Talking Myself out of the Tree

LEGO Star Wars Birthday Cake

2012-02-12T18:15:00.003-05:00

A heartbreaking work of staggering miracles

2012-02-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

The past six days have been a whirlwind of the incredible.

On Friday night, the Little Man's Nana called paramedics when his Papa didn't seem to be feeling quite right. They quickly detected that something was going on with his heart and their dispatch directed them to the emergency department of the Heart Institute here in town.

Nana called me and we quickly followed him there, joking a little along the way. I was worried, but didn't think much would come of his trip to the ER.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

By the time we caught up with him he was conscious yet having a massive heart attack. Based on the readings it seemed like a significant blockage and Papa was rushed to the Cath Lab for an angiogram. Sure enough, the main branch of his left artery was completely blocked. The amazing medical staff were able to insert a small wire and balloon into the artery to restore some blood flow and when we saw him again, he was still awake and pain free.

I started to get a little concerned when they said they'd have to get into surgery right away because the blockage was too extensive for stents. But I figured lots of people had bypass surgery and lived to tell about it, so he would be okay too. After all, Papa was young and in good health. He'd never had any issues with his heart or his cholesterol, never smoked or used alcohol in excess.

We settled in for a long night of waiting, touched when the Nursing Coordinator took the time to find us a quiet place to wait and ensured we had water and snacks since everything was closed for the night.

At 7 am the next day, a full nine hours after I'd first gotten the call that something was up, his surgeon came to tell us that while the triple bypass surgery was successful, the damage to Papa's heart was extensive and when they tried to take him off the heart-lung machine, his heart wouldn't beat on its own. More time was spent hooking him up to a temporary external device that would keep his heart beating for him.

We finally saw him later that day, he was heavily sedated (so he wouldn't fight the ventilator or move the device keeping him alive) and the danger now was that his other organs wouldn't survive the loss of blood and oxygen and would start to fail.

Forty eight hours later, when his organs were still doing well, the ICU team sat us down to talk about the next steps. Scans of his heart revealed that it hadn't regained any of the lost function from the heart attack and he would need either a transplant or an artificial heart to bridge him to transplant. The challenge was, while he was a universal donor because of his blood type, he could only receive an organ from someone with the same blood type as him. The team quickly cautioned us that the wait time for a donor heart with his blood type, that was also a match in all other ways, was typically weeks.

We only had another 3-7 days before his physicians would have to do something because the external device would not work indefinitely.

I went home on Tuesday preparing myself for another operation in a few days times, one that would in all likelihood involve an artificial heart. That night I prayed for a peaceful night, with no phone calls or interruptions. I hadn't slept well in over a week . . . between being sick myself, getting up with the Baby Man, the Little Man fighting off a nasty cold coupled with multiple asthma attacks and then Papa's troubles, nobody was sleeping at our house.

At 2 am Wednesday morning the phone rang. Nana was calling to say they'd found a heart for Papa. I immediately starting lifting up the family and friends of the donor in prayer. At 6 am we left for the hospital. We chose to wait at home during the surgery and during that time I attempted to explain a little more about what was happening to the Little Man.

Jake had only one question at the end of my simplified explanation. "Will Papa's new heart come with Jesus already in it? Because new hearts usually don't and so then will we have to Baptize him again?"

At noon we were back at the hospital and at 2 pm the same surgeon who saved his life on Friday night was coming to tell us that the transplant surgery had gone really well and he was very pleased with everything.

We're not out of the woods yet, so if you're the praying kind, we'd sure appreciate yours. And I can't end this post without mentioning how grateful we are to the family of the donor who said "yes". Yes, something good can come from our tragedy. Yes, despite our loss, despite our grief, another family should have hope.

Sign your organ donor card and more importantly (because without the support of your next of kin, your organs cannot be donated) talk to your family about your wishes.

Parenting the second time around

2012-01-31T13:09:00.001-05:00

So with the arrival of the Baby Man, I've discovered the secret to parenting. And if I'm being honest, I have to actually credit my oldest (not because she's old - because technically I'm older - but rather because I've known her the longest) friend, Jill, with this discovery.

Jill, who writes eloquently over at More Than, is a Mom to one four year old and most recently a set of fraternal twins. We were chatting about the those lovely twins a few months ago, even before the Baby Man's arrival when I asked her how things were going.

"Much better", was her quick reply, "especially now that they're sleeping through the night."

Had I not been trapped in the corner of the family room sectional I would have fallen off the couch. Sleeping through the night?! I did some quick calculations and blurted out, "but they've just turned four months old! How can they be sleeping through the night?"

"Two words", she told me, "Benign neglect."

Thus far my only frame of parenting reference had come in the form of an amazing little boy with a whack of allergies and health issues that made for a painful infancy with little or no sleep on anyone's part. For months I had been gearing myself up for more of the same. I figured the chances of the next little guy having similar concerns were pretty good.

So coupled with the knowledge I gained through Jake's experiences and Jill's wisdom, I have to say that parenting this time around has been, well, a pleasure.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Little Man and am so grateful for his presence in our lives, and both the things I learned from him and the ways I grew personally throughout his health challenges. Yet, it's amazing how a severe lack of sleep can seriously impact every aspect of your life, and parenting Jake was not often a pleasure - at least not in the moment.

This time around, instead of stressing about doing what "they" say is right, I'm doing what is right for Noah, for me, for our family. It's refreshingly freeing, being a Mom this time around. I find myself able to really trust my instincts, to relax and enjoy the ride. Of course life isn't perfect or even easy every moment of the day, but deep down . . . deep, deep, deep down, it's peaceful.

Benign neglect.

It doesn't mean I leave him to "cry it out". It doesn't mean I don't promptly change his wet or dirty diapers. It doesn't mean he eats on my schedule rather than his. It doesn't mean he lays in his crib all day with nothing more to look at than a homemade mobile. It doesn't mean we don't rock him to sleep, sing to him, talk to him, hold him, "wear" him or cuddle him.

It simply means, for me, that's it's okay for him to lay on the floor talking to his toys for awhile. It means, for me, that he doesn't always get picked up immediately at the first sound of complaint. It means, for me, that sometimes the Little Man does come before the Baby Man.

Benign neglect. Experience. Common sense. Instinct. Parenting the second time around.

The universe is out to get us

2012-01-18T23:30:00.001-05:00

So this evening, while Mr. Tree was letting his car warm up (it hadn't been driven in over a week), he started gently scraping the ice off the windshield after about a half hour of letting it run. Not long into the scraping the windshield broke into a spiderweb of cracks. Ironically, he hadn't made a dent in the ice.

The "we can fix your windshield in about an hour and we make 24 hour house calls" company can't fix it until Friday. Which means I'm without a car until then because after being home sick for over a week (hence the reason the car hadn't been driven lately), Mr. Tree really needs to be in the office tomorrow.

Surprisingly, I took it all in stride. I don't really have anywhere I want to go, my Mom and stepfather are nearby if we really needed something and between the two boys I'm finding the days pretty busy without trying to run errands before Jake leaves for school at noon.

Then, a few hours later, while trying to navigate my way between Noah's play mat and his bouncy chair, I got my foot caught in the bottom of my yoga pants and fell headfirst into the fireplace mantle. I mean who does that? And how klutzy do you have to be to get your foot caught in the bottom of your yoga pants? Sadly this actually happens to me embarrassingly often. Though usually with less traumatic results.

Ummm, yeah.

Creeping me out

2012-01-17T10:53:00.002-05:00

Clearly Gabby is feeling woefully neglected since Noah's arrival. Typically both cats sleep most of the night, somewhere in our room or just outside the door.

Since the Baby Man's birth, Gabby has taken to sleeping between Mr. Tree and I on the bed, up by our heads. Something she's never done in all her twelve-ish years.

Over the past week though, she's not actually sleeping between us anymore. She just sits there. All night.

Awake. Sitting. And staring. At me.

Edited to add: Today she puked up a hair ball, on my side of the bed, up near my pillows. Definitely not a happy camper.

Bits of Random

2012-01-16T23:13:00.001-05:00

Today I'm happy to bring you a whole bunch of random bits.

Random Bit #1

Based on how quickly my socks are wearing out these days, I'm guessing that I'm on my feet too much. If only my waistline agreed.

Random Bit #2

Watching DC Cupcakes makes me crave cake. I love watching cake shows but this is the only one that makes me want to eat it in abundance. Then again, I'm out of my thyroid medication and I've noticed that when that happens, I want sugar. Cake, in particular. With icing from a can. Because I'm classy that way.

Random Bit #3

Sunday was a huge fail in the whole "have more patience" resolution thing. Coming on the heels of a couple of nights of almost no sleep, the day was doomed from the start. What frustrated me most, was that every time I was about to lose it, I was very conscious that I was making a choice to lose my temper. I felt like I could have walked away, figuratively speaking, but I didn't. I just let it fly. Epic, epic, epic fail.

Random Bit #4

I love great customer service - in fact, as many of you know, poor customer service is my biggest pet peeve. And I'm great at holding a grudge when it comes to poor service - six years ago Bell Canada really messed up big (for the third time) and I'm still sore about it. I've yet to give them a penny of my money since them, directly or indirectly. But I digress . . .

We were given a mamaRoo as a baby gift and I love it. It's not something I likely would have purchased for myself, but the design and function are very cool and Noah is certainly sold on it. Last week it started creaking a fair bit so I contacted the company that makes them - 4moms - and within hours their customer service department had replied and made arrangements to send us a replacement base at no cost to us. It arrived today and works like a charm.

Random Bit #5

The Little Man is still not sleeping through the night more than once or twice a week. He's five and a half and I don't know how much longer we can handle it. Between Noah's night feedings and occasional bouts of sleep-preventing gas, we're already up way too often. Though I feel like we've tried everything with Jake over the years, I'm open to suggestions!

We've slept in his room, slept outside his door, gone with the flow and allowed it to happen, prayed, threatened, removed privileges, co-slept, let him sleep on our floor, and so much more.

Most of the time when he gets up, it's really for not particular reason. No nightmares, no tummy aches, he's not sick or just has to pee. He's crying, but it's a fake cry, for the most part. It's as though he wakes up to pee and then wake up just enough that he's got it in his head that he can't go back to sleep without intervention. Cuddles, songs, back rubbing, etc. Help!

Speaking of not sleeping, the Baby Man is starting to wake up for his next feeding so that's all the random you get for this evening. Thanks, as always, for listening!

Oy vey

2012-01-13T18:40:00.001-05:00

Hopefully it's not contagious. And there's a cure.

2012-01-12T22:05:00.001-05:00

I've got a bad case of the "I have a new baby and I can sit still's". Oh sure, hand me the sleeping baby in the wee hours of the morning (my sleepiest time of day) and I'll collapse on the couch with that sweet smelling head tucked under my chin for hours. But at any other point of the day I find myself unable to sit still.

For example, normally on Thursday nights, you can find me curled up with a bowl of microwave popcorn and a Diet Crush (I know, I know . . . but at least it has Splenda instead of aspartame) to watch Grey's Anatomy.

Instead, as soon as I'm able to put Noah down, either awake and happily talking to his giraffe, or asleep for one of his many daily mini-naps, I'm up and off to do something. Anything.

Check my email, put a load of clothes in the washer, do some dishes, vacuum, feed the cats, make the beds, pop onto Facebook to inquire about allowances for five-year olds, get the bottles ready for the next feed, fold laundry or re-arrange the pillows on the sofa.

Rarely do I find myself doing anything truly useful, like say, eating or bathing.

A few days ago I found myself in the Baby Man's room, rocking him and trying get him to sleep. We're rarely in there for any length of time because he's still sleeping in our room. But I love his room. We spent some time fixing it up before he was born and I love the way it turned out. It's peaceful. And he happens to have the room with the huge window that comes nearly to the floor. Because of that, you can see everything going on outside, even when you're sitting.

So there I was, rocking Noah while staring out the window. And feeling anxious because all I was doing was sitting. And I desperately wanted to be doing something, anything else.

Do you remember when your first little one was that small? And the days seemed to crawl by with agonizing slowness? And you just couldn't wait until the other grown-up walked through the door so you could. put. the. baby. down?

I do. I remember those days well. Especially because the Little Man had so many health issues that he really didn't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time and even then not unless he was in someone's arms or in the car. And then suddenly he was five and I finally understood what people meant when they said that the time goes by so quickly.

I also remembered thinking that because of the struggles we had throughout Jake's infancy, that I got jipped out of that period of time.

And in that moment, while I rocked this new Baby Man while watching the snow falling outside, I relaxed. I felt the peace and rejoiced in the stillness.

Now I just need to remember that throughout the day to day. Peace. Be still.

Because it's hard to be thoughtful and funny with only one hand

2012-01-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Mr. Tree has a horrible chest-cold-infection-thing. I'm living in fear because I'm long overdue for my semi-annual (if that means every other year then that's what I'm going for here) bronchitis/pneumonia thang. I'm downing Cold FX, vitamin C and vitamin D like there's no tomorrow.

The Little Man is also getting sick, though your guess is as good as mine as to what he'll get this time. He's really good at both ear and throat infections so my money's on one of those.

The Baby Man appears to be teething. Yup, seven weeks old and he could fill our pool with his drool, his gums are white and hard as a rock, and he's desperate to chew on anything, all the time. My boy, the overachiever.

Unfortunately for me (and for the tens of people in blogland who stop by from time to time hoping this will be the post that's actually witty and entertaining), Noah wants to be held. No sling, carrier, bouncy chair, swing or mamaRoo will do. It's real people arms or nothing. Oh, and those arms? Well they'd better be in motion, preferably while said person is standing, swaying and/or dancing AND jiggling him.

My back. It's-a-killing me.

And now I must go because although I had the foresight to compose this post in my head prior to typing it out one-handed, Noah is protesting the fact that I've been motionless for 7 minutes and I must start dancing again.

Stayin' alive, stayin' alive . . .

