HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!!!

What's more fun than your first Hallowe'en? Being a cupcake on your first Hallowe'en. Stella tried to make scary growling noises at us, not convincing when you're dressed like delicious dessert.



Pre "trick or treat" snack. (Taking a 1 year old trick or treating is a good way to scam free chocolate from your friends)



Take what you want Stella, but the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are MINE.



We might wear this everyday in November too.



Happy Spooky Birthday to Nanna too!

Reflections on Motherhood

A friend shared this clip with me: Reflections on Motherhood.
It was very poignant as we're closing in on Stella's birthday.

If you're a Momma, bust out a kleenex.

Get thee out teeth!!!

It's been a long run.

2 weeks of drool, snot on the shoulders of everything I own, coughs that wake everyone in the middle of the night, painful bedtimes, and more poo than any one woman should have to deal with. And lots of last resort, strapping the baby on and just walking.

I'd like to thank the inventor of baby tylenol. Those people are all alright in my books.

Those two front b@stards are right there. Right. There.

Relief is in sight. It might still be distantly on the horizon, but it's there.

Do's And Don'ts

Advice I would take:

Sleep when the baby sleeps. Amen.

Capture every moment, cause it goes by so fast. (It does. So so so so fast.)

You'll never wish you hugged them less.



Advice to forget:

Sleep training. I'm going to forget it, all of it.

If you don't teach your baby to sleep, it's like giving them junkfood. (Yes, a sleep doula actually said those very words).

Don't pick them up every time they cry.





There will be a finite number of days where their little heads fit in the crook of your arm, when they're the perfect height that their faces can be smooshed against your should when their standing on your lap. The joy of learning new things, like clapping hands or making ET fingers will fade. Soon there will be new faces that fill their days and you won't know every second of their history.

Kiss and cuddles don't spoil a child, loving so much can only make things better. I remind myself this every time there's a tough day, or a drawn out bedtime. Time goes to fast.

In days ago....

Yesterday, Friday, I was driving through our old neighbourhood and I had a bit of homesickness. Not just for our old house, but our old life. Fridays were different, and special. Fridays used to be full of potential. If I didn't have to work, I would have worked the night before so I would spend the day sleeping. Even if you had to work, or go school, there was always the pleasant thought all day that it was Fri-day-night. There would be fun, and mischief, and possibly some mayhem. In high school and university I remembered that we would all start gathering in the evening planning to do something, or absolutely nothing at all. Before Jeff and I lived together, whatever we were doing, we would meet up at the end of the day at one of our houses to sleep in the next morning. There would be late night junkfood; McDonald's or 'Za in high school, Sun-Sun's in university or Shanghai cowgirl in our "grown up" days.

Fridays are different now. This friday I spent the day taking my poo-exploding baby to the doctor, doing laundry, and supervising the carpet dudes putting in the new carpet in the attic. Different. Different good or different bad? Both.

This friday I had a dinner date of noodles and apples slices, I spent my evening throwing toys back in a box because it made my date laugh. I hid under a blanket to have it pulled off my head and washed her hair. I said good night with cuddles and did yet another load of laundry. And I curled up on the couch with my book and had a beer. Not a bad night at all.

10km Zoo run and Stella's first time at the zoo!

Today I ran the 10km run at the Toronto Zoo. It was my first time and an amazing course. Hilly, but nice and gentle, but the time you were tired of the uphill, you were on your way back down again! It felt awesome, I guess that's what happens when you normally run pushing an extra 40 pounds. I got to jog with some zebras and run a 55:12. I kicked some ass.

We took Stella for a spin around the zoo, she was more interested in checking out other kids than the animals! We saw the orangatans, gorillas, zebras, one lonely giraffe, hippos, rhinos, lions and tigers! We had a great stroll around with the family, and Stella took a wee nap as well.

