A January Visit

Well the visit from my Mom went by very quickly and now suddenly it's a week later!  We had so much fun when she was here and also had a ton of naps.  Eli got a cold on Monday so unfortunately he wasn't very good company for the rest of her trip but he is feeling much better now and I hope it stays that way for our visit to Edmonton in February.  The first night that Mom was here she let Eli open a few trains that she had bought for him and he was so excited.  I'm fairly sure he hasn't put them down since.

He could hardly wait to get it open!

We didn't take enough pictures while she was here but we did go to the aquarium and we had to have dinner at Las Margaritas one night.  Mom and I also went on a date to see Les Miserables and I loved it!  We even found a lost iPad, which we were able to return to the owner, and now I have an unopened bottle of wine in my house!  All in all we had a great time and we were all sad to see Grandma go.  Eli will still ask me throughout the day where she is so I think he will be very excited when we land in Edmonton in February.

The other day on a morning that Bruce was home I was getting ready in our bedroom and I could here Eli shouting, "Help Daddy!" over and over again.  I could also hear Bruce laughing and taking pictures so I assumed it wasn't too serious.  Bruce showed me these pictures later, I guess Eli had pulled all of the shoes down on himself and then pretended to be stuck under the weight of the shoes.

Help Dad

I've been getting a bit of the winter time blues so Bruce has been making sure that we get outside and do some activities when he is home.  Today we went to the beach for about 5 minutes because it starting raining pretty hard but the mist over the ocean and the lights from the boats looked pretty neat.

Black and White

 We also went to Lynn Canyon and went for a bit of a hike on a day that was nice and clear.  Eli had a great time and it was nice to be able to just let him run and explore the trail.  I think that my Dad may have had a heart attack when we went over the suspension bridge though.  It was probably about 3 feet wide, very bouncy and spanned some extremely rough water.  Needless to say I did not let go of Eli while we walked across.  It is so nice to have the mountains so close and so many beautiful sights.

Eli got tired of all the stairs

A little creek

Climbing in and out of HUGE trees

Bruce had fun too

The view from the suspension bridge

Long Week

This week has been pretty low key and boring.  Mostly we have been counting down the days until my Mom comes to visit us from Edmonton.  The day will finally be here tomorrow and I cannot wait!  I missed my family a ton over Christmas vacation and I will be able to visit them all in February but it will be so nice to see my Mom sooner.  I wish that my Dad could come too but he is a busy guy and we will miss him for sure.  I have so many activities in mind for when she gets here but I know that even if we just sat around and talked all day that would be just fine with me.
Eli has been helping me do chores and get the house ready for a guest.  However, when a two year old helps with the chores that usually means that you have more clean up to do when you're done. He was being very helpful when I was trying to fold the laundry the other day.

Books, books, books

Most people who know me will know that I am a pretty avid reader.  I'll read anything that I can get my hands on and I'm not too picky about the genre.  Most of my favourites are fantasies, romance, mysteries and basically anything fiction.  No biographies... unless I know you.  Recently, my Dad finished writing his first novel!  I am so amazed by him and proud that he achieved such an incredible accomplishment.  It's a romantic thriller featuring librarian, Blanche Delaney, and the people and situations she encounters when she moves to Georgia.  Everyone should make sure that this is the book that they read next!  I absolutely loved reading it and could not put it down.  It is available on Amazon and if you want to learn more about it you can take a look at the website:

www.withcruelintent.com

His first novel

For Christmas I was able to go to Chapters and pick out a new book because I got one duplicate.  After finding out what my Dad's next book was going to be about (be on the lookout for it this year) I couldn't resist getting an end-of-the-world novel.  It isn't quite post-apocalyptic but very nearly.  It's called The Postmortal by Drew Magary.

It surrounds the writings of a single man after the cure for aging is discovered and humanity has the chance to live forever.  This book is terrific if you have the stomach for violence and you don't mind losing your faith in humanity. I'm fine with both so I loved it!  I think it was an incredibly accurate description of what some very real problems would be if humans were given the chance to live forever. We're mostly selfish beings so you can imagine what would happen to the planet and it's resources.  Given my religious beliefs I would absolutely not want to live on Earth forever because I know that something better awaits me but it's a good read nonetheless.  So now you have two books to go purchase this year... go!

My Little Spidey

Lately Eli has become very taken with a certain superhero. Bruce and I use Netflix and I love having it for Eli because it has tons of kids stuff on there.  Usually Eli will watch Thomas the Tank Engine or Sesame Street but a couple of days ago he saw a picture of Spiderman and insisted that we had to watch it.  The ones we've been watching are from the 1980's and I have to say that I think I enjoy watching them as much as he does.  It reminds me of when Cory and I would watch Batman after school.  Some of the lines in the show are hilarious and the villains are even better.  My favourite villain so far has been Kraven the Hunter, he was pretty cool because he tried to bring a whole bunch of dinosaurs to life to destroy New York City but I think the main reason why he's my favourite would be his outfit.

