Its the final countdown... (come on, sing the song).

December 27 was Maren's one month birthday. Its insane how fast time flies... and how slowly it goes at the same time.
The difference in this little girl in the past 5 weeks is absolutely incredible. As of yesterday she was off everything - feeding tube, meds... everything. She has vitamins and Iron (lucky for her she inherited my anaemic tendencies).
She is just an ounce under 5 pounds and steadily gaining. I'm telling you she's a superstar.
The doctor mentioned the words HOME yesterday!!!! We were gearing up for at least 3 more weeks but if she continues to rock her world we're looking at next week. I swear I almost kissed the doctor... we've been away for faaaaar too long.
So, there are a few things that have to happen before we can officially go home. She has to go 5 days in a row without any bradycardia or desats (drops in heartrate and oxygen saturation), then she has to be off her monitors for a couple of days. AND she has to pass her carseat test (sit in a car seat without bradys or desats for an hour). She came sooo close today but desatted with 10 minutes to go. I'm guessing it won't be long til she rocks that test too. That's one I don't want to rush since we do have a bit of travel time when we do get released.

Nyla went home with Darryl on the 27th. I cried like a baby, but she's doing great. Darryl has had a few extra days off so she's settling into normal home life. Apparently she went all around the house saying hi to all her things (she was especially happy to see her tubby).
I know its the best for all of us, but its hard to be away from that little pinkyponk (Imelda's little name for Nyla).

Christmas was nice. We got a little tree and Darryl brought decorations with him. Nyla decorated the tree with a tiny bit of help from us... I can't wait to share pictures. She's so freaking funny :)
She was floored that Santa came to leave her presents :) Even the NICU 'Santa' left a present for her (have I mentioned how amazing the NICU nurses are here???).

I'm staying in Maren's room with her now, so I'm finally getting the quality time with her that we both needed. I can't wait to share pictures of this whole journey.
I have great friends and family who have been an amazing support to me. Thanks for listening to the sobbing phone calls (or emails) and rejoicing in all the progress, no matter how small it was.
Thanks to Diane and Imelda for coming to help watch Nyla. Thanks to Hollie and Tracey (and Chloe) for everything you did to help us.
I love you all.
Stay tuned for great news in the near future!

And here we are...

We have had an incredibly busy couple of weeks. We were transferred from the Children's Hospital in Vancouver to Burnaby General, then 5 days later to Prince George. So yes, we are now in Prince George :) Its so nice being closer to home. We just got here so things are a bit up in the air, but we're looking forward to getting into a routine here.

Maren is doing really well. She's now up to 4lbs 3oz :) They found a little heart murmur but I don't think that's an issue at all. She was on oxygen last night because we're at a different altitude here so she had to work a bit harder to breathe, but was off early this morning.
We won't be home by Christmas :( and probably won't be home for another month, but we can't really complain because she really is doing well, she just has to grow.
There are a few little issues that are common with these tiny little ones, but nothing that seems to be worrying the doctors.

Nyla is doing really well. She's getting tired of being away from home, but she's making friends everywhere we go :) She's definitely a charmer.

Some of you wonderful people have asked for our address but we don't have an address yet. We're staying at a hotel for a few days and then will eventually be in the Easter Seal House here... so I'll pass on an addy when we know what it is.

We're sad about being so far away from everyone this Christmas, but we are also so grateful to be in a place where they obviously care so much for Maren. The PG NICU is amazing... we love it here and know that she is in great hands.
Darryl will be arriving on Christmas eve and will stay for a few days, so we're very excited about having our family together for Maren's first Christmas.

We hope you're all happy and healthy. Merry Christmas from us! We miss you all.
Lots of love

She's a superstar

Maren is doing so well its absolutely unbelieveable, she continuously blows me away. She's so tiny but otherwise completely fine. When we first got here she was covered in tubes and wires, but now the only thing left is her feeding tube. She's already putting on weight and is almost back to her birth weight (3lbs 8 oz). One nurse made a comment about us being home by christmas!!! We're very hopeful for that.

Darryl went home today. He needed to get back to work :( Nyla is still here with me (Darryl's mom is here to help). I think one of the most difficult things for me is balancing time with both girls. I know how much they both need me and its been heartbreaking not being able to be with both 24 hours a day. Now that Darryl is gone it makes it a bit tricky,but I think we're going to be ok. I keep trying to remind myself that this will soon be a distant memory. Soon we'll be together at home and we can catch up on all the time we've missed.

Nyla met Maren for the first time. She absolutely LOVES her. She constantly asks if she can come to the hospital to see her,and begs to bring her with us when we leave. I can't wait til they can actually play together.

We're waiting for a transfer to PG. The NICU there is apparently awesome and its closer to home so we're pretty excited about that. We have to wait for a bed, and when a bed is available we can only go if the transport team is available. I have an idea we'll be here for a little while because coordinating both is not proving to be easy. The care she's getting here is so amazing I definitely can't complain about being here.

So, that's the update for now. It couldn't be going better! We're so proud of Maren and her incredible strength, and we're so proud of Nyla for handling this so well. We have two amazing little girls :)

I'll update again when I have a few minutes. Pictures will have to wait til we're home.
Lots of love from us!

Happy Birthday Maren!

Well, it appears that baby #2 was a bit impatient ( 9 weeks impatient) to enter this lovely world.
Maren Laurie Perry was born on November 27. She weighed 3 lbs 8 oz and is absolutely beautiful.
I'm really impressed with how the whole situation was handled... we live in a very small town, so when the doctor realized that Maren needed to be born he called in a team from Vancouver to take care of her as soon as she made her appearance. They were amazing. They swooped in made sure she was stable and had her ready to be air lifted in an incredibly short amount of time. I was unfortunately not able to go with her because I didn't have a superstar team from Vancouver swooping in to get me ready... (Ok, I'm still upset that I couldn't go with her, but I'm here now).
So, the basic update in a few words:
She is really doing great. She's off morphine, and today she was taken off the ventilator. So far she's breathing room air (still with tubes up her nose, but its a zillion times better then a ventilator) and hasn't needed any oxygen. If her oxygen levels stay good for a week she will be ventilator free for good (barring any craziness that I won't even say could happen because it won't).
We could be here until her original due date (Jan 30th) so it could be a long haul... I'm choosing to believe that it won't take that long. I'm thinking she'll want to be home for Christmas :)
Darryl and Nyla and Darryl's mom got here today. I can't describe how great it is to have them here now.
I can't remember everything I wanted to update on.
I'm doing well. I'm very tired and completely overwhelmed most of the time, but I'm happy to have our little family together at least for a little while. I'm hoping that I'll stop bursting into tears at the drop of a hat... it does get annoying.
Thanks to all of our great family and friends who have been hugely supportive. We love you! (I still owe most of you a phone call. Soon I promise).
Sorry this is a bit scatterbrained. I only have a few minutes online.
I'll update again (hopefully with pics) when I can.

