Spring is in the AIR

Well the last weekend in April seems to be a caotic one for us ....at least for the past two years. If you remember from last year Jason built a 20X30 deck for the home show out of 2x4's. This year he took it to another level. He was able to get RONA, Timberspan, and Seasonwood to donate their products allowing Jason to build a deck with higher quality products. As you can see able he built the initial part on our front lawn and then frantically in two days at the home show erected this whole thing! Craziness I must say!
All that being said though it is so worth it. We were just located at the front entrance like we were last year which means that every single individual that walks into the home show had to walk past us. I don't know what the tally is for this year but last year they said they had about 20,000 people walk through the show. So definitely we get a good bang for our buck in regards to advertising. Jason gets the opportunity to showcase his ability, talk to potential clients one on one, and make a lot of contacts through the show as businesses also have an interest in making connections! The other big benefit was that because we had the majority of the materials donated we were able to raffle it off and give the proceeds to the Northern BC Children and Families Hearing Society! (empowering deaf and hard of hearing kids and families) So someone got the deck for $2.00 and the society got a nice $1500.00!

Grandma watched Alistair for the weekend as I helped Jason promote his business. To give you an idea we gave out around 800 business cards! Its a long weekend as the Saturday it was open from 8am to 9pm and it goes over three days. To tell you the truth I got sunburt and I think my hair color is a few lighter shades due to all the sunrays that weekend!

Everyone seemed to really like the Timber Fir pergola along with the composit decking and wood combination.

Of course the day Jason had to take it down it decided to pour with rain.....it made for some great pictures though! : D

Well the calls are definitely coming in and Jason is busy putting estimates together.....spring is in the air!

A Beautiful Surprise!

Wow time flies! I was waiting and waiting to put this post up as I was trying to coordinate a very busy friend, my son and I for a perfect picture moment. However, every time Lise made it over to the house Alistair promptly went to sleep! So I've decided the waiting has to stop! Anyhow as some of you may have read in my last blog I had a suprise gift given to me with a very touching story attached to it.

Some of you may recognize this painting as back in December 2009 I blogged about a very similar painting that I had come across while Alistair, Mom and I were down in Vancouver going through a slew of appointments for Alistair. We were staying at the HolidayInn on Broadway and I would go down each morning to Coffee Blenz and grab us a cup of coffee. While waiting I would admire Catherine Adamson's artwork that she had displayed there. I just loved it as there was so much life in it along with a whimsical sense to it being so unstructured. Anyhow, I took a couple of pictures and dreamed of the day I'd have such artwork in my own home.
Well just about a month ago my buddy Lise Dahlstrom came back from Vancouver and she told me she had a house warming gift for me. So lo and behold what does she bring but this stunning picture all wrapped up just for me! But the story gets so much more touching! When Lise got in touch with Catherine she sent her Alistair's blog address to indicate which one she was hoping to get her hands on. So from what I understand it wasn't available but Catherine was happy to make a similar one up for her. Well when Lise met up with Catherine in Vancouver, Catherine told her she was so touched by the blog that she wanted to give the painting as a gift to Alistair! To top it off she wrote on the back of the painting "Alistair's Salsa". It makes an already beautiful painting that much more beautiful when not only has a special friend sought out this gorgeous painting for me but then the artist herself gives it so generously to Alistair.
I have put it up in the center of our home so that I have the opportunity to be touched by the painting on a regular basis. It truly lights up our home. I LOVE IT!
This morning when I googled Catherines website I found out that she presently has a show at the "Jericho Arts Center" in Vancouver from April 28th to May 22nd. So if you want to check out some beautiful work and you are in the area you should definitely take the opportunity. But if that doesn't work out check out her Catherine's website . There are so many stunning pieces in her website gallery make sure you take the time to look at them individually as she captures so much life in each one! Well the grass is turning green here, the birds are chirping this morning and the sunshine is pouring in the window. Life is good! : D

Alot of Going Ons!

I know I know its been a month or so since I've blogged but life has been hectic, unbalanced, and just well craziness....So the balance has begun. I have this one month left as a President of the Northern BC Children & Families Hearing Society and then someone else can have the opportunity to take it on! So if your out there and interested come on down! LOL Actually we just had our AGM and I'm pleased to say we had a couple more people join as board members. Whoop whoop. : D

I've actually sat down many a times to blog and been stopped by the silly computer. I want to so desperately show you all many of the videos I have of Alistair playing with the ball, standing in his stander, and just be super cute but unfortunately I seem to be cut off these days from adding videos. So pictures you shall get.

Mid March I celebrated my 36th birthday and got spoilt rotten. It all, of course, revolved around food.......Mom made me a gorgeous cake

......and fed us all a scrummy meal!

.....and my buddy Lise made me some incredible looking cupcakes!

We got an unreal amount of snow after Christmas and my cupcake making friend got a tad snowed in on her farm. So i trudged in with a propane torch and a few other goodies to help kick start her unhappy tractor. So yes if you can believe it I'm standing on her driveway. Actually more like 4-5 feet above her driveway.

The dogs all found it good times....definitely a winter wonderland. (Good exercise too!)

One day in the last month or so Alistair decided that he actually would put his feet on the ground thank you very much. You may remember that up till then I had forced him to stand by standing on his feet and holding him up under the arm pitts. Actually something similar to this picture here. Well then all of a sudden he decided he'd put some weight baring through his feet. Now he's not doing it the right way by any means. But again this mama is just happy he's trying. Sometimes he gets it right and puts weight into his heals and other times he attempts to be a ballarina and curls right up on his toes or even onto the tops of his feet. Anyhow he keeps progressing to the point he needs less support to hold him up and more to just hold him straight. We just brought home the stander today. SO now we are going to attempt to get him in it two times a day for 10 min a time. He wasn't keen at first but food and music get him doing a lot of things he doesn't like! LOLWe got a surprize in the mail the other day from Aunt Beverly and Uncle Larry. They sent Alistair this nifty little outfit and some Nat King Cole and Lionel Richie DVD's. He just loves them. Male singers and instrumental stuff seems to be his thing. Nana also sent him a Mozart CD for babies and he just loves it. So great pics in music you guys! If only I could up load videos you could see his enjoyment he gets from them.....hopefully in the near future!

Jason is always trying to do something different with Alistair to change things up and this is only one of many!

Here's Lynn (Alistair incredibly talented physiotherapist). It always amazes me what she can get Alistair to do compared to us. It sure gives me incentive to keep trying new positions and different techniques to keep Alistair on the right track. Yay Lynn!

LOL Here's my stylish little man again! We use the babylegs all the time as pants can be quite restrictive for him. So this way his legs stay warm but we don't have to worry about the pants being too stiff, having buttons or bulky pockets in the wrong places, or being too slippery.

Uncle George came home for a surprise visit here not too long ago and he's back again sooner than later. Its nice to have George close enough that he can enjoy seeing Alistairs progress and get walloped in all the board games by me on a regular basis! LOL I am the PowerGrid champion! (Well actually mom kicked all of our butts the last time) Its a great game if you like those long drawn out startedy games.

Anyhow, Spring has Sprung! The ball is definitely starting to roll in regards to Jason's business ...... J.R.MacMillan Construction He's already got a couple of fences lined up for when the frost gets out of the ground as well as lots of great ideas and plans for the big home show at the end of the month. Last year Jason built a 20X30 deck for the show and he basically didn't have to advertise again for the summer. So were hoping for the same type of response this year. I'll be sure to add pictures of the deck he builds as it looks like its going to be pretty niffty.

So yes that means my working in Emergency is going to slow down. I have big plans for the spring/summer as well. I'm going to join outdoor soccer again as it was so good for my brain last year. Plus I'm going to make a significant effort to get outside daily with Alistair and get him exposed to alot of different environments, people, and experiences. I'm really looking forward to it!

Well I'm going to be blogging much sooner than later. I know I say this every time BUT I just had something given to me yesterday which holds a really special story and touched me greatly. AND I JUST LOVE IT! However, I wanted to blog about it separtely AND I need to take some pictures first with a few strategic people!

K Till then~ Cherrio Peps! ~Julie

Daddy Day!

Actually its been Daddy Day all winter but Alistair and I helped Jason celebrate his birthday at the beginnng of the month.

As I got the cake in the oven the boys enjoyed the best part of the cake....well this cake anyhow! LOL

Yes here is what was supposedly the "best pound cake ever". I happened to leave it in the oven a tad too long and then when I tried to get it out of the pan the whole top ripped off......AND THEN in a rush to eat I threw the candles in the cake and they melted into the whole thing! Hence the different sized candles. Anyhow, even after all that he said "well its the thought that counts" Now thats an understanding husband. Basically, I had too much on the go that weekend and well I have a habit of forgeting what I left in the oven. SO yes I tend to use a timer on these things but it just didn't look like it was quite ready and then I forgot to reset the timer. OOOPS.

Ah yes here is Alistair's new buddy BOB. I picked him up at Granville Island in Vancouver. I actually went there specifically to get a puppet. The reason being is my friend Lisa bought a puppet and her son Rocco loves the thing. So I thought it may be a super way to get Alistair to interact as little people seem to be his favorites. And yeppers it worked. He follows BOB all over the room, HUGS him, and chats with him. So good times. So if youre ever heading to Granville and want a puppet they have a great puppet store in the kids market.

