Crazy Busy… But Fun Labour Day Weekend

Matt and I were lucky enough to both have a 4 day long weekend – so we packed as much in as we could.  For the last little while we have been doing some redecorating at our place.  Nothing too drastic – just some repainting for the most part.  My brother, who was doing the painting, finished up in our rec room on Friday while Matt, Alex and I ventured to Ikea.  I could spend hours in that store – there is just so much cool stuff.  We went there to go get a new tv console because last weekend we gave in and purchased…  a 46″ plasma tv (and a PS3)!  Ikea is about 90 minutes away so there is always a question as to how Alex will react.  He was perfect on the way there and slept most of the way – but the way home was a different story.  He cried and cried which was weird since it was his normal nap time and usually falls asleep in the car no problem.  Eventually he slept for about 20 min.  We also bought a new shelving unit to organize the crazy toy situation that has grown in our rec room.  When we have pictures back up on the walls I will take pics.  I rented a carpet cleaner that day too and cleaned the carpets to make the room extra fresh. 

Saturday however we woke to a nasty surprise.  Poor Mason must have gotten into something because he had been sick 7 times on the freshly cleaned carpets.  Thank goodness we still had the carpet cleaner!  My poor boy was out of sorts all day getting sick on and off and really just laying around.  He looked so uncomfortable.  Saturday night I actually gave him Pepto to ease his tummy and it seemed to work because by Sunday morning he was back to normal.  Poor guy. 

Sunday morning Alex and I went on a bike ride to a different park than our regular one, and he had a blast!  Last time we were there he could hardly walk – now he was running all over!

Saturday and Sunday we put the room back together and things look pretty sweet.  Now we just need new leather furniture…  Has anyone ever bought leather from Ikea?  We found a set there we liked, but it seems weird buying that sort of item at Ikea, usually everything comes dismantled in a box.  We had to show it off and had some neighbours over for dinner and drinks Sunday night.  It was lots of fun.  The girls chatted.  The guys played Tiger Woods Golf.  The night went way too late (3am) and we paid the price this morning.  Thank goodness Matt let me sleep in a bit – I really needed it (red wine headaches are the worst!).

Today to celebrate Labour day we just vegged during the morning and this afternoon we went to a local hiking area called the Old Grove.  It is one of my fav places  to go in the Fall  – the only downfall is that it is located beside the city sewage treatment plant so it can get a little smelly….  Alex loved the walk and got to explore a bit.  My favourite picture is the one with him holding my hand – love it!

My Boys

Me and my Little Man

Survived!

Well I survived my first day back to work.  I woke up early so that I could spend time with Alex this morning, give him his morning milk and cereal… but he slept in!  So more time to drink my coffee and get dressed which was nice.   When I left the house, he was in the front window waving goodbye – that was so sweet – but heart breaking too!  Guess I better get used to it.  I was greeted at work with a lovely bouquet of welcome back flowers from my supervisor – Thanks David – and within 10 minutes I was already working on restoring the downed phone system.  Luckily I remembered all my passwords and the day went pretty smoothly.  I am extra lucky that we live so close to work, so I could go home for lunch.  When I arrived, Alex was feeding himself spaghetti… a real mess as I’m sure you can imagine - so I put on an apron and cleaned him up and had a good cuddle.  Then I read to him and put him down for a nap.   Alex seemed excited to see me after work - but not as excited as I was to see him! 

You really do cherish the minutes you do spend with your child even more  when you don’t get to see them all day.

First Day of Summer

Every year Matt’s extended family throws a father’s day bbq and golf game for the guys and this year it was held in Bayfield – a little village on Lake Huron.  Matt’s Grandma has a cottage just off the bluff and you can see the lake – it is just lovely there.  When we left home the sun was out, the day was hot – but as we got closer to the lake it was cooler and overcast – and we really didn’t dress for that!  It was a very nice get together – we had sausage on a bun, salads, and just socialized until the guys went golfing.  I took Alex for a nice long stroller ride hoping he would nap – but nope – he only slept for about 45 minutes on the drive to the cottage.  By the time we left at 7pm, he was walking in his sleep!  I did go down to the beach with Alex and Matt’s brother Andrew and his family.  It was Alex’s first time on the beach – quite fitting for the first day of summer I think.  There are ALOT of stairs going down to the water from the beach access, so luckily I have been hitting the gym and trying to jog a couple of times a week because carrying a 24lb little guy up and down is a real workout!

