Sweet Connor Boy

My sweet little boy will be five months old on Wednesday. He is growing up way too fast! We waited for him for a couple of years and then when I thought we were probably just going to have one sweet girl - he appears! We can't imagine life without him! :)

He is such a sweet and easy going baby. The only time he really cries is when he is hungry or we haven't gotten him out of his crib fast enough.

He loves his sister! He will follow her all around the room with his head and she gets the biggest laughs and smiles out of him. She is so sweet with him and it is just precious. I am glad that she has a sibling. I think it has been really good for her and I pray they always have a good relationship.

Connor just found his feet the other day. I think it is the cutest thing when they are on their back and grab their feet and play with them. I think it took him a while to find his because his thighs are so big! :) They are squishy cute though!

Connor loves his bottles! He does not like to stop in the middle for a burp and just lets out this pathetic, mad cry. When he is finished with the whole thing he will look at the empty bottle longingly while crying. He is so sad it is over. lol

He has always loved his swing. We now have him sitting up in it instead of laying back because he was always trying to sit up and look around. We have this butterfly toy attached to it that he really likes and when it falls over the side he looks over like , "where'd it go?".

I think he might be trying to get a tooth because he is always drooling and loves for you to massage his gums with your finger. He is also making this gargling noise whenever he is"talking".

We have a very sweet boy and we are SO thankful for him! His smile just lights up the room and our hearts. Cheesey but true! :)








We are leaving for our holiday so I will update when I get back!

Long Weekend Activities

We had a good and busy weekend that started off on Friday meeting Auntie B and Ronan at the mall for shopping and then to Chuck E. Cheese. I think the kids had a good time and I had a fun time shopping with a friend! :)



On Sunday we had all of the Calgary McMillans (plus the Baxters from The Hat) over for a bbq. I did not take one picture! We had a great time and I think we should do it more often. The kids entertained us with some great "shows" that were fabulously directed by Karlie. In one of the shows Malcolm was an evil fairy. I obviously did not get a picture but Rebecca got a great one! The picture below is of Uncle Todd playing with Madalyn and Ronan in the backyard before everyone arrived. That Uncle Todd is a great fella! He held and gave Connor his bottle why I got things ready for the bbq and then entertained R and M until everyone got here! Thanks Uncle T!
On Saturday we went to Heritage Park with our friends Mark and Ruth and their two little girls Emma and Sophia. Madalyn was not in to having her picture taken as you can see from the first picture! lol Emma has a cute smile going on.

Connor on his first train ride with Daddy
Sweet Boy! I got some cute close ups of him that I really like.
Taking a rest in front of the saloon

It was a fun weekend with gorgeous weather! I love the sun! We also got our back patio and garage cleaned up and a little more organized so that feels good. I have more pictures and some videos that I am going to try and figure out how to get on here in the next few days. Blessings to you on this cool, rainy day in Calgary. I love the rain too!

Creamy Chicken Salad

When I read other blogs I love it when they share a new recipe they have found and like so I made (a new to me) chicken salad the other day that is very yummy and thought I would share it with you.

Creamy Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked chicken breast
1 cup cooked ring pasta
1 cup halved seedless red grapes
1 can (11 ounce) mandarin oranges, drained
3 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
1 cup light whipped topping
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, combine the chicken, pasta, grapes, oranges, celery, almonds and onion.

In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, whipped topping and salt. Add to chicken mixture; stir to coat. Serve in a lettuce-lined bowl if desired.

Yield: 6 servings
1 cup equals 261 calories

We bought a new camera so I have some soccer pictures to post when I figure out how to load them onto our computer. It should be the same I just have not taken the time to do it! :) Tonight Madalyn has another soccer game that Malcolm will coach before he has to rush off to worship team practice while Connor and I will be at a kindergarten meeting at the school. So it begins the busyness that comes with having school aged kids. It seems for us that all of our activities (the few we are in) seem to fall on the same night. I am excited to hear what they have to tell us about what kindergarten will be like for Madalyn next year. A part of me doesn't want her to go but I mostly am excited for her.

I better go! Crying baby!