Well little Mr Alistair is still suprising us. I was getting my brain wrapped around the fact that he may never walk as we can dangle him over the floor and he just pulls his legs right up to his bum. BUT this little munchkin decided to put his feet on the floor about a week ago. Now he isn't getting his heels right down but he does at times. Just the fact that he considers it regularly is great in my books. In addition, he just seems to be a lot more alert and oriented to his surroundings overall. So of course these are all wonderful bday presents for his dad and of course it just makes this mama happy. : D

Balance with a CAPITAL "B"

Wow is he cute or what hey! Mind you if i had a sugar cookie that large with my name on it right beside my head I would be lookin that cute too....or at least attempting to look that cute! LOL
This month has been a little crazy busy....actually the last few months have been so needless to say my goal for the spring/summer is to find a nice balance. We've just had so many things going on. Jason and I decided it was best if I picked up to full time and he be a stay at home Dad during these next couple of months as carpentry work is few and far between at this time of year and when summer hits he's working 16 hour days/ 7 days a week. So its worked out great and the big and little men seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. Jason is truly great with Alistair though. He's consistently doing physio with him and feeding him scrummy meals. For instance, the other day for supper Alistair some squished up avocado on one side of the dish and on the other was cream, mashed potatoes and PEANUT BUTTER all smushed together! LOL To be fair I have to tell the rest of the story...alistair has had a nasty snotty head cold prevent him or making him very disinterested in food. So to no surprise he lost a shwack load of weight. So we've been making power meals to get those pounds packed back on as he really isn't the biggest child on the block AND it seems to be working. Anyhow...so yes this mama's workin a bunch in the Emerg here in town and there rarely seems to be a mellow day in that place. If anything we're lucky if we get all our breaks. But in the same breath I do like working there.... so yippee for me. But its been a bit of a shocker for my bod and brain to go to full time from a nice mellow part time schedule. Anyhooo then on top of it early in the month it was time again for Alistair and I to head on south to Vancouver for more checkups. Thankfully, Alistair and I were welcomed in to Kim and Grady & Don's home once again. I say thankfully as it is a bit of a medical overload of information, tests and specialists and even though i attempt to brush it off Jason does say it always takes me a week to get back to my old self. I just get a lot of worst case scenario, investigations, and of course it all gets the brain going and i don't think the specialists really realize how we as parents hang on every word uttered out of their mouths! First of all we saw the opthamologist, the plastic surgeon, the occupational therapist, the neonatology team, the neurologist, and the geneticist all in ONE day. Generally it has gone ok in the past but I think with Alistair being a little older he's more aware and not so content to be disrupted out of his normal daily routine. PLUS to top it off we started with the opthamologist and he stuck drops in Alistairs eyes to dialate them and WHAM Alistair went into overstimulation mode and then of course thats what all the specialists got to assess was Alistair hyperextending his limbs constantly, being irritable, and blah blah blah. So ya and what Mom likes to see their kidlets in a overstimed and irritable mood? So and then I was REALLy hoping to find out some information from genetics this time as we would like to extend the family at some point in time in the not too too distant future. But that started off with the geneticist not having results from the blood work and basically it looks like it got lost, then he proceeds to tell me that we have a %25 chance of having another kidlets with similar issues, and then he says that he doesn't really know what syndrome alistair has but the closest he can figure is one that only three kids have in the world but they all have a small upper lip and a drop (hypotonic jaw) jaw which Alistair doesn't have....anyhow I guess the syndrome remains nameless...but the geneticist finalizes it by saying but we won't go there at the moment because the outcome of this syndrome isn't good.! ACK well then WHY THE FLYING FLIP would you tell a mom that. RRRRRRRRR Sorry but you know I actually like this geneticist BUT they don't get what that does to a mom. I honestly nearly puked. geeezeeee...... Anyhow so thats why it was soooo good i wasn't staying in some hotel room to stew over that. Instead I got to go back and hangout down town Vancouver in my friends apartment looking over the ocean and eatting incredible dinners and drinking scrummy red wine! So ya it took me a bit to normalize and that just takes a bit to get that out of your brain or at least not on the forefront. I have to admit it still bothers me but what do you do? well i know what i do...i just work at "normalizing". Anyhow thankfully for my brain mechanic, Jason, he seems to be able to talk me into a better place and keep me level and well realistic. So as i've said a many a time if it weren't for his level headedness I wouldn't beable to cope as well as I do. yahhhh Jason! : D

Ooo here is a picture of Alistair eatting one of Mummies lazy suppers : a piece of bread slathered in peanut butter and soaked in cream.....Mmmmm

Well wow did I ever go on a tangent. I started about balance and never really finished that convo! LOL But basically I also have a lot of time and effort that I put into the Northern BC Children & Families Hearing Society which empowers deaf and hard of hearing children and families. We're putting on a mini immersion weekend here March 4 &5. It'll have parallel activities for both parents and children with all sorts of good stuff in there. If your keen and in town you can always E-mail pgdeaf@telus.net for more info!

