Merry Christmas from Victoria

Christmas is almost here!

Hello everyone!

Well, this post is well overdue! A lot has happened since Halloween!

We are all doing so well. Neil is still super busy at work but looking forward to Christmas week off. Cyan and I are keeping busy as always. We have recently added skating to our list of weekly activities. So now we are booked up Tues, Wed and Fri. I love doing all kinds of special things with Cyan. She loves being out exploring new things.

We just returned from an amazing trip in Mexico. We went to stay at my aunt Carole and uncle John's condo in Nuevo Vallarta (http://www.condoinvallarta.com/). Mom and dad were spending almost 2 months there and treated us to a flight down as our Christmas present. We had an amazing time. Neil and I really love Hawaii but Mexico was very cool too. We will definetly be going back. We took 100s of pictures. Cyan loved the sun, the heat, the ocean and the pools. To see some of our pics click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30960&l=f308f&id=531021857

We are slowly getting ready for Cyan's first Christmas. I took Cyan to visit santa at the mall. She was very curious and wondered why she was sitting on this big red guys lap but didn't cry! The tree is already filled with presents for her. I am really looking forward to her first Christmas, I know it will be very special.

I will post with some more pics before Christmas!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Cyan is sooooooooo excited for her first Halloween! She's been wearing her costume all week!

Here she is in her very first Halloween costume. This year she's a little lion!

We hope everyone has an awesome day!

BOO!

Cyan is sitting up now! Here she is playing with her toys!

5 months and 25 days old

Well, Cyan is just about 6 months old!

Wow! What a journey its been so far.

Cyan continues to be an amazing little girl. I am still doing so much great stuff with her. Our weeks are filled with play dates with friends and lunches with daddy and shopping with grandma.

We recently started a mommy and baby aquafit class. This class is perfect for both of us! I'm getting a great workout and Cyan gets to play in the pool - which she LOVES! She's a real water baby.

Today we started a new program at my friend's school called Roots of Empathy. Cyan will be visiting her classroom (with me of course) all year. The students will be learning how to understand others and empathise towards others through dealing with Cyan. She loved all the attention she got from the big kids and adored when they sang to her.

Most of you know we have already booked our next trip! We are heading to Mexico on Nov 22nd. Neil and I can't wait to go somewhere warm. Our summer was not very impressive here in Victoria and we need to warm our bones! We are also looking forward to surfing a bit. Grandma and Grandpa will be there to take care of Cyan, we won't be teaching her how to surf just yet!

We'd like to congratulate our friends Stephanie and Christian who welcomed their new little baby boy on Sept 28th!

We are patiently waiting news from our friends Brad and Naomi - expecting a surprise soon and from Genevieve and Luc, also having a baby this month!

Here are some latest pics of Cyan! Yep, she's growing! (17lbs already! Mommy is strong!)

Looking out the window

Hanging out, auntie Gen was babysitting!

Helping mommy with the laundry.

5 months! I'm big now!

Well, Cyan is already 5 months old. You don't realize how fast time goes until you have a baby. She has almost been here with us for half an entire year! So bizarre!

I honestly don't know what I would do without her. She is such an amazing little girl.

Anyways, I thought I would share some new super cute pictures.

Here she is sitting next to her first teddy bear. The bear used to be bigger than her just a few months ago!

More to come soon of course!

We'd like to also say a BIG congratulations to our friends Brad and Naomi who tied the knot this weekend! We are sooooooooo happy for you! xox

til next time

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Back from our first trip!!

Well, its time for an update isn't it?

We have been a very busy little family lately!

We just returned from a 10 days trip back East with Gen and Jeff to attend a wedding and visit family and friends. What a busy trip it was!

We left from Victoria on Aug 16th and flew to Toronto. Cyan was amazing on the plane. She slept on daddy's lap almost the entire way. We spent 3 days in Toronto. Attended Jean-Philippe and Lauren's amazing wedding, visited the city and went to the zoo.

We then drove to Ottawa and Cyan got to meet her great grandparents! What a wonderful visit that was! She also got to meet some aunts and uncles and cousins.

We did a bit of touristy things in Ottawa. Enjoyed the beautiful market everyday, went to the National Gallery and checked out the locks... one of my favourite things to do in Ottawa! We also got to hang out with Brigitte and Livia, Gen, Luc and Gaby and the Croteaus.

After lots of running around in Ottawa we headed to Montreal! We had a great dinner with our aunt Elaine and uncle Lamberto (Cyan met her first Italian man and she liked him!) We loved visiting and shopping in Montreal. We enjoyed Old Montreal and St-Catherine street and relaxed at the Sheraton.

