I know, I know....it's been a whole week again...

It has been a very busy week in Clarissaville. Sunday was her Christening. It was a long day, but she was a trooper through it all. She was such a well behaved little girl!!! It was great to spend the afternoon with some very special people.

She even let her Godmother Kim hold her during the Christening....for a few minutes. It was kind of funny. She was doing great as we stood at the front of the church and she was in Kim's arms. She looked very, very cute....and quite comfortable. Then as I watched her, I saw her look over at Carolyn and I...and I could almost hear her think to herself "Hey, there's Mommy. Hey, there's Daddy......ummmmmmmm wait a sec, if Mommy is there.....and Daddy is there......and I'm here.......then who is holding me?????? WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Back to Daddy she went.

Now, this of course has nothing to do with Kim...it was the first time anyone except for Mommy and Daddy had held her. It's a good sign that our cocooning is working and that a strong bond and trust are developing between Clarissa and Mommy and Daddy. She's just not ready to take the next step yet....but she will eventually.



Each and every day is so incredible with her. We are so very lucky. Without a doubt she was meant for us. She does so many things that make me smile. I just wish that I had more time with her each day. Weekends have become so valuable and important.

Let's finish with Clarissa and Daddy at the end of the day of her Christening.

Has it really been another whole week?????

Well aren't I delinquent?!?!?!?! I really am aiming to do better than one post per week. Things have just been a bit nuts. I'll do better...really I will. Life.

So where are we at in Clarissaville???? Well, it is 3 days away from Clarissa's Christening. We are very much looking forward to it. Clarissa says that she is too. It will set a new record for the number of people that we have had in our home at one time. Should be fun.

I am still adjusting to being away from my girls all day, and getting pretty much only a short time in the morning (some days), and two hours (if I am lucky) when I get home with my wonderful, incredible little girl. I must say that there really aren't words that adequately describe the feeling of getting home after a long day at work and opening the door to see that huge smile on Clarissa's face. It is just....nope...there aren't words. Mommy smiles at me sometimes too!!!!

We have been slowly introducing new foods to her....today's discovery.....she doesn't like peas...even after watching Daddy take a mouthful (blaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! I like regular peas....however, sorry Gerber but........

We are also getting close to Clarissa's first birthday!!!!! She has given Daddy a big long list of things that she wants. Some of the things on the list: front row tickets to a Sens game, 5 pounds of smoked meat from Schwartz’s in Montreal, a fridge for the basement to keep barley based beverages (and food) cold, a trade-up from the 42 inch to a 52 inch to watch Sens games with Daddy, PS3 NHL 10....and lots of other stuff.

Should have a whole whack of pictures to post after Sunday....plus I still have a pile of China pictures to share....1300 or so.....

Has it really been a week?????

Wow!!!! Times flies. Well now....what has gone on around Clarissaville???? Let's see...
On Friday we...hmmm I was still sick so we didn't really do much of anything on Friday, except for Clarissa who played with Mommy all day while Daddy tried to snooze on the sofa (while watching some golf on tv).
On Saturday I played hockey...errrr...wait...I was still sick so I didn't play hockey. We paid a visit to Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma which we all enjoyed very much. Then we got home and Clarissa played with Mommy while Daddy tried to snooze on the sofa (while watching golf on tv).
On Sunday we had a wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's...errrr....wait...I was still sick so we didn't go anywhere or do much of anything on Sunday, except for Clarissa who played with Mommy all day while Daddy tried to snooze on the sofa (while watching some golf on tv). We did have a wonderful meal however, since Grandma sent Grandpa (all the way across the city) to bring us a turkey dinner that was absolutely spectacular.
On Monday we....hmmmm I was still sick so we didn't really do much of anything on Monday, except for Clarissa who played with Mommy all day while Daddy tried to snooze on the sofa. Oh and of course we had another excellent dinner of leftovers from Sunday's Thanksgiving dinner.
On Tuesday, still sick, but after 6 weeks off I returned to work. It was good to be back at work...I do love my job....but it was torture to be away from my girls for so long. Even though I focus on what I'm doing there is always that little "I wonder what my beautiful girls are doing right now????" in the back of my mind. It is quite funny when Carolyn puts me on speakerphone and I hear Clarissa laugh out loud when I talk to her.
Last night she didn't want to go to bed, but once she fell asleep we didn't hear a thing from her until 6:15am. Perhaps the start of something wonderful??????

She really is priceless. The long wait was absolutely worth every second. She was meant for us!

More China pictures to come....I'm just too lazy...I mean sick...to go upstairs to get the memory stick that has the photos on it.

Apples, Pumpkins, Storytime, and Go Sens Go!!!

Another busy day in Clarissaville.


Daddy is still sick, but he decided to take his girls to the apple orchard today. We picked up a whack of apples, and a couple of pumpkins...one each for Mommy and Daddy to carve. One will be a nice friendly Jack-o-lantern type, and one will be a mean spooky type. Hmmm who will do which I wonder????

Clarissa has taken a liking to apple sauce, so I decided to try and make some instead of paying Gerber. Now I have never made apple sauce, but how hard could it be??? I knew that I wanted it plain with no sugar and no spices....soooooo I peeled, cored, and cut a big pot full of apples. Figuring that apples have a high juice content I only added a bit of water and a squeeze of lemon juice to it and cranked up the heat. After boiling for a while I pulled out the hand blender and my full pot of apples turned into a quarter pot of...if I may say so myself...awesome pure tasting apple sauce that my little Sweetie thoroughly enjoyed at dinner time. Gerber eat your heart out!!!

After dinner Clarissa and her Daddy had storytime as usual, then off to snoozeville she went just in time for the beginning of the Sens first home game of the season. As I type it's 2-2 with 8 minutes left in the third....Sens powerplay right now...Go Sens Go!!!!

What can I say about this?????

I think that it would be wrong to say anything at all...I'll just let the picture do the talking. Ok....I'll add one word.....

ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!!

Ok...that was two words...but the "absolutely" was necessary don't you think??? Actually can I make it three words???

ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN' PRICELESS!!!!!

Lots of reading....

Clarissa had a busy day today, her and Daddy went for a walk to the store, and then she read a pile of newspapers and a couple dozen books. Quite impressive for an 11 month old wouldn't you say??? Yes, our little girl certainly is amazing.





I've been sick for the last couple of days, not much of a voice left and good deep chest coughs...hopefully that will get better soon. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well enough to go to the Moon Festival gathering at Yulin and Bob's. We were looking forward to seeing them and some of the others from our travel group.

Plans are coming along for Clarissa's Christening, and in a couple of days she will be 11 months old! That means her first birthday is only a month away, and she has told us that she expects a big celebration.

One more week before I go back to work. It will be tough not to get to spend the days with my girls. It will mean that by the time that I get home I only get to see her for a couple of hours a day. That will be tough!!

Lets see if I can find some more China shots:

Pretty in something other than pink.....

Yep, check out the picture....Clarissa is dressed in a colour other than pink!!! She still looks adorable too doesn't she???? Ok, I know...technically there is a couple of pink stripes on her pants, but still...

Another good thing in the mail yesterday!!! We got the video and pictures from our trip to China. Anyone who is going with FOI....I recommend taking Yulin up on the offer it is well worth the $40. I also let Mr. Lee download the pictures from my camera which was great because he used many of them in the slideshow. We watched them last night, what a fantastic memory of our trip, the great families that we travelled with, and the amazing people who took care of us while we were there.

How about some more pictures from the Beijing Zoo: