Two weeks

One week

We've spent the last week being completely in awe of the miracle of our beautiful baby girl. She is absolutely perfect, and the only trouble we are having is fattening her up...

Welcome to the world little one....

Reid Louise
May 14th @ 10:15am
6lbs 10oz and 20.5"

Got a guess?

Well, the little one is due to arrive next Wednesday, May 20th. 8 days after their Grams' birthday and Grandpa Mitchell's birthday, and 2 days before their parents 11th wedding anniversary. But, since it IS a Mitchell, I'm sure it'll be late, announcing it's preference to operate on MST - Mitchell Standard Time. Where logic and punctualness are obsolete! They are showing no sign of becoming more familiar with the exit... apparently I am too good of a hostess, and they are already taking after their Daddy by preferring to swim and play in the water.
So, now that I have a working laptop again (yay for Richard!), I thought we'd play a guessing game. Go to: Baby Mitchell and enter your best guess. Will it be a boy/girl? May/June? {oh please little one, not June!} Let's see what you think...

Eight months

**photography by the fabulously talented MaryAlice Duncan**

Hard to believe that in the last eight months we have been entrusted to the growth of this little one... And in eight more weeks we will more than likely have met them... seen their little face and touched their little hands and feet. I am completely overwhelmed at how much they are already loved and how much we are about to be responsible for. Can't wait to see just who they look like, and what adventures they will take us on... One thing is for certain, our lives will never be the same!

Brett's birthday

Today my sweet husband turns 35...
No one on this earth makes me laugh as much, frustrates me as much, loves me as much, spoils me as much, or has enough patience to deal with me :) I certainly don't deserve to have him in my life, but am certainly grateful to have him as my best friend and soul mate.
Happy birthday Brett!

Guilty as Charged

"If we distance ourselves long enough from real needs, we replace them with those that aren't. Pretense becomes the new real and suddenly a delay in the delivery of our new couch becomes a terrible upset. We are wise to force ourselves to keep differentiating between simple inconveniences and authentic tribulations. The more detatched and self-absorbed we become, the more we mistake annoyances for agonies. It happens to all of us."
-Beth Moore "Esther. It's Tough Being a Woman"

LIfe is just hard...

...for no reason at all.
-Remember the Titans
Any prayers on behalf of Benji & Rebekah for the blessing of their daughter Gracie would certainly be apprectiated.
Instead of typing out the details I'll simply send you to http://www.thebenjamites.blogspot.com/
Our prayers are with you...

The little one....

Here is our ultrasound pic from 21 weeks (I'm currently 24 weeks pg). {Sorry for the delay!}
For those who don't know, we aren't finding out what we're having, so if you see something in this pic, you're better than the technician :) At this point we are just grateful to have a healthy baby with a four chambered heart, intact kidneys, and split brain (yes, I'm a medical geek). Looking forward to meeting this chiciringo!
{strangely enough, this post is for my Mom, who flew out to Cuba for some sun and relaxation today and won't see this for a week... sorry Mom!}
And a special shout out to my friend Carissa for scanning the pics... you rock girl!

The Holidays - Canadian Style

Maple Leafs vs. Penguins in Mellon Arena. Driving through snow storms. Presents. Mincemeat tarts. Wearing multiple layers in frigid temps. Snow, snow, snow. Rain. More snow. Christmas crowds. Cafe Mocha. Climbing through snowbanks to find the car at the mall. Nanamo bars. Christmas movies. Giving. Family. Love. Excitement. Opening stockings. Hot tea. Cranberry pudding. Christmas Vacation. Turkey soup. Canasta with Grandma. Mary Brown's taters. Skating. Laughing. Carter Christmas. Wi Bowling. Breakfast at Cora's. Baby Mitchell presents. Swiss Chalet. Snow tubing. Hot chocolate. Frost bitten toes. Days in the car. Christmas holidays 2008.

at Mellon Arena

Yeah baby!!

Samantha & Cole

Cole & Judy

Yes, it's true
the Ontario sister: holds the wall while skating...
the Alabama sister: not a chance!!

cheerleader pose!!

love this pic of Samantha..

Brett & Cole

Who doesn't need help getting their skates off?

The Carter/Smith girls
Jennifer, Janette, Kathy, & Judy

Mom bowling!

This is truly a photogenic moment...
Mom & Auntie Erma showing Dad & Uncle Vern (the techies) how to use the Wi remotes :)

I love how Davis is peeking up into this pic!

New Years Eve: the chalet at Snow Valley
I love how this turned out blurry - that's how tired we all were after tubing out in the cold!

Celebrating, celebrating

As of today we've been a part of eachother's lives for 17 years.
There are no words to adequately describe just how much I love and respect this man. I simply can not imagine my life without him in it, or imagine a more suitable partner to get to journey beside through this life.

Highschool sweethearts.
Best friends.
Soulmates.
17 years knowing eachother.
10 years of marriage.
6 months until our little family becomes 3....

Headin' to Starbucks

Today Starbucks is donating to the Global Fund to help save lives in Africa in support of World AIDS Day. So head on over and get your favourite latte, coffee, chai tea. Doing good never tasted better.

Happy Thanksgiving

In my pitiful attempt at a blog update, here are a few pics of our State Park visits this fall...

Oak Mountain

Brett thinking he is pretty clever
"Why don't you get out of the canoe and get a picture of those trees?"
And when I turn back around, he is 20 ft away from the shoreline... haha!

We went one afternoon to Oak Mountain and rented a canoe, which we haven't done in FOREVER!
Being in the stern of a canoe with Brett behind me is one of my absolute favourite places to be!

Radnor Lake, Nashville

Karen & I

Derek, Timothy's legs, Karen, Brett and I
We were fortunate to spend a morning hiking at Radnor with dear friends of ours one Saturday in Nashville. The extra bonus is that Timothy will be quiet the whole time he's in the sling :)
{And we got to hang out with some of our favourite people!}