Ode to the Rowdy's

We just found out the most wonderful news
Of the Ramsdale famile there will no longer be twos.

But an itty bitty Ramsdale is on the way,
Sometime on a January day.

A cute little one it will be for sure
And the worlds about to get a little rowdier!

We love you guys, congratulations!!!

Craft Time

Well, I know it's not polite to brag... but I am just so proud of myself. I am not a crafty or artsy person - or anywhere close to being one. But every once in a while I feel the urge to try something new. So a friend told me how to make this easy quilt, and I thought "I should make something for Ella." So I bought some material (which Josh always discourages - since I have plenty of "good intention" yarn and material in the basement), but this time I was determined to prove him wrong... and I did - not only that, I enjoyed it!! I know it's far from perfect, there are tons of flaws, but it was definitely made with love.
So here it is, I hope Ella is happy because it's probably the only thing I'll ever make for her. Sorry sweetheart, but I'll take you shopping.

Where did my baby go?

Well, just a few more pictures of Ella. She had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and it took her a while to get back to normal. It's good to have our happy baby back. I guess I should stop calling her our baby, since she really isn't one anymore. I can't believe how grown up she is. (Have you notice my lack of blogging since she's been mobile?) I feel like I say no 1000 times a day - and it's only just begun!

Father's Day

Well, I've had a post to write about my dad for quite some time, but now's about the perfect time to write it. I have a wonderful father who I know loves me so much. A few weeks ago he came out to Calgary on business for a few days. It was the week I was staying with Deb, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to him. On Thursday though I went to MOPS, so I thought it would be a good day for me to at least go out for lunch with him. I knew he would be really busy, but I also knew he wanted to see me for a little while - so it worked out well. I got to the office around noon and after a lot of gushing over Ella I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch. He said "Well, I'm all done here and my plane leaves at 6 - so do you want to go shopping?" So we went out for lunch to Kings for Wor Wonton Soup and then we were off to the mall. He took care of Ella while I tried on clothes. Then he bought me a now outfit for the wedding we went to last weekend. It was such a nice surprise for him to take the whole afternoon off for me. Thank you for that dad, and for loving me so much.
I would also like to pay tribute to the other dad in my life - my father-in-law. Everytime we are with them I am more thankful for him as I see that many of Josh's best character traits are just like his dad. Thank you for raising such a godly son.

this week in review

Well the last couple of days I've been trying to think of something to post about and nothing has come into mind. I guess that means that our life is incredibly boring. I'll tell you what we have been doing though. Josh has been working a lot! I started teaching Sunday School at our church for the 5 and 6 year olds. Great fun. We started a home group at our house. We had a cool MOPS craft this week that we prepared all day on Monday. They were eye-spy bags. You sew up a bag (like a bean bag but bigger) with a clear vinyl window in it. Then you fill it with rice and different little toys and whatever. The kid has to look for everything you put in the bag (you put a list on the back). Tuesday night I babysat. Wednesday night I played my first game of Bunco. Interesting. Tomorrow I am working at our MOPS garage sale and BBQ while Josh guides his first rafting trip. Now I just need to plan for Father's Day... Hmmm, doesn't sound so boring after all. Here are just a few pictures of Ella to keep everyone happy.

Those are some big eyes.

While I was loading pictures I did think of a little story. The other day we were late for something and running out of the house. I had to strap the car seat in, so I left my muffin and Ella on the floor while I ran out, not thinking anything of it. I left the door open, and I couldn't heear any noise, which was kind of strange. When I came back a big chunk of my muffin was missing and I had a very happy little girl. I just thought she would be intimidated by the saran wrap. ha!

weekend widows

Well, it wasn't exactly the weekend, but that sounds better than Tuesday through Saturday widows. Last week Josh and Blue went on a river training trip. So I went to stay with Deb and help her out. She has 2 kids and they run an ice cream business in the summer. (See my reasons for going weren't to be nice... hello free ice cream!) We had a great time, but it was pretty busy. She worked in the evenings so I took care of the kids. I learned that three kids are hard work. Ocean is 31/2 and Meadow is 11 months. Deb forced me to jog in the mornings, and on Thursday I had to come back for MOPS and my dad was in town on business so I wanted to see him. Busy week. The boys surprised us my coming home late Friday night. So nice. So on Saturday we went out for breakfast to one of my favourites, The Summit Cafe, and then we went for a hike with Roly and Lisa. So it was quite a crew going down the trail, and wouldn't you know it, but we came across a huge grizzly with 2 cubs. That was crazy scary, but she just kept going off in the woods, not that we stuck around to watch her or anything.


