Fall Family Pictures!

A huge thank you to Auntie Melissa for taking these gorgeous pictures!

A little something for my Musitooge family...

I've been promising since Michaela was dedicated that I would get around to putting these pictures up...here they are! Finally!

Fist!

Flat!

Fist!

And here's the rest of the fun from that little shoot...

Once again, I cannot even express how grateful Brad and I are that so many of you were there to share Michaela's special day. We love you dearly!

Just hangin' out...

Just a few of the shots that I've taken while we've been enjoying some lazy summer days. Enjoy!

So many firsts!

Hello all!

I know, I know...it's been far too long since I've posted! Michaela's changing every day...she's 6 months old already! So hard to believe it's been half a year since our sweet, goofy little girl came into the world!




There have been LOTS of firsts in the last little while!

First time in the Jolly Jumper...she wasn't quite sure what to do with it, and still doesn't really have the "jumper" part down yet, but she does enjoy it!





Then there was her first Stanley Cup Playoff party at home with Mommy, Daddy and Grandma Geddes...there was great rejoicing when the Bruins won! Here she is cheering with Grandma, wearing the closest thing I could find to game-day yellow:
(This one's for you, Tom and Laurie!)




Next, she had her first experience in her exersaucer. She loves it! All her little farmyard friends have had a healthy, even dose of drool. :)







The next first was a BIG ONE! Her first tastes of solid food! The choice for the occasion was...carrots!



Here comes the first bite...



Not too sure what to think...



Hey, I kinda like this...





Mom, you're not feeding me fast enough. Let me help!





Being messy is fun!



Okay, I've had enough. May I be excused?





Next was our first camping trip in our new travel trailer! We decided not to venture too far from home incase there was something we needed or incase Michaela didn't take to it as well as we hoped she would. We went to Camp Silversides for the August Long Weekend, and Michaela did quite well! We hung out with Brad's friend Brian, and had a great weekend trying out the trailer and spending some wonderful family time.











There you have it...all the firsts in the last 2 months of our little girl's life!

Pics with Mommy and Daddy!

Here's a couple more pictures I decided to share :)

Watching TV with Daddy and Uncle Brian

And Mommy makes an appearance too! :)

4 Months Old!

Our Sweet Pea is 4 1/2 months old now, and we've got lots of pictures to share again this month!

A few weeks ago, we visited with Michaela's second cousins, and introduced her to her Great-Uncle Steve and her Great-Auntie Myra. Of course, Brianna and Levi were excited to hold Michaela, and Caedmen was greatly intrigued by this little person sharing his Grandpa's lap!



This month also marked Michaela's first time in her Bumbo chair, and she LOVES sitting up like a big girl! She also has great fun with her GloWorm- it's received lots of love and drool. :)

And the other exciting first just happened today...she has enough hair for piggy tails! I'm so excited to have a little girl! :)

In other news, our little girl is also rolling both ways (front to back and back to front), and it won't be long before she's sitting up by herself- we've been "practicing" lots! She has decided it's no longer acceptable for her to be laying down when we're holding her- she has to sit up like a big girl! And we're THISCLOSE to her first little teeth poking through...she's been chomping down hard on whatever she can get in her mouth, and everything she gets her hands on gets a healthy dose of "Michaela flavoring." :)

The first time she rolled from her back to her tummy, I just happened to be taking a little video of her with our camera, so as soon as I can figure out how to post it here, I most certainly will!

You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins

I've always loved this song, and I remember very vividly when Michaela was only 2 days old and we first had to put her on phototherapy for her jaundice. She was fussing and hating the little eye shades that had to be on her face, and all I could think to do was hold her hand and sing the first verse and chorus of this song. Now it's her song. :) Just wanted to share it!

Playing Around

These are some pictures that I've taken in the last little while of Michaela just playing around at home. Today I found out I can edit them and do all sorts of cool things on Photo Bucket! Hope you enjoy them!

3 months old!

Well, I've decided these posts are gonna be monthly...that's about all I can commit to! And as usual, there's been plenty going on in Michaela's little world. :) She's now holding her head up all by herself for the most part, and her smiles are abundant! She's already giving us plenty of hints that she's gonna be a little talker when she gets older- you know the kind. ;) ("And then...and then...and then...") And in other fun (or lack thereof) the teething process has begun. :( Definitely not as much fun as the other milestones we've mentioned. But here's a little bit of what we've been up to this month!

Tummy time is definitely not her favorite pastime, but she is getting better at holding her head up! Here's a typical progression of tummy time:

Starting out...okay, I can do this for a little while...

A couple of minutes have passed, and my sucky is now a necessity if I'm gonna be okay with this.

And now I'm done. Get me out of here!

This month also held Michaela's first long road trip! We went to Penticton, BC for Easter. (A drive we will definitely be making over 2 days from here on out!) We stayed with Brad's Aunt Lois and visited with my sister Pyper, my half-brother Nate and his family. We also visited with Brad's Aunt Sharon, and his cousin Tracey and her family were out there the same time we were. It was a great weekend with family!



Once we got back into the home routine for a few days, we ended up making a last minute trip down to Brooks for some Wester family time. Michaela met her Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Wester and had an opportunity for some four generation pictures. Brad's Uncle Dan also got some GREAT pictures over breakfast! I LOVE THEM!

Two Months Old!

I know, I've really been slacking with the blog posts in the last few weeks. My apologies! This post is gonna be a bit long, but I'm gonna do my best to catch up...so much has happened!

Michaela started smiling when she was about one month old (almost to the day!) and I am LOVING that! I remember telling Brad when she was only about two weeks old that I thought it was cruel that babies were born without the ability to smile...at least then I would know I was doing something right! But her first smiles came just at the right time, and they make EVERYTHING worthwhile. :)

As you can see, she absolutely LOVES her swing! Most days she'll spend at least half an hour in there just smiling and "talking" to her little animal friends on her mobile.

Now for some important "meetings" in her life! My sister Pyper and her boyfriend Jay came out to visit Michaela when she was about one month old. I was so happy she was able to come out- Pyper was the only Auntie that Michaela hadn't met yet!

Brad's Aunt Linda and Uncle Dan also came out to visit a few weeks ago, so Michaela got some nice cuddles from Auntie Linda.

Brad played in a hockey tournament last weekend, and Michaela and I managed to make it out to all of his games! Granted, we were late for most of them, but it was still fun to take Michaela to Daddy's games and to cheer him on. And of course, she had to be appropriately dressed for the occasion, so Mommy picked out her "I'm told I like hockey" onesie. And how cute are her little jeans??? :)

A couple of days ago, I took Michaela for her first visit to Circle Square Ranch. I had only told one person that we were going to be coming, so it was SO much fun to surprise everyone else! Here she is visiting Tom and Laurie Weppler, the Ranch directors. Tom said that as soon as he heard Laurie squeal in delight, he knew that someone had either brought a baby or a puppy to visit! :)

Happily helping Bonnie run the Ranch office!

I was so glad that Bernice Doan was around when we popped in to visit! I met Bernice when I first started going to the Ranch when I was 10 years old, and she's been so influential in my faith and my life in general since that time. As I told her, I really hope and pray that Michaela finds people like Bernie and Bernice in her life when she's older.

The next stop we made after visiting the Ranch was to visit my grandparents in Daysland, AB so they could meet Michaela. They had no idea we were coming, so they were absolutely delighted! Each of them got to hold Michaela, and Great-Grammy in particular got some big smiles. It was pretty precious. :)

That's what's been happening in our world!

One Month Old!

Right from the moment Michaela was born (okay...even before that!) I knew I wanted to get some really nice newborn pictures taken. It's such a beautiful and exciting time in our lives...I wanted to capture it somehow. Michelle Hansen did a perfect job of it! Michaela seemed to think it was hard work being beautiful the day these were taken, but Michelle and I eventually got into a system of settling her with her soother, posing her, quickly pulling the soother away and taking the picture. It worked well! :) I love the fact that you can see every ounce of joy and love in our faces. I had so much fun putting the pretty headbands on her, too! When she's got that much hair, it would have been a shame not to! Hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as I do. :)

Three Weeks Old

Three weeks ago today, Brad and I were welcoming our sweet baby girl into our world. On one hand, it's hard to believe that time is flying by so fast, but on the other hand, Brad and I were saying last night that we're already having a hard time remembering what life was like before she got here! It feels like she's always been part of our lives.

In the last two weeks, Michaela's met some more very important people. My Auntie Audrey and Uncle Jack came from Saskatchewan to meet her, and we had a wonderful dinner with them and my dad. Since I never met my Grandma Geddes and only had a very brief time with my Grumpa Geddes, Auntie Audrey and Uncle Jack have always held a grandparent-like role in my life. They kept saying that it felt like meeting a great grand-daughter instead of a great-niece. I'm so glad they got to meet her.

One of my former campers from my days as a cabin leader at Circle Square Ranch also came to meet Michaela. It's been awesome for me to be able to keep in touch with Maddy over the years and to share in some of the major moments in her life. For her to be able to share in a major moment in my life was pretty cool.

Another very important person in Michaela's life is my good friend Chantal. Chantal and I were best friends from elementary school through high school, and went our separate ways for a few years while we both endured the rigors of nursing school and starting our careers. The evening I went in to deliver Michaela, I was so excited to find out that Chantal was going to be my nurse! It's amazing how we could work in the same building and yet have barely spoken in four years. We spent the early stages of my labor just catching up on life...it felt so natural and really put me at ease in a way that nothing else could have. I kept hoping that the baby would come before Chantal had to leave for shift change, but Michaela did one better- she didn't even wait for the doctor to arrive! Chantal delivered Michaela...I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience than that. And the fact that it re-connected us and brought the life back to our friendship is an added blessing.

Yesterday, we went to Lacombe to visit Brad's Grandma and Grandpa Neufeld. Brad's mom came with us, and it was great to introduce Michaela to more of her family. We even got a four generation picture with Michaela, Brad, his mom and her parents. It's one of my favorite pictures from Michaela's life so far.

I've said it over and over, and I'll keep saying it...we are SO BLESSED to have so many friends and family around us who love and support us through this change in our lives. We are eternally grateful for every one of you.