Jolly Jumping

I recently videoed Casey in the Jolly Jumper (his favorite toy I'm sure) and remembered that I also have some video of Ethan in the same Jolly Jumper. As you can see, there are just as many physical similiarities between the boys as there are between Casey and Megan. ENJOY!

Casey

Ethan

The Various Faces of Casey

We recently went to visit Jason's family in Ontario and while there I took some pictures of Casey that show some of his more interesting expressions.



Standing Strong and True

This year, I'm thinking more and more about the sacrifices many families have made and are currently making to help others win the freedom we enjoy. I recently saw this video on CMT and, inspired by my friend Michelle, decided to post this video in honor of all our soldiers, past and present, who chose to defend our freedom as we remember them on this Remembrance Day.

Deja Vu Answer

A bit more than a month ago, I posted two pictures of two of our kids in the same sleeper and booster seat. Many have guessed at which is which and now I'm finally getting around to posting the answer.

Baby #2 - Casey

Baby #1 - Megan

USS Midway

Another site we took in while in San Diego was the retired aircraft carrier turned floating museum the USS Midway. It contains several restored aircraft from previous wars along with displays of the berths for various levels of sailors from the lowly enlisted sailor to the ship's commanding officer's berth.

For more information about the Midway, check out http://www.midway.org/

Sea World

The second "tourist attraction" we went to while in San Diego was Sea World. The kids had a great time at the Sesame Street play area and we took in several animal shows while we were there. Here's a slideshow with the highlights of our day at Sea World.

San Diego 2010

As many of our friends and family know, we recently took a family vacation to San Diego, California. We enjoyed warm and sunny weather for most of the week we were there. I will be doing a series of slideshows with highlights of our trip. I'm starting with where we went first, the San Diego Zoo.

Megan at the Dentist

This week, we took Megan to the dentist for her regular checkup. I finally remembered to take the camera with me so I was able to take pictures. So far all reports from the dentist are good - no cavities!

Scaling

 Polishing

 Suction



Fluoride

Deja Vu?

Recently, I pulled a unisex sleeper of Megan's out of the basement for Casey to wear. It gave me a case of deja vu so I had to try to replicate a picture I had of Megan in the sleeper to see if it's just me or if Casey really does resemble Megan from when she was a baby. Let me know what you think. I'm not going to post right away which picture is which so let me know which you think is Megan and which is Casey.

#1

#2

Casey at 4 months

Today we took Casey to the doctor for his 4 month checkup and here are the results:

Weight: 15 lbs 5 oz

Length: 25 1/2 inches (just over actually)

According to the growth charts the doctors use to track these statistics, it puts Casey in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height which means he's of average weight for his age and a bit on the tall side heightwise.

A Piece of History

We recently had a visit here in Calgary from a piece of World War II history in the form of the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster, one of only two flight worthy Lancasters left. This Lancaster is normally kept at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton but for some reason that I am not aware of, it was decided that it should come west and Calgary's Aero Space Museum would host it for 9 days. We went to see it the first night (I think) and here is a link to the album I created on Facebook with all the pictures that were taken.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=250554&id=605405644&l=3f4bb570fd

Hopefully I'll be able to post a video of the plane flying soon.

Casey

I've noticed that Casey likes to stand so I decided to bring up our exersaucer from the basement. As you can see, Casey thinks this was a good idea! He enjoys it for short periods of time but I'm sure he'll enjoy it more as he develops his muscle control.

Farming Again

This year for the July long weekend, we once again escaped the city. This year we took off for the Olfert family farm in Saskatchewan. As usual, the kids had a blast with Grandpa and Grandma and tractor and truck rides. We also took in some of Swift Current's Frontier Days. Here are some pictures.

Megan driving the garden tractor with Grandpa

In the grain truck with Daddy and Grandpa

Hanging out in the grain truck while it's being loaded

On the "Monkey ride" with Daddy and Grandpa

The train ride which neither kid wanted to get off of!

