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

iliad or odyssey?

A year and a half ago, I posted this entry about selling my motorcycle. Today, I'm posting an entry about our new mini-van, a Honda Odyssey. I can't believe how much life has changed in the last couple of years. In fact, I think I'm still in shock.

I said to Brian last night that I think I finally feel like an "adult". I'm not sure what it means to be an adult (is it quite simply when you reach 18 years old?! or is it when you buy your first mini-van?! Hahaha.). But this is the first time in my life where every single decision I make, I have to consider if it's best for my family first. Gone are the days where I did things solely because I wanted to do them! It may sound selfish of me, but that is the honest truth - and to make that change at 35-years-old is...monumental.

In any case, our Odyssey rocks. I'm sure Josh will look back at this posting when he's a teenager and die of embarrassment that his mom said a mini-van rocks! But seriously, it is far more luxurious than my 1997 Honda Civic and it actually still feels like I'm driving a Civic (i.e. driving a car) - except when I'm parking, of course.

We researched all the mini-vans before we bought and we test drove our shortlist. Honda definitely outshines the pack. There is something to be said about the thought that Honda engineers put into each feature. They all seem to make sense and they also push the top level of their mini-van almost into the luxury vehicle market! Yes, you do pay quite a steep price for a Honda, but after the research (and driving our mini-van for a day!), we think that it's worth it!

So, welcome to our family for the next 10 or so years, Odyssey. You will hopefully be the only mini-van that we own. I wonder what car I will want to buy in 10 years...

bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do...

The first half of this article in the Province describes a police chase that ended in front of our house at almost 2am this morning. It was a bit of a surreal experience!

Brian and I were awoken by an unrelated noise inside our house just before 2am. As we were drifting back to sleep, I muttered to Brian that I heard a helicopter and both of us had this weird feeling that something was going on. Moments later, we were fully awoken again by the sound of screeching tires, many police sirens, dogs barking and men yelling down our street.

Brian peeked out the window and he could see police cars on either end of our block, blue and red lights flashing. There were people running around with flashlights and we could hear people yelling and dogs barking. To top it all off, there was a helicopter overhead with a searchlight glaring down at the houses across the street from us.

It was a shocking sight to take in at the best of times, never mind that it was 2am and we were still groggy from sleep. My first reaction was to go upstairs and check on Josh. Brian, Nikita and I all went upstairs and Josh was sound asleep in his crib. I didn't feel comfortable leaving his alone after that.

We went back downstairs and things were calming down after about 10 minutes or so. We couldn't hear the helicopter anymore and some of the police cruisers left. The ironic thing is that Nikita didn't make a noise during the whole incident - not even with the dogs barking outside. However, when a police car pulled up in front of our house and a policeman got out to go across the street, Nikita started that low, throaty growl. It made me feel safe to know that Nikita would warn us if someone came remotely close to our house.

As we settled back into to bed and tried to fall back asleep, I couldn't help but wonder, "Where the heck are we living?!". It felt so ghetto - that helicopter with the searchlight was liking something out of a movie! At that point, Brian started humming the theme from the TV show COPS. Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do...

90210 revival

Shortly after I went on maternity leave this past November, I discovered Beverly Hills 90210 had been syndicated by a cable channel called TVTropolis. I remember watching the show in its early run (while Brenda was still there!) when we were in school - it was part of our university life to drink while we watched 90210 before heading out to the bar. This show, Melrose Place and Friends were our staples in the early 90's.

In the weeks after Josh was born, all I seemed to do was feed him, change his diapers and sleep. Along with that, I found that I was watching 90210 when it came on in the afternoon.

I remembered many of the episodes as I watched them again and I couldn't believe that I used to watch this show so religiously! So much drama - and did we really want to dress like that some 15 years ago?!

Well, I'm 9 months into maternity leave and I can't believe that I'm still watching it. Ugh. And the worst part is that I am actually recording it on the PVR so I can watch them when I have time during Josh's naps! Someone please explain to me what psychosis is causing me to continue to watch?! I feel like I've fallen off some wagon or something - I want to stop watching it, but I can't...

dada caca

Josh's first word was "dada". It was followed shortly by "caca". Do you think he's trying to tell us something?!

Check out our July photos here.

who needs yoga?!

Brian and I learned how limber babies are when we saw Josh sucking on his toes. It's crazy how easily he gets his feet behind his head! This photo takes the cake, though. Recently, Josh has been very mobile in his crib before he falls asleep - he sits up and plays with the controls for his mobile; he crawls over to the railing and stands up. I'm not too sure how he actually falls asleep because I'm not in the room when he does, but I wonder what happens in the minutes before he actually falls asleep to get him into this sleeping position...

just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Elijah, Owen and Josh are all in the same swim class. It's funny to see how all 3 babies are completely different! It's fun to watch all three of them react to the water. Josh is definitely having the hardest time with the class. I'm not sure if it's just too late for him (our classes are in the evenings) or if his lack of chubbiness makes the water really cold for him, but when we get in the water with him, he clings to us for dear life. And he's pretty cranky each time we start a new exercise.

Which brings me to a question: Can babies be afraid of the water? I mean, can babies really be afraid of anything at this point, except maybe falling down? I am dumbfounded by the fact that Josh is freaked out by the caterpillar on the Baby Einstein DVD's. It's so cute and non-threatening! Originally, he would wail when we started the DVD's and we couldn't figure out why. We finally realized it was the caterpillar and now I have to have him on my lap when the DVD starts. Once the caterpillar passes he can sit on his own, mesmerized by the rest of the DVD. It makes me wonder what he has experienced in his short, 8-month life that makes him cry at a colourful, animated caterpillar...