Disclosure: Although Cold FX has become my best friend since the Little Man started bringing home Lord only knows what from school last year, the endorsement above is entirely my own and I'm in no way being compensated for this post. Same goes for the mamaRoo, and their stupendous customer service (ours was creaking a bit and when I emailed to ask about a fix, 4moms responded within hours, indicating they'd be shipping me a replacement part right away). Though I wouldn't object to some sort of compensation . . . because, have you seen this new stroller?!?

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 12)

2012-01-06T20:10:00.003-05:00

- - - 1 - - -

46 weeks and 3 days today. Kidding. If you're just tuning in again, I am no longer pregnant, but rather the proud new owner (?) of a beautiful baby boy. Noah was born on November 23rd, at 40 weeks and 1 day. He's doing marvelously well and we couldn't be happier!

- - - 2 - - -

Noah was baptized into the Catholic faith on yesterday morning and it was one of the most beautiful sacraments I've witnessed. The best moment by far was the huge grin he had on his face as Mr. Tree held him over the Baptismal font right before Father poured water over him.

- - - 3 - - -

The Little Man is working hard at adjusting to life with a sibling. It's been tough on him more times than not, especially after spending five years as an "only". Cries of "can someone please hold Noah so someone else can play with me" fill our days. This week Mr. Tree went back to work after being off since Noah's birth and that's been a whole new adjustment for Jake . . . and me.

- - - 4 - - -

Anyone else out there have a five year old with serious attitude? In our world there was no such thing as the terrible two's or even three's. But oy vey, since the Little Man turned five, life has been a huge challenge. We're not sure if it's the new baby (likely is, at least in part) or what, but wow. The eye rolling, angry tones of voice and grumpy expressions coupled with disobedience are trying my patience something fierce.

- - - 5 - - -

We're still trying to find our groove now that Mr. Tree is back to work, the nanny is working reduced hours, Jake is not yet back to school and the Baby Man is on the scene. Though this time around I've geared myself up for the "only routine with a new baby is the lack of one", I am anxious to figure out somewhat of rhythm that works for everyone.

- - - 6 - - -

Speaking of the fearsome 5's, the Little Man's adjustment to having a little brother, and finding our rhythm . . . I never make New Year's resolutions but this year I decided I really wanted to increase the virtue of patience in my life. Throughout November and December I was repeatedly catching myself losing it with Jake multiple times a day, often in situations where a little more patience and some forethought would be much more helpful.

For example, I would find myself raising my voice at Jake when he didn't respond to me the first time I spoke to him - whether I was asking him a question or trying to stop him in the midst of some sort of disobedient act. I realized that I was always ending my sentences with his name and more than half the time, he didn't hear me or clue in to the fact that I was even speaking to him.

I could save myself a lot of aggravation if I would only start my sentences with his name, followed by a pause to make sure he was listening. Sounds silly, simple and obvious, but it's a real effort for me and just one of the practical ways I'm working on yelling less and being more patient.

- - - 7 - - -

One of the most challenging things for Jake and the new little brother scenario is that he's not very good at playing by himself, even for very short periods of time. He's used to having constant companionship in the form of a parent, a nanny/caregiver or friends at school. Telling him he has to entertain himself while Noah's needs are met results in temper tantrums and/or heartbreaking tears. I've tried to come up with things he can do on his own, but in my presence so he feels less abandoned - a DVD is always his first choice, but it's not mine so we've had to work together to find some other alternatives. I do think it will serve him well to figure out how to be alone with himself.

2011 Blog in Review

2011-12-31T23:04:00.001-05:00

You know how you just seem to have those days, weeks, months and even years that just kick you in the teeth and then steal your chocolate while walking away laughing? This wasn't one of those years. This past year has brought us many changes, but with those changes, many blessings as well.

And so, without further ado, I give you 2011 in a nutshell. But really all I'm doing is linking back to one post from each month. No nuts were harmed in the writing of this recap. Perhaps I need to lay off the eggnog.

I think I wrote my favourite blog post of the entire year back in January. Certainly I have very fond memories of putting the Little Man to bed one night and then listening to him sing to himself with great enthusiasm after I'd left the room.

In February the Little Man brought home his first ever report card and taught his Junior Kindergarten teacher a little something about semantics. And, for the bonus round, he also did a little more singing.

There was a great deal of sickness around these here parts back in March. We kicked off the month with Jake throwing up for the first time ever, and followed that up with all three of us getting the plague. I think it was the black one, but I've blocked it out so can't be sure. Perhaps as a way of balancing out all that illness, two pretty amazing things happened in March. I found out I would be transfered to a new position, with an office less than 10 minutes from home (as opposed to the 40 minute (but only if there was no traffic and perfect weather conditions) commute I had prior to that), and we found we were finally expecting again. My favourite post from March was this one - which speaks to none of the events mentioned above, but does contain the details of a great conversation Jake and I had in the middle of the night.

April was apparently busy in real life and I know this because I hardly blogged at all. I'm sure it had nothing to do with being uninspired. Come to think of it, it was my first month at my new job, where I was trying hard not to lose my breakfast or lunch in front of my new colleagues. We also visited family in Alberta over Easter and I celebrated my 29th birthday. Again. Coincidentally, the post I'm highlighting from April is once again about the Little Man.

Just to change things up a little bit, May's highlighted post is the official announcement about the new babe on the way.

And now back to our regularly scheduled "Cute things the Little Man did or said" programming. This card that Jake make for his much beloved JK teacher at the end of June just cracked me up.

Of course the big news in July was the completion of our new swimming pool and the long-anticipated visit of our family from Calgary. There a few jobs on my "dream job list" but one of them would be training staff in customer service. I loathe poor service and am surprisingly shocked every time I receive it - though I'm not sure why since it seems to happen more often than not these days. It galled me that in July, the poor service came from a fellow colleague.

There was more poor customer service in August, but it was overlooked by the joy that came in the form of the Little Man's fifth birthday and most especially his amazement over the birthday cake!

I can't talk about September without mentioning Jake's first days in Senior Kindergarten. I was beyond thrilled with the reception he received by his bus driver on the very first day, though the Little Man would probably rave more about the impromptu trip we made to the zoo the weekend before.

In October Jake enlightened us on the correct use of duct tape. I'll never look at another roll the same way again.

There was a fair bit of pregnancy related moaning and groaning in November - and I'm ashamed to admit much more than ever appeared on the blog. Of course the highlight of the month was the safe arrival of our new little boy, late in the month. A little boy who is currently wondering why in sam hill his mother isn't feeding him RIGHT. NOW. and so I'd better speed this up.

December was a magical month. I say magical because despite the lack of sleep we managed to find and cut down a Christmas tree with a 5 year old and 2 week old in tow, visit with friends, decorate the house, bake, shop and wrap gifts, attend a few parties, host family on two separate occasions, and so much more.

So 2011 has been really good to us and there's been much to be thankful for. New jobs, new life, dear friends and loving family, to say the least. The Baby Man's arrival just five weeks ago has changed our lives in so many great ways and the Little Man has proven to be a wonderful big brother! I've never been more proud of him - even if he did ask us to pray for another new baby as soon as Noah was a bit bigger.

Wishing you all nothing but the very best for the coming year!

Christmas Day Hourly Photo Round Up

2011-12-25T18:09:00.000-05:00

Miss Fish is hosting her annual Hourly Photo Challenge and once again I'm playing along. Like last year, I'm taking all my photos using my iPhone's Hipstamatic app, just for fun.

8:00 am

Checking out the stockings!

9:00 am

Oh Christmas Tea . . . !

10:00 am

Long before Nana knew what the new babe would be named, she chose this ornament for him. "Noah's Ark" for our own little Noah.

11:00 am

The beloved LEGO . . . this ambulance was from Uncle Adrian.

12:00 pm

Brunch! Would you like some waffle with your whipped cream?

1:00 pm

Reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" for the first time. Note the puzzled look as the Little Man tried to understand why anyone would ruin Christmas - the most wonderful day of the year!

2:00 pm

Hanging out with the Baby Man. Bliss!

3:00 pm

Building new LEGO's with Dad.

4:00 pm

Sorry honey, but it's time to get up from your nap. I edited photos while all the boys had a lie down.

5:00 pm

Our dreams of a white Christmas came true!!!

6:00 pm

Turkey baby!

7:00 pm

Four hours later we're still building LEGO . . . and I love it!

8:00 pm

The day is officially over when Mom takes off her jingle bell earrings.

Merry Christmas!

Baby Man . . . 4 weeks

2011-12-22T16:09:00.003-05:00

2011 Christmas Tour of Homes

2011-12-16T01:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our home!!! Normally I'd have spent some time taking photos of our Christmas decorations in good light with the decent camera and then edited the crap out of them. Because I'm anal like that. This year we're juggling a very excited and eager to have his hands in everything 5 year old and a brand spanking new baby. I did, however, take a few minutes to type up the recipe for my all-time favourite cookies - made only at Christmas.

Enjoy the tour, and if you didn't make it here via Kids in the Capital, do head over there to check out some more beautiful homes.

Our grapevine angel welcomes you at the door.

Totally stole this idea from Sarah Richardson and covered a ring of white lights I got at Ikea in feather boas. This wreath hangs in our front window.

These cookies cutters hang in our kitchen window from one of those spring-loaded curtain rods.

One of many Nativities we have, and my favourite. My Mom gifted me with the pieces over a number of Christmases.

I try to collect one snow globe every year . . . here are a few of them, along with our Christmas cactus, which unlike in previous years, has yet to bloom.

The true meaning of Christmas.

I made these three wreaths by covering foam wreaths with red yarn and a feather boa.

One of my favourite snow globes - made in a mason jar.

Collection of reindeer plates - the Little Man loves having dessert on them. And so do I!

Cookie jar . . . sadly, it's empty.

Advent wreath, on third Sunday of Advent.

It took me weeks to come up with this mantle arrangement last year, our first in our new home. I love the warmth of the garland (made from inexpensive scarves). I also made the ball wreath a few years ago by covering styrofoam balls in yarn and fabric. You can read more about it here.

Close-up of the mantle, including another foam wreath I covered - this time in an old scarf I wasn't wearing anymore.

I do finally have candles for my Fitz & Floyd candlesticks.

I believe in Santa Claus!

The tree!!!

Nativity quilt my father gifted us with one year.

Obligatory cute shot of the new baby lying under the tree, looking up at the lights.

Sugar Plum Drops

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cold water
2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut1 cup mini coloured gum drops, chopped

Cream shortening and sugars together. In another bowl, beat eggs, add vanilla and the baking soda dissolved in the cold water. Add to creamed mixture. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and stir into creamed mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Shape into small balls, pat down with a fork.

Bake on greased baking sheet at 350 F for 10 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes. Nine minutes will yield chewier cookies (my preference), eleven will yield crunchier cookies.

(Hint: Chop gum drops with scissors while watching a favourite Christmas movie. Use Pam or vegetable oil (on the scissors) to keep them from getting too sticky.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The Baby Man

2011-12-13T21:49:00.003-05:00

The great Christmas tree hunt of 2011

2011-12-13T13:56:00.001-05:00

Tree hunting bliss!

Once again this year we braved a whole lot of stuff (a long drive, crowds, traipsing around the woods 2.5 weeks after a c-section with a 2.5 week old in tow while dodging stick games played by three school-aged children and so on) to hit the Tree Farm.

This year we managed to find our tree at the first farm we went to and we were able to stand by and watch gratefully while our good friends cut it down for us. (I couldn't do it thanks to the recent surgery and Jeff couldn't help because he was carrying said 2.5 week old.)

It was colder out at the farm than we'd anticipated, making me glad I'd thrown on long underwear and my long coat but a little worried about the Little Man, whom we had only dressed in wind pants. Fortunately, after warming himself by the fire for a few minutes, the excitement of said sticks, the tractor ride and the hunt itself took over and he joined in like the trooper he is.

We had a lovely day with our dear friends and then were blessed even more to all meet up with another family for a delicious dinner . . . that included margaritas. Mmmm!!!

Our tree!!!

Watching intently while "J" cuts one down.

Reindeer!!!

Decorating the tree.

Family Game Night

2011-11-30T15:06:00.001-05:00

So the Little Man has noticed there's another kid in the house these days and in between being the most helpful big brother ever, yesterday he came downstairs after playing LEGO for awhile to bemoan the fact that we weren't paying enough attention to him.

We had to run some errands yesterday afternoon while Jake was at school and I made a point of stopping by Toys R Us to check out the board game section. I've always loved board games and since playing LEGO or trains down on the floor is a bit hard on my stomach right now, I thought I'd pick up something new to play . . . Candyland was getting kind of old.

We picked up a version of Monopoly for children five and up, based on the "Cars 2" movie. And when the Little Man came home from school, we played it for 4 hours. And we're still playing it today.

You still buy properties (though they're cars and not streets), there are still "Chance" cards and everyone gets some play money to start the game. It's an easily manageable amount for a child of Jake's age and has the bonus element of having him work on his counting and money management skills. He especially loves the race track that circles the round game board - you spin Lightening McQueen around the track to determine how many spaces you should move . . . instead of a dice.

Needless to say, it's been a hit!

Disclosure: I'm not being compensated in any way for this post - just wanted to share about a product that our family is really enjoying! If you're interested, this game is on sale for just under $13 at Toys R Us right now.

Drunken bliss

2011-11-29T20:32:00.001-05:00

A new baby to love

2011-11-29T08:39:00.001-05:00

Well the new "little man" arrived safe and sound last week and other than dealing with some jaundice issues (common in our family), we're home and doing well.

Noah was 8 lbs, 13 oz at birth and delivered by c-section. It was elective on my part this time around (Jake was also born by cesarean because he was breech), but apparently I made the right decision as my OB discovered that my uterus would have ruptured during a vaginal delivery because it was so thin. TMI?

We're doing our best to settle into a routine of sorts . . . though it's been five years since we've had such a wee babe in the house, I do remember that the only true routine is the complete lack of one. But there are still adjustments to be made, especially with regard to working Jake into our schedule - both to ensure he has his our individual attention and his time with his new little brother. He's been incredibly helpful, frequently asking if there's anything he can do or get for us or Noah.

The new babe is doing well, though we are already seeing signs of the same poop issues Jake had as an infant/toddler. Everything just always come back to poop.

