The Boys' First Christmas

We spent our first Christmas as a family with the Epp's in Fiske, Saskatchewan. All 32 of us where there; which included 5 new grand-kids in 2007! It was full of excitement. James loved every second of it and Parker was overwhelmed by it all. The weather was perfect for James to experience his first toboggan and ski-doo ride! He called the ski-doo the 'boat' and loved going for rides with Grandpa. Next year he'll be ready to skate as walking on the ice was too boring for him especially seeing his little cousins zooming by him. Our flight back home on New Year's Eve day was seamless until the last 2o minutes where Parker decided he had enough. 2007 was a magical year for us and we hope that the magic will continue to sprinkle into our lives in 2008. Happy moments to you all in 2008.

Blessings,

Joanne, Michael, James and Baby Parker

Just Hangin' Out

James has a new hairdo!

As new parents of our African son, we or should I say I, decided that it was time to get James' hair twisted. I brought James to see Gill who owns the African Braids and Beauty Shop in Kelowna. Armed with a portable DVD player (thanks Simone!) and treats to entertain James during the two hour process we arrived at the salon. Twenty minutes into the twisting James begins to cry and I try to tell him it's okay and to keep watching Happy Feet and eating his treat. But the bribery tricks weren't working, he kept crying and saying, "All done." I wanted to tell him that hair is painful at times. What little girl hasn't screamed blue murder when their mommy did their hair? I wanted to explain to him that it's part of his heritage but I knew that none of that would sink in to a crying little boy. So I look at Gill and say, "What do I do? Should we cut his hair?" She blurts out quickly, "No! You don't cut his hair!". So Gill gave me a quick tutorial on how-to-twist our son's hair and we packed up the portable DVD, bought some wax for the twisting and went home. Once at home Michael and I took turns twisting and two hours later we were done. James was a trooper allowing us to complete the project and now seems to like it...I think!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Parker is crawling at full speed to try and catch James who is running around the house while singing or talking. The words, "No, don't touch that." is frequently used and the boys seem oblivious to these words by day's end. Parker has 8 teeth now and loves Cheerios and won't bother eating baby food, which we don't blame him. Baby food isn't very tasty. He is a typical baby learning to eat by throwing his food on the floor!
We enjoyed a warm November and eagerly welcomed the snow that arrived last week to see James reaction to it. He liked that taste of it and loves to put his boots on to stomp on the snow. Now we'll need to show him how to make a snowman and a snowball. And most importantly we'll need to tell him the importance of not eating yellow snow!
It has been six months since James arrival and he is now above average in his weight! He eats like an adult: two toasts, a yogurt, an orange and a class of chocolate milk is his regular breakfast. His feet are so thick that we have trouble finding shoes that fit correctly! James loves going out and socializing. If we aren't out and about there is a restless boy in the house. If Parker grows to be as social we'll have quite the happening household! As for now Parker continues to be a quiet baby with great admiration for his big brother.