My Dad came from Cranbrook yesterday to pick up Taylor....they just left about ten minutes ago. I’m sad. I don’t want Taylor to leave. She was such a huge help and such a joy to have around. I think I am going to petition for her to move in.
    Kaia is changing so much, she is now awake for much longer periods at a time. She is starting to coo and kick and bounce around. She has definitely discovered her little hands. I joke that it looks like she is looking at her watch as she intently stares down at her arm probably thinking “what in the world is that”. She slept for 6 hours in a row the other night! I woke up in such a panic the other morning after looking at the clock and realizing we did not get up for a 3 am feed.....and I was awake before Kaia. Of course she was fast asleep in her cradle probably dreaming of milk at that point. We all know that is what was on my mind...I was ready to explode! 6 hours without a feed was an interesting feeling let me tell you. I have started to put Kaia in some of her 3 month clothes. I am getting excited for her growth and change. When she was first born I was sad after each day would come to an end I didn’t want her to grow or change I wanted to cherish those memories for ever. But I am feeling excited now at the thought of her changing and developing. And some of her 3 month clothes are really cute!
    Well miss Kaia is now having a fit...time for me to go and sooth my little peanut. Really I know that she is crying cause she too is sad that Taylor left....Christmas in four days...yayayaya...!

bliss bliss bliss

Kaia Dawn is a growing girl....eating eating and eating....but last night...she slept for 4.5 hours in a row!!! Oh how exciting that was to wake up to her little cries and look over at the clock. Oh talk about refreshing! She doesn’t sleep a whole lot during the day but I am totally ok with that it is a fair trade in my opinion. My Christmas cards finally arrived on Tuesday....thank fully they are already sent out! I ordered 40 cards and that still wasn’t enough. Some people are just going to be getting regular Christmas cards this year. We have a full house at the moment. Erick’s cousin with her husband and two little sons are here for the weekend staying with us. They are a joy to have stay with us...their sons are so fun at 3 and 1 there isn’t going to be a dull moment here all weekend. They share the same love for coffee as I do and brought some delicious coffee to share with me along with their amazing coffee maker....oh Erick is going to have a long list for my Christmas  next year....on it definitely one of these coffee makers. Erick, Kaia and me went to Cranbrook on Thursday for a quick visit and we came home with Taylor. She has decided to come stay a few days with us! Britt is gonna take her snowboarding today if it isn't too cold. Hopefully it warms up cause I know Taylor is totally pumped to go out. Taylor is such a HUGE help with Kaia. She is always more than willing to change a diaper or bounce her around the house until she is content.
   This year is our first year having our own Christmas I am sad that we are going to miss out on the traditions and fun that we have at my family Christmas. But I am thrilled to start our own traditions here. Kaia is still too young to know the differences and her gifts from us are limited....but we are excited to get an early start on what will happen in our home for many more years to come.
  Did I mention that I got 4.5 hours of straight sleep last night...hehe......Well I am the first one awake I put the toys away did a quick sweep started the fire....waiting now for my house hold to wake and start all over again.

Our Christmas parties are done for the season...I think. We made it Kaia was a trooper putting up with Mommy pumping and pumping. Erick and Kaia went to Lola’s (Erick’s Mom) house on Friday night while I hosted an all girls Christmas party. Little miss Kaia did really well. She gave her Dad a little bit of a hard time with feeding. She wasn’t always interested in taking a bottle. Over all though we survived and now I am ready to enjoy the holidays with little on our schedule.
  Last Wednesday we did go and get our Christmas tree. It was the fasted tree hunt that I have been on. When Erick got home from work it was already getting dark outside so it was a mad dash to find a tree. The funny thing is I think that this tree is the best looking tree that we have ever picked out. We always end up with a Charlie brown tree. Not this year. I was disappointed that we didn’t get any pictures of our tree hunt but we did take a couple snaps of Erick and Kaia decorating the tree.
We drove to the city to finish up our Christmas shopping and the first mistake was going on a Saturday. Wow, the mall was crazy busy! Once again Kaia was a huge trooper and was a very good little girl while Mom and Dad ran around all crazy trying to find all of the items on our list.
    The snow has been pouring down for the last couple of days; I think that I am going to attempt a snow shoe this week. I need the exercise.....big time.
Oh I hope that our Christmas cards are in the mail today...I don’t know how I am going to get anything out on time if they take any longer.
Just a side note, I bought some cloth washable breast feeding pads to try. I thought that I might as well use them as well if I’m going to use cloth diapers. You know keep with the environmentally friendly theme. Well I woke up soaked this morning. I know that I was really engorged and that doesn’t always happen but still. It was not a pleasant feeling waking up to a half soaked bra. Hmmm maybe I can make my own breast pads. Hmmmm....I wish that we had a fabric store here in town. Or even in Fernie. I really need to whip out my sewing machine. That and I am on a mission to learn how to make the cute little hats that I seen at the craft fair. Kaia needs one of those hats and I wasn’t about to pay for them when I know that I have the skills to figure out how to make them.

Abbotsford was a success...well for me and my little traveler that is. Kaia was amazing! She handled the flight perfectly and she was such a trouper watching volleyball all weekend. The senior girls volleyball team came in 11^th not as great as they were anticipating but they were happy and proud to have made it as far as they did this year. I think that Erick will definitely help coach again next year he had fun. 
   So we are back home and I’m thinking its time to get my house feeling a little like Christmas. Time for the tree to go up, we will go out and get our own tree that is one of my favourite parts of getting ready for Christmas....the tree hunt. This season is going to be many of Kaia’s firsts the tree hunt being one of them. I can’t wait to share that with her I know that when she grows up she will enjoy it so much. I have many many memories of tree hunting with my Dad. Erick and I also have many tree hunting memories with just the two of us. It is one of those traditions that you just cannot trade for a fake tree. We went to Erick’s work Christmas party a couple nights ago, I pumped and Kaia hung out with her Aunty Paula. When I left Kaia she was fussy and crying....oh my gosh the guilt...That is a whole new emotion and feeling that I can honestly say I have never felt. I am starting to feel some of those moments when my friends have said “just you wait till you have your own kids”. After a good meal, some drinks with friends, a couple dances and many phone calls to Aunty Paula.....we made it, our first night out. Kaia made it too she was really good for Paula thank goodness. So this Friday I am hosting an all girls Christmas party, another reason why I need to bring the Christmas spirit into our home. Erick will be hanging out with Kaia probably at his mom’s house. Of course leaving Kaia with Erick and some bottles of pumped milk doesn’t worry me one bit nor do I feel guilty or as guilty. My baby girl is doing really well and has adjusted to travel and being away from Mommy just fine. She is growing so quickly I am slowly retiring more and more of her wardrobe every day.