From death to puke to tears . . . but it really ain't all bad at all

2011-11-17T22:33:00.001-05:00

It's been a week.

Top of my mind is still the impending birth of "Donut". I'm 39 weeks and 2 days today. Still pregnant, but have been having contractions most of the day. Real ones, that make my back ache and my belly harden. But there's still no rhyme or reason to them so I'm not getting my hopes up.

Three people in our lives passed away this week, all of them from cancer.

Mrs. Kazmierski was my third grade teacher. She was loud and boisterous and a little bit scary to a small nine year old. She loved music and so we were always singing in class. Everything from "How much is that doggie in the window" to "McNamara's band" and "The old grey mare". The movie "Annie" had just come out and since I had the red curly hair of the title character, Mama Kaz, as she liked to be called, would have me sing "Tomorrow" in front of the class almost every day. It was a horrifying experience for this terribly shy girl, but my love of music overcame the shyness and I learned to love doing it. Mrs. Kazmierski also taught me how to smile. You know how kids often have trouble smiling naturally on command? Well I was certainly one of those kids and so she never wasted an opportunity to command a smile. By the end of the year, I could do it beautifully - if I do say so myself.

My mother's brother, my Uncle David, passed away today. I didn't know him well but I can remember visiting my Granny Bobby in Vancouver as a child, and spending time with him too. He loved puzzles and would often bring me a book of word searches or crossword puzzles. I blame him for my addiction to sodoku.

Finally, a woman my mom worked with for years also passed away today from cancer. My mom worked in an elementary school and I used to stop at the school on my home from high school to pick up my little brother and walk him home. Mrs. LaPlante always had time to chat with me when I stopped in to see mom. She would ask about my day and listen attentively. But most of all, she treated me like an adult. I wasn't . . . not by a long shot, but she treated me like one and that was a great confidence booster for me.

I showed Izzy (one of our cats) a YouTube video of some birds today and she went nuts. Totally loved it. My favourite part was when the birds would fly off camera and Izzy would check beside and behind the screen of the laptop, trying to figure out where they went.

In other cat news, Gabby threw up on the bed this morning. It was huge and went right through the duvet cover to stain the quilt itself too. A royal mess that did not endear me to her. Especially considering the washing machine is once again on the fritz (and has been over almost two weeks now) and the parts needed to fix it won't be in until sometime next week. And we're about to have a baby. Who will no doubt have a lot of laundry.

Finally, in "you know you're pregnant when" news, I'm actually sitting here crying over Violet and Pete (from Private Practice) splitting up. Oh the hormones, they are a-raging.

6 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 12)

2011-11-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

- - - 1 - - -

So I'm sitting here on my mother's couch, blogging. I can hardly reach the keyboard on the laptop because this baby bump is royally in the way.

- - - 2 - - -

I'm at my mother's because our washing machine has broken - again - and I felt like I really needed some clean clothes. I'm not really sure why I felt I need clothes when I haven't worn anything other than t-shirts, yoga pants and pj's for two weeks now, but there you go.

- - - 3 - - -

Have I mentioned that I'm still pregnant? I'm technically still 12 days from my due date, but am so over being pregnant. My OB, whom I saw on Tuesday, thought the odds were good I'd deliver (or at least go into labour) within a couple of days. It's been two days. Nothing yet.

- - - 4 - - -

The Little Man finally has a throat infection. That sounds cruel, doesn't it? I'm just so relieved that a doctor has finally diagnosed something because the poor kid has been complaining of sore throat since the end of August and every time we take him to the doctor, they say "it's nothing". I guess we hit him up on the right day because apparently today it's red and swollen enough to be an actual infection requiring treatment and very likely strep.

Jake never complains about feeling sick . . . he's had fevers of 104 degrees and raging ear infections in both ears and gone happily on throughout his day without saying anything. So when he does complain, we know he means it. I'm never anxious to put him on antibiotics but he's been uncomfortable and in pain for so long I'm hoping this works.

- - - 5 - - -

This is, I think, my favourite out take from the Fall photos I took last week. It's the Little Man's "don't you just love my fake smile smile?"

- - - 6 - - -

"Donut" had his fetal echocardiogram this week and the results were . . . inconclusive. Just what every parent wants to hear. Basically I'm too pregnant for them to get a clear view of his heart to pinpoint where the extra beats are coming from. The good news is that his heart development looks perfectly normal and despite the arrhythmia his heart has normal blood flow and a normal frequency. It's unlikely that he'll need anything more than some monitoring once he's born, though we won't know for sure until then. All in all, a pretty good result.

- - - 7 - - -

I'm pregnant, so you only get six takes this week. Pregnant! With child! Can't reach the keyboard to type anything else. Pregnant! Still! It's been two years, I'm sure of it. I'm an elephant. A pregnant elephant.

Annual Fall Photos

2011-11-05T15:37:00.000-04:00

It's been such a beautiful and mild Fall thus far, so of course I ~~cajoled~~ bribed the Little Man into coming outside and indulging my desire for some fun photos.

Here are the photos from last year's "shoot". My "little man" is growing up.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 11)

2011-11-04T07:14:00.000-04:00

- - - 1 - - -

37 weeks and 3 days today. I found out on Tuesday that "Donut" has a heart arrhythmia. Could be nothing, could be something, so we're off for a fetal echocardiogram this coming Tuesday.

- - - 2 - - -

This past week has been heaven. I'm off work and must say the additional rest is making a world of difference. Though I've found myself a little bored from time to time, overall it's been a huge blessing.

- - - 3 - - -

It seems every time the Little Man puts his hands on my belly to feel "Donut" move, the babe immediately stops kicking. Frustrated about this once more, Jake demanded that I open my mouth wide. I burst out laughing as he leaned in close and yelled loudly into my mouth, "Donut! Kick me!"

- - - 4 - - -

I can't remember if I mentioned on the blog that in March I moved to a new position at work. Essentially I'm doing the same job, but in a different area of town and am finally only a 10 minute drive to work - including a stop at Tim's for some steeped tea. With the move came a new boss, whom I've enjoyed working for very much. Sadly (for us) he's retiring and so in between OB appointments and echocardiograms, I'll be making a cake for his fare-thee-well lunch next week.

- - - 5 - - -

"Donut" finally has a name, though we decided not to tell anyone other than Jake until he's born. This is driving some family members crazy, particularly since they think the reason we're keeping the name to ourselves is because we've chosen a really weird one we think they'll disapprove of. I'm most impressed by the Little Man's determination to keep it a secret, despite being pumped daily by many people, including Nana and Papa's neighbours. But his lips are sealed!

- - - 6 - - -

We're almost done our Christmas shopping. Does that make anyone want to hit me? I've been slowly picking up stuff since September, knowing that the coming weeks will be a little busy around here what with the new baby and all. Today I'm hoping to wrap the gifts that need to be mailed out, just to cross one more thing off The List.

- - - 7 - - -

Oh, The List. If "Donut" arrived today, we'd be pretty well set, though there are still some niggly things I would like to have done first. We put a hole in his bedroom door moving the rocking chair back in and I would like to put the screen door we used for Jake up in "Donut's" room too. About six months ago I bought a new vanity and sink for the powder room (to replace the beautiful but seriously lacking in storage pedestal sink) that still needs to be installed. I'm in the process of painting an old bookcase for his room that I'd like to finish, along with the train table Jeff made for Jake months ago. Finally, the garage will take about another hour to finish clearing out to make room for my car this winter and the house needs eavestroughing so we can put up the Christmas lights before it gets any colder.

Autumn at Parc Omega

2011-10-26T15:35:00.002-04:00

I've a new post up over at Kids in the Captial today, all about the adventure the Little Man and I recently had on trip to Parc Omega.

Check it out here.

And yes, I'm still cleaning the caribou and deer slime off the car and our clothing. But it was all worth it!

Duck Tape

2011-10-22T22:25:00.001-04:00

Jake: Mom? What's duck tape for?

Mom: Well, it's duc-t tape, sweetie and it's . . .

Jake: Never mind, Mom. I know that it's for taping up the ducks when they get in a long line and you can't go across. You have to tape them down, then step over them. Then, when you've stepped over them, you take the tape off and you can use again the next time the ducks are in your way.

Mom: Um. Yes. You're absolutely right, honey.

Three bits of randomness

2011-10-05T20:47:00.002-04:00

Overheard while watching a DVD:
Jake: Dad? Could you please fast-backward that part so I can see it again?

- - - - - - - - - -

The Little Man has learned a new phrase. At various points throughout the day he can be heard to say . . . "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Is it bad that every time he does, my immediately response is something along the lines of . . . "Uh, I think so Brain, but where are we going to find a duck and a hose at this hour?"

Of course Jake has no idea what we're talking about but thinks it's funny anyway.

- - - - - - - - - -

And in the Mom Is So Proud category . . . Today Jake's name was chosen from the basket to be the friend of the day at school. Among other privileges, the FOD gets to bring the attendance to the office. Since the little kids have to travel the halls in pairs, the boys are required to select a girl to accompany them and the girls, a boy. Rather than selecting one of the favoured twins, today Jake chose another little girl. When I asked him why, he responded that she was new to his class (having been moved from another SK class to balance things out a bit) and so he wanted to make sure she got a turn "right away".

Pregnancy Update

2011-10-05T17:30:00.001-04:00

How far along?

33 weeks and one day.

Total weight gain?
Eleven pounds to far and though it may not seem like much, I feel every one of them.

Maternity clothes?
Yup, but am still surviving on only three pairs of pants/bottoms and a couple of tops. Fortunately many of pre-pregnancy tops are still fitting the bill, so to speak.

Sleep?
Yes, I'd love some thanks. I've a fair bit of pain this time around and it's become more and more constant and prevalent in this last week. And then every time I wake and need to change positions because of the discomfort, I become painfully aware that I need to pee too.

Movement?
Lots of movement, which is reassuring. The Little Man is a bit disappointed that he hasn't been able to catch the babe in the act yet though - and not for lack of trying. It's as though this little one knows when Jake is trying to feel him kick and immediately stops moving. I'm hoping this means he'll have a magic touch much along the same lines when the babe is born.

Best moment this week?
As much as I didn't want to be off work quite yet, having a reduced work week has been a welcome change to my routine.

Gender?

A boy. And we've decided on a name but are keeping it to ourselves until he's born.

Cravings?
None.

What I miss?
Still missing sleep. And more recently, being able to comfortably shave my legs. TMI?

What I'm looking forward to?
Looks like I'll be off on full medical leave come the end of the month and so I'm looking forward to having some down time before he's born. It's not what I'd planned, but since the pain has been increasing so much lately, I think it'll be a good thing.

Weekly wisdom?

The la-z-boy is my new friend. Swimming is heavenly because I feel nothing while in the water.

Milestones?
Now that our company is gone for the foreseeable future, it's time to start getting the new one's room ready. And not a moment to soon because the nesting instinct has kicked into high gear.

Dreaming in technicolour

2011-09-28T14:51:00.000-04:00

The Little Man slept in this morning and I missed seeing him before I left for work. Since this happens about once every 10 months or so, I decided to call him a bit later in the morning to say "hello". Our conversation went something like this:

Mom: Hi Jake!

Jake: Hi Mom - why are you calling? Are you calling because you missed me? Because I sleeped in this morning and you missed me? Did you just call to say hi to me because I was sleeping when you left?

Mom: Yes, I'm calling to say hello since I missed you this morning.

Jake: Oh, that's SO nice. Yeah, because I slept in this morning. I slept until 8-dot-dot-3-9! I was having a dream about painting my train table and it was so good that I just decided to stay asleep until it finished. It was such a nice dream with green and blue paint so I didn't want to wake up until I saw how it ended.

Reunions - AKA the first day of school

2011-09-07T17:25:00.000-04:00

Well the first day of Senior Kindergarten passed uneventfully. I didn't get into any heated discussions with anyone about life-threatening allergies and the Little Man was only very slightly bummed to find out that only three of his classmates from last year were in his new class.

I rushed home from work in time to see him off on the bus and teared up a little as the doors opened and Jake proclaimed, "Oh! I was HOPING it would be you!" when he saw his bus driver. Equally touching about this reunion was the driver's immediate response of "Jake! It's SO great to see you again!"

At Jake's request I met the bus at the school and saw him line up with all his friends for the parade to the classrooms. I was so proud of the way he happily lined up and none too grateful that he's not so embarrassed by his Mom that he's willing to offer hugs and kisses as the group trooped off.

I was a little miffed that the teachers wouldn't tell us whose class the kids would be in, and by their attitude toward the other moms and dads who'd come to see their kids safely into the school. A few called out things like, "Bye Moms and Dads. Thanks for coming to say goodbye just for today!" in fake happy voices. It's not as though our presence started off a wave of tearful wailing on the part of any of the children - in fact none of the kids seemed upset at leaving their parents behind and most went cheerfully off to school, waving goodbye and wishing us all a good afternoon.

The Little Man's minor disappointment in not having many JK friends in his SK class was tempered by the presence of his favourite twins, once more assigned to his room. All is well when Frederica and Flossie* are nearby.

He arrived home happy and full of stories about his day, including his emphatic insistence that his new teacher, Mme. M, call him JAKE and not Jacob. I hope she took it in stride because although he generally has great manners, he can also be quite blunt. I wonder where he gets that from?

All in all it was a good start to a new year. I'm thrilled he's so excited about school, even if some of that excitement stems from going in the afternoons this year (rather than stumbling around before the sun is up, rushing around to get ready), and the presence of the now infamous (at least in our family) twins.

*Not their real names.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

2011-09-07T15:10:00.001-04:00

. . . How about you, you, you?

So on Wednesday we decided that a spur of the moment trip to Toronto was in order this weekend. The Little Man has been asking to go to the zoo and we figured, why not now?

Never mind that I was totally unprepared for the first day of school yesterday - I just now found the list of things he's supposed to have and we got nothing. Oh well. Hopefully they won't fail him because his Mom figured he didn't need more than a snack and maybe some indoor shoes for the first day.