Now I remember what I wanted to write about

3 of Nyla's favorite buddies. Casper (light colored one) is the one she loves to ride.


Kisses for Casper. She doesn't even mind pokey whiskers... she says that its just like kissing Daddy :)

I forgot to mention Halloween!
Nyla picked her own costume (Kitty), but unbeknownst to us had no intention of actually wearing it. She decided that the costume was her buddy... it went everywhere with us for a few days (yes, she even slept with it).
I wasn't going to force her to wear it (I can imagine it would be traumatic to be forced to wear your buddy), I mentioned to her that if she wore her costume all the kitties she saw would think she was a kitty too... WELL that was all it took. She wore the costume and put on a very convincing performance (complete with cleaning her fur and meowing a super cute screeeeechy meow.
She loved trick or treating too. We only went to a handful of houses but once she realized that they would give her candy she'd march right up to the door and start banging on it for all she was worth. If they didn't answer fast enough she'd start yelling "HELLOOOOOOO!", if they still didn't answer she'd attempt to just walk in.
She started thanking them with 'kitty talk' (screechy thank you meows). Yeah, she had a great time.

Now, in other news...
I'm not sure how many people have heard of the sour gas line bombings happening here. I'm not usually that shocked about extreme stupidity (thanks to reality television extreme stupidity is now considered entertainment after all), but in this case I'm blown away (notice the clever pun).
The mad bomber said in a handwritten letter (oh yes, he's obviously a genius) he's upset about Encana drilling for sour gas in the area because its dangerous stuff. I can understand that. I'm not to thrilled about it either, but instead of doing something useful or... smart, he has decided to try to blow the lines and kill us all. SWEET. Good thinking there big fella! That won't come back and bite you in the ass at all...
Canada's anti-terrorism unit is here investigating. I'm hopeful that the guy I saw with the tinfoil hat is NOT Canada's anti-terrorism unit's 'Alpha Team' ... fingers crossed everybody!
There's been a lot of talk about what this guy's punishment should be. I find myself conflicted. I'm usually quite peace loving, but in this situation I'd gladly beat the hell out of the guy myself. WATCH OUT CRAZY MAN these fists of fury are coming after YOU! I wonder if he looks anything like a moose... it is hunting season after all...
Anyway, that's enough ranting for now.

Winter has arrived

We had our first official stick around snow last week.
When Nyla woke up I told her there was a special surprise for her outside. For the rest of my life I will remember the look on her face when she saw the snow outside. It's usually a huge production to get this kid to eat, but she scarfed her breakfast and we spent the entire day out in the snow. It is now firmly planted in my memory as one of the greatest days of all time.
I've heard the quote "The first fall of snow is not only an event, but a magical event". I don't know who said it but its definitely true.

I love that she loves nature and animals and all the great things in the world. I love that she gets excited about going on adventures and 'treasure' hunts with me, (usually our treasures consist of rocks and sticks and goofy things like that). I love that even though she got a coolio wagon for her birthday her favorite mode of transportation is the wheelbarrow. I love that she does the 'pirate face' just to make us laugh. I love that she is stubborn and hard headed, but also gentle and incredibly sweet.
She is definitely easy to love.

I am now officially in the last trimester of pregnancy. We're moving the office downstairs to make room for the newest little one.
I'm barely ever online anymore I'm trying to decide whether I should just get rid of the internet. Dial up sucks... but it does make it easier to stay in touch with people since I LOATHE the phone... I really am not a phone person. I feel like its a conversation half in the shadows because you talk, but are engaged in a zillion other things. I don't really know how to explain it...
I think writing is a much better way of really communicating with people until I can see them in person.
What was the point of all this rambling????... ah yes, so I think I'll keep the internet connected at least for a while. I'll even work on the frequency of my communication :)
I really do need to make more of an effort... I do know how terrible I am at keeping in touch, and I do feel awful.

I promised Christy a picture of the llamas (she finds them creepy :) I think the haunted barn is creepier then the llamas. (Ok, so its not haunted, its just creepy).

I've promised to post pictures of myself in all my pregnant glory... I will do this sometime even though the thought of seeing my prego ass in print makes me want to cry.

Ah, I almost forgot. We're heading to edmonton next weekish (what day is it today????) I'm incredibly excited about catching up with the lovely Hannah Shears, and hopefully with Vicky and her family as well. I'll post pics after the trip.

I could ramble some more but instead I'm going to go make some peppermint tea and go to bed. Building a human is hard work...

Happy Birthday Nyla! (and some random nonsense)

Nyla turned 2! She’s pretty much the coolest kid on the planet… except when she’s blowing snot at me… that isn’t so cool. (Sometimes she forgets to put the Kleenex in front of her nose before the big blow… )
She had a great day. I’ll post more pics eventually - if its even possible anymore with this kick ass dial up.

I received the wonderful news that I am now ok. No more bed rest for this girl! My mom was here helping out for a while which made it easier for me to do the actual rest part. Things have moved and changed and now I’m just a normal pregnant person. This is great news because I seriously sucked at bed rest. Now I’m realizing that we only have 3 months left until this little one appears… I’m equal parts excited and spastically terrified.

I can’t believe the stuff that’s flying around my brain lately… I’ve been thinking a lot, but unfortunately not about anything wonderful or clever… Mostly just crazy stuff.
I’m cutting myself some slack because after all, I’m pregnant… and we all know how emotionally fragile pregos can be.

I’ve had some thoroughly traumatic experiences lately. First of all, I was in Safeway at the deli counter (I don’t think the world realizes just how much I hate deli meat), and I happened to glance at the ambrosia salad. All of a sudden the only thing that mattered in my world was ambrosia salad. I was getting the shakes, pressing my hands up against the glass and doing the crazy eyed chant… Thankfully I snapped out of it and realized that ambrosia salad would be something I’d hate myself for in the morning…what the hell is that stuff anyway???