Would'ja believe... Kraven the Hunter!

It's a lion's face split in half to make a vest! The mane is still attached and everything.  This guy is going to take over the world and do it in all animal print.
I know the next pictures are a bit blurry but Eli was trying to show me some of his Spiderman moves so he was moving around a ton.

Fighting the bad guys

Shooting a web (or maybe flipping me off)

 Recently, Eli also found Bruce's tripod for his camera and has had a ton of fun taking pictures around the house.

Pretty soon we are going to be having a visit from my mom and I cannot wait!  I wish that we were going to be able to see everyone but it will be so nice to see her.  I got really homesick for my family over the Christmas break and as winter continues to stretch out I will certainly be counting down the days until her visit.  In February we are going to head to Edmonton to see everyone and it's going to be awesome!  There is so much going on in our families right now, I feel like every day I miss more.  We will have to be sure to pack all of our winter clothes!  Also, a big happy birthday to my favourite nephew, Walker!  Wish I could be there to party.

Big Boy Bed

Goodbye crib

Thanks to the generosity of Eli's Grandparents we were able to get him a big boy bed the other day and we put it together as soon as we finished dinner tonight.  It was a little bit sad for me to be putting away the crib but I know that a new little baby will be sleeping in it soon.  I just can't believe that my little boy is sleeping in a big bed tonight.  After we put it together I thought that he would look small in it like babies do when you first put them in a crib but sadly he didn't.  He looked just right sitting on it and playing and it made me happy and sad.  He is growing up so fast and I'm sure that too soon we'll need to be getting him a queen bed for his gangly teenage arms and legs but for now I am going to enjoy this new little change.  So far I can still hear him in his room playing but I know it'll take some adjustment for him to fall asleep quickly like he used to.  At least now he can get back into the bed instead of curling up and falling asleep on his toy chest.  So thank you to my Mom and Dad for allowing us to use a baby gift as more of an Eli gift.

All ready for sweet dreams

 Once I had the camera out Eli insisted that I take some pictures of him by constantly jumping in front of the camera yelling "cheese!" Here are some of the poses he decided to do.

Goof.

                                                                  

A New Year

Oh dear.  Life in the Chenuz household has been very busy the last couple of months.  I cannot believe that we are already starting a new year!  Christmas came and went much too quickly and with all that was going on I'm glad that we were all still able to enjoy it.  I don't really even know where to begin.  I also don't want to make this the longest and most boring post in history so I will try to do a condensed version of the last couple months with lots of pictures.  Begin!

First, we have moved and settled into our new basement suite in Dunbar.  We moved at the end of November and we were a little bit worried that we wouldn't be able to get everything settled and get the Christmas decorations out on time.  However, we were totally successful and have settled in here rather quickly.  The neighbourhood is fantastic and so quiet and Eli and I can walk to do our grocery shopping and visit our good friends the Gasser's who live just a block away.  Surprisingly enough I don't have any pictures but now that the Christmas decorations are down again I'll have to get Bruce to take some for me.

Christmas happened! I have tons of pictures of that so I'll dive right in!

Exploring Vancouver's Christmas Scene

Eli loved this Merry-Go-Round

The Gasser's at the Christmas Market

 This year we decided to get a real tree and Eli was his Daddy's big helper when he put it up in the house.

Putting water in the stand

So proud!

Christmas lights!

Yes, that's a light in his mouth

 Bruce's family came to see us for Christmas and we had a great time!  Eli was so spoiled with attention he couldn't have been happier.  We had so much junk food in the house it was fantastic! Although, Eli still asks me for chocolate everyday we are starting to get back to eating right.  The other day he asked me for a banana so I think that we are on our way.

Christmas Eve watching Frosty the Snowman

Christmas Eve spread

 Christmas morning we opened our stockings first and then had some delicious homemade Egg McMuffins and Orange Julius.  I was so excited because this is the first year that I get to use my Santa mugs and Eli loved them but I gave him a plastic cup because I want them to last as long as my Grandma's did.

Christmas morning!

I don't have too many pictures of Christmas present opening but I have some video for my family that I might include in another post.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! 

Oh and one more big piece of news... Bruce and I are expecting our second little baby in July!  We are so excited and so far things are going well.  I'll be sure to keep updating everyone.  I think that 2013 should be a pretty good and busy year!