Whirlwind Trip

Well I almost hate to post that I went on this trip as there is so many people I would have liked to visit but one can only get in so much in a whirlwind trip. Basically, we put on about 2000 km in three days. We left PG early Monday morning and returned Wednesday evening as my buddy Lise, who I didn't take any pics of, wanted to scoot over to Alberta to check out some horses.

Alistair did incredibly well in his new Britax carseat as he didn't have any pressure points on his back. Its a concern of mine as with his hypotonia (low muscle tone) he can be a little bony along his spine. But whoop whoop no problemo there. Plus he was super content for most of the drive.

This was who Lise wanted to go and pet. She bought this beauty and called it after me! I feel so honoured. I'm not sure about the spelling but her name is Gewels.
We ended up staying with my friend Candace in Lacombe. It was great to see her plus her little man Sam. The last time he was in the belly. What a little busy body he is...cutiepatootie!

Little Sam in bath mode. Just love his expressions!

We also got to catch up with my good friend Sandra who happened to be down too. It was so nice for me to have three incredible and important women in my life all together in the same spot. The only bummer is we were having such a great time catching up I forgot to take a group shot! LOL

Its funny you know ALL Mom's are very watchfull over their little people that they don't pull, push, or yank on Alistair but I'm always saying let them go for him! Of course I'm protective so he doesn't get hurt. But because of his situation he doesn't get alot of contact with kidlets and his lack of mobility even makes it more so. Therefore, I am always plunking other kids right beside Alistair trying to get some interaction going!

Not too much interaction going here.....yet happily hanging out. : D En route home we got to see my dad's favortie mountain, Mount Robson. As you can see from the picture we could basically see clear to the top which can be hard to come by. Its so breath taking. We also got to see a ton of black bears, elk, coyotes, moose, and big horn sheep. So it was definitely a stimulating drive and good for this mama's brain! Thanks Lise : D

Mr Incredible

Its hard sometimes to put into words how

wonderful Jason is as a father.
This picture captures it beautifully.
Being Father's Day I asked Jason what he wanted to do and in typical Jason fashion he wanted to seal the side of the house. So afterwards I filled up his belly with Scallops and Bacon, King Crab, Garlic Butter, Sirloin Steak and Shiraz!

Everyday Alistair seems to be getting stronger and stronger in his core. If he's having a good day he'll stand with our hands on support and his foot supports for about 1/2 hour two times a day. Its really rewarding as he seems to get a lot of enjoyment out of it although he doesn't look super thrilled in this picture. LOL My two favorite men!

The Flintstones!

We all remember the Flintstones don't we?!?!?! We'll not too long ago someone had me watch this YouTube video of the Flintstones. Its a neat little clip as over the 49 seconds it gives you a concept of what people are hearing when they are dealing with various levels of hearing loss. So many people figure if they just talk/yell louder that the person can hear and thats just not the case. CLICK HERE to get a taste of hearing loss in a familiar and comical little video clip! While you're watching keep in mind that Alistair has moderate to severe hearing loss.

Heaven in Pictures

Gorgeous and close to Prince George we decided to go and camp out at St Marie Lake. It was stunning and we luckily got the nicest spot on the lake. This lake is only about 25 min from Mom's farm.

I got to go and toddle around the lake in my kayak which was heavenly
We got the brews cooling off in our environmental cooler

Hanging out at our campsite

It decided to pour rain briefly so Jason decided to give Alistair some beginning lessons in driving.

We got slightly motivated and went for a hike through the woods on some deer trails. Alistair is really good in the backpack for about 30min which makes for a nice little jaunt.

I love this picture...Alistair loves to play with our hair as we take him for a walk. Both of us loose multiple strands of hair when we go hiking with him! It helps with good head control LOL

Alistair just woke up from his first nap in a tent. He's been having major teething going on (5 coming in right now) along with some 2 year old attitude making for our night time sleeps a little hairy. But to our delight he crashed hard in the tent. Yahoo for fresh air!

We came to realize that we hadn't gone camping together for over three years! It was nice as we couldn't work on anything but down time! Loved it! Good for the brain..... : D

The sunset was glorious!My two very incredible men!

Outdoor Progress : D

So the goal this summer is to get out and about more and not stuck on our own turf. One great place for us to head is Crystal, Mark and Walters place. Crystal and I both worked up in FSJ Emergency, got prego around the same time, and had complications with our pregnancies. Walter, believe it or not is a 24 weeker! Yeppers people that little munchkin in the pic below and he's doing fabulous! I was sure Walter was going to pop a balloon with his teeth but he didn't! Anyhow, this little men will be seeing a lot of each other this summer.....

Alistair not too sure what to do with the balloons other then imitate his buddy Walter!

Yes its TRUE! Alistair is actually standing on his own two feet!!! I couldn't believe it. As you know I've pushed and pushed our little man to weight bare by standing on his toes and holding him up under his arm pitts. Well we did get that stander which we get him to be in every day for about 20 minutes. Then the other day we were outside and while he was in my arms he showed a lot of interest in the tree. I have found that if I can get him thinking about other things then the task at hand that I want him to accomplish he is ALOT more likely to do so. So as you can see above the little munchkin did just that. He's weight baring. He only tolerates it for so long but he is doing it for a good 5-10min depending on the day and as long as he has him mama behind him for support. Plus I have to support his upper body due to the lack of muscle tone. But you know its just amazing lately how he's progressed with the whole core muscle tone. He's back to being able to sit with minimal support if he's fresh with energy and interested in something specific (some awesome toy from CDC!)
Here's a good example of Lynn, Alistair's physiotherapsit, working with Alistair to stand using an item to catch his attention.

We've also got this fabulous baby back pack that we got as a wedding gift...yes a wedding gift from Niki and my cousin Billy! Its so nice to have now and we just jam foam around him to give him core support. I figured I'd be lucky to have a couple minutes with him in the thing. However, half an hour later he let me know that he was done! So my big goal was to reach that length of time by the end of the summer and go on mini hikes everywheres and it looks like my dream has come true for us. Now for some new goals.......hmmmmm

Oooo yiippeee we finally got to download a video. This is a short and sweet one of Alistair playing with his favorite green ball. Its part of our morning routine after breakfast. Smart pops came up with this and its great. Alistair is in heaven when he sees the green ball coming.

Cheers Peps!

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