Now, the way my brain works… the ambrosia salad incident made me start thinking about massage therapy. I’m thinking about taking some clients when we move to Smithers. Part of me thinks this is a great idea, but the other part keeps reminding me that I don’t like touching strangers. I’ve rubbed enough strangers for a few lifetimes thankyouverymuch. Normal strangers aren’t bad I guess, it’s the CREEPY strangers that make me want to bathe in bleach every night for the remainder of my natural life.
But, massaging people you know well can be weird too. It’s not often you ask friends or acquaintances to take off their clothes and lay down on a table… (unless of course your name is AJ, then its common practice to ask your friends and acquaintances to do this. BAHHAHHAHAAAA my incredible wit and humor astounds even me!!)
So, I guess I’ll just wait and see how I feel about it after the big move takes place.

I could go on and on about my thoughts, but since I’m training to be a rogue spy, it might be better to keep things to myself.
I’m never online anymore, I can’t actually check blogs or even get into my own email most of the time, so its possible that my next update will be announcing the arrival of Horace or Jacintha (depending on the sex of the baby of course).
PS: If you think those are the actual names you need to lay off the crack my friend.

As a rule I don't like talking about the weather in my blog, simply because.... snoooore.
But our weather has been FREAKY. For weeks it felt like we were living on the surface of the sun (averaging between 30 - 35 c) now our leaves are already changing, and you can definitely smell fall in the air. Nuts I tell ya!
I'm a little bit excited because I LOOOOOVE fall. I can't handle heat at all. I get all wilty and floppy and generally blah, and wouldn't be able to make it around the block at a gentle stroll without passing out from heat stroke (oh yeah, I get the red puffy face, crazy eyes, barfs and all). So, autumn is a great season for me. Its gorgeous out and I can do all the fun things I love to do outside without the oh so attractive side effects. This fall may be a bit slower paced, but I still plan to fully enjoy it.
OOHHHHHHHH and I am absolutely crazily looking forward to Christmas this year. Imelda, Brad and the kids, and Kieran (and hopefully Dawn) are all going to be here. We haven't all been together for Christmas for at least 15 years. I am beyond excited!

Bears have been messing with my family lately. Kieran (little bro) is a hunting guide. On his last trip he got charged by a large-o grizzly. The bear was literally feet away from him when the hunter he was with found the bear spray in his pocket. I've heard that usually bear spray just pisses angry grizzly bears off (and gives you an extra spicy taste for their munching pleasure) but luckily it did the trick. His gun was out of reach at the time, but I'm sure after that he strapped it to his body for easy access. Poor guy.... I definitely would have peed my pants.
Our bear is still hanging around. Nyla and I were playing outside when the dog and llamas started making a crazed racket. We hightailed it inside and the bear proceeded to steal the dog's bone and ran away. Don't ask me why this stupid bear is still around... I'm beginning to think its magic or something. About 8 kazillion different people have tried to hunt that thing, but it vanishes like smoke.
I'm not usually into hunting, but seriously, it would be nice to go outside without worrying that something will start gnawing on my skull. I don't like not being able to let Nyla run her little heart out. Maybe a bear skin rug wouldn't be that bad :P

Ok, now for the baby news. I'm still on bedrest and will be for the remainder of this pregnancy. Obviously complete bed rest is impossible, so I'm REALLY doing the best I can.
I'll spare you all the details, but the basic low down is that the baby is doing great right now. He/she is growing and kicking and doing all the things babies should do (no we aren't finding out the sex). I still feel like everything will be just fine. I completely believe that this will be a full term baby and that things will go smoothly.
We had decided that this would be our last baby. I'm really glad we had decided that and were completely comfortable with our decision because I was told that I can't have any more after this. I know that if we hadn't come to that decision I would have been really upset by that news. Now I feel good, like that's how it was meant to be.

Nyla is so freaking funny and continuously amazes us. She now loves mud, bugs and frogs. She loves to read and bake. She knows exactly how to make us bust out laughing and then marches away all proud of herself. She is an amazingly cool kid. OOOOH, and she has inherited my love for funky footwear :)
So generally, I can't complain. Life is good!

I hope that all of you in blogland are living the good life!

PS: Congrats Jenn and Andy on the cutie pie!
Congrats Sarah and Dave. We really wish we could have been there for your special day :(

OH COME ON!

I'm frustrated. I'm on bed rest again... I suck at bedrest. It's friggen impossible! Who can sit around for hours and hours and still feel human??? Seriously, this sucks rat's asses.

Apparently I have a placental abruption, (placenta tears away from the uterus) but so far its just a very small one, and I'm convinced its going to stay that way or fix itself. It's kind of a random thing to have happened since I don't have any of the 'prerequisites' for it.
At this point I'm concerned... but mostly because its pretty uncomfortable not because I think anything awful is going to happen. I really feel like everything is going to be fine so I'm not freaking out.
I'll be getting regular checkups and ultrasounds, so they'll know right away if it gets worse (but it won't so its no big deal).

Darryl has become the bed rest cop. I'm not ignoring the importance of bedrest right now, I'm just doing the very minimum of what needs to be done (ie: taking care of Nyla). He's been working insane hours (16 hour days are now normal for him) and still he comes home and does whatever I've been unable to do. Yes, he's pretty great.

So, here's hoping bedrest will be OVER very soon. Nyla andI need to get back to our daily adventures... she's going mad being stuck doing 'boring' inside stuff. (Anything inside is boring to this girl).
Now, I'm going to go back to bed before Darryl calls and yells at me for being upright :)

Does visualizing grilled cheese make me zen??

I'm sort of taking an internet holiday at the moment. We're busy and dial up is sucky, so all in all its best for the sparkles in my soul to avoid the computer.

We've had LOTS of fun with tons of company over the last few months. I can only add a few pictures at a time... and hopefully nobody will be ready to beat me up for putting their pics on here (remember, you don't want to beat up a pregnant woman... its in bad form).

Our llamas are continuing to be freaks of nature... well, that's not really fair. They became freaks of nature ever since that bastardio bear decided to hang his hat in our flower garden. Our resident bear loves to mess with the llamas, so they are understandably freaky. BUT we found the worlds most amazing dog, who not only chases away the bear, but keeps the llamas in. He even herds Nyla back to me if she tries to run away :) Yup, he's a keeper.

