Pics of the Day ~ My Favorite Picture of Ethan so far and Becca in the tub with a Popcycle! ~

Ok … I really cannot keep it all inside anymore. Blogging and keeping “secrets” is totally hard to do!

Here is the deal.

More than anything, J & I wanted to return our family back to Canada. J applied for all the academic positions that were posted in Canada this year, but due to a lot of qualified competition, it did not pan out.

In the meantime, J being the uber provider that he is, starting looking at alternatives without giving up on the ultimate goal of a position in Canada at a university. Through a series of events (it is so who you know not always what you know), J began pursuing a second post-doctoral position in Los Alamos.

There is a National Lab, located in Los Alamos. Most famous for *~gasp~* the development of the atomic bomb, many moons ago. Now a days it is not geared towards the mass destruction of our planet, instead the lab is a great facility for researchers.

As you know J, jetted over to New Mexico the days proceeding the birth of our son. The interview was a success! Well not “officially”. We have to wait for American government approval (since we are Canadian there is an up to 45 day waiting period for said approval) before receiving an “official” offer from the Lab.

Yet, J has been awarded a Fellowship Award that would enhance his standing at the National Lab, as well as (now this is to the best of my understanding, the world of Chemistry is friking confusing at the best of times) award him extra funding to attend Chemistry conferences, books and educational materials. His future “unofficially as of yet”, boss has submitted applications for not only this Fellowship but another that would place him in even better standing. I am not sure how much this makes sense to the non-science people. Fellowships=Good Reputation and great for J’s resume in the future.

J is very excited about the the work/research at the lab. That is very important to me. My husband’s work happiness is why we have sacrificed a “normal” life and have left our beautiful country. Los Alamos is a very small town. J is moving us from the hub of the universe to a 1 Starbucks town. No Target, one grocery store … small town. There appears to be a yarn shop there (phew!) and Sante Fe is a mere 3/4 hour drive away (I drive that knit every week in bad traffic! hehe).

We are not totally sure when we are hitting the open road, however it appears as though late June, early July is when we leave. I have not given this move a lot of thought. I kept saying I was going to have the baby first then deal with moving. Now we are going to wait for an official offer before I am going to get in a tizzy. However, J being awarded a Fellowship through the lab, and his future boss going to all this effort for him … things are looking pretty positive.

This life is never dull. I am going to miss my friends here so very much. My intention is to cram in as much time with them as humanly possible until we leave. We are also going to have Becca’s 3rd early so she can enjoy it with her friends. UGH … I want to go, start the new chapter in our lives … but leaving is always so hard to do … starting over … ugh. I’ll talk kids next time … it felt good to share this

The New Year has begun and I thought it would be best to start it by having a look back at the year 2005….(OMG This took me forever!!! hehe totally worth it though!)
January 2005 ~ Becca 6 months old

• Becca had her first taste of “real” food this month, starting with sweet potatoes.
• We flew home to visit our family. First stop my Dad’s then off to J’s parents place. It was Becca’s first time on a plane. She did very well, sleeping most of the time.
• J celebrated his 28th Birthday

February 2005 ~ Becca 7 months old

• Becca had started swimmining last month and we continued to go 2x a week.
• She also cut three teeth on top, so she had a tough month. Also suffered from some nasty colds.
• Becca started to roll from her back to her tummy. She learned to sit at 5 months, however rolling took her a long time to master.

March 2005 ~ Becca 8 months old

• J was awarded the NSERC Post Doctrial Fellowship Grant! This is a huge acomplishment and secured his position in California.
• Becca went down a slide for the first time at the park.
• Her colds continued to plague the poor little thing! Finally we saw her Ped and he prescribed an inhaler & an anti-inflammitory steriod! The doctor said it was “Astma like symptoms brought on by her cold”. Poor baby was having trouble breathing

April 2005 ~ Becca 9 months old

• Chelle celebrated her 29th birthday.
• J bought his laptop.
• Soodz.com was born ~ I started blogging here on April 20th! Here is my First Post!
• Becca pulled herself up for the first time! In the tub, the crazy kid!!
• Becca continued to love the swimming. 1…2…3 and under the water she would go!! The girl is a fish!

May 2005 ~ Becca 10 months old

• Last month Becca & I started attending the Mother Goose Program at the library. It was an interactive song & story time for infants and their parents. Very cool!
• The infamous “Barrette” incident occurred. Becca swallowed her barrette!! 24 hours later and we discovered it in her diaper. It now resides in her baby book!!
• Huge milestones this month. First Becca learned to clap then started crawling!!! We were very thrilled that she finally started in on the mobility!!