We left Saturday morning and the drive was pretty uneventful. The hotel had some really good things going for it, even if it wasn't as clean as I would have liked - though I will admit my standards are super high in that regard.

When we arrived they had a little gift pack of games for Jake, they asked us what room we wanted (close to the pool or in a quieter area) and when I asked about a fridge and declined one when I found out there was a fee for it, they waived the fee and brought us one for nothing.

The room was large enough for us to set up an air bed for the Little Man and still be able to walk around. The A/C worked really well, the windows opened and the black out drapes were so good we all slept in until 9am on Sunday morning.

There was a clothesline in the bathroom, free internet service, extra blankets and lots of plugs! The pool was huge with two waterslides and the parking was free for hotel guests.

Then it was time for the zoo! They depress me a little, but I was happy to see the sights with Jake. We warned him in advance that we couldn't see everything and so he chose to spend the most time in the Africa area, seeing elephants, lions, zebras and his personal favourite, the giraffes. Finally, we hung out at the splash pad before leaving.

The Little Man pronounced it to be a great trip and I spent the evening yesterday getting his school supplies. So he's a day late with everything. He went to the zoo!!!

Pregnancy Update

2011-09-01T22:14:00.002-04:00

How far along?
28 weeks? I think. Maybe 29? I've lost track.

Total weight gain?
A grand total of eight pounds.

Maternity clothes?
Yes. And I need some. But thank heavens for this, for it's allowed me to keep wearing my regular pants. Without it, I'd be in the same two pair of maternity pants every other day. And doing a lot of laundry. Which up until the weekend was a serious challenge as the washer door broke.

Sleep?
Thank you, I'd love some. Between the contractions, the kicking, the peeing, the aching hips and back, the restless legs and the sneezing (allergies have never been so bad), sleep is elusive. The power nap is where it's at. Just wish I could convince my boss of the same.

Movement?
You bet. And it doesn't tickle anymore. Lots of strong kicks throughout the day - sometimes so forcefully that if my arm is resting against the side of my belly while I'm sitting at my desk typing, it jerks my hands hard enough to cause me to miss a number of keystrokes. The babe is especially active right before bed; between ten and eleven at night.

Best moment this week?
I'm still melting over the Little Man's request for Dad to pray for his new little brother when he went to Adoration recently.

Gender?
Still a boy, though we haven't had any ultrasounds since early July. Still no consensus on the name front. On and off the table we've entertained Rory, Patrick, Timothy, Noel, Cameron, Brody, Finnian and so many more.

Cravings?
Not lately. I seem to alternate between wanting something salty and something sweet, but nothing specific or even desperately. Though I did go through a phase where nothing but "rocket" popsicles would do.

What I miss?
Just sleep.

What I'm looking forward to?
Forty-eight more work days until I'm off. Still looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to getting the spare room turned into a nursery. That will have to wait until the last of our company leaves in early October. I'd like to paint the room, though am not sure we'll get that far.

Weekly wisdom?
Short power naps are my (and your) friend.

Milestones?
I started having Braxton Hicks contractions two weeks ago. This was a new thing for me as I didn't have any with the Little Man. Last weekend they were so strong they lasted more than a minute and a half, were less than five minutes apart and went on for just over two hours. Not painful, save one that momentarily took my breath away and just like the movements, they often hit just as I'm falling asleep.

Seriously?

2011-08-31T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Little Man needs to have an Administration of Medication form completed and signed by his physician every year for school, in order to authorize the school to admininster his Epi Pen(s) if needed.

The school is supposed to provide that form, however I've found the administration area a little lacking in their ability to be proactive about things like this. Knowing that it will take time to have his doctor sign it, I was reminded to look into it this week instead of waiting until they send it home with him sometime in September.

I searched and searched both the school and the Board's websites to try and find a copy, but gave up after about 35 minutes of looking. I found a generic email address for the appropriate department and sent them the following request:

Hello,

I am in need of the "Request & Consent for Administration of Medication" form for my son's upcoming school year. He requires Epi Pens and I know I will need to have this form completed and signed by his physician. I've been unable to find it on your website and wondered if someone could please send me a copy?

Sincerely,
Mrs. Carly Tree

This is the prompt, yet royally unhelpful response I received.

Dear Carly,

If you go to Our Board, then Policies and Procedures and insert "Medication" in the search area, you will find our policy on administering medication eventually.

Sincerely,
Inept Board Staff

To begin with, I didn't ask about the policy, I asked for a form. Secondly, there is no "search area" for that section of the website - or any section for that matter. Finally, eventually. Really? Eventually?

Perhaps it's time to change the direction of our school support taxes. Because if this is where my money is going . . .

5th Birthday Cake

2011-08-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 10)

2011-08-26T01:00:00.001-04:00

- - - 1 - - -

Tomorrow is the Little Man's fifth birthday party. We got lots to do between now and then.

- - - 2 - - -

I'm bracing myself for the day ahead. We've got to clean the basement play area, decorate some "thank you for coming to my birthday party" bags, make the birthday cake, get haircuts, grocery shop, buy some alcohols and beers, keep making the birthday cake, attend a meeting for work, hit the pool for the last swimming lesson of the summer, and finish making the birthday cake.

- - - 3 - - -

The Little Man went for allergy testing yesterday. Bad news - he's still allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and eggs. Good news - his allergy to egg has diminished and he's no longer allergic to shellfish. He was really excited to hear that and so the doctor asked him if he was excited to have shrimp again. To which Jake replied, "what's shrimp?"

- - - 4 - - -

More "bad" news - the boy is now allergic to cats (we have two of them) and birch trees. In fact, his reaction to the tree was worse than that of the peanut. Of course, the peanut/tree nut allergy can kill him and it's extremely unlikely the birch tree allergy will.

- - - 5 - - -

I'm into the homestretch of the pregnancy - just three more months to go and this new little boy is still unnamed. But not for lack of trying. So far we've (and by "we" I in no way imply that there is consensus across the board on any of these names) considered, both seriously and not-so-much: Rory, Cameron, Finnian, Noel, Patrick, Caleb, Joshua, and many more I just can't remember right now. But I'm not stressed about it . . . I'm sure he'll have a name by the time he starts kindergarten.

- - - 6 - - -

Watching L.A. Ink makes me want another tattoo.

- - - 7 - - -

I spent last weekend sorting through 2-ish years of baby/toddler clothes. It completely renewed my gratitude that we're expecting another boy, especially as I sat surrounded by hundreds of dollars worth of clothing. Sure many, many pieces were gifts, but who knew a little guy could wear so many things? I do remember Jake wearing pretty much everything I went through, especially in the first year when he puked 'round the clock, but wow. That's a lot of clothes. So glad I saved everything!

Five!

2011-08-24T07:53:00.001-04:00

Dear Jacob,

I just can't believe that you're five. Five. It seems like such a huge number and when I think back (and read back) over these last five! years, I know there were times when I wondered if we'd ever get here. There were certainly times when I couldn't even imagine what five would like on you. And now, here we are.

You started school this year, going off on the big yellow bus all by yourself, right from the first day, to Junior Kindergarten. The first few months were a little rocky. Not because you didn't love school and didn't thrive there, but because it started so darn early every morning. Like your mama, you're a night person and getting up at 6:30 in the morning (who knew it even came twice a day?) was hard. Though you looked forward to the routine every day, there were many mornings in those first few months where you stumbled into our room when your alarm went off, wondering aloud if today was "another work day" and lamenting the days that were.

By Christmas you were handling it all like a trooper and had found your rhythm. You loved your teachers, especially your English teacher, and became fascinated with the twin girls in your class. Within weeks you knew everyone's names and by the time your class picture arrived, could tell me who everyone was.

You were invited to your first non-family/close friend birthday parties this year, you learned to print in uppercase AND lowercase letters (though you still prefer J-A-K-E as opposed to J-a-k-e), you did enjoy glueing things and your teachers praised you for your helpfulness and politeness. They did say that you didn't speak much in front of the class, but you certainly took everything in and would happily talk their ear off if they sat down beside you for a one on one chat.

This past Hallowe'en you could hardly wait to head out trick or treating, but then had an iffy time when some houses and some kids appeared quite scary in the dark, eery light. Still, you enjoyed collecting all that candy and looked so cute in your giraffe costume.

In November we started preparing for Christmas by talking about what Advent meant. As a family we all made an extra effort to do some good deeds in the months leading up to the birth of Christ, lining our homemade manger with yarn-straw to make a warm bed for baby Jesus. I was so impressed with your dedication to the task and willingness to help. You could frequently be heard asking what else you could do for hay.

We celebrated the Christmas season, the first in our new home, with Nana, Papa and still your all-time favourite person, Uncle Adrian. It was quite the surprise to have him home from Colombia and you certainly made the most of his short visit. You learned to sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", happily trudged through not one, not two, but three Christmas tree farms to find our perfect tree and eagerly waited for Santa.

Once again you celebrated your love all things winter by begging to be outside as much as possible. We made snowmen, snow slides and you finally showed an interest in sledding, spending your days at a nearby park going down and back up again - over and over and over.

You threw up for the first time this year (not counting the 40 or so times a day you spit up as a baby), which turned out to be a prelude to another ear infection. As always you were quiet and cuddly for a day or so, then quickly bounced back to your usual self, if a little more sniffly. Mom and Dad didn't fair so well and found ourselves pretty sick with the flu right around the same time.

You went for yet another plan ride this Spring, to visit family in Calgary over Easter. Despite feeling a little under the weather while we were there, you loved hanging out with your cousins, especially Taya. You were much braver than Mommy when we rode the gondola up (and oh Lord, down) the mountain in Banff, sitting back and enjoying the view while I struggled to keep a smile on my face.

In April I let you in on a little secret . . . Mommy finally had that baby in her tummy you'd been praying for for so long. Happily, the new babe is due in just a few months, and this time around things seem to be going swimmingly. You were so excited to come to one of my ultrasound appointments to get your first look at the baby, but I had to laugh at your initial disappointment in finding out you were getting a brother rather than the sister you apparently wanted. Our days now are spent getting ready for his impending arrival and you gift us daily with your thoughtfulness surrounding all the things you want to help with both now and when he's born. You're also eager to choose a name for the little one, though we haven't all agreed on one yet.

If I were to ask you what the best part of this past year has been, I have a feeling you'll say it's the new pool. You're in it at least once a day, if not more, and you learned to swim in just weeks from all the time you're spending in the water. You're even showing off your new talent with underwater somersaults and headfirst dives into the deep end.

This has been a big year for you. So much change and growth, both physically and emotionally, and I'm really in awe over how well you've handled all of it. You're truly an amazing little boy, full of love and joy. You've grown in your faith this year too, showing an even deeper understanding and appreciation for prayer, Mass and music ministry. I'm so very proud of you and I'm looking forward to all the great things you'll achieve now that you're five! Five!

All my love,
Mommy

The importance of being earnest

2011-08-22T20:15:00.000-04:00

In the advent of the Little Man's fifth birthday, I've been thinking more and more about what's appropriate so share about his daily life on the blog. From what I've read from other Mom's, Aunt's and Grandparent's in similar situations, this is a common dilemma.

Over the weekend I wanted badly to blog about the battle of wills he and I went through on Saturday. It always comes as such a shock when it happens, more so because these epic . . . disagreements . . . don't happen that often. And believe me, I'm very grateful for that.

What started as a mutual decision to have a little nap Saturday afternoon thanks to a sleepover gone iffy the night before, quickly disintegrated into a royal battle and disobedience unlike that which we'd ever seen before. Truthfully the rebellion had been building all week and in hindsight the timing of the sleepover probably wasn't the best.

Honestly the last time I felt this out of control and literally at my wit's end was when Jake was a very wee lad and didn't/couldn't/wouldn't sleep for any decent (read more than 45 minutes at a time) length of time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I've never wanted to smack my child more than I did this weekend, though I'm quick to add that though the sentiment was present, so too was the self control, deep inner peace and sure knowledge that wasn't going to happen - even in the midst of all that blech-i-ness.

Tempers cooled and a tentative truce was reached. Forgiveness was requested and graciously granted on all sides, though I must admit it wasn't until the next day that I felt truly peaceful through and through.

We're still talking about it, in conversation initiated by the Little Man himself - I think he too wonders what the heck happened inside him that day - and those little chats have been good and productive.

Bottom line, it's hard to stay even the slightest bit frustrated or angry with that earnest little boy, especially when he turns around and does this . . .

Dad: Jake, I'm going to Adoration tonight and wondered if there's anything in particular you'd like me to speak to Jesus about?

Jake (without pause): Oh yes, please. Would you please ask Jesus to keep the baby in Mommy's tummy healthy and stuff until it's time for my brother to come out?

Filed under "you know you have a boy when" . . .

2011-08-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

. . . he elects to spend the night tucked into his Toy Story sleeping bag, under the bright blue and white canopy of his indoor play tent, set up in the middle of his bedroom.

I love this kid!

When days are hot, when days are cool . . .

2011-08-08T22:22:00.001-04:00

This is what comes from living in the new pool - which is essentially what the Little Man has been doing since the day the water truck arrived.

Service Excellence

2011-07-21T14:36:00.004-04:00

I work for a company that prides itself on both it's internal and external customer service. When I recently made an error with a part time employee's time sheet and requested an off-cycle deposit (i.e. pay this gal right away as she really needs the cash), here is the response I received from our Payroll Department. Do I need to state the obvious and remind everyone that I'm their client? I'm especially fond of the little quote after their signature . . .

Hi Carly,

Off-cycles are not a standard practice for Payroll. There is a cost in processing the off-cycle, and it is extra work for me and the Senior Payroll Analyst. I will make an exception and process this request because the employee is in need of the money, but only this one time. If hours are not submitted by the cut-off dates in future, regardless of the reason, the employee will have to wait until the next pay deposit date.

Please let ZZZZ know they can expect a deposit within the next 48 to 72 hours, and that I will mail out a copy of the pay stub.

Thank you.

~XXXX

Payroll – Quality Today, Tomorrow, Every Pay

I chalked up the snarky email to the extraordinary heat today - it's currently 47 (115) degrees here, but couldn't resist drafting this reply - which I didn't send and never would . . .

