Stuff of the week

I have just a few minutes to do a post, so it won't be coherent, just some random things that have happened:

1. Our vacuum broke. Rather than figure out how to get it fixed, we decided to purchase a new, somewhat nicer vacuum. It was on sale at Canadian Tire (for you Americans, this is a huge chain store in Canada, and a little hard to describe – they have a little bit of everything), and I don't think it cost much more than our old vacuum, but the difference in suction power is pretty amazing. It is a Shark brand. So far so good.

2. Maren is getting quite strong. She has developed some excellent head control:

We think she might have grown about an inch in the past week. She was measured when she had her shots, and measured in the 50th percentile, and then ten days later was measured at a doctor's appointment and was in the 98th percentile. I don't trust that she was necessarily measured properly either time, but we have seen a fairly sudden change in which clothes fit her. It is kind of amazing just how quickly she can grow!

3. We all have a cold. I'm not naming names, but someone in our household does not have the best habits related to washing his hands after being around people who are sick. Fortunately the rest of us do not seem to have gotten the cold quite as badly.

4. We finally got around to decorating our Christmas tree. For the first time ever, we have an artificial tree. There were many reasons for deciding to go with an artificial tree this year, including the fact that we wanted a tree at the end of November for the Loucks family Christmas and wanted the tree to stay up through Christmas day, and the fact that Christmas trees aren't actually grown anywhere near here, so they are shipped from very far away and are both not so fresh and not so environmentally friendly because of it. So we bought a fake tree, which has LED lights that can be either white or multicolored, which is pretty neat. In the past week we have finally decorated the tree, and it is looking pretty good.

5. My sister and brother-in-law are going to be visiting this week, arriving late tomorrow night. It will be their first trip to Regina and their first time meeting Maren, so we are all looking forward to it!