Farewell 2008!

Baby New Year!!

(or at least Baby Evy... 6 months ago tomorrow!)

I hope you're all getting ready to celebrate the new year in style!

Rob and I have two frozen pizzas and movie to watch. Yep, we sure do party in style! Well, seeing as he doesn't drink, and I turn into a delirious pumpkin if I stay up past 9:30, we're just hanging at home this year. (Much better than last year when Rob and a pregnant me moved the contents from our Toronto condo back here to Millbrook).

Yep, things sure have changed this past year. I started '08 being 12-weeks pregnant, just newly moved to our house. I was unemployed, unsure of what to do with myself, and very homesick for England. And now as '09 rings in, I'm definitely NOT pregnant, still unemployed, and don't have time to worry about what to do with myself as I'm pretty much being a 'mom' 24 hours a day!

So, I hope everyone has a great night, and may '09 bring all that you wish for!

And exhale....

Twas a few nights after Christmas and Sarah's still tired
After too many days of feeling busy and wired
The baby's been good but the new teeth are looming
And Rob's off this week but the days have been zooming
Christmas was fun, and as always chaotic
But winter in Millbrook's positively bucolic
So a few frosty walks will make everything great
And will help stave off xmas-baking weight

Here's a collection of photos from the past few days... Enjoy! Especially to my newest loyal readers... a few public servants who are bored at work this week. Hi, lovelies! Hope I helped to kill a few minutes of your looong day!

chez nous, looking dreamy on Christmas Eve

The sweater sisters playing some Rock Band at the

Higgy Christmas on the 28th

Yes, the Higgy women are wearing matching sweaters.
Don't ask why, just trust me, it was hilarious.

Evy caught up in the middle of chaos at Granny &

Poppa's house yesterday

Great Granny Barbara and Evy enjoy a

Normal Rockwell moment on Xmas Eve

Miss Saucy loving her new Exersaucer

(thanks Grandma & Grandpa!)

The wee beauty enjoying her (one) present from mom & dad

(hey, she's 6 months... she doesn't even know what xmas is!)

Boxing Day Beauty

Hi all,

Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday. We had some good family visits and lots of good food. The Higgy Family xmas isn't until Sunday, so we're looking forward to more food and fun then.

Here's a picture of the wee miss from Xmas Eve. (Thanks to fabulous photographer Emily for taking the picture. You can check out Emily's website with her beautiful photos here).

Now, I know I'm totally biased, but isn't she the most beautiful baby in the whole wide world?

Have a holly jolly day

Wishing everyone the ho ho happiest Xmas.
Will update with some pics after the food-fest tomorrow!
Hope Santa is good to all of you.
oxoxo Sarah, Rob & Evy

Ready for Chrimbo

This is the outfit miss Evy was wearing when Rob picked us up at the airport yesterday. I think she helped to put many weary travellers into the Christmas spirit!

Thanks, Jessica, for the cutest Santa suit ever!

We're baaaaack!

Hello dear friends! I'm pleased to say that Evy and I survived the great UK/France Adventure, 2008!

Evy was a champ on all flights, and was an all-r0und angel. She received a ridiculous amount of love wherever we went, and has a whole new fan club over in the UK.

After one night in the UK (and the imperative lunch at Wagamamas) we headed to France. I, stupidly, thought that the south of France would be warm, but alas, we had some FROSTY and FROZEN weather. The gite we stayed in had a few small space heaters and a woodstove, so the indoor temperature was, um, refreshing. After five days of animal husbandry and pain au chocolat, we headed back to the UK where I had a whirlwind tour of pubs, ploughman lunches, pints, a fabulous curry, fun with friends, and a shopping trip to John Lewis. Good times!

As I said, Evy was just SO good the whole time. She had a few minor meltdowns, but only for legitimate reasons, e.g. hungry or tired. And, in true form, she shat herself senseless about half an hour before the flight to the UK and about half an hour into the flight home. Nothing like going through your spare wardrobe right as your journey begins!

Sooo, fingers crossed we don't suffer from too much jetlag. And now, we're just looking forward to Chrimbo and to the next few weeks. Rob's off work until New Years, so, he will have lots of time to spend with Evy to make up for missing her for so long!

Here is a sampling of trip pics for your enjoyment!

Tucked into bed in the gite in France

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The not-so-friendly geese in France.

(We were taking care of geese, ducks, 2 pygmy goats, a pony, a donkey, a sheep, and 10 chickens - perfect wee farm!).

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Evy and her new friend - one of the pygmy goats.

