Aria is making a lot of progress - Dad J said that kids don't just gradually change - they seem to make big leaps all at once, and it feels like that's happening this week. I just measured her yesterday (with masking tape on a blanket she was lying on) and she was 2 feet! 24 inches (and out of almost all of her 0-3 month clothes) and when I weighed her she's 12lbs 10oz!! WOW! As well, just recently she's really started smiling and being more responsive intentionally - what fun to know that you're the one who got her to smile! Today (and yesterday a bit), she was also cooing and really sounding like she was talking, rather than just crying to communicate. She likes to talk to me, and to the ceiling fan (so I don't get TOO excited). Then today I held her up (her legs are getting quite strong), and thought I'd give it a try - so I held her only by her hands and she held up her own weight! She stood! WOW! She's just doing SO well right now - it's really exciting. She's also much better at finding her actual thumb - and for sure putting her hand up to her mouth - she's going to be a thumb sucker, just like her Auntie Beth and her Grandma (not that they do it anymore...right guys?? Right???)
We also have plane tickets now to Red Deer and Ontario for the summer, so we're super excited about those trips! Who knows what she'll be able to do by then!
Have a good night!
July 03, 2008
July 02, 2008
Something Aria's BAD at...
Being an alarm clock!
She slept until almost 9 today - so much for getting up on time to get Brad to work for 8!! Oops! Of course, Aria sleeping from 10:30pm-9am is CERTAINLY something to be proud of for a newly three month old girl!
She slept until almost 9 today - so much for getting up on time to get Brad to work for 8!! Oops! Of course, Aria sleeping from 10:30pm-9am is CERTAINLY something to be proud of for a newly three month old girl!
July 01, 2008
Aria's Namesake
Aria, Wade and JulieSo, Aria was named after Julia April - and both were named after the month they were born in. Since Julie lives in Ontario, we had to wait until now for the two of them to meet - but it looks like it was worth the wait. AND I would like to say that Wade was the bestest most gentlest kid I have ever seen touch Aria (who hasn't got a younger sibling)! WOW was he ever good. He'd stare at her, and just softly put his hand on her hand or cheek - I never worried when he was close to her like I have when other kids get too close!
Such fun to see all of them - life is sure different for the four of us than it was when we first started spending a lot of time hanging out six years ago or so, but it's still so good! I'm glad to have a friend like Julie!
Aria's First Fireworks!
Aria saw her first fireworks last night. She LOVES lights so the fireworks were a real hit. She watched the street lights most of the way there, watched the fireworks for as long as they were going (what an attention span) and slept against her dad's chest on the way home.
Nice pictures, Brad!
Nice pictures, Brad!
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
June 30, 2008
A Tech Moment
This afternoon, at a point when Aria has just finished feeding and was just settling into sleep (she has such a cute glassy-eyed look at that moment), I set up my Archos 605 media player with my new battery dock which finally arrived today. That gives me the capacity to hook it up to the TV and the stereo simultaneously. I started an impromptu slideshow of all of Arias pics (I've got most of them stored on there), and started playing Newton Faulkner to accompany it. It was a great moment of reflection.
She turns three months tomorrow (if I don't post this quickly, it'll be today already). It's been an amazing journey already, and there's so much to take in. Thank you all for walking this road with us. And we're grateful to be with you on yours as well.
She turns three months tomorrow (if I don't post this quickly, it'll be today already). It's been an amazing journey already, and there's so much to take in. Thank you all for walking this road with us. And we're grateful to be with you on yours as well.
Aria's Great...and it's HOT!!!
Aria's doing a great job with all the heat - we love her TONS - Brad just bought a thing for his media player so that he can play pictures on our TV now and music with our TV's sound system - then he put up the pics of Aria that he's taken with music and made me cry - she's so different from those pictures already - so much older & changed - and yet still her and still so beautiful.
On a side note: Pray for Aria's little cousin Silas - he has been in the hospital with infections & such and was taken there by ambulance when he didn't breath for a while (apnea - common for babies with infections - but scary for moms). So pray he gets better and that he can come home soon.
On a side note: Pray for Aria's little cousin Silas - he has been in the hospital with infections & such and was taken there by ambulance when he didn't breath for a while (apnea - common for babies with infections - but scary for moms). So pray he gets better and that he can come home soon.
June 20, 2008
Only Four Digits...
Just because this site isn't ALL about the baby - Brad & I are down to 4 digits in our student loan debt!! We're FINALLY under $10,000 - not bad for two people who got married with around $25,000! Yay for us (and thanks for the help - you know who you are...)!! And it's also a nice feeling to have jobs that actually require that education we invested in! Kinda makes me feel like it was a worthwhile investment?
Hey - if there are any millionaires out there who want to donate a grand or more to help pay it off - we'll gladly take it - it FEELS like we're that much closer, but $8,700 means we're still going to be paying it off until after the Olympics! But that's ok - ONLY 4 DIGITS we're definitely making progress.
Hey - if there are any millionaires out there who want to donate a grand or more to help pay it off - we'll gladly take it - it FEELS like we're that much closer, but $8,700 means we're still going to be paying it off until after the Olympics! But that's ok - ONLY 4 DIGITS we're definitely making progress.
Weighed and Measured AGAIN...
Well, Aria got weighed last week Thursday - 11 6 - and on Wednesday this week she got weighed again - she's now 11 lbs 14oz!! She is growing so fast!!!
On a side note: immunizations suck - I think they're worse for the mom than for the baby, we both cried - that's for sure! But Aria seems to have gotten over it - although she was quite sad all day that day. Poor girl.
On a side note: immunizations suck - I think they're worse for the mom than for the baby, we both cried - that's for sure! But Aria seems to have gotten over it - although she was quite sad all day that day. Poor girl.
June 18, 2008
Aria's Baptism
Well - we had a great day on the day Aria was baptized - we woke up at our usual time, and had plans to be at church at 10 (church starts at 10:30) in order to say hello to our friends etc who were there...we arrived at 10:32. We had along the baptismal gown us kids wore when we were baptized and we were going to put it on once we got to church (to avoid spit-ups if at all possible). It didn't fit!! Her head was too big for it - I guess two months of age is a little late to get baptized in our family's tradition (a side note: Aria is the first grandchild to get baptized, but that's beside the point). We had her in white for underneath the gown - so she just wore what she was wearing - a little white jumper with a white undershirt underneath. I also had her wrapped in my mom's shawl that she crocheted for her wedding - so that was really special for me and for those who know how much that shawl meant for my mom (she wore it to her 25th and 30th anniversary celebrations and it was on a table at her funeral with pictures & memorabilia on top of it).
So, we got into the service during the second or third song and sat up at the front - Dad & MaryAnna & the girls were in the row behind us, and Bec and Frank weren't there yet. When we got up for the baptism they still weren't there - so I was watching the door while William was talking. FINALLY they made it just before the actual baptism.
When William does baptisms, he really does it up - ever since our friends Pippa & Chris decided if their baby was going to get baptized (they came from a Pentecostal background) she was going to get baptized! Pippa dressed Anwen in a bathing suit - brought a bathtub for her to sit in and William dumped buckets of water on her - it was adorable. Since then, William has enjoyed REALLY baptizing all his babies - so when Aria got baptized, the water wasn't just a few little drops on the top of her head as some are, she got water poured on her from a jug - and it ended up all over her face & pooling in her eye sockets - and she totally took it like it was no big deal - she must like getting baptized! It was very cool.
After Aria was baptized I had a chance to say something - and so I started by explaining that since Brad & I come from two different traditions, him from dedication, me from baptism, that we both felt it was right to do both for Aria - we baptized her with our church family (since that's what we do at the Bridge) and with my dad & sister there, but we will dedicate her in Ontario at a later date with Brad's family (and of course all those in Ont. who want to when that time comes). Each day should be a day when we remind Aria that she is one of God's covenant children, and each day should be a day when we dedicate her to God - remembering that she is a gift from God - but that she is HIS, and not only mine. I then told those at church (and am now telling all of you reading this, as you are part of our lives) Aria means "A Solo Song, Sung with Passion, Accompanied by an Orchestra". Aria's life is her song - and our hope and prayer is that it will be sung with passion - and to our Father in Heaven. We are her orchestra - Brad & I as parents, but also our families and our friends - our church family and those who are close to Aria - we are the ones who are accompanying her through life, and our prayer is that each of you will also be a part of helping her to sing her song in worship for our Father.
We then had people come up and lay hands on us and pray for her and for us - my Father and William both took a time to pray - it was really special. I'm going to work on getting the CD of the service so that we can post it on the site.
Love you all - thank you for being part of the cacophony that our lives have been since our Aria arrived.
Deb
So, we got into the service during the second or third song and sat up at the front - Dad & MaryAnna & the girls were in the row behind us, and Bec and Frank weren't there yet. When we got up for the baptism they still weren't there - so I was watching the door while William was talking. FINALLY they made it just before the actual baptism.
