It's like living in New York

Ryan and I were feeling quite happy with the fact that housing prices were coming down. We have had our plan in place for saving up enough for a small down payment and were feeling more optimistic than we had in several years about eventually owning a home. (Our options for homes are limited because we can't have a townhouse/split/bi level because of Claire's wheelchair). I then read in the paper this morning that next year housing prices are supposed to be back to "normal." How disappointing! It feels like we will never be able to get our own home.

My biggest worry is that the girls don't have a private little grassy spot to play in. I feel like we're depriving them of an essential part of childhood. However, I'm trying to reconcile myself with apartment living right now by telling myself "It's like living in New York." There are lots of families living in New York apartments and they survive just fine. They get along fine with playing in public parks and playgrounds. Their children aren't deprived - right? This is how I've been comforting myself but it's not really working.

I am trying to focus on the positive - we have a huge apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a washer, a dishwasher, all the storage rooms in the building are crammed with our stuff, we are close to several parks, the river valley and the library, we can walk to lots of fun summer/winter festivals, if we need things repaired we don't have to pay for it, we can use all the hot water/heat that we want and we're close to lots of good places to eat. It could be a lot worse but sometimes I feel so behind compared to people who have their own home. I wonder how some people can afford it when the median house price is $350 000!

On a more positive note, we had a great Family Day weekend, besides Claire being under the weather. We spent a lot of time doing stuff at home, going for walks, making messes, etc. We went to the Royal Alberta Museum on Monday when it was free admission day and took in the exhibits and a balloon art performance show. It was fun although we almost weren't able to sit in the theatre because parents had filled the empty wheelchair area in the back with their empty strollers and wouldn't move them! I was almost ready to bust some heads, but the girls had fun. We didn't take any pictures during the show since they wouldn't have turned out but here is an example of some animals that the lady makes with balloons:

Madeline had fun on daddy's shoulders while we were viewing the exhibits.
Claire loves the Alberta exhibit with all the animals and landscapes.
I think she also enjoyed all the crowds and hearing people talk and laugh.

I've really been enjoying how the girls interact with each other now. Madeline is always trying to copy Claire. For example, whenever Claire stands in her standing frame, Maddie always wants to have a turn:

They enjoy doing more things together now.

They like having their baths together, reading stories together, colouring together:

Maddie pulled her chair over to Claire's chair and started colouring with her. It makes me so happy to see them enjoying each others' company.

Claire looked so grown-up today and I tried to get a picture but all
she was showing me was the profile shot.

And, filed under the category of "at least our lives are never dull,"
this is what I found in Madeline's room after nap time today:She had systematically taken every piece of clothing out of her dresser drawers and almost all the books out of her bookshelf. She did this very quietly and sneakily. Fun times.

The yuckies are coming!!!

One funny story from church today - I was subbing in Nursery and one little boy is working on his potty training. At the end of class he started yelling, "The yuckies are coming, the yuckies are coming." It took us a few seconds to realize that he meant he needed to go number 2 RIGHT NOW. It was pretty hilarious.

Now back to the post at hand. Ryan is such a fun person to be married to. For Valentine's Day he constructed this poster for me: (click to enlarge the pictures)


After spending a fun time with the girls, we ordered a heart shaped Thai Chicken pizza (we had to reconstruct the heart shape since the pizza had slid around in the box a bit) and watched some TV on DVD - the best way to go. We've started in on the series X-files because we found the series on sale at Best Buy. It's very creepy but intriguing.


I've got a new project to work on. While we were in Utah, Grandpa passed on a lot of his written talks/lectures/addresses onto me so that I could start transferring them to word documents. It's been such a neat experience to read through his thoughts - some from over 30 years ago! There are addresses he has made at family baptisms, blessings, mission farewells and weddings along with BYU devotional, stake conference and church settings. What a priviledge it is for me to do this! It always helps to "spiritualize" my day.

We did get Claire a spot in Malmo Pre-kindergarten. I went to the school at 4pm to line up for the 6:30 registration and I felt like a crazy person. But by 4:30 the class was full (there were only 5 spots left and there were 5 people in line). Crazy! But I'm excited for her. I know the teacher is great and they are so welcoming and encouraging - I think Claire will have a great year!


Here are some pictures from the week:

This is how we like to wake Claire up (I think she likes it too):

This is one of Claire's model poses, the "look away/melancholy/pensive look"

Madeline has never let me do her hair. She pulls out anything I manage to stick in but lately she's been more interested in it.

(This lasted about 1 minute - 10 times longer than any previous time. Yay!)

We love to sing "If you're happy and you know it" and
we've been experimenting with singing 'sad', 'mad' and 'excited' in place of 'happy'.
This is Madeline's mad face.

This is Claire's happy/tippy face

We've been trying to get Maddie to do somersaults and here is Ryan helping her out!

Are you trying to hurt my feelings? Because if so, you are succeeding. Fortunately my feelings regenerate at twice the speed of a normal (wo)man's.*

* This quote is from the last episode of The Office which is one of my favourite shows. It is over-the-top ridiculous and makes me laugh out loud everytime. Close second favourites are: 30 Rock and Flight of the Conchords (although it's on HBO and can get a little racy).


I got to take a neat trip to Utah with Dad, Steph and Mel to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so nice to see them again. Grandma was a trooper and Grandpa cooked up a storm for us. We got to do some fun shopping and Mel and I took in a BYU basketball game that brought back fun memories. It was just nice to visit with G&G and I actually really enjoyed the driving/relaxing in the car. It's not too often that I get to read and listen to music all by myself. It was good to get back to the girls and Ryan though!

Dad & Grandpa cooking in the kitchen

The girls


Grandma looking beautiful!

Yay BYU! Honestly - my favourite part is watching the band play in the stands! Singing the cougar fight song is pretty fun too. Oh the days when I would be in the student section and had to stand up during the entire game because everyone was cheering. :)


This was my first attempt at taking a picture with the timer. I balanced it on the bannister and had to put a plastic lid opener circle underneath it so it wouldn't slide off. I think the photo turned out ok!

We've been looking around for preschools for Claire in the fall. It's a pretty cut-throat business to find a spot at a good place. We eliminated about 2/3 of them all ready because they're in basements of schools or churches with no wheelchair access. Then we have to go do visits to see if they environment will be good for Claire. I'm learning that preschools that are in an elementary school open up registration for siblings of kids in the main school before the public. One of the classes I wanted to register in is already full and the open house is on Tuesday! I have to line up 2 hours early just to get on the waiting list. I was not prepared for all this! I hope that we can find Claire a good place to go to school next year.

Well, I think I've picked out my dress for Kathy's wedding. Here's the link - tell me what you think (it will be in black).


Does anyone see a pattern in these next few pictures? This is Maddie's new smile. This is what we get when we ask her to smile for a picture. It's pretty cute!

Madeline and I got to watch Rob's basketball game at Clear Vista and saw him make a basket about 2 seconds after he got on the floor. Maddie sat with Rob and his friends during the girls' game and shared her crayons with them all. Rob was a very good sport about it!

Claire loves playing with Daddy's guitar. She's pretty good too!

This is Claire's new favourite way to lay. We call it "laying on the beach."

I love it when she falls asleep like this.

Here we are at a field hockey game to watch Mel. It was pretty cool.
She is playing for the U of A Indoor Field Hockey team and is doing great!