A LOOK AT MY FIRST 3 WEEKS...

The day I was born... December 9th, 2008.

Check out my cool shades... what a superstar!

Finally home and some quality time with Dad

Nap time with my Opa

Another nap, but in my cool swing, lovin' it!!!

Took Declan to get weighed yesterday and he was well over his birth weight, 6lbs 11oz and growing, mom & dad are extremely happy to be getting our little man pudged up! Hope that everyone had a great Christmas and we wish all of you a Happy New Year!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Declan's first Christmas went off without a hitch! We spent the afternoon out at the farm yesterday and he did so well, slept through dinner and pretty much the whole afternoon. A pretty tuckered out little man...

SNUGGLES WITH DAD...

Declan loves to cuddle... a nice Sunday morning sleep in with my boys!

HERE HE IS...

Here he is catching some rays in the special care nursery...what a cool little dude!Finally... home sweet home. We brought Declan home on Wednesday and all is going well, he is a good little eater and sleeper and loves to snuggle :) Andrew and I are so proud and feel so blessed to have this little man in our lives. Declan looks forward to meeting all of you!

DECLAN ROBERT WARD

What a week!!! Well, where to begin... Declan decided to make his appearance 5 weeks early and give us all a very BIG surprise! He was born on Tuesday December 9th @ 2:19am weighing in @ 6lbs 6 ozs and 19 inces long. My labor and delivery went relatively well, struggled abit to get the little gaffers head out, but other then that all went well. Declan is getting stronger everyday, he is now off his CPAP and antibiotics and is feeding well. Hopefully he will be off his little nasal oxygen prongs by tomorrow and his nutrtional supplements anyday now if he keeps up the good work with his feedings, which so far doesn't seem to be an issue as he sucks back his bottles in seconds :) Andrew & I are doing well, and are REALLY looking forward to bringing him home hopefully before Christmas. Mom, Dad and Dan are heading west for Christmas so it should be alot of fun! I will post some pics of our little man once he has all of his tubes out and is a little less jaundice. Declan looks EXACTLY like Andrew though. The nurses on the NICU have been outstanding and we feel very lucky to have him in such a wonderful facility. It has been a week of emotions like I never imagined... welcoming our son and remembering our daughter and celebrating both! Andrew also had his birthday today, Happy Birthday Daddy!!! We feel extremely blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives and we would just like to thank each and every one of you for all your well wishes and support over the past year and we will keep you all updated on Declan's progress.

Love Andrew & Allie

LET IT SNOW...

Well winter has arrived and it is great! It definitely feels like Christmas here since yesterdays snowfall. Hopefully everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit!

LITTLE UPDATES...

All is well here in Calgary, winter has arrived and Christmas is in the air. The house is all decorated and Andrew got all three peaks on our house this lit up this year... picture to follow soon enough :) I have my last day of work on Friday and I am thoroughly looking forward to being home and enjoying this time before our new addition arrives. Mom was out a couple of weeks ago for a visit and we had a great time shopping and a great visit. Hard to believe only 6 weeks to go... can't wait!!! Anyways, hope that all is well with everyone and we'll be keeping everyone posted.

BABY UPDATE...

Went for a 3D-4D ultrasound today and was able to get a couple of shots of the little man. He wasn't in the best position for his photoshoot, and enjoyed having his hands infront of his face the majority of the time. The technician, with a smile on her face, kindly told me that there was not alot of room in there for him as he is quite a big boy, I am guessing he will be an 8-9 pounder, anyone want to place bets?

PUMPKINS 2008

I have to give Andrew 90% of the carving credit, he did the majority of the carving...pretty spooky!!! We will probably have about 80-100 kids tomorrow night as the weather is suppose to be great, they are calling for a high of 18 tomorrow so it should be relatively nice for all the trick or treaters.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

BABY WARD'S NEW DIGS...

Andrew & I got the baby's room finished this past weekend, couple little things left to do but for the most part all ready for our new little man.

FALL 2008...

