Canaan is two!

I cannot believe Canaan is two today! The past two years have gone by so quickly.

We spent the weekend with family in Saint Louis where Canaan got to see Pops, her aunt and uncle, and two cousins. She loved going on a "trip" and riding on an "airpane". She loved the "doggle" and cats we saw as well. She was excited to say "hi kitty cat" and try to kiss them. We visited the zoo one day where she said "roar" many times.

Canaan was super on the four flights we took. Thanks to advice from some facebook friends, I packed snacks and some new activities. Other than my two experiences with a leaking diaper on my leg, the flights were uneventful. During our layover in Denver yesterday, she enjoyed the moving walkway.



A little over 2 weeks ago, we started Canaan on a gluten-free diet. Her diaper rash has been at bay since that time so it seems to be doing the trick. So for her birthday celebration in Saint Louis we purchased a flourless cake from Whole Foods. It was not gluten-free, but it was the only available cake without flour. She didn't eat much but enjoyed the icing. Today I took gluten-free cupcakes for her daycare class. The teacher said the kids liked the cupcakes, but Canaan only ate 2 bites. We gave her another one tonight after dinner. She blew out the candles but did not take a single bite of the cupcake. Unlike her mother, she is not much for sweets.



This evening as we sang "Happy Birthday" to Canaan, she sang along. This is the first time we have heard her sing an entire song with all the words and even close to the tune.

The past two years have gone by incredibly fast. We are so thankful for Canaan and the joy she has brought to our lives. We love you Canaan and look forward to many more birthday celebrations.

More of these days

While eating dinner out with the Bells, Canaan entertained us with her monkey and elephant (do you see her trunk?) impersonations. She is even better at her monkey impression now as she has added a shriek to the end of the "oohoohooh". We really need to get this stuff on video.




We visited the dog park for some exercise and to get out of the house on President's Day. Matthew and I were both home for the day. Neither of us actually had the day as a holiday, but daycare was closed. I had planned to stay home with Canaan, but after my weekend trip to the ER with a kidney stone Matthew stayed home too to make sure everything was ok.




Canaan is quite the fashionista with this new outfit from Grandma. When I asked her to give me a smile, this was the best I got. Clearly she is not impressed with getting her picture taken. We'll just call these action shots.

These days

Here are a few things that have been going on around our house lately.

1. Canaan's daycare class celebrated Valentine's Day with a little party. This is one of my favorite outfits Canaan wears - this looks just like Max as a puppy with some red hearts around it.



2. Canaan still enjoys playing with Max, sharing her food with him, giving him treats, trying to get Max to chase her, cuddling with Max, hugging, and kissing Max.



3. Canaan always enjoys practicing the many faces she likes to make. (I think she gets that from her dad.)



4. We are also seeing signs of Spring. The temperature is getting a little bit warmer, the rain is actually rain and not mist, and we're seeing flowers and trees start to bloom.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season has been especially fun for me. I always love this time of year...the colder weather, using the fireplace, listening to Christmas music exclusively, watching Christmas movies, getting decorations out that make me think of Christmases past, seeing the crowds at the mall, the lights all over the place, baking goodies, thinking of the perfect gift for someone I love...I could go on and on. I love the different music we sing at church and attending a Christmas Eve service.

I was excited to see what Canaan would notice this year, if she would get excited about anything, what she would think of the music and opening gifts.

Canaan loves balls so she was especially excited to see us hang ornaments on our tree. While hanging them, Matthew and I told her she could not touch them, they were to look at, and they were called ornaments, not balls. (Good thinking, right? If they're not balls, they aren't that exciting.) She did so great! I think she touched them only a handful of times. Most of the time she would look at them and say "mo, mo" (translation "no-no"). I think she enjoyed looking at the tree and seeing lights on the houses outside.

Grandma and Grandpa sent her a couple of books with recordings of them reading the books. Those are special. She didn't quite have the attention span for the entire books though. My mom also sewed a nativity scene for her to be able to play with. She mostly would carry the baby Jesus around.

We stayed home for Christmas. I did not miss the stress of air travel, but I definitely missed being with family.

Canaan did enjoy opening her gifts, but she hasn't played with them much yet. I think it may have been a little overwhelming. Thankfully I listened to Matthew and just got her some clothes for Christmas. We let everyone else get her something fun to play with. She got some really fun toys. My favorite gift by far was a quiet book my mom made. I cried once I opened it. It is really special. I look forward to Canaan spending some time with it.