I'm sad that our trip is already over! I have to say that travelling with Cyan wasn't much harder than travelling without her. I had to pack a lot more stuff but besides that we travelled as usual. I'm happy to see that she did ok with the plane ride and the time change. She is already back to her sleeping habits and is enjoying her toys and bed again.

We are planning on taking her to Mexico for our next trip. I can't wait to dip her feet in the ocean!

Here are a few pics of the trip. Enjoy!

Love,

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Beau bébé!

Hi everyone!

Well, we're still having tons of fun with Cy-Cy! We are slowly getting ready for our big trip back east. Its going to be so great!

Cyan is doing lots of new things now. She LOVES sucking on her hands and baby talks so much with us! She also smiles all the time! She is such a happy baby.

Here are some fun pics of Cyan taken today. Enjoy!

Hi everyone!

Mmmmmmm, my hands taste so good!

So, let me think... what should I do this afternoon?

Love
Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Cyan chatting away with mommy!

Our little girl is growing fast!

Cyan is already 3 months old! I can't believe it!

Things have been going great as always. We are in the middle of a heat wave in Victoria and our little girl is not enjoying it too much. We are headed to the pool this afternoon to cool down and enjoy the water.

I thought I'd show you all how much Cyan has grown by comparing two pictures of her in her carseat... get ready... its quite the change.

Here she is at 4 days old (sorry, the picture is small):

Here she is at 3 months old:

She's almost too big for the car seat! She weighs about 14lbs now... what a difference. Needless to say, I'm building some pretty nice arm muscles!!

Enjoy everyone!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Cyan in Hawaii

Aloha!

Here are some great pics Neil took of little Cyan. We had a hawaii party for Neil's birthday and Cyan was all dressed up. We decided to do a special photo shoot a few days later because her outfit was just too cute!

Enjoy!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Busy days!

Hello everyone!

Well, we've had some busy days here lately. Summer is in full swing and we've been having so much fun with our little girl.

My friend Brigitte was visiting with her 10 month old Livia. Cyan loved having a little friend around. We did all kinds of fun stuff while they were visiting.

The funnest thing we did was bring Cyan swimming for the first time. I swam lots when I was pregnant so I figured Cyan would love the water. So, we decided to give it a try! We all went for a first dip on Sat June 30th and sure enough Cyan loved it!

I can't wait to put her in swimming lessons. Believe it or not they start at 4 months of age! So Cyan will be taking lessons starting in Sept!

Another fun thing was that Cyan celebrated her first Canada day. We spent time downtown Victoria yesterday and went to see the fireworks last night. Cyan's eyes were wide open staring at the sky. I have no idea if she could see what was going on but she sure seemed interested.

Here are a few shots of her in the pool. Don't forget to check out the video too!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Cyan's first time at the pool!!

Cyan's first trip!

Hi everyone!

A few weekends ago we took Cyan on her first trip! We packed up the car, took the ferry and went to visit our friends Alissa and Barry in Vancouver.

It was so great! Cyan loved the ferry ride (she loves anything that moves and noises so the ferry was a perfect environment for her). She also loved checking out Alissa and Barry's new house.

It was so much fun cause she got to meet our friends David and Cheryl and she got to hang out with uncle Sean and aunty Emma again!

Besides our big Vancouver trip things are going super well. My friend Brigitte is in town for a few weeks with her 10 month old daughter Livia. Cyan doesn't quite know whats happening... Livia loves Cyan though, I think she would eat her if she could!

As always, here are a few pics! Enjoy!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Cyan with Barry! Wearing her Uncle Barry's #1 onesie.

Cyan with Cheryl! Love the polka dot outfit!

A day in the life of Cyan

Hi everyone!

Ever wonder what goes on in a typical day as a 2 month old? Well, Cyan has decided to share her busy day with you. You'll all soon see that today's baby does tons of cool stuff!

7:25am - Cyan wakes up in her crib crying. Daddy gets up, changes her and brings her to mom for an early morning feed.

8:20am - Daddy gives Cyan a million kisses before leaving for work.
8:30am - Cyan falls asleep next to mom in bed.

10:15am - Cyan wakes up and is ready to eat again! Mom changes her diaper. The two girls sit in the bright living room for some food.

11:00am - Cyan hangs out in her bouncer chair and lets mom have a bite to eat. (Ellen is playing in the background, Cyan can't wait to be able to dance along)

12:15pm - Cyan falls asleep for a little bit in her bouncer. She soon wakes up and is changed to go out on the town!

12:30pm - Mommy and Cyan leave the house for the movies!! Silvercity has Stars and Strollers this afternoon and we are checking out Knocked Up!

1:00pm - The movie starts! What FUN!

3:30pm - We're home from the show. It was so great to go to the movies with all kinds of other babies. I got to eat as much as I wanted during the entire movie!

