Ok on to details...when we last left our intrepid explorers...wait a minute. Ok I obviously got back from Argentina in one piece. It was a good trip but winter came early in El Calafate. Now you might ask what this means...well it means that Nadine's outcrop that she was looking at was covered with snow as of April 3rd and didn't recover. So Nadine only got 12 out of 31 days in Argentina to do field work. Oh well I am going back in January 2009 (summertime). I returned to Canada on April 19th and moved to Calgary on the 28th of April. I haven't really had a lot of down time since I have returned. I now am working at Petro-Canada in Calgary and I am working on quite a challenging project. I can't go into particulars but believe me it is definitely going to take me the four months to complete this project. The cool thing is I have previously met my mentor. He is a friend of one of my colleagues (Shahin Dashtgard). He is very nice and I am having a great time working with him (Geoff is his name). He and his wife (Betsy) are in the middle of trying to adopt from China and Alberta. Long story and not mine to tell.
Dinara is doing great! She is most definitely a two year old now. She throws some tantrums when we try and put her to bed and has become a little more fussy with food. We purchased the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers (we loved the baby version) and it turns out she is still considered an "Angel" Toddler. This worries Andrew and I...what will one from our genetics be like then. I'm pretty sure that neither of us where Angel's while toddlers...ok I know we weren't. Anyhow...Dinara is developing great. She loves to play and is babbling more then ever. She knows more then 75-100 English words and loves to say the sounds that animals and some vehicles make. I love seeing how she changes day to day. I really missed that while in Argentina. Well today was Mother's Day and my hubby (bless his soul) doesn't quite understand how important this day is to me. I did inform him today that it ranks as high as my birthday and our anniversary but not as high as Christmas. He didn't realize this. I did get a card and a wonderful breakfast at Ricky's in SE Calgary. We then went shopping for most of the morning trying to find a dyson hand held vacuume. Of course the last place we go is where we find it. Thanks God! I even tried to find it yesterday.
Oh yeah! We had our first Gotcha Day on May 3rd. We had a great time together. We went to Canmore for Breakfast and Lunch and walked around the town for the day. It was lots of fun. We really love our little girl and we cherish everyday that we have with her. We are soooo lucky to have her in our lives. It was really a great day to spend together. We also spoiled her rotten with gifts (really are you surprised). Now it isn't that we think Dinara needs all these toys...its the fact that she has two big kids for parents who love to play with the toys too.
Well that's enough for now. I hope you still are reading this log. Lots of love from our family to yours and Happy Mother's Day to any Mom reading this blog (feline kids matter too).
Now for some pictures...
Dinara wearing a gift from Kat's Step-mom in Wyoming...Kat's Step-mom is from Wyoming not that Dinara was there.
Same as the above photo.
Our place in Calgary before Andrew moved everything and made it more Dinara-proof.
Same as above.
Dinara on Gotcha Day (#1) with her present. She loves the Baby Einsteins and this is Rocket (and crew) from the children's show. Mommy and Daddy are not as fond of it anymore (before it made noise all day long we liked it).
Dinara and her Daddy in the parking lot of the Radisson Hotel in Canmore. We went there for our Gotcha Day breakfast.
Dinara in her really cute Giraffe inspired printed hoodie. We love it. Andrew says that when he goes to play group he can spot her from a mile away (or 1.6 km for us metric people).
Daddy and Dinara by the river in Canmore. The three sisters mountains are in the backgrounds.
Dinara in her new cool shades.
Dinara making funny faces in her new cool shades.
