...and baby makes three!

36-37ish Weeks

2012-02-10T09:22:00.003-04:00

Alright. The countdown is on. My last day of work is the 24th and I want it to hurry up and get here. I don't know why. I don't go to work until 5pm so I'm still home all day and it gives me a nice break at the end of the day but I think it'll be nice to know that I can go to bed early, wear sweats all day and spend some last minutes as a family of 3 before we become a family of 4. With that being said, we are slowly running out of time as a family of 3 because I'm now 36-37 weeks (I say it that way because I've been crap at taking timely belly pics this time around and I know I'm somewhere between those two weeks).

I never realize how big I am until I see a picture of myself and then I think "yowza!". No wonder it feels like there's no room in our bed for both of us. I think I have opposite anorexia (if there even IS a term for that) cause I definitely think I'm smaller than I am and think "Man, I look pretty good" and then see a picture and realize the opposite is true. It happens when I'm not pregnant too. "Oh wow, I'm having a really skinny day! Break out the bikinis!" and then photos pop up later and my mind thinks "wasn't this my skinny day? oy..."

Anyways, I have the baby room pretty much done except I need to take the car seat from the closet and put it in the car so I can load the closet up with other things that are taking up space in the corner of the room. THEN the room will be complete and I might share a picture. Oh, and we need to hang things on the wall...but that's the easy part. The hard part right now is keeping the cat out and from thinking that that room is her own personal getaway that we painted and set up just for her. Dumb cat.

Alright, I'm off to enjoy this beautifully sunny day!

French Braids!

2012-02-09T12:42:00.004-04:00

So I had been thinking lately that it would be cute if Mya sported those double french braids you see on some kids. Kind of like this:

And seeing that I was a victim of the french braid when I was a child, I knew all about how to do one so I figured it couldn't be that hard. And it wasn't, except her hair is rather fine and shorter near the front. But I tried.

It came out looser than I would've preferred but I think it's still cute! I didn't have a lot of hope of it staying in all day but I was surprised that it did! At least until I left for work. The only parts that came undone were at the front where the pieces were a little shorter and we ended up just clipping those back. I suppose it would probably get better if I practiced it but now that I've done it, I don't know if I want to do it again. We'll see I guess.

Coming soon: new belly pic!

10 on Tuesday on Sunday

2012-02-05T11:21:00.003-04:00

1. It makes me happy when Mya wants to watch cartoons and sees something on ToonRetro that catches her eye. Right now she's watching Jem and the Holograms! Hell ya!

2. Adam went to Cape Breton yesterday for over night. It was only one night but it was enough to make me grateful I'm not a single mother. Oy!

3. Adam is bringing home the rest of my needed supply for my cloth diaper stash so this means I can start the prepping process! So very excited am I!

4. I woke up this morning sneezing and stuffed up and chopped it up to allergies but then I noticed Mya also had a runny nose (which she never gets) and I'm worried she's getting sick. I still think mine is just allergies. When is Adam getting home?!

5. I had my first cup of coffee (real coffee...caffeine and all!) this morning that I've had in a really long time. It was delicious and well needed.

6. I've been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions lately and this is all new to me. I didn't get any last time and while part of me thinks "yay! It's time to meet the baby and not be pregnant anymore!" another part of me thinks "I should probably stay pregnant for a few more weeks just to be safe."

7. I'm getting my dresser for the baby's room tomorrow which means I can put away all the clothes that are sitting in the crib and start putting other things away. Then the baby's room will be done! Yahoo!

8. Mya's tooth is just starting its journey on changing a different color. I don't think it's really noticeable to other people and if this is as bad as it gets then that's really not so bad at all. You can hardly tell it had a little accident.

9. We still haven't nailed down a full baby girl name! If this kid pops out and it's a girl she might just be known as Baby Girl Conner for a little while.

10. Must. Stop. Sneezing!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-02T09:41:00.003-04:00

(Craft time the other day...she did such a good job that she got a cookie and milk afterwards. Look at me! I could run my own pre-school!)

Snow Day Skating

2012-01-30T13:32:00.006-04:00

Adam had an unexpected snow day again today (talk about long weekend...Friday AND Monday? Why didn't I become a teacher?) so we decided to do something fun instead of just sitting around the house. At first we thought swimming would be a good family activity but Adam felt it would be too annoying with it being winter and having to get 3 people changed in and out of swim suits. I was game. I even tried mine on to see what the damage was and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be:

35 weeks

So, instead, we strapped on some skates and hit the rink. This was Mya's first time skating and yes, even though she slipped and almost fell (a lot), she did really great! And yes, I understand skating at 35 weeks pregnant is probably not advisable but in my defense, I'm not 2 years old and feel confident enough on skates to keep a standing position, and I didn't really skate. I was mostly the photographer.

