5 years (already? only?)

Today is Lisa & I's 5th wedding anniversary (well, the first one anyway - we had 2 weddings, but consider this our "real" anniversary).

In many ways, it's hard to believe it's already been 5 years - some of my memories of our wedding day are so crisp, clear, and accessible in my memory that I can't quite process the passage of so much time. In other ways, I'm stunned when I realize that we haven't even been together for a decade yet (8 years in December). It seems that we've grown so much, accomplished so much, changed so much. How could all of that happen in such a short stretch of time?

Tyla's arrival has only cemented the surreal-ness of this milestone anniversary. I remember thinking about our future family as I got ready on our wedding day. I wondered when, and how, we would have kids. I wondered where we would live, what they'd be like, how Lisa & I would be as parents. Now I have answers to all of those questions. This past year has been a tough one for our family. Not that anything "bad" has really happened; it's just been marked by huge changes, extreme excitement, intense challenges. It's been one big roller coaster, and it seems that there are more roller coaster rides ahead.

So, on our anniversary, I pledge to myself (and to my family) to not struggle against this roller coaster so much, and not spend so much time and energy trying to flatten out the highs and lows (yes, I am a control freak). I promise to do my best to sit back and enjoy the ride. After all, it won't be ending any time soon.

It's already our 5th anniversary. It's only our 5th anniversary. No matter how you look at it, one thing remains the same: I love Lisa as much today as I did 1,825 days ago. In fact, I love her more.

Six weeks late... better than never, right?

It's hard to believe it's already Thanksgiving, the leaves are falling (not that we can see them now that they're covered in snow), and I'm getting ready for midterm reviews of my practicum students! Time really does fly when you're having "fun"!

I thought I'd dedicate a post (or two) to the pics I've been unable to share due to our missing camera... now that it's been found (thanks again, Lisa), I can share some of the stories from our first few weeks of school.

The first pre-back-to-school highlight was the arrival of "Cuddles", Tyla's first Build-A-Bear friend. The creation of Cuddles was made possible by our dear family friends who gave Tyla a gift card for Build-A-Bear as an adoption gift (thanks, Gavin, Harriet, GW, Danelle, Aynsley, & Aaron!). It was a big day - going to the mall, picking out a bear (Pink and orange tie-dyed? You bet!), giving it a beating heart (Tyla kept telling people it was a "real bear because it has a real heart"), and making a wish before it was all stitched up. Then we had to choose clothes: Hello Kitty PJ's & slippers and a Hello Kitty purse. Thanks to Auntie Jo, Cuddles also has skinny jeans, a funky t-shirt, and bejewelled Crocs. Here is Cuddles on her first night in our house:


That brings us to the first day of school - a highly anticipated day for everyone in our household! Way back in June, before we had even met Tyla, we had made arrangements with our nephew Jake's school to have Tyla attend school there. Even though the school is across the city, it is very diverse, has a great before and after school program, seems very big on inclusion, and (most importantly) cousin Jake goes there!

When we arrived at the school on registration day, we encountered a bit of a snag: after we had found Tyla's classroom, met her teacher, chosen a desk, and introduced ourselves to a friend, we were informed by the principal that the school was overcrowded and Tyla wouldn't likely be able to stay at the school because we live out of area. I didn't have the heart to tell Tyla & Jake (he went with us to registration) at first, so opted to hide upstairs in our bedroom and sob on the phone to Lisa. I felt like such a terrible mom! This is Tyla in her Grade 1 classroom, Version 1.0:


So... we called around to other schools, polled friends on Facebook, and finally chose another school that we felt comfortable with. We called, found out they had room in their Grade 1 class, and headed over to meet the teacher. On the way there, we explained to Tyla & Jake what had happened, and that this would be Tyla's new school. We arrived at the front desk, only to be told that there was no room at the school and Tyla wouldn't be able to stay there, either! On the way to the car, Tyla asked me, "Does this mean I don't get a school in Saskatoon?" Now I felt like an even worse mom!!

Off we went to our neighbourhood school. We were very warmly greeted by the staff there, who enthusiastically gave us a tour and helped us fill out our THIRD set of school registration forms. The only downside of this school was that there's no before and after school program, which caused us much stress. The upside? Tyla's in a class of 18, with 3 staff (a teacher, an intern, and an EA), with lots of kids from diverse families, cultures, etc. Here is Tyla (with Cuddles & Ducky) on her first day of school (take 2):



The rest of September went by in a blur. There was the back-to-school breakfast, a meet-the-teacher dinner (a full turkey dinner served by the school staff!), soccer registration, her first trips to grandma & grandpa's farm, cousin Brynn's 2nd birthday party, and a road trip to Regina to see the doctor.

We eventually lucked out and found a babysitter who lives in the neighbourhood - and the school even has a bus that takes Tyla directly there after school! Tyla seems to like it there, even though she's the oldest kid. I think she likes being the "big kid".

Tyla has also made herself a gaggle of friends - there are 5 girls who hang out together, giggling and carrying on through recess, on the bus, and - hopefully soon - playdates and sleepovers.

We capped off the first weeks of school with a trip to Swift Current for the wedding of a family friend. Tyla & Jake had been asked to sit at the guest book, which Tyla got very excited about. We weren't sure how it would go when we actually got to the wedding and started to meet lots of new people (including the family from Alberta - her and cousin Kenna hit it off!), but it went very well. Tyla loved her "job", took it very seriously, and exclaimed, "I love working here!". We even had to take the chair away from the table later in the night because she insisted in sitting alone by the guest book, just to keep an eye on it.


Another highlight of the night was dancing with Jake & Grandma - I'm sure Grandma had to take quite the breather after a few rounds of the dance floor with Tyla:


That's about it for this chapter in my "catch up" post... I'll add more soon (there is much, much more to share)!

News is good...

Good news #1. Lisa found the camera, and just in time - my insanity was becoming pretty deeply rooted, and I'm pretty sure I was mere moments away from going over the edge. I'll post pics soon.

Good news #2. Tyla loved being in our friend Becky's wedding last weekend (she sat at the guest book with her cousin, Jake), and exclaimed, "I love working here!". We had to take the chairs away from the table to get her to sit with us at the dance - she didn't want Becky to think she wasn't taking her job seriously.

Good news #3. Tyla got over her shyness and hit it off with our extended family on the weekend. For future reference, it's way easier to get used to new people when there's a hotel pool to play in.

Good news #4. I put my back out less than 2 hours before our team's first soccer practice yesterday, but still managed to get there in one piece and without shedding tears.

Good news #5. I survived my first soccer practice as coach, and picked up an assistant coach along the way.

Good news #6. We don't have soccer practice again for 2 weeks.

Good news #7. I didn't lose my cool when I discovered Tyla's "writing" all over her bed room walls (and closet, and ceiling, and trim...) right after last night's soccer practice.

Good news #8. Magic erasers really are magic, as Tyla will learn today after school when she gets to scrub the walls in her room.

Good news #9. It's Tuesday. Only 3 more sleeps until Friday. (I now measure my life in "sleeps".)

Good news #10. I found 9 other things to call "good news". Things are looking up. (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to come up with any last night...)