Jasmin definitely has her first word - mama! Today wasn't a very good day, so to having her come out with "mama" so very obviously helped sweeten the mess. It was just before supper... She toddled over to her highchair, and reaching up to the tray was chanting "mama! mama!" until I got the hint she wanted to eat NOW!

Camera got batteries, yay!

We're celebrating more than that today too. We're celebrating a good night's sleep! Jasmin has been having tummy troubles this week. We can trace it down to what is supposed to be gluten-free rice pasta, but her reaction tell us it must be other than it is named...
The last two nights has been very broken up with a Jasmin who seems so angry at the pain she is feeling. Let me describe Wednesday night - one we hope never to repeat! Grace finally fell asleep at 11 (we began at 8, the usual time... is she affected by the coming upheaval of the move or something?). Shortly after mid-night -before mommy actually fell asleep herself - Jasmin wakes with crying that quickly becomes screams, waking Daddy and NiNi. Somehow (thankfully!) Grace sleeps through everything. Milk, juice, hot water bottle, NiNi, Daddy all attempt comfort, but only mommy will do, and still the screams continue. We hole up, Jasmin and I, in the farthest corner of the house to allow others to sleep. Finally, about 2 am the screaming slows ans sleep hovers. By 2:30 Jasmin is restlessly asleep. By 3, so is mommy. And then... the alarm goes off at 5 because mommy has an MRI appointment at 5:40! Of course, by the time we get back from the hospital the girls are awake - Grace more than ready for the day! At least we had no problems with nap time Thursday :O) Needless to say, we were VERY carefulb what we fed Jasmin yesterday!


She wasn't so excited about the food, but ate all of it. Grace, on the other hand, was excited - but refused to actually eat anything but the corn chips!

We had a girls day out today.

It began with a brunch with NiNi's church friends. Grace was content to wait for the food - she stacked creamers and jam packets to her hearts content. Jasmin, on the other hand, kept NiNi busy! She demanded ricecake pieces with jam at regular intervals until the "real" food came. They sure enjoyed the egg breakfast when it came! And Grace learned just how yummy toast with jam can be.

Then we spent the rest of the day shopping! For things for our house... can you believe I spent $67 at the dollar store??!! But now, other than groceries, we are set for house stuff, so can't be too bad a thing! We also found a camp cot (not at the dollar store!!) for $22 instead of the $70 we could find on the internet. This is so I can avoid sitting down but still be "in the thick of things". A quick stop at the library to get some books for when I can't do anything, and then I'm all set for surgery on Monday.

Only I get back into the car after getting the books, and NiNi tells me Michael has called...

And my surgery has been bumped for an emergency and the new date is August 15th. Since this is the weekend Michael is away, we have asked for the 21st, but we don't know yet if we can have it. So, more waiting. Sigh. But with more thought...

This is a good thing! Now I can be around for the move and have the house put away like I would do it (I can be there to supervise; not to do it!). Which will mean much less stress on Michael, for sure! He wasn't looking forward to doing without me. And we can all enjoy my parents' visit a whole lot more the first week of August! Also, the girls will only have to face one big change at a time. I think everyone is less stressed already :o)

Still haven't put new batteries in the camera... sorry for no pictures...

Friday finished as it began - but it wasn't all because of the girls! We had a list of errands to complete that afternoon, so, after a rather disastrous attempt at a nap time, we set off in the rain (about 2:30). Grace immediately fell asleep and remained asleep for the remainder of the afternoon - even though we had to transfer her into the stroller and back!

We picked up something we're borrowing from a friend for awhile.

We signed for a mortgage - we really have a house now! Well, not until October 1st, but no more house hunting!

We set off for Barrhaven to meet with a friend - and immediately found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic for over an hour! For a trip that usually takes 1/2 hour! Rush hour begins at 3 on Fridays, I guess. Even going into the city!?!

Having missed our friend for being so late, we set off on the next errand: signing a lease for a house for August and September. Only to discover that the office closed at 4!

One more to try accomplish, which required more driving. We did get it done, but it took us the whole hour we had until our next appointment! Quick sick of thick traffic driving in the rain by that time.

But the day did end well: our last appointment was a BBQ supper with the pastor and elders and families of our new church. We had a great time relaxing, learning, sharing, laughing, getting to know each other better. It was 9 :30 before we left for home, and we could have stayed much longer, but by this time Grace and Jasmin were a bit "past it" and needing home and bed.

The time of having half our life in Barrhaven and half in Cumberland (45 min/50+ km or so apart) is nearly over! It's not exactly going to be easier, as I'll have just had back surgery, but living in Barrhaven certainly will save oodles of driving time and gas money!

This morning is laundry time. Hasn't gone very well already! First, I discovered that someone had thrown in some wet clothes... since we live in the basement, mold had begun to grow :o( Then, while I was trying to sort that out, one of my "little mirrors" decided to try her hand at pouring the liquid soap into... something that wasn't there. So, nearly the whole 2 litre container of extra concentrated soap poured all over the floor... behind, under, around all sorts of shelving and odds and ends.
What horrid stuff it is to clean up! If you clean up without water it leaves a slick film, but if you use water.... now you have a sticky film! I scraped some off the floor and gave it to the girls in a bucket on the deck with some water to keep them occupied while I cleaned up. They loved that! The stuff is so soapy that even dozens of water bucketfuls later, the seemingly empty of soap bucket still is producing ample suds for a load of laundry! And now I have two sticky-slick kids to rinse off...