4:00pm - Mommy changes Cyan's diaper! Then Cyan eats again before going to pick up daddy from work.

4:50pm - We leave to go get DADDY!! YES!! Cyan loves picking up daddy every day.

5:00pm - Daddy is waiting for us outside his office! Youpi!

5:15pm - We head to Save-On-Foods to pick up some dinner. Daddy carries me around the store.

5:30pm - We're home and Cyan takes a nap while mommy and daddy eat.

6:30pm - Grandma arrives for a visit! YES!

7:00pm - Cyan eats again, she's a hungry girl.

7:30pm - Daddy goes to play squash. Cyan plays with grandma and mommy.

8:00pm - Auntie Gen arrives for a visit! FUN!

10:15pm - Daddy comes home from squash and tries to give Cyan a bottle. She does not want it today! Mommy feeds Cyan before bed.

11:00pm - Cyan goes to bed.

Cyan drinking her second bottle of breast milk! June 5,2007

Bath time!

Just a few pics...

Cyan is so cute at bath time. Neil and I both think she is going to be a spa girl. She loves sitting in the warm water while daddy washes her.

Grandma was here today when she was taking her bath, it was too cute!

Enjoy

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Growing like a weed!

Hi everyone!

Ok, I know, its been way too long for an update! Life is busy here with little Cyan!

Things are going super well. She's growing like a weed! I had her weighed on Tues and she was a whopping 10lbs 10oz! Wow, no more little tiny baby. She's still small and very portable but its still shocking to see how fast she's gaining weight.

I have been loving bringing her around in her Baby Bjorn. Let me just tell you, that is the best thing for a new mommy! Its so easy to get around with her snuggled on me. Neil has used it a few times too and let me tell you he's been checked out by the ladies with little Cyan on his chest. He's quite a yummy daddy as you all know.

I'm really excited to say that we have booked Cyan's first trip! We will be heading to our friends wedding in Toronto and will be going to Ottawa and Montreal. Cyan will be going to her first wedding (yeah! Jean and Lauren!) and will be meeting her great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and tons of friends. We are so excited. We'll be there from Aug 16th - 25th.

Ok... here are some pics for you to see how much she's grown!

Love you all

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Cyan is one month old!!

Salut! Hello!

Well, big news over here. Cyan is now one month old! Wow, time flies (I know, I say that a lot).

We've been having a great time with our little angel. We still have lots of visitors and everyone adores our little girl.

I have been going for lots of walks with her this week. Cyan is a bumbleride addict (thats the name of our stroller). The weather has been so nice and warm we can't just stay cooped up inside all day! On Monday we went for a walk in the afternoon and later went for a walk with daddy. It was such a great day.

The biggest news now is Cyan's weight! We went to the doctors this morning and she now weighs a big 8lbs 8oz! That's 30% more than she weighed at birth. Needless to say the doctor was very impressed. I guess ALL that feeding is really paying off now!

I'm excited that she's made it to the 8lb mark. Now we can use our baby bjorn and we can start using our cloth diapers! SUPER!

Neil assembled her baby bouncer yesterday. WOW, does she love it. She's sitting in it right now as I type away on the computer. The joys of being a little baby!

Here are some new pics taken today for all of you to enjoy!

love,
Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

May 3rd!

Bonjour!

Well, today was Cyan's estimated birth date. She wasn't supposed to be in our arms until today! I am so happy she's been here 3 weeks already. It would have been a long wait!

Cyan is doing super well. She's eating tons... and I do mean TONS! We go on for hours her and I sitting, relaxing, gulping... Its very special.

I've got a few new pics for you all today. Cyan and her proud daddy and Cyan sitting all by herself (I posed her). Notice her cringing in that pic... just like daddy!

love,

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Almost 3 weeks old!

Hi everyone!

Well, Cyan is almost 3 weeks old already. Pretty crazy how fast time flies!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated the blog, everyone has been asking for new pictures and the latest so here goes...

Last week flew by. We were busy taking care of Cyan and trying to organize our life a little bit more.

We were so spoiled in the last little while. We attended 2 showers with Cyan (they were supposed to take place before her arrival). It was great because everyone got to meet our little angel. We also took Cyan to school so she could meet my students. All the kids were so happy to meet her.

We had our second doctors appointment last week and at that appointment our little girl weighed 6lbs 14oz! I was very happy to hear this because it showed that she is indeed eating well!

Her umbilical cord fell off yesterday. That was another milestone. Neil was quick to take a picture... a special memory I guess.

Cyan is now sleeping in her room at night. We decided to move her into her own room because she was keeping us awake during our few hours of sleep. Her kitten noises are still adorable but when you have a 3 hour window to get your zzzzz's in you really need them. She seems to love her room. We are very lucky because she can sleep anywhere.