I've been on bedrest for a while, but I'm pretty sure I'll be done tomorrow. I suck at bedrest so I say a big yeeeee hawww to that. The baby is doing well, so things are good.
We've been very lucky to have people here to help while things were rough. Dawn and Laurie were both here in the beginning and were both amazingly helpful.
Diane (Darryl's mom) has been here helping for about a week. She has been such an AMAZING help to us. Holy smokes I would not have been able to get through this without her. She has been doing EVERYTHING around the house and still takes time to cuddle and play with Nyla. Thanks a million Diane, we appreciate absolutely everything you've done to help us. Now we just need to figure out a way to make her stay because Nyla has become so attached to her. H'mmmmm.... I need to do some plotting...
Darryl has a cpap machine again so he's pretty happy too.
We're a bunch of shiny happy people laughing... (I love being lame).

Anyway, heres a few pics, there will eventually be more to follow.
Now go have a drink for me... I want wine.


I love this picture of Nyla. What a little goofy pants.

After wrangling our first llama. Who knew it would lead to so much more llama wrangling.

Yes, that's a cowboy hat I'm wearing... every self respecting llama wrangler needs a good cowboy hat. Kelsey was a big help with the whole ordeal. She even made sure Nyla didn't eat any llama poop at the llama farm. High five to Kelsey!

Nyla's new buddy AJ. Don't ask me how it happened but she thinks he's pretty cool. Maybe he bribed her with smarties... (just kidding AJ, wipe your tears).
In the next installment you can look forward to pics of Kieran and Dawn, AJ (yes, he came back...) Laurie, and Diane. My mom came for a visit too, but we didn't take pictures. Come to think of it, I don't remember taking any pictures since this batch... yikes. That would be unfortunate.

Expanding the family again...

But this time in the more conventional way. We are expecting baby #2, the final addition to our human family.

All I can say to that right now is WOW! I'm still in shock I think. I know it will become more real as the barfing goes away and the baby gets bigger... yikes. 2 kids!!! Yeowzers :)

In other news... we have bears. Lots of bears. It feels like they have us surrounded. They know enough not to get into the live trap (filled with oh-so-yummo rotting meat) and they know to hide when people are crashing around in the woods with guns.
Last night I heard the loudest ROOOOAAAAAAARRRR outside. Man, I've gotta tell you, there are few sounds I like less. That sent chills down my spine. Scenes from 'The Ghost in the Darkness' have been flashing through my mind.
Right now it seems that there is a mama and cub (grizzly) and also a large black bear.

Unfortunately our baby llama was killed. I'm SOOOOOOO angry about that. The other llamas obviously put up a huge fight, but couldn't save her. I have a huge hate on for these bears right now. I want to kick some bear's asses.
The conservation officer they sent could be the twin of the Kokanee Ranger in looks and personality. He hasn't been the most helpful guy either. Diiiing Donnnng!
Yeah, the dude even told MEEEE to get in the trap to smear bacon grease on the rest of the rotting meat. H'mmmmmm how about a big ol HELLLLL NO! What a charming guy.

Anyway, I'll keep updating as updates happen.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!

Well, life on the farm is a little bit more interesting. A baby llama was born 2 days ago. Holy crap those little dudes are cute!
Nyla, being Nyla thinks its a good idea to run at the baby screaming in her high pitched excited squeal 'bbbbaaaaaaaabbbbyyyyy llllaaaaammmaaa, come here!" I'm spending more time being a Nyla wrangler than a llama wrangler. Another baby should be making an appearance any day. I'll be posting pics as soon as my dumbass computer will comply with my wishes.

Now that things at home have settled down a bit (as far as Darryl's health is concerned), I've been taking some personal inventory. A lot has happened over the past year, some great some... super shitty, but all in all, I think life is good.

I think I've been realizing more and more that I am who I am, and I'm happy with who I am. I don't feel the need to change for anybody, its a nice place to be.
Now, obviously I know I'm not a perfect person, not even close. I've done some incredibly stupid things... but who can live life saying they didn't do anything stupid? How boring would that be???
I don't regret any 'mistakes' because the mistakes are just part of the journey.

I don't like knowing that my actions have ever hurt people, but sometimes people go out of their way to be hurt, stay hurt and continuously re-live the hurt so that those around them suffer as well, so all I can do is wish them well in their journey and hope that they can eventually find peace within themselves.

There are 2 quotes I love:

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not. ~Andre Gide

I make a few posts about friendships and how amazed I am by the people I call friends. Life is a cycle and things happen to either pull us closer or bring more distance (physically and emotionally), but regardless of where we are in that cycle, time, distance, circumstance... whatever, every person I call a friend will have a place in my heart forever.

I know this doesn't make much sense... I guess its just my rambling for the day. Self discovery is interesting indeed.

I really really REALLY hate dial up...

So, I've been trying to post pictures for AGES but unfortunately my stupid dial up has a very snotty attitude... Hopefully I'll eventually be able to share pictures of our crazy farm.

We have all but one of the llamas here with us now. The last one pulled a Houdini while getting loaded into the trailer, so we decided to give it some time and bring it home next week.
Hailey (our first llama) is sooo much happier having buddies around. They all decided to have a spitting war when they first met, but thankfully the spit did eventually stop flying. Nyla thinks its funny to spit at the llamas. She actually does a great llama spitting imitation :)

They're still a bit pissed that they all got re-located, and since they're new to us its going to take a while for them to trust us.
Now, I look at all these llamas and realize that I'm a freaking llama farmer... my next duty is to SHEAR them... YIKES. I'm starting to think I should practice on my fluffy cat in order to get into the shearing mood.
Llamas who don't quite trust you tend to spit a lot. I have to admit I'm nervous about this process. I have a feeling its going to be a huge gong show... I foresee some half shorn llamas and some patchy llamas and me completely covered in nasty llama spit. ugh. Thankfully we have a chute which should make it a bit easier. My mom is here visiting so maybe I'll convince her that shearing some llamas would be a great opportunity for her :) mwah hahahahaaaaaaa!