Tooth Drama

2012-01-25T09:08:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a traumatic day here at our house. Mya was wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress (typical) along with her dress up princess shoes (also standard) and was in the playroom playing while I was upstairs. I heard a fall followed by a really sad cry, the kind that you know means "I'm really hurt and not just pretending!" and I ran down to survey the damage. There was blood on her lip and I thought she had cut her lip so I got her up and figured it would be wiped off, kissed better and we'd be good to go. But once I started wiping it off I noticed there was blood inside her mouth and couldn't understand where it was coming from. That's when I noticed that one of her front teeth was no longer where it had beautifully been before.

This had never happened before! I started to panic. I was upset that we didn't have a dentist. I was angry that I was home with no car. I was sad that she got hurt. It was a horrible combination.

So, I did what any sensible parent would do. I ran upstairs and got a cold face cloth and called my sister. She asked questions that helped me realize that everything was going to be fine and that there was probably nothing anyone was going to be able to do to fix it, including a dentist.

So, I guess the final verdict is the tooth just took a little trip backwards and is not loose so we figure it'll just stay that way until it's time for it to come out. Thank goodness it was a baby tooth!

Her top lip is still swollen which I think makes her look different even without opening her mouth. When I went to check on her before I went to bed last night, I could tell she didn't look the same even when she was sleeping. I hope the swelling goes down and everything goes back to normal but I have a feeling that front tooth is just going to have to take up residence a few millimeters behind the other one. I told her yesterday that I was sorry she got hurt but I don't think 2 year olds understand mommy guilt.

10 on Tuesday

2012-01-24T08:24:00.005-04:00

1. I've been thinking lately of getting Mya registered for preschool this fall. She'll be 3 1/2 by then but right now she's still only 2. It makes me scared/sad to think that in such a short time she'll go from 2-3 1/2! However, I do think she'll be ready for preschool come fall. She already talks about wanting to go to school and developmentally she's good to go. I think it would do her good to have some interaction with other children in a structured environment. Now, if only I had come to this realization before now...lets hope they aren't already all booked up!

2. I cannot have a child and a cat. At least not the cat we currently have. She. Is. So. Needy! This is the cat I'm talking about, not the kid. It's like having 2 children and soon I really WILL have 2 children and this kitty is going to have to realize she's going to take another notch down on the totem pole. She follows me around constantly just meowing because she wants attention, as if I have nothing better to do in my day than sit on my butt and pet the cat.

3. The other day it was -8 and felt like -14 degrees with the windchill. Mya asked to go for a walk to the playground and not wanting to feel like a crap mom, I said yes. So we bundled up and I told her that we would only be able to stay for a little bit because it was so cold out. When it got to the point I thought my fingers might fall off, we turned around and came home. Her cheeks tell how cold it was.

It looks painful to me actually.

4. I'm really, really, really wanting it to be baby time already! I'm getting to the point where I just want to meet this baby already.

5. It is one month from today that my maternity leave starts...let the countdown begin!

6. We've started talking about things we'd like to do for Mya's birthday. I think I have a better grasp of birthday planning this year versus last year where she is a little bit older and I'm able to plan things for her and her invitees to do. Now, we just need to find some kids. Come on play group kids!

7. Sometimes Mya likes to have "picnics" on the living room floor. On Sunday, it was Adam's turn to be invited to the picnic.

8. This morning while it was still too early to be awake, I was lying there thinking about how nice it'll be once the weather warms up and how I'll be able to let the baby crawl around the grass out front now that we have a real lawn. Then I started thinking about the baby crawling around the grass while Mya played and that led to me thinking about what I would be doing and I saw me actually doing some gardening (cause you know, I'll have so much time on my hands with 2 kids while on mat leave). Then it dawned on me: this is the year to start my vegetable garden! Now, I just need to find someone to teach me how. Hmm...

9. Tomorrow we're getting a tour of one of the local radio stations. I think it's going to be pretty neat but I don't know how much Mya will get. Either way, maybe I'll remember the camera and there will be pictures!

10. Last night I left work feeling very happy and content. It had been a good day and work went well. I chop that up to the coffee I had in my hand when I walked in there. It had been a long time since I had a cup, don't judge.

10 (Funny Things Mya Says) on Tuesday

2012-01-17T12:24:00.005-04:00

1. Mya told me this morning when I asked if I could have a turn putting together her Dora puzzle that she would have to help me because "it's tricky".

2.
3. I was cutting up some canteloupe for lunch and I put some in a bowl for Miss Mya. She took her bowl into the living room and exclaimed (to no one, btw...maybe the cat?) "look out! Canteloupe coming through!"

4. This morning Adam got up with her and let me lay in bed for an extra half hour and I over heard her ask him "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Apparently she was thinking that her magnetic bear on the fridge was cool.

