just feeling blessed

Today I got this overwhelming feeling of just how blessed I really am. Lilah is an exceptionally happy fun loving toddler, and like us, she enjoys the simple things in life. Quite often, when the weather is warm, we will pack a lunch and head off for a walk with the stroller. We find a nice area and sit and enjoy the flowers, we watch the birds, we feed the ducks, we eat our lunch and generally relax. It's times like this that I realize how blessed and thankful I truly am.

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Psalm 139:14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made

[ more pictures from today here ]

another birthday cake and dora the explorer live

It was a busy day for Lilah! This afternoon we went to a retirement barbecue for our special friend, Auntie Lillian. Lilah was blessed by the hostess (Auntie Marion) with a surprise birthday cake, it was just beautiful, what a lucky girl! I will post a picture as soon as someone sends me one, unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. (Thanks for the pictures Rae!)

Then this evening Lilah and I went to the National Arts Centre to see Dora the Explorer live! The show is called 'The Search for the City of Lost Toys' and it was fabulous. To be honest I didn't know what to expect, but it way surpassed any ideas I had conjured up in my mind. If you want you can read a little about it here. This was a birthday gift for our little two year old. I have a funny feeling she will be expecting to see another show for her birthday next year, or even before it! She really had a lot of fun, jumping up and down and waving her star to help Dora & Boots, when she saw the pesky Swiper on stage she would say "Oh noooooooo"!

[ a few more pictures from today's activities here ]

happy birthday lilah - two years old today!

Since it's our first year celebrating Lilah's birthday, we decided to celebrate it just as a family. Colin took the day off work and we had a wonderful day together! Lilah had no idea what was going on, but she went along with it all. She loved opening her presents and playing with all the goodies. I must say, I think the cake was the best part of the day for our little two year old though; eating it wasn't her top priority, but blowing out the candles definitely was! I lost track of the number of times we lit them and she blew them out. She loved it! Thanks so much to all our family and friends for such love and kindness towards our Lilah. The presents are all beautiful and Lilah is very blessed to have each of you in her life, so are Colin and I.

I took a lot of pictures today, I guess that's nothing new! I wanted to capture every moment, from waking up this morning with the balloons in her room, to breakfast at Cora's, to opening her presents, and the grand finale, the cake. Gosh we had a great day! The photos are below, in different sets.

Balloons & Breakfast - slideshow or thumbnails
Birthday Presents - slideshow or thumbnails
Birthday Cake - slideshow or thumbnails

curly locks

Our precious little Lilah, it's her last day as a 1 year old.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
curly locks! curly locks! wilt thou be mine?
thou shall't not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine,
but sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
and feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream!
* * * * * * * * * * * *

[ more pictures here ]

museum of nature

Away back in January, when it was minus-to-cold-to-think-about-right-now, I asked the library to put my name down for free passes to some of the museums in the city. (Thanks for that tip Wei Ling!)

Well this week I got a call to say a pass for the Museum of Nature had come available. Today was a rainy day, so a trip to Tim Horton's and a chocolate milk later, Lilah and I decided to go check out the museum. I've never been a history buff and I have no interest in museums, at all, but I will go ahead and eat my hat, because this one is fantastic (for little ones) and Lilah had a ball at it today. Dressing like a bear, working in the veterinary clinic, driving the birdmobile, seeing a life size stuffed moose and feeding the owl with a syringe are only a few of the very fun things you can do in this museum!

If you live in Ottawa and you're looking somewhere new and different to go with your little one, check out this article. There are many fun free activities available!

[ more pictures here ]

talking up a storm

In the past week Lilah has taken her speech to a whole new level. She now chatters all the time, non stop. I took this movie of her early this morning. I adore her sweet little voice, even though most of the time I haven't got a clue what she's ranting & raving about, but believe me, she most certainly does! She also has a lot of facial expressions that go along with the chatter, some are serious, some funny, some happy, it all depends on the moment!

a relaxing day

Today was a lovely relaxing day. This morning we walked down to the Glebe garage sale and spent several hours checking out the bargains. We found Lilah a yellow kids construction hard hat that looks cute and funny on her! Then this evening we went out to our favourite Indian restaurant for a meal, followed by a trip to the park. Have I mentioned how much Lilah loves the park? Oh yes she does! The picture below shows her expression when she first saw the play structure! It's priceless! She is positively bouncing with excitement!

[ more pictures here ]

'lilah's giggles' quilt

My Mum lovingly handmade this sweet quilt for Lilah's crib, along with a teeny tiny matching one for her little dolly bed and also a cat made with the same materials. It's all truly beautiful and I finally got around to taking a few pictures yesterday. Thanks Nono, we love you and Papie so much and can't wait for your summer visit, all being well. A few more pictures here.

lilah and lilacs

Today we took a drive to see the blooming lilacs at the experimental farm. I must admit, I just love lilacs, both the flower and the scent. We also had a little picnic since it was such a smashing day and Lilah did what she does best, ran around and had lots of fun! She especially likes the little gazebos, or as she calls them, houses! The two little patches on her arms are from yesterday, she got another two immunizations. The doctor said to watch out in case of fever, because varicella and MMR are both attenuated live viruses. I took a lot of pictures of our lovely little Lilah, you can view them by thumbnail or slideshow.

mall-dollar-ride-on-toys

A fine investment of a dollar, or two!

[ more pictures here ]

victoria weekend

ophthalmology appointment

Lilah had an appointment with the Ophthalmologist this morning. We were told that her eyes and eyesight are both perfect, which is great news! She does have an eye condition, called Pseudoesotropia. This condition is one that she will outgrow over time, in fact she has outgrown the condition a lot already. The Ophthalmologist told us that in a few months we probably won't notice anything at all. We really do have so much to be thankful for.

The following paragraph is a description of pseudoesotropia (taken from this website):
In pseudoesotropia, the eyes appear to be crossed but are actually straight. This common condition in infants and young children is generally due to the infant's facial structures. The wide bridge of the nose and small folds of eyelid skin on the nasal side of the eye contribute to this appearance by covering the "white" of the eye. This especially becomes apparent when the infant looks to the right or the left. As the infant's facial structures mature, this appearance of crossing will improve and often disappear.

happy happy mother's day

It's normally a first for Lilah, but this time it's a first for me. My first Mother's Day, and everything I've dreamed of for the last few years is finally in my arms. There is nothing like it, nothing like the feeling of being a Mother, it's so much joy and love that you feel your heart could burst. It's truly amazing. One thing I want to mention, something I have learned in the past four months of being a mother, and that's how much I appreciate my Mum. So this post is not just for me; it's for my Mum, Colin's Mum and Lilah's birth Mum. Thank you all so much for the gift you gave us, the gift of life and the gift of love. To mark the occasion, Colin took these pictures of us, this afternoon, after Church.

[ more pictures here ]

rainy day puddles are fun

We had a little thunderstorm today. After it was over Lilah and I ventured out, she with her wellie boots on and me with my camera, ready to take on a few rain puddles! I think it's the first time she's been introduced to puddles and she had a lot of fun! Baba got home from work half way through the 'big splash' and was able to assist with some running, through the puddles! Seeing the joy on her face makes my day!

[ more pictures here ]

tulip festival

"the greatest gift of all"

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The 25 words in this verse have been called the gospel in its purest form. The first 12 words speak about God, the final 12 about ourselves and Son is the centre. In this verse is the greatest love we can ever know, the greatest gift we can ever have and the greatest choice we can ever make. Have you made that choice? ~ John M. Clegg

(taken from todays Choice Gleanings daily devotional calendar)