R Is For Bunny

My mom spent a little time when I was younger doing cross-stich (this is before she discovered traditional rug hooking) and one of the things she made me was this alphabet (see image on right.) She used to say the marks on it was blood from pricking her finger with the needle, but then recently mentioned it was just from the age if it, so I don't know what is true.

I was showing it to Maya today, while Jason was holding it up, and she said, "A is for apple, B is for stuffy" and I was so confused until I saw that it was a teddy 'B'ear image. She is very young and not strong with letters or reading yet. She also pointed and said, "R is for bunny." 

Avery And Maya

We did not get to see my brother and his family for long enough - the trouble with driving is that it takes so long to get out to Alberta (and so long to get back) that is doesn't leave much time for actually visiting. The kids were awesome and hilarious, I can't believe we haven't seen them since Palm Springs this past November. Here is my favourite quote from this visit...

Avery: Maya hates me.
Me: No, that can't be true. You're her brother, she loves you.

Avery: Uh-uh, she doesn't like me.

Maya: I like you!

Avery: No, Maya wouldn't like me if I ate her.

Me: Umm, I guess that is true?

Maya: Yeah, if Avery eats me, I will kill him.

Jason: confused I don't think you can kill him if he has eaten you.

Me: confused that Jason is trying to add logic into any of this

Quotes From Alberta

As I mentioned before, Jason and I went to Alberta this weekend. We flew out Friday evening and came back overnight Monday to Tuesday. It was a quick visit but I got to see my GeoConnection girls, their spouses, Mike, Aimee and the babies. Here are some quotes from the trip that I found amusing:

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Pointing out the car windshield...
Jason: Oh God! How cold is Edmonton? Is that a penguin?!?
Me: Huh? What?
Jason: That black and white bird that is waddling.
Me: Oh! That is a magpie, they are like my favourite! I don't understand how everywhere has them except Ontario.

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(Said at various different times) Coming out from the changes rooms at the resort spa, wearing the hooded plaid bathrobes provided:
ERin: Ooo, I feel like I am at Hogwarts
Matt: Totally lookin' like a boxer here
Anne: Reminds me of Dementors
Sutik: Is this some sort of Illuminati thing?

----

Me: Are you just the cutest thing ever?!
Maya: I'm Maya!

My Babies!

As I mentioned, my mom has been in Edmonton visiting My Babies. This is why she wasn't at The Cottage for the long weekend. It feels like it has been forever since I got a chance to see Mike, Aimee, Avery, and Maya. I think the last time was summer last year, so we are edging towards a year. That is a long time, babies become different people sometimes in days. It is great to see photos when mom goes, which she always puts on her blog. Here are the posts from her recent trip out west to see her grandkids:
- Intro Post, tons of photos, tons of smiles
- Out and About, lots more pictures, you can see how mobile they are now
- Duck Photos, short post, great shot of Maya
- Final Posts, photos really show how much Maya has grown, and Mike (probably Aimee) shows me up by remembering Mom's birthday and getting her a cake.

I may not see them often, and I worry that my niblings don't know or remember who I am, but Mike makes sure she has them say 'Hi' to me whenever I call. We don't talk on the phone often but when we do there is usually a point where Mike is getting the kids to, 'Say Hi to Aunty Chris' which is always adorable because it isn't easy to pronounce. (When we were little Mike called me 'teen' because he couldn't say 'Christine'.) I think 'Ch' part is hard for babies. I miss them so much, it is always adorable to hear them try. Then there was this recent phone exchange with Mike:
Me: Ok, I gotta go. I love you.
Mike: Ok, talk to you later.
Me: Hey! Tell me you love me. (This is a normal thing I do at the end of a call with him, he usually relents and does it. I take my forced affection when I can get it.)
Mike: ...
Me: Tell me you love me.
Mike: (Away from the phone) HEY, KIDS, come here. Tell Aunty Chris she's stinky.
Chorus of two little voices: Aunty Tiss your stinkyyyy.
Me: Ok, fine, that works. I love you. Bye. (I guess I will take forced insults from my babies when I can get it too.)

No Enough Of My Mother

After spending the last few months in Spain, and now visiting Mike, Aimee, Avery, and Maya in Edmonton for a few weeks, it seems like I haven't see Mom much since our Africa trip in January. I wanted to make a Mother's Day post and went looking for a photo on my computer - I only have the shots from Africa, and I didn't take many of people. I understand the thrill of the animals and wanting all the amazing pictures of them, but it is sad that I don't have many of us - the time spent together with friends and family is really important and I am just not documenting it as much as I should. (See photo on right that I got - Mom taking photos at Blyde River Canyon.)

So, Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you and I miss you, and I am so glad we got to spend our first big visit to Africa together. In honour of that, here are some baby/parent pictures from that trip.

Unless noted, photos are taken by me (and not edited) please click to see larger. All from our trip in January 2018:

Parents and Baby African Penguins

The young ones are fuzzy, not as cute as expected, 

fully grown is adorable though.

 Two Little Dassies with Their Mommy

Cute rodent thing found on Table Mountain, closest relative is an elephant.

 Baby Baboon Runs to the Grown Ups (By Jason)

It was estimated that this little guy was only a couple of days old, so tiny.

 Young Impala Nursing (By Jason)

They very violently nursed! 

It did not look pleasant, the mothers were not pleased.

 Mother Peacock Watches Over Her Baby (By Jason)

Never seen a baby peacock before, 

there were a bunch, very interesting and quite cute.

 A Wee Elephant Stays Close For Protection

The baby elephants were the best, most large herds had at least one.

 A Zebra Foal (By Jason)

My Mom has better shots on her blog, he stayed close to his mom.

 Two Tiny Black Velvet Monkeys and Their Mother

These were 'my monkeys' because I often saw them from the bus 

and no one believed me.

An Adult Thanksgiving

Jason and I had his immediate family over for Thanksgiving lunch on Sunday and with a bit of pre-planning, and a lot of pre-cutting it was really easy. Though I did serve 'Turkey' from a box which was a lot more simple than a full bird - though still took a long time in the oven and involved setting an alarm to wake up early enough in the morning. It wasn't until much later that I realized it was probably the first holiday meal I have done and that Jason and I have hosted together (in our house.) Very adult.

On the same day we went for dinner and Kristen and Noah's where they had cooked a full turkey themselves, at their house. So much adulting! Also, homemade cranberry sauce which was very good. It was all delicious, and I think I want to incorporate more turkey into our normal meals moving forward.

Photo of Maya, totally not an adult! Mike sent this to me, I was sad not too see them but glad that they had a good Thanksgiving in Edmonton.

National Siblings Day

According to my Facebook feed it is National Siblings Day. Though really it is only recognized in The States, everyone is posting photos of their brothers and sisters. I figured I would join the fun on Always Standing. Instead of posting a 'Throw Back' image, here is a recent one from September:

Mike and I at my wedding

September 23, 2016

Toronto City Hall, Ontario

Photo by Stephanie Beach Photography

He also was back in Ontario a couple of weeks ago. Instead of attending the funeral for Aunty Laura he chose to spend the money coming back to visit her before she died. He brought along Maya too since she is still young enough that you don't have to pay for an extra seat. Not only did they get to see our aunt but they spent a bit of time in Toronto with me too. I love hanging out with Mike, he is a great little brother!

Aunty Laura

I got notice this morning that my Aunty Laura had passed away over night. She has been sick for the last couple of months and had been put on palliative care a few weeks ago. Goodbye Aunty Laura, you will be missed.

Aunty Laura and I at my wedding

September 24, 2016

Toronto Island, Ontario

Photo by Stephanie Beach Photography

This is her official Obituary which will be published in the London Free Press on Friday:

Sweeton, Laura Delbridge 
April 5th, 2017 

Born March 13, 1943 and died at home on April 5, 2017. Predeceased by her father Alec, mother Berniece and brother George (Carol). Aunt to Christine (Jason) and Michael (Aimee), and Great-Aunt to Avery and Maya. Bridge player, collector, cat lover and traveler. The funeral service will be conducted at Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North, on Sunday, April 9th, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. with visitation one hour prior. Private interment, Exeter Cemetery. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Laura are asked to consider the charity of your choice.

My Little Maya Bird

Wishing a big Happy Birthday to my sweet little niece, Maya Quinn Sweeton, who is turning ONE today.

Photo from Facebook

Top Posts For 2016 - Views

After seeing Steph's Top 5 Posts, I wanted to do my own for 2016 on Always Standing. I think I would be able to use Google Analytics to quickly figure it out but it isn't working right now so I did it manually. Scrolling through the 220 posts from last year I can see the number of comments left on each and how many times that post was viewed. Some posts do much better than others and it is very difficult to understand why. It might be what gets visited through a search or something I post on Facebook that gets more traffic than usual - but my theories don't show to be consistent so I am not totally sure.

