Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve! Crazy… 

Today we baked cookies to leave for Santa, we said goodbye to Penn (Talulah's Elf on the Shelf… I'll explain in a bit), we had dinner, played, danced…. It was a really good day.

So, Talulah's Elf on the Shelf.

It's a pretty cool little thing. It's a toy elf that comes with a book explaining what his/her job is. The story says that the elf's job is to be a scout for Santa to help him keep tabs on who's being naughty and who's being nice. The elf watches it's assigned child(ren) and each night goes back to Santa with a report. (Magic helps the elf go really fast.) Then the next day, the elf is back to keep watch from a new spot.

Another thing that's pretty cool is that the child(ren) who receives the elf is in charge of naming it. I asked Talulah what his name should be and she said, "Pen". So, we named him Pen and kept reading the book. At the end of the book you fill in the name that you've given the elf. While I was writing I said to Talulah, "Pen. P - E - N." and Talulah put her hands up and informed me, "TWO enn's!"

Sounds fabulous, PENN (with two n's) it is! 

Pretty effing adorable if you ask me. And a pretty cool name for an elf.

Talulah likes to say hi and bye to Penn each day. But she doesn't like to talk to him by herself. I think she's a little creeped out by the fact that some mini dude comes and goes as he pleases and his job is just to WATCH HER. I mean… It sounds creepy… Especially if you're two years old.

She really doesn't like the idea of Santa either. She told me the other morning that she doesn't like presents from Santa, only from Mommy. 

She's so cute I think I might actually die…

Talulah was sooooooo lovey today. Tonnes of hugs and kisses, random I love ou Mommy's, a couple of Sowwy Mommy's (not sure what she was sorry for, but it was adorable), snuggles, smiles, giggles… Goodness. This girl is as perfect as they come.

LOVE

Anyway, I'll let you all know how the morning goes and if Talulah decides Santa might actually be an okay guy.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your day is filled with family, friends, love and laughs. 

:)

One of Penn's many perches.

My Sweet Little Strawberry

BOO!

Halloween has come and gone somewhat uneventful for me. (Since I'm not into the whole scare-the-pants-off-myself business… It would take me a year to recover!) But Talulah was quite the social butterfly!

Her daycare had a Halloween party on Friday (Oct 29th) so she got to dress up in her costume and celebrate with her daycare buddies! She had lots of fun and all of her teachers ooohed and aahhhhed all over her.

Saturday morning we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed for dance class and Talulah got to dress up AGAIN! What a treat! All of the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes for dance class. There were a couple of fairies, a batman, a superman, a cat, a clown, a skeleton, and our very own little strawberry.

Talulah also got to dress up on Halloween and go trick or treating with her Dad! She dressed up as a butterfly and, although she was shy going up to the houses, she had a great time. I haven't seen the pics yet, but I bet she was the cutest little butterfly around!

TWO YEARS OLD

Seriously? How did this happen? Didn't I just have Talulah a few months ago? I can't believe she's two years old. TWO YEARS OLD. Wow.

September 25, 2008.... Hands down, the best day of my life. Let's reminisce, shall we? (I'll skip all of the gruesome details. Although I find them interesting, they're not necessary.)

9:30 am - My water broke. I wasn't sure if it actually broke... It wasn't dramatic like it is in the movies. But it got me thinking.... OMG, this baby can come ANY TIME. I've got to make some lasagnas! (I was making a bunch of little lasagnas to freeze so we'd have easy healthy dinners on hand after "the baby" came.)

Intermittently throughout the day I would poke around to see if I could make the baby move. It hadn't moved nearly as much as usual.

5:00 pm - Donovan arrived home from work. I gathered all the hospital stuff at the front door and Donovan loaded it into the car while I told him how I was worried because the baby hadn't moved very much, and I wasn't sure if my water broke, and pretty much gave him every detail about my day.

5:26 pm - We had been in the car for about a minute when I had my first contraction. I said, "Oh, I'm having a contraction." Donovan asked how I knew it was a real contraction and not a braxton hicks contraction and I said I just knew. Then, when I had my second contraction Donovan said, "Um, but that's only 5 minutes apart." Throughout the pregnancy we were told to stay home until the contractions were 5 minutes apart and then head to the hospital. So I said, "Well, good thing we're already on our way to the hospital!" For the whole car ride (about 20 mins) I was having contractions between 4 & 5 mins apart.

