Wed's visit

Went to Catriona's (with Sheena) for a Mum's visit. I didn't take my camera...which I'm beginning to see I'll regret very much...I could have had more pictures of the people here in Edinburgh. Anyways here are a few that Sheena sent me.

This is Amy and Fraser (Hope I spelled that right).This is Amy and Jenna.

This is Fraser, Amy, and Jenna (and Cat in the background hiding from the cam's view).

Jenna :)

Amy got quite hyper from eating chocolate...

Must run Aaron is screaming...

death

This morning as I was out hanging the washing up my mom called me and left a message on the phone...I didn't realize I had a message till this evening. It was 4 in the morning my mom's time when she called me 9 ish mine, she just got a phone call from the hospital she said, Opa had passed away.

A reminder for ourselves...we do not know the hour of our death yet our days/hours are numbered. "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

just a wee clip

So, I'm actually posting. :D You would think I'm up to my ears with packing...well, lets just say I'm procrastinating...somewhat :S I did start packing for Texas today...and nearly have all mine and the children's clothing packed....so I started something :) Here is a clip I took the same day as the photos taken from my last post. :)

some pictures

Ok some photos finally, here first of all is Amelia trying to give Aaron some kisses...It looks very obvious in this photo she is saying "awww". Which in her language means "I love you!"
Do tell me, yes please do, how often is it that you get your 2 month old smiling for a photo with his big sis next to him nearly smiling as well?? Isn't he cute?? He usually is full of smiles...so nice.
These were taken today, I thought Aaron looked sweet in this one. And no that isn't my thumb it's Amy Jane's.
Not the greatest photo...but ach well, I was trying to get all three of us in...haha, I got 2 and a 1/2. :)
All right, better clean my bathroom...or get lunch on the table for Jett. Jett was off classes this whole week besides Friday (today). Exams started today, and will be all of next week Tues-Fri, then moving on Sat, hopefully a restful Sabbath, Monday last preparations for Texas, and Tuesday we're off. :)

Opa

My mom emailed me saying that a decision was made to stop kidney dialysis on my Opa because it simply was not working anymore. Mom was told to visit within the next three days else they said he will go in to a coma. It appears that death is inevitable.

I apologize for not posting in awhile, I seem to be very busy just keeping a routine in this house let alone the millions of extras that need to be done in a weeks time. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a few pictures up but no promises as we are going to have company over.

But for now I need to get Amy ready for bed. Good night!

2 weeks till we move...

to Perth that is. No we don't have furniture, or any of that sort so really it isn't half as bad as when we moved from apartment to one room (oh dear...). But I'm still kind of worried how it is going to go. Most things I can't pack up till two days or so before because we are using them, but I am still trying to empty some drawers - like ones that are filled with paper, bills - all the stuff that accumulates far too rapidly. So no news from here really but I thought it might be nice to post a few things before next week commences. One is that I forgot to mention that Aaron has his passport now - a week after applying (now that is fast!). Two that I've decided to let Amelia and Aaron cosleep together and keep themselves company that way Jett and I can sleep in peace.You didn't take me serious did you? I didn't think so. :) I was going through Amy Jane's clothing this week, and finally I went through a box that was given to me, and in it had this elegant little ladies coat. Now if only Amelia fit into the "lady" aspect of it then we would have something.

I guess she isn't that bad eh? ;) Just needs her hair done maybe.

I was also going to post this very cute video clip of my new pet dog... her favourite food is plain cake! Enjoy :)

Tiredness and more tiredness.

I don't think I'm good at coping with a lot of disturbed sleep. I feel more and more as if Amelia will never learn to sleep BY HERSELF. As much as I love my wee ones, I cannot stand having them kick me hit me, punch me, crawl over me etc etc in the night - it just does not work for me. Sooo, what do I do with Amy? Put her bed in another room and let her scream?? I'm not so sure that is going to work for her, I've tried that in the past and it worked for a week and then she was back at wanting to be with us routine again - and I've tried the controlled crying bit more then once. So, fact is I wish I never coslept with her in the first place but being a first time mommy and not knowing what might happen I let it go and thought how wonderful it is to have your baby next to you. Little did I know then (haha and I'm still learning). My mom even thinks Amelia is a hard one to figure out - so it isn't just me (thankfully).

