Hi Ho!

This past week was my first week back to work after a gloooorious 15 month maternity leave.  The week was good.  I work for the Saskatoon Health Region as an occupational therapist; previously I worked in a department where the focus was on post elective orthopedic surgeries (hips and knees).  With some lay-offs and switching around, I am now in acute ortho trauma (all limbs, but post-trauma such as car and bike accidents and altercations). The department also includes pediatrics, oncology, hands, neuro, and general medicine, so I will occasionally go to those areas as needed and in the future may work more in those areas.  It's been quite eye-opening this week, but I think it will be good.  Acute has a quick turnover, so in ortho OT we usually only see the patient for a couple days, primarily discussing home set-up and safety, getting them appropriate equipment to help them manage at home, and training on the use of the equipment.  Time spent with patients is quite different from my sub-acute/long term care job in Illinois where we saw the patients daily for many months straight.   

As a result of my going back to work, Annabel had her first week of day care.  Saskatoon has an extreme shortage of day care centers with multiple year waiting lists, so we found a home day care of a new mom who has a 1 year old herself.  It's nice for Annabel to have someone to buddy up with, and so far I think it should work well.  She didn't cry the first day of drop off, but she had figured it out by the second and cried at least until just after I left the rest of the week.  Up until this point she hadn't found a "comfort item," but she has been attached to her little pink bear at least when she is tired at day care.

Getting ready to head out the door to day care!  She LOVES this jean jacket!

Of all days, Annabel started getting her fifth tooth Sunday night and was up until two or three am!!  She was uncomfortable the next couple nights, so I had hardly totaled 8 hours of sleep by mid week.  This was our first experience with a really bothersome tooth.  That and figuring out our fastest travel route, considering the traffic, was our main challenge in our first week.  Luckily, day care is just a small loop on the way to both of our jobs (which are a 15 min. walk apart) and we leave home around 7:20 to get me there by 8:00.  I've been waking Annabel up at 7 and she eats breakfast at day care (so nice!).  

We all caught a cold by Wednesday, with all of us recovering fairly well by today.  Annabel has quite a cough and runny nose and I'm exhausted but hopefully it won't linger too long.  

I'll continue our Europe journey posts soon.

In the mean time, here is a few recent life happenings:

Hot day water play in the "pool".

Just like Grandpa.

Still thinks smelling socks is quite hilarious!

Annabel's favorite place in the house

Her obsession with Go Dog, Go! is easily pushing a month now.  

First trip to the dentist!!  She didn't have any teeth on her first birthday, but currently has five!

Play date with Benjamin and Reuben...isn't Reuben the cutest?  He is almost 6 months and has had over 4 haircuts!

Reuben, Annabel, and Benjamin.  They splashed a ton shortly after they adjusted to the water.

Last weekend we attended the Broadway Street Fair, which included a small petting zoo.

She loves riding in this doll stroller and has a thing for carrying shoes.  More than once I have left the house not realizing she had swiped a shoe just before I picked her up.

She turns fifteen months in a few days and has been starting to walk, practicing a little each day.  One day she took just over 20 steps.

The Lake

Going to The Lake is a big thing around here.  Oftentimes church is near empty in the summer because everyone is at The Lake.

This past weekend, we got a chance to go with Eric's co-worker to their family cabin on Emma Lake, which is a little over 2 hours north of Saskatoon.

The main beach was packed on such a beautiful day.

Eric and Bill went to watch the Rider game.  Annabel took a nap and I got to sit on this porch and read a magazine!!  I didn't have to think about dishes, laundry, or supper.

Enough is Enough!

I'm usually not one to complain about weather.  I enjoy the change of seasons and the different activities, colors, holidays, foods, and feelings each one brings.  We live in Saskatchewan, where the weather is obviously cold a lot of the time, but today was just awful!!  The wind was unbearable.  And the forecast is offering no promising news.  We went out for one errand today, gave up and came back home. 

Happy first day of spring!!

Shoveling has turned into an extreme sport because not only do we have to shovel, but then we have to chuck it 5 feet in the air!!

Backyard

On the upside, we have a friend coming to visit tomorrow!!  We thought March would be a great time for her visit, as it was quite nice weather here last year at this time.  I told her she should have demanded a flight discount for being the only person in the world traveling to Saskatoon for spring break!!  She must really like us.  :)

Cold Winter Day

We are snuggled indoors today protected from the cold.  Perfect time to wear her new sweater vest made by my long-time friend Laura St. Onge.  Thank you, Laura!  It is so beautiful.   

I've been putting tights under her thin pants for warmth.  Yesterday I heard her getting pretty mad about something.  I went to see what she was up to, and she was just a pulling and pulling and those dang socks weren't coming off!!

Snow Season

I've been appreciating this star right outside our living room window.  We can see it from our couch.

It has once again been snowing most of the day with a couple inches piled up.  The temperatures lately have been hovering around 0 degrees or as Eric likes to say, there has been no temperature in Saskatoon for the past weeks.  We heard the snow plow budget for this year has already been used up, as there usually isn't this much snow before Christmas.

Beautiful hoar frost (per Eric's knowledge of frost identification) for the first Sunday of Advent.  The service was full of music, the choir sang Breath of Heaven, and Annabel jumped and flailed her arms and legs to the band the entire service!  She was so exhausted afterwards, she took her first ever 2 hour daytime nap! (but, now it is past 11:30 pm and she has yet to go to bed.  She's not crying, but nothing seems to be working tonight.) 

Knowing that few people will see our decorations and the fact that we won't be here for Christmas made it a bit hard to find ambition to put up Christmas decorations, but I put them up and felt better afterwards.  I just love sitting in the evening with Christmas lights in the house....I'll have to make hot chocolate some night to enjoy the scene even more.  We have one main living area with our living room and kitchen all in one, so all of our decorations are in the same space.  I had a bunch out, but felt it was a bit of red and green overload, so I put some away.  One day we'll able to put up a full size tree and get all of our ornaments out of the box.

The mall was offering a chance to see Santa where we could take our own photos.  I thought it was a good option because we weren't sure how Annabel would react.  She hasn't been afraid of strangers (or "making strange" as they say here), but we just didn't know about a man in red with a big white beard.  But, the line was so long we had to skip out.  I imagine we will get another chance since Santa doesn't have as far to travel from the North Pole.  He could probably manage to make a couple stops before Christmas Eve.
 
We have been Skyping quite a bit lately and Annabel is just starting to react to the screen by smiling and seems to be recognizing some voices and faces. 

It's helpful to have a sister who is an infant teacher so she can give me cute craft ideas.  Eric really enjoyed this Thanksgiving birthday gift from Annabel:

There is a neat one for Christmas using the baby's fingerprints as Christmas light bulbs and Chelsea said she wants to do a penguin one with Annabel when we are home for Christmas.  Fun stuff.

 

Lentil Soup with Beef

I embraced our Canadian surroundings and made this recipe.  Lentils are kind of a big deal here.  It was good and hearty.  I used ground beef and chicken broth because that is what we had at home.  I would used an onion, but forgot to buy one so dried minced had to do.  I didn't have parsley, but I did have cilantro so in the pot it went!  My dad is an experimental cook.  I need a recipe, but I'm getting better at still trying a dish even if I don't have everything.  Eric said really liked it.

Lentil Soup with Beef

Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large celery stalks, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 6 (14-ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 2 cups (about 11 ounces) lentils, rinsed
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper. Add half of the beef and cook until brown, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining beef. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, rosemary, and oregano to the pot. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Return the beef and any accumulated juices from the bowl to the pot. Add the broth and tomatoes with their juice. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the meat is just tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Add the lentils. Cover and continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Family Visit

My parents and sister made the drive up here to meet Annabel during her 2nd week.  We hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so there was a lot of excitement all around.  My brother was unable to make it, as he is working at a theater in Colorado this summer.  Thinking back on their visit, I was very, very tired all week, but we still had a great time.  I was thankful to have them there to cuddle, rock, and love Annabel so much that week.  It was also really helpful and generous of them to do some deep cleaning before they made the drive back to Wisconsin.

We got out later in the week for a nice picnic overlooking the weir by the river.  It felt so good to be outside.

These huge pelicans arrive every summer. 

They are so huge and fun to watch. 

This little guy came to visit our picnic.

Eric was trying to get us all to look away and turn quickly to get a "natural smile" look, but Dad didn't hear the plan. 

Annabel slept in her shaded bassinet the entire time.

Wonderful sunny day, but soooo windy.

She was showered by gifts, mostly handmade from talented relatives.

Beautiful quilt made by Great Aunt Sue.  It is so perfect!

Snuggle time with Grandma

 

Everyone went into Eric's work to introduce Annabel.

Burp clothes made by Great Aunt Pam.  Annabel has started making regular use of these!

Cute bibs made by my mom

Sleeping on Eric's chest

She spends many hours alert, which is fun if she is calm & alert.  I read she only should be alert about an hour or so between naps, although some babies are up more often.  Later, the over-tiredness usually sets in...