A Maze In Corn

Today the Raines got lost in a big field of corn. It was awesome. Talia thought wandering around in corn was the funniest thing ever, which was fortunate, since it took us a long time. Then she rocked the petting zoo, got mad when we wouldn't let her pick up a kitten (she loves soft things a little too much, if you know what I mean) and got SUPER mad when a turkey pecked her. Mama was annoyed that they didn't have a pumpkin patch this year - our pumpkins didn't grow, so that was the whole point of our excursion to the maze. But a bag of mini donuts fixes everything, and we ended up having a great day. And wouldn't you know it, on the way home some poor sucker was selling pumpkins on the side of the road. Score!!

Wii Got a New Toy!!

Well, today Rainer and I leapt into 2007 and picked up a Wii. It's technically the Raine Family Christmas present this year, but we saw them at a good price and thought we might as well pick one up now, instead of possibly scrambling to find one closer to Christmas.

The Wii was only part of our shopping spree today - we picked up a few fall things for Talia, found some black shirts for the babies for the upcoming McQueen Family photo shoot, and most importantly..... I also got pants!!! It's true that I just had a baby 14 months ago, and you would think that means that I have lots of mat clothes. But Talia was a July baby, so I have lots of tank tops, cute summery tops, sundresses, skirts, and capri pants. Little Cold November is making his or her grand entrance mid-February, and no matter how big & hot I get, capri pants just aren't going to cut it in -40.

We're gearing up for next weekend's Run for the Cure. Talia's Grammie has been cancer-free since just before her first 2 grandchildren were born. Here's the whole crew at last year's run:

Last year we kept saying "by this time next year, the babies will be running around all over the place!" Little did we know that we would end up having the 2 laziest babies around, at almost 15 and 14 months neither Talia or Landon seem inclined to take any steps independently anytime soon - they are too smart to use their legs like a couple of suckers!!!

To Do

Talia's To Do List:

1. Be as healthy as a horse while in Kenora, charming the pants off of Grandma & Grandpa - CHECK

2. Get a fever just as we are leaving Kenora - CHECK

3. Sleep all the way home - CHECK

4. Hardly eat anything all day - CHECK

5. Get fever again at bedtime - CHECK

6. Scream uncontrollably while in bath until I throw up the little amount I did eat - CHECK

7. Finally calm down and go to sleep, only to wake up at 5:30am with highest fever of my short lifetime - CHECK

8. Scream uncontrollably from 5:30am to 9am - CHECK

9. Once dr. office opens at 9am, suddenly stop screaming, lose fever, and eat a big breakfast - CHECK

10. Make Mama stay home from work for nothing on a day that includes thunderstorms outside and no cable inside - CHECK

Well, at least we've kicked that fever for now. Here's hoping it stays that way.

Solitary Confinement

Talia and I are under house arrest for the remainder of this week, as the Little Lady has gotten herself a case of german measles. It was only a matter of time, I suppose, as Talia has been in daycare for about a month and STILL puts everything in her mouth, so she's bound to pick up whatever germs are floating around there. I'm able to work from home, so I've brought some stuff home with me, but my measley little companion isn't allowing for much work to get done!

We've had a busy August, with Daddy starting a new job, Mama heading back to work and Talia adjusting to her new part-time digs at Jojo's house. The transition to daycare was much harder on Mom & Dad; Talia didn't notice that we weren't there. By her second morning at daycare, she recognized Jojo's house, giggled, squealed with delight, and pointed to the door, firmly telling Daddy "DO! DO! DO!" Rainer drops her off in the morning, he says that he takes her shoes and jacket off, puts her on the floor, and she's off like a shot. I have the joy of picking her up in the evening, I'm so happy to see her, but she often tells me off for showing up in the middle of her snack or playing with her new boyfriend, Felix. That hurts Mama's sensitive little feelings, but truth be told, we are both really glad that she loves Jojo's place so much. It would be much more difficult to leave her somewhere if she cried and didn't want to stay.

It looks like September will be just as busy. We are off to visit K-town this weekend, provided that little Miss Measles is no longer contagious. I still get really carsick thanks to little Cold November (just like when I was pregnant with Talia!) so I'm not really looking forward to the 2 hours in the van, but it will be great to see everyone once we get there. And of course, we get to sneak a peak at our second little Rainedrop on the 23rd, so stay tuned for ultrasound pics! In the meantime, here are some of our favourites from August:

Best friends in matching shirts.

Ready for daycare in the morning.

Mama's first day back at work.

Daddy's first day at his new job.

Watermelon = pure joy.

Couch potato!

It's A Real Shame We're So Far Away.....

You might think that not much happens in the town I grew up in. After all, there are only about 800 people there. But after living in this thriving metropolis of 400 for the last 2.5 years, I appreciate the shenanigans of my home town, which is practically a city compared to this place.

Here's a summary of the conversation between my Dad and his back-lane neighbour this weekend:

(Dad & Neighbour, standing in Neighbour's driveway.)
Neighbour: You guys get a cat over at your place?
Dad: No! Why the hell would we get a $%@# cat? What would we do with a *$!@ cat?!?
Neighbour: Well, something's been crawling around your yard all afternoon and just went under your step.
Dad: Really? Let's go see what it is!
(Dad & Neighbour both try to peek under stairs from various angles.)
Dad: I can't see a damn thing. I'll go get a stick and scare him out!
Neighbour (lying on lawn, eyes peeled on mysterious visitor under the stairs): OK
Dad (poking furiously with stick): Do you see it?
Neighbour: Yep!
Dad: What's it doing?
Neighbour: Getting ready to spray you!
(mystery guest under stairs runs out, solves big "what IS that?" mystery by spraying Dad.)

Good old G.P., skunks and all. Can't wait to visit for August long weekend!

Happy Birthday, Little Lady!

This weekend we celebrated Talia's first birthday. I can't believe it's already been a year since we met that serious little newborn. Talia has gone from this:

to this:

in just one short year! Amazing! We have further celebrated Talia turning 1 by wearing pjs without feeties, ending nursing, and throwing away all the soothers. This morning for about 15 minutes, I'm pretty sure Talia thought being 1 was for the birds. But she has bounced back like a champ!

I don't know where the time has gone. I'll be going back to work half-time in 3 weeks and am so sad that my best friend summer with my little friend is quickly coming to an end! But before we know it, we'll be into our new routine and it will all be fine, I'm sure.

Here are some pics of the party, for those of you not on Facebook - Donni, I'm talkin' to you.

Special thanks to all you rule breakers who ignored my request that your presence be your gift, especially Auntie Donni who came all the way from Regina for the big party!

Happy Birthday, baby girl! xoxoxo

We Heart Summer

Summer is finally here, and we are in full-summer-swing. Our blogging has suffered, as we've been living outdoors, in the real live world, with real live people. (It's nice out there!)

We're rockin' our summer projects - the new deck is finished, Talia is proving to be quite a little fish, the introduction of ice cream was the best day ever, our garden is coming along nicely (25 hills of potatoes and counting, yo!) and Rainer is working non-stop to get our yard tip-top for this weekend's festivities. What's going on this weekend, you ask? Our little lady is turning 1!!! If you're looking for a pool party to attend this Saturday and will be in the area, send me an email and I'll send you the details.