It's all happening at once!

Today, if all goes well, we have a house! For October 1st. So we are renting for August and September.
Tomorrow signing the lease for that.

Monday I have a pre-op appointment at the hospital. Our health cards arrived today - just in time! No more paying for these appointments and only one more set of forms to prepare for insurance reimbursement.

Thursday I go for another MRI. At 5:30 in the morning. I was warned the appointment might be set at an odd time in order for it to be fit in... :o)

The following Monday I go in for surgery in the morning, but the actual surgery is likely to be in the afternoon as we requested an overnight stay... the thought of returning straight home after back surgery to two little"mommy's girl"s doesn't seem very practical!

That Friday we move into our rental house, and Saturday my parents come for a visit.

After 3 months of waiting, walking a step ahead, waiting some more, taking a step, waiting, waiting.... things are moving quickly for a change! It's all happening :o)

Mommy's "little mirror"

We saw the surgeon this morning. It was a very positive meeting in our eyes... because we were given a date for surgery and it is not too far off: July 28th! But before then, we have to make sure we get health insurance sorted out, get a new MRI done on the 24th or 25th (because the first is too old, not too foreign-done), and hopefully buy a house and move. No problem....!?
We want to get into our new house before surgery because afterwards I can only stand and lie down: no sitting, lifting, carrying, etc. AT ALL for a month! It is actually only day surgery, but we have requested that I stay in overnight as Grace and Jasmin will want to jump on Mommy as soon as they see her... We have the first two weeks' help sorted out, but after that we have to work on. Should be an interesting August :o) We are thankful to come away with a firm date, and lots of information about the surgery and recovery so we can plan well.

NiNi and YeaYea brought Grace and Jasmin teddies from Alaska. I've never seen Jasmin so excited! She sat her husky teddy on a chair at eye-level and grinned, bounced, laughed/giggled/"hissed" at it, buried her face in it, turned around and around with it... it was a blast to watch, but I don't have any pictures of her :o}

I'm reminded of it today because she acted the same way this morning when we went down to the river and I let them stop and play in the "sand" - the fine dust/dirt at the top of the boat slip... We came home very gritty and dirty, but very happy (yes, me too, as it was windy so every shovel-full and handful they played with I got some of it)!

For those of you who are wondering... we STILL don't have a house! Tomorrow we go looking again - hopefully for the last time. The one I mentioned before is still a possibility but the price is high and total peace is not there. So we look more. I've learned quite a bit about patience this week.... ;oP Maybe I'll tell you about it next post.

Not just because of houses, either. For some reason, this week the girls haven't slept well at all. Which means neither have I. And nap times have been interrupted or non-existent a few times this week. So. I am glad to be at home all day today - and extra thankful the girls are napping - at the same time today!

NiNi and YeaYea were away last week for holiday. So we were a fair bit busier in the home with all the cooking and cleaning to do ourselves - made me realize just how spoiled we have been! One day I thought back and discovered that this is the very first time IN TWO YEARS that I have had to occupy two kids, make meals, and run the household all on my own!! Wow!

Two very useful ideas from the week...

A tent on the deck to keep all the toys in so I don't have to constantly clean up inside :o) Yeah for not having to bend over and/or squat all the time! Grace loves having her own little house... only she is always inviting/insisting that Mommy visit her for hours on end... not to actually play with her - just to be there! So I've read a fair bit - and gotten mighty stiff at times. Looking forward to a time when sitting/lying in a tent is not uncomfortable and I can join in the make-believe games Grace cooks up...


Allow a sink-full of girls and plastic dishes so I can work on supper without filling the air full of "no"s and"don't"s when Grace and Jasmin want to be in on the fun.

Tomorrow we find out if we can have the house we want or if we have to keep looking.
Next Monday I find out if, when, and what about surgery. It has been a lot of waiting this summer for us! Hopefully we are nearing the end.

A few weeks ago, a friend suggested we try Jasmin on a gluten-free diet to see if that would clear up her tummy troubles. Slowly we worked the right kinds of foods into the kitchen, and now we are enjoying a whole new Jasmin! No more diarrhea, runny nose, persistent coughing, bouts of crying/whining... and she's even less clumsy! Wow. Thank you Sarah for that tip!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

We're spending the day at home - on the deck, enjoying the rare sunshine - and hoping to catch some fireworks this evening somewhere. Not downtown. Maybe when the girls are big enough to survive the crowds we'd find there!

I've put the tent up on the deck to play house when the girls get up from their naps. I can hardly wait ;o)


Grace impatient to leave for the "party"!
Two music - making munchkins on one of the many rainy days we've had this week. They stayed at it for quite a while, and Grace was even trying to sing along!