The 2 little trouble makers - Ella and Meadow

Quite a character this one.
Just a few pictures or our hike.

Blue, Deb, Ocean and Meadow
Roly and Lisa - they're getting married on Saturday!!

white trash baby

Today Ella was eating her sweet potatoes and wearing her wife beater. (Mom, that is the term they use for tight white tank tops that men who stereotypically beat there wives wear) Funny baby. You think we could do a little better at getting them in her mouth.


This is her new shy face.

On the move

Well, it's been happening for a couple of weeks now, but Ella is definitely crawling. She now follows me down the hall and eats every little crumb on the floor. She's everywhere. She really has mastered it, but as you can see, it's still a little easier with no pants.

Oh Mom, thanks so much for bringing me this friend to play with. She really likes to talk to the garbage can and kiss it. Kind of disgusting, I have to clean it a lot. Poor lonely child.

Long Weekend

What a great long weekend we had. The weather was great, and the weekend was action packed. It all started when Josh got home early from work on Friday. It always throws me off when he does that. I'm like a little puppy, I get so excited I just don't know what to do with myself. We went shopping a little bit, and then got to go out for dinner to the Vietnamese Noodle House. It's one of our favourites. Cheap and good. I got 28 for the first time, and Josh got his usual 37C. Later we had someone over and played Settlers. The next day we had a few things to get done, like buy a baby gate, since Ella is officially crawling - and getting mighty good at it. So we just had fun doing errands. Errands are so much more fun when Josh is with me. We got home late and grilled steaks without a BBQ. That was interesting, and a story by itself. On Sunday we went to church and quickly got home afterward because Josh was itching to get on the water. He was so excited to get back in his kayak. So we drove out to canoe meadows to see if he could go down the river with a few people. There was no one just going out, so we drove to the put in spot. Let me start by telling you that I was a little nervous about him going. Kayaking always scares me a little, but last weekend a guy got pinned under water for 5 minutes, and it's a miracle he's even alive. And now Josh is a dad, so I just worry a little more than I used to. All that to say we drove up to the spot and the name of it was the Widow Maker. Awesome, that really helped me out. Oh well, with all my worrying he made it out OK and even got to do a second run. Then we went to Canmore to visit Blue and Deb's Old School Bus which opened this weekend. We spent the evening hanging out, and I got a double scoop coconut strawberry in a waffle cone. Wow! On Monday we headed out for Canmore again. This time I was going mountain biking with Deb, Roly, Lisa and Mr. F (Blue's dad) That's right, Josh was babysitting. Something he hasn't done very often yet. He was excited, I was scared. Hadn't been a bike in 2 years, and had never really been mountain biking. So we did a trail that brought us right into Banff. It was 20K, and lot of downhill, and a little bit of up. Wasn't too tough, but my butt is REALLY sore today. Josh made out well also.
Anyway, this is getting way too long, so that's my weekend.

I did it!

If you look at the bottom of my sidebar on the right you will see a little map. I saw it on Christina's blog, but didn't think I would ever be able to get it on mine. I am so proud of myself, because there it is. Now I am trying to figure out who all visits my blog. I would love to hear from each one of you, so log on and say hi. Or you can go to my profile and email me from there. I think I know 2 of the dots over in the eastern side of the world, but that one in the middle of the ocean has really got me wondering!!

THAT'S ONE HOT MAMA

We have been having record breaking temperatures here in Cochrane. It doesn't bother me too much, but today I saw a pregnant friend of mine, and it brought back terrible memories. Last summer was soooo hot, and we lived in that trailer with no AC. We finally got a window one, and I made Josh put it in at like 11PM because I thought I might die. We made a tent over in with a sheet and slept under it on the dining room floor. I just wanted to post a few pictures to make me thankful that I am not pregnant during this heat wave. You'd think with 9 months of pregnancy I could just plan to avoid those 2 1/2 months of summer. Too bad babies don't work that way.


