Toontown

We just got back this week from visiting Colin, Stacey and the fam in Saskatoon. They just had a little guy 2 weeks ago named Tyler Michael Gibb. What a freakin' little cutie!!! I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my baby was that small at some point. Even smaller, by the time we saw him, he was 1 pound heavier than Sterling was at the same age. Yeah, unbelievable that you forget that they were once that tiny. It made me want to order another one of these things because I miss that. Just sleeping and cuddling you all day long.


Wow, a year happens so fast once you have kids. I have 3 weeks until I start work again and my little boy will be a 1 year old. Pretty worked up about it...I haven't been able to sleep that last few weeks because I am panicking about leaving the little guy. The longest I have been away from him is 4 hours and that only happened a few times. I love going out twice a month for date night, but 10 hours away from him each day is going to be a killer. I just need to focus on this isn't going to be forever. HUrm...getting pregnant is seeming all too appealing lately. Get another maternity leave to spend with m y crazy midgets and get a cute little thing to cuddle with. I am sure it will happen all too soon and I will be wondering what I got myself into. That is about what I thought my whole last pregnancy.


Sterling is doing good these days. What a little trooper. He has handled 4 massive road trips (Calgary - Washington State, Washington - Utah, Utah-Calgary and lastly Calgary - Saskatoon and back, not to mention the 50 4 hour trips we have taken this summer) with ease and we are thinking about another one in a week. I am trying to suck all the fun time out my last few weeks, plus it would be great to see Ryan and Kaylee living out in Rossland. He is learning all sorts of new things each day. He can say apple, mama, papa, dog, duck, ball, bottle and a couple others that are escaping my mind at the moment. He can also do a few tricks like clap, wave hello and goodbye, point to his nose and others. I love this stage, it is so cute!!! He is going to be fitted for a standing frame at his next Physio/Occupational Therapist visit as well as AFO's. The AFO's will straighten out his feet and ankles and help him to stand. He won't be able to stand without a standing frame or dynamic stander but that is something at least. I am really excited for him to be able to do that!!! Anyways...Here are a few of the pictures I took of my new nephew (Tyler) and Sterling's replacement as youngest baby in the fam. Check em out. Late!

-Alauna

Wheels

Sterling got his first set of wheels today. It took us about a day to make it but we think that it turned out rather well. We would at least like to think so... They call these things star cars and they usually look like this...

but they don't sell them anymore because they didn't enough sales to continue this item. We wanted to make it something that when he was a little older, he thought would be cool and fun to ride in. So we made him a little fire truck. I am still looking for a fire bell to put on the front and a steering wheel but it is pretty much done. We set him in it and he instantly knew that he had to turn the wheels to move. He can only turn himself into circles right now, but at least he is moving. He has really been wanting to get down and play and move lately but he wont cooperate with tummy time so he hasn't learned to army crawl. We are so proud of the little guy and it totally warms our hearts to see him learning to move himself in any way. Hopefully he will get the hang of this so he can get around quicker.. What a little trooper we have! Here is vid. of the little guy trying his truck out.

-Alauna

Vacations not so vacationey!

Wow, that was a really long vacation. We had so much freakin' fun but it really took it all out of me just being gone for 2 weeks with a midget. We left on a thursday and drove to Bellingham, Washington. On Friday we went to the outlet malls and got some killer deals and then drove to Ocean Shores, Washington. It was only supposed to be a 4 hour drive but the horrible Seattle traffic made us casualties of war. The drive took us 8 hours and Sterls was getting so mad at being stuck in the car for 11 hours the first day and 8 the next. Oceans Shores was pretty small but we had a lot of fun. Trevor and I rented mopeds and cruised the beach. Apparently, the beach on the penisula (It was about 1 mile wide so the ocean was on both sides of us and a lake was in the middle of it, SO AWESOME!!!) that we stayed on is a state highway so that was pretty rad.
We also took some speedy go-karts around the track and played skee-ball. Thanks to my parents for providing the free time share for us and for watching Sterling so we could pretend to be kids again.



Sterling loved the beach. We put him down and he instantly starting digging a huge hole in front of him. He really hated the feel of the sand though and kept trying to wipe his hands off.
After a week in Ocean Shores we decided last minute to go to Utah for the week to visit all our friends and family. I loved the drive from Portland to Pendelton. So gorgeous and green and made me want to move. Utah was unseasonably good tempered in its weather. I usually bake and just want to die because the heat makes me really sick. I was actually able to go out and enjoy myself for once...I have no idea how I survived there for 7 years in the awful heat. By the time we drove from Utah to home, Sterling was just done and hated the car. He whined the whole way home and cried for the last few hours. I can't really blame him, if I wasn't an adult that is supposed to be responsible and deal with stuff like that, I would have balled like a baby. When he wasn't whining he was saying "Uh-oh" repeatedly for hours on end. He learned it this trip and he was just go on and on. I must say it was rather cute though because we knew he was awake when we would hear him start saying it again and again. I was so sick of the car as we did about 53 hours of driving in 2 weeks. We had a lot of fun though and it was really fun to see all my friends that I only get to see about once every 1-2 years.


Sadly, I only have a little over a month left until my maternity leave is up. I have spent 24/7 with Sterling since he was born, so I don't know how I am going to adjust to only seeing him 3-4 hours a night. Hopefully it will all work out and be a smooth transition for us both.


Anyways, had fun but really tiring be on vacation with the little guy. He is a stud though, he barely cried or whined the first 2 legs of our trip.

-Alauna

Hope Classic 2010

So it is official. I am helping organize the 2010 first annual Hope Classic Wheel and Run in Calgary. Trevor and I are on the SBHASA board of directors.. It is in August every year and the Canadian national Spina Bifida Association is trying to make this a huge national event accross Canada. So I am really excited because this year Trevor and I are heading to Edmonton in order to run this 8km run. So everyone needs to mark their calendars for the middle of august next year and attend this event. There is a 5km wheel, walk and run and a 8km wheel, walk and run. It has one of the lowest entry fees for any run only $18 dollars and you get a free t-shirt and a huge barbeque after. Plus, all the money goes towards promoting awareness about Spina Bifida. Check out http://hopeclassic.ca/en/ for more information. So freakin' excited that we can mix things up in the association and do some good.

-Alauna

JUNE IS SPINA BIFIDA and HYDROCEPHALUS AWARENESS MONTH!!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that June is the official national month of awareness for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.  Here is a link for more information: http://www.sbhasa.ca/ .  Anyone and everyone in their child bearing years needs to be taking 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily BEFORE they are pregnant.  The defect associated with Spina Bifida occurs the first week of development and BEFORE YOU KNOW YOU ARE PREGNANT!  50% of pregnancies are unplanned so this means everyone should be taking folic acid to help decrease the cases of Spina Bifida that are occurring.  Some cases such as mine own aren't preventable but most cases are preventable.  Tell all your friends to help decrease cases of this disability that creates many challenges for these children born with defect!!!

-Alauna