Expat Travels : From Switzerland to Canada

A Visit From the Parents

2012-01-31T14:40:00.004-08:00

A lot has happened since the last post. I've had a birthday, became a Canadian Citizen and said hello and goodbye to both sets of parents. I survived 3 or so days of the flu without cold meds and am busy walking Cammie around the house.

Here are a few photos to top off the month. Next is the countdown until I'm back at work again. Trying to just enjoy every moment before I'm back again.

A beautiful morning to becoming a citizen

Taking the Oath

One giant grin on my birthday.

hiding in the basket

Cousins with matching new sweaters.

getting hit by a snow storm or two.

Keeping busy with Grandma and Grandpa

Taking some walking laps with G'ma

Just so squeezable and cute!

Ready to go swimming!


having fun in the pool.

Now I need to finish up the little loose ends and enjoy my last few days before work starts again.

New Happenings

2012-01-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

The year started off with my happiest hobby, photography. Except I wasn't the photographer but more like the subject of the photograph. But that's okay because we took our larger family photographs. I'm glad we did it on New Years Day because it's an easy date to remember.

And the year is already just flying by. I'm trying to enjoy every last bit of my maternity leave as well as get ready for the birthday extravaganza week. January 7th was a birthday party, my nieces bday is on the 10th, followed by my big day on the 12th, followed by my nephew on the 13th..

It's been harder to even get on the computer as Cammie is now a hold onto mom kind of walker or a pick me up kind of gal, followed by a I don't need to nap kind of attitude. It's all good practice for next month and day care!

Then we just wait until March which gives me a month to adjust to my new back to work schedule..

Here are a sampling of our portraits we took. It's our first one done as a family and we love them!

The cousins are so cute together!

Our family of 3!

Our cute crawler

All smiles, what she does best!

Next stop, MIL leaves and my parents arrive. I've gotta soak up all of this time I have off before back to work!

A busy Month

2011-12-21T11:20:00.002-08:00

It's been a fairly busy month for us already, so I thought I'd write about a few of the things going on. Cammie's grandmother from Quebec arrived. They had some great times together and will have many more as this is the first time that the entire family (on P's side) will be together. It will be fun for Cammie to finally have her two cousins here for Christmas so that she can learn and grow with them.

With her big cousin who loves to babysit.

The three cousins

On the 9th, I wrote my Canadian Citizenship test. Ended up receiving my response on the 19th that I will be taking the oath for Citizenship early next year, the day before my birthday. P will attend the ceremony with me and hopefully I'll have a photo to show for it.

On the 10th, we brought her to see the only stranger she is supposed to talk to. She cried. Oh well, we were hoping our anniversary would be a bit more thrilling than that.

On the 16th, Cammie turned 9 months old already. That means, I'm less than 2 months away from going back to work, boo! :-( Where does the time fly? She's busy crawling like she belongs in the army. We are still working on the normal crawling but in the mean time, she sure is getting some swimmer lats on her as a result of all of that pulling. She's also learned how to play chase and is starting to learn how fun it is to ride on her new car.

We finally replaced our not so kid friendly furniture with pieces we both really like. We aren't convinced it's much safer but at least it looks great in the house. P and I have been eating healthier, a lot healthier I should say. Enough that my mother in law complained that we were on a diet. We aren't, we've just switched our eating habits to include no processed carbs of any kind. It's made a huge difference already.

I'm getting this crawling thing

I just woke up for what???

Oh this nice looking guy made me cry!

Wishing everyone a happy winter solstice and happy Christmas holidays.

Our Anniversary

2011-12-13T11:00:00.001-08:00

On December 10th, we celebrated 6 years of marriage. It's hard to believe that I've been blogging longer than that! Even harder to believe that I've been in Canada some 7 plus years already! No we didn't take any interesting photos or do anything exciting that day. I really can't remember all that we did but we did have one visitor, Grandma from Quebec...

One thing I'm hoping to do is curb my addiction to these evil games I keep playing so that I have more time to enjoy what I love more, photography and blogging..

Since I haven't taken that many photos lately, I figured, I'd try to post a photo from our wedding..

We haven't changed all too much!

Next on the agenda, a family photo!

All Things Swiss

2011-12-01T10:17:00.001-08:00

With my love for all things Swiss, I was reminded at how much I love this feature on their Swiss Post site. They've got some great postcards which in my mind you can design for super cheap.

Check these postcards out from the Swiss Post.

I only have a ~~slight~~ huge itch to visit right now!

Citizenship Update

2011-11-29T08:58:00.001-08:00

So I finally received my letter to go take the citizenship test! Yippie. Timeline was April 20, 2010, to Nov 25, 2011. Roughly 17 months waiting.. The better news I'm pretty sure I don't have to renew my perm residence too as it was up to expire soon. More updates to come.