5. The other day we were dancing to the Galaxy channels in the living room (btw, dancing is something you are immediately no longer able to do as soon as you have children. I think it's part of the "turning into a mom" process) and I asked her who was a better dancer, me or daddy? After thinking about it for a minute she said "umm, me aaannndd ME!"

6.
7. Last time we were in Yarmouth and visiting my mom, Mya had a good time with the toys mom had at her house. When it was time to go my mom said "I love you Mya!" and thinking she'd get the standard answer, she was surprised when Mya said "I love your toys Grammie!"

8. She likes to take pictures with her toy camera and she asks me to "say cheese for Mya", so I play along and say "cheese for Mya". After the picture is taken she looks at the camera and says "Now, THAT is a wonderful picture!"

9. My all time favorite: We were running errands and I pulled into the Zellers parking lot. From the back seat I heard, "We made it! We made it! I knew you could do it mommy!" Aww thanks babe.

10.

32 Weeks

2012-01-13T10:28:00.003-04:00

Alright, I know I'm carrying bigger than the last time. Trust me. No one knows better than I do how big my belly is. Yet every night I have at least 1 patient come through the doors at work and ask when I'm due and when I say March 4th their face becomes this combination of uncertainty of what to say next and shock that I'm this huge and not due tomorrow. Sometimes it's 2 or 3 patients. Awesome. Thanks guys. I actually had a woman come in last night and ask if I was having twins and when I said no she upped the ante with "triplets?". Seriously? I know I'm big but I'm not THAT big. Thanks for making a girl feel large.

I'll let you decide for yourself if you think I'm having twins and/or triplets.

10 on Tuesday

2012-01-10T08:58:00.007-04:00

I just realized that my last post was my 200th post! Yeehaw!! Wish I had realized that yesterday and not today...oh well, whoo hoo for the 201st post!! It feels like the 100th came much sooner than the 200th...maybe that's because I've become a blog slacker. Fail.

Anyways, onto 10 on Tuesday!

1. The new baby's room is coming along nicely. We have crib bedding for the baby which helps tie the room together and we're just waiting on a dresser. Once we have the dresser and I can put away some of the clothes that are lying in the crib and on the change table, I just have to finish up the laundry and then come on baby! (I wanted to post a picture of the baby's room but my memory card isn't being recognized by the computer. I'll post one later!)

2. I knew my child could recite the alphabet but I didn't know she knew individual letters until the other day. Then I learned that children don't learn the individual letters of the alphabet until they start school. This surprised me that a) children don't learn this sooner and b) my little girl is a genius! Alphabetically speaking, haha!

3. My sister left this morning with her husband and kids for a trip to Mexico. I'm a little on the jealous side cause I've never taken a trip "down south" where it's warm. Someday though. Someday I'll be the one south of Canada basking in the sun on the beach.

4. Mya's new princess phase is the Cinderella one. First it was Sleeping Beauty. That poor dress was worn all. the. time. It was starting to get worn on the bottom. Then she was a fairy everyday complete with fairy wings and a magic wand and I would be changed into a queen daily. "Abba-bee-dah-bra!" Oh, and now she wants to be the tooth fairy when she grows up. Hope she makes lots of money!

5. Our potty idea sort of worked this morning! When we heard "pee, pee, pee!" we called out "go pee on your potty!" and she happily replied with, "ok!". But then it was followed with her coming out of her room and into our bed. That was not part of the plan. At least this happened at 7am and not 6am.

6. It's homemade beans and weiners for supper tonight! I love when I decide to do a crockpot meal. All the work is done for you and come the end of the day, you just eat!

7. I have a love/hate relationship with my washing machine. I love that I have one and that I don't have to do laundry on a wash board 1900 style but I hate that because our floors aren't level (only slightly apparently, because I can't tell) the machine goes on an adventure across the laundry room often. Then you push it back in place, level the machine again and hope it doesnt happen next time. But it does. Even when the load is balanced, the floor makes the machine move and I'm stuck being pregnant and not able to lift my own machine to level it. ARRRGGHH!!!

8. I love homemade soup. I took some out of the freezer yesterday and I can hear it calling my name for lunch time.

9. I think I have my last day of work figured out. I just need to talk to the boss about it and then it's countdown time!

10. I'm happy that Grey's Anatomy is new again. It was making me sad that I had to wait almost 2 months for a new episode.

Happy Days

2012-01-09T10:36:00.004-04:00

So, I came across this blog the other day about 12 things happy people do and I thought at first that 12 things would be a lot to read (sometimes I'm a lazy reader) but once I got started it kind of kept me interested. I'll post them here in case you're lazy like me and don't want to go through the hassle of an extra click, but they are courtesy of Habitually Chic (http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-days.html)

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. (Check out her book The How of Happiness.)

1. Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Kinda cool right? So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that’s without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We’re gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.

2. Cultivate optimism. – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out! If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made. What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

4. Practice acts of kindness. – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.) Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside. What’s even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness. How extraordinary is that? Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on. A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin. Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.

5. Nurture social relationships. – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely? WHOA! There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with. We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.

6. Develop strategies for coping. – How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character. Sometimes crap happens – it’s inevitable. Forrest Gump knows the deal. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.

7. Learn to forgive. – Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being. You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion. When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system. You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.

8. Increase flow experiences. – Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still. It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged. You’re not hungry, sleepy, or emotional. You’re just completely engaged in the activity that you’re doing. Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.

9. Savor life’s joys. – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy. It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences. When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic. It’s the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.

10. Commit to your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere. When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.

11. Practice spirituality. – When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us. We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever. It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists. Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they’re here doing work they’re “called to do.”

12. Take care of your body. – Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be. If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected. Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft? Not only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.

Have a happy day!

Potty Idea

2012-01-06T08:49:00.002-04:00

So, it's starting to become the norm for Mya to wake up sometime around 6ish and declare "pee, pee, pee!" which means she has to pee and one of us has to get out of bed to accompany her to the toilet. Thankfully (and I mean this), the hubs gets up with her every time so I can stay in bed. I do, however, still wake up every time. On one hand it's good that she's getting the hang of this staying dry thing at night and saving her pee for morning, but on the other, we could both use an extra hour of sleep in the mornings. It's starting to catch up with us especially with me working the shift I work because that means we often don't get to sleep till midnight or shortly after and that means sometimes we're only getting 5-6 hours of sleep and it's starting to catch up with us.

Soooo....this morning I said to Adam, "I'm considering taking her potty and setting it up in her room and teaching her to just go there if she needs to pee." She can already go by herself sometimes but 9 times out of 10 she "needs" assistance which is probably just habit. Adam thought this suggestion was funny. "It's like putting a pee pot in her room!" and I said, "yeah, it's called a chamber pot. They used to do it in the olden days so why can't we do it now?" I think it was a brilliant idea. Thoughts?

Late Wordless Wednesday Continued

2012-01-05T10:38:00.002-04:00

Late Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-05T09:40:00.001-04:00

10 on Tuesday on Thursday

2011-12-29T11:14:00.002-04:00

1. Christmas is over. Tree is down. Decorations are put away.

2. We painted the baby's room last night and although we don't know what we're having, we went with a light blue. I figure, a blue wall can be girled up and no girl ever died of sleeping in a blue room. Beats neutral colors and if it's a boy then win-win.

3. I'm off all this week from work and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm trying to be relaxed about most things realizing that I have all week to do nothing but enjoy having time.

4. We took an impromptu day trip to Halifax yesterday and bought some needed baby things. Now that we got some diapers and a carrier and the room is painted, all that's left to be done is put the room together and wash some baby laundry!

5. Adam is vacuuming the house for me (I think it's only fair since I'm the only one who's done it every second day since we bought the vacuum) and I'm going to have a nice bubble bath when he's done. Ahh vacation!

6. I made a soup from the leftover turkey that we had at Christmas. It turned out delicious! So delicious in fact, that my 2 year old who constantly says "I don't like this, I don't like that" ate it with gusto and proclaimed "I very like soup! It's yummy!"

7. Our laptop is shot and Adam's work laptop has to go back to the school when the second semester starts. So, he's bringing up one of his monitors and an old hard drive to make a desk top in the living room and then we won't have to worry about the computer over heating and shutting down on us anymore.

8. Adam just told me he felt like Tony Danza vacuuming the house.

9. We still have so many sweets and treats left over from Christmas that if this baby is born and I'm not morbidly obese it'll be a miracle. I've got to stop being pregnant over the Christmas holiday.

10. Mya has worn her Sleeping Beauty dress from her dress up trunk no less than 100 times since Christmas. She even let us know that she couldn't wear her monkey underwear yesterday because "princesses don't wear monkey underwear". Duh.

Wordless Wednesday (Santa Love)

2011-12-14T10:05:00.001-04:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-12-06T09:10:00.003-04:00

1. Mya has decided what she wants to be when she grows up: Sleeping Beauty. It changes from Strawberry Shortcake to Cinderella to Minnie Mouse but it always goes back to Sleeping Beauty.

2. Our tree is up, the lights are on the outside of the house, the inside is decorated. I think we might be ready for Christmas with the exception of the last few stocking stuffers I need to get. Bring on Christmas!

3. Mya's Christmas pictures came in yesterday and holy cute! You'll have to wait till you get yours in the mail to see it!

4. I think I've got my Christmas baking under control. My freezer has a pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies all in it. I just need to whip up some peanut butter balls and for my Christmas dessert this year I've decided to make this: http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/05/frozen-mocha-pie.html

5. On a non Christmas note: Mya has been waking up lately with either a dry diaper or with a dry diaper and yelling "pee pee pee!" Maybe my goal to have her completely out of diapers by March isn't that far off...hm!

6. Coffee with french vanilla whitener is my new favorite thing. Don't judge me.

7. I don't think I was cut out to have little girls. I can't take any more "baby cinderella needs to be buckled up too", "baby cinderella wants a banana too", "baby cinderella wants to wear underwear/socks/her jacket too". I know I did it too as a child and my mother probably had it worse because me and my little sister were only a year apart. I don't know how she did it. I had to get clever the other day when the "baby cinderella wants a banana too" incident came up. The child was literally in tears when I told her I wasn't giving the last banana to a plastic doll. After realizing that I was getting nowhere by trying to reason that wasting food was not an option, I had to tell her that baby cinderella was just a baby and that she was too little to eat bananas and she could only drink milk. That satisfied her. I won. I felt victorious.

8. I'm 27 weeks pregnant now and I think that for being almost 7 months I look alright. I feel comfortable, sleeping is still wonderful and right now, I think I could do it if I was required to be pregnant for another year. Why couldn't my first pregnancy be like this?

9. Today is Adam's birthday. He's a ripe old 28! We had his birthday celebration on the weekend because his birthday happened to fall on a Tuesday this year. Poor guy had to go to work on his birthday but he was sure to arrange all of his work yesterday so he wouldn't actually have to do anything today. Smart or lazy?

10. My Christmas cards are all ready to go...I just need to pop a picture in each one and then shove 'em in the mailbox. I feel so on the ball this year! If only every year could be like this!

Christmas Trees!

2011-12-04T09:08:00.006-04:00

So we went Christmas tree shopping yesterday and we had some trouble finding the perfect tree (like we had last year) but we eventually found one and even though it seems early to me, it's up and beautiful!

Mya didn't even last until we got to the tree farm

After we got there, she heard us saying "what about that one? what about this one?" and found one she wanted our opinion on

After awhile she got tired though and needed to sit down so it's a good thing there were lots of stumps to sit on!

Helping dad to inspect the tree before we can decide on one!

Cut, cut, cut!

Perfecting the stump

There she is! Back home and waiting to be brought in!

Then it was time for Adam's birthday supper and I brought the cake up from the freezer to soften up a bit to put the candles in it. I left the kitchen for a minute to go get something and came back to find Mya was helping by putting the candles in by herself. So cute!

Helping daddy blow out the candles

After we decorated the house last night and had the tree up, we went down to the playroom and set up Mya's artificial tree and put the beads on it so when she woke up she would be able to decorate all her own. When I put her to bed last night I told her there would be a surprise the next day and when she woke up the first words out of her mouth were "mommy, I wanna see my Christmas surprise!"

This is the tree that we scored for free on the side of the road earlier in the fall during clean up week. Score! It's perfect for her playroom and it doesn't even matter that there are some branches that have 5 or 6 ornaments on them!

And then I tried to get a good picture of our tree all lit up and I have no idea how people do it! If I leave the flash on then it lights up the whole picture and you can't see the lights on the tree and if I turn the flash off then you absolutely cannot move the camera half a millimeter without it coming out blurry....so maybe I just need a new (non crappy) camera. So, this morning I had an idea. I thought if maybe I closed the curtains behind the tree it would allow enough light in that my flash wouldn't go off and it might still be able to capture some of the lights and voila! This is as good as the picture is going to get:

We decided to opt out of the cranberry/popcorn garland this year and thought we'd try out some ribbon and we found a winner! We both really like the ribbon and thankfully we bought JUST enough...one roll was 30ft and we have a small tree so we bought two rolls thinking it would be enough and it just made it. Phew! Cause I'm pretty sure Home Depot wasn't open at 12:30 last night.

May the Christmas season begin!

Not So Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T13:07:00.004-04:00

Seeing a real life Santa for the first time at the Santa Claus parade in Yarmouth! She kept saying, "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" The dirty face is courtesy of the red sucker she got away with eating even though it was past her bedtime. Ah well, once in awhile it's ok.

10 on Tuesday

2011-11-22T22:33:00.002-04:00

1. I am SO ready for Adam's movember mustache to go. Eight more days people. Eight more days...

2. We've started going to a new play group that Mya seems to really enjoy. Most of the kids there are her age and she likes the outing. Last week we (I) made sock puppets and tomorrow someone is coming to teach the kids about music so we're packing up the Sesame Street keyboard and wooden xylophone and hitting the road.

3. I took Mya to get her Christmas pictures taken this morning and I know I'm probably a little biased but they turned out great and I think she's the cutest child ever born.