June 2005 ~ Becca 11 months old

• Crazy busy month for us! I bought Becca a kiddie pool for her to enjoy in our yard. She absolutely loved crawling around, splashing in the water.
• Becca said her official First Word! “DOG!”
• We said a tearful goodbye to our beloved dog Sidney. Sidney is now enjoying her days in the wide open spaces of my cousin, Trina’s farm, loving the freedom and new friends. Gawd I miss my dog!
• At the end of June we flew to Lethbridge to visit J’s parents. We left our sacred digital camera on the plane!! Luckily they shipped the camera down to us!!
• On June 25th, Becca’s Grandparents & Auntie Kristie held a “Pretend Firsst Birthday Party” for Becca. It was awesome!

July 2005 ~ Becca turned One!

• We started off the month at my Dad’s place. We had a wonderful visit with him, my Grandma and then attended my darling cousin, Trina & Cal’s Wedding! We had a great time at the wedding, & Becca fell asleep in the sling while we were there. It was too cute!
• July 13th, Becca turned ONE!!! We had a wonderful day, just the three of us! She really enjoyed her new toys and the birthday cake!
• J finished writing his thesis!!!
• I started back to work I loved my co-workers, however being away from becca was torture for me.

August 2005 ~ Becca 13 months old

• J defended his PhD Thesis and passed with flying colours!
• We said our good-byes to all the amazing friends we made in Windsor. I was super sad
• Becca stood on her own (truly) for the first time!
• We packed up the rest of our gear (despite the fact I was working I tried to be uber organized!)
• We all climbed into the Uhaul and headed out to California!!!

September 2005 ~ Becca 14 months old

• The trip out to California was challenging with a one year old, however we had fun & Becca learned a few new words…Like “truck” & “shoes” (when we put on her shoes it meant we were getting out!)
• Arrived in California and started to get settled in.
• Encounter the demon that Californians call the DMV *shudders*
• Becca totally loved California living, especially the fact we had a pool 10 steps from our front door!
• Becca learned how to WALK!!!!

October 2005 ~ Becca 15 months old

• J, Becca & I all went to the Santa Zoo, where Becca & I rode an elephant!!! It was so cool!
• I was an Ebay addict and bought some great playground pieces for Becca to enjoy in our little yard. The weather is still wonderful here, but too cold ot swim, so the playground stuff rocks as an alternative!
• My Dad & Grandma came to visit us in California!! It was so awesome to have them here. We went to the San Diego Zoo (amazing!) and on the way home, while on the interstate, Becca puked all over!! It was terrible!!! She like never pukes!!
• We also went to DisneyLand while my Dad & Grandma were here! OMG it was so wonderful. Becca puked on the way there (once again on the dreaded interstate), but started to feel better over the weekend. Becca had the opprotunity to meet her favorite, Winnie-the-Pooh!!!
• Becca went trick or treating for the first time this year! She was a cutie black cat and we had a blast with her going out!

November 2005 ~ Becca 16 moths old

• We announced that our pregnancy was confirmed and we were approximately 8 weeks pregnant at the beginning of November. We were overjoyed at the prospect of an addition to our family.
• We celebrated out Fourth Wedding Anniversary.
• Since we let the Canadian Thanksgiving slip by, we experienced our first American Thanksgiving and had a blast preparing the turkey and all the trimmings!
• We started potty training Becca. Well we started to introduce the potty to Becca.

December 2005 ~ Becca 17 months old

• Sadly, we found out that the baby we were so excited about having was not ok. We went for an ultrasounbd and there was no heartbeat My heart aches to this day for the loss of our baby. I miscarried the first weekend in December and spent the rest of the month recovering physically & emotionally
• Becca & I spent a lot of time outside, in our little yard. She would enjoy her equipment and play, while I would tidy up the yard and pull weeds.
• We met up with my cousin and her husband, Trina & Cal in Las Vegas for a day. They were up there for a belated wedding anniversary & the Las Vegas Rodeo. It was an awesome day with them! Miss you Trina!
• Becca moved from her crib to the big bed permenantly this month. She had begun just napping in her bed, then the tranisition to nighttime just happened. We took down her crib after a few weeks of success.
• Becca got her first haircut No more pigtails for a while…But her hair looks so much better, thicker and not so homeless shaggy!
• Christmas arrived and we had a wonderful time. Becca totally was more involved in the process than last year. We missed being with our families but took advantage of it being just the three of us!

Phew ~ WOW~! What a year! Rock On Bring on 2006 Baby!!!

w00t w00t! I worked my final shift! I am officially a Stay at Home Mommy once again. I have to admit there were some bonuses to going back to work temporarily. I was able to watch Buffy and Angel! I listened tons to Izzy, my ipod. But most of all I have a new found apprecaition for staying at home with my baby! I missed our care free days, attempting to decide between a trip to the park or the local swimming pool. Oh, one more plus….J was able to be Mr. Mom for a while. Now he has a greater understanding of what we do all day and was able to spend some hard core quality time with his daughter!

