A few people commented on the spy cam we used when Leo was here – what great reception it had.  Well, it gets even better, people.  What we got was the super-duper, slightly creepy it’s so effective, see-in-the-dark, cordless, doesn’t-even-really-look-like-a… baby-cam!

You can completely see a black/white picture in the pitch black dark – it’s amazing.  Then in the day the monitor works in colour. You can hear the baby moving or talking… and it even hooks into your TV so you can watch a movie and just flick back over t the baby channel every once and a while.

I bought mine on Ebay from this vendor and totally love it.  It freaks Jrock out but he did admit it was awefully handy when Leo was sleeping upstairs and we were playing games downstairs.

SUPER fun toy.  Er, essential baby tool! lol

My dear friend L and her little boy Leo came to visit us last weekend… Leo is 2 1/2 and so we got to do all sorts of fun kid things!  We visited friends, went to the dog beach for a picnic, went to the goats chaeese place for icecream, rode the old steam train down in summerland, coloured, hung out in the backyard, and generally had a great time. 

Boy, were we exhausted though when they left!  It’s always tiring having people visit – I love it, don’t get me wrong, but you are full go for as long as people are here.  We got to try out lots of our kids stuff… toys, bibs, etc.  I built some gates on the deck last week in preparation, and I’m so glad I did.  Lot of things were hits that we didn’t expect… the pea gravel out in the garden was great for playing dumptrucks.  The setup in the family room worked wonderfully.  We could also have Leo eat a snack in the kitchen and watch him without him being in the middle of the cooking.  All that kind of stuff that you need to experiment with a kid and see if it works.

And aside from Leo – who is a lovely little boy, it was wonderful to relax and enjoy my friend L’s company.  We’ve lived apart for several years, but we have such a good friendship.  It was really nice one afternoon when Jrock babysat and L and I got to go out windowshopping and for coffee and just really catch up.

Anyway, enjoy the little film below.  There were too many pictures to post, so this seems to do the trick. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/CqRqUVpj42s]

Those who know me off-line, – or even those who have been following my blog for a while – will know that I change my hair up really frequently.  Short, long; red, orange, brown, black; whispy, sleek… these are just my favs.  I’ve had everything from purple streaks (quite nice) to long and blond (terrible – my skin is way to light to be a blond.)  Anyway, I haven’t changed my hair in a while, because I wanted to have the same hair colour/cut as the photos that we sent with our dossier, so that our little kids would recognize me in person.  But enough is enough.  I never dreamed I’d have this same hair cut for so long.  So off it goes! And I’ll just have to send the kids all sorts of pictures with me with different hairstyles.  They’ll recognize the smile.

My mother made a sarcastic remark to me on the phone the other night that I hadn’t put any new posts up on my blog recently… true! it’s been a little slim in the news department.  I promise to try harder, Mom!

Actually, I already promised my mother-in-law that I would put up pictures of our yard and show her all the planting and construction we’ve done.  So let’s take care of two moms with one post! ha ha

Please take into account that it’s a first year yard, so much of it is quite barren.  The roses and the existing shrubs are a nice spot of colour.  Oh! and those window boxes I showed you that I planted a while back – well, they are just lovely now. We also have a couple of planters on the deck, full of lillies, since we can’t have them inside.  (Lillies are toxic to cats, and it gets very expensive when you come home to a black and white feline face with orange lips.  Trust me.  So, even though they are our favorite flower, they have to remain outside of the realm of our munchy cats.)

Click on the pictures below to see the details of the back yard.  In the far left corner I have raspberries, blackberries, boisonberries and blueberries planted, along with a couple of mounds for melons..  The far lefttree is cherry, then comes the pear in the middle (with 5 varieties on it – yum,) then the Gala apple.  In front of the shed is the peach tree, which, if the taggy on it is correct, will grow quite enormous.

So the garden is coming along.  We had a huge truck load of pea gravel dropped off today, so guess what Jrock and I will be doing tonight?  Covering up the sod I removed all along one side of the house, and between the garden beds.  It’ll look really nice and tidy when it is done, though. 

Better get off to swimming, now… just to make you folks in the colder regions jealous, here is a favorite rose picture from this morning just outside the kids’ room window.

Today we had a nice afternoon out – we took our bikes downtown (truly the best way to park and say cool – bicycles!) had a nice lunch at a pub, and then walk around at the Kelowna Father’s Day Show and Shine. There were all sorts of cars from all different eras… The part I find the most interesting is the upholstery.  I love how people do these wonderfully tailored designs in old cars – they are truly works of art.  We weren’t celebrating Father’s Day, so to speak – guess we’ll have to wait till next year on that one – but it was nice to have an afternoon doing guy-things.  I think J-rock really enjoyed himself, which was the point. 

It just keeps amazing me, too, how many fun and free things there are to do in Kelowna.  My godson is visiting with his mom next week, and I’m really excited, planning some 2 1/2 year-old-friendly activities and outings.  We’re going to take him out to the orchard, and to an old steam engine for a ride, and to the beach! of course… I can hardly wait.

I’ve also had to make the house a little bit more kid-ready.  We’re putting the crib upstairs in the guest room for the duration of their visit… and trying to clean out our “kids room” – also the room-o-junk – so he can safely play with the toys and such we’ve accumulated.  Out with the dust, medicines in boxes on the floor, boxes of winter clothes we’ll never wear again… and in with the rocking horses and tickle trunk.  (Ok, so those things are already there, but we have to uncover them.)

Have a good week, people.  Referrals are trickling in, we’ve been assigned to a new case worker! and things are lookin’ up

Nicky

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL6Qy3wBatQ]

My sister and sister-in-law bought a box of 40 vintage hats online. This little video shows you how much fun it was trying them all on!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KUjY63MQkg]

This was for you, husband of mine!

(He says it has to do with being a farm boy – “spring is for spraying!” he says!  Sofar he’s been out there with his pump and poisons two or three times.  His mission?  Freeing our garden from the scary, nasty plague of … <dandylions.> Every time I object.  But he gets this strangely delighted macabre look on his face and says “I’m goin’ sprayin’.  That’s just the end of it.”

The first picture I found for my “nine months post” had this pretty number 9 with lots of balloons and happy thoughts all through it.  But that’s not really how I’m feeling, so I ditched the balloons and went with this picture.

You know when you’ve lost something for a long time and instead of it being obviously missing from your life, you just have a small ache?  Or when you have a long-time pain, that doesn’t go away, but it gets duller, and you get used to it.  That’s how I feel now about this whole wait.  My emotions have been spent.  My hopes have fizzled out. My joy is blanched.  I’m just in limbo.

And the worst part of it is, I feel like it’s unjustified.  Afterall, we will get a referral eventually.  And it’s not the worst thing that can happen to people, this waiting business.  So I routinely try to forget and pretend that it’s not that hard, and shove it to the back of my mind. But, in this one moment, I allow myself to roll around in my frustration.  There.  Rolled. Now I’ll put it on the shelf for another month.