4. I am almost done my Christmas shopping! Yes, that is right. With the exception of Adam and the usual Christmas baking supplies I'm done-zo! Yay!!

5. I had my first pre-natal appointment yesterday and it went well. We told the doctor our plans and she took them pretty well considering she IS a doctor is supposed to push the medical model of care. I think the long skirt, unshaved legs, hippy socks and sneakers helped us out a bit.

6. It looks like we're going to have a full house for Christmas dinner! The crowd will include my parents, Adam's parents and their significant others and Adam's sister. I can't wait! It'll be just like when I was a kid and we had everyone over and the house always feels more Christmassy with more people in it.

7. We have decided to wait until after the holidays before dealing with any sort of new baby business...it just seems easier that way.

8. I am loving my woodstove so much that the other day I was thinking about it, and if we ever buy another house, a fireplace is going to be on the must have list. I love it that much.

9. We completed our first DIY home project over the weekend. We shipped Mya off to Nana's house and we got to work laying the new floor in the play room. I had already ripped the carpet up so we just had to remove the baseboards and slap her down. It took longer than we thought it would and we were pretty sore when it was all over but we're happy with the results and we think it looks pretty good!

10. We got our cat spayed and ever since she's come back home she's been driving me nuts! The vet said she would be more hyperactive but Adam didn't ask if that was going to be a permanent change or just temporary because of the drugs they gave her but I think it's the former, sadly. Holy crazy cat batman!

Reasons Why Being a Grown Up Sucks

2011-11-17T12:01:00.004-04:00

1. Being a grown up means high fiving each other when you find out that toilet paper is bogo just after mentioning we needed to get more. We did that this morning.

2. I just got off the phone with a guy from bmo. I called because I wanted to know if the 30 swipes I'm allowed with my plan included when I swiped at a bmo branch. When he informed me that it wasn't 30 swipes but 30 transactions (any money going in or out, ie. transferring to another one of my own accounts, student loans coming out automatically, Adam's pay cheque going in automatically), I was blown away and properly responded with "holy fuck!" He clearly wasn't fluent in profanity because he said, "sorry, what?" and I had to brush it off so as not to offend him because he knew nothing.

3. I argued with my 2 year old last week about why I was a person. When I told her it's because I was born that way, I still lost.

Late Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-10T09:50:00.002-04:00

Why?

2011-11-08T12:29:00.003-04:00

So, I think we've entered the why phase? For those of you who don't have children, the why phase is when your child asks an incessant amount of why's over the simplest things. This morning was no exception:

Mya: Daddy, why are you getting dressed?
Adam: Because daddy has to go to work.
Mya: Why do you have to go to work?
Adam: Because I have to make money.
Mya: Why do you have to make money?
Adam: To pay for our house.
Mya: Why do you have to pay for our house?
Adam: Because the bank actually owns our house...

At this point I cut in and explained that he was probably going over her head. But you get the idea and it happens on a regular basis. Doesn't that sound like fun? It doesn't? Oh well, I guess that's just part of being two! I was going to add a picture to this post cause what post is fun without a picture but all of my pics are on the other computer. I guess you'll just have to wait for another day!

Day Off!

2011-11-04T09:05:00.003-03:00

This post is nothing more than me being super happy about having a day off. Yes, that's right! I didn't even have to book vacation or call in sick or anything. There were no appointments booked for this evening so that means no work for me...yay! And just to top it all off it's Friday! Yeehaw! So, today will be spent tidying up and maybe running some errands. I love running errands because it means I have no time schedule and today I really don't except I do have to be back to get Adam from school. No worries, that should be easy enough.

So, this morning my child wanted to wear a dress and since it wasn't cold enough to scrape the car windows I figured it would be ok. She picked out her new purple plaid jumper and I thought, "perfect! Slap on some tights and a white turtle neck and she's good to go." Only, when I put the turtle neck on her she thought it was hideously awful and even a trip to the full length mirror didn't work. She wanted to wear her red shirt. I tried to reason that it wouldn't match and then realized 2 year olds don't care if their clothes match or not. So on went the red shirt. Good, I thought, we're done. But we weren't. She spied a pair of pink, fleecy pants that were sitting on the end of her dresser and thought that would just complete the ensemble. So, on they had to go much to my dismay. I can't decide if I should let her out in public in this get up should we go out later.

Cute or awful? Maybe a little of both...at least she's showing her creative side by choosing "colorful" outfits rather than coloring on my walls. Could be worse!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T11:32:00.001-03:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T09:46:00.003-03:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-10-18T14:26:00.002-03:00

1. Me and Mya had a little outing this morning to a couple consignment shops and because it was just the two of us, I tried to make it special by listening to the Sesame Street CD in the car and letting her wear her pretty dress and tights.

2. I thought I knew what I was going to be for Halloween but now I'm having second thoughts and can't come up with anything. Any ideas?

3. I'm 20 weeks now and that means half way! yay!

4. I ripped up the carpet on the basement steps yesterday in the hopes of actually starting our new flooring project. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and it just made me want to get the rest of the carpet ripped up.

5. I've had Christmas on the brain lately and I've been making lists trying to come up with ideas for what to get people. Going to the Horton Craft Fair over the weekend didn't help cause all I saw were awesome things that I wanted to buy but for no one in particular.

6. I NEED to call the woman who hems my pants because right now I have 2 pairs of pants I can wear to work because all the others are too long.

7. We are still in a constant battle with Mya over the cat but it's eased up a bit now that she's received a couple good scratches. She hasn't eased up but we have cause at least now we know the cat isn't too stupid to defend itself.

8. Our new goal is to have Mya completely out of diapers including at bedtime by the time the baby is born. Having two kids in diapers sounds awfully not fun.

9. Adam had his first tutoring session last night and he said it went well! Lets just hope things pick up and more kids decide they need tutoring too!

10. I really need to get off my butt and get some butter and icing sugar so I can make a double batch of my pumpkin cookies with browned butter frosting. Why a double batch? Because we scarf one down almost right away and then I can freeze the rest for later in the season of course!

Sew Not Me, But Sew Cute!

2011-10-11T08:08:00.003-03:00

Ok, so there's this blog I read. It's mostly a sewing blog and please don't be confused. I don't sew. I can sew...if I have to. But even then it's by hand because I don't own a sewing machine so the results are usually not good and only very basic. I don't take on projects but this blog makes me want to. She always wears the cutest things and always accessorizes so well! Plus, she's pregnant which makes her that much easier to relate to. Think if I email her, she'd make a few things for me?

That is all for today.

Turkey Time!

2011-10-08T14:09:00.003-03:00

This weekend is Thanksgiving and that means I get to eat some delicious turkey and bake some delicious desserts. Both things make me happy! Today I'm tackling my pumpkin pies and another batch of cookies so that tomorrow I won't have to worry about it.

We're having Nana and Auntie Elisa here for Thanksgiving. Are you having family over for Thanksgiving at your house? I can't wait for the turkey to get here! Yay!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T13:07:00.001-03:00

New Addition

2011-10-01T09:18:00.003-03:00

So this weekend we acquired a kitty! A friend of mine found it hanging around her house for the last couple weeks and since it's just a baby and there was no mama to be found, she figured it was a stray. She asked if we wanted her cause otherwise she was just going to end up at the SPCA so we thought we'd take the poor thing in. We think she's around 3 months old or so and she's a pretty good cat for being a stray. We kind of expected her to be a little rough around the edges or skittish around people but she's just the opposite!

She's warmed up to us rather quickly and is surprisingly tolerant of Mya's "love". She doesn't even run when she sees her coming which I was surprised about considering the hard love she got yesterday. She's super friendly and affectionate and loves to be around people and she's so cuddly! We named her Pepper after throwing a lot of names around and that one seems to have stuck and as Mya calls her, "Peppour". We're in the process of trying to teach her to pee and poop outside because I hate litter boxes and I figure it should be easy considering while she was a stray she did everything outside but it's proving difficult. Although, she's only made a couple accidents so far and being pregnant, I didn't have to clean them up (yay!).

So, next time you're over say hello to Pepper and be prepared for some kitty love!

10 on Tuesday

2011-09-27T08:23:00.004-03:00

1. Yesterday was my birthday and I had honestly forgotten about it until I logged into facebook and it reminded me. Thank god for facebook, huh? I'm 28 now. I don't feel 28.

2. We went to the farm on Sunday and got some apples and pumpkins. The people at the farm said they were the first pumpkins of the season! So yesterday I made some nice homemade pumpkin puree. Go me.

3. I'm addicted to my clothesline! I can't help it but since we've moved into this house we've had such nice weather that I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had to use the dryer.

4. This weekend I'm going to make apple pies! Yay! With fresh apples right off the trees!

5. This week has been junk week here in our community and people have been leaving their trash out at the curb for others to pick through before the garbage man comes and takes it away. Well, yesterday we scored a computer chair and an artificial christmas tree! No joke! I think it's just a little tree and we were supposed to put it together last night to make sure there were no missing pieces, but I was too tired when I got home from work.

6. Thanksgiving is coming up and that means turkey! I love big turkey dinners...mmm. And homemade pumpkin pies, and I make a mean pumpkin pie!!

7. I'm worried my child is becoming a tv addict. We have a strawberry shortcake dvd of 2 retro episodes that I used to watch when I was a kid and she has watched that over and over and over again. It's become even more popular than going outside and for her, that's saying something. And I know what you're saying, "so, just don't let her watch it then" but it comes in SO handy when I'm busy doing other things like making supper, cleaning the house, getting a shower, etc. So, now what?

8. We're planning a tickle trunk for Mya for Christmas and so far we have a tiara, fairy wings, a fairy wand, a couple boas, a tutu, some princess dresses and my mom is getting her some dress up princess shoes to go with it. I think it'll be a hit!

9. I've been feeling sick lately and since there isn't a whole lot I can take, I've been gargling with salt water morning and night and I've been drinking hot water with lemon and honey and I think I'm finally starting to get better! Yayy!!! I hate feeling sick!

10. Yesterday I made these ( http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3MizHn/www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Pumpkin-Cheesecake-Muffins/) with my fresh pumpkin puree and I was hoping they would be as tasty as their picture makes them look. I was disappointed. They don't taste gross by any means but they just weren't what I was looking for, I guess. Even Mya turned them down after taking one bite "not good mommy, not good". At least Adam likes them!

The Best Drink Ever

2011-09-20T13:03:00.002-03:00

So over the weekend we had our house warming and it was a pretty good time! We decided to serve these watermelon slushies since it's a nice alternative to pop/water for those who aren't drinking and it goes well with vodka too. And since I'm nice, I'll share the recipe here for you!

3 cups watermelon
3/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/3 cup lemon sorbet
2 tbsp lime juice
1 cup ice

Put it all in a blender, blend until smooth, pour into glasses (we used wine glasses to feel more fancy) and voila! Delicious!

*We couldn't find lemon sorbet at the grocery store so we used lime and we didn't have lime juice so we used lemon. We just switched and it turned out super good!

Oh, and my camera won't cooperate right now so there's no picture...sorry!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T09:27:00.002-03:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-09-13T08:25:00.003-03:00

Man, it's been a long time since I blogged, huh? Well, lets hope I can get back on the wagon!

1. We started hanging some pictures on the walls of our new place (finally!) and we bought some new curtains and a new hall mirror. I love them. I feel grown up now.

2. Mya drank from a cup for the first time yesterday without the spill proof cover on it and she did really well! She did it several times actually and never spilled once! But she did leave behind a super cute milk mustache :)

3. I'm now 15 weeks pregnant and I'm stuck in that in between part where you aren't quite big enough for maternity clothes but my old clothes are starting to get tight and uncomfortable.

4. We're having a house warming this weekend! Everyone is welcome!

5. Both this morning and yesterday morning Mya was still sleeping when Adam left for work which meant I was still sleeping. It makes for a long day with no Adam.

6. I don't know what's wrong with my washing machine! It makes this squeaky noise when it spins and dad thought he had fixed by lubing up some spring and then he thought maybe the machine wasn't balanced but it's still squeaking...stupid washing machine.

7. I can't wait for my birthday cause we're going to go apple picking like we did last year! Mya really likes the farm and I really like picking apples. So much so that I end up picking more than I can use...oh well, I guess that means lots of pies!

8. I think we're going to get a lot of trick or treaters this year where we live in a subdivision. We haven't decided yet what to dress miss Mya up as. I think she's still too little to really go door to door and rack up a ton of candy considering we don't let her eat candy. It would be more just for fun and to see everyone else dressed up.

9. I've become really slack at taking pictures and blogging...I'm sorry.

10. I've been thinking lately about signing Mya up for some sort of classes like ballet or soccer or something to get her interacting with other kids. Suggestions?

Old Routine, New Routine and Big News

2011-09-01T10:09:00.004-03:00

So, now that it's September, Adam has gone back to school and I have to adjust to having the house to myself again. It's just me and Mya. For now anyways...pretty soon we'll be adding to our brood! We have baby #2 due in March and we're really excited about it! I will only have to deal with having 2 at home for a few months though because this time next year, Mya will be starting pre-school! Can you believe it!? It's sad and exciting all at the same time.

So, now that we've moved into our new house and we've decided to have a wood stove installed we've started getting our wood stacked in the basement. It's quite a pile that got delivered to our driveway!

That picture is after a big chunk was already thrown down and stacked. Mya decided she wanted to stack some wood too so she started a pile of her own.

We're having a house warming on September 17th and we're hoping we can get everyone here for some hanging out and fun. I think I'll have to make a list though of all the things I wanted to get done around here but haven't gotten off my butt to do. That is my deadline...all the things that have been needing to be dealt with around here will need to be done by September 17th!

Off to make some lists!

And We're Back!

2011-08-21T13:41:00.002-03:00

So, after a week in Ontario visiting some fine folks and then spending a night camping at Blomidon Provincial Park, I think we're ready to call it quits on this summer's vacations. I'm vacationed out. We had a marvelous time on both occasions and we took a few pictures so instead of telling you all about it, I'll just share