8 Months Already

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our bundle of joy celebrates her 8th month already today. Time certainly has flown and before you know it, I'll be back at work full time again. Cammie keeps growing leaps and bounds every day.

In fact, yesterday she finally got the "dada" sound down. We think she even related it to daddy. She's finally taken off with her start of crawling skills. At first she was very reluctant to even try crawling as she wanted to just sit and play. But we've been focusing on playing on the ground and this time has help her.

In the past month she has learned how to finally go from a sit onto her tummy. She can turn in a 360 or flip from back to front. She can also pull herself up with guidance and love to stand up much more. Her successes come more with her agility and hand eye coordination which she probably gets from her mommy. She's always fascinated by how things work which definitely is something she gets from daddy.

We also love to look out the window and watch the world outside. Mommy was the same way when she was little. She even seems to do this when she's in her high chair. Cammie seems to know what she wants when she eats, which can be a little aggravating for us. She's eating a lot more but seems to choose her foods even before they land on her tray. At least she's eating a lot more and is showing more interest in eating unlike at her 6 month mark.

And lastly she's a talker. We've always known this as she was babbling away at 2.5 months. When she recognizes someone she loves to shout "Ha" in a very cute manner as well as babbling more than "Mamamama" since this past week.

She also know got to meet her cousins who moved to town within the last 2 weeks. We are lucky to have family around and so excited to be able to see them a lot more.

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks.

I love sitting on mommy's chair with my tooth brush.

I'm very strong

Mom I'm crawling, it's not fun yet!

I love being puzzled by my tooth brush, which end is really up?

Playing away

Rocking in my tiny car seat that we just grew out of.

Eating. I'm still not so sure about this stuff!

But I know how to wave on command.

My newest Car.

Always in fashion.

Smiling for mommy

Ready to go out in the cold weather.

Daddy pushing me in my car.

Enjoying the rainy day outside with mommy.

Hugging my big cousin!

I've been bad about blogging but at least I do keep the photos coming. We will have a busy December and January before I'm back into the working mode.

7 months and counting

2011-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Cammie turned 7 months old. Boy does time fly! Each day is a day closer to going back to work which I'm not really looking forward to because I could totally take care of her and work from home again like I have done in the past.. We celebrated by having teething issues which seem to be ongoing and have no end in sight as her teeth are not even close to coming in yet.

Here are a few pics of her cuteness.

We still aren't crawling but we sure are comfortable on our tummy and sitting, just as long as it's not during sleeping time.

I'm still behind on our California posts. Hopefully I can catch up soon.

California in a nutshell

2011-10-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

We sure did pack in a lot in our 3 wks visiting California. I've got a lot of projects on my hands right now including of course paying attention to my oh so squeezable love. I had been meaning to get the software dear blogger Ginnie has been using for a few years because like her, I love taking too many photos and just can't decide on a few to post.

Here's the first part of our California Trip in a nutshell, mostly by photos.


The beautiful sunsets of Northern California seen from my parents back yard.

Cammie enjoying the summer weather in the bay area.

Some of our visitors at our huge bbq party. It was so much fun! I even got to meet fellow expat and blogger Debbie as well as seeing many of my old teammates from my swimming years. Now most of them have kids too.

Cammie, Grandma and mom off on some adventures. She just loves to go.

Having fun with Grandpa and Grandma.

Visiting Santana Row

Ah I just loved taking shots of Santana Row. It was so much fun to just window shop and feel like we were in a different world. This place has changed so much since about 15 years ago. It's a whole new place!

Starting our Journey down South with just Cammie, mommy and Grandma in the car.

**Since you guys are curious, the software is called PicNik and it's web based but loving it already.

We Are Back

2011-09-28T09:44:00.001-07:00

While we were gone, I didn't have good internet access so I could only post via Facebook. Will be trying to put up a few photos once I upload them onto the computer. There is always lots to do when you are gone for more than 3 weeks.

Most noticeably was the change in the weather once we returned. In California temps were in the mid to high 80's (30C plus) most of the time. We saw it in California that the weather was changing, but there is nothing like true fall weather in the pacific northwest. It's also so different to walk into your own home again, noticing the familiar smells that you don't notice daily.

Can't wait to post a few photos from our big travels. Here's a quick summary. We started out with a flight from Victoria to SFO, then stayed in San Jose for a week before heading off to Bakersfield. From there we drove to Huntington Beach to visit friends and family. From there we went onto San Diego for a quick look around. It had been over 15 years for me and roughly 35 for my mom. It's amazing how much a town grows up! Then we headed back up to home base and had a few days left before leaving again..

Here are a few quick photos from one of our outings on Sept 12th. That was so much fun to do!

An Adventure Awaits

2011-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

And we are off an another adventure. Can't wait to dive head first into some photography for the next couple of weeks. It should be lots of fun. Will report back with some cool photos I hope!

In the mean time I'll post a photo of my sidekick because she always makes me heart melt!

Brushing her teeth (um what teeth!)

Tummy Time

Showing off my big girl shoes!

I can sit on my own too!

5 Months and Counting

2011-08-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Cammie turned 5 months old already. Where does the time go? Oh don't even get me thinking because that just means I have that much less time until I am back to work next year. But then again..

I love to get thinking...

See Ginnie made me think of my guilty pleasure which has to be dark chocolate and Switzerland. I think the two go hand in hand. I'm still trying to think up of a way to get to Europe SOON. I know this Rhine Getaway link totally makes me go wild which then confirms the fact that my guilty pleasure must be Switzerland.

What is your guilty pleasure?? Here's one of mine - Photos of my cutie.

Miss Cuteness playing

Walks are her guilty pleasure

Play time

I'm in a big girl chair!

I'm smiling for the Camera mom.

Laundry help

All Smiles

A beach Walk

Her other guilty pleasure - haha.

I know as well my guilty pleasure in part is moving. Just like Cammie. She loves to move. We will be moving along next month traveling lots and having lots of fun times ahead. I know I can't wait and I'm sure Cammie will think the same once she's up and moving.

Moving Along

2011-08-09T11:05:00.003-07:00

Well August is already in full swing, and I've pledged to along with a few other moms on doing a 30 day shed. Not sure I'll get too far, but at least I've stepped up my attempts. We are walking every morning if we can and then some. It's always beautiful right along the waters. I figured I'd better enjoy it while we are out of the rainy season anyways! Besides, I really could use a bit of a tan!

Cammie has had some rather big accomplishments since our last post. She's learned out to roll over and seems to want to be an airplane all of the time too. Not sure why, but it's cute! She's also figured out that toes can go in the mouth too. And I had to run and catch it on camera too.

Oh mom, you didn't just take my photo did you?

After rolling over, I'm an airplane, see!

Look that way mom!

Here's a shot from our morning walk while the fog was still around.

Before long, we will be visiting Grandma and Grandpa who are so excited, they started counting down the days until they get to hold their little bundle. Yup, they are smitten for sure!

July is Almost Over

2011-07-25T12:45:00.002-07:00

I feel like it was just the other day that the month of June just started. That's when Cammie started babbling a lot. Now the month of July is ending and well we have experienced a few summer days here while most parts of North America a least have been riding in a heat wave.

We did make it out to try out what swimming was like. I'm very happy to report that Cammie is a natural in the water, dunking her mouth and nose many times and even doing a back float with some help. We hope to keep going back as much as we can too!

We've been able to watch the Annual Thetis Lake swim although this year I opted once again not to touch the lake water. I have a love for pools and seeing the bottom. Cammie is growing cuter every day. It seems just as I need a break an hour or two after she goes to sleep, I just want to hug and cuddle with her more. She's definitely one cute and silly gal.

I'm very happy Tor and Anna got to witness just how smiley, cute and silly Cammie was at a young age. I've been overly tired waking up at very odd hours and haven't felt like gather up photos, but I promise to find a few great ones.

Cammie in her new duck

Cammie waving again that same day July 5th

Cammie loving her bath time

Cammie wearing her Canada sunglasses ready to go out.

I found my keys!

Reading my book

Wow!

Smiling and moving!

Playing Cowgirl Cammie with Daddy.

Cammie and mommy

I'm so ready for a vacation!

We have Visitors

2011-07-20T10:47:00.002-07:00

I need to run right now but if you want to see a bit about who we have visiting, go see this Blogger. We had such a great time visiting each other.

I'm finally getting the hang of my Ipod Touch and fooling around with a few photos, so here are a few shots of what we have been up to since yesterday.

Cammie in her swing this morning.

Beautiful views of Victoria's Inner Harbor

Hop aboard this ship

Mysterious yet beautiful!

All We need is Time

2011-07-08T09:49:00.002-07:00

So it seems that we survived the Canada Day long weekend along with the Fourth of July. We also managed to take Cammie's passport photos and get her passport application admitted into the office since we will be doing some travels in September.