Well, it is a busy week like last week and the week before that etc. Laundry, dishes, diaper changes, baths, cleaning, and cooking takes up a load of my time. But we can't be busy with that forever and not get out or visit with others can we? I wanted to have some of the mothers over since I haven't done that and now that I have for the first time I wonder why I haven't done it more often (nice run on sentence haha)! I had Catriona, Fraser, Sheena & Jenna over. It was very nice. It was nice to see Amy and Fraser getting along (I would say 97% of the time!) it wasn't that way the first time they were together, but then Amy was a few months younger at that time. So, hopefully we'll do this again next week...it is nice to get out once in a while.

Wow...I can't believe I wrote all of that without Amelia disturbing me or Aaron needing me! But I have no new pictures on the computer... or hmm, here is something.


An old picture of my Oma, myself and Amelia.This is my piano which is currently stationed at my mom's apartment in Canada...Amelia had fun that time playing on it.
And a more recent picture...I think she looks Smith here.

Ok, must run. :)

28 days to go! :)

Today I'm still recovering from my 30min walk from yesterday...very very unfit indeed! I'm tired thats all really. This also happens to be the day that Amelia finds that her new cup is *not* spill proof (as the label on the package said it was). Now why does it always have to be Avent that spills? Anyways, once I get to Texas I'll stock up on some bigger cups and ones that I like sorry, but I haven't found any here that I care for. So I need to make a huge list of things to bring back to the UK...hmm, Ranch dressing? I wonder if that would be all right in the suitcase since we do bring shampoo and stuff like that...oooh how we miss our Ranch dressing!! :) Speaking of cups, where do you think Amelia got this way of drinking from a cup from?

Sorry thats me poking my face into view :P

I used to think one of the first words of a baby is *NO* well, it's not, it might be his or her's second though! As Amy Jane loves to copy that word when we say it no it wasn't her second word she learned either but it was in the first 10 thats for sure.

So, last Sat, Nome came around and brought this cute skirt for Amy Jane... I think it will suit Texas for sure! How hot is it there now??

As Joe and Care and Julia realized one of Amelia's favourite words is "dvd"... :S ehm, not sure if it really is a word, but to her it is. I doubt we'll keep most of the dvd's I bought for her.

Another pic of Amelia wearing Aaron's hat...I thought it was funny!

We are still battling some of the cold bug yet, but the worst is over thankfully. Yes we do have so much to do this month, and yet I feel like it is far far away from now. I suppose I need to really start thinking about packing clothes that will not be used anytime in the near future. I find it hard to be organized when we hardly have any closet space or space at all! Ach well I need to try right? ;)

Jett and myself are thrilled to know we will be making the Texas communion, Lord willing. We will be missing both Edinburgh and Perth's communions in May/June and probably Glasgow's which is the end of April - so this is good news about being able to make it to Texas'!

And now I'm realizing that time is short and I need to get dinner on the table pretty soon! So ta for now! :)

a busy upcoming month

Wow it's April already! Time really has flown by, it seems like yesterday that company was here, when in fact they had left a week ago. So much is happening this month as well for us. We hope to move to the Perth manse for the summer but that has to happen the 25-26th of April, and then we leave for Texas all being well, on the 29th! We FINALLY have everything in order for Aaron's passport etc! So in just about 2-3 weeks we should have his passport yippie!! And then we'll have fun figuring out his visa to be able to return to the UK. :S Another story for another time lol.

I had a walk today in the not so great weather... (it wasn't too bad). Kind of windy and then a bit of rain and then sunny again. 30 minutes of this walking and I'm tired - yes, perfectly fit I am not! I had to go to the Surgery/Clinic for Aaron's 6week check, he's obviously doing well with weighing in at 12lbs! Lots of questions were asked about immunizations...ugh, why am I so uncomfortable with the idea of giving shots to such a young child when it is the norm?? Both of my children aren't immunized (yet?) I wish I had more info about the actual shots. Rach?:D

Constantly battling with Amelia...runny nose, making messes...disturbing Aaron. She loves to take his pacifier out of his mouth, and then put it back in and repeat and repeat. Not very enjoyable at all for Aaron for he gets frustrated with her! Anyways...now Amelia is needing attention along with my kitchen...the endless duties of a mother/housewife!

Sorry not very many pics at the moment, but my batteries for the cam are being "refueled". :)

A lovely week, but it is already over!

We had Joe, Care, Julia and Jenna here for a week and I can't believe they are gone already!! Time has flown by with them here, and I'm already missing them. The place really does seem empty without kids running around, and adult voices talking amongst one another. I do look forward to seeing everyone in Texas!

At the moment Jett and I and the kids are trying to recover from colds. Sabbath morning I felt so awful I didn't get to church, but in the evening I felt a whole lot better so I ventured to at least get one service, which I managed.

Here is a pic of Amelia with herself buckled partway in her carseat. This was taken the weekend Jett was in Larne. She did this herself, and wasn't too pleased to find out the consequences...I had a good laugh.

On one of the nights that our company were here, Julia and Amelia were roughousing (sp) in the spareroom on the mattress...it was nice to see them playing with each other.
Amelia especially liked bouncing on the edge.
Jenna joined in as well.


Here is all three, but mainly the two were the ones most interested in the Planet Earth DVD.
A picture of the three divinity students. Left to Right: Alan McColl, George MacDonald, and Jett Smith.
Now a picture from today... as you can see, Amelia still loves to buckle things...I suppose she decided her brother should be buckled in his car seat it is safer...you never know what could happen with Amelia around! ;)
A little more of an upclose of my wee bub.
And another, he was nearly smiling for the camera however my camera doesn't take the pics fast enough!! Mom as you can see, he is fitting into that size 3 months outfit here!
I think I erased a pic of Care and Jenna but I'll post it another time perhaps. But for now, I need to get my dishes done and Amelia off to bed, whichever comes first!

Funny Duck toy causes...

A dancing Amelia! My mom bought this toy for Amelia.

Thought this was a nice pic

Taken at Sheena's

A wee video hope it works!

...no ideas for a good title here...

And thinking of a title is just wasting more time that I don't have. Let's see how long it will take before Amelia decided to push buttons on me...or start to scream or be bad etc. Hmm, how do people keep up with a blog? I was caught reading Leah's post just before writing this and all of a sudden I thought "oh...if I don't post anything soon Amelia will do such and such and Aaron will wake up and Jett will come in saying why I haven't gone to bed yet..." etc. Sooo, I actually didn't manage to finish reading Leah's post (sadly!) and I haven't checked a few other blogs in a while either...oh well. Ok must load some pics up!

Having two kids is somewhat of a challenge (of course!). I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to go back to cloth diapers with Amelia...but for now I'm enjoying the "ease" of disposable or are they giving me ease? Amelia has a rash and I think it has a whole lot to do with using disposables (and I'm using Pampers so you would think that is a good brand).

So, we've been a busy household for the past two days (and I've been a busy, overtired, housewife and mom). Busy that is with terminating my PR in the States (now why is it soooo easy to terminate PR, but excruciatingly difficult to get it in the first place?? I suppose it is a good thing it was easy cause I would have gotten upset over more stress of paperwork...ugh) And we've been working on getting Aaron to be a citizen of the US, for as it stands right now he appears to have no citizenship of any country. Sooo we thought we had all the right things and we get to the Consulate today only to find out that we need the "long form birth certificate" not the abbreviated one which we had. Ugh, it always always happens to me to run into some mean US official, or something is not going to workout with getting documents for the US. Ach well, by the end of this I'll know what to do next time.