Check out those thankles. No not cankles, those babies went straight down from the thigh!!

Hey lady, you're blockin' the waterfall.

Family

Here are a few pictures of all the people Ella has been spending time with lately.

Nana and Papa came to stay with us for a week. Papa did all of our yard work, and Nana played with Ella. Fun for everyone.

Ella and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's in Winnipeg for a week.
Grandma thought Ella needed a wagon ride. I'm not sure who was having more fun.

Grandpa and Ella just hangin' out. I have another picture of him letting her suck on a licorice pipe. What a terrible influence. :)

Grandpa great - my grandpa. Such a sweet man. Ella is so lucky to have godly grandparents and great grandparents.

Just sitting outside with grandma great.

Blaire and Amber are enjoying this photo shoot much more than Ella. Barrett didn't make it in the picture.

Having some fun with Mikyla and Jaden.

This is GG - Josh's grandma. We haven't seen her since Christmas, but I didn't want to leave her out. I love this picture.

Ella Bella

It's been awhile since I've put any pictures up of Ella. This one is a few weeks old, but I just think she's so cute in it. I know I've posted a few pictures that look like this, but I just love her face in this one, with those two big teeth. She's such a happy little girl - most of the time. We've had a rough go of it lately though. I think those grandma's have been a bad influence on her. :) She is still learning to crawl. She can do it on carpet, but all we have is hardwood. So she gets stuck on her belly and can't get up. So I have to be there for her all the time. I try to let her work on it herself, but you can only let her whine for so long. To finish my Mother's Day story. On Saturday night Ella had the worst night sleep of her life. She was up for probably half the night. Then we had to get up for church, she pooped through her outfit on the way out the door. Then for her nap in the afternoon she cried for like an hour. She NEVER does that. I guess she just wanted to remind me being a mother isn't always easy. But in the end, as I watched Josh rocking her to sleep, I realized that I couldn't ask for anything more. Oh, and grandmas, thanks for loving my little girl. I don't mind a few rough days so you can have some fun.

And it was a doozy

Well, it was my first Mother's Day, except for the one with Ella still in the belly. (That one doesn't count too much because back then I thought she was a Gus)
Well, I was pretty excited, but not too excited, because I'm always dissapointed when I have too many expectations. So lets recap on the whole weekend. On Friday night I flew back from my week in Winnipeg. I packed all of my stuff a few hours early, and decided I would only need 2 diapers for the flight - only 3 hours. Well little did I know what Ella had up her sleeve... well not really her sleeve... you know what I mean. So she had 2 big "crunches" (Ryan and Keri I hope you read this - because that ones for you) before we ever left for the airport. That never happens!! So I told myself to get out some more diapers before we left, of course the mothering brain kicks in, and I forgot. So while we were on the plane I remembered, and all the diapers are stowed below. Well, I thought she can sit in a wet diaper for 3 hours, not a big deal. Besides, she already pooped twice. Ha!! So about 20-30 minutes prior to landing I start to smell something. Well, I try not to think about it, hoping she'll just be happy till we land. Poor kid, but what else was I supposed to do. A minute later I pick her up, and I feel something very wet. I flip her around and yes, she had exploded out the side. (The downer to nursing) So I'm trying to figure out what to do, and we had already started the dessent, so I was stuck in my seat. The one great thing is that I had an aisle to myself. So I start to investigate, and things were looking bleak. It was all over her sleepers and the outside of her diaper. So I cleaned her up as well as I could and put her jeans and t-shirt back on her from before. That's right, no diaper!! I was hoping for the best, but of course about 10 minutes later I had a very wet lap. So I'm sitting there trying not to freak out, and trying to think of a way out of this. The plane was just landing at this point. So I waited and then as everyone else got off, I tried to call Josh - no answer. Then I just had to tell myself to suck it up and deal with it. Josh wasn't going to come on the plane anyway. So I put her in her sling, thankful to Keri for the long tail to cover my wet lap, and off I went. I took a peak, and you couldn't even tell that we were both wet and poopy. So I made it to the luggage, went to the baby room where we both changed and got washed up. What a night. OK, well this post didn't exactly get to the actual Mother's Day, but that will have to come later.

He's done!!!