I'm already trying to convince Rob that we need to get some - he'll never need to cut the grass again!!
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Having a visit with the donkey (or 'dunkey' as granny calls them)

Up in Northants with the Cranfield clan
(They desperately wanted to feed Evy the chocolates from their advent calendars!)


Bear, Evy and Helen have a cuddle. Evy was in LOVE with Bear and I suspect she'll love dogs even more than I do. I predict Rob will surely have to succumb and let us get a puppy!
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Evy tries valiantly to sample some Guinness.

(Don't worry, I didn't let her have any!)
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And finally, helping mum pack at the hotel at Heathrow last night. Um, she wasn't actually that much help as you can imagine.

Anyhoo, we are delighted to be home and are counting down the days until Christmas! We can't wait to see Lee & Chris and the lads when they arrive from Ottawa, and I'm pretty sure there are a few grandparents who are desperate to see miss Evy!

I hope you're all having a peaceful lead-up to Chrimbo and am sending happy wishes out to you all. Will add more pics if I ever find the time. Am off now to do about 42 loads of laundry!

Yay!

We have a new resident in our home... a beautiful, wonderful, fabulous painting by Ottawa artist Andrew King.

It's a wedding gift from fabulous sister Lee and her hubby Chris. (A wedding gift that's 4.5 years late, but oh-so worth waiting for!)

Every time I walk past it, I smile. I don't know why I love it so much... the snow-cone tree? The odd wee man with his jaunty big hat? The hilarious tobaggan? The painting is called 'Sunday School Skip'... maybe that's why I like it... it makes me laugh.

Thanks Lee & Chris! Best wedding present EVER!!

Helping daddio

Here's Rob, perfecting is one-handed typing, trying to get some work done while hanging out with the bebe.

Her facial expressions kill me - she's SUCH a goofball!! I think she already knows that she's a bit of a distraction - and the baby pterodactyl noises don't help with concentration either! (yeah, I had to go and look up how to spell ' pterodactyl')

'yes, I know exactly how cute I am'

' This work stuff is silly... I shall stick out my tongue!'

'lookit me, helping with this document'

Here comes Santa Claus

Evy and I were at the mall yesterday, and though I think the whole 'pictures with Santa' thing is pretty lame, I actually could not control my feet from walking over to the jolly olde fellow and plopping Evy down in his lap. And then paid $11 for one 5x7 photo.

It was toooootally worth it though. Look at how adorable she looks!

A new friend

Had a trip down memory lane - literally - today when I went to visit my old highschool friend Katie. She is living back where we grew up, and we had a great lunch and visit with her and her daughter, Violet.

It was lovely to be out in the old neighbourhood and to reminisce about the good ole days on Lynch Rock Road and the series of insane busdrivers we had growing up. Most importantly, Evy & Violet got to meet. I think it was love at first sight - they were trying to hold hands right away.

Wee Vi was born 3 weeks after Evy, though you wouldn't know it to look at her - she weighs 4 lbs more! (Note the visible difference between the 95th percentile baby and the 3rd percentile baby!). I'm sure Evy will catch up in no time.

Here are the girls, looking gorgeous:

"ooh, I'll stick my tongue out because I like my new friend!"

"and then I'll feel a bit shy because we're holding hands, so I'll look away"

Blissss

Hubby = home

Me = happy

Unfortunately, Evy celebrated Rob being home by screaming like a wicked banshee for a few hours in the wee hours... Doh! Even poor jet-lagged Rob was roused from his sleep-deprived coma by her horrible shrieks. I guess she's punishing him for being gone??

Here's your Evy snap for the day. Too cute, right?

Life sure does change

Am still in the midst of wallowing in self pity caused by the offical "single parenting for 2 weeks while Rob is away for work and he missed my birthday and it's cold and the furnace stopped working (but is now working again) and I'm sleepy and am a year older and have no one to make me dinner week, 2008" .

It got me to thinking about how life can change in a few short years. Take my birthdays for example:

2003 - Spent the day on the lovely island of Capri
2005 - Spent the day in beautiful Barcelona
2006 - Spent the day in frosty and fascinating Saint Petersburg

2008? Spent the day in Millbrook. Granted, I was with family and it was a lovely day, made lovelier by having beautiful Evy in my life now. I guess what I'm thinking, though, is that I should have perhaps cherished the exotic life a bit more than I did.

And, as if to prove my point, Evy has just shat herself senseless and puked out her nose at the same time. Must go.

Happy Saturday night, everyone!

2 more sleeps

Only two more nights until the roaming husband is home to help with baby duties! Yip yip yip! I think I can make it that long.

