little chicken little

No, the sky is not falling, even though we had our own chicken little running around. Josh celebrated his first Hallowe'en in comfort and style! Man, I remember the plastic costumes we used to wear OVER our snowsuits and then the awful plastic masks which would get all wet on the inside from your breath. How did we ever survive?!

Well, even on the coldest day, I don't think Josh would need any additional layers in this costume. It's from Old Navy and it is definitely nicer than any costume that I ever remember wearing! We had a couple of Hallowe'en parties this year, in addition to tonight, so Josh got alot of use from his costume. I'm contemplating making the top part his winter jacket! Hahaha...

Josh's impression of a chicken ninja at the DWW Wrap-up/Hallowe'en Party...

Chicken Little and the rest of the kooky farm at Susanne and Chris' house...

The chicken carries around the cow...

neti veti

I watched an episode of Oprah where an audience member demonstrated the use of a neti pot to help clear nasal passages. It looked kind of odd, but anyone who knows me knows how much I suffer from allergies. So, in my most recent episode of allergy hell, I decided to try out the neti pot.

It felt very weird. I had to do some fine tuning on the tilt of my head so that the saltwater came out my other nostril and not the back of my mouth (as with post-nasal drip). But once I got it, there was water free flowing into one nostril and out the other - REALLY weird! Also, when I finished and tilted my head back upright, my ears started popping. So, I guess something was indeed being flushed out!

My nasal passages feel pretty cleared up right now. But, I've only done it once and the instructions say you have to use it daily as a preventative measure. So, I reserve judgement at this point. I'm not sure if I can commit to doing it daily, but I'll try to do it for at least a few days in a row so I can have a bit of allergy relief this time around...

walking on sunshine

Josh took his first steps on the Labour Day long weekend. He first connected his steps in a way that qualified as "walking" on September 13th - 2 days before he was 10 months old. It's so amazing to watch him get around. First, he was so fascinated by walking that he didn't care where he went. He just went. Now, he walks to get somewhere - and quickly! The lag time between me getting to something before Josh does is becoming less and less.

It has been alot of fun (and work!) the past month while he gets his balance right and learns new skills like turning around and walking over things. I'm sure if Josh could talk, he'd tell you that it's a bit painful too! Lots of bumps and bruises for him in this whole walking process. He still hasn't fully mastered the concepts of looking where you are going and looking up before standing up! But he just loves the walking part. Once he started, he never looked back - crawling is a thing of the past.

Anyway, here is a cute video of Josh and Nikita. Since Josh has started walking, they are finally learning to play together. I think Josh gets a kick out of it, but Nikita seems to just tolerate it because it's something to do! Make sure you watch it until the very end - it's a perfect example of Josh not looking where he's going...

it's leather, baby

Brian and I were married on 10-10-2004. It's been 3 years and time has FLOWN by. I can't believe that it's already been 3 years! If you had asked me 3 1/2 years ago whether I thought that in 3 1/2 years, I would have a house, a dog, a toddler, a mini-van and sold my motorcycle, I would have told you that you were nuts. But I truly believe that when the time is right and you find the right person, everything falls into place. Brian has been a part of my life for just over 5 years and I've grown more in the past 5 years than in the previous 30 before it. I love my life and I love him in it.

Now, you probably couldn't tell from our exchange of wedding gifts that we have only been married a short 3 years. It is our leather anniversary and I couldn't think of anything leather to get him (I did the wallet for Father's Day and he already has too many belts!), so I added money to a fund that he started to eventually buy himself a digital SLR. I don't think that Brian realized the anniversary was leather, but I'm not complaining because I got an iPod Classic.

So, it was not the most romantic gift exchange, but I was organizing songs, photos and videos for my iPod when I came across this video from the day after our wedding. It reminded me of all the wonderful moments of the day and it brought tears to my eyes. It was the perfect anniversary gift. Thanks so much, baby - I love you. Happy Anniversary.


video courtesy of BCTV News Hour