Cammie has been growing so fast and has had some major changes. She's playing with all of her toys (many new ones too) a lot more and has begun to sit up a lot better all on her own. Mostly I still have to hold her up slightly but she is doing it. She also seems to fuss a bit more right now because she is stubborn like her mother and knows exactly what she wants and doesn't stop until she gets it.

She has however begun to accept eating a bottle from time to time. We are 2 out of 3 so far in the last two days. It's not good enough for me since I really wanted to have a half day off doing some volunteering at a race. Hoping we can get better at it though.

Her sleep patterns are getting better thanks to Ginnie's talk with me, but we are still having some hiccups at night. Last night was a nightmare. I knew she would wake up in the middle of the night and I was insistent on not getting her. Well I finally gave in 1 hr 50 mins later when she still hadn't shut up. We can tell it's an attention thing, but she would not go back to sleep. So I fed her and put her back in her bed, and well she fell asleep right away. Ugh, the transitioning sort of isn't working yet.

Here are a few cute photos since the last post. At least I know we've been rather busy.

Maybe I will try to add a few more if I get some more time soon.

Summer Solstice

2011-06-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of summer!

We will be spending our day outdoors.

This is what Victoria's Inner Harbor looked like yesterday.

A Sea Plane starts is approach on the water runway.

A Coast Guard Copter that just landed

Watching the planes take off with a beautiful backdrop.

All that noise generates a sight!

Even Cam Approves!

I'm so glad to be back in walking distance of it again!

What Three Months

2011-06-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, Cam turned 3 months old on June 16th. Time is just flying by! She's really starting to grow in every way. Her sleep or lack thereof is showing for that. Just when we were enjoying nearly full nights of sleep she changed it all up for us. Now we aren't really getting much sleep at all. I'm hoping now that the move, and the visitors have left that things will get back into a normal routine.

For now, we are trying to enjoy our walks in our new stroller down on the water since we live just a 5 minute stroll away. Talk about paradise for momma! I must remind myself to get out and take photos of the beauty!

It's hard not to kiss those cheeks!

Now back to more organizing on the unpacking...

Going Through Visitor Withdrawls

2011-06-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy and very fun week. We had many first time visitors in our new house. I think Cam has so much fun and same with me as I know I'm going through withdrawls. There isn't really anything I can do to make this house seem full of other people all of the time.

Our visitors just 4 days after moving into our house were my parents, or Cam's grandparents. If you didn't think that was enough people for us to enjoy we also sent out Patrick's mother and by brother and sister in law to stay the week as well.

We had lots of walks, lots of fun talking time, and a few dinners. Most of all, I really got to relax and let everyone else hold Cam and entertain her. It was definitely a fun week with a few funny hitches (like the fridge and air vent dying.)

Here are a few photos from our busy week. The part I loved the most was Grandpa and Grandma entertaining Cam in the early morning hours along with taking her on some walks and proudly displaying her.

Grandma's first day back and they were talking up a storm together with tummy time!

Grandma and Cam - She hurt her eye that day. :(

Mommy and Grandpa making sure Cam is okay.

Cam happy as a clam in her new stroller.

Grandpa pushing Cam for a walk.

Enjoying the view on a walk in the inner harbor.

Morning play with Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa and Cam having fun!

Daddy and Cam up to something!

Grandma Claudette enjoying Cam time!

Aunty Marci and Cam coordinated in purple.

Enjoying her time with Grandma

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Marci visit for the first time in Canada.

Aunt Marci and Cam

Grandma gave me a bath, but I'm cold!

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Marci took me to Butchart.

Grandpa enjoying the sunshine on the water.

Mommy and Cam waking up.

Grandma's (yup as in 2 of them) giving Cam a bath.

Grandpa and Cam playing.

Cam and Aunt Marci having a cuddle.

Uncle Jeff and Cam bonding.

Mommy and Cam posing for the camera.

Cam and Grandma resting.

Grandma Claudette enjoying her time with Cam.

Grandma and Grandpa saying bye to Cam. They loved their visit!

P, Cam and Mommy

Mommy and Cam in her first dress.

So you see I was barely holding our sweet little girl for the entire visit. Lots of photos and lots of fun memories!

New News

2011-06-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

So it's June 1st already and time is just flying by. Happy first start of that summer season. Here in Victoria it certainly doesn't feel that way at all. We have had cooler than normal weather with more than average rainfall during the month of May. Wasn't it supposed to be April showers bring May flowers? The flowers are still here but the cooler weather has stayed! I remember right before giving birth, the weather was virtually the same..

So the newest news is that we have finally moved! Yay for us. Cammie gets to have her own room finally as P and I have been living a very minimalistic lifestyle previously and were living in very cramped quarters for the most part.