Hi XXXX,

Bring on the wet noodle – clearly I need a few lashes for making an honest mistake, then trying to ensure the part time employee – currently sweltering away in 47 degree heat while running herd on 40 kids, while trying to make sure none of them succumb to heat stroke – doesn’t have to bear the brunt of my error.

I certainly appreciate you seeing way clear to take the time from your busy day to help us out. I’d gush a little more but I’m off to drag my 5.5 month pregnant butt out to six different [areas] to make sure staff and participants are having a good day and staying hydrated and cool, despite the weather. Then I’m off to fix a stove, count some parking spaces at the request of a [senior staff], design and produce a 20-page marketing brochure to promote our company's [stuff], pick up some duct tape and figure out how to get 25 kids from one school to another because the custodial staff have closed the building effective immediately due to the heat.

Hope you’re staying cool.

Sincerely,

Carly

Pregnancy Update

2011-07-19T22:56:00.000-04:00

How far along?
22 weeks today.

Total weight gain?
Just 2 pounds, but the babe measures "just right" for his age so all is well.

Maternity clothes?
Pants only, though on a good (AKA non-bloated day) I can still comfortably wear "normal" stuff. I may not have gained much weight, but the belly is a sticking-out.

Sleep?
Off and on. About once very 5 or 6 nights, I crash for pretty much the entire night, with perhaps one trip to the loo in the middle. Most nights I'm up 4 or 5 times to pee and change positions. Hips have started to hurt if I lie on my side for too long and the groin pain has been constant as of Sunday evening. TMI?

Movement?
I felt the baby move for the first time on June 28th, at 19 weeks. Then nothing until a week later. Movement was intermittent until late last week when I started feeling it constantly. It's nothing like with the Little Man, where I had a fluttery sensation until the kicks started coming through loud and clear. This time around it feels like bubbles popping in my tummy, sometimes so many one right after the other that it tickles enormously.

Best moment this week?
It's a toss up between nearly laughing out loud during a meeting at work thanks to said movements, and my endless enjoyment of the new pool.

Gender?
It's a boy. Definitely a boy. Once again the girl name was easily selected and agreed upon by all parties. The boy name . . . not so much.

Cravings?
Not many during this pregnancy, though I will admit to enjoying a good dill pickle pretty much daily. How predictable!

What I miss?
I suppose under the previous heading, I might have added beer. I've been really craving and missing beer this week. Must be all the heat. I'm also missing Cold FX. I've had two summer colds within a few weeks of each other recently, the first I've had since becoming pregnant and I really miss being able to take Cold FX to help mitigate them. I have, however, felt very blessed to have sailed through both with only minor symptoms, rather than full blown misery.

What I'm looking forward to?
As much as I enjoy my work, I'm looking forward to being home on mat leave. I'm also really looking forward to checking out the Little Man's interaction with his new little brother.

Weekly wisdom?
I got nothing - it's the baby brain I tell you. My coworkers find it hysterical when I forget common words, the answers to simple questions and the like. I just remind them that I'm growing a person and join in the laughter - it is pretty funny.

Milestones?
Not really a milestone perhaps, but I did get a kick out of Jake's reaction to finding out the gender of the baby. We invited him to come along for the ultrasound, which he was fascinated by for the first 5 minutes.

When it became clear the tech was going to have a hard time trying to get all the measurements she needed, he quickly became distracted and bored. By the time she checked between the babe's legs, he was begging to leave.

Thinking she'd make his day with her announcement, she got Jake's attention and proclaimed the baby a boy. The Little Man's immediate response? "That's exactly what I DIDN'T want!!!"

I think he's come around, though it's clear he was hoping for a girl . . . we think because that's how the story went for both some close friends of ours recently, as well as for the Berenstain Bears.

Finally, Jake is quickly becoming a champion swimmer, thanks to the new pool. He zooms through the water by swimming underneath the surface, but this week started making a lot of progress on being able to move forward (as opposed to straight down) while keeping his mouth and nose out of the water!

Gluten Free Mornings

2011-07-12T20:32:00.000-04:00

When my now husband and I were dating, I learned early on that meals full of pasta and crusty breads were not the best options if I was hoping for an evening cuddling on the couch after dinner. Mr. Tree can't eat a lot of foods with gluten or he feels very ill for a few days afterwards.

It wasn't long after the Little Man was born, that we noticed he too wasn't at his best after eating a lot of wheat.

For both my men, breakfast is the most important gluten-free meal of the day. If either start their day with cereals, breads or other foods high in gluten, they're grumpy, tired and unproductive for the remainder of the day. When we travel, especially to see his family in Saskatchewan, Mr. Tree often brings his own cereal along - it's not been easy to find gluten free options in a small town.

When Mom Central contacted me about trying a new gluten-free CHEX cereal, now available in grocery stores everywhere, I was really interested.

I'm not a huge cereal eater myself, but Mr. Tree and the Little Man were excited to try the flavours they sent. Since the little guy has a life threatening allergy to nuts, I was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to try the Honey Nut Chex, but he thoroughly enjoyed the Rice Chex and ate them most mornings with a little honey and soy milk. They also made an appearance from time to time at bedtime, in lieu of the favoured oat O's - just to mix things up a little. Mr. Tree loved the Honey Nut Chex and both boxes disappeared quickly.

If you've got folks in your home who avoid gluten, you may want to give them a try!

Disclosure: I am participating in the Chex Gluten Free program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills. I received a Chex gift pack and a gift card as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Can't blog . . . swimming

2011-07-10T22:32:00.002-04:00

It's been a whirlwind few weeks here at the Tree's and this is where the whole blog as a virtual scrapbook comes into play. So those with little or no interest in the day to day lives of our family might want to skip this post.

School ended with little fanfare, save the whining about the humidity. Okay, I whined and the Little Man wondered aloud on numerous occasions when the pool would be ready and when the cousins would arrive. Did I mention we're getting a pool? I've wanted one since I was a little girl and the dream has finally come true. Needless to say, since it was finished last Wednesday, it's seen a lot of action.

Here is how it looked in mid-June:

Quick shot taken with the iPhone, hence the poor quality.

A few weeks later I went for my 20 week ultrasound and found out we're expecting another boy! I really wasn't up in arms about the gender at all, figuring that another boy meant little spending on clothes and the like since I've kept all of the Little Man's things.

Another Iphone "special".

And then Mr. Tree's sister, her husband and their three kids arrived for a visit from Calgary. It was really lovely hosting them for the first time and we hope they'll come back soon!!!

Friday was Canada Day and we went downtown, in between the royal appearances to avoid the chaos - which we watched on TV instead. We didn't stay for the fireworks as the kids were pooped after walking from the Museum of Civilization to Parliament Hill and back again.

Our first stop, in front of the fountain at the Museum of Civilization.

View of the Parliament Buildings from the Museum.

Face painting!

Parting shot of the Parliament Buildings, from the Alexandra bridge.

Saturday we all slept in and had a low-key day. We hit up the mall for some retail therapy and then went to Nana and Papa's community centre for a swim, since our pool wasn't quite finished. They had us over for a BBQ that evening and then I went to bed so I can't really say when happened later that evening.

Sunday afternoon we went to the Museum of Nature. The day was hot and sticky, just the way our Calgarians like it. Personally, I was happy to be indoors!

Another iPhone shot - the best I had despite the kids
all looking in various different directions!

The Little Man is attempting to scan enough food to last this bear through
the winter - he needs 1 million calories stored up to make it!

On Monday I went to work, while the rest of the gang played at Calypso all day. Jake was ready to come home around 3pm, but the in-laws closed the place down. It may well have been the highlight of their time in Ottawa, at least for the kids.

Tuesday we went back to the Museum of Civilization (which we had only parked at on Canada Day) to spend some time at the Children's Museum. Later that afternoon, we headed out to Kemptville to visit with Jeff and his sister's cousin. They have a beautiful home near Merrickville, right on the Rideau River. The kids had a great time playing in the hammock, swimming in the river and helping to light a huge bonfire in their backyard. The Little Man had first crack at lighting the fire and you can see the results of his efforts below.

Wednesday was supposed to be a rainy day, so we stuck close to the house. We watched the liner and water going into the pool, went to the park, ducked inside in between thunderstorms, make rainbow cakes with fondant icing, and when the weather cleared after supper, had our first dip in the new pool!

Thursday the gang headed off to Montreal for the day, while I stayed home and puttered around the house. I bought a lock for the patio door, coveted some bedside tables and a kitchen table, read a book by the pool, took a quick dip and was treated to dinner at my parents.

Ben & Jerry's in Old Montreal.

The kids came home late, tired and cranky from their long day in Montreal so we tucked them in bed and went for a late swim. Friday morning Mr. Tree's sister and brother-in-law headed back downtown on their own to take in the Peace Tower, the National Gallery of Canada, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Byward Market. Mr. Tree and I entertained the kids by throwing them in the pool.

After lunch, we went back to spending the afternoon in the pool.

Just before supper, the Little Man had a swimming lesson and then after supper, we were all, you guessed it, back in the pool.

There's a lot more evidence of time spent swimming over the week, including a few sunburns for yours truly. It's back to work tomorrow for us, which means it's past time for bed. I'll close with a shot of the cousins, arms twisted to pose on the front lawn for one good group shot. This was the best we could manage between sore eyes, numerous distractions and heartfelt ~~desires~~ NEEDS. TO. GET. BACK. IN. THE. POOL!

Taya, Madison, Liam and Jacob.

He means it from the bottom of his heart

2011-06-23T22:11:00.003-04:00

When I was in Junior Kindergarten, my teacher was a "Mrs. W", much the same as the Little Man's is now. I loved her whole heartedly and what I remember most, other than sharing my first kiss with a cute little blond boy named Paul, is how even to my young mind, I just knew she was the quintessential Kindergarten teacher.

Front of Jake's card for "his" Mrs. W

"My" Mrs. W had endless scores of patience for boys who loved mischief and girls who spent hours diligently twirling their new earrings to help prevent infection. She never minded letting us use the paint center and encouraged us to climb all over the indoor wooden play structure. Mrs. W always had the perfect story for every occasion, celebrated milestones with the appropriate wonder and awe and never had a cross word for anyone.

Oddly, when I look back at my class photo from that year, she's not smiling, and yet my four-year old memory can't remember a time when she wasn't.

When we took Jake to JK registration a year and a half ago, "his" Mrs. W sat down beside us and began to engage the Little Man in conversation. Her manner of speech, her genuine interest in his thoughts and feelings on starting school and her calming presence had the memories from my own years in Kindergarten flooding back. Then and there I began to pray earnestly that Jake would be blessed with her presence this year.

The truth be told, I never wanted Jake to grow up. I wanted him to stay three forever, living under my roof where no part of his day was hidden from me. Oh he was more than ready for school, despite being one of the youngest in his class, and quite desperate to learn to cut, tape and "goo" (glue). Knowing to whom he was heading off to each day, eased much of my angst, and seeing the way he grew and flourished under Mrs. W's care was a huge blessing.

Tomorrow marks his last day with Mrs. W and I won't be shy in admitting I'm praying again . . . this time that he'll land in her Senior Kindergarten class next Fall. But no matter what happens, I'll forever be grateful for the outstanding foundation she's provided him as he begins this long scholastic road.

And clearly, so will Jake.

Inside of Mrs. W's card

IHF Weekly Challenge: Lets hear it for the boys

2011-06-21T14:01:00.002-04:00

Over at I Heart Faces, a weekly photo challenge is hosted. This week's theme is "Let's hear it for the boys" and since there's nothing I like better than taking photos of my Little Man, I've decided to participate.

Now to figure out which one is my favourite . . .

After much deliberation, I think I'm going to go with this one:

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see some truly amazing entries, submitted by some super talented folks!

Overheard . . .

2011-06-20T19:38:00.000-04:00

Jacob: Mom, can you remind me of that in the morning? Because I might forget to put it back in my mind.

Of ducks with ostriches

2011-05-24T20:22:00.000-04:00

We had the most lovely visit from Tess who pens equally lovely musings over at The Lighthouse this past weekend. The Little Man, always the effusive host, started talking the moment she walked through the door and didn't stop until we left a few hours later to meet some friends at the movies.

He told her about the breakfast cupboard, with the cereal on the second shelf and the oatmeal on the bottom shelf. While on the subject of breakfast he also thoughtfully reminded her to get up at some point to have breakfast.

He suggested she may want to be somewhere else while Dad sang him to sleep because their rooms were next to each other and she might hear the lullabies.

He took her on a tour of the house and meticulously showed her the sink and toilet, should the need arise.

During a lull in the conversation, Tess sat down at the kitchen table to chat with me while I made a salad. The Little Man was quick to ask her to move because she was sitting "in Mommy's spot". But since "my Glenda" wouldn't be home for supper, Tess could borrow her chair.

I finally interrupted the "how to stay with The Tree's" lesson to ask about his day at school. Tess does a marvelous job interpreting that little conversation and I can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard. I'll wait while you click over and read it - it's a short little ditty and well worth the read . . .

Cute things other kids say . . .

It's amazing the things Jake is learning in Junior Kindergarten. I had no idea that ducks had ostriches!

Growing

2011-05-16T19:46:00.005-04:00

All's been quiet on the blogging front lately for a number of reasons . . .

I've been so tired at the end of the day and the job powers that be frown on blogging during work hours.

I've been incredibly tired and fairly nauseous toward the end of the day and worshiping the porcelain gods takes a lot out of you.

I've been tired and nauseous and really, really busy pretty much every day since mid-February.

I've been especially busy growing a human being!

I haven't blogged much about our struggles to conceive and carry a child to term since Jake was born - it's just not something I feel comfortable putting out there. But we have struggled and have a number of little ones in heaven, interceding for us.

This is the first time I've made it past the three month mark since I was pregnant with Jake five years ago. I'm thrilled! Equally thrilled to have left most of the nausea behind, even if I'm still feeling pooped by the day's close.

