Enough with the Snow!

Let me start by saying that I will miss living in Canada. It has been a wonderful almost 3 years and the friends that we've made are more like family.  That being said, I seriously hate the winters! We've had winter since the third week in October and now it won't stop snowing.  All the snow, coupled with the fact that they don't plow very well here, caused my car to get stuck at the end of my street today as I turned onto our street. Picture an almost 22 week pregnant lady, carrying a screaming almost 3 year old in her arms all the way down our block in blizzard like conditions. It was not fun. I'm hoping Dan will be able to get the car unstuck tonight after work.  All the snow is making it easier for me to say goodbye to Canada.  We will still miss it here...just not the snow, wind, and FREEZING cold temperatures.

Here is Allie next to our pile of snow from the snowstorm on Monday.  (By the way, my father-in-law told us last night he had his lawnmower out in MN to clear up some leaves last week. Never again will I complain about a MN winter!!!).  

All the News!

Dan accepted a job with Cargill back in Minneapolis almost two weeks ago. We knew we were going to try to move home before Christmas, but yesterday we found out it will be next week. Yikes!  We head home at the end of the week, so now we are frantically trying to sort through things and donate what we can.  We are also very frantically trying to find a place to rent in Minneapolis while our house is finished being built. Oh yeah, we are building a house on a lake in the west metro of the Twin Cities. It is going to be fabulous, but it is a pain that our dates didn't quite line up.  I am very thankful for my parents in MN who are rental house hunting for us this week! :)

So, we've been busy, and I've been 20+ weeks pregnant, so the plan is that when we do arrive at my parents' house in Minneapolis next week, I'm going to sleep for 48 hours straight because I'm certainly not sleeping well right now! :)

In other news, we tried to take a photo for my parents' Christmas card last weekend. Allie wasn't in the mood to smile and Bella was pretty depressed that we I forced her to wear a hat! It was hysterical and this was the best we could do.

This one was close, but not quite right.

The rest of them were too embarrassing to post! :)

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning and I'm thrilled to share that Allie is going to have a little sister!  I always wanted a sister growing up and I'm excited that Allie will get to have one.  The baby was very compliant in this ultrasound and showed us everything we needed to see, unlike her sister Allie who made us go back for three additional ultrasounds to get a good shot of her heart and spine! So, the baby looks healthy and everything looked normal for my placenta and fluid levels, which after  my pregnancy with Allie is also a relief. All in all, great news and more reminders of everything we have to be thankful for in our wonderful lives!

Big sister Allie!

Miss Independent

Allie is growing up and becoming more independent every day. A few weeks ago she potty trained herself!  Late this past summer I bought a bunch of books that I wrapped up for her and promised that she could open a book any time she used the potty.  

In three months, she never opened one book because she never used the potty.  The reason that she wouldn't use the potty is because I asked her to, and she much prefers to make her own decisions about anything! :) I was very careful not to push her, just to ask her every once and awhile if she wanted to try. My very wise sister-in-law Mary, told me not to feel discouraged and that when Allie decided to be potty trained she would do it quickly.  She was right!  

The day before Halloween Allie had her best buddies Anna and Maya over to play.  I heard the three of them talking that afternoon about how Allie was the only one who still wore diapers. After her nap that day, Allie asked to use the potty and literally never wore a diaper again. Once she decided to be potty trained, it was a done deal! I could not believe how easy it was.  

I think her potty training experience sums up who she is pretty accurately. She listens to me and knew what to do on the potty, but nobody was going to get her to try until she was good and ready. And, once she was ready, she did it all on her own...my independent girl!

In other news, we are in the Christmas season up here in Canada. There is a lot of snow and, with Thanksgiving being in early October, people are ready to decorate and get in the holiday spirit. Our neighbors took down their Halloween decorations November 1 and had their Christmas tree up that same day.  I'm not quite ready for Christmas, I am an American after all and need to get through US Thanksgiving first, but I am actually enjoying the snow. 

This one is really enjoying the snow! :)

Allie is getting so big and growing so fast. But one thing that never seems to change is her love obsession with her nuks. Here she is with three in her mouth, and she couldn't be happier!

Halloween

Allie had so much fun on Halloween. She started the day by potty training herself (more on that in another post) and ended the day with loads of candy!

We went trick or treating at a mall with friends. Here are the three girls again. 

Trick or treating in a store. A much warmer way to trick or treat!

I think Allie was trying to con this sales associate into more than one piece of candy. I don't think it worked.

At one point Allie went into a display case. You can't really tell, but she was twirling around in the display case, putting on a show.  She isn't a drama queen or anything! :)

The best shot I could get of all the kids. 

Allie got sick of trick or treating at the end, so just plopped down on the mall floor and started eating her candy. 

Getting ready to head out trick or treating.  Lady Bug Girl, Bumble Bee Boy, and Bingo (Lady Bug Girl's dog).  I love the first photo because you can tell how happy Bella is just to be included in the fun!

We took this photo for my Aunt Sue.  She made me the trick or treating pumpkin when I was a little girl and now Allie uses each year.  She loves it.

So, in all seriousness, the picture below shows what Canadian kids really look like when they head out trick or treating.  The temperature when Allie and Dan left the house last night was 18F, but with wind chill, it felt like 6F.  I'm proud of my little Canadian because she stayed out for 45 minutes.  It did help that they went trick or treating with our neighbor friends. 

Heading out.

The whole crew.

Dan, Luke, Sophie, Brent, and Allie

It was a wonderful Halloween.  Although I loved seeing Allie and her buddies in costume, I think my favorite part was that Allie potty trained herself! :)  

Fun Times!

We have had a very fun and very busy week. Because of the COLD weather and snow, I was forced to become a bit crafty (this is not natural for me!). So, we decided to paint some pumpkins...

and decorate a haunted ginger bread house.

Allie decided to eat the frosting. Can you tell?

The finished product.

Poppy and gagu arrived on Thursday afternoon. On Friday we went to the corn maze to pick out pumpkins. Do you recognize this scarecrow? 

She had fun in the corn maze by herself for about two minutes.

So I had to join her and carry her through.

Cargill had a bowling Halloween party on Saturday night. All the kids wore their costumes and we got to bowl. In Canada the bowling ball is small and there are only five pins.  I thought it was harder than US bowling. Dan won both games, but gagu was most improved.

Allie's Halloween costume this year is Lady Bug Girl based on these books.  She loves the books and I like that she is more interested in Lulu than princesses! 

Here is our little lady bug girl.

This is her buddy Neala whose daddy also works for Cargill.

These two can be trouble together. But that night they just bowled! :)

Gagu and Lady Bug Girl!

Poppy was Allie's assistant. He would get her balls every time it was her turn and cheered her on every time.

In the books, Lady Bug Girl has super powers so Allie would shake her wand and cheer every time we bowled. I am quite certain that her super powers where what allowed us to bowl two successful games of five pin.

In one of the books Lady Bug Girl plays with Bumble Bee Boy.  Allie's daddy was a real sport because he dressed up as Bumble Bee boy.  Allie was so excited!

One of Dan's co-workers has a daughter named Hannah.  Hannah was bowling and, as usual, was so sweet to Allie!

On Sunday after church we went to my friend Anne's third annual Halloween party. As soon as we got there Allie lined up by the wall with her buddies and demanded food.

Maya, Nixon, Ryan (the host), and Allie

These are Allie's best buddies in Saskatoon. She still misses her first best friend, Callum, but she is so thankful for these friends.

Anna, Nicholas, Maya, and Allie

On Sunday night Allie and gagu cooked. Mommy had the night off! :)

Poppy played dress up dolls with Allie. What a guy!

Then it was pumpkin time. We only had three pumpkins, but Allie made sure everyone had one.  Poppy and gagu shared a pumpkin, daddy and Allie shared a pumpkin, and mommy and Bella shared a pumpkin.

Allie (and Bella) weren't sure what to think of the pumpkin guts.

The finished products.  In true Canadian Halloween style, there are some snowflakes in the pumpkin picture.  Aren't you glad you aren't celebrating Halloween here? :)

Poppy's pumpkin, mommy's pumpkin, and daddy's pumpkin

Allie was pretty upset when she learned this morning that it was just me home with her all day.  I promised her we would be in Minnesota soon for Christmas and, until then, we have wonderful memories of this trip to tide us over!