We got stuck in horrible traffic on the way home and took a detour to pick up a new jacket for Jeff. And when we took Stella out of the carseat..... phhhhffffeeeeetttt (that's the noise of a giant poo explosion). Luckily we were near a Babies 'R us and Jeff ran in to grab her some new clothes. (I've become lax, I used to never leave home without extra clothes, but we haven't needed them in 5 months!) No harm done, Jeff got a new jacket and we got home for a nap.

And the best treat? Chocolate dipped potato chips. Enough said.

24 days

24 days will feel like 24 hours, will feel like 24 minutes. It will fly by in home reno projects and trips to the park and dates with friends. 24 days will be gone with a 10 km run and a first trip to the zoo and a Fakes-giving in Guelph. 24 days rush by with brunch with friends, piano pick ups and photo shoots. 24 days will seem like a second with first halloween costumes and jumping in piles of leaves and parks filled with pumpkins. In the last days of the those 24 we'll remember exciting moments and anticipation.

And in 24 days our baby will be one.

Thanksgiving

Just some pictures from our awesome holiday weekend, and it's not even half over yet!


my blueberries


Breakfast jammie party


Daddy pushes way higher than Mom.


Beep Beep


Shoulder rides are awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeff's got the turkey on the smoker with hickory and apple smoke, buttermilk biscuits in the oven and the cake is frosted. We have so much to be thankful for this year; our little and big family, amazing friends, our house that becomes more like a home everyday and of course the little blueberry. I can't even remember what life was like last thanksgiving.

Have a wonderful holiday!

ps. Long live global warming. It's amazing to be hanging out in the backyard in a tshirt on Thanksgiving!

Milestone machine

Stella's 11 month birthday kind of flew by. It was on Monday and I was busy worrying about Tuesday. (Don't worry, I still had a double chocolate dried cranberry cookie from Cherry Bomb). Tuesday Stella had her tests at Sick kids as follow up to the UTI she had this summer. She had an ultrasound of her kidneys, which she didn't like only because we had to hold her on her back and she wanted to play with the cords. Then she had a VCUG which involved putting in a catheter, filling her bladder with a contrast dye and watching her pee on a camera. It went much better than the ultrasound (which was good cause only one parent was allowed in and I'm not strong enough to lasso this calf.).

Even though we were stressed, (we=me, Jeff is the rational one when it comes to this stuff), Stella manages to lighten the mood. This week she has pulled up on the stairs, clapped her hands (while floating on her back in the pool), and climbed a step (which she then fell off of). Our little sack of potatos is on the move.

Pick Pocket

We have a thief in this house. Good thing we caught her on video surveillance.



Notice she doesn't bother with cash and goes straight for the credit cards

My favourite part of the day

I love the morning. That's not to say I'm a morning person, cause it takes a good strong coffee to get me going in the morning. But I like the quiet peacefulness of it. One of my favourite moments of the day is when Stella wakes up just a little bit early (not too early), before Jeff's alarm goes off to start our day. If it's just that few last minutes, I scoop her up and we lie in bed together. There's just the soft sound of her breathing, the gentle kaka sound of her swallowing while she nurses, the warmth of over night sleep and it's peace. The three of us are warm and snug together while we shake off the last sleepy dreams and get ready to start our day.

Pull up your socks...

Our milestone explosion continues. Stella is trying to pull up on everything, she even sits and play on her knees now. Unfortunately, she's usually playing with the cable box. Naptime has been challenging, but we've got a new plan to start tomorrow.

This weekend was quite busy, Jeff and I primed the walls in the attic. Our attic project hit a big road bump with our busy summer, but we're back on track now. Just seeing that first step was awesome, it's starting too look like a real room instead of a construction site. Later that afternoon we went and met some friends at the Ceili Cottage for a beer. They had home made kettle chips!

Today Jeff put the colour on the walls while Stella and I were at a baby shower for our awesome friend Nat. It looks awesome. We have so many great plans for the room. Tonight while Stella was in the bath and laughing I spied Tooth #4 breaking through!

I can see you!