some randoms

It's been a while since my last post I guess, so here's the quick update.

Had Susie take some pictures of our little family. Alli was semi cooperative. Actually, she was pretty good the night we took theses considering she was getting over having a little bit of a temperature for 3 days up until that morning.


We experienced a lot of this along the way. So obviously she was feeling better.



I think this might be my favorite. We took a ton, and I decided on just this one to put up, because I wouldn't know where to stop if I tried to pick more. I think I might already be changing my mind because Alli is not really smiling in this one...



... just one more




I took an unexpected trip to Raymond last weekend. Went down with Brooke's boyfriend for fun, and left Derek to work away.

We went to Waterton and had a picnic with my mom and Brooke and Brett. I was so hot out, I loved it.
Did a little walk around Cameron lake.



When we came back there was a moose!



And here's the cute couple.




On Tuesday Alli and I went to the Fringe Festival with Susie and Abby. Alli was a good sport staring all the people down. Watching the street stages, going to the shops, and getting her first little taste of a mini dounut

But what I was really excited about that night was riding the old street car.

It's kind of a 1 car train (I forgot to take a picture of it) from whyte ave over the TOP of the high level bridge to the ledge and back. I've wanted to do it forever. I used to see it going by our old apartment. Finally I did, and it was worth it. It was a beautiful view, but there were windows, so no scenery pictures darn it. Just us!

the trip!

Ok, there is lots of pictures here so be warned. Especially because you might catch me in my swimming suit with my pasty white skin.


This is the beautiful sight I got to wake up to every morning.

sigh...i miss it already.



It was so much fun. Playing on the beach, seeing the sights, hanging out with the family, going shopping and eating tasty Mexican whenever possible. I forgot how much I LOVE guacamole.



Alli liked being outside at the beach, but any time I took her near the water she hated it. Even if I was holding her and was in the water to my ankles she would start to cry. So grandma Baldry did some good babysitting while Derek and I went swimming and boogie boarding and Derek even did some not bad surfing.

You can see, oh lets call it, her personality in these pictures.

Thus, my idea of family pictures on the beach just didn't happen.







This little guy Payson, he loved the water. He is pretty dang cute.



There was a fiesta in Santa Barbara one night we all went to. Full of Mexican food, singing and dancing and little shops. The kids loved it.

Here's grandpa Baldry dancing with Ella and Claire.



Even Alli was having fun dancing.





Alli was in love with the bunny at Mindy's house. She wasn't afraid of him at all, and kept reaching out. I had to take her away a couple times because she like him so much she kept pulling his hair.



We went to the zoo in Santa Barbara. Alli loved it. I don't know if she really knew what was going on but she was smiling and laughing the whole time. The landscaping of the zoo was just as great as the animals. There is big open picnic spaces and lots of trees and plants everywhere. It was really pretty.




After a long flight from Los Angeles to Calgary we got to meet up with cousin Lucy. They are only a week apart. This was their first meeting.



I think Lucy's legs are as long as Alli is head to toe. But Lucy is one of the few babies Alli has beat with hair, but not by much as you can see. I feel bad, I think I cursed all my kids to be bald. It all goes back to making fun of a certain bald cousin when she was a baby. Of course that cousin, you know who you are and I know you're reading this, has more hair than I'll ever have.

And if you think Alli looks tired there, imagine 4 hours later when our short 30 minute ride to Edmonton was delayed until midnight. Forget that, imagine me!

before i go...

here are a few more of Alli. Once again I found a few pictures on the camera after Susie and Ryan babysat for us Saturday. They can't ever deny it, they always leave evidence of what they were up to. Look at that wild haired child.



We went to the rides and what not for Edmonton Ex days with some friends from Dereks work. It was so fun, especially since his work paid for the tickets. As you can see, Uncle Ryan is really working on being the favorite. He's always giving her treats, and of course Alli loves it. We also went to the Taste of Edmonton last week during the festivities, and that aunt and uncle of hers were giving her anything and everything. I think it's great, because I'll rememeber all this when you guys have a baby. And yes, I'll remember all the babysitting too.




But at the end of the day, she really just wants a cuddle from only ME.



Well, my bags are packed and my house is practically spotless. Such a great feeling. We're off to the airport in 6 hours. I'm so excited. There'll be a break from pictures till I get back, then I'm sure I'll have a million from the trip,

so hot!

It's HOT! Too hot to post.
I've been slackin. The problem is Alli. Our computer is in her bedroom. She used to sleep through my typing no trouble, but now at naptime if I'm in here, this is what happens.



So here I am at midnight.

Here's a couple of Alli. I haven't taken pictures in for a while, but whenever Susie babysits I always find a few on the camera. Look at those juicy chubby thigh rolls. I love em.




