Trip to the Zoo

Last Thursday, we went to the zoo with our Moms group. We were able to see all the baby animals that had been born. Megan also enjoyed playing in the Kinsmen playground. Here are some pictures from our day at the zoo.

Our first stop and meeting place was the playground.

The baby gorilla.

The mama gorilla.

The baby giraffe (a girl).

An idea of how tall the baby giraffe is compared to her mother.

The baby elephant (she's now 1 year old).

Sleeping with a Full "House"

This is a sample display of all the "buddies" Megan thinks she needs to sleep with. As you can see, there's barely room left for her.

Random Displays of Cuteness

Ethan at 6 months

height: 68 cm

weight: 17 lbs 1 oz. (approx. 7 - 8 1/2 kg)

Camping at Waterton

Last weekend, we went camping in Waterton National Park. We chose a spot in the Waterton townsite campground. Despite the fact that this was a campground in Waterton, there were plenty of deer and ground squirrels to be seen. Here's a picture of how close to our campsite one deer came.

Ethan hung out in the sling while we went for a walk.

Megan dipped her feet in the lake near our campsite.

More mule deer.

Going to the Stampede

This past Saturday, we took the kids to the Calgary Stampede. We only went for a couple hours but made sure we took in some of the kids' midway. Megan wasn't quite big enough to go on many rides by herself so I went on the rides with her.

Megan enjoyed riding this bumblebee ride.

This motorbike ride she was allowed to go on by herself.

We also took in a bit of the Enbridge Stage by the Saddledome.

This group was made up of former Stampede Marching band members.

Here's the same group performing with the Stampede Marching band.

Happy Birthday.....

..... to me!

So tired.....

I think this picture is pretty self-explanatory. :)

Ethan at Four Months

It's official! Ethan is now four months old. Yesterday we went to the doctor for his checkup. It was a good checkup. Here are the current stats:

Height: 63 cm

Weight: 13 lbs 15 oz.

I'm pleased to say he's doubled his birth weight (6 lbs 6 oz) with some weight to spare.

Room Changes

This week, we decided that it was time to put all of Megan's books in one spot. This bookcase used to be in our room but we moved it to Megan's in order to give her books a home. We also moved it to make room for the crib in our room as Ethan has outgrown his bassinet.

Megan "reading" books in the rocking chair.

Ethan sleeping in his "new" crib. (It's the same one we used for Megan.)

Beating the Heat

Due to the hot weather we had last summer and our inability to find a pool to buy for Megan, this year we thought we'd get a jump on the heat by buying a pool. Jason chose it and we both like it because the outer edge of the pool goes all the way to the ground. Megan likes it because she can get wet in it.

Megan even likes to bring her balls in the pool with her.

May Long Weekend

For the Saturday of the May long weekend, we joined some friends at Calaway Park. Jason and I got season's passes to save money while Megan and Ethan were free. This year, Megan is able to go on more rides than last year, making the trip out to Calaway more enjoyable.

Megan loves the carousel.

Megan also enjoyed the Super Trucks ride.

Ethan was happy to hang out in the stroller.

On the Farm

Last weekend, we went to the farm for seeding. While the weather wasn't the best the first day we were there, it cleared up for the rest of the time we were there. Megan enjoys the farm as there is lots of room to run and she gets to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. This was Ethan's first trip to the farm and he got to take a ride in one of the tractors with Grandpa and Daddy, he didn't even mind the noise of the engine as evidenced by the fact he didn't wake up while on Grandpa's lap.

Megan enjoyed visiting the cats at Art & Wanda's farm.

One Happy Boy

As he is now three months old, Ethan has started smiling at people. He is a very happy boy most of the time and I was able to take this picture of him smiling.

Matching Sleepers

Somehow, unintentionally, while shopping for sleepers for the kids, I managed to buy Megan and Ethan matching sleepers (sort of). It's probably hard to tell, but both sleepers say "Peek-a-boo" and each have an "pet" peeking out from behind the "Peek-a-boo". Megan's sleeper has a pink kitty and Ethan's a blue and brown puppy. I wanted to get a picture of them together, but it didn't work out.

Megan in her "Peek-a-boo" kitty sleeper.

Ethan in his "Peek-a-boo" puppy sleeper.

My little copycat

I'm reminded often of what copycats kids are as they learn. This is Megan "feeding" her Cabbage Patch dolls the same way I feed Ethan.

Fun in the Snow

Because we got such a big dump of snow recently, Jason decided it would be a good idea to take Megan for a ride on the sled we got her for Christmas. Megan agreed with this idea and wasn't happy to have to come in from the cold. Hopefully, once the snow melts, we can play on the swings in the yard again.