So OMG OMG OMG!!!! We are moving to California like this week. Please please do not ask me if we are all packed, because I will tell you now folks, we are so not all packed. But it will happen….LMAO it has to happen, that or we leave it behind, which really is so not an option.

Awwwww Becca…..she is so awesome. We were cleaning up the living room and she totally stood on her own!! Up until now the only time she would do that was when she was so distractd I could trick her into it. Now, unless she realizes she is not holding on she is totally initiating it herself! It is so cute! I feel terrible that she is on the brink of greatness witht he walking thing and we are going to strap her into a van and hold her hostage for five days *sigh* bad timing….

I am so frikin excited about going though! Back to packing and organizing I go……

A older pic of Becca today. I am already missing my friends here in Windsor. THings are going to be so crazy the next few days it feels like we are already gone

I slept most of the day. Then J and I worked on a little packing. Little Becca played and worked on her balance skills. She is such a little trooper. I think I have mentioned that before.

After a nice dinner, which J cooked. Why is it that a meal prepared form someone else always tastes better? Anyhoo…After dinner we all walked over to Shoppers to pick up a few supplies. Those of you who know me (in person) are aware that I am not a huge make-up wearer. It is pretty stuff, but seriously most days I could not be bothered with it. That has a lot to do with my former step-mother, she always made me feel like a tramp if I wore it (bitch ). Not only that be she always belittled me if I wanted to take the time to put make up on. Never time to wait for me to look good. Funny how the things people say tht never leave you. Especially those of influence. How easily we can abuse the power over our children. I have vowed may times to myself that I will never abuse that power with Becca (and those future babies..hehe). I have made a promise to myself and my sweet daughter that only confidence building and positivity will be part of our relationship. She will never be fat, ugly, or so insignificant that her desires will not matter.

Ok, now that I am done rambling about that I purchased some new make-up while we were out. I have had the same make-up for the past 5 years. Yeah Yeah I know you are suppose to chuck out make-up after a year, but I use so little of it, it lawys seemd like a waste. And I always had that nagging feeling that I was not worth new make-up. Tonight I had an epiphany. No longer am I not worth it. Damn it I am worth it

After the whole epiphany moment, we took Becca to the park. And the little turkey is a crazy climber!! Sure she has not mastered walking but she scaled the slide! I am serious, she climbed from the bottom of a big slide and crawled her way up to the top! Both J and I stood there dumbfounded watching her. I pressume she got the idea when we were at out playdate. Carrie has these great miniture playground items in her backyard. Becca took the initiative and climbed up them. But they were designed for little kids!!!! We have a crazy climber!! (ofcourse we forgot the camera!)

ONE MORE MIDNIGHT SHIFT!!! That I now have to get ready for…..w00t w00t!! Last one!!!!

I worked on Becca’s room this morning. Getting things packed and I took apart the change table, all in preparation for next weeks packing blitz. Oddly, I am so not anxious about all the packing I have left. I guess I am confident that it will all get done eventually. This new sense of calm is a new experience for me. I would traditionally be all anxious and uber organized to release the anxitey. Motherhood totally changes your approach to life.

We all went to get photo’s done today. They turned out awesome!! Plus, we get them back tomorrow! So I will be able to send them all out and all that jazz. The photographer was awesome! Very patient and very determined to make us all look uber cute! J got some grad photos done, then we did some family photos plus Becca had some solo shots! She is such a cutie!

Afterwards we enjoyed a lunch out. Unfortunately I came home feeling uber sick I laid down, while Becca napped and J went to the U. I took my nap in prep for work tonight. w00t w00t 2 more midnights!!!

Becca and I played on the bed for like 3/4 of an hour tonight! She was totally cute and even pointed to my nose a couple times on cue (smashed my nose is a better description but she got it right is the point ). She is totally chewing on her fingers lately. It is not something she normally does, so I am thinking some teeth are on their way! YAY! A one year old in a UHAUL teething!! w00t!

J has finished the minor corrections needed to submit his thesis!! hehe Everytime I get excited that he will be around to help me pack, he reminds me he still has to clean up his lab area and do a few more things….One would think he is ducking the packing thing….Now why would he avoid his uber organized wife, anxious, bored daughter during a crazy packing blitz?????? I know he will totally be here when I need him next week. I am a littel relieved I am not going to answer “So what should I do now?” hehe I love him to pieces but he is sucha boy when it comes to this stuff

J and i are mapping out our trip before I head to work!!! I am so excited!!! (no for real no sarcasim ) I think the trip will be fun! How many people can say they have driven across the continent twice?!?! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!