Approx 6:00pm - We arrived at the hospital and when asked why we were there I told them that the baby had a big decrease in movement, I wasn't sure if my water broke, and I was having contractions 4-5 mins apart for the past half an hour. They hooked me up to a monitor to check baby's heart rate and to check my contractions. Then a doc came to check me, she confirmed that my water broke and that I was 2 cm dilated. The nurse suggested she send me home because I'd be more comfortable, but the doctor said that she wanted to keep me in triage (not admitted yet) to monitor me for a bit because my contractions were so close together.

*The timing's mostly "best guess" from here until Talulah was born... I'm guessing based on how long it felt like everything took.*

Approx 6:30 pm - I wandered the halls for a while and Donovan went to call our family and our doula to tell them I was at the hospital and in labour. When he came back, we just wandered the halls together... I handed him my water to hold each time I had a contraction so I could hold onto the rail in the hallway and sway back and forth.

Approx 8:30 pm - Roamed the halls having contractions until they just changed some way. They got much harder and just felt different. I asked a doctor if someone could check me because I "just felt different". She checked me and I was 4-5 cm dilated.

Approx 9:30 pm - Donovan called the doula again to let her know the status (4-5 cm dilated). She told him to call her back at 10:00 for an update and depending on how far I progressed she'd likely come to the hospital at that point. By the time Donovan got back to the triage after the one short phone call, I had one particular contraction that was crazy and my body just started to push on it's own! I panicked and said to Donovan, "Get a nurse, my body's pushing!" The doctor came in with a "you silly first time mother" look on her face and said, "Things don't normally progress that fast, but I'll check you." When she checked me... I was 9 cm dilated. 9 cm dilated and still in triage, not even admitted to the hospital yet!

Approx 9:40 pm - They sent Donovan down to admit me and when he came back they took me to labor and delivery. I got to start pushing soon after I got there. Between contractions I got to rest for a minute or so and they were great breaks! In fact, I said between pretty much every single push, "I really like the breaks!"

10:30 pm on the nose -  Our baby was born... Donovan looked, shot his arms up in the air with a cheer and said, "IT'S A GIRL!" She was just beautiful right from the start!

There was no time to call the doula before we delivered, but she decided to head over anyway and made it there just in time to see Donovan cut the cord.

We cuddled our baby girl and the doc asked what her name was. I said we didn't know (cause we hadn't decided on only one name). I looked at her and said, "I think her name is Talulah." and Donovan said, "I was just going to say that." So it was decided. Our baby girl's name was Talulah.

The doctor, nurses, Donovan and I all put in our guesses for her weight before she was put on the scale, all of us thinking she was over 7lb. They put her on the scale she was a tiny 5lb 14oz. She was completely healthy, just tiny and perfect...

 

And now.... Two years later (okay... two years and one month later because of my amazing blogging skills) Talulah is a toddler! She's a little bit bigger (weighing in at 26 lb), but still perfect.

A couple of weeks ago Talulah was feeling very affectionate, giving me lots of hugs over and over. I got a particularly huge hug from her said, "Oh Talulah, I love these hugs. What a lucky Mommy." With her head on my shoulder, all snuggled in, she said, "Lucky Talulah." and squeezed me harder.

... Melt...

Here are some September pictures of Talulah the toddler. :)

 

  

  

I'll say it again... What a lucky Mommy. :)

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Yes, I have pictures from Talulah's birthday party... And yes, I will be posting them soon.

I need to dump the pix onto my computer and then upload them. I'll save all the stories about her birthday party and the visit with her Winnipeg grandparents for the post with the pix!

Happy October everyone.... Sigh.... October already.

Summer lovin' happened so fast...

Is it really September?! What happened to summer? I think mother nature forgot about Calgary this year... We've had some really crummy weather!

Talulah and I spent 10 days in Winnipeg. At least mother nature treated us to some beautiful weather while we were there! It was such a great trip.

We got to meet baby Gus for the very first time! Talulah is quite smitten with her cousin, and he's taken a big huge chunk of my heart too. I can't even describe how awesome he is. He's definitely keeping his parents on their toes. He doesn't like to sleep a whole lot at night so his Mom & Dad are very tired... But when that little boy smiles.... MELT! One smile is worth a trillion sleepless nights (easy for me to say, being the auntie who doesn't have to get up all night).