The last ride they were able to have before the rain came!

Casey at 2 months

Well, time has flown once again and Casey is now 2 months old! We went for his 2 month checkup recently and here are his current stats:

Length: 23 inches

Weight: 12 lbs 11 oz.

We have also now moved him out of the bassinet and into the crib. He did really well in the crib his first night and I don't know that he even knew he was in a bigger bed!

My Monkey Boys

In celebration of Casey's baptism, most of Jason's family came out for a visit. They brought many gifts (mostly clothes) for Casey as well as Megan and Ethan. One of Jason's sisters, Terri-Lyn, found a really cute monkey sleeper for Casey. Since Ethan also has a monkey sleeper, I thought I'd post pictures of the two boys in their monkey sleepers.

My boys in their monkey "jammies"!

Olfert Grandchildren

As mentioned in my last post, we recently celebrated Casey's baptism. We were fortunate that everyone of the Olferts could make it along with most of the Mantel clan. As a result, my parents took the opportunity to have a picture taken with all their grandchildren- all 6! In order here is who is who in the picture:

Back row- Micah, Katie, Megan, Devun

Front row - Grandma, Ethan, Grandpa, Casey

Casey at One Month

Things that have occured in the last month:

Trips to the doctor for weighing and checkups

A trip to the farm

Going to church

Getting baptised at church

Meeting family and friends

I recently took Casey for his one month checkup at the doctor. While I didn't get his length, I am happy to report that he is a healthy 10 lbs 10 oz and already growing out of his 0-3 month sleepers. I will try to ensure that I get length and weight at his 2 month checkup next month.

Our Newest Member!

As many of our friends and family already know, we have added a new member to our family! Last Friday, April 23, Casey William Mantel was born weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs 3 ozs at 2:19 pm.

Easter 2010

This year for Easter, we took a trip out to the family farm outside Swift Current to prepare it for the coming seeding season. The kids had a great time out there (as usual) and even had an Easter egg hunt courtesy of Grandma. Here is a slideshow with some of the highlights from the weekend.

"Little Einsteins"

For those out there who are familiar with Disney's children's programming, this will look familiar to you. Megan and Ethan are fans of the show "Little Einsteins" in which 4 friends and their rocket have various adventures. What is happening in the picture is the kids are pretending to "power up" Rocket like on the show. It was too cute not to capture.

"Blast off!"

Birthday Celebration 2010

As many of you know, we recently celebrated Megan and Ethan's birthdays. As we have done in the past, we had one party for the both as their birthdays are only 2 days apart. I have finally managed to put together a slideshow of the highlights from the party. Enjoy!

Random Holiday Pictures

I've been meaning to post more pictures from our time in Canmore and have finally managed to put together a slideshow of pictures. I have included some more pictures of Ethan on the ski hill from his day skiing.

Playing Catch-Up

I guess it's time to catch up everyone with what's happened to the Mantel family since my last post after we had Christmas (early) with Jason's family. On December 25, we took our family up to Drumheller for Christmas with the Olferts. Megan and Ethan enjoyed opening their presents from Grandpa and Grandma and their cousins. Megan received a new Barbie with a horse from Devun and Ethan received a Little People Playset from Katie.

For New Year's, we took our usual family trip out to the Canmore area for skiing. As we had bought Megan a helmet for skiing/skating, we made sure she went skiing at least once. Her reviews of skiing are mixed (sometimes she's willing to go again, sometimes not) and we also thought we'd see what Ethan thought of skiing. Turns out Ethan is possibly going to be our daredevil on the hill. Here's a video of Ethan going down the hill with Jason.

Megan Skiing

Both Megan and Ethan got to go skiing this past week when we were staying in the Canmore area. Here are some pictures of Megan skiing with Grandpa (her favourite ski buddy!).

Skiing with Grandpa

Ready for skiing!