Not much exciting these days. We've just been trying to keep cool. This little apartment gets so hot, we have been heading over to the pool for relief among other places with air condiotioning. Alli likes it more and more everytime. Today her lips were blue and she was shivering, but still smiling and spashing.
I'm a little sad. My place is becoming baby proof. So all the decorations a foot and half from the ground are gone, and it's always a mess. I'm always puting out toys for Alli to find instead of everything thats not a toy, but it hardly works. Then I'm always entertaing her and I just don't clean up after myself inbetween. We just go outside when it gets to messy, it's too hot to clean. At least we are having fun right! (Don't worry mom, it's really not that bad)

My sis Brooke was in town for the weekend. We celebrated her birthday a little late. (and happy birthday to the other Brooke in Kansas, can't wait till you're living up here!) She ran a half marathon with Brett and their friend Rob. The race was in the morning, but by 10:00 when they were coming in, it was already 26 out. So way to go for these guys. I watched all the people come in and decided a half marathon sounds a little more realistic than a marathon for me. That said, next summer...?



We are getting ready for our trip to California. We leave next week to visit Derek's sister Mindy and family. So very excited.

it's alive!

Remember my dying tomato plant? Well, I brought it back to health somehow and it beareth fruit (or vegetable). Now the real test will be how it tastes. I'll let you know soon enough.



I always helped out with my mom's garden growing up, but wasn't very in to it then. But I'm finding it is pretty fun (and not very hard) starting with seeds and suddenly I have flowers and little tomatoes. I think this will be a fun hobby for me when I actually have a yard with a garden, and not just a balcony with a few pots.

triple trouble!?!

haha! Could you even imagine? YIKES!
This was my dad fiddling around with photoshop. Now you know where I get my picture taking obsession from. I know I'm going to be just as annoying with taking pictures to my kids as he was to us. I love it. I have soooo many deletable photos in my library.



Alli has been inching around for almost a month now, not crawling too far, just inching forward and back. Well, about a week ago she suddenly perfected it. I thought getting stuff done before was a bit challenging, but it was never a big deal to take my eyes off the girl for a few minutes if she was sitting on the floor. It's all over now. She doesn't even wait till I'm not looking, she is way to curious. No toy is as fun as the remote, the phone, eating paper or pulling herself up to standing on anything, stable or not. Notice the bruise. Now I know why non first time mothers don't encourage the whole crawling bit.
She used to fuss around in her crib but settle to sleep pretty easily. Now she crawls around, tosses and turns, stands up, sits down, falls over bumps her head...CRIES, and starts all over again. All my hard work and dedication to get her to sleep good, GONE. Up till 10pm about every night still. So all you moms out there can just laugh at me, stressing over this, and think to yourself, wait until she walks right!

happy july 1st

If you are not from Raymond, then you just don't understand July 1st there, and that's ok. But if you grew up there, then you know that it's just an excuse to visit Raymond and have a huge party, which almost never happens in Raymond. There's the parade, rodeo, fireworks, 10km race, family, friends, and of course food. So we had a long weekend and took it all in.

On our way home we stopped in Calgary and watched the Stampeders game. Alli's first CFL game. I did take her to few quarters here and there when Derek was playing for the Bears last fall. But she wasn't much of a fan back then, just slept.

The race was on Friday night at 5:30. Not exactly ideal temperatures at all. It was very HOT, as you can see from our slightly red faces. I ran the 10km and it almost was no fun at all. But I was the 4th gal in with a somewhat respectable time for the weather. My sis Brooke won her category (she put me to shame, I used to be the runner of the family) and Derek won his category.



After the parade on Saturday my mom had some family over. It was fun having the kids run around the yard. My mom loved it. She mentioned more than once how she will be such a fun grandma when Alli gets bigger and have all sorts of things to do like she did with the kids there (of course she's already a good grandma) The kids were running through the sprinkler and picking flowers, and having all sorts of fun.





My cousin Lianna's little guy Ben was so cute. You can't see his face but, he would make funny faces at her and she would just crack up. Alli was loving it.



And yes, Alli is just like her parents. We had to wake her up for the parade that started at 10am, and here she is wide awake at 11pm watching the fireworks.



On Monday after a morning of golf and waterskiing, we went up to Waterton with Derek's family. (a lot to pack in to a few days) LOTS of family and so fun. There are 10 grandkids all under the age of 5. We got pictures, but I took them with a different camera, so when they get emailed up I'll have to post one with all the kids. They are very cute.
We figured out it has been 2 years since we were last in Waterton. It's so beautiful, I miss the mountains being up in Edmonton.

We saw a bear when we first came into town.




We went on a walk right after a quick evening thunderstorm, it was beautiful.







Here's a couple of some of the Baldry grandkids.
The first is a quick walk where you can see the top of the falls in the second.





And that is enough pictures for one day, phew.