At first Talulah was pretty jealous and didn't want anyone taking any of her Mommy's affections away from her. But once she realized that nobody was going to replace her and that she could "help" take care of Gus, she was all over it! Sure, she bounces him a little to vigerously in his bouncy chair, and squeezes a little too hard when she's excited... But she's such a good big cousin. When he's sad she rubs his head and says, "Okay Dus. No cry. Okay Dus." She's sure to help him keep tabs on his Mom, "No cry Dus, Mommy peeing." ADORABLE.

Every time she sees her Auntie Melissa, Uncle Jay, Nan and Grandpa Jim she falls in love all over again. She had an amazing time picking apples, swimming in the neighbour's pool, exploring at the cottage, reading books, having "tea", telling stories, having sleep-overs with Mommy every night, going to the bakery with Nan (where she gets a cookie every time they go)... What more could a girl ask for?

It was sad to say goodbye, but nice to come home to our own beds! Talulah's already back into the swing of things at her daycare, she was really excited to see her friends after a long 10 days away... And from the welcome she got when we arrived, they were all really excited to see her too!

Here is a link to some pics from the trip. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=255228&id=678560725&l=fe3c379cd5 

We're baaa-aaack...

So, I'm quite aware that it's been a while... But better late than never! Our lives have been quite chaotic lately. Is that really new information though?

We've been getting our condo ready to move into, keeping the house uber clean for showings, making plans, shopping for condo stuff, enjoying any nice weather that comes our way (which has been few and far between so far this summer), going to work, going to daycare..... etc, etc, etc.

Talulah has been exercising her independence lately. She's very much an "I can do it myself" girl. The amount of times I hear "No... Lula" (as in "Stop it, I'll do it") in a day is ridiculous. It's pretty amazing to see her becoming her own little person more and more every day. She's so amazing, funny, caring, feisty, smart, beautiful.... She's the best!

Ponytails, more specifically one ponytail right on top of her head, have been a hit lately. When we're getting ready for work/daycare we do our hair together. Talulah watches me getting ready and then says, "Hair, Lula. Hair, Lula peas." so together we do Talulah's hair. Once her ponytail is in, she smiles at herself in the mirror and makes faces and laughs at herself (in an "I'm so funny" way) and says, "Pretty." It's beyond adorable. When we're at the front door getting ready to leave, she performs in front of the mirror and smiles at her pony tail and again declares how pretty she is.... Precious.

Here's a link to the June photos of Talulah:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235975&id=678560725&l=2852c0baf0


Until next time!

Cousin Update ♥

Talulah has another update on her baby cousin...

Gustav is doing so well that he gets to graduate from the NICU! He will be moving on up to the special nursery to continue his visit in the hospital.

This is great news because it means he's growing, and getting stronger every day... It also means that his parents get to participate more in his daily care, which they've been itching to do since he was born!

Congratulations Gus, Mommy & Daddy!

Here are some pictures of Gus's first snuggle with his Daddy :)

P.S. I haven't had a chance to sort through my own pictures in a while, but I PROMISE that there will be some new pictures of Talulah soon.

Introducing...

Gustav Thomas Nance Colbeck

Talulah would love to introduce the arrival of her new baby cousin Gustav Thomas! Gus was born at 4:24pm on May 26, 2010 and, being 8 weeks early, he weighed in at a wee 3 lb 15 oz... but he's doing great!

Because he's a preemie he'll be spending some time in the NICU. When Gus gets to go home we'll plan a trip out to Winnipeg to meet him.

In the mean time, we get to enjoy these pictures of our handsome little cousin & nephew.

Bus!

This past week Talulah and I were in charge of feeding and hanging out with my dad & Brenda's cats, Maggie & Miss Kitty, while they were away.

This is just a video (a long one... with very poor quality because it was filmed using my phone...) of us hanging out.

Oh, and did I mention Talulah loves buses?

They don't get much cuter than Talulah...

So, on the weekend Talulah and I went to the mall. We were just strolling around, checking things out and we went to Bo Bebe. (It's a great baby store and since my seester is having a baby we've been checking it out more frequently.)