One decade ago, January 1996, Joshua Genn entered the NBBC campus, with a promise to his parents that he would stay for one semester. Well, one semester came and went, with many more to follow (with one or two "forced" absences in the middle. Finally May of 2001 rolled around and it was his turn to graduate. He had learned a lot in those 5 years. Perhaps more from experiences than from books, but a lot nonetheless. A few days before graduation his parents come out along with my parents, his future in-laws. They were to meet for the first time. So this was a big weekend in more ways than one. His mother came bearing congratulation chocolate bars. 90% hardwork, 10% fun - or something like that. Well, the day before grad he got the news that he had recieved a D in Greek. Not so bad, except that he needed a C to pass. Well, with the words of his teacher ringing through his head "Well, you should have told me you needed a C", Joshua sat through graduation in the bleachers wearing a hawaiian shirt instead of a cap and gown. They told him he had 5 years to complete Greek....
Well, we got married that summer, and time flew by. Before we knew it, almost four years had passed and we were eagerly expecting a baby. It was then that we realized that if he wanted to finish his schooling, he had to be registered for the upcoming school year. So we started looking, and realized that there weren't a lot of good Bible schools in Canada - especially ones that Northland would accept Greek credits from. We "accidentally" heard about CSBS. We had been to Cochrane before, and had no idea there was a seminary there. So we went to visit, and spoke with Dr. Booth. (He teaches Greek). He told Josh that he had never failed anyone before. Josh took that as a challenge, but I was sold. Well God wanted us here. It still seems so wierd that we moved across the country for one Greek class, but we all know that God has bigger plans than we could ever imagine. So, Joshua started Greek in August. More than once he seriously considered quitting. At one point I thought he would. It seemed like there was no way he could pass. Then I realized what Dr. B meant - they all quit before he had a chance to fail them. So Josh went to talk to him and he said he thought Josh could make it - so he kept going. On Monday he took his final - we were all on pins and needles. All Dr. Booth said was "You need a C? Well, you got it." By God's grace he had passed (and a little from Dr.B) I'm so proud of him. This may seem like a small thing to most of you, but this was a mountain to Josh. Actually, he's climbed mountains, and this was way harder than that. So next Saturday, Josh will be graduating from NBBC. We won't be attending, because truthfully he doesn't really care about that. He doesn't really care about getting a degree, or knowing more Greek (even though he thinks it's important). This was about finishing. Something he started 10 years ago is now completed.
Now I'm just waiting for a phone call from Northland "Well, I just wanted to let you know that we have changed some policies. Yeah, there's this prison trip...."

Splish, Splash I Was Takin' A Bath

The other night, well actually a while ago, Josh gave Ella a bath. She loves the water and he likes to put bubbles on her head, so really it was the perfect combo. He is also much better at taking pictures than I am. These are some of my favourite pics.

Easter

I just wanted to post a few pictures of Ella in her Easter dress. We had a wonderful day.

Good Friday

Ella was able to explore in the grass for the first time yesterday. She found lots of things to play with and look it. Not chew on - hence the soother in the mouth. It's so neat to watch how amazed she is be a little stick (yes, that's a stick), or by the grass. So I thought that I couldn't think of a much better Good Friday for an 8 month old than to experience some of God's creation for the first time and to spend time with people who love her. I guess I couldn't think of a much better Good Friday for us either. This weekend we just need to take some time remembering what Christ has done for us.

wheeeeeeeeeee

I am looking forward to spending the summer with Ella. We have had a few days of nice weather and today we went to the park behind our house. Ella got to ride in a swing for the first time and she thought it was so fun. It is so special that I can stay home with my baby and share all these firsts with her. I wish I knew how to post the video I took so you could really see how much fun she was having. These will have to do.

Sorry

Well, life has been busy in the Genn household. Yes I know it is the same for all of you out there- I guess I should say it was just a little busier than normal. Since moving to Alberta we have had so many visitors (which is wonderful). There are a few things that contribute to this. The top one being Ella, second is that I've never lived outside of Winnipeg and third being IKEA. For Spring Break my niece Amber came to visit, the day after she left my parents and another niece, Blaire came for a week. Next week Josh's parents are coming. It is so wonderful to see them all - but I get tired out. We run around doing so many things. Ella slept all day on Monday - I wanted to.
All that to say - sorry for my lack of blogging.