Summer has arrived...

...at least according to the calendar! The longest day of the year passed just under a week ago. On June 21st the sun rose at 5:21 am and set at 9:53 pm. That's more that 16 hours of sunlight. That means that it's light out when Mike gets up for work, and light out when he goes to bed. And there is usually only one feeding for Rebecca during the whole day when I look outside and it's dark. I had forgotten how much longer the days are here in Canada. Abilene gets about 2 hours per day less sunlight than we do here.

On another note, Jesse has pinkeye! From where...I have no idea. So far none of the rest of us have been afflicted thankfully. He's also learned a few new words...he can saw truck (which sounds more like "cruck"); he also asks for blueberries on his cereal every morning and for his yogurt at night; he can say balloon too; and when he doesn't know the word for something but wants it, he asks for "some". Brenda has also been teaching him some signs for a few words. He can sign for "food" and "drink", although I'm not sure if he knows what they actually are or if he's just copying what we do. Either way, he's one sharp cookie!

Rebecca still just does baby things...eat, sleep, dirty diapers...I can't believe she's 6 weeks old already. The other day I'm sure she smiled right at me while I was singing her a song.

Other than that, not much else is new out our way.

Rebecca can get a job!

That's right, Rebecca can now legally get a job in the United States...well at least she can 16 years from now. We just got her Social Security card in the mail. Now we are just waiting for her birth certificate...

Mike and I are officially Albertans. We have switched our car insurance over (I sure do miss Saskatchewan's premiums!) and our licenses too. We still have a couple of addresses to switch over, and our provincial health. It's so frustrating that SGI wouldn't insure us while we are in Texas. It's such a hassle, and very expensive, to switch everything over. I guess I should just be grateful that Alberta is willing to insure us.

We had lots of company over the weekend. Dad and my Grandma and Grandpa Severson came out to pick up my mom. They arrived Friday afternoon and had to head home on Sunday. It was a short, but very nice visit. It's kinda lonely now that everyone is gone, and Brenda & John are back to work. I think Jesse is missing them too (plus he's just cranky because he's getting 2 more teeth).

Well, I should go. Both children are down for naps and I have some bills to pay.

Rebecca meets her other Grandma

Angie, Eoin and Mom arrived safe and sound on Sunday night. Mom is staying here with us at John and Brenda's. She's enjoying cuddling with Rebecca and chasing Jesse around. Today we are planning on getting together with Angie and Eoin for a bit at the mall. Other than that, there's not much new here.

Rebecca has a belly button!

That's right...no more umbilical cord stump. It fell off one day before she was three weeks old. I'm glad to finally be rid of that. I hate having to clean (and look at) it. That's about all that's new with Rebecca.

Jesse on the other hand, has learned to say a few new things since we have gotten here. He does pretty good at saying "Grandma" (and gets very sad when she leaves). The one that really cracks me up is when he goes around the house calling Tim (one of the puppies). And, when he hears Tim barking, he will sometimes say, "Tim...shhh." He sure does keep us entertained!

Mike bought his first pair of work boots this week, and actually is wearing them for the first time today. Yesterday he didn't have to go to work because of all the rain we got here. On the radio they said that there was an estimated 10 million dollars of damage within the city from the storm on Tuesday night. So, instead of work yesterday he got to go and ride along with Dan, hauling gravel for the afternoon. Brenda and I went shopping with Rebecca, while John stayed home with a napping Jesse.

As for me, I am feeling pretty good these days. I still can't believe that I just had a baby three weeks ago, and major abdominal surgery too. I did stub my toe this morning, and suspect that it may be broken. I can't really bend it, and it's sticking out at an odd angle. Not to mention the fact that it hurts really bad. I think we managed to get the swelling under control pretty well - Brenda stuck an ice pack on it within a couple minutes of it happening, and propped my foot up. Unfortunately, there is a little boy running around that has no idea how much it hurts when he steps on my foot.

Anyway, I should go. I really just came upstairs to get a recipe off the internet to make some muffins.

Life in Calgary

Well, we have been here in Calgary for just over a week. Mike is working as a framer (yes, that's right, not farmer) in Okotoks for the summer. He gets up at 5:30 to get ready for work and is home around 6 on a good night, sometimes later. He will have a pretty good tan by the end of the summer - at least his arms from the elbow down! He's enjoying the work; getting to try something new, but the heights kind of scare him. I suppose you just have to get used to it.

As for me, Brenda and John have both gone back to work, so I am home alone with the two kiddos. Jesse gets really sad when Brenda leaves for work. He sure has fun playing with her. The majority of my time is spent with Rebecca. She's doing great. She sleeps pretty well at night, but likes to take her time eating which means I am up for more than an hour at a time most nights. We have also discovered that she is a real cuddler. She loves to be held and snuggled all the time. It's nice (since Jesse is not a cuddler at all), but it also makes life challenging. I am looking forward to my mom visiting, since I am sure she will be willing to hold Rebecca all day long. Then maybe I can actually get some stuff done or even better yet - take a nap without the baby! I feel great (other than being tired), and actually can't believe that I had a c-section 2 1/2 weeks ago. Such a change from my experience with Jesse. It's actually really hard not to just do everything I want to, like carrying Jesse around (I admit, I do pick him up occasionally).

Well, that's about it...not much else happening out this way. We celebrated Dan's birthday yesterday afternoon, which was a lot of fun. I'll keep you posted if anything exciting happens.