We're still going to bring some other animals onto the farm, but we want to make sure that we've got the llamas handled first. I'm waiting for some laying hens...
We don't want to transport a zillion animals across the province either (Llamas are incredibly easy to transport in case you're wondering).
Yeah, everything I talk about now seems to revolve around the farm... I'm lame.

In other news, Darryl is in the midst of his CPAP test (treatment for sleep apnea). I'm extremely happy to report that it really seems to be helping him. Those of you who know Darryl know about his sense of humor (super funny). For at least the last4 months (closer to 6 or 8) he's been so different... no sense of humor, generally grumpy... it was amazing to have that part of him back. I think we laughed for 3 days straight. It really felt like he was gone, and now I have him back. Hard to explain, but still AMAZING.
I know that when he gets his own machine it will make even more of a difference.
So, all in all things here are pretty great. I'm loving the farm life... its scary sometimes because we're learning on the fly, but I have to say that I'm more at peace now then I have been in years. It feels very me. Or I guess I feel very myself... h'mmmmmm, either way it doesn't' make much sense, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

Now, if anyone needs some knitted llama gear let me know. I'm going to send the wool away to get spun as soon as I get these beasts sheared.

That's all for now!

Llama spit and other fun things...

So, we picked up Hailey Llama... So far she's ok, but pretty lonely. I'm sure most of you will think we're crazy, but we're making room for 5 more Llamas. Some or all of them might be pregnant, but hey... how much trouble can a baby llama be??
I'm going to send the fiber (wool) away to get spun and some of it dyed, then I'll be knitting for the rest of my freaking life. (yeah, I'm a dorky knitter).
I have to admit that I'm excited about the new arrivals. The woman we're getting them from is going to teach me how to shear them and clip their creepy toe nails... ewwww. I'm ok with shearing, but Llama feet are creepo in my opinion.
The llama is afraid of Nyla. I don't really blame her though. Nyla screeches at her at the top of her lungs... I'd be scared if I were a llama too. She was so scared she spit at us (the llama, not Nyla). That is another kind of creepy altogether...

We had some visitors last week. Kelsey (a friend from massage school) and AJ (a guy we just can't get rid of no matter how hard we try... KIDDING! He's a friend from Smithers).
We had a great time. I know that they both LOVED the farm life and wish they could have stayed forever (heeheeeee), but they're welcome back anytime.
I'm going to post some pics :) I'm sure they'll both be thrilled.
H'mmm, well my internet connection is freaky, so I can't do pics today. I'll try again soon.

Our family is expanding...

Next weekend we will be welcoming...

An Alpaca

A Llama

A cutie pie dog (Great Pyrenees cross)

And about 25 chickens
We had decided not to get any animals until after we move to Smithers, but then all of a sudden in ONE day we found out that all these critters need a home. We have the space, the barn and the chicken coop so why not??? They can all move with us when the time comes :)

We're not 100% sure that the dog will be coming to live with us. We need to make sure she's kid, cat and other animal friendly first. What a cutie though eh??

We need to re-name the Alpaca (Hailey) and Llama (Midnight Silk) because I don't like giving animals human names, and who the hell names a Llama Midnight Silk???? CRAZY people that's who. Poor Llama is probably TOTALLY embarrassed...

Feel free to leave your name suggestions here or call or email me.

If anyone wants to come fix fences or help clean out the nasty barn and chicken coop we'd love the company :) I'll even provide food and beer (Darryl explained that those are the two necessities for this kind of work).

I'll take some pictures when our new family members arrive.

Perfect outside day

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

and the winds long to play with your hair.

~Kahlil Gibran

Yeah yeah...

Yes, I realize my last post was complete bollocks. Everyone is entitled to a bit of bollocks now and then. So, this post is another complete bollocks post... JUST BECAUSE I CAN!

Crispy fried Anita

I have a sunburn :) That means that the sun was out... yeeee hawwww!
We have been spending most of our time outside trying to clean this insane yard up.
OH and we had a disturbing event... Somehow some critters got into the cistern (water tank) and... well, they are critters no more.
We had to drain it (a couple thousand gallons were still in there) scrub it and bleach it... lets just say it was NOT a party. It reminded me of Anne of Green Gables when Anne finds the dead mouse in the pudding. Yucko.

I also heard that one of my all time favorite TV shows that was cancelled after only 2 seasons is making a movie. It's a straight to DVD movie, but I'm excited.
The show was called 'Dead Like Me'. It is incredibly funny, if you happen to share the same humor as me. It's pretty dark comedy... anyway, its a great show.

There's something else I was going to write about but I can't remember, so I guess I'll leave it at that for now.

Nyla and her Daddy

I've been talking a lot about Darryl's illness and how it has caused difficulties, but now I feel like its important to share more about Nyla's Daddy.
Regardless of how ill Darryl has been, how he feels or what's going on, he is always 100% Nyla's Daddy.
The way they giggle together, or sing, read or play together, the way they look at eachother, and the patient way Darryl teaches Nyla countless things... well, let me just say that this little girl has the kind of Daddy that a lot of people REALLY need/ed or want/ed.
Her Daddy will love her, teach her, comfort her, protect her and will be there to share her joys and her pain. He is completely and utterly devoted to her, he completely and utterly loves her, and he truly does cherish his time with her.
I know that a lot of children don't experience this, and it makes me so grateful for the man that Darryl is. He was made to be a Daddy and I'm sooooooo incredibly lucky/blessed/grateful that he is MY daughter's Daddy.
I guess I just realized that even in the middle of craziness there can still be fairytale moments. And this is one of the best fairytales I have ever seen.

You sir, are truly amazing.

How time flies

Today was our 5th anniversary... how the heck did that happen?? The last 5 years have flown by!

We've had a tough year, but we're looking forward to better things now that we know that Darryl will be ok.
The last 6+ months have sort of been like living with a stranger. I'm looking forward to having my wonderful husband back :)
(Again, cross your fingers that the damage that has been done is reversible!!).

It's so nice to see Darryl have some excitement about life. I know the past year has been very hard on him, but now that he doesn't have to keep wondering and worrying its like a weight has been lifted from him and he's starting to enjoy things again.

Thankyou to our friends and family who have helped us get through this year.
Thankyou for listening to my ranting and sobbing, and sharing my fear and grief. There is absolutely no way we could have made it through this year without you!

So, here's to a new year full of great things!

We spent the day at a park out of town. Here are some of the pictures.


Nyla spent most of the day chasing the ball around.





Another one of her favorite activities... getting flung into the air :)


She went crazy for the swings.


Trying to blow bubbles (me trying to keep bubble goo out of my eyes).

Smoothie face :)

The Diagnosis

We found out that Darryl has severe sleep apnea. We're not sure what kind yet, but he has a week long test (CPAP trial) that will figure all of that out.
He'll most likely be on a respirator at night, and may need surgery to help open his airway, but that's really nothing compared to what he's already been through.
We're pretty happy since they kept hinting it was cancer. I just can't believe it took this long!
So cross your fingers that the damage that has been done to his brain and body (they have been finding increasingly large amounts of tissue death in his system) can be reversed and that he'll be back to normal Darryl SOON.

These boots were made for walking... or actually for hiking...

I'm antsy for a really good hike.
I blame it all on Kieran (my little bro). He's gearing up to start working again (hunting guide), and every time he starts talking about it I get all jealous and antsy. He has the most amazing job (except for the actual hunting part). The good thing about his job is that he has access to parts of the country that most of us don't (ie: fly in, completely secluded camping places with amazing hiking etc, etc.) So, anyone interested in some real backwoods camping, let me know. I'm going to organize a get- away... but obviously it won't happen til we actually MOVE there, so now is your chance to think about it. I'm pretty excited.
Here are some pics Kieran took at work last season. They aren't of the waaaaay backwoods place, but they're still pretty cool. I'm still jealous...

My little bro.

Imagine waking up to this every morning??? Geez... lucky bum.

This is one really good thing about moving to Smithers. I can hike a lot and generally be outside a lot. (I'm tired of living in the land of red-necks).
After much consideration I've decided to invest in some good snowshoes for winter hiking. Now I need some winter hiking buddies (Jenny and Joni, I'm counting on you!!!).

So, all of you who live in the Smithers/Terrace area, do a great hike for me. Take some pictures too...

Good thing I live in the country...

Yesterday I decided to spend some time in the millions of flower beds around this house. They have all been left to grow over for god knows how long, so I was just ripping everything that looked weedish out.
I uncovered some snazzy stone work under the layers of dead stuff, so I was happily cleaning it all up when all of a sudden I felt a bit tickley on my leg. I looked down and found I was being swarmed by ants. Not just a few ants... probably every ant on the planet.
This is where I would like to say that I calmly handled the situation, unfortunately I'm not so calm when I'm being swarmed by ants... In between running far away, jumping around like a crazy person and swearing like a sailor I managed to rip my clothes off and kill all the ants that had managed to crawl into my hair (yes, by repeatedly slapping myself on the head).
When I had calmed down enough to survey the situation (apparently the stone work is in the middle of a friggen huge ant hill), I realized how crazy I looked (jumping around, yelling and slapping yourself in the head are not 'friendly' qualities) I realized just how lucky I am to live in the country where there are no witnesses.

I now have a deeeep hatred for ants, and a new vendetta --- to track down every one of those little bastards and make them pay. Now, the only question is, do I go with a commercial ant killer or do I unleash hell on them with gasoline and a match on top of their stupid hill???

I'll be sure to post pictures of the carnage...

Holy crap I'm in!

I haven't been able to get into my blog lately, so this is a happy surprise.
I'll do a quick update since I have no idea how long this shifty internet connection will actually last.

Ok, where to start...

Imelda, Brad and the kids were here for Easter. We had a freaking great time with them. I made up some nutso stories about the easter bunny, not really thinking they would be taken seriously... apparently kids do believe everything you say :) So now, in case you're wondering, the easter bunny looks like a lumberjack (hat boots and suspenders) drives a little car made of rabbit fur, and comes to have tea with me because we're good buds.
I'll post pics once I get the ok from Imelda (dont' want to post pics of her kids without permission).

Next... Joni is a super cool cat! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was missing home made chai. Joni send me a wonderful little package of all the bits I need to brew up a pot. So thanks to Joni (and Inderjit's secret recipe) I am now enjoying chai on a daily basis. She also sent some of her Garam Masala (which Nyla LOOOOVES... me too) and the bits to make more when we run out. How cool is this cat??? Pretty darned cool. Thanks a million Chickie!

We've all been sick with what I think is the plague, but is more likely a 'super' bug. (That's what the doctor told us, but we all know how shifty doctors are these days. They probably don't want to spread mass hysteria by admitting that it is in fact the plague... jerks).
I sincerely hope that none of you get this monster bug. It's like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going. Apparently some people are sick for 6 bloody weeks. I say HELL NO to 6 weeks... we're on week 2 and I've decided that its going to be over. We will be sad sacks NO MORE. (come on, you know you want to chant with me...)

Our snow is quickly melting away. There is no hope for fixing the bridge now that the river is mongo huge.
One interesting surprise left behind in the snow, is piles and piles of deer and moose crap. NICE. Nyla sees the deer crap and says 'YUMMY'. UUUUUGGGGHH. The day she pops one of those turds in her mouth is the day I start leaving my peace loving ways behind and kicking those deer's asses from here to... somewhere else where they can crap in peace (this is of course after I re-gain consciousness from passing out due to complete gross overload).
Now they'll all probably come back and leave their crap behind just to spite me... OY!

I think that's all for now. I'll add a couple pictures of the cutie pants (Nyla... in case you're thinking I mean myself ;) )
There are bird feeders all over the deck, so she spends a lot of time spying on the birds and squirrels. And the other one is just cute because it is. Her hair is no longer frazzly, I had to do some frazzle management. I'll send pics after she's feeling better.




I hope you're all doing well!

St. Patrick's Day!!!! My favorite day!

I love St. Patrick's Day. It's the top on my list of favorite days. I'm looking forward to reviving our St. Paddy's celebrations... ah, the fun of it.

"Anyone acquainted with Ireland knows that the morning of St.Patrick’s Day consists of the night of the 17th of March flavored strongly with the morning of the 18th."
- Anonymous

I'm going to add some pictures to this post, mostly because our site survey revealed that highspeed is out of the question out here. Sigh... so I just have to get them posted, even if it takes a bazillion hours.

This one makes me laugh every time. She comes by her dorkiness honestly. I had just taken off the glasses and hat...


Our first day in the new house Darryl decided to bubble wrap Nyla for safety :)


Now, in other news... Darryl has chosen the location of our next move... It won't be Terrace. Close but no cigar... have you guessed??? Smithers. That's right, I said Smithers. I was very unsure about this move at first, but I'm starting to get used to the idea. It's a town focused on the outdoors, so how can it be bad right? AND we're finally going to build our dome house!!!!! I'm beyond excited about that.
Laurie (Darryl's sister) is moving there in June, so we're looking forward to some hang out time. Nyla is excited about seeing her Aunty 'Gogeeeee' :)
Now we're going to start working on getting Kevin (my bro), Ashley and their cutie pants Devlin to move to the area.
Speaking of Devlin, he's doing well. Still waiting for a brain scan, but they think they can hold off on the surgery for his kidneys until he's a year + old. I'm hoping he'll end up not needing it at all. He's still going to be in PG for a month... we're missing the little dude... and Ashley too.

And here's a long overdue picture of Devlin (with Darryl and Nyla...)


That's all for now. I couldn't post this last night due to dial up reasons, so now I'm going to go be nice to my aching head. Hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!

Another Update

I just heard from Ashley (sis in law). Devlin has bacterial meningitis caused and problems with his kidneys.
Due to the meningitis there is a chance that he could have suffered brain damage. He'll have a brain scan next week. It won't be able to tell them for certain one way or another, but it might be able to give them an idea. They'll have to wait until he grows up to see if there are any effects.
His kidneys aren't functioning properly. They'll inject him with some dye sometime in the next week or so to see what exactly is going on. I can't remember exaclty what she said is wrong, but they'll find out if he needs surgery after that test. Thankfully they can do the surgery with a scope thingy, so it would be much less invasive.
They'll be in PG for at least another 3 weeks. Its already been a long hard process for them and its still just beginning!
It really sucks to not be able to do anything to help. Please keep them all in your thoughts.

PS: Yes, we're all getting juiced up with anti-meningitis meds.

Yikes!

So, they've discovered that Devlin (my nephew), has meningitis. He's very sick and will be in PG for at least another week. I'm not sure if he'll be moved again.
I'll keep you posted.

PS: I have tons of pictures to post, but its maddening trying to do that with dial-up, so they'll have to wait.

Poor little dude :(

My little newborn nephew, Devlin, was airlifted with Ashley to PG tonight. Nobody is sure what's wrong yet, but we're hoping they can get it figured out there and not have to send them on to Edmonton or Vancouver. Kevin and Ashley are understandably pretty upset,so keep them in your thoughts!

Things here are moving along. I still have a mountain of boxes to unpack (how did I accumulate all this crap???)but there are millions of better things to do, so I'm procrastinating on going through the stored boxes. If I survived without it for this long I sure don't need it now!

The bridge I was so excited about fixing is now kaputz... Stupid beavers decided to gnaw down a tree and let it fall on the remainder of the bridge... I'm not so happy with them right now.

We've decided that our little farm needs a couple of Alpacas. We've done some reading and found that they're really pretty neat animals. They're protective like dogs, smart, and I can get the fiber (that's what they call the wool) spun into actual wool. Yes, I'm a nerd who knits... and alpaca wool is apparently as soft as cashmere and warmer than sheep wool.
There's a woolen mill not too far from us that I can send it to (totally don't have the patience to do it myself...) Be expecting toques (Translation for my american friends: toque = winter hat) ;) mitts, scarves... I'm especially good with scarves :) I'm going to start some Irish cableknit patterns for sweaters... this is all if I have some time next winter. And YES, if I send you something I DO expect you to wear it... even if it looks funny and has ear flaps. GOT IT!
I've also been making things out of old barn wood, but I promise not to make anyone take any of that stuff... yet...

Now, I'm going to share a story that makes me look like a total hick, but it makes me feel a bit like MacGyver... I was trying to find a way to haul wood to the house without having to do a zillion trips because I usually have Nyla with me, and gathering wood from the woodshed is not one of her favorite passtimes...
One day while Nyla and I were exploring I found half of an old car hood. I tied some rope to it and made a wood sled that works like a hot damn. I can load a ton of wood on that thing and it just zooms along on the snow. I feel like a superstar... a nerdy one, but still a superstar.
Unfortunately it doesn't pull well over grass, so I'm now the proud owner of a wonderful, bright red wheelbarrow :)
I feel like a total hick, pretty soon I'll be asking "Do you and the missus want to come on over with those cute little tater tots of yours and deep fry us a turkey??"
Someone save me from myself...

Alive and well

Our move went surprisingly smoothly. I'm sooooooooo happy to have it behind me and now can enjoy our new home. I LOOOOVE it out here :) Nyla and I have spent hours exploring outside and trying to get things organized a bit (I'm so happy that she's an outside kid... she hates being cooped up inside). We're working on the chicken coop now so when spring finally arrives (please please!!!) we'll have a happy little house for the chickens. There isnt' really much to do to it, it just takes longer with a little one helping out.
There's also a really great barn... so I'm trying to convince Darryl that a really great barn needs to be filled with some really great critters. I'm not sure which critters yet... I'll let you know what we decide.

I was finally able to go take a good look at that little bridge. Unfortunately, during the last storm we had, a tree crashed on top of the rest of it. I've decided to cut that one up for firewood and start again. (NOt like I have much choice after it has been crushed...)

Now, for some exciting news... Kevin and Ashley's baby was born at 11:10 pm on February 28th (almost a leap year baby). His name is Devlin Adam Leach, he was exactly 7 lbs and was 19 inches long. I'll post a pic once I get the ok from them.
I have never been so proud of my big bro. He was giddy when Devlin was finally born, and he is quite the proud Daddy. He had an unfortunate experience involving diaper changing and explosive baby poo (sprayed the wall and Kevin happened to be in the way)... but he has a great sense of humor about it all. It's been pretty great to see him so happy.
I have to say that he handled being surrounded by Ashley's family very well too. (Even I had a fight with her grandma...)

Kieran and Dawn came to visit to celebrate my Dad's birthday with us. It was really nice having them here. Dawn and I went exploring places on the farm that I can't take Nyla. We found some treasures, and some super creepy crap too... I'm starting to wonder about the people who were here before us...

I think that's all the news for now. I'm stuck with dialup since we still haven't had the site survey done...hopefully it will be possible to get wireless because dialup sucks ASS! I can't believe how AWFULLLLL it is. I really don't have much time to be online anyway, so its not the end of the world, but cross your fingers for us.