April Snows

As anyone knows who watches the news or lives in the Calgary area, we received a big dump of snow and it's still coming. Here are some pictures of our backyard after the first big snowfall. These will give you an idea of how much snow we've received.

This is our back deck.

Megan's tricycle

Just Swingin'

Tummy Time

As many parents of young children know, these days babies sleep on their backs and tummy time is strongly recommended to help prevent flat spots. Here are some pictures of Ethan having some tummy time.

"I think I can hold my head up....."

"Yep, I can!"

Ethan's Baptism

As many of our family and friends are aware, we attend a Christian Reformed Church here in Calgary. As part of the tradition of this branch of our faith, children are baptized, usually as infants. This year, on Easter Sunday, we had Ethan baptized according to the church's tradition. For probably the only time in his life, Ethan was dressed in the baptismal gown that Jason's parents had him, his brother and sisters baptized in. Megan was baptized in the same gown and any other children we may have will use it also.

Jason's family (almost all) came out for the weekend of the baptism and spent Easter with us. Megan had fun playing with her cousin Jeremy, whom we only see when we go out to Ontario for visits.

Here we are with Jason's family. Unfortunately, Derek's wife Faye and their little girl, Jorja, weren't able to come. We hope to meet Jorja someday soon.

Ethan at Two Months

On April 1, we took Ethan to the doctor for his 2 month checkup. Here are the results:

height: 56.5 cm

weight: 9 lbs 6 oz.

Camera Fun

Here are some pictures of Ethan I took while playing with a feature on my camera called color accent.

Ethan in his blue sleeper and bouncy chair

Sitting on the red truck blanket Grandma Mantel made for him.

Ethan at One Month

It's amazing how quickly a month can pass. It seems a bit hard to believe that one month ago, I was in the hospital getting to know this new little person and recovering from the major surgery (c-section) that I underwent to deliver him. As he has now had his one month checkup, here are the current stats on our little boy:

Birth weight: 6 lbs 6 oz.

1 month weight: 6 lbs 15 oz

Birth length: 19 inches (I don't know the conversion to cm)

1 month length: 55 cm (I don't know the conversion to inches)

As you can see, he hasn't put on much weight despite the doctor having us supplement him with formula along with being nursed. I will be continuing to supplement him on doctor's orders as he apparently has no body fat. I'm glad to be almost done my 6 week recovery period during which I have been under orders to lift nothing heavier than Ethan and no driving for the first 2 weeks. Megan has been "trained" to know that to climb in Mommy's lap during this time, she needs to climb on something else first. I'm glad to say that I will be able to lift her and carry her again soon. I will try to post more about Ethan as he gets older and starts to be able to do things.

"New" Toy

Recently, Megan rediscovered a baby gift that we had received for her from some family in the Netherlands. I decided she's finally old enough to play with it so I unpacked it for her. She's really enjoying playing with this doll and her accessories. The doll's seat is also a backpack which Megan enjoys carrying the doll in.

Edmonton Visit

When Ethan was 2 weeks old, we decided to take a road trip to Edmonton to visit my brother Ryan and his wife Pam. Ethan was a good baby, sleeping the whole way. We had a nice visit with them as did the kids.

Ethan and Aunt Pam

Ethan and Uncle Ryan

Grandma O and the Grandkids

Shortly after Ethan was born, Nate, Kristie and family came over for supper and a visit. My mom had been staying with us to help out and we decided to get a picture of her with all the grandkids. So, here is who everyone is (left to right): Devun, Katie, Ethan and Megan with Grandma in the middle holding the babies.

Welcome, little niece!

As some of our friends and family know, Jason's brother Derek & his wife Faye happened to have been expecting their second arrival this month just like we were expecting Ethan. Sunday night, Jorja (pronounced Georgia) Faye Mantel arrived.

Welcome baby girl! Congratulations to Derek, Faye & big brother Jeremy.

Welcome, Ethan!!

As most of our family already knows, early Saturday morning, Jason and I got up early to go to the hospital for a scheduled c-section to deliver our newest family member.

We welcomed Ethan John into this world at 11:15 am February 2, 2008. He weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz. and 19".

So far, Megan seems to like her baby brother. She got to hold him on Saturday when Daddy brought her to visit at the hospital.



Hopefully, she'll continue to adjust well to having Ethan around and will learn quickly that Mommy can't pick her up and carry her for a few weeks and find different ways of climbing into my lap during my recovery.