Tuesday, November 30, 2010

christmas time

We are heading back to Calgary tonight at 5:30pm. Wish us luck. We have had tons of experience flying,  Liv is a little jet setter and got her passport and flew to Northern Ireland when she was 4 months old. However, it doesn't really get easier...in fact, it gets harder. Liv doesn't want to sit on mommy's lap for a long period of time and it can turn into a struggle. We have 3 different flights we will be on today, but only one that is longer than an hour. I have a feeling there will be a lot of running done between flights.

Either way, we will be back home tonight. I'm excited to get everything ready for christmas and to see Pat. He will hopefully be home on wednesday and will be off for two weeks starting Dec. 20th! I'll get better about blogging when I return home.

Monday, November 22, 2010

returned

Liv and I just got back from Marquette yesterday evening. We headed up there last Wednesday and were there until Sunday. We stayed with Auntie Dani and visited a lot of friends. It was nice and sometimes relaxing :). Its just a little difficult to be in a different environment. Dani also has a one bedroom apartment, and Liv doesn't do well when I share a bedroom with her. Needless to say, sleep wasn't a top priority on her list of things she wanted to do. My mom headed up on Friday, so I did get a few hours of big girl time Friday night. I also got to eat at my favorite places in Marquette! I swear every time I visit it feels so much different than when it felt during my college years. I do love that town though. I would live there if Pat and I could get good jobs there...and if I could talk him into it :).

It probably comes as no surprise that we did a photoshoot while we were there. Pat said to me "you guys do a lot of photoshoots" and my response was "so." and he said "I guess thats the advantage to having a sister like yours", "yep.". I'm not sure if everyone has checked it out yet or not, but my sister has a website and from her website you can get on her blog (here is the link though), which is located to the right on my blogroll. tutte belle photography is full of beautiful pictures, a lot of pictures of Liv, Lily, and I :).

If you are friends with my on facebook you've already seen these. There are more that I need to get from Dani. I'll post them soon and we'll just call this a sneak peek.








Wednesday, November 17, 2010

my bright side

Throughout everything that has been going on in my life, Liv has still been her loving, funny, energetic, and full of trouble self. I'm so thankful that Shannon got to be a part of Liv's life for the time we had with her and I hope that Liv continues to have all the spunk and love for life that Shannon had.

my gremlin.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Missed

My life went on hold last week. We all dropped everything the night Shannon passed away. I am not going to go into details because I'm not sure I would want to share that on my blog and I'm definitley not ready. However, I would like to tell everyone that she died because of a brain aneurysm and so did her father. We all wore red ribbons for aneurysm awareness and green ribbons for the gift of life. Shannon and her father both donated their organs. I'm going to share Shannon's obituary because Its absolutely perfect. Her sister-in-law wrote it and it made me love her because I knew how much she 'got' Shannon.

Shannon Vert , age 26, of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. left her loved ones unexpectedly on November 6, 2010 of a brain aneurysm. She was preceded in death by her father, Milo Vert, of the same. Shannon lived for the moment and loved life. She was the dancing queen, the social butterfly, the caretaker, and the welcomed entertainment of anything she was partaking in. Family and friends meant everything to her. Shannon’s love for others and definition of family knew no boundaries or formality. She was a very special young woman who touched the lives and hearts of everyone she knew. Shannon has taught us to dance like no one is watching, to tell stories as if they are legends, to seize the happiness life has to offer, and that it is impossible to be loved by or to love too many people. Shannon leaves behind the love of her life, fiancĂ© Dane Stanaway, son of Bill and Chrissie Stanaway. Her grandparents, Ralph and Wilma Vert who raised her — along with Joe and Kim Dunn, Thelma and Joe Riley, Ralphie and Susan Vert, Cindy and Mike LaCross, Marty Vert, Mark and Laurie Vert, Nancy and Bill Cupp, Carla Hurlburt, Marci and Mike Kravis, as well as her brothers Shawn and Steven Vert, nephew Jordan, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins who were like brothers and sisters to her, in addition to countless friends. Shannon would also want to mention her two dear pets, Kada and Bella.

Shannon was employed by Dr. Ganzhorn and, as noted previously, she loved caring for others. Shannon was also an organ donor, and her spirit will continue in those that have received her generous gift of life.

I couldn't have described Shannon better myself. She has been a best friend of mine for a long time. She loved me, she loved Liv...and we loved her just as much. I'm gonna leave a few favorite pictures I have.






Saturday, November 6, 2010

gone

I'm not going to be updating for a little while. One of my best friends died last night. Liv and I are flying to the Sault on Tuesday. I couldn't even write about it if I wanted to at this point. I can't even accept what happened. She was so special to me and now she's gone.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

15 months

Another month has come and gone. Liv becomes a little more independent every week it seems. We had our hard times this month but also a lot of good times. Liv has had some sick days and hasn't been eating as well as she used to but she's been doing lots of new and exciting things. Like these:

- I was crooking my finger at Liv to get her to come to me...which never works, but I try. Today, Liv was in her room standing next to her crib trying to reach one of her blankies and when she saw me she motioned with her little hand to come help her. I was amazed. Liv loves to copy what people are doing. I'm pretty sure thats typical of a toddler her age. If Liv hears us telling one of the dogs to "sit", she immediately starts saying "sit, sit, sit". She loves to tell them to "go" too.

-Liv loves music and dancing still. Her new favorite is Justin Beiber. If she hears one of us sing "baby baby baby", she immediately goes to a laptop and tries her best to get the Beibs on the screen. Her old favorites, yo gabba gabba and elmo, are still very popular with Liv too. She likes to pretend to sing too...well I guess its not pretending to her, but there are no words in her singing, unless she sings "babyyyyy" :).

-Liv is slowly but surely starting to say some more words. She has been saying mama for awhile, but not consistently and not towards me. She has really started to use it more, which thrills me. She will say dada, baby, mama, woo woo (woof), gak gak (quack), sit, bye bye, and go. She attempts to say a lot of things, but I can confidently say that I know what any of it means ha.

-I have no idea about her height and weight right this second. We are thisss close to getting her Alberta Healthcare and I need to get her in to see someone. Don't even get me started on not being able to get her into a doctor and going to a walk-in for her 15 month appointment...craziness I tell you. Liv is wearing anything  between 12 months- 2T. It really varies depending on what it is and what brand. She is wearing either a size 5 or 6 in shoes too.

-I have a feeling Liv's terrible two's are starting, like now. She likes to throw tantrums if she doesn't get her way. She also still loathes getting her diaper changed or getting dressed. Its pretty frustrating at times when she is upset and mad and I have no idea what about.

-My daughter is still drinking bottles. Don't judge me...she loves them and we, yes we, aren't ready to get rid of them yet. She usually has two a day. One before her nap and one before bed...she will have another if she wakes up in the middle of the night. If anyone has any advice about this, I could use it :).

Of course I took some pictures on Liv's 15 month birthday...I even dressed her up for the occassion.






Monday, November 1, 2010

well it doesn't feel like fall

It was in the 60's today. It was awesome. I was pretty productive and after grocery shopping, Liv and I took Lily for a little walk. I have pictures of that and two hilarious videos of Liv from later in the night. She's a little pistol, thats all I can say about them.


 blowing kisses



trying to give the camera kisses