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!