Fall has definitly arrived here in cowtown... love it though, my favorite time of year! We had a great Thanksgiving with Randy, Marilyn and Andrew's grandma Dorothy out at the farm and as you will see down below, our own little turkey is cooking nicely in his own oven. Everything is still going well, I will be 28 weeks on Tuesday, hard to believe how quickly time flies! Everything is pretty quiet though on the home front.

PUMPKIN BREAD WITH MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Fall is in the air so I thought what better then a pumpkin loaf to get into the season. This recipe is sooooo tasty, at least I think it is, that I had to share it...

Dry Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups of flour - I used whole wheat
- 3 cups of white sugar - I used splenda and only 2 cups
- 2 tsp baking soda
- shake of salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cup of semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

*** Mix all together except for chocolate chips, preheat oven to 350 F ***

Wet Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup of canola oil - I used 1 cup of applesauce
- 2/3 cup of water
- 2 cups of plain canned pumpkin- I used pumpkin pie filling and it was fine

*** Beat the eggs with a fork or whisk and add remaining wet ingredients. Gradually blend the wet to the dry ingredients until evenly mixed. Fold in the Chocolate chips. Coat 2 loaf pans evenly and half mixture into each pan, or I did 1 loaf pan and 12 muffins and bake for 50-60 minutes, you probably only need about 30 min. if you do the muffins, let cool and ENJOY!!!! ***

OUR TRIP BACK TO ONTARIO...

We had a great trip back to Ontario this summer! It was sooo nice to see everyone and have a bunch of great visits that were long overdue. We were up at Art & Lorna's cottage for a couple days which is always alot of fun, a couple of shots below with Andrew rippin' around on the SeaDoo... so much fun! Great times with family & friends and we look forward to everyone meeting our new little man at our next visit back!

Us on the dock up at 6 mile

Andrew & Abby
(Abby is Dan's boxer for those of you who have not yet met her)

Andrew on the SeaDoo!!!

I'll be on there next year!!! Can't wait!!!

IT'S A BOY...

We went for my ultrasound today and all went well. We are happy to announce that baby Ward will be a boy! A couple of pics from the ultrasound to have a peek at our new little man! Everything else went well at the appointment and we are looking forward to meeting our new addition in the new year.

STAMPEDE SMOKER PARTY

What would Stampede be without a BBQ Smoker Party, horses and quadding? Randy taking Secret for a ride... or is it the other way around?

The keeper's of the BBQ, Andrew & Ed did an awesome job with the smoker!


Auntie Nita & Andrew out for a spin on the quad...

And finally... the BBQ!!! The ribs were outstanding and everyone enjoyed the day!

FIRST PEEK AT BABY...

All went well, baby is measuring a little larger so little Ward might be arriving a wee bit earlier then expected, we'll see....

NEWS FROM CALGARY...

Well, for those of you who don't know yet... Andrew & I are expecting again and baby is due to arrive January 14th, 2009. Everything is going well, I have had 3 ultrasounds already and all is good so far. I am just over 11 weeks and my doctor is wonderful and taking great care of mom & baby. More news, Andrew has started a new position this week with a different company and is very pleased about his move and looking forward to some new challenges. I am planning on coming back to visit the second week in August for about a week, still on the fence if Andrew will be joining me, but hopefully :) . Stampede is approaching quickly, we have our friends from BC coming into town for a couple of days for some good ol' country stampeding which we are all looking forward to. Well that about wraps it up... try and get some pics up in the next couple of weeks. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer! xoxo

SPRING... Finally!

Well, I think that spring has finally arrived despite our miserable weather last week with our Vancouver like rain. Beautiful out today, the sun in bright, flowers are blooming, green grass and it's about 20 degrees. YEAHHHHH!!! Things are all good here, Andrew has been golfing as much as possible and I have been finishing up some more larger blankets for the hospitals for the spouses when they are there waiting in the rooms. Nice to have something to snuggle up with. Dad is coming for a brief visit at the end of June and then maybe a trip home in August for Andrew & I, haven't quite worked that all out yet, but it would be nice to see everyone! Hope everyone is well and loooking forward to the summer!

WHAT NOT TO WEAR...

