Isabelodie | Category Archives: Elodie

I’m a bit late on the post, but we recently had a visit from Craig and Katie! Katie arrived first to attend a conference in town, and then a few days later we received a Craig as well. We took them, most importantly, to the playground a number of times, but we were also able to take some strolls around the neighbourhood, visit the St. Albert Farmer’s market (and playground) and spend some time in the backyard BBQing and splashing in the wading pool. We were so happy to have them out to meet the new addition, and they even helped Belle and Elodie make a fantastic Father’s Day brunch for me. All in all a fantastic visit, and we hope they come back soon!

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June 7, 2012 by Isabelle and Elodie

The St. Albert Children’s Festival

We’d heard from a few different sources that the St. Albert (a small community north of Edmonton) Children’s Festival was definitely worth the admission and drive, so last Friday we headed up for the morning. We almost went to one of the main shows, but instead settled for simply exploring the festival at large, and visiting the Telus Toddler Town, figuring that Belle’s attention span might not last for one of the larger shows. It seems like we made the right decision, because she only lasted half the puppet show that was happening in Toddler Town , though the rubber ball and crafts areas held her attention for the rest of the show. Also to be found at the festival were playgrounds, kettle corn, stilt walkers and mini-donuts, so we all had a great time exploring and eating. We also checked out a bridge that one of the Canadian Forces Engineering units set up specifically for the show, as well as the muskrat that happened to be swimming under it as we crossed. It was a great morning of entertainment and terribly delicious snacks.

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May 30, 2012 by Isabelle and Elodie

Around and About in May

We’re settling in to life as a family of four, and here are some pics from around the house and at the indoor playground. Currently we’ve adopted a “divide and conquer” strategy, as Michelle looks after most of Elodie’s needs, while I keep Belle busy, and it’s working out well.
In terms of Belle adjusting to the new invader, she constantly wants to kiss, hold or rock Elodie, so that’s a relief. Unless she’s just lulling us into a false sense of security before she mails her sister to Australia or Tibet while we aren’t looking. We wouldn’t put it past her.
In terms of us adjusting to the new invader, things are going quite smoothly. Michelle gets the vast majority of the nighttime work, however Elodie seems fairly content to simply feed, then fall back asleep. That was not our experience with a previous child, though we won’t name names. Other differences between the two girls are that Elodie won’t take a soother, doesn’t like to be swaddled and does like to be cuddled. It will definitely be tons of fun to what differences they have in personality as they get older.
In terms of the pics, the wine is the traditional 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Michelle receives from her father for delivering him another grandchild, and the rest are mostly us trying to sleep with children draped over us.

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May 30, 2012 by Isabelle and Elodie

Fun in the Sun in May

May in Edmonton has been great! Not only did we gain a new baby, but the weather has been fantastic. Whether it’s the horse show, the farmer’s market (where Belle got her balloon elephant) or the local playground, we’ve been out and about having a great time. Even with other trips and gymnastics, Isabelle has been going to the playground almost every day, sometimes twice in a day. For really hot days, the playground also has a spray park, and we’ve set up our little inflatable pool here in our backyard, so it’s summer livin’ in May here in Edmonton.

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May 21, 2012 by Isabelle and Elodie

A Visit from Guy and Shirley

As mentioned in the last post, as soon as Guy and Shirley heard that Elodie was on her way, they peeled rubber out of town and headed this way. They arrived Friday afternoon and we celebrated both their, and Elodie’s, arrival.
They also brought some serious garden and building know-how, as well as the generous donation of many garden and building tools. After some post-drive recovery time spent visiting and catching up, Guy and Shirley leapt into action. Shirley started cooking, weeding and Belle distracting (very important, that last one), while Guy started finishing off the fence around our yard, to be followed by the gate (pics in the next post). I was able to start the yardwork, put up shelving in our storage room and put together a new patio set. On Mother’s Day, we had a great brunch and finished off the day with Halibut steaks on the BBQ.
We had an amazing time with them, and we really can’t thank them enough for coming out to visit. We finished a ton of things around the house, gained a complete fence and custom gate, loads of tools for the house and yard, a fully-stocked freezer, lots of great wine and Belle, as always, absolutely adored having her grandparents around.

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May 16, 2012 by Isabelle and Elodie

Welcome Elodie (and Madeline)!

So here are the details of how it all went down! We’d been alerted to the fact that my sister and her husband had headed off to the hospital at around one in the morning on May 10th, so while we were focused on an imminent baby in Winnipeg, it turned out that Elodie wasn’t going to be left behind. At around 8:30am, Michelle started to feel some pretty strong regular contractions. I thought she looked exactly like she did when we had Isabelle, so I suggested we head over to the hospital. Michelle hemmed and hawed, but we headed off to the hospital. They eased just a little as soon as we got in the car, so Michelle decided we should head back, so we did. Michelle grimaced through more contractions at home, and I suggested we just head in and get checked out, but Michelle decided she should hop on the elliptical, to really get things going. She hopped on the elliptical downstairs and I took Isabelle to the playground to wait. Half an hour later, we got the call, headed home from the playground and off we went to the hospital.

While Michelle breathed through her contractions, Belle watched Sesame Street or wandered through the hospital with me until 3:30pm, when our friend Shaz picked her up. She spent the night hanging out with Shaz and Matt and their dog Zoe at our place (thanks SO much, guys!).

Around 4:00pm, the doctor broke Michelle’s water and at 5:50pm, Michelle started pushing. Elodie Reine Armstrong arrived at 6:19pm, weighing 8lbs and 7oz! We found out a little while later that Madeline Lou Gregson had arrived two hours and eighteen minutes earlier! Cousins with the same birthday!

Elodie’s name is pronounced just like “Melody,” but without the “M.” We picked it just because we loved it (and it helped that it’s French). Her middle name is pronounced like “Raina,” and she’s named for one the most beautiful places we’ve ever been, as well as for Michelle’s Norwegian heritage (through her mother’s side). Here’s a picture of Reine, Norway:

Anyway, back to the hospital. We spent a surprisingly restful night (at least compared to our first night with Isabelle!) in our room, and in the morning I picked up Belle for a quick trip to the playground, and then to the hospital to meet her new sister. We arrived around 11:00am, to find that we were cleared to head home! We introduced the sisters, then gladly headed home to find food, coffee and wine that had been left for us, courtesy of Alisa and Bryan (thanks, guys!).

Michelle folks had been planning to drive out that day, but on Thursday, as soon as they heard that Elodie was imminently arriving, they packed up the van and peeled rubber out of Langley. They spent the night in Kamloops and thus we able to arrive mid-afternoon, and instead of late that night, and the extra support was much appreciated!

As births go, everything went extremely well! We’re so grateful for the support and congratulations from all our friends and family, so thank you so much, and we can’t wait for you all to meet little Elodie!