Honourable Mentions

These two posts did well but didn't break 100 views, however I still wanted to include them because I think they are great!
- Peru Overview, With Help From Mom - As it sounds, a quick diary about my January trip hiking the Inca Trail. The post is mainly used to send people over to Vicarious Travelling to view Mom's photos.
- Flat Surface? - A cute photo of Two sitting on our mantel at Casa Verde.

FIVE

So Many Milestones

Post about picking up my wedding ring, getting keys to our new house, and eating french fries. Pretty sure that I posted a link to this one on Facebook and it covers some pretty big life events, I understand why this shows up.

FOUR

Xmas List 2016

The cute photo above taking by Mom of Maya in a Santa hat isn't included in the original post. It was just a list of what I wanted for Christmas this year, something I do on Always Standing every year. The traffic is probably from relatives and friends coming back to reference the items.

THREE

Talk Consent

I like this post a lot. It references a big campaign but I spoke in my own words as to why it was important to me. I hope it inspired some of the 141 viewers who saw it to talk about the issue of consent - a discussion that can be had at any age.

TWO

Addictive Television

An interesting post to follow up the last one, a quick reflection how that fact that Jon Taffer can be a bit of a bully on the show Bar Rescue.

ONE

Two Speeds

A post that features two pictures of Avery from Jason and my wedding. I am glad to see it showed up as number one, Steph's photos are beautiful and Aves is adorable subject matter.

Happy Birthday Aves

I have been an aunt for two years now. I love this little rascal so much and I hope he has had an amazing birthday! I also hope that the coming year of 'terrible twos' doesn't drive his poor mother crazy. 

Avery Reading His Baby Sister A Story

Christmas 2016 - Edmonton 

Photo by me, with my phone 

Three Years Ago Today

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

It still hurts. I think about my father often and I wish he was still here with every fiber of my being. He was gone too soon, even in three short years he has missed so many things that would have given him such joy. There is still more I want to share with him.

I got married.
Mom has a cat.
He became a grandfather, twice.
A house has been purchased and renovated.

The list goes on and if I start thinking about it too deeply it will hurt too much.

Teri Wins Halloween

So many good costumes this year for Halloween but after hearing yesterday morning that Teri had wanted to dress her new son up as a piece of sushi but hadn't had time to put together the costume I had to see the little guy in edible form. I told her there was still time and she ended up doing it in the afternoon and sending along the photos. 

R.O.M. - October 2016

Photos taken by Teri

Teri: I even got him to hold a chopstick

Chris: I know, it is so cute, I am dying

Teri: Looks like he is trying to eat himself

Note: Teri and Greg are trying to keep a low digital footprint for R.O.M, hence the use of only his initials and the reason he hasn't been mentioned on Always Standing before. He won't have a 'tag' like Lochlan, Cadence, Avery, and Maya, but he is a very special baby in my life so you will probably catch a glimpse or two of him from time to time.

Meeting Maya

Jason and I flew out to Edmonton yesterday to visit friends and family. For most of the trip we are staying with Mike and Aimee. I am so excited to see their daughter, my new niece! So this morning we got to meet Maya for the first time. (She was sleeping when we got in last night.) She is two months old so has started to smile, coo, and giggle. Of course Jason was able to get her laughing right away.

PHOTO:
Maya thinks Jason is hilarious!
Edmonton - May 19, 2016
Photo by me

March Birthday Babes

Happy Birthday today to Steph!! 

Steph in our bunk!

London trip, January 2008

Photo by ME

Not that many people born in March, and I am sure that I am missing some, but according to my planner, there are the following:

- Granny?

- Aunty Laura, March 14

- Maya, March 18

- Anna, March 27

- Steph, March 29 

I am heading to Ottawa this coming weekend to quickly celebrate with the later two on that list!

The Best Kind Of 3am Call

Jason woke up me up shortly after 3am this morning and handed me his cell phone. Mike had called him trying to get a hold of me. Aimee had just given birth to their second child!

Mike Holding Maya

Photo by Aimee (I think)

Friday March 18, 2016

I have in my planner that Aimee was actually due on April 10th so this morning was a bit early in more ways than one. Just 2 days shy of full term she is technically considered premature (Late Preterm). Because of this the doctors are running a bunch of extra tests but thus far everything is coming back looking good.

It is a girl! They have named her Maya Quinn Sweeton and she was born at a weight of 7lbs 14oz and is 20in long. Aimee felt like she was going into labour at 11pm last night so Avery went to their day care provider and Mike and Aimee went to the hospital. Maya was born shortly after 1am (Mountain Time). It went so fast that Aimee wasn't able to get an epidural (which I am sure she wasn't too happy about.) Glad to hear everyone is healthy and doing well, can't wait to meet my new niece!!