2009 has been quite the year, hasn't it?

Last week I began work on my family's annual holiday letter (some might call it a novella - it can has been known to exceed 6 pages!). It is always an interesting exercise to sit down and reflect on the past year, and compare last year's letter to this year's. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure that this year will win hands-down in the "biggest changes and milestones" category!

I was trying to figure out how to neatly post our letter here - it had photos, and I spent a fair amount of time messing around with desktop publishing software to make it look pretty - but ran into too many roadblocks. So... I'll give a recap, as most of what was in the letter is stuff that those of you who read the blog would already know, but some is from the "pre-Tyla" era and might be news to you.

For example, in addition to becoming new moms, we did some work on our yard and house, visited with family and friends, and did a bit of camping over the summer. In fact, we were camping with my family in Drumheller when we got "the call" that our first visit with Tyla had been arranged (the next day!).

We also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on October 9 – time flies when you’re having fun, I guess!

Auntie Erin & Jake in Drumheller

Our niece, Brynn - always at the height of fashion!

Auntie Lisa & Brynn, tuckered out after a hard day renovating the trailer.

Lisa (Mom)
Lisa is still working at Vecima Networks, and she’s just been promoted to a Team Leader position in the surface-mount technology (SMT) department. Her employer offered staff the option of moving to a 4-day work week this past year, which is a nice perk – even if she does work overtime nearly every Friday. Lisa was able to enjoy a few short daytrips on her Harley this summer, and really enjoyed riding it to work most days. Now she’s started working on getting me to ride so we can go on the road together!

Erin (Mama)
I finally completed my Master’s degree in April (it was a long six years, especially for Lisa!), and was thrilled to accept a 1-year term faculty position beginning July 1. Lisa and my Mom were able to come to Regina to cheer as I crossed the stage to get my diploma, which was such a great moment. I taught my first university class (Contemporary Social Welfare Policy – sounds thrilling, eh?) at the College in Swift Current during spring term, and am teaching two field practice courses this term. I'm hopeful that my term with the faculty will be extended, which would be great – I love teaching, and feel so privileged to have a job that I enjoy so much. Now I just have to start convincing Lisa that it’s time to start my PhD!

Tyla
Tyla keeps busy with school, soccer, and hanging out with her new cousins (and grandma and grandpa, of course). She’s getting used to living in a city as she lived in a small town before she moved to Saskatoon. She loves to ride her bike, so really enjoyed the warm fall we had. She’s also a fan of dress up, spray parks, and entertaining mom and mama with her stories and rock star impersonations, listening to Beyonce, Pink, and Dolly Parton, and playing with her “brothers” and “sister” (our cats Buddy, Parker, and Missy).

As always, I am grateful for your friendship and support, and thankful you’ve taken the time to read up on our antics. I hope you have a happy holiday and a wonderful New Year!

Ok... it's been a long time.

Here's the bullet-point version of an update from our family, in no particular order:

• The biggest news: Two weeks ago, Tyla started calling us "Mom" (Lisa) and "Mommy" (me) AND telling us she loves us ALL IN THE SAME DAY. It was awesome - and funny - because she couldn't stop saying it, and would tell anyone who would listen (servers, salespeople, strangers in the mall) that she "loves her two moms".

• My name has been amended to "Mama", which Tyla thought might "fit me better". She's trying it out for a while - "because she can".
• It snowed. Briefly. Tyla loved it, and made snow angels in about 2 cm of snow. By the end of it, they were mud angels.

• Soccer is going well, but I'm still not really enjoying being a coach. In typical Erin fashion, I don't usually enjoy things that I don't feel really good at (okay, perfect at), and coaching soccer is one of those things.
• We went glow bowling last night. It was fun, and Tyla was fascinated with the blacklights - there was a constant flow of questions about how everything glowed, and why it glowed, and if it would still glow when we went home, and if it made people bowl better, and whether other bowling alleys glowed like this, and if other people had seen the glowing before...

