Happy Birthday Dinara!!!

Well it has sure been a long time since we updated...sorry guys. I just got so busy at school and getting my consulting stuff all sorted out. Well we have had a few more milestones...Dinara's second birthday was on the 17th and we had a good ole time spoiling her. We went to Fudrucker's for breakfast, had veggie soup (her favorite) for lunch and Mommy made chicken nuggets, broccoli and tater tots for supper (another of her faves). We didn't do the birthday cupcakes until the next day...too late for her to eat them after supper. Also, it took my girl almost two full weeks to finally get all her christmas presents open. She loved them all and has a wonderful time playing with all of her new toys. I have to now go through her toys and see what we are going to keep out and what we are going to put away for the next baby. Dinara is speaking more words but no sentences yet. She also babbles all the time now. Once she starts to speak I think it will be a never ending conversation...just like with me. She loves to say Shoe and Snow. She also says Shark when ever Bruce shows up in Finding Nemo. She says Tree, Uh-oh, Cold, and Wow frequently now...in the right context too. Whenever she gets near things that are hot she says ow ow. Very cute. Trying to ask her if her feet are hot was funny yesterday as she went ow ow and blew on them.

What else to tell you...ummmm...I am a consultant for Imperial Oil now. All the forms have been signed and I start work this weekend. It will be lots of fun and I get paid too!

Oh! We have all the parts to our Disneyland Vacation booked now but are sad that our friend Bridget (Aunty Bridget) will only be able to join us for 1.5 days...work got hectic for her. Well we appreciate the time we will see her and the fact that she took care of our accomodations with her Disney Vacation Club points...which we are going to buy into while down there. We can't wait to go to Disney and show Dinara everything. Aunty Bridget sent Dinara (and us too) some presents and they arrived on Tuesday. Dinara now has a Finding Nemo musical snowglobe (in her bedroom), a Nemo purse, the invitation from Disneyland inviting Press to the opening of the Finding Nemo ride (which has the seagulls saying Mine, Mine, Mine when you open it), a set of Disney DVDs that are specifically of things in the Disney Parks, a stitch collectors pin, Disney Christmas ornament, and two Richard Scary books; for Mommy a wine magnet made out of Pennsylvanian Slate (too cool), and scrapbooking stuff too. Thank you for all of it you are really too generous with us. We can't wait to see Aunty Bridget in February.

A quick thanks to Aunty Bonnie and Uncle Phil for the Winnie the Pooh dial phone for Dinara. She loved it.

Enjoy the Pics...there are lots.


Daddy and Dinara reading together. Note what Andrew is reading...


Dinara opening one of her last presents from Grama and Grampa...a Winnie the Pooh Glow toy. It plays music too.


Dinara opening one of her last presents from Nana and Opa...a musical dancing dog. It plays classical music. Very nice.


Uncle Craig chasing Dinara with her present from Uncle John...we call him Big Ben (the bear not Uncle Craig).


Dinara making a silly face. I included this just cause it was a fun thing to do.


Daddy and Dinara dancing to Disney music. Fun, fun, fun.


Birthday girl in her birthday outfit. She is waving hi to the camera. So cute. She is growing up so fast.


Daddy watching over Dinara as she runs around at Fuddruckers. They know her by name there.


Dinara trying to feed Mommy. So cute!


Daddy and Dinara getting Birthday kisses.


Dinara with her new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse play set.


Dinara with her new Mickey Mouse Bathtime play set.


Dinara with her Bath time set and her new Mickey Car...she has a Minnie car too.


Dinara opening her tea set from Grama and Grampa.


Dinara with her new tea set.

The next four photos are of Dinara and Mommy having a little tea party.









Dinara hugging the doggy book that Great Uncle Dale gave her for her birthday.


Dinara in her birthday chair. It is a recliner too. Walmart rocks!


Dinara in the fancy dress that Grama and Grampa bought her for Christmas. I thought it might be nice to play dress up for a while.


Dinara eating her birthday supper.


Dinara with her birthday cupcake.


Dinara enjoying eating her birthday cupcake.


Dinara still enjoying her cupcake.


Messy smile girl.


Dinara playing with her Nemo purse.