All in all we had a nice couple of days at home. We have much to be thankful for. I think next Christmas is going to be something special to experience with our sweet girl.

And now to get to work on our Christmas cards...oops!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a low-key Thanksgiving this year. This is the first year since we've been married that we did were not with family. It's a good thing we didn't plan to go anywhere because we've all been sick for what seems like a couple of weeks with a cough & cold. To say we are irritated with all the coughing is an understatement. We are thankful to not share the cold with those we love.

We hung around the house and enjoyed looking at the snow outside the window. I spent most of the day in the kitchen. Everything was homemade except for the ham. I started on a couple of things yesterday. We enjoyed dressing, 7 layer salad, 2 different cranberry sauces, broccoli and hollandaise, dressing, honey roasted sweet potatoes, Stefanie's Sunday rolls, and cherry pie. It sure took a long time to make what doesn't seem like a very long list. Too bad my taste buds weren't working right. The only thing I really tasted was the salad because it had some strong flavors.

After dinner we enjoyed a fire in the fireplace while we played and read. One benefit to the feeling bad is that Canaan is super cuddly. She really likes to be read to and likes to hear the same books over and over.

I am so thankful on this day for my family, friends, Savior Jesus, and so much more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Visit from Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit in November and stayed with us for 10 days. Canaan enjoyed staying home with them and making several trips into Seattle during their visit. We were quite the tourists while they were here.

I was able to take off a couple of days the first week they were here. They had already been to see Pike Place Market and the Children's Museum. Then my first day with them we went on a harbor cruise and then to the zoo. It was the perfect day for these outings with sunshine and the temperature in the high 60s. I think they cruise tour guide said it was warmer on this day than it was the 4th of July this year. On the cruise, we saw some beautiful views of downtown Seattle and even got to see some sea lions sunning.




Next we were off to the zoo. By the time we got there, it was an hour until closing. I think this is the best zoo I've been to in that the zoo seems to do a good job of replicating the animals' natural habitat. I was most excited about seeing the elephants as we had just seen a show on the National Geographic Channel where an elephant was born at the Houston zoo. The fall colors have been absolutely beautiful here...more vibrant than I've seen anywhere else. And the beautiful leaves were the perfect backdrop to the wildlife at the zoo.




The next day we went to the Space Needle and the Flight Museum. It was an overcast day and quite a bit cooler so it was good to spend that time indoors. At the flight museum we were able to get on a Concord and the Airforce One from Kennedy's time in office.

We kept busy through the weekend as well. Matthew was able to join us on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went to the Seattle Aquarium. There were several places you could stick your fingers in the water to touch the sealife. Canaan loves water so this was right up her alley. I don't think she touched anything, she just liked the water. She really seemed to enjoy looking at all the fish.





Sunday we made it to the Pacific Science Center. There were a lot of things to keep kids busy but not so much for Canaan to do. There was an area for toddlers where she played with some water, went down a slide, and enjoyed driving this helicopter. My favorite thing was the butterfly house. There were butterflies all over the place.




It was a really fun visit! By the end of the weekend, Canaan was done with being in the stroller. She was such a trooper! There were days when we were out during naptime and she behaved surprisingly well.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for coming to visit!

My little ladybug

Canaan was dressed as a ladybug for the second Halloween in a row. I couldn't pass up the costume either year.

She got to wear her costume to a Halloween party at daycare on Friday and then again on Sunday at home. The kids at daycare had the cutest costumes and enjoyed eating a special snack during their party. Matthew and I both went to the Halloween party.

Canaan was the last child at the table eating her snack (and off the plate of the boy sitting next to her). She is a good eater and likes to eat often. So I asked her teacher if she was often the last child left at the table. The teacher kind of giggled and said that often that was the case. Miss C said they thought Canaan (like every child) must have a limit, but she wasn't sure if she'd seen Canaan reach that limit yet.

Canaan's snuggly for naps at daycare is a soft and satiny pig. She gets excited to see her pig and will hug and snuggle with it as soon as she gets her hands on it. So after the conversation I started with Canaan's teacher about her eating, Miss C told me that she and the other teacher were hoping I would dress Canaan as a little pig for Halloween. That would have been so cute indeed!

As it was, we had the cutest little ladybug around!

Picture credit to Mel B. She takes incredible pictures!