Another thing that kept us super busy last week was the launch of our new website. We have emailed most of you but for those of you that don't know about it yet Neil and I created a new site for parents across Canada to buy and sell their baby items. If you haven't seen it yet check it out: http://www.mybabystuff.ca, please pass the word on to your friends and let us know what you think!

Neil went back to work today. I was kinda sad about this. I really loved having him home with me and Cyan. The day alone was ok... our little girl seems to be going through another growth spurt and she decided to eat almost all day. Let me just say I was exhausted by 5pm!

Ok... here are some pics for all of you! I promise to add more pics more often!

Enjoy

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

Almost one week old!

Bonjour encore!

Well, its pretty hard to believe but Cyan wasn't even here yet last week! It feels like she's been in our lives a really long time.

Neil and I are so crazy about her. She is just too great.

Here are the TOP 10 Cutest Things about Cyan:

1 - she makes kitten noises when she sleeps

2 - she always crosses her legs

3 - she has the cutest lips!

4 - she has the cutest mouth!

5 - she has the cutest nose!

6 - she makes this "I'm drunk" look after she's eaten

7 - she gulps when she's nursing

8 - she sleeps like a angel

9 - she smells so good!

10 - she cringes her forehead like daddy

Today was a great day - although Neil and I were very pooped! The early feedings are really difficult. We were up from 4am to 6am trying to feed her last night - ouch!


The best part about today was that we finally took our little girl on her FIRST walk! This is so exciting to me. The stroller was the first thing I bought for her and I imagined myself going for walks soon after her arrival.

She loved her stroller, loved the walk and the sun. I can't wait to take her out again soon!




thats it for now,

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

She's here! EARLY!

Hello everyone! Cyan has arrived!

Well, this might be the longest post on the blog yet... so get ready!

What a surprise I had Monday at 3am when I stood up from bed and my water broke, 3 weeks early! I went through many stages at this point... the first one being denial, then panic and finally, after having made a little trip to the hospital, acceptance that indeed Cyan was coming 3 weeks early.

The entire labor process was very long but Neil and I took it all in and were extremely positive. For the first 12hrs or so we were in and out of the hospital so I could be given some antibiotics for something they had not yet tested me for. We were very calm and grateful for all the help from the amazing nursing staff and doctors at the hospital.

We made it back to the hospital officially around 3am on Tues. I was checked in and started breathing through my contractions. By about 9:30am they induced me (they had to induce me because my water broke and that could cause an infection if baby wasn't here within 24hrs). I started some major contractions... lots of pain... but still ok! How else could this baby come anyways, right?

So, the pushing started at 8pm. I pushed for 1 hour and a half... wow... what a feeling. I had Neil, my mom and sister there cheering me on. It felt so great to have all of them there for me. They were amazing coaches. By this time my dad, Phil, Lee, Carrie and Denise were in the waiting room waiting for baby to arrive.

My last push finally came and Cyan appeared at 9:41pm. Neil was the one to announce - IT'S a LITTLE GIRL! The new proud daddy cut the cord and put Cyan on my chest. Again, this was the most amazing feeling.

We finally made it home yesterday afternoon. Cyan is doing great. She seems to love her house very much, she loves the car, she even loves going grocery shopping! (Jeff, I'd like to point out that Thrifty Foods is the first place she shopped at!)

She is an amazing little girl. We are in charge of waking her to feed her every 3 hours or so since she's too small to wake up on her own. Feeding has not been the easiest but I'm happy to say that this little kitten can suck hard!

Everyone is so in love with her. It is so nice to see how everyone is with her.

So... thats the latest! Again, thank you for all your kind words and support. I know that all our friends and family will have so much influence on our little one. Neil and I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child and I know our little girl will turn out to be amazing with all your help.

Without further ado... here is the latest picture of our little angel. There are many more to come thanks to daddy and his amazing eye!

love,
Ladéna, Neil and Cyan

April is here!

Hi everyone!


Wow, I can't believe its April 1st today. We will have our baby next month! That is so exciting.

We had a great weekend this weekend. We had some great friends come visit from Vancouver and saw lots of our other friends. Mom and Gen got some of my close girlfriends together on Saturday and we had a shower to welcome Cyan. It was so nice to have all the girls in one place at the same time!


The nursery is now complete! It feels so great to have everything organized and ready to go! The furniture looks amazing! The colours are great and the room feels so beautiful.

I officially have 3 weeks of work left! I'm so happy about this. It will be so nice to put my feet up at the end of the 3 weeks and get ready for babies arrival.

Lots of pics this time around! Enjoy!

Ladéna, Neil and Cyan