Dinara's musical Nemo snowglobe. It is awesome and didn't freeze in transport.


Dinara pointing at her new snowglobe and yelling "MO"...which is what she says for Nemo.


Dinara with her Nemo purse. She drags it all over the house.


Another Nemo purse shot...oh and Dinara is there too.

Well bye for now.

Christmas on the Island Part Two...Thanks to Opas Pictures

Ok, Ok...I know I already talked about our early Christmas on Vancouver Island but I have finally gone through the pictures that Nana and Opa took and I want to share them with all of you. After looking at their quality though I want to convince Opa to get a digital SLR camera (if only to take fancy pics of his grandaughter). Anyway here they are...mucho cute.

Opa feeding Dinara "cappuccino"...which is really milk foam with Bernard Callebaut chocolate shavings on it. She loves it...obviously.


Daddy feeding Dinara in the food court in Naniamo.


Dinara meeting Poppy for the first time. Poppy is Andrew's grandfather...a little trivia for you there.


Dinara meeting a local dog in a neighbour's driveway. She loved the littel bundle of energy. Can't miss the dog with that vest on though...too cute.


Three generations are never enough...just repeating myself there.


Andrew displaying the new Christmas Stocking his Mom (and Lea) made for him. He is also displaying that he doesn't understand what a Christmas Stocking is really used for...don't worry he figured it out eventually.


Mommy, Dinara and Carole Matt enjoying the Curious George book bought for Dinara from the Matt family. I think Carole is smitten...she can't even look at the camera she loves Dinara so much.


The Pearson and The Hornicks (I hoped I spelled that correctly). The brought Dinara an Exxon tiger for Christmas...after my heart they are.


Nana is showing Dinara how to walk down the stairs. Thankfully the stairs at Nana's and Opa's are shallow.


The Seibts and The Pearsons celebrate Christmas!


Nana, Opa and Dinara around the Christmas tree. Ok in front of the Christmas tree.


Dinara wearing her new touque from Lea and Joe. Isn't it darling?


Mommy, Daddy and Dinara in front of Nana's big Christmas tree.


Nana, Opa and Dinara in front of the Christmas tree.


Another picture of Nana, Opa and Dinara in front of the Christmas tree.

Well that's all for now. I'll post some New Year's pictures later. Have a great Holiday everyone.

Christmas, Christmas and More Christmas

Well we have had an amazing Christmas this year! Dinara was wonderful and it was great having Grama and Grampa over. We ate, drank and were definitely merry. We were all spoiled this Christmas and have Santa to thank for many of our gifts. He was very generous this year...especially to our little one. She still hasn't unwrapped all her gifts but oh well. I'm sure they will be unwrapped before next Christmas. The only downside to this Christmas is my mom (Grama) was a little under the weather. In fact my dad left yesterday and my mom was so sick she stayed. We have purchased a flight from Saskatoon to Edmonton for her for tonight. She is feeling much better today...especially after sleeping all of yesterday. We bug her and say she just wanted a break from Grampa...hee, hee. What else? Oh! Our friends John and Craig arrived last night. It is nice to see them again. We have chatted shortly over the webcam but that's really all since June. We miss them lots and it is great to talk to them in person again. Lots of gaming to be done over the next week. They also brought her a really, really big gift...a big teddy bear! We call it big ben. Well that's all for now. Enjoy the pics. Have a great New Year. Hope to see most of you soon.

Grampa pushing Dinara around on her Winnie the Pooh mobile. Sorry for the photo orientation something happened and it came out this way. I'll try and fix it later.


Grama and Dinara watching Christmas DVDs. So cute how Dinara would cuddle with her.


Dinara playing Peeka Boo with Mommy under the living room coffee table.


Three generations is always fun!


See what Santa brought Dinara. She loved her MegaBlocks! Daddy did too.


Dinara with her Pooh and Tigger toys (from Santa also).


Dinara showing off her Piglet toy.


Dinara kissing her Eeyore toy. Very cute. She kissed many of her gifts this Christmas.


Andrew and My presents from Grampa. We are wearing them as I am typing this. We love them. Andrew says it is fitting to have these as we are such proud parents. He can't wait to show it to the guys he games with.


Mommy and Dinara cuddling. She needed a little comforting after a NO from Daddy. Yes I am wearing a Stitch Christmas hat (bought on our honeymoon in Disneyworld).


Dinara kissing the Xbox gift she gave to her Daddy. Boy does she know him or what?


Beautiful smiling girl!


Princess Dinara trapped in a Megablock castle.


Princess Dinara showing she doesn't need no Prince Charming to rescue her...she can get out herself.


Another beautiful smiling girl...wait no that's the same cute bug.


Dinara in the sweater that Nana and Opa bought her when they were on their Baltic cruise.


The Swarkovski crystal Christmas ornament that Grama and Grampa bought her this year.


The Pearsons and Watsons toasting for Christmas...Opa would be proud.


Dinara hamming it up. Boy was she being silly this holiday season...well she is always a goof ball but it is easier to capture this with Mommy's new camera.


Dinara hugging her new teddy bear...still partially wrapped.

Well I think that is enough pictures for now. Can you tell Mommy liked her new camera this Christmas? Lots of love from us to you. Bye bye for now.

Just in case...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As the title says I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. This is just in case we don't get to post until well after the holiday season. I'm not saying we won't post but if I am busy (which will likely be the case) I just want you all to know that me and my family wish you and yours a great holiday season.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Hello Everybody out there in Internetland. We have had a fantastic day playing in the snow. Well we actually only played in the snow for 30 minutes but it was enough to last all day for us. We have had a major dump of snow here in Saskatoon and Andrew decided we should go out and enjoy it. Plus we got to test out Dinara's new Minnie Mouse snow suit. It works perfectly...she was as toasty when we took her out of it as when we put her in it. However, our little bug does not like having her mouth and face covered with a scarf (my scarf from when I was little I might add). Oh well. It was warm here just snowy so we didn't bother her about it too much. Oh, to get back to the main story...we went tobogganing today. It was fantastic! We had a great time and Dinara was really enjoying the snow. She didn't really enjoy it when it was piled up near her face but she loved sliding down on the toboggan and scooping it with her hands. We tried to get her to make a mini me snow angel but she is a little too young yet (I photographed what we did get though). I think we may have finally finished our Christmas shopping today...well for those in Saskatoon. The rest of you we are shopping for after the big rush. It is much more difficult to go shopping long term when you have a little one that constantly wants to be entertained (and no I am not talking about Andrew there). I think we managed nicely though.
I think that is enough for today. Hopefully we will be seeing some of you in the new year...hint, hint there Edmonton friends. Miss you guys lots. Talks soon.

Dinara in her new snowpants. Yes, Mommy was trying to get out of the shot but Daddy thought it would be funny to include her.


Daddy trying to get Dinara to walk to him in the snow. She was a little trepidacious...as you can tell.


Dinara's mini me snow angel. She is just too cute for words.


Daddy and Dinara going down the hill.


Dinara going down the hill by herself. Such a big girl!


Dinara after tripping and falling in the snow.


Dinara trying to get up from the snow.


Dinara standing in the snow.


Dinara having a post snow drink of warm milk, vanilla and a little honey and talking on her cellphone. She just loves Mommy's old phone.

I hope you enjoy all the pics. Lots of love from us to you.

Dinara's Passport Application

Well today we went and applied for Dinara's first Canadian Passport. It is so cheap for children's passports ($27). Everything went fine and we should have her passport in the beginning of January. We have also booked our airfare for our Disneyland trip and we leave the 18th of February return on the 22nd (sorry Mom but I/we are going to miss your birthday...again). We are very excited!! Our good friend Bridget (the Disney friend) is going to arrange for accomodations with her Vacation Club points (which we are going to buy into when we are down there...hopefully the Canadian dollar stays good) and we will buy our passes later this month for the parks. Dinara is free as she is under 3 years old. Well that's all for today. TTFN.

Dinara's Citizenship Card

Just a short note to tell you all that her citizenship card arrived today. It is so cute. We are going to the passport office tomorrow to hand in her application for a passport. We are almost 2.5 months in advance of our Disney trip (which we booked our airfare today) so it should hopefully (keep all fingers crossed) arrive before we have to leave. I'll update soon. Not much more to report really. Lots of love from us to you.