A part of me still refuses to get my hopes up, knowing anything could happen in the six months between now and the babe's scheduled arrival, but I am finally feeling peaceful. And tired. Now that the nausea is better I hope to be blogging a bit more.

In the meantime, I'm here, just growing a person.

How sweet it is

2011-05-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

Jacob, in a hissing whisper: Dad! Dad? It's time to get up. It's Mother's Day. We have to go make Mom's breakfast in bed.

Jacob, still hissing: Dad! Come on, Dad! Come on!

And so, while I "slept" on, blissfully ~~unaware~~ determined to be surprised, the Little Man and Mr. Tree made their way downstairs, where they quietly prepared my morning repast.

I dashed to the bathroom before Jake could catch me out of bed and dove back under the covers when I heard him coming up the stairs. I was snoring as they opened the door and gently awakened with a kiss from my favourite son.

The Eggo waffles were delicious, as was the tea and milk. Jake had planted some seeds at school, in a little decorated cup. It'll be a pleasant surprise to find out what they are . . . he has no idea. We were off to Church next and then, a delicious brunch with my parents.

The piece de resistance for me had to be the return of our caregiver, who had left a month before to visit her family in the Philippines. She was supposed to come back last weekend, but an unexpected snafu with her paperwork, prevented her from returning as scheduled.

To say that Jake was excited to see her again, was an understatement. He didn't leave her side for over an hour, and dolled out hugs like they were going out of style.

A happy day all around and being loved by my men is truly, the sweetest thing.

Shhh . . . Mommy, Monkey is sleeping

2011-04-27T20:51:00.000-04:00

Cough 'em up

2011-04-12T20:14:00.000-04:00

Today is my 29th birthday. Again.

After dinner, while opening presents from my family, I read a beautiful card from the Little Man. He had signed it with lots of x's and o's. I carefully counted them all and told him he owed me five kisses and five hugs. He lovingly obliged.

Jake was very excited for my birthday. He made and decorated my cake, picked out some jewelry to match the top my parents got me and painstakingly signed all the cards . . . even the ones from other family members.

As I read the card from my parents, I saw that Jake had carefully printed his name and a whole bunch more x's and o's on it too. Aloud, I counted six of each while he stood by my chair.

I leaned down and told him to "cough 'em up". He willingly brought his lips to my cheek and started coughing on my face.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

The Plague of 2011

2011-03-28T20:44:00.001-04:00

Just for the record and not at all because I think you're interested, here's a small sample of what's been going on at the Tree's of late.

You've already read about the Little Man's puking episode a few weeks ago. That evening he seemed okay after the incident, then spiked a fever of 105.6 the next day. Amid many tears, we made the obvious decision that he was too sick to go to a dear friend's wedding and instead we took him to the hospital. Where we sat in a waiting room with what seemed like 742 children.

All of whom had the stomach flu. All of whom were all bright eyed, running about the waiting room, coughing on everyone and everything, occasionally stopping to throw up, then getting right back to the running around. I wanted to yell at all 1484 parents to take their children home where they belonged and bring them back when they were lethargic, freezing while burning up with a temperature over 103 degrees and laying limp in their arms for hours.

(I totally just changed my exaggerated number of children to an even one I could more easily multiply to account for the parents. Because math is not my strong suit. Hyperbole, on the other hand . . . )

Two hours later we finally saw a nurse, who I'm sure is a lovely ~~child~~ woman and who didn't just graduate from nursing school 5 minutes prior to our arrival. She took Jake's temperature and pronounced that he had the stomach flu. I disagreed, but it's not like I know my kid or anything. She sent us to another waiting room, where we re-encountered the same not-so-much-sick-as-hyper children. When the Little Man perked up a little we took him home without seeing anyone.

By the next day, we were all sick, sick, sick. The day after that Mr. Tree and I started puking while the Little Man spiked fevers on an off. And the day after that Mr. Tree had a fever of 105.6 and I felt like I was breathing through a straw.

We dragged ourselves to a walk-in clinic the next evening where we determined that Mr. Tree had the flu, the Little Man had a raging ear infection (which I initially suspected) and I was the proud recipient of an ear and lung infection. With a fist full of antibiotics for Jake and I, we made our way home.

Where, thanks to the lingering stomach flu, the antibiotics wreaked havoc on our stomachs and sent us back to worshipping the porcelain gods for the next three days.

We were all off work and school for a full week, then I limped through March Break while trying to learn my new position, train my replacement, and manage 100 kids in camp. The following Monday, I started my new job.

And now I'm sick again.

But I love my new job - a lot.

Good talk, Mom

2011-03-12T09:27:00.000-05:00

The Little Man had been in bed (and asleep) for just over three hours when he stumbled into our room last night.

Mom: Jake, what's going on?

Jake: (Walking around to my side of the bed, then climbing in.) I just think we need to have a little talk.

Mom: What would you like to talk about?

Jake: Um.

Mom: Do you want to talk about how you're supposed to be in your own bed right now?

Jake: No, I really don't think that's a very good idea.

Mom: Hmm. Well, what do you want to talk about?

Jake: Perhaps we should talk about my orange inhaler. You go first Mom.

Mom: Okay, where is your orange inhaler?

Jake: In the bathroom.

Mom: Is it doing okay?

Jake: Yup.

Mom: What colour is your orange inhaler?

Jake: (Laughing.) It's orange.

Mom: Okay. That's all I got.

Jake: Thanks Mom. Good talk. Dad, can you take me back to my own bed now?

I would most certainly like some cheese with my whine

2011-03-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

It's Flu Central around here.

You want headaches? We got 'em.

Vomiting and nausea? Yes, we've got that covered too.

How about some serious aches and pains? Check and check.

General sneeziness, hacking coughs that rob your body of all strength and buckets of post-nasal drip? You betcha!

Very cranky, grumpy, whiny (oh I hate the whiny) and pathetic Little Man? Oh boy, yes!

It's funny how I always feel that when a serious illness strikes, it's always the worst possible time. March Break is next week and I'm so busy at work I can hardly breathe. Oh and speaking of not breathing, thanks to my asthma, I totally have that too. It's beyond miserable.

I'm also starting a new job in less than two weeks, which I'm so grateful for. It's going to make family life a lot easier and will be a huge blessing for us. On the flip side, I need to learn it from the person moving on, but between FLU CENTRAL and March Break, there's just no time. So I'm a little freaked out by all that.

Praying for peace now. Reminding myself the world will continue to spin even if I'm on the couch for a day. And both my work life and family life will go on.

A Mother's Instinct

2011-03-04T20:42:00.000-05:00

Mom: Jacob are you feeling okay? You don't look good.

Jacob: My tummy hurts.

Mom: Do you think you're going to throw up?

Jacob: No, I'm fine. (Says the boy who has never thrown up other than the spit up when he had reflex as an infant.)

Mom: Are you sure?

Dad: Leave him be, he's fine.

Mom: I don't know. He looks funny. I think he's going to ----

Jacob: (Throwing up.)

If you can't beat 'em . . . Canadian style

2011-02-28T19:51:00.000-05:00

Another 15cm (6 inches) of snow today has folks in my neck of the woods bemoaning winter and crying for spring. Personally, I don't think we've had near enough. But when the final flakes fell, thick and sticky, late this afternoon, there was but one thing to do.

Behold! The Little Man's first snowman, with help from Mom.

Complete with foam hat, scarf, buttons and eyes, a carrot nose and pom pom mouth.

Kindergarten Semantics

2011-02-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last week we received the Little Man's first ever report card. I was underwhelmed.

It was a good report card, I think. My immediate reaction had me wondering what happened to "A, B, C, D and F"? Everything was so black and white, pass or fail, when letter grades were handed out. This time around, because it was the first report card of the year, all we got were comments.

Vague things such as, "Jacob identifies most 2D shapes" and "Jacob benefits from additional seat time" and my personal favourite, "Jacob is a lovely child, truly brilliant and we're thrilled to tell you that he's won the Nobel Prize for Literature".

I have to preface this by saying that I absolutely love Jake's teachers and when I met all the Kindergarten teachers at registration this time last year, I prayed he'd end up in Mrs. W's class. There was just something about her that just screamed "I love children and will take such good care of your little one that you'll never doubt sending him to school everyday". And I don't. Luckily for us, his French teacher, Mlle. E, is just as lovely.

This afternoon we had our first official parent-teacher interview. Mr. Tree and I were both anxious to find out just what "Jacob identifies most 2D shapes" really meant (which ones doesn't he know?!?) and whether or not there'd be a cash reward for winning the Nobel Prize (there wasn't).

It turns out that Jake can identify the triangle and the square but when you show the Little Man a circle and ask him what shape it is, he'll tell you that it's "round". I actually anticipated this because I'd heard similar feedback back in November when we had an informal chat about Jake's progress over the phone.

I asked Mrs. W if she had ever shown the Little Man a circle and asked him what the shape was called. She hadn't.

I have. He calls it a circle.

And a circle, I'll have you know, is round in shape.

Needless to say I'm not losing any sleep over whether or not the Little Man is going to make it to Senior Kindergarten next year.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T18:32:00.000-05:00

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Linky Love

2011-02-10T21:02:00.001-05:00

This week has been . . . hard. And so I give you some linky love.

First up, I'd love to link to a Mom's recent post about finding out for the first time that her sons have been peeing into the heating ducts, but her blog is private, so I'll just leave the details of that discovery and her reaction to your imagination. I may or may not have woken the Little Man from a sound sleep to shine a flashlight into his eyes while making him swear on his monkey's tiny striped head that he's never done the same and never, ever, ever will.

This post and accompanying recipe made me crave a little heat. And prompted me to re-certify my Standard First Aid and CPR certification.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry over the thought that Sean may not graduate 1st grade despite his incredible in-depth knowledge of the solar system.

And speaking of a mother's heartbreak, Dani so eloquently expressed that inner struggle many mom's have as they try to balance their child's need to grow-up, with their own desire that they stay little boys forever when her eldest wanted to walk home from school alone.

If you're a woman with hormones or if you've ever felt like the chocolate, it simply understands you, you'll both appreciate and sympathize with this post.

And now that Grey's Anatomy has started. I'm out. Let me know if you read any of the links posted and what you think!

Okay. Now it feels like winter.

2011-02-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

I'm ridiculously enamored with winter at night. The air is so crisp, the world looks clean after our fresh snowfall and the sounds are either muffled or eerily silent. It's still snowing lightly, but it's coming down ever so gently and soft - and best of all, the falling snow is very sparkly.

I love the peace of a winter night so much that I went out to shovel again, for the fourth time today. There was only about 2 inches of snow on the ground, but quite frankly, that's the best time to shovel.

I'm also very proud of our driveway this winter. I know. I need help. But for the first winter since I've owned a home, we can actually see pavement after shoveling. Usually we're so far behind on the shoveling that it piles up and eventually you just can't get all the snow off.

So you're stuck shoveling an inch or more off the ground and maybe fighting with the neighbours you share your town home driveway with who think it's perfectly okay to shovel their side onto yours for you to clean up, not that I'm bitter or anything.

Deep cleansing breath.

So now we have our own driveway, twice the size of the last one. And everything you see before you is ~~mine~~ ~~ours~~ the bank's.

So it doesn't look as clean as it did 10 minutes ago, but hey, it's still snowing. And there's always tomorrow night. And yeah, I totally made Mr. Tree run outside and take this photo for me.

Too fat for hot water?

2011-01-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

We're just back from a quick-ish trip to Sohoe (Slice of Heaven on Earth). We had a lovely time visiting family and friends and some spectacular falling water. We stayed at the very exclusive, Harte Suites, where the hot water was plenty, the beds cozy and the food to die for.

The Little Man was thrilled to spend some time in the company of the House of Nuts and Jeff and I were equally happy to have some quality time with our dear friends Tess, T and J. Jake also enjoyed his two trips to that beautiful waterfall, one during the day and one again in the evening to see the lovely lights. Jake also loved spending time with his cousin, Roxie and her dog Whinnie. That boy is pining for a little brother or sister or a dog. Or both.

And while in Sohoe, I had the pleasure of speaking to a fantastic group of adults who work with youth in some way, shape or form on the topic of Positive Youth Development. The folks in attendance had a wealth of fantastic experiences to share and it was such a treat to spend the day with them. I felt badly for the couple of people there who weren't thrilled about how they were made to spend the day and hoped things improved for them as the day progressed.

When I saw their evaluations at the end of the training, it was clear that hadn't happened. While I'm grateful for feedback, positive or negative, it's helpful when it's constructive. Pobody's nerfect, right? What wasn't helpful was the comment that I'm "too fat to speak about the importance of offering healthy food choices to the youth that attend our programs". I guess they missed the part of the training when we spoke about the need to ensure we promoted tolerance within our youth programs and services.

Nevertheless, the trip was wonderful and our travels were safe and pleasant, despite spending 7 plus hours trapped in a car together. The Little Man was a champ on the drive there and back, happily watching movies, snacking, colouring and playing with the new iPhone apps I downloaded just for him.

We arrived home to discover that we're once again without hot water. This is the third or fourth time the tank has stopped working since the temperature dropped below -10. It's infuriating and Direct Energy, the company we pay every month to keep us in hot water, has no idea why it's not working. Not that I really care why it's not working - I just want someone to fix it. Tonight. Because, have I mentioned we haven't showered in a couple of days and we have to go to work (and school) tomorrow?

The lovely folks at Direct Energy do, I will admit, have very diplomatic customer service staff. That being said, it's been four and half hours and we still don't have hot water. They had a lot of excuses, but I'm still waiting for someone to commit to showing up before NEXT Friday to address the immediate issue (the intake valve is filling up with condensation and freezing, causing the tank to shut off and so someone needs to take a torch to the valve and melt the ice) and the long term issue of why the valve is collecting condensation in the first place.

Then of course we still need to discuss the amount of compensation they're going to have to cough up in exchange for the 4 (so far) days we've spent without hot water this month.

It's winter in Canada people. We need hot water tanks with intake valves that vent properly so they won't freeze!

Sigh.

Heard

2011-01-18T22:00:00.001-05:00

All in a night's dream

2011-01-18T00:02:00.001-05:00

When the Little Man comes into our room after lights out but while I'm still awake and reading, I don't really mind.