When William does baptisms, he really does it up - ever since our friends Pippa & Chris decided if their baby was going to get baptized (they came from a Pentecostal background) she was going to get baptized! Pippa dressed Anwen in a bathing suit - brought a bathtub for her to sit in and William dumped buckets of water on her - it was adorable. Since then, William has enjoyed REALLY baptizing all his babies - so when Aria got baptized, the water wasn't just a few little drops on the top of her head as some are, she got water poured on her from a jug - and it ended up all over her face & pooling in her eye sockets - and she totally took it like it was no big deal - she must like getting baptized! It was very cool.
After Aria was baptized I had a chance to say something - and so I started by explaining that since Brad & I come from two different traditions, him from dedication, me from baptism, that we both felt it was right to do both for Aria - we baptized her with our church family (since that's what we do at the Bridge) and with my dad & sister there, but we will dedicate her in Ontario at a later date with Brad's family (and of course all those in Ont. who want to when that time comes). Each day should be a day when we remind Aria that she is one of God's covenant children, and each day should be a day when we dedicate her to God - remembering that she is a gift from God - but that she is HIS, and not only mine. I then told those at church (and am now telling all of you reading this, as you are part of our lives) Aria means "A Solo Song, Sung with Passion, Accompanied by an Orchestra". Aria's life is her song - and our hope and prayer is that it will be sung with passion - and to our Father in Heaven. We are her orchestra - Brad & I as parents, but also our families and our friends - our church family and those who are close to Aria - we are the ones who are accompanying her through life, and our prayer is that each of you will also be a part of helping her to sing her song in worship for our Father.
We then had people come up and lay hands on us and pray for her and for us - my Father and William both took a time to pray - it was really special. I'm going to work on getting the CD of the service so that we can post it on the site.
Love you all - thank you for being part of the cacophony that our lives have been since our Aria arrived.
Deb
June 17, 2008
Aria at Sunset
She likes outdoors. She likes fresh air. And she especially likes walking. She makes that quite clear when you stop. :-)
June 13, 2008
A Link to Aria's Baptism Day...
Pics from my sister's site - note that there's more than one page to view...
http://www.practicatechnical.com/gallery/v/MayJune08/
If you were there and have pics - please pass them on - since we were up there & couldn't take any...
More on how it went & what I said later when I'm not holding Aria.
PS...I just realized the other day that Brad, Deb & Aria only have 6 letters total - easy to teach her to write our names in the future - We're so considerate!!
http://www.practicatechnical.com/gallery/v/MayJune08/
If you were there and have pics - please pass them on - since we were up there & couldn't take any...
More on how it went & what I said later when I'm not holding Aria.
PS...I just realized the other day that Brad, Deb & Aria only have 6 letters total - easy to teach her to write our names in the future - We're so considerate!!
June 12, 2008
Aria got Weighed & Measured...
She's now 11 lbs 6 1/4 oz and 22 1/2 inches. She's still growing - good!
She's been having fussy evenings recently and that makes it tough for the two of us - and I'm getting sick - a sore throat and slightly stuffy nose - but she's great and we still love her. LOTS.
She's been having fussy evenings recently and that makes it tough for the two of us - and I'm getting sick - a sore throat and slightly stuffy nose - but she's great and we still love her. LOTS.
June 10, 2008
Aria Surrounded by Love
These pictures might not be the most current, but they're also not the least current... That's gotta count for something, right?
We're grateful for all the people there are to surround Aria with their love.
I'd like to mention that these were all taken with a little point and shoot camera. I have to shoot more frames with it to get good shots, but in the right conditions I can get it to achieve some decent results. Hey, there are times when you don't have to haul the camera bag around... Who knew?
We're grateful for all the people there are to surround Aria with their love.
I'd like to mention that these were all taken with a little point and shoot camera. I have to shoot more frames with it to get good shots, but in the right conditions I can get it to achieve some decent results. Hey, there are times when you don't have to haul the camera bag around... Who knew?
June 08, 2008
Grandparents and Aria
These are the last pics that we got while my Mom and Dad were visiting. We have a great looking family, don't we? And the love we each share is so evident here.
First Responsive Smile
I for sure finally got Aria to smile at me. She's been making more eye contact over the last couple of weeks. But yesterday she definitely smiled back. It wasn't a full grin, however. Which means she's still got lots of mileage left in this little gesture. :-)
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