In other news, tis a veritable winter wonderland here... complete with ice on the INSIDE of the windows the past two mornings! Brrr! It's - 9 degrees right now, with a HIGH today of - 5! That doesn't seem too warm to me! You know you're old and boring when your 'hot' fantasies are about storm windows and insulation.

Here are some pics from my birthday dinner the other night. Evy, as usual, provided the entertainment:

A perplexed mom marvels at her daughter's long lizard tongue

Evy hams it up for Uncle Ben and Aunt Kristin



Ben&Evy have a cuddle.
Yes, her arms are slightly thicker than his thumbs

And, in celebration (?) of the frigid weather, here is a pic of Evy in her snowsuit. It's WAY too short for her in the legs, and WAY too long for her in the arms. Oh well, at least she's warm, if slightly contorted.

Baby Pob!

Is there a similarity here between Evy and this BBC Children's TV character called Pob? Maybe something around the ears!! But, I think Evy is MUCH cuter than Pob.

33 years ago!

Ah, 33 years ago today something magical happened!

Now that I've gone through the whole labour and delivery process, I'm inclined to think that mothers should get some recognition on their children's birthday. (Rob - take note - recognition in the form of gemstones would be welcome next July).

So, maw, thanks for popping me out. Sorry about the long, drawn out labour and the blood transfusion and all that. And dad, sorry you fainted and fell over. You two are the best parents in the world. Thanks for 33 years of joy.

tiny mug shot

Went to get the mail today, and Evy's passport has arrived. Every time I look at the picture, I die laughing. Only 20 days until we fly! Woot woot woot!

Hanging in there

We're surviving week II without Rob. It hasn't been easy... actually it's really hard. What I miss most (aside from the occasional diaper-changing and baby-caring that Rob provides) is having an adult to talk to. Or just knowing that I'm not all alone in the house at 3am when Evy wakes up screaming. I have such respect for single parents - it's hard enough with 2!

Rob made it to England safely, and was kind (mean?) enough to call yesterday as he was driving past St Albans. I miss it there! And we hope he's having a good time, despite being busy with work. And of course, the wee miss and I will be there ourselves in a few short weeks!

Here are some pics... she's been playing a lot, and sitting up in her wee chair. And she seems so much longer! She's finally going to pediatrician on Friday, so we'll see what she's weighing in at!

peekaboo!

I like my toys, so I shall make a goofy face

my future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

A house with a view

One of our new Millbrookian friends is a talented photographer. Here are a few of his photos that show our house. Sooo beautiful. Seeing the view of our house from the other side of the pond makes me appreciate it even more. Thanks for the pics, Kirk!

Skating with lanterns + long exposure = dreamy shot

A beautiful winter sky

The pics are wonderful, but more importantly, Kirk and his wife Angie are our first Millbrook friends who are under the age of 75. Yeah! (Not that Vi and Max & Carol aren't grand, but it's nice to have new friends a bit closer to our age). They took pity on my single-parenting status this week, and invited me over for dinner tonight. A kick-ass curry and good company... made me miss Rob a tiny bit less.

Bonsoir :)

For the weary traveller

Poor Rob... he's stuck in Nanaimo, B.C., fogged in. He's already missed his flight to Toronto, and therefore his connecting flight to the U.K.

As you can imagine, he's feeling VERY frustrated and sad. Evy and I are hoping that his day improves and that he gets on a flight this afternoon. Poor Rob!

Rob = imprisoned at Nanaimo airport

Evy = imprisoned in her cradle

and EVEN more...

Granny Al emailed through a whole bunch of adorable pictures of the wee miss, so I thought I'd share them... I know Rob will love these (especially the dog ones, because he LOVES oggy and penny SO much, it's almost embarrasing).

Lookit me as I ride my noble steed!

And here is my other, fuzzier noble steed

And here I am, looking SO much like daddy!

And mommy gives me a ride on her foot

I look pretty cute in my striped pantaloons!!

Tis a horrible, rainy, dull, grey and icky day here. Evy and I are going to brave the elements to head to a Christmas bazaar at one of the local Millbrookian churches, and then we'll probably have a quiet day. It's supposed to get snowy and even yuckier tonight. I hope the weather is better for Rob, who's spending the weekend on Gabriola Island, visiting his friends. (Hi John, Joan & Dennis! Evy sends hugs and kisses!)

Hope yaz' all have a great weekend!

And more...

Here are some more cute pics of the wee madam. Sorry - no time to write witty, hilarious captions.... she's squawking.

For Rob

Poor Rob (or not so poor Rob!) is away for work for 2 weeks, first in Vancouver and then in England. He's missing lil' Evy something awful, so here are some pics, just for him. We miss you!