Beaniebaby, and her Little Brother: A way-overdue update.

So much time has passed since the last post. I have no excuse except that it's the same old, same old. Life is just plain busy, and lately I've been going to bed by 9pm, which doesn't leave much time for blogging.

These past 3 weeks have been jam-packed. So here's a brief synopsis of life here in Ottawa over the past while (photos included, of course).

On Feb. 21st I was able to get off work a few hours early to attend a birthday party for Bella's friends' Charley & Sam. Charley turned 4 years old (I can't believe it!) and Sam turned 2 a week later. It was so wonderful having the afternoon off to attend a function with my family and friends. Too often I/we are unable to attend these sorts of things because I'm either working or sleeping and Ed is left on solo daddy-duty.

Charley & Ysabella really warmed up to each other just as we were saying good-bye. It was a fun filled afternoon that you can read about here.

On February 28th, Ed was forced to face his worst nightmare in some years... his 40th birthday. I couldn't let this one get away without a party. On Saturday the 27th, we went to dinner, just the two of us, and as we were seated at the restaurant he said: "Oh, so there really isn't anybody else joining us..." It really was such a sad remark. After dinner I told him we were going to a pub to meet a few friends for some drinks. And at the exact moment that we walked in to the pub, the Canadian Men's Curling Team won the Olympic gold medal. The whole bar erupted in screams and applause. Then everybody noticed us standing there and a second round of applause erupted. The timing couldn't have been any better really. I think I'd be correct in saying that Ed was surprised. So shocked in fact, that I thought I was going to be in a lot of trouble. As he let his eyes slowly wander the room, he realized everybody that was there was there for him. And we once again realized how lucky we are to have such wonderful people around us in Ottawa. So, thank you to everyone who came out for the celebrations. You'll all be happy to know that Ed and I (his designated driver) and a few other friends closed the bar that night. Let's just say he had a wonderful time. He was hung over the next day, and I had a 'lack of sleep hangover' from simply staying awake until 230am. I dragged my butt the entire next day, barely able to keep my eyes open.

Ed (trying not to be too uncomfortable) as everyone sings 'Happy Birthday!' to him.

On Sunday, Ysabella and I baked a yummy chocolate cake for daddy's birthday. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any pics of the final product, but I DO have lots of photos of Bella licking the beaters... and yep, there's raw egg in there. Does that make me a terrible mom? I always did it (I still do!) and I don't think I've ever got food poisoning...

Yummy goodness.

I was off this lovely, sunny, beautiful spring-like weekend. The snow is finally melting and the temperatures have reached about 8 degrees or so. (No, it's not like the balmy temps of Victoria, but it will have to do! Stop rubbing it in, will ya!!) Today we ventured out to the Canadian Museum of Nature. Ysabella was so very excited to see the dinosaurs. She especially loved the HD movies about the animals in Africa, as well as the 'elephants' (a.k.a. woolly mammoth statues) outside of the museum.

The 'elephants'.