The Many Delights in the Life of Desirée: Many month update

So, I want to do a quick update of the last few months with pictures. Without further ado, here we go.

July: In July we celebrated Canada Day and moved to our new townhouse on the 1st. I started working as resident manager. Oakley and I went down to St. George with my mom and sister to meet up with my other sister and a cousin-in-law and go watch broadway musicals at the outdoor amphitheatre. So fun!

Loving the new place

This is when I popped and you can actually tell I'm pregnant

The sweet girls that watched the boys while we enjoyed three plays

Cute!

Cutie Patootie

Hugs! One of the moments they were getting along. :)

August: Matt did two backpacking trips this summer. The first was Kakwa falls (while we were in Utah) and the second was Skyline trail. He loves his yearly trips and can't wait until the boys are old enough to go with him. :) We also had our Woodruff reunion that I already blogged about. If you feel the need to refresh yourself with pictures, go here. Fun fun.

September: Ok, I'm basing my months on what is on my camera and apparently September was pretty low key. The only pictures on there were pregnant me ones. So, I was still pregnant in September. :)

Our little family

October: This was an eventful month for us. It started with a delightful retreat in Jasper with Matt's work. We headed out on Friday, Oct 4 and drove up to the hot springs. They were wonderful and Oakley had a blast hopping from one pool to another - especially if he knew he had an audience. What a ham! We met up with everyone that evening and were lucky enough to be booked in in one of the rooms in the main cabin so we didn't have to go very far when we wanted to lay Oakley down or call it a night. Saturday was a busy day with lots of activities. We signed up for the hike so we got to go up the tram and hike around on the mountain for a bit. It was crazy foggy when we got up there so I ditched out of climbing to the top but Matt and Oakley and a few others made it up. After, Oakley and I were pretty wiped so we had a nap while Matt went canoeing with some of the others. There was a big catered dinner that night and I ate WAY too much. I felt so sick. Boo. Then I did it again to myself the next morning at the big brunch in the lodge. Silly pregnant woman! There was tons of food and fun all weekend. It was so nice to get away, enjoy the mountains and get to know some of Matt's co-workers and their families better. Check out was eleven on Sunday morning so after the brunch, we took off. We had intended to drive up to Maligne Lake but after a few minutes on that road, we changed our minds. We didn't realize how far off the main highway it was and didn't want to be on the road going home too late so we turned around and hit up Maligne canyon instead. If any of you go to Jasper, please do yourselves a favour and go there! It is a beautiful hike with nice paths and gorgeous waterfalls. We loved it! Best change of plans.

Justin and Kaleena got married! We headed down to Calgary on the 15th and crashed with our dear friends, the Guenters (thanks again, guys!). Driving for 6 hours straight didn't sound very fun for my body, so breaking up the trip was wonderful. We left Calgary the next morning just in time to make it down to Cardston for the ceremony. It was lovely and we are thrilled to have Kaleena in the family. Welcome, Kaleena! That weekend was the reception and Oakley danced the night away. He was busting a move like no one's business. So funny. He also loved the glow sticks that were handed out.
Next, we carved pumpkins as a family. Matt tried to grow an Atlantic giant pumpkin but due to early frost and no one to cover it, it stopped growing and wasn't very giant but it was still pretty awesome. Matt's aunt Heide let us take home two little cute pumpkins from her garden so we had our three pumpkins to carve. Oakley had a great time drawing on his while Matt and I drew our designs on our own. After, Matt created a face based on the drawings already there and it was really cute. Oakley loved helping scoop out the guts. He would take seeds out individually. :)
Halloween was really fun this year. It was Oakley's first time going trick or treating since he was only 6 months the previous year. I didn't want to be that mom that everyone knows is just taking her kid so she can get the candy...but I secretly did want to. :) Anyways, we had heard really good things about taking kids to malls so after scoping out the various activities at different malls, we decided to hit up Bonnie Doon. They had bouncy castles, face painting, balloons, a petting zoo, snow cones and almost every store gave out candy - all for FREE. Sweet! Oakley loved putting the candies in his bag and was amazed that so many people were giving him candy. He hated being in the petting zoo. Looking at them on the other side of the fence was fine but make him touch a goat or a bunny and he freaked right out. That might have had something to do with being bitten by a horse a few weeks before. That was an adventure. I loved doing it in the mall because there were so many activities, he got more than enough candy and it was inside so we didn't have to worry about keeping him warm (although I hear this year was super mild for trick or treaters). I highly recommend it to all families in the area. We went to a few friends and relatives' houses after and then went home to check out his loot. It was so exciting for him and so fun to watch. We also got our first ever trick or treaters since this was the first year we were above ground! It was one of those things that happen in my life where I feel like a real adult.

Enjoying the tram

Everyone on the hike

At the top!

Mid fall

Our little cabin

All the boys

Oakley loved this rocking chair

Scoopin'

Trying a sample

The completed pumpkins - Oakley's, mine, and Matt's from left to right

He loved them all lit up

Check out the head feathers on that duck! Awesome.

"Look, Mom!"

November: This month started with Matt's 27th birthday! We headed out to the in-laws' acreage for a day of snow and fun. We went sledding and ate good food and played games in the cabin. It was a good time. I sure do love this man of mine and I loved celebrating him!

We also hit up the festival of trees with some friends of ours. There are some pretty amazing tree displays. This time, we headed to the back and caught a few of the dance routines. That was fun. Little kids dancing are really cute. :)

I'm a bad steerer

Oakley wanted to take some pictures one day

Crocheted tree :)

Friends

Kisses. I love how intently E is staring at Oakley

Clapping for the dancers

December: We had a baby! Go here for that story and a plethora of pictures. Emmett has brought so much joy and happiness into our home, as is the case whenever sweet new spirits join a family. We feel like a real family now that Oakley has a sibling to grow up with, if that makes sense. :) We went to candy cane lane the Monday before Emmett was born for Family Home Evening and Oakley loved the lights. His favourites were the two singing houses that we passed. We walked a block of it and then wimped out and went back to our warm car to drive the rest. It's really neat because it's just a section of the city that most of the residents deck their houses out. It's not done by professionals, just regular folk that want to give something to the city.

We had Christmas by ourselves this year. I was nervous about it because I'm from a large family and Christmas is always bustling with people and it was just going to be the four of us. It was really nice though. Matt woke Oakley up (crazy, I know) so that we could do stockings before talking with Auntie Rachel in Finland. It was so nice to see her and show off our new addition. Then we opened all the presents. By the end, Oakley had had enough. It was a long process and he was not interested anymore. I made monkey bread, hash browns and bacon for our Christmas breakfast and it was all really tasty. Mmmm good! Then, we just chilled. Oakley tried out some new toys, and Matt started building his lego and I had a nap. :) We did end up taking a trip to Emergency in the evening. I passed a pretty big blood clot and had a freak out about dying and such. New mothers tend to be a little...emotional. Anyways, after close to 4 hours there, we were sent home and all was well. My Christmas chicken was a little dry as it spent an extra two hours on warm in the crock pot, but overall, it was a great day! We also hit up both of our families during the next two days and enjoyed lots of games, visiting, food, and baby showing off.

Look at his little Santa bum!

Mmm candy canes!

The after math

What a goofy boy!

January: It's been a pretty chill month. Matt went back to work after four weeks off. I may have cried a little when he left. All of us are still alive so we must be doing something right.