I thought this pic was cute, Aaron of course is kind of a blob not being able to move much but still cute nonetheless.

Steph you wanted to see her eat...well this is the closest I got. We've been trying to give her, her own plate of food now but she still would rather have us feed her (well the majority of the time).

Quiche and carrots mmm!

Jett took this pic (I just erased Daddy and put Jett there instead...I guess it is true you start to call your husband Daddy when you have kids!!).

And here is Amelia talking on the phone to her one and only Daddy. She really is beginning to say more words now, the newest being Apple and duckie. Their conversation went something like this:

Daddy: Hi Amelia! (ok it took a few of these "hi Amelia's" before she responded)
Amelia: Hi
Daddy: Where's Aaron? Where's the baby?
Amelia: A-a-a-,
Daddy: Can you say baby?
Amelia: Baby.
Daddy: Yeah. Where's Mommy?
Amelia: Mama.
Daddy: Are you being a good girl?
Amelia: good girl (or close to that)
Daddy: Yeah. Are we going to go bye bye?
Amelia: bye bye.
And then lots of baby talk started on Amelia's end.

Okay a few more pictures and then I need to be getting ready for bed!

This is the way your supposed to wear a hat...lol, why do hats always do this? Thank you Melissa for the cute hat...I thought you might like to see my manny actually wearing it. :)

And here I pulled it up a bit. Ok must be off! :)

Mom's Visit

I can hardly believe that 2 weeks has passed already and now mom is just arriving in Toronto to snow and lots of it. I hope she makes it home safely, although I wouldn't mind if she flew back over here and stayed with us! Mom was a great help for me here...and I'm just slightly worried what the next couple of days are going to be like for us. Amelia and Aaron both have colds at the moment but they are (I think and hope) starting to clear up.

Here is the castle gates or entrance to Edinburgh Castle from being here you can overlook on both sides to see...

Arthur's seat in the back...and the old town below.
And some hills and the new town on the other side.
Like I said we went to many places on Saturday and Greyfriar's churchyard was included here are a few pictures of that. Below is the well known picture of the monument(?) put up for the covenanting martyr's.


Here is mom in the tour bus that we took earlier that week.
And here is my lovely mother coming back from grocery shopping...she walked the one way and got the taxi back.
Amelia holding Aaron (with Oma very close beside Aaron!)
Aaron in the tub.
This is one way to get her to somewhat smile for the camera...playing peekaboo!
Daddy and Aaron...
And a close up of the little sweetie sleeping.
Don't ask me where she got her attitude, but at least she likes her toast and jam. :)
Well, I should save the other pics for the next time. Now I can't wait for Care and Joe to come over! :)

Busy Saturday!

After a week of horrible winds and rain...and just downright coldness today of all days was bright and sunny...still windy mind you but at least it was bareable! Soo...I decided this has to be the day I take mom into the old town of Edinburgh! FINALLY! So...with just a wee map to go by I took my mom out to see St.Giles Cathedral (was surprised at how large it is...I don't seem to remember much from the time I was there in 2003), and then went up to the Castle gates, then I took her down to see the cute statute of Greyfriar's Bobby, the churchyard and the Covenanter's prison and the monument (or is it a monument?) and then to see the Grassmarket. It was ALOT of walking and pushing with a double stroller fully loaded with kids and bags...so I am tired as is mom! We stopped at Starbucks for a quick cup of coffee, got upset at Comcab taxis' and finally got a taxi from Central Taxis to get home (£8!?). After lunch and a quick snooze, we again got out to a small shopping centre to shop for clothes! Anyways, we got some KFC for dinner and now I'm writing this when I need to be getting ready for bed and for tomorrow. Aaron is supposed to be baptized tomorrow. Anyways, I will get pictures up soon of my mom's trip! :) For now I shall end this!