Wine Time!

A picture of Greg with his babies in the pool

Baby Oliver Sleeping and sucking his thumb!

Our 30 bottles of wine waiting to be corked

Greg being a great corker

This weekend we bottled off our "real" wine, we even corked the bottles! We are hoping that it turned out well, and will find out when we open a bottle in a few days! Greg is pleased so far with how it looks, and with the little taste he had. He is also still making our juice wine, and next month he will start a beer that will hopefully and with luck be done by St. Patricks day!

Swimming

We went swimming today as a family, it was a really nice time.  Greg took Oliver right in, and I threw Lily in after I put her arm bands on.  She did terrific in the pool today.  The arm bands give her so much confidence, she even tried floating on her back!  She had a great time swimming after us, or leaving us to swim to the steps.  Greg was setting her on the edge of the pool, and she was "diving" back in.  Oliver did really good in the water as well, he floated on his back, and seems very relaxed in the water.  He sputters and has a disapproving look on his face when you dunk him under the water, but for the most part I think he likes it.  My two water babies!

Fun times in January

Lily learnt that Dad can be a horse!

This is Chari our maid, and Lily, our little lady with her purse!

What an adorable face!

Just how can he be comfortable like that? He slept like that for another hour!

Lily made a new friend, Evie

Just a few pictures to show everyone what we are up to here in Saudi. Lily is going through a girly phase, she wont go to the park without either her stroller with her baby or her purse! I wonder where she got to be so old sometimes, and where she got to be such a girl! She still has no problem digging in the dirt though. She is still not shy at all, she loves people, and her favorite thing is to go outside, which she does a little more often now that we have Chari here. I love having someone to keep my house clean and help with the kids! I am getting very spoilt, and so are the kids. They have constant attention, and I can have a life outside of the house. We have noticed a change for the better in our house, I don't nag Greg as much about when he is going to get home, and I don't feel anywhere near stressed out when he does get home.

Finger Painting

I read about a simple recipe to make finger paints, food coloring, flour and water, thats it, so I thought that Lily and I should try it out. It did make paint, no clumps or anything, but it also makes quite the mess! Lily had a great time, and thankfully I had the foresight to set up this little operation outside with a naked baby! She had a great time making a mess, painting the tiles, her legs, and maybe getting a bit of it on the papers that were spread out. We didn't actually get any art out of it (besides for a few photos) because Lily ended the painting session by dumping out the home made paints all over the place, effectively soaking the plain printer paper to the point that when you picked it up it tore instantly.

Christmas

I know this is a little late, but better late than never! We had a fantastic time in Austria for Christmas. We were in a small village called Oberndorf and it was beautifully placed in the mountains. We stayed at a nice little hotel where we had a little apartment so there was a kitchen and a washing machine, very important! We were joined there (in order of appearance) by Jordyn, my Mum and Dad (LeAnn and Bill), Kellie and Dennis, Jamie, Gregs Mom and Dad (Sharon and Bob), and Gregs Aunt Pamela. Also joining us was Kevin and his wife. We were very lucky to be able to surround ourselves with this much family so far from everyones homes.

Greg got in a bit of skiing, even though the conditions weren't always the greatest! Greg, Dad and Jordyn went up in a white out one day. Lily helped Dad and I build a snowman, she also got to go sledding with her Dad one day. We think she really enjoyed the sledding. We all took a horse and carriage ride one day, drinking beer for the boys and hot wine for the girls. Beautiful sites, we are so blessed! We took advantage of the baby sitters and I went skiing with Greg and Dad one day, we also went out a few nights. Lily and Oliver road on a gondola to the top of the mountain to meet us for lunch when we were skiing, I guess Lily liked looking out the windows. We visited a pool a couple of times, Oliver went swimming for the first time, and Lily went down a water slide!

We had a fantastic Christmas, on Christmas Eve Day I went with Oliver, Mum and Dad and Jordyn to pick out a live tree, we got an okay deal as it was last minute, but it was great having a live tree over Christmas. We found decorations in paper snowflakes, a few ornaments people brought as gifts, stringing popcorn, and some colorful coasters from the restaurants! It was a great tree. Everyone had stockings, so leading up to Christmas they were hanging around the living room. We got so much stuff (the kids! I won't have to go clothes shopping for a while) We went to Austria with 3 full suitcases and came home with 4! Thanks for the bag Mum.

I hope that everyone had as good of a time as we did, and Thanks for coming with us.

Happy New Year

It is the third day in a new year, and already there are some changes going on in my house! I have taken it upon myself to give my kids resolutions, Lily's is no more bottle, and if we are feeling really ambitious, to be potty trained before 2011 (we will see about that one). Last night she went to bed without her nightly bottle for the first time, and she did quite well. Tonight should tell us if that was just a fluke because she was so exhasted from traveling home, or if she really doesn't care if she has it or not. Oliver's resolution is to sleep in his own room, and to sleep through the night. With luck he will meet both those within a few weeks. Over Christmas he started sleeping through the night, now we just need to see if he will continue that trend. Last night was his first night in his big crib in his own room, he slept right through the night, and woke up ready for food and love. I was so proud! My resolution is pretty much the same as last years, as I feel I am in the same boat, to lose the baby weight, and to basically look okay in a bathing suit again. I have added a new one though, to have a baby free year! Greg and I made a resolution together, one that I have a feeling we will make every year, to work on our communication skills, on both sides, and for me that means listening when he talks, not just hearing what I want to hear. Greg has a resolution to get back into running, to get back into shape, I hope that he does, I think it will help with stress at work. We hope that this new year brings many new adventures and wonderful memories, with maybe a little less excitement. Last year we had some big changes, a move to a new country, new culture, a new baby.

We hope that the new year brings everyone lots of good things, and we hope to see most of you who read this at some point throughout the year.