Matt's Mom giving Alex a sip of water

Kylie helping Alex play in the sand

Ohhh... Water!

Alex and I

Happy Summer!!

What a Day!

Today started out wonderful – Alex slept until 7:45!! He had a little cry around 6:15, but within a few minutes he was sound asleep – sorry – I know some of those reading are having sleep issues with their little ones – I’m sure my day will come!

Last night we installed some new appliances from my Brother in Law (they moved and didn’t want the ones in the house – even though they are literally less than a year old) – and since the dishwasher had never been used we ran 2 empty cycles last night to ensure everything looked and worked fine.  At the time it did…

However when we woke up this morning we noticed a little water around the bottom of the cupboard beside the dishwasher…

When Matt went downstairs to see how much water had actually leaked we discovered the drop ceiling was almost bursting in spots!  So, lots of water had dripped.  Turns out the flex hose for the water in-take was never tightened, and it dripped A L L night long.

So luckily Matt’s parents are retired and they came over to give us a hand – Matt had to work, and I had Alex, so we were not much use.  They brought over a shop vac – and I vacuumed up the water in the basement – but didn’t realize I had to remove the dry bag inside… oops! 

So the only real damage is the drop ceiling – 8-9 tiles need to be replaced.  We were pretty lucky – the drip came down right beside our fuze ball game, also none of the signed Montreal Canadiens pictures that I’ve collected for Matt were damaged (phew!).

Let’s hope tomorrow brings no surprises!

Sick

After almost 2 months of being cold free – Alex and I have been beaten up by a nasty bug.  It started Friday night, Alex was up about 5 times, then Saturday came the runny nose and cough, and major FUSSINESS.  He wouldn’t nap, so I took him for a long walk in the Ergo, 5 minutes in he was out for count.  Luckily it was nice and warm out so I could stroll around the neighbourhood for a good long while.  But then once again on Saturday night, he was up quite a few times.  Sunday, same thing – but the runny nose wasn’t quite as bad.  Again, no afternoon nap – and it was too windy to try to walk, I think he went down for about an hour max.  But the big thing happened later that day – he took one full step on his own!  Not to me or Matt, but to Matt’s mom, but she had some timbits, so it was understandable   Last night was just as bad – except, I now had the cold too.  Sore throat, runny nose, head ache – I really hope Alex didn’t have the sore throat – I’m not sure if Motrin will help that.  Today I had to cancel our first family photo session because I really didn’t think it would be fair to Alex (or me!).  We have it rescheduled for Thursday afternoon – I really hope things will be better for us all by then.  

But today Alex took 3 STEPS TO ME!!  Yeah!! 

So now he has been napping for 90 minutes so far, I’ve been trying to sleep, but that wasn’t working, so here I am.   And here is a picture of us Friday night… before the sickness began…

Great… but BUSY Week

I think this is going to be a Great Week!

Monday
- Matt was off, so we go to spend more family time together – Yeah!

Tuesday
- I have been asked to do a little database work for a colleague so that will keep me busy – and I’ll make a little spending money.
- Alex had play time with his Grandma and cousin while I stepped out for a few minutes
- I am meeting with my book club for the first time!

Wednesday
- I get a cut and colour – FINALLY!  2.5 months is way to long to go without a cut – or a colour!  I look like a skunk with a mullet – not good.

Thursday
- I’m travelling to Beamsville to meet up with 3 other mommies and their little boys from Korea – it will be LOTS of fun! So long as Alex sleeps while I’m driving…
- Grey’s Anatomy is on! It better be a new one.

Friday
- It is supposed to be 18C – perfect walking weather – what else can I say!

Saturday
- We are going to take Alex for his FIRST haircut!  He also is well overdue!
- We need to do some shopping for our FIRST family photo shoot on Monday – we need to match – silly I know!

I hope your week treats you equally as well.

Tagged!

I’ve been tagged by Kerry!  So here it goes!

The rules are: 1) Answer the questions, on which you trade one less nice question by a new one and 2) add a new question.

What’s my obsession at the moment:
Trying new recipes.

What am I wearing right now:
Jeans &  a brown golf shirt – but I don’t golf.

Who did I gave a hug, the last time:
My little boy, just before nap time.

What I would change:
My hair!

