Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our little family to yours! This holiday season, may you enjoy the greatest gift of all - the gift of love and family!

On Christmas Eve, Santa personally came to visit Arabella. She was a little skeptical at first, because he sounded awfully familiar 😄

"You've been a very brave and strong girl this year", said Santa. "Your entire family is so proud of you!"

She had a big smile on her face. And before he left, Santa dropped off lots of presents under the tree!

For mom and dad, Santa had already delivered their present a long time ago. Here's that wonderful present again in the Santa sack 😁

We've been loving this present all year long...

Much like these Christmas lights, Arabella shines and lights up our world.

The faces she makes sometimes are absolutely priceless. 

I can't imagine a better gift this year. Mom and dad are truly grateful for all the blessings they've received.  

And best of all, we had a lot of snow here in the Greater Toronto Area. It's going to be a white Christmas! 

A white Christmas, just like the ones we used to know...

So from our family to yours, may your days be merry and bright...and may all your Christmases be white!

Happy 10 months

Arabella's excited to have turned 10 months old! We're into double-digit territory, baby!

She's certainly a happy little elf, isn't she? And Christmas is just around the corner...

She's the only present Kiera and I asked for this year...

And boy, did Santa deliver!

This is one package that was handled with extra love and care. Express shipped direct to our hearts! 💗

There's a whole lot of Christmas cheer at our house this year. And it's easy to see why...

It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Happy 10 months Arabella!

Back to work for dad

Last week dad went back to work. Almost 10 months after Arabella's birth. It's hard to imagine that it's been so long. 

It was a pretty smooth transition, though. It felt like I was back at work after a very long, long, long weekend 😄. I received a warm welcome back, and funny enough, it was the week of many Christmas parties and team events. Needless to say, not a lot of work got done! 

It's the absolute perfect time to go back to work. Everyone is in a great mood, the holidays are almost here, and people are filled with the Christmas spirit as they look forward to taking time off from work. 

"When are you coming home, dadda?" reads a text message from mom. "Catching the 3:43 train", I reply. 

Usually I'm home around 4:30pm, and I can't wait to get through the door so I can kiss and hold Arabella. It's the best part of my day. 

Leaving work early means getting up early, though, so that I can be at work a little after 7am. 

It means getting up at 5am, eating a quick breakfast, warming up Bella's food, and running her feed while she sleeps (via the gravity bag). Then I get myself ready as her milk slowly drips into her tummy. 

Kiera, on the other hand, has to help by taking care of the 11:30pm and 2:30am feeds - which can be very tiring since the feeds themselves can go for 45 minutes sometimes. It doesn't leave her much time for quality sleep in between, but it's the best we can do for now. Eventually we'll be able to take out the 2:30am feed, and that will mean a better night's rest for mom. 

It's not easy being away from Belle during the day, but it's really not as bad as I imagined. After 6 months of hospital stays, and 4 months of being at home with her every day, I'm obviously very attached. But knowing that Kiera's home with her puts my mind at ease. Besides, it was about time to get back to "normal".

Back to reality...

When I really think about it, I'm lucky to have gotten so much extra time away from work. I was able to focus better, support my wife during an emotional roller-coaster, and be there for my little girl when it mattered most. How many fathers out there get to have as much time as I did? 

I couldn't fathom not being there for my family. And during Belle's hospital stay I noticed just how many moms were doing it by themselves, going through it alone. People are faced with different circumstances, we realized, and not everyone has the kind of support system that we do. 

Here's Arabella enjoying the big bath. She has so much fun kicking and splashing the water. 

Arabella's slowly growing up and becoming more aware of everything around her. She knows what she likes, and what she dislikes. For the most part she's calm and quiet, and rarely has moments of fussiness. 

She smiles constantly, makes faces, and loves eye-contact and attention. If she's acting out, all she needs is someone to pick her up and hold her. She's instantly back to being calm. She's an absolute darling, and both Kiera and I are over the moon for her. She's the best 💗