I find it downright adorable when he stumbles in, squinting and mumbling nonsense under his breath. I try hard not to laugh when he climbs into our big bed without even acknowledging our presence, but rather just grabs whatever pillow is handy and burrows under the covers.

I enjoy his warm little body pressed close to mine and breathe in his little boy smell.

I gamely stifle my giggles when ten minutes later he sits straight up in bed and declares that there's trouble with the bins but I shouldn't worry as he'll grab his tools and get right on it before falling over, dead to the world once more.

Five minutes later he's up again, pitifully weepy and confused, wanting his own bed. With a brief detour to the washroom, where we're entertained by his attempts to pee and sing while still mostly asleep, he's back in his own room, snoring in his own bed, as though nothing happened at all.

In the morning he'll tell us all about how he fixed those troublesome bins, never remembering having left his bed.

Saturdays are for Kids Vol. "I have no idea because I haven't posted one of these in at least a year or three"

2011-01-16T21:58:00.000-05:00

This weekend kicked me in the butt. Can I say butt on a blog? Never mind, I just did. I was in pain, which is a long, boring, girl-y story that I won't get into. I took my special drugs and they took away most of the pain, but left me feeling nauseous, sleepy and tipsy. It's a fun combo! I did a lot of laundry. I think.

Mr. Tree had to head out for a meeting (which was slightly delayed when I informed him just as he was leaving that our hot water heater had suddenly stopped working . . . a story for another day) and I needed to entertain the Little Man. After exhausting every episode of Handy Manny, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Thomas the Tank Engine on Rogers on Demand, I knew we might be in trouble.

Somehow I managed to remember how disappointed Jake was when I wouldn't let him help me with the snowflake cake I made earlier in the week. I begged a cake mix off Nana and Papa (there was no way I could chance making something from scratch in my condition), made it while Jake watched TV and coloured some leftover fondant while it cooled. Then I let him go to town.

Want to do it yourself?

Make or buy some fondant. I used a 24 oz. package of pre-made fondant this time. You can find a recipe on the Google, or buy it at a bulk food or cake supply store.
Make your favourite cake. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing it. Put it in the fridge after removing it from the pans to cool it completely.
While the cake is cooling, colour your fondant. Pull off small balls, about 1-1.5 inches in diameter and colour them using food colouring. You don't need a lot of food colouring, especially if you use the liquid kind. If the fondant gets sticky, knead in some icing sugar.
Keep the fondant wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or a baggie so it won't dry out until you're ready to use it.
Ice your cooled cake with whatever icing you have or prefer. Buttercream, cream cheese, canned . . . it all works. You can either roll and cut out your coloured fondant and put the pieces directly on your iced cake, or you can roll out a larger piece to cover the cake first.
If you cover the cake with fondant first, you'll need a bit of water on the back of your cut out pieces to stick them to the cake. You can "paint" the front of the pieces with water or clear vanilla, almond or lemon extract to get rid of any icing sugar and make them shiny once they're on the cake.
Keep the cake in the fridge until you're ready to eat!

To say he was pleased when he proudly presented all of us with a piece for dessert that evening is an understatement!

Of cakes and Christmas

2011-01-14T18:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's January and I'm still talking about Christmas. But only long enough to say that taking down the rest of the Christmas decorations is what I've been up to lately. I had a lot of fun creating new things for our new home. Now I'm having not as much fun trying to find a home for all those new things.

And I made another cake, this time for a bridal shower. The bride's colours are fuchsia and black and I settled on the snowflake design after seeing her wedding invitations adorned with a beautiful one.

Pink and Blue Wrestling Monkeys

2011-01-11T20:48:00.003-05:00

So as I type this blog post, I'm listening to the Little Man, in the room next to mine, singing "O Canada". Sometimes in French and sometimes in English and sometimes he breaks out into "Joy to the World" (only he calls it "theheavenandnaturesing" song) in the middle. Occasionally he belts out "hosanna in the highest" for good measure.

He's supposed to be sleeping.

Today was one of those odd days. I woke up early, which, if you know me at all, is very odd indeed. I made it to work in less than half an hour. Another oddity as it usually takes at least 45 minutes to an hour if I leave early.

(I really wish you could hear Jacob right now.)

Instead of actually getting any real work done, I spent the entire morning on the phone with the Help Desk. Every time we got one thing sorted out, a completely new problem cropped up in a totally unrelated area. Another unusual thing because I call the Help Desk only once every two to three years. Not so unusual was that every time I called, I spoke to a different guy. But every one of them had a monosyllabic name. Greg. Rob. Ron. Tom. Mark. And some-guy-whose-name-I-promptly-forgot. Because my ability to remember Help Desk names goes down the tubes after five. People. Not hours. But it might as well have been hours. So we'll call him Greg.

I ducked out after lunch for an appointment, then telecommuted from a building closer to home. That sounds so fancy. Like somehow I worked from outer space. Yet it couldn't have been outer space because it was definitely much noisier than outer space. Not that I've ever been there. Anyway. There I worked diligently while listening to what seemed to be 400 monkeys in an After School program in the hall next to the office. Turns out it was only about 20 children. I could have sworn they were monkeys.

(It's a crying shame you're not in my room listening to Jakes right now.)

Just before I returned from outer space, Mr. Tree emailed to remind me he had a meeting at Church tonight and would it pretty please be okay with me if he didn't come home after work but went straight to his meeting instead, but only if I was okay with that and most especially as long as I was okay with putting the Little Man to bed with my lumpy arm?

I was colouring fondant last night for a bridal shower cake when I suddenly felt? heard? a loud popping noise. I looked down and saw a lump the size of a clementine sticking out of my forearm. It hurt a little. It may have brought tears to my eyes. It may even have brought me to my knees. I rubbed it a little until it stopped hurting, pushed it back in and got back to the fondant. I am woman. Hear me roar.

I bravely replied to Jeff, letting him know I was okay with all of that and promptly called my mother to see what they were doing for supper. I'm no fool. Unfortunately they've landed smack dab in the middle of chaos right now as their home is finally torn apart to fix the mould problem that's been plaguing them since they moved into their brand spanking new home two years ago. You have to give credit to those builders - they sure know how to act quickly.

Nana and Papa were without heat thanks to the mould unexpectedly being in or around the duct work - so inconsiderate that mould business - and they were going out to eat. They were happy-ish to have us tagging along to a nearby family restaurant/neighbourhood pub.

Then we came home and did the bedtime routine. Which culminated with Jake peeing while brushing his teeth. Where did he get that idea? Of course it didn't end well, but I did manage to stop him from picking up where he left off after he fished the brush out of the toilet.

So that's how I came to be ending my day with my husband at Church while his son learned about the intricacies of professional wrestling and oral hygiene - complete with a blue tongue and pink hands.

(He's finally asleep. I can tell because the "singing" is interspersed with long periods of silence and is now really just one word, sung in a long sigh. He just let loose with a singular "hosanna".)

Christmas Recap

2011-01-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

I'm embarrassingly late with our Christmas update but am going to give it the old college try anyway. Who am I kidding? I never went to college.

This was by far the least stressful Christmas I've had since the Little Man was born. So I'm guessing five times is the charm and I've got my fingers crossed (hence any typos you may come across) that I won't have to wait another five for a similar holiday season.

We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home and I received the perfect gift from Jeff - cold, hard cash. It's what I asked for. Honest. I love decorating our home for Christmas and wanted to make some new stuff and buy some new stuff for the house. In an effort to have everything done (except the tree) for the first Sunday of Advent, I took all our stuff out of storage in early November. Then, if you're me, I spent three blissful weeks surrounded by felt, feather boas, craft paper, beads, bells and glue guns.

If you're my friend "L" (hi, L!), I spent three hellish weeks surrounded by felt, feather boas, craft paper, beads, bells and glue guns.

Making stuff and decorating relaxes me. I find it peaceful. And then, after three weeks of bliss, and multiple family-room mantel configurations, I had this:

We switched our usual "Shark Grace" before supper to the first verse of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and although Jake was not a fan of the change initially, he quickly came around. He's still launching into long, drawn-out Eeeeemaaaaanuuuueeeeelllll's every now and then.

I wrote about our Christmas tree hunting adventures over at Kids in the Capital.

Three days before Christmas we surprised my parents with my brother. He'd been in Colombia working and wasn't supposed to be home until mid-January. My parents reluctantly came over to babysit one evening so Jeff and I could run a last-minute "errand". When we walked in a couple of hours later with my brother, my parents were thrilled. Knowing that Jake was anxious to see Uncle Adrian (though we hadn't told him he was coming so he wouldn't accidentally ruin the surprise), we woke him up to say hello. Here was Jake's reaction:

Christmas Eve we went to Mass early and it was lovely. Our friend "C" is responsible for all the gorgeous decorations and she outdid herself again this year. We sang carols before Mass, but an anxious little boy couldn't wait to get home to eat and put out cookies and hay and hang stockings so we didn't stay for the Pageant this year.

My family came over after Mass for a cold supper and we laughed at Jake's antics as he wound himself up in anticipation of Christmas morning.

Christmas morning dawned around 7:30 for us - Jake slept like a champ and we didn't stay up half the night assembling toys - which likely contributed to our stress-free Christmas. The Little Man was thrilled with his stocking and equally excited to see "baby Jesus" laying in the manger he lovingly made for him.

My parents and brother arrived a little later and the gifts under the tree were opening in short form. Once again, Jake was overwhelmed by the sheer number of presents with his name on them and got tired of opening stuff toward the end. (Will I ever learn?!?) He perked up when he opened Tidmouth Sheds and Handy Manny's tools though.

Jeff and I started making breakfast, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, whipped cream, fresh berries and mimosas. What's not to like?

After cleaning up, some serious train playing and some naps, we headed to my parent's for supper. It was delicious, as always! Jake was thrilled to find out that Santa had been to Nana and Papa's house too and reveled in some loving attention from the ever-popular Uncle Adrian.

We kept our out-of-town family close in our thoughts and prayers and were all spoiled by the many thoughtful gifts we received, the yummy food and more importantly, the time spent with family here in town.

I hope you had just as lovely a day and that coming year will bring many more blessings for you and yours!

Oh, and I did go to University. Not that that's at all relevant or important.

2010 Blog in Review

2010-12-31T09:56:00.002-05:00

I'd like to have the energy and mental capacity to write something thoughtful and meaningful about the passing of 2010. 2010 was a decent year. Nothing catastrosphic happened. I will remember this year as the year of relative peace. Peace despite a big move, near finger misses and personal loss.

Last year at this time I blogged about some of the posts I'd written for 2009, as a sort of recap. This year, because it's simpler and quicker (something I need in this present moment) I'm going to follow another sort of meme to recap 2010: the first sentence of the first post for each month.

January: I've been under the weather (what an odd term really - aren't we most always under the weather?) for the past two or twenty-two days.

February: Jacob: Daddy? When I grow up I'm going to have a big tummy just like you. And my own Bible.

March: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuHdXxvdbf4&feature=player_embedded

April: It's been a stunningly beautiful weekend and we've been spending as much time in the out-of-doors as possible.

May: The Tree's are moving - onward and upward.

June: Seriously.

July: (WARNING - Photos below are not for the faint of heart or the squeamish!)

August: Maybe it's because at three-almost-four-years-of-age he still doesn't actually sleep through the night.

September: For as long as I can remember, I've been a night person.

October: It's Fire Prevention Week at the Little Man's school.

November: I am sick. I'm so sick that the cats are following me around everywhere. Why do they do that when I'm sick? It creeps me out. It's like they're waiting for me to keel over so they can start feasting on my unconscious body.

December: Me: Jacob! Come on, get your underwear on. You have to hurry or you'll miss the school bus.

I totally cheated on a few of these. Some have more that just the first sentence and some quotes are actually from the second post that month. In fact from February through April the first post of the month was a series of photos, so I jumped to the next. Either way you get the idea. And hey, it's my blog!

I do sincerely wish you a peaceful and prosperous 2011. May all your dreams come true next year, even the ones you didn't know you had.

Christmas Day 2010 - one hour at a time

2010-12-25T17:07:00.005-05:00

Miss Fish is hosting an hourly photo roundup of Christmas Day activities. I'm not as motivated about posting our photos as we go, but here's where we're at so far. Just for fun, I decided to take all my hourly photos with the iPhone, using the Hipstamatic App.

8:00 am

Madly opening Santa's gifts - we didn't even get a cup of tea first.

9:00 am

Finally . . . tea!

10:00 am

Opening "tree" gifts now that Nana, Papa and Uncle Adrian have arrived.

11:00 am

Making brunch.

12:00 pm

Mmmm!

1:00 pm

Oops! Just remembered to check outside to see if the reindeer ate the hay we put out.

2:00 pm

He's actually faking it for the sake of our hourly photo op, but was asleep minutes later.

3:00 pm

A blissful nap for the grown-ups too.

4:00 pm

Another play with the much beloved trains before heading to
Nana and Papa's for Christmas Dinner.

5:00 pm

It's really a shame that you can't smell the house right now.

6:00 pm

I think this one goes without saying, though I will mention how much
I enjoyed the new wine Jeff decided to try!

7:00 pm

Some serious LEGO building going on with Uncle Adrian.

8:00 pm

Rounding off the evening with a few hands of Euchre.
Where my partner and I were thoroughly euchred.
Numerous times.
Perhaps I shouldn't have had so much wine?

'Twas the night before Christmas . . .

2010-12-24T23:31:00.004-05:00

The beautiful altar, adorned for Christmas Eve Mass.

Our family room, shortly after St. Nick's visit.

Cool Christmas tree lights!

Baby Jesus in his manger made soft with the "hay" of Jacob's good deeds.
Well done Little Man!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

A valley guy Christmas

2010-12-15T21:37:00.001-05:00

This morning I visited the Little Man's classroom for his Christmas Party. We decorated cookies, made ornaments and then watched their darling Nativity Play. I recorded the entire play, but have edited the five-minute play to the 40 seconds you'll find below.