We decided to buy some sidewalk chalk. While I was paying Talulah noticed that a display at the front of the store was seriously lacking in the creativity department and thought she'd help out a little. While she was rearranging the display she came across some belly butter which has a very similar packaging to deoderant.

I was following her along and straightening the products and I see out of the corner of my eye that she's picking up each and every little "deoderant" and applying them to her armpits (lid on, of course). So, I laughed and said, "Are you putting that on your armpits?"

Talulah nodded her head and very seriously said, "Dah" (which is what she usually says for "yes"). I and the two women who worked there had a really big laugh and Talulah enjoyed the attention.

ADORABLE.

Then this morning when I was dropping Talulah off at her daycare, she saw her bunny ears (that she got from her Great Aunty Laura and her Great Uncle Rob for an easter present) and wanted to put them on before we got out to the car. In fact, she insisted on wearing them or else she didn't want to get out of her car seat.

So in we went, bunny ears and all. When we got inside ALL of the daycare teachers smiled and said, "Oh, who's this bunny coming to visit us? Talulah you're so cute!"

They all fussed over here and gave her hugs and again, Talulah loved the attention! She happily went in to show her little buddies her purple bunny ears and they all loved them too.

I have the cutest kid in the world :)

Snow Angel

So, it's official... Talulah LOVES snow. I mean, I figured she did before but there was always a little bit of doubt. Not anymore, all doubt has been washed away (or rather, "snowed in"). It's April 29th and we had a crazy snow storm in Calgary. In fact, there was even a winter storm warning in effect! We're not just talking a lovely snowfall... We're talking crazy blowing snow going completely sideways covering most traffic lights so you can't even see if it's red, yellow, or green.

Everywhere you look people are grumbling about the snow. Radio stations are complaining, the traffic updates are terrible, even picking up my morning coffee the barista was saying, "I thought it was spring!"

Taking all of that into consideration, you'd think it would be the beginning of a lousy day.

You couldn't be more wrong.

Talulah woke up this morning with a big hug and kiss for her mom. That alone makes the day a hundred times better. But then I brought her over to the window to look outside and her eyes lit up, she pointed, smiled and said, "S-now! S-nooow, s-noooooww!" She was so excited that everything was covered in snow!

She insisted on wearing her snowsuit to daycare this morning (even though we were driving there so she wouldn't be outside much). She was so excited to put her mittens on, she kept waving with her cute little puffy paws, we took a detour from the car into the daycare so she could walk on a pile of snow that someone brushed off of their car onto the sidewalk.

That, plus... Her drop off at the daycare went really well! She normally cries when I drop her off (since we switched her from Laurie's dayhome, which she LOVED, to this new daycare) but this morning we went inside, Talulah took off her boots and helped me put her indoor shoes on. Then she helped me sign her in and hang up her snowsuit. Then she grabbed her lunch and fussed just a little. I said, "Can Mommy have a kiss?" She gave me a huge kiss and an arms-wrapped-tight-around-the-neck hug and went into her class. That's it. That's all. No tears. It's like the snow came out and Talulah's world got a little bit brighter.

So, now.... taking ALL of that into consideration, I think I'm in for a great day thanks to my little snow angel!

(March 2010) We had a snowfall over night so we left the house early so we could go for a walk in the snow before the dayhome opened.

(January 2010) At Lake Louise Talulah was trying to figure out the best spot to climb.

(January 2010) "Forget the climbing... Did you know you can eat this stuff?!"

(January 2010) "Why are we inside when all that snow is outside?"

(January 2010) "Okay, I'm ready... Let's go!"

(March 2009) We went to Crystal & Jack's house to build a snowman, but the snow wasn't sticky enough. You'd think a baby would be unhappy just sitting in the snow... But not this one!

(March 2009) Two peas in a pod...

(February 2009) Talulah and Mommy going for a walk with Uncle Jay in Winnipeg. I think the high was like -31C or something that day. I was so worried that she was unhappy and/or frozen... But she wasn't. She had a great time!

(January 2009) All tuckered out from an outting, but still bundled up for the snow.

(December 2008) This was Talulah's first real snow storm and uber cold weather. She was all bundled up super warm and just stared at the snow.

(November 2008) No wonder she's never hated the snow... She's always been so bundled up she probably doesn't even know it's cold!