This and That

So, yesterday was Malcolm's birthday and I think it is safe to say that he has had better ones! I forgot about it until around 11:00am and we had had a little tiff in the morning. Poor guy! Madalyn and I spent the rest of the day trying to make the evening special. We decorated with a birthday banner and streamers (she was quite sad we didn't have any balloons) and then I found the recipe for the Olive Garden's Chicken Scampi. Malcolm really likes it and always orders it when we go there for dinner (usually for my birthday). It was really easy to make and tasted pretty close to the real thing. Madalyn was the waitress and had a fun time serving her daddy. She made him a basketball card (well a drawing of Daddy with lots of basketballs around him) that turned out pretty cute. I think the evening of his birthday was better than the beginning at least I hope it was! I don't know what has been wrong with me lately. I have been kind of irritable and on edge. I could blame it on PMS but I don't know if that is really it! I think I need to get more sleep. Malcolm and I are going out tonight (just the two of us) and I am really looking forward to the evening. We are way overdue for a date! I think we need a whole weekend! I know that time together as a couple is so important (I can tell when we haven't) but I find it hard to actually do it. One reason is that I am horrible at asking others to babysit for us. Even if they have offered I feel like I am so imposing on them. I have issues! We don't really have a teenager out here that could just come to our house and be here while they are sleeping. Connor is still a little young for me to be comfortable with that anyways but in the future that is what we need! It is at these times (and others) that I wish we lived by grandparents. Any thinking-outside-of-the box ideas on how to have some couple time without it being a big production? We do have part of the evening when they are both asleep that we could use more productively but I need to get out of the house sometimes. I know this is not a new problem and many couples have the babysitting problem. I hope I will remember this when we are empty nesters or have teenagers and will call a mom with young kids and offer (and make her pick a date right then because she might have issues like me) to keep their kids while they go on a date. :) I think it is so important and they also wouldn't have to pay me because that can also be a deterrent to actually going too. I did not mean to ramble on so much about this but for me I need that time and investment into my marriage. All of that to say, I am really looking forward to going out tonight! :)

Madalyn has not played in a soccer game since I last posted about it last Monday. Monday of this week she was sick with a horrible cough and cold so I did not think it would be wise to let her play out in the cold. Then on Wednesday it was cancelled because it was raining and the fields were wet. Hopefully, we can get some nice weather and enjoy some soccer games next week!

Last weekend we had a garage sale and it went amazingly well. We got rid of a lot of our junk and I am so happy. We definetly priced to sale because we only made about $60 but we got rid of a lot. We even shut down early to go to a wedding. Malcolm took the rest to Goodwill so we are getting closer and closer to getting more organized around here. Yeah! Now, to get the carpet laid in the basement and then we can really get some things done!

The wedding we went to was Bruno and Laurie's and it was just lovely. They invited kids to come to the wedding and reception which is so Laurie. All the kids at Journey love her so much. Madalyn had a great time! Before we went Madalyn said that she thought Laurie would probably wave to her when she went down the aisle. I told her that she would probably be looking at Bruno but Madalyn could give her a hug at the reception and talk to her. Madalyn followed her around at the reception and kept giving her hugs. Laurie told Malcolm that Madalyn had told her that when she (Madalyn) gets married she is going to where a beautiful dress like Laurie's but that her daddy is going to pick out her husband. Woo Hoo! Now, if we can get her to keep saying this until she is about 25 years old! :)

I must go and start getting everything ready for tonight! Have a great weekend!

A Few of Madalyn's Favorite Things

I thought it would be fun to ask Madalyn some questions of some of her favorite things as a five year old. I wish I would have done this when she was younger but unfortunately you can't go back and at least I will have some from now on until she starts rolling her eyes at me. Can't wait for that! ;)

Favorite Color? Pink (Shocker :)
Fav. Sport? Playing Simon Says
Fav. Food? Grilled Cheese
What do you want to be when you grow up? Ballerina Teacher
Fav Bible Story/Person? Baby Moses in the river because the princess finds him.
Fav place to go? Chuck E. Cheese because there are lots of rides
Fav T.V. Show? Toopy and Binoo and Dora
Fav thing in bedroom? My toys
Do you ever get in trouble? Sometimes Why? Not listening
Who loves you? Daddy and Mommy
Fav outfit? Skirts and pretty shirts
Who are your best friends? Kimmie and Bailey
Fav Song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; You Are My Sunshine; Jesus Loves Me
Fav thing to do with Mommy? Play Go Fish
Fav thing to do with Daddy? Play Hide and Seek and play doctor
Was this fun? Yes!
Anything else? Yes, I like spoons with little mouse holes in them. I like toenail polish and vans. Oh, one more thing! I like chalk and hula hoops!

Malcolm and I were asking her the questions and after she was finished she wanted her Daddy to answer them so here are Malcolm's favorite things at 33 (almost 34! We are only TWO months apart in age despite what he might say!).

Fav. Color? Blue
Fav Sport? To play: Golf To watch: Basketball
Fav Food? Pizza
What do you want to be when you grow up? Kind
Fav Bible story/person? Jesus Why? He saved my soul
Fav place to go? Kananaskis (sp?)
Fav T.V. show? The Office
Fav thing in bedroom? Bed
Do you ever get in trouble? Yes, for not listening (Ha Ha!)
Who loves you? My wife
Fav outfit? Jeans and T-shirt
Who are your best friends? Suzanne
Fav Song? Mighty to Save
Fav thing to do with Madalyn? Snuggle with a bedtime story
Fav thing to do with Connor? Make him laugh and smile
Fav thing to do with Mommy? Play cards
Was this fun? Scale of 1-10? 6

Now you know a little bit about Madalyn and her Daddy! I updated my play list! It is fun looking for songs to add to it. I love, love, love the first song! I even had a whole post written about it (in my head) a while back but I could not figure out how to get the song on here for you to listen to it. Maybe I will try to do another one some day! Tomorrow is Malcolm's birthday!