The girls from my office and I went to this AWESOME studio in Calgary called Studio Gorgeous. There was six of that went and it was like What not to Wear... SO FUN!!!! They had the studio designed beautifully, with racks of clothes, wine & appies and totally girly. It was like playing dress up for big girls! We all had a great time and made just a few purchases $$$... love my new jeans called Miss Me's, great for all of us girls with a little junk in the trunk! The Studio books private parties as well as you can hire either one of them to clean out your closet and re-vamp your wardrobe! You can also hire them as a personal shopper for whatever your needs may be and these ladies are fantastic. We learned some great tips and had a great time!!!

STRATHMORE HOCKEY

Andrew's buddy sent him this picture... can you find Andrew???

WINTER'S BACK... AGAIN!!!

Well Mother Nature decided to give us one last blast of winter this past week, hopefully spring will be on the way, it is April 26th!!! Andrew is wanting to play golf BADLY! and the weather has been not helpful. Other then the lousy weather things are good in cowtown and we are well. Hope all is well with everyone!!!

WHILE YOU WERE OUT... IN CALGARY

Marilyn & I have BUSY the last 2 days re-decorating our basement. It is the only room in the house that has needed some TLC since we moved in to make it feel like ours and it finally happened. Andrew helped us last night paint but has not yet seen the finished product, I am so excited for him to see it!!! This is the BEFORE picture...The AFTER pictures...

The last 2 days have been great getting it finished but I am glad it's done and now we can enjoy our space even more!!!

WINTER'S BACK...

We woke up to a lovely blanket of snow this morning so to all of our family in Ontario... don't feel so bad, we are still getting winter here too!!!

We bought a new camera and this is one of the settings it has... shooting the picture in black & white and highlighting one/two colors that you chose, I am having lots of fun with it!
HAPPY SPRING!

MORE CRAFTS...

We also made this box at the workshop. Pretty easy... all you need is 5 4x4 pieces of chipboard and paper. Modge podge your paper to the chipboard and let set, make sure you apply a thin coat on top of the paper as well. Punch 5 holes along 3 sides of 4 pieces of chipboard and all four sides on the 5th piece which is your bottom piece of the box. Then just weave through you ribbon and you have a great little keepsake/storage box.

CARDS...

I went to a card worshop today and here are some of the cards we did...

FLORIDA

Andrew & I just returned from a great week in Florida with mom, dad, Dan & Lori. Golf, shopping, great food and the beach was enjoyed but mostly... the long overdue visit. Here is a little floridian wildlife that we saw one day.

the alligators
another gator and turtle catching some rays

some kind of pinkbirds with a spoon shaped bill which scooped up their food

LUNAR ECLIPSE

This is a picture of the moon last night that my girlfriend's neighbour took... pretty cool.

The great weather continues here in Calgary, 11 degrees today at one point!

CHINOOK...

I have to say the best thing about winter in Calgary is the chinooks that roll in and make it feel like spring again. Today was absolutly beautiful outside! The temp. was 13 at one point today and the sun has been beaming all day. Days are longer and spring is in the air, LOVE IT!!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

QUILTING 101... continued

Well, this is the almost finished product... couple more things to do but not bad for a beginner. Quilting is much more difficult then I thought so my hat goes off to all the ladies in my life who do this and do it well! We will probably take this class again at some point just to get better at the basics.

QUILTING 101...

Well, I have done it... I am taking a quilting class with my friend Danielle & her friend Erin. It is suppose to be a beginner class...not so much. Anyways started it tonight and everything went well so hopefully things will continue down that road. I will post the finished product when it's done for everyone to eww and ahh over!!!

Weather update - driving home it was -30! BURRRRRRR!!!
Hope everyone is staying warm!

FOOTPRINTS...

I have been working on a scrapbook for all of Julia's momentos. Finally finished it last week and it looks beautiful. These are Julia's little footprints, not so little for a wee tiny girl. She definitly had her daddy's feet!

Happy 2008!!!

Well another year past and one that will never be forgotten. Andrew & I are doing well and looking forward to a great 2008, with the hopes of little footsteps to come. I am looking forward to going back to work this week and getting back to a "normal" routine again.

We want to thank everyone again for all of your on going love & support and wish all of you a fantastic new year with plenty of health & happiness.

Big hugs to everyone!!!