks, Grace and I went to the Okotoks Parade last Saturday, it was neat to see all the different floats etc lots of horses which made Parks and I happy:) The following day was Father's Day, after church we went to Matt's parents house for dinner and had yummy fecent:) The 3 weeks with my mom are kind of a blur now... i wish we could have done more outings, but it was still a great time. I've had some rough nights with Grace nursing every 2 hours...than taking an hour to get her to fall asleep...not fun. Its been hard not having the energy to do things that I wanted to do. My mom has kept herself occupied with our garden...she has made it BEAUTIFUL! She also helped our grass grow like crazy:) haha and stained our front porch! Mom you are a machine! Not to mention doing all our laundry, keeping the house under control and Parks... the list goes on and on. She spoils us rotten and we love you for it:) Last week I was given a baby shower by my sister in law and mother in law. It was so nice to see everyone and be spoiled once again. Thank you so much Caitlin. The next day I got away for the afternoon to get my hair highlighted while Nana babysat Parks. Thank you again Anona for keeping Grace happy while I got pampered:) I love my hair! It was a muchly needed pick me up. Plus our 5 year wedding anniversary was the day after! Matt and I went out for dinner while Nana watched the kiddos:) Matt just bought a new motorbike, so we went cruising around Okotoks for a bit. It was really nice to feel so free...even if it was only for an hour:) I am so unbelievably blessed to have such a loving considerate husband. The past 10 years of my life have been so happy all because of him! The day after our anniversary Matt(and Parks), Matt's Dad, Rob, Tammy and their kids, Robyn and Darren, Hilary and Olivia all ran in the Marathon for Jeff Moodie here in Okotoks. It was a great turn out to raise money for Jeff and his family to have a wheelchair accessible house built for him. Mom, Grace and I stood on the side lines cheering everyone on! Matt ran the 10k in just under an hour and got in 32nd place. He ran the 1st half pushing Parks in the stroller, than dropped him off with me and made HUGE time for the second half. He is unbelievable...he doesn't even run long distance. After the marathon we went to the Okotoks spray park with some cousins and had some fun in sun. That brings me to today...sadly today Mom had to fly back home to Ottawa. After having her here for the past 3 weeks, I feel kinda lost right now. Plus Matt is at work for the night:( Mom you are amazing and I love you so much. We have had some good laughs and lots of fun times. Thank you so much for helping us adjust to our little family of 4. We miss you already.

Playing Hide and Seek with Nana

Nana loves playing with playdo

Painting with Papa

Papa with his grand babies

Nana and Papa with their one and only grandson

At the park on the one sunny day during Papa's visit

Mom and I had a girl's sushi night...best sushi I've ever had!

At the Okotoks parade, look at our new hiking backpack!!

At the parade in our spiffy new chairs:)

Nana with Grace at 3 weeks old

Playing at the park

My new highlights that I got done when Grace turned 4 weeks

Grace stretching it out at the spray park

Parks playing at the spray park in his underwear...yes I'm a good mom.

Nana finally convinced Parks that the spray park is not scary

Me and my Hunny on our 5 year Anniversary

My Mom and I at the Jog for Jeff Marathon

Matt's first 10k Marathon, no training, 32nd place! Good Job!

Rob, Madie and Zach ran the 5k, Tammy, Robyn, Darren and Matt/Parks ran the 10k. (Not in the picture but Matt's Dad, Hilary, and Olivia also ran the 5k). WOOHOOO!

Fun in the sun with Daddy after the Marathon

Parks just thinks the world of his cousin Zach...cuties