• We've had a bout of head lice at our house. Not fun. Right now, Tyla is playing with her stuffed animals and is pretending to comb the lice out of their hair. Before that, they all had to be shampooed to get the bugs out. Too funny.
• We hosted our first play date, which was interesting. There was lots of dress up - mostly rock stars - and a climactic ending (read: two 6-year-olds not speaking).

• Tyla has discovered a love of cooking. One morning she proudly helped us make bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast. She's a real pro at cracking eggs now, and barely cracks any outside the bowl. This afternoon we're going to make banana chocolate chip muffins, and she's very curious about how the "rotten" bananas can make good muffins. She also likes to clean on occasion (and would likely do so more often if it was for money!).

• School is going well, too. We made a crazy hat for "Wacky Hat Day". Tyla had a part in the Remembrance Day assembly, but unfortunately neither of us could be there because we were at work. Her line was, "Peace is playing with my friends", and she was very proud that she said it perfectly. She's only been to the principal's office once so far. She's starting to read, and gets giddy when she figures out a word. Last night when we were reading together she kept exclaiming, "How did I figure that out? That's CRAZY!" every time she got a word right.

• I picked up my thesis from the printer this week (yay, grad school is officially done!). When Lisa explained to Tyla that Mama had written a book, she was fascinated. When she actually looked at my "book", she thought it looked pretty boring... until she saw the "pictures" (my thesis has a couple of models in it). However, she figured that it must be a hassle for me to always look through hundreds of pages to find the pictures (which she decided must be "very important"), so she took it upon herself to draw the main model with brightly coloured crayon for me - complete with big words (dehumanizing, self, society, supports). She said it I should stick it up in my office so that I don't have to search through my book so much. Everyone at work thought that was just about the cutest thing ever.
• Tyla had a good Halloween. We carved pumpkins with Auntie Jo & Jake. She was a pirate for her school party, and then was 2 different princesses when we went out trick or treating. Since then, she's proven that she can be pretty stealth when it comes to sneaking into the cupboards in the wee hours of the morning to get candy. The other day, she'd consumed an entire package of Hubba Bubba before I got up at 7am - and I didn't hear a thing! Needless to say, the candy has been moved to progressively more remote hiding places... but she seems quite committed to finding it, no matter where we stash it. Hiding Christmas presents ought to be interesting...

That's about it for now. We're looking forward to the next few weeks, as it will bring lots of new experiences and interesting moments!

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...)

Our First Family Photo Shoot

Family pictures are funny things... they can look contrived, posed, and formal, or they can look casual, natural, and in the moment. We are very fortunate to have a dear friend who is a master of the art of the latter type of photography, and even more fortunate to have had her take our family's first "official" photographs.

When your family is emerging, developing, and still creating itself - like ours so clearly is - the notion of "family" pictures can be difficult. I wondered if Tyla, who might not feel like we're her family yet, would be okay with a stranger photographing our family. There were a few awkward moments ("Can you say 'Mom has stinky feet'?", followed by silence and confusion, as she hasn't called either of us "mom" yet). But on the whole, Rona made us feel comfortable and kept things fun. Even though the evening began with resistance to the whole idea of being photographed, it ended with smiles and giggles and lots of chatter - which is Tyla's way of telling us she's doing okay.

All photos by the amazing Rona Andreas (http://ronaandreas.blogspot.com/).

It's been a while...

I've been absent from the blogging world for a few weeks now. Life is insane. School is insane. Work is insane. I am insane.

I'd post pictures, but I've misplaced our camera (and yes, it had Tyla's first day of school photos on it - and no, I hadn't downloaded them yet). I'd write something interesting, but I've misplaced my brain. It appears to be on essential services mode - only essential information is getting in or out, and not much information seems to be sticking around. My brain has turned to mush.

Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon. There is so much to write about - Tyla's first day of school adventure and how it took 3 schools before we found one she could attend; her first attempt at riding the bus that nearly sent Lisa over the bend; how I'm now the coach of her soccer team, even though I've never played soccer in my life; and how a 6-year-old responds to all of the Britney Spears music mysteriously "disappearing" from her mp3 player.

For now, this is all I've got in me. We'll talk soon.