To top it off, we have enough room for visitors. And when we told family we had enough room, well we really got what we welcomed. Everyone is coming to visit us! So on top of trying to unpack this week, we are getting ready for the family to show up. Cammie will be so thrilled to have attention every moment of the day! So for the next week and a half, both sides of the family will get to enjoy her. Hopefully I can upload a few great photos of Cam and I on here since I will have more people taking photos.

And then the next month, we get special visitors from Norway. Never a dull moment in this house right now. To top it off, I'm pretty sure I am getting close to claiming my Canadian Citizenship. Yup, that's right. I gotta get on that studying every now and again soon! Quite possibly I could be one in another month? Who knows...

Here are some of the photos of little Cam over the past 2 wks. She has grown so much in that time! She learned how to laugh, has been able to accept tummy time and overall is trying to talk much more.

Daddy and Cam being silly

Her smile that lights up the world!

Getting on her tummy!

Back from a walk, and looking outside.

Trying to pose for a pic.

Visiting our friends grandson George. They are 6 days apart.

Yay - Tummy time is getting easier for me!

So hopefully next post we will have lots of fun photos to post of life around Victoria as I try to play tourist to my brother and welcome Cammie's grandparents spoiling her on their visit.

2 months old

2011-05-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

Time is flying by as I thought it was just yesterday that we were taking miss Cameron's 1 month photos. She was barely fitting into her 1 month old clothing. Now at two months, she has grown like a weed. Not only has she grown out of those one month old clothes but she is nearly growing out of all of her up to 3 month clothing as well.

I don't want to see my sweet little darling get bigger as she is so cute while she is so small. However, it is super exciting to see her growth changes. She has really started talking to us. She definitely does this when she enjoys what she is doing. She also smiles after waking up, especially in the morning and after her naps. Currently she is in love with her toy box mobile as well as her swing, plus some good daddy time.

She also learned out to doll from her tummy onto her back for the first time. I'm not sure this is a pattern, but she did it for sure, 2 times. She weighed in at 12lbs 12 oz's at her 8 wks shots with 23.5 length.

Here are a few cute shots from yesterday. Time is just flying way too fast! But I am enjoying it.

Having cuddles with Grandmama Claudette.

For some reason blogger distorted this shot. Her shirt says happy, very fitting!

Just before her bath

Bath time

Talking away


She belongs in the middle in every way. Only girl, born in the middle exactly.

The last shot was her reunion for our prenatal class. Ironically all of the babies are boys. She was surrounded in the middle and ironcially born in the middle date to all of them.

6 Weeks Old

2011-04-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is growing up so fast! I am trying to savor all of these little moments when she is so tiny. This week she has learned how to follow us around the house. Her eyes follow us and if we call her, she is starting to figure out to look that way. It's so adorable! She's also very shy when she sees herself in the mirror but recognizes who mommy and daddy are. Her smiles are adorable and she is doing them more and more when she sees us.

Here are a few photos from the last two weeks in which we have gotten out in our Ergo Carrier for a few walks to enjoy the sunshine. Unfortunately I've heard it's supposed to be a cooler May for spring. Since I'm starting to feel a bit better, I'm hoping they are wrong and we get lots of sunshine this next month.

Smiling at Daddy After a Bath

On Daddy's lap and having fun!

Some of her odd positions. She was warm and ready to take daddy to work.

Her month photo shoot.

Talking to mommy.

4 weeks Already

2011-04-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our little munchkin is aging so fast. Today marks 4wks since she was born. So far she has picked up the habit of sleeping at least 6 hours at night and eating lots. Tomorrow we will find out her weight I hope. I'm guessing it's at least 12 lbs already and her length is definitely a lot more.

Here are two recent photos of our silly little girl. She's just so adorable, but I guess I'm a bit biased.

What mom?

Vancouver Island is Tops

2011-04-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

According to a new survey with TripAdvisor, Vancouver Island has two of the top 10 beaches in Canada. I'm jumping for joy because I do love the beaches around Vancouver Island, especially in the summer time!

Here's the list: Canada's Top 10 Beaches - Tofino is #1 and Parksville is #3. Along with a few others that are close by like Galiano Island, no wonder why so many people love to visit BC! I think I'm finally getting that spring fever!

She's Growing Fast

2011-04-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Our little Cameron is growing and changing so quickly. Luckily I talked my parents into getting a webcam so that we can chat on demand. It's been fun so far and Cameron is recognizing her grandma's voice already.

Here are a few photos from the past week. She got to meet her great aunt and uncle who just adore here. I have a feeling we are going to have more visitors coming back to see our little peanut.

And She's gaining a lot more head control. P just can't get used to all of her talking in her sleep. It's a riot to listen too!