Introducing Danika Shulian Lefebvre...

On Sunday we went to see Louanne and Patrick for the first time since Danika was born. What a treat it was to hold such a tiny baby again. You really do forget how tiny they are when they are first born. Danika is beautiful and soooo good. I loved hearing all the little newborn baby sounds and feeling her move and squirm. Proud mama and papa are doing great and so in love. It's hard to see if Danika looks more like mom or dad, but I'm sure time will tell very soon. We are so happy for the new family, and we can't wait to watch the girls grow up together!

Mackenzie Turns 1!!

Wow!! It's hard to believe that a whole year has already flown by. I remember the first time I held Mackenzie, I was nervous about breaking him. He was so tiny and now he is crawling, eating spaghetti and standing up. He had the cutest look on his face when we sang to him. He just looked at all of us as if to say, "Hey, what's all the fuss about?" He had a taste of the turtle cake Shauna made, but decided that he didn't like it. Somehow, I don't think his dislike of chocolate will last very long though. We had a yummy BBQ and it was nice just sitting outside talking and watching the kids play. Happy 1st birthday, Big Mac we love you very much!!!

Congrats Imee and Stan

My apologies for this late posting but we've been fairly busy around here. On Saturday we went to our friends Imee and Stan's wedding. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and it was great to see everyone again. They had the ceremony at the beautiful St. Andrew-Wesley United Church downtown. I didn't go because we opted to let Maddy get some really good naps in the day to prepare for being up late for the reception. Josh did get lots of pictures for me though! One of my favourite parts of a wedding is seeing the bride for the first time in her dress. They say that when you are dress shopping, you'll just know which is the dress for you. Imee's dress was beautiful and suited her perfectly.

The reception was at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel. It's a beautiful location and our first time being there for a wedding. The food was delicious, especially the satay chicken and the candied salmon. YUM!!! With Maddy, we are unable to stay as long as usual but I'm glad we got to see the slideshow (another favourite of mine) and hear the speeches. I really loved Imee's touching speech she made to her parents. Congratulations to the happy couple and thank you for having us!!

Happy Anniversary!!

On Monday, Josh and celebrated our 2nd anniversary. I remember our wedding day like it was yesterday and hard to believe that 2 years has already gone by. We haven't had too much luck with our anniversaries. Last year, we went to Banff/Lake Louise. It was a nice trip, but I was pregnant and feeling sick pretty much all the time. This year we had great plans to go out for dinner as a family. Nothing too fancy, just a dinner at Earl's (That's 'big time' for us now!). Well it seems our plans were derailed for one night.

On Sunday night, the blackout blinds in Maddy's room fell down right before her bedtime. In an effort to preserve her bedtime we hastily put up a few different blankets and towels with thumbtacks. Very classy!! With the sun rising at about 4:30am these days, I didn't want to risk having a baby awake and wanting to play at 5am.

The blankets thumbtacked to the wall was very ghetto looking and I didn't want to leave it up, so that meant that Josh would have to put the blinds back up the next night before her bedtime, hence; no anniversary dinner out. It doesn't matter because we went out on Tuesday night and had a great time. I'm happy to say the blankets are down, blinds are up and a sleeping disaster was averted!!!

Happy anniversary babe!! XOXO

Team Storm Part II

Ariel, Maddison, Ethan, Maddy, Maseio, Ryan and Hana

It's been a long time since Josh or I paddled for Team Storm. For those of you who don't know, we met on the team. So did many of our fellow team mates. We saw the team again at the dragonboat festival but there were only a few familiar faces. Recently, a couple of the moms on the team suggested that we get together every month, with the kids, to keep in touch. On Sunday we had everyone over at our house. Since many of the dads are also Storm alumni, they all came too and it was a packed house. The group is also getting bigger with some who are pregnant for the first time and others on to round two! It was a fun afternoon full of 'mommy and daddy' talk. Looking forward to seeing everyone again at the next get together.

The little boy looking right at the camera is Brendan. They had to leave early.

Maddy, Maseio andRyan waiting for us to take the pictures.

Here is the low down on parent/baby match up:

Ariel=Nancy+Alex
Maddison=Jenny+Pete
Ethen=Madelaine+Johnny
Maddy= She's ours!
Maseio=Deanna+David
Ryan=Liz+Pat
Hana=Teresa+Adam
Brendan=Karen+Wil

Who knows, maybe in about 20 years they'll form Team Storm the Next Generation!

Out for as long as she was in!

Tonight at 12:21am, Maddy will officially be out in the world for as long was she was in my belly. A strange thing to celebrate, I know, but it's funny how it feels like the time on the outside has gone by so much faster than time on the inside. It's amazing how much she has learned and how she's changed, yet I can still remember the look in her eyes as she latched on for the first time immediately after she was born. It's a look that I hope I will never forget.

Here are a few pics of how far she's come:

0 months

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Canada Day Long Weekend

I love long weekends even more now that Maddy is with us. Long weekends used to mean an extra day off, but sometimes we'd do something and sometimes we'd spend the extra day lounging about at home. Now, long weekends mean an extra day with dad and an extra break for mom! It's so nice to have Josh at home to help with things. I just realized last night as I was putting Maddy to bed, that I hadn't put her to bed at all for the last couple of days!! Now Josh is back to work and it's just the two of us again.

Our weekend started on Friday as Josh surprised us by coming home early. We had a nice dinner, and after Maddy went to bed we rent a movie. I don't remember the actual name of the movie "Chaos Theory" I think. Anyway it was a good movie and I'd recommend it if I could only remember the name (my brain has seriously turned to mush and I have only two more months to get it together!)

On Saturday we met Chris and Monique at New Brighton pool for a quick dip and some fish and chips for lunch. It was a really quick dip because Maddy found the pool water too cold. We start swimming lessons next weekend, but it's at the indoor pool we went to last time. Hopefully the kiddie pool will be warmer. That evening the three of us went to an early dinner at Earl's. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

My sister Shauna threw a surprise 40th birthday party for my brother-in-law Mick. It was great to see everyone at Coal Harbour and afterward we went for a walk while Maddy took her nap. We found ourselves at Pacific Centre because it was so hot outside. Funny how when it's too cold, you head to the mall. Now with a baby, when it's too hot, you also head to the mall! Josh got to check out the new Apple store and I took a peek in the new H&M store (the kids section of course!) We were quite pooped by the time we got home.




On Monday we went to Ed's grandmother's funeral. Petronella Low was 90 years old when she passed. She had a long, long life and passed away peacefully in her sleep. They had a 91st birthday party for her just two weeks earlier and she looked great. She will be missed dearly by her family and friends but it's a comfort to know that she didn't suffer any pain and got to see her family all together for one last time.

On Canada Day we were supposed to meet with some friends at Cate's Park in North Vancouver. Due to the 'police incident' on the Second Narrows bridge our plans were thwarted. Louanne and Patrick were on the north shore with all the meat for the BBQ, but the rest of us were on the Vancouver side with the BBQ! We tried to wait as long as we could, but with little Josh and Maddy, it's hard to delay bedtimes by too long. In the end we had a picnic with the other food, got Churches Fried Chicken and met in the park across the street from our place. Louanne and Patrick, we missed you guys!! We'll have to get a boat!




Josh's mom and dad also came down from Revelstoke yesterday and it was nice that they could join us at the park. They leave for Holland today as they scored a couple of cheap last minute flights. We're really excited for you guys and wish we could join you.



Now Maddy is sleeping and it is all quiet at home again. We hope everyone had a great Canada Day weekend. Counting the days until August long weekend.