In addition, to that we've been moving nice and casually into our home in town. It really is nice and like Christmas all over again. I'm going through boxes Jason packed 2 years ago and its just fun to unpack and see what we own that I totally forgot about!

Anyhow, last but not least I just want to make a shout out to a family that wrote a little note on my blog and has just headed down to Vancouver to have their little girl who has also been diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia.......

So you know I always hated the word "journey" in nursing school but truthfully it really fits in so many circumstances and I think this word fits for you and your family. You've embarked on a journey and you don't know which roads your going to go down, who your going to meet, and what experiences your going to have. Sometimes not knowing EVERYTHING all at once is a good thing. It allows you to cope in stages and gain strength along the way. But one thing forsure is you'll know your supports and others will come out of the woodwork that you least expect. So during this challenging time of unknowns this is when you hold those supports close. Lean on them with ALL your weight when need be. Allow yourself to laugh, cry, and just be in the moment. I wish I could tell you exactly how its all going to turn out but I can't. Just remember to take care of your mental and physical self as you will be in turn be taking care of your little girl.

Take Care and if at anytime you would like to banter back and forth through E-mail I would love to hear how you and your little girl are doing and I'd be happy to be a support! jj_juels@hotmail.com (((HUGS))) Julie

The Proof is in the Pictures!

yes life has been more than hectic to say the least but heres our little munchkin snoozin away with no care in the world!

O Yes and here he is again SNOOZIN! Actually it seems to be a bit of a habit for him. He gets through half his breaky or half is dinner and suddenly he's in snooze mode! Its quite cute actually as the eyes are closed but the mouth keeps going.

So heres the proof of why I haven't been on the blog bloggin! Yikarooey hey. This plastic was for all the stipling Jason was doing on the ceiling. Looks like we're prepping for a haunted house but no sireeeee!

Here's the kitchen with me cuttin in. I did the whole upstairs : priming, and two coats on EVERYTHING up stairs....ceilings and all in ONE week. I hate to admit it but my shoulders were sore. Jason took time some well deserved time off from the house and watched Alistair at
Mom's while I painted frantically. I think I got a little toxic from the vino and fumes i took in over the week! : D (Just a little tip...painting is a lot more enjoyable with a glass of Shiraz!)

To my surprise floors have to be leveled prior to applying flooring so heres Jason as a busy body prepping prepping prepping!

A little grin for you all! The kitchen was the first room and thanks to my buddy Lise and her mom Margaret Dahlstrom I ended up painting my house the following colors which look FAB: sancturay, swiss coffee, baked biscotti, artic ocean, terra cotta, and seashore pebble.

I LOVE my kitchen...we're going to wait till next year for the cupboards but we have put together a very doable kitchen! To be seen in the near future

Jason couldn't get over how many floors we had under the floor if you get what I mean. When he dug deep enough he found a beautiful fir floor but unfortunately it didn't go through the whole house and wouldn't have worked to make it part of our new home so its still hiding under our new floor!

Jason every so jolly doing more stippling

A little R & R time for daddy and Alistair. Alistairs doning his new touque crocheted by Auntie Bonita

To top it off we got a tad of snow to keep us busy as well!

I was the shoveler while Jason prepped the house. Great work out for the biceps.

It was pretty exciting when we got to this stage. Especially for Jason as he's put so many hours into this house. ~ Our cherry birch flooring

Daddy watching some Baby Eienstein videos. Which I thought were a load of #$&* to start but actually they are quite good and Alistair seems quite intrigued by the whole thing.

Jason has been amazing at getting Alistair to do a lot of sitting and its so neat to see him actually want to sit rather than having to force him to.

Jason also enjoys getting Alistair to "fake crawl" and Alistair gets some giggles out of it. Well I hope all of you are having a fab start to 2011. One thing I learned forsure in 2010 is your support system if the key to keep you going in the right direction and staying mentally and physically healthy. So keep those supports close to you or reach out and be a support as you never know until you really need to be supported how import being a support is! (did that make sense?) Cheers peps! ~ Julie

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