The first clip begins as Joseph and Mary arrive at the inns (two inns?) and are turned away. Listen carefully and you can hear the first innkeeper telling Joseph that "No, I totally don't have room."

The second clip features the Little Man as one of the three Wise Men. He's the one in green (shirt and crown) yawning throughout the entire play thanks to a cold that resulted in next to no sleep last night.

The final clip celebrates the birth of Christ with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday Baby Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

The great Christmas tree hunt of 2010

2010-12-12T20:08:00.000-05:00

I'll be writing about our trip to not one, not two but THREE tree farms in one afternoon over at Kids in the Capital later this month. In the meantime, I did want to share some photos of our adventures.

Jake's friends "L" and "M" carry their Dad's saw to the tractor
wagon that will take us out to the fields.

Before the tractor wagon ride, the Little Man makes a quick trip to the outhouse.
I don't do outhouses in the winter so I elected to hold it for four hours.

Christmas trees as far as the eye could see!

No trip would be complete without a sleigh ride and these lovely fellows
seemed happy to oblige.

There were lots of slippery hills to climb . . .

. . . And finally a tree to cut down.

This one was for some friends who couldn't make the trip to the farm.

Leftover branches are great for swirling!

The Little Man may be smiling, but he was very
wary of that huge saw.

One mitt on, one mitt off

2010-12-11T23:39:00.000-05:00

Finally asleep after a very busy day hunting Christmas trees, playing with friends and just doing what boys do.

Bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils

2010-12-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

It was a big day around here. The Little Man's teachers called with an informal progress report on life in Junior Kindergarten to date. Apparently you don't get an interview in person unless they feel there are issues, or you really want one.

Jake is doing really well. He's kind and plays with everyone. He listens well and follows the rules and routines to a tee. (Not that we're surprised by that one. What with the father who's an engineer and the mother who was paralyzed with fear about the possibility of ever getting in trouble at school.) He uses scissors well (unlike me who failed scissors in JK because my Mom wouldn't let me use them), holds his pencil properly and recognizes the appropriate amount of letters, numbers and shapes. They think he's cute and funny, he loves story time, gym and the puppet theatre.

With all that positive feedback, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I had to hold back the mama bear in me when she indicated he needed to continue practicing colouring in the lines, work on recognizing numbers 6 through 9 and try to come out of his shell during circle time.

What? My child? Not perfect?

Deep breaths, deep breaths.

We're very proud of the Little Man, and it's clear to us he's learned a lot in such a short amount of time. He knows how to print almost all his letters, randomly surprises us by calling them out when he sees them on signs, sings and counts in French and counts past twenty. The best news for me though, was hearing how polite and friendly he is in class, both with his teachers and his friends.

And despite the fact that Mlle. E and Mrs. W have clearly lost sight of how perfectly perfect Jakes is, we're still putting together some Christmas gifts for them. I debated a number of options from home bakes goodies to chocolate to wine and everything in between. I finally settled on a bouquet of pencils, accompanied by gift cards to a bookstore and a teacher supply store.

Then, because it soothes my soul, I had to make a container for the pencil bouquet. Remember these?

I took off the green and brown ribbons, added new ribbon and some scrapbook paper and voila!

There ain't nothing I can't do with a glue gun.

Captain (LONG) Underpants

2010-12-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

Me: Jacob! Come on, get your underwear on. You have to hurry or you'll miss the school bus.

Jacob: They should make underwears that go all the way down your legs.

Me: They do. It's called long underwear and you wear them under your clothes in the winter.

Jacob: Ooohhhooohhhaaaahhhhooooo! But do they make it for kids? Because if they don't maybe we could get some for grown ups and then cut them shorter.

Me: They do make long underwear for kids.

Jacob: (Speechless. And late for the bus.)

Christmas Tales

2010-12-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

I've a new post up at Kids in the Capital today about our family's favourite holiday books.

Have a look and please, share your family's favourites too - we could always use more books around here!

Here's the link if you want to check it out.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work

2010-11-22T22:24:00.002-05:00

The blogging's been light of late and below you'll see why.

This marks our first Christmas in our "forever" home and I've been dreaming, quite literally, of where all the decorations will go. Knowing I had my ~~work~~ pleasure cut out for me, I wanted to start early enough so that I'd be done by Advent. It's my favourite season of the year . . . I think I like it more than Christmas itself. This year, I really wanted to focus on the preparations in my heart rather than in our home and I didn't want to be distracted by all the decorating.

Although we had a family room with a fireplace in our old home, it was in the basement, where only the Little Man tended to hang out for any length of time. In this home, our family room and fireplace are open to the kitchen on the main floor. It's where we live and I really wanted to spend some time creating a mantel that felt like me.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I "shopped the house", trying on a variety of different groupings and styles before I found what I liked. As I pulled together some of my favourite pieces, I quickly realized that texture was very important to me, especially soft and cozy ones. The garland was the hardest bit for me . . . I knew I wanted one, but I knew I didn't want anything prickly (like evergreens) or ornate.

I woke up Sunday morning and realized that I needed scarves. I found the four below for a total of $30. I made the wreath with red fabric balls and styrofoam balls wrapped with green yarn. I wrapped the small wreath with an old scarf I wasn't wearing anymore that I cut into a strip. Every year I buy cinnamon-scented pine cones and leave them out year-round. The ones on the mantel are last year's cones. The flowers in the center typically sit on our kitchen counter.

While not to everyone's taste, I love it. It's me. It's soft and warm, unique and traditional.

We'll just punch holes in the lid and call it a day

2010-11-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

Edited to add a photo of the finished (except for some good deed hay) manger below.

Tonight we started making a manger in preparation for Christmas. Now that the Little Man is old enough to understand the concept of giving, we've started a new-to-us family tradition. For every good deed done between the first Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day, we'll put a piece of hay (yarn) in the manger. Hopefully by the time December 25th comes around, we'll have added enough hay to make a warm and cozy bed for baby Jesus.

There's nothing Jake likes more than a project, and while tonight I had planned on simply introducing the concept, the Little Man insisted on getting started right away. So after badgering the nanny for a shoebox he knew she had hanging about, Jake starting thinking through the manger-making project. Here is what ensued . . .

Walking the parenting line

2010-11-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

I've noticed lately that I spend a fair bit of time wondering if I'm doing the right thing as a parent. When the Little Man was a much littler man, I wasn't much for comparing myself to other moms or comparing him to other babies. I think it's because I was fairly confident in my newborn parenting abilities, I was comfortable around infants and I knew that Jake was too young to be influenced by any sort of peer pressure.

Now that the Little Man has started Junior Kindergarten, I wonder all the time if I'm making the right parenting decisions. I worry particularly about the decisions I make that could hurt his feelings. Not the feelings that yell and cry over a well-placed time out (or time in), but rather the ones that are hurt over a decision I might make that leads him to feeling left out or made fun of.

Suddenly and to my surprise, I find myself comparing Jakes to other little boys his age.

It started with camp this past summer. I decided against sending Jake to camp for "Super Hero" week. He doesn't know what a super hero is . . . unless you count Bob the Builder or Handy Manny among your resident Spidermans and Ironmans.

He's never played games with knights, bad guys, swords or guns. I'm not sure he even knows what a gun is. He's never been a hitter or a biter, he's pretty decent about sharing and he doesn't know a poopy-head from a dumb-dumb.

He can talk your ear off about Mickey, Thomas, LEGO or the latest Berenstain Bears book. He loves sports, the park, playing in the snow and riding his bike. He likes to draw pictures of ferris wheels and print his name. He plays school, sings, swims, runs himself ragged and is still free with the hugs and kisses - even in public. He plays house and races cars and trucks with equal abandon.

Is that normal? Is the Little Man a nice kid or a wuss? I am keeping him from growing up too fast or just growing up?

Fall photos

2010-11-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful day today and I couldn't resist getting outside to take some photos of my favourite subject!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. Who Cares)

2010-11-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

- - - 1 - - -

I am sick. I'm so sick that the cats are following me around everywhere. Why do they do that when I'm sick? It creeps me out. It's like they're waiting for me to keel over so they can start feasting on my unconscious body.

- - - 2 - - -

My little brother is leaving for Bogota tomorrow. It's also his birthday next week, but since he won't be here, we're celebrating tonight. What do you get the 20-something year old who's moving to Bogota? All I can think of is some sort of weapon. Or maybe a whistle?

- - - 3 - - -

We really should have taken shares out in Kleenex. Have I mentioned that I'm sick?

- - - 4 - - -

I've worked with teenagers for many, many years. I've seen and heard them do some weird stuff. But not quite as weird as this.

- - - 5 - - -

This is just so true. So back off and leave us alone. Though I will say that I think I went shopping not that long ago and truly appreciated the help of one of the sales people. Somehow she managed to be just the right amount of helpful without trying to sell me a whole lot of crap I didn't want or like. But sadly, she was just one of 1000's.

- - - 6 - - -

We interrupt this blog post for a coughing fit.

- - - 7 - - -

Live in the Ottawa area? Check out Danigirl's "Christmas Parades of Eastern Ontario Roundup". Will you hit up any holiday parades this year?

On the fence about Halloween

2010-10-31T20:58:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, I don't really remember a whole lot of scary when it came to Halloween. Up until age eleven or twelve, school mates and friends dressed up as super heros, princesses, clowns, crayons and pumpkins.

Other than a friendly jack-o-lantern or three, folks didn't decorate for Halloween. There were no haunted houses, strobe lights, scary music, fog machines and tombstones on the lawn. Girls didn't wear inappropriately sexy costumes and the guys weren't dripping with fake blood.

Even in high school the parties were more about orange and black, the monster mash and the silly rather than the scary. There were the odd kids who went the route of the trick, but even that usually involved a smashed pumpkin along the walk to school the next morning. Not that I'm condoning that, but homes weren't egged and cars weren't TP'ed.

Nowadays it seems that Halloween has become more of an event. Stores spring up dedicated solely for the purpose of finding that perfectly horrific costume, decoration or accessory. The decorations turn from celebrations of Fall to glorifying evil. The commercials on TV are full of ads for the latest scary movie. Preschool favorites like Thomas, Bob and Handy Manny all feature special Halloween episodes.

Now that I have a child, I'm not sure how I feel about that. There's a huge part of me that sees a lot of innocence in the "holiday". What's to dislike about pint-sized cows, giraffes, ladybugs and lions toddling around with snowsuits under their costumes, admiring pumpkins and collecting some treats?

But there's no escaping from the ghoul, the blood, the vampires, the celebration of all things scary, dead and haunting. Picking up medication at the drug store with Jake in tow is an exercise in "scary thing" avoidance. He knows which aisles to avoid so the butler with a severed head on his tray doesn't come to life and scare the pants off him . . . again. The month of October in Junior Kindergarten is also dedicated to the celebration of Halloween. Talk of witches and ghosts fill our evenings and songs about black cats and jack-o-lanterns are rampant.

Tonight we went trick-or-treating and the Little Man was really excited to head out. Until we got to the third house and door mat cackled when he stepped on it. He recovered, until we got to the sixth house and the jack-o-lantern flickered ominously. I don't even want to think about the teenagers with the make up so horrifying, even my heart skipped a beat while I tried desperately to hide him from them.

Jacob isn't as innocent as he was two years ago when he cheerfully waved goodbye to the "cary tings" at our door. His vivid imagination is developing in leaps and bounds and it's not so easy to convince him that all that stuff is just pretend. I'm honestly starting to wonder if it's all worth it and I think next year, we'll hit the All Saints Eve party at our Church instead. It promises to be free of scary things . . . and a whole lot warmer!

Let's go wild

2010-10-30T14:31:00.000-04:00

Sweet 16

2010-10-16T20:21:00.000-04:00

Again

2010-10-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

It's 6:45 AM when Jacob's alarm clock goes off. He stumbles blearily into our room, still mostly asleep. The Little Man makes his way to Dad's side of the bed and in a stage whisper asks, "Daddy? Is it a work day?"

Dad takes a deep breath and visibly braces himself before replying, "Yes, Jakes. It's a work day today."

The Little Man breaks into heaving sobs, crying the tears of one deeply grieved.

"Again?!? Why is it a work day again?"

And so begins another day at The Tree's. Another work day. Again.

Climbing the Walls at Kids in the Capital

2010-10-14T08:28:00.000-04:00

I've a post up at Kids in the Capital today! Brie and Lara have created such a great gathering place for parents and children in and around Canada's capital city and I'm honoured to contribute now and then.

A few weeks ago I took a pile of teenagers to Alititude Gym in Gatineau. It's a brand new facility with an area built especially for young rock climbers, the likes of which have never been seen outside New Zealand until now.

Head over there and check it out!

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one

2010-10-12T21:59:00.012-04:00

Remember when I was all complain, complain, complain about how McShifty was ruining my life?

Well one of the potential cranky Little Man solutions I've been pushing for is the reintroduction of the afternoon nap. Frankly, I think George had it right. We should all have a little bed built into our desks for the all important afternoon siesta. But I digress.

The Little Man could not be less interested in the nap. I'm a big boy now and all that jazz. Mommy on the other hand has had enough. Between the frequent night wakings, the whining, the grumps and the disobedience I was at my wit's end.

This morning I was the whining, mean, grump and I laid down the law. There will be napping or suffer the consequences. And by napping I mean napping without arguments or fights with Glenda, our caregiver.

I'm happy to report that naps were had by all! Okay, not really. Only Jake napped, but I lived vicariously through him. This evening at supper time, the Little Man was cheerful and for the first time since starting school, could actually tell us about his day instead of repeatedly responding to every question with "I forget".

We told him how happy we were and how thankful we were that he was obedient. We did break the bad news that the afternoon nap would be a regular part of his day from now on and we dodged the "I'm a big boy not a baby" argument by explaining that he happened to go to a school that had to start earlier than other schools and that's why he needed a rest every day.

So when we wrapped up our little chat about the new napping routine by asking Jake to do exactly the same thing tomorrow, he quickly and innocently asked "even the arguing with Glenda part?"

I guess things didn't go exactly as planned.

Thankful tables

2010-10-11T19:08:00.000-04:00