A Visit from "Nana"

My mom succumbed (happily) to my pleas for company during tax season, and took the train out to spend a week with us at the beginning of February.  It was nice to have company, help with Kai and lots of yummy treats baked for us :) 

Kai quickly became grandma's best friend and her little shadow and was greatly concerned whenever she would leave his sight, calling out, "Nana?  Nana? Oh no!  Oh no!".

Opening his Valentine's gift from Grandma.

There was a bumblebee on the front of the bag, and he quickly learned how to say "bumblebee" or as he pronounced it,  "bubblebee".

The "bwoons" were definitely his favorite part of the gift though.

My mom worked with Kai on his colours while she was here, and he loved the game where he got to sort his toys into piles according to colour.  Can you tell that my mom is a teacher?

He also loved the helium monkey balloon my mom bought for him, especially when we tied it around his waist so that it followed him everywhere!

One night we put on some kids' music and he spent about half an hour dancing to it with his balloons!  (Excuse the funny wardrobe!  He was in his long underwear after playing outside.)

Kai loved the lips/Xs/Os stickers that grandma had, and put them all over his face!

The happy, the sad and the melt me inside moments...

The past few weeks have been a blur, but there have been so many great moments I haven't shared.

The oh so happy moments...

- when my husband gave me a "Dirty Depot Love Box" for Valentine's Day.  "Dirty Depot" is our name for "Dairy Depot", the rather shady gas station down the road.  This is where my lovely cardboard box filled with chocolate bars, gummies, and box wine came from.  It kind of reminded me of our white trash date in college :)  Awww, the romance never ends!

- Kai's dancing.  He literally dances to anything with music or rhythm.  The phone rings, he dances, the washing machine makes a rhythmic thumping noise, he dances, we read him a Dr. Seuss book, he dances.  It never ends, and it never ceases to amuse us.

- Kai's lisping attempt at new words. 
- Watching Kai read books to himself, put the book down, sign "more" to himself, pick the book up and repeat.  Who talks to themselves in sign language?!

The sad moments...

- Losing our dear friend "Hee Hee", Kai's beloved blanket which used to be my brothers', and then mine before being passed on to Kai.  Sadly, Kai's love of fuzz got the better of him and he chewed right through the afghan in multiple places, causing it to unravel.  So, farewell dear Hee Hee.  You may have survived three Gamaches, but you could not survive Kai!

The melt me inside moments...

- Spontaneous hugs and kisses from our little guy.

- Unprompted "thank yous" signed by Kai.

- Having Kai bring me book after book and crawl into my lap to read them all.  I absolutely love that he loves to read (mostly because it means he actually sits still and lets me cuddle him, and also because I think reading is just plain old great.)
- Bryon talking to Kai about Jesus and Sunday school before we went to church this Sunday, and then having Kai respond by saying "Jesus" in his cute little voice and going and bringing his little Bible to Bryon.  Now "Jesus" is one of his favourite words. 

 

Twenty-Nine

It was my birthday on January 18th, and I'm now officially 29.  One more year until the big 30!  Oh my.

Anyways, I was blessed with many happy wishes from family and friends, lunch out with some girl friends, and a wonderful trip with my two favourite boys.  They took me up to Panorama Mountain Resort, near Invermere, BC, and we stayed in a beautiful townhome for 3 nights.  It was fun and relaxing and the best birthday gift I could have asked for.  Thanks boys!

My favourite - sour cream lemon pie.  Kai also loved it!

View from the front porch of our townhome at Panorama.

Riding the gondola to get to the upper Village.

Our little snow monkey loves to faceplant in the snow.

My little ski buddy.

Riding the chair lift with daddy.

First accident of the day.  Kai's a trooper though, and has yet to cry after a ski accident.

This picture was taken right before a kid on the racing team ran into me and Kai and knocked us over!  Second accident of the day.

Third (and thankfully last) accident of the day.  While Kai and I went inside for naptime, Bryon went to the terrain park where he fell off a rail and broke his thumb.  This is how ski patrol fixed it up for him!

We decided to try a tamer sport the next day and went cross-country skiing.

Enjoying the hot pools at the resort.

Lunch at my favourite cafe in Invermere before heading home.



Congratulations to our CPAC!

This post is long overdue.  I really should have written it a month ago.  But, better late than never, right?

Since May, Bryon has busted his brains and braun to not only work full time, be an awesome dad and husband, volunteer as the accountant for our local climbing gym, volunteer with a youth group, etc. etc., but he has also managed to take and pass all four of his CPA exams with flying colours/colors!  Now he only has to complete 3 more college credits (he's currently taking a Microsoft Access course), and pass his Ethics exam before he graduates from being a CPA Candidate to being a true CPA.

Kai and I are very proud of our daddy & husband.

And now tax season looms over our heads - the season where Bryon lives at the office and Kai and I try to entice as many people as possible to come visit.  Anyone, anyone??