I hope you're all doing well!

See ya later!

We're officially, sort of moved :) We will be completely moved tomorrow. This is my least favorite part of moving... being half here and half there. BUT it will be over soon!
We still don't know when the site survey dude is going to show up, so who knows how long we'll be without internet.
Next time you hear from me I'll be in full farm mode. Up to my knees in chicken shit... or horse shit... or bull shit :) bahhahaaaaa. I know I'm not funny. I'm just tired.
See ya later alligators!

Any bridge builders out there?

I have to fix a bridge.... I'm not sure how yet. I know I can look it up online, or get a book or whatever, but if there are any bridge builders out there who know a thing or two and would LOVE to pass on some wisdom, just let me know.
It can't be that hard... right???

The bridge in question. (Apparently beavers stole the other half).

Ahhhhhh, the snow

In the midst of moving some things out to the new house we decided to take a break for some fun. Nyla and I explored a good chunk of the farm, and also had a great attempt at tobogganing. Unfortunately the snow was too deep, but we still enjoyed playing around.

Next week we officially move. We'll be without internet for a couple of weeks while we wait for some dude to come out and do a site survey. Apparently if they can see the tower we can get wireless out there... otherwise its the dreaded dial up.

We have a new number already. We never seem to be able to catch the 'post office' open (Its actually just someone's house) so we don't have a new mailing address yet. I'll be sending out an email with the new info before we go. I love village life :)


Trying to make a snow angel...

Nyla the great explorer.



Nyla's Aunty Ashley got her this little duck in the bunny suit. It quacks a crazy little song... she loves it.

While I was packing Nyla discovered an old pillow of mine. I've had this thing for YEARS! It's a massive king sized, down pillow that she has now claimed as her own big body pillow. She lays on it, stretches out and goes 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh'. What a cutie :) Anyway, you can see a corner of it in the pic.

My two cents

We watched 'The Golden Compass' tonight. Now, I know this movie (and book the movie is based on), has received a lot of bad press due to the 'religious' undertones. I've heard people call it 'poison for children' and have gone as far as to say that it is used to brainwash children in order to keep them from believing in God.
These kinds of claims drive me up the wall.

I haven't read the books, (Philip Pullman is the author) but I do plan to. I don't care that he is an athiest, I don't care if his beliefs, or lack there of are present in his novels. We all have a choice to look for the 'good' or 'evil' in everything. I can't believe that watching this movie or reading this book would shake someones faith to the point where they feel it must be boycotted in order to save the minds of our children. PLEEEEASE!

It might comfort some people to hide in a bubble of their spirituality but what does that REALLY accomplish? We can hide from things that scare us, or challenge us, or we can deal with them. What does it teach children when we bury our heads in the sand when we think something is scary, or we don't agree with or understand it? Why not teach our children to use their brains to tell the difference between fantasy and reality? Why not give our kids the tools they need to weigh what they see, hear, experience etc so they can work through what they believe?
If its important to believe in God, I happen to think think its important to know why and what we believe. Hiding teaches us nothing.
Just because someone points at something and calls it 'bad' it doesn't make it true.

In my opinion, this is just another movie about the ever present battle between good and evil... not that different from the Chronicles of Narnia, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. (I personally wouldn't watch any of them with young children because they all have scary bits that are just too much for little ones). I really enjoyed it. I found it very interesting and entertaining.

My opinions are never popular so I don't doubt that a lot of you will disagree with me. I'm ok with that. One great thing about growing up is that I've realized that I can believe what I believe and let you believe what you believe. We don't have to agree on everything in order to be friends.

That's my rant for today... now its time for bed :) Goodnight all.

Here's a short clip so you know what I'm talking about if you've never heard of this movie...

Joni is a super hero

I need to say a big thanks to Joni for hearing my lament of no cardamom and being kind enough to rectify that for me.
Ever since reading Christy's post about chai I've been dying for some. I can't find cardamom anywhere around here, and I can't make it without cardamom... so I was bummed.
Now super Joni made my day. THANK YOU! You truly rock the jukebox!

Moving day is approaching (22nd). I'm still incredibly excited, but did find out that highspeed is not available out there.
We're looking into some other options, but if we decide to just go back to dial up the blog will be exploded into nothingness because nothing ever works right with dial up. In that case, I guess we'll have to go back to regular phone communication (and we all know how great I am at keeping in touch...).
So once I email our new number, feel free to call for updates if you haven't heard from us in ages. I promise to try hard to be better at keeping in touch... really, I'm telling the truth... REALLY!

The amazing swelling face...

So, apparently its common to devolp allergies when you're an adult... WHO KNEW! Not me that's for sure.
Last night my bro's girlfriend (Ashley) was over. We had dinner and were happily munching on some strawberries when all of a sudden my scalp started itching. I didn't think much of it... it was weird but not alarming. Then my neck was really itchy and my lips felt funny. I went to the bathroom and freaked the hell out of myself when I looked in the mirror. My face and neck were insane... (apparently Ashley didn't notice that my face had swollen to ginormous proportions because she was sitting beside me and we were watching T.V). I was about as sexy as Will Smith in the picture below.

I called the Nurses line, and of course they told me to call 911... Well, by the time we got to the hospital my throat was closing and I was trying to rip my skin off it was soooo bloody itchy. It was kind of funny now that I look back on it. It reminded me of a Monty Python doctor sketch... maybe it was just because I was in a panic, but it seemed like a freaking nut house. Ashley was holding my hands trying to keep me from ripping my skin off and I was swearing like a sailor at everyone. Then of course they tell you that they're going to shove needles into your butt cheek... so I stood up and bared my arse for the world to see (nothing new for me I guess) and because I was still panicking I set off the heart rate alarm. If you ever want a lot of attention at a hospital, set off the heart rate alarm.

Anyway, I left drugged up. Slept like a log for HOURS and am completely fine. Its probably the stuff they spray on the strawberries (just another reason to go completely organic). I'm not going to eat strawberries again unless they come from my own garden. Too bad, I love strawberries...

The morals of this story?? First, when they tell you to call 911 listen to them. Second, that spray stuff is evil. It doesn't come off with normal washing. I'd suggest firebombing your fruit to clean it from now on if you don't buy organic. :)

Evil Bastards.........