What I’m eating tonight:
“Easy Chicken and Broccoli Divan” a la Campbells

My last purchase:
Purchase??? I wish I could buy something for myself!  Actually I did buy the 1st Rocky movie on dvd for $4.99 last week.  Prior to that… Coldplay tickets!

To which sound I’m listening at the moment:
The hum of my computer and Alex babbling in his crib – he should be sleeping!

Favorite weather:
Warm fall days

My goal:
To be a super mom, wife, friend, and librarian.

What I’m definitely going to do in this life:
To raise this little boy to be a strong, well rounded man.

Say something to the person who tagged you:
Kerry, you are a very strong woman!  Thank you for all of your support through our adoption!

Favorite vacation spot:
New York City or Montreal

Favorite tea flavor:
Library Tea from Murchies in Victoria BCThe book I’m reading right now:
Watermelon by Marian Keyes

What’s giving me a lot of pleasure but at the same time guilty feelings:
Watching Young and the Restless….

The last quote that impressed me:
“And just like that, everything is new, different, and better than you imagined”  Hallmark

Which quality I’d like to have:
I’d love to be sporty – but alas I am not.

What am I waiting for:
To stop being so tired!

What was the last thing you have won:
A sock dog from Homemade by Jill

What would your perfect day be:
Going for a nice long walk with Matty and Alex, eating a good meal, and crafting.  Ending it off by reading a great book and getting some sleep.  Oh yeah – and Alex sleeping through the night!

And I’ll pass my tag to..

Christine and Lisa!
yes, you!

Celebrate!

Today I’m celebrating!  What are you celebrating you ask?

Well…

1. It is a beautiful warm day today.
2. As of today there have been 1000 comments on our blog!! 
3. Alex is getting yet ANOTHER tooth!  His 7th – this one is on the bottom.

How am I celebrating?

I’m giving away one of my Wacky Weirdos!  It can be one of my frogs or rabbits – in blue, purple, green or pink.

How can you win?

Visit my etsy shop, you can see the frogs and “wabbits” and leave a comment on this post as to animal you would like and the colour.  Also in your comment be sure to leave a reason why you are celebrating today!

On April 1st at 12noon I will make a draw by random number generator for the winner!

Good luck and happy celebrating!

Ouch!

This morning Alex and I went power walking with a neighbour and her 3 month old at the local indoor track.  We power walked for an hour straight – with the babes in our carriers.  I don’t know what I did, but I should have stretched before walking.  By the 45 minute mark I had the worse pain behind my right knee – and that was at 9:45am.  It is now 10:11pm – and it is still there!  The Ergo carrier was great – no strain on my back from carrying a 22+lb baby for that long – but I don’t know if the weight had anything to do with my muscle strain.  Let’s hope it doesn’t cramp up tonight!  Matt… I need a massage!

Anyhow – here are some new Alex pics from today to make me smile!

Yep – walking with toy assistance! He is so happy and proud of himself when he does it!

Today’s Ups and Downs

Today has been a bad day – but it has also been a great day in so many ways.

The Bad:

• Alex woke up at 6am… cried on and off until 6:30 when I got up to get him – I know, bad mommy – but honestly he was in and out of sleep for that half hour – and playing with his stuffed animals.
• Decided to make banana pancakes for Matt, Alex and I – first the flipper broke in half, then the pancakes burnt, then the smoke alarm went off – all before 7am
• I was all moody and cranky after that and let it out on Matt – sorry sweetie – I love you!
• Mason broke Alex’s new rubber ball – my fault though – shouldn’t have let him play with it too…
• Alex had a real nasty diaper… and it got on my fingers… yuck!
• He then didn’t want to go down for his well needed nap

The Good

• I started my new fitness regime – I’m going to the gym once a week (I know that is not enough – but before that it was once a month – so this is much better!).  Matt’s mom is watching Alex every Tuesday morning for me so that I can go – Thanks Pat!  It felt good to go – even though I was there for only an hour.  I was the only one there – so no waiting in line!
• I got the first book for a bookclub I’ve joined!  Will talk more on that later
• Alex and I went to the Perth East Public Library to visit the lovely ladies there – and they gave Alex an amazing gift!  A huge backpack full of toys, clothes – and of course – BOOKS!
• Had pizza for supper – oops – that goes against the new healthy living pledge Matt and I have made
• Alex and I went to a Tupperware party tonight!  I know – another one… I think this is the 4th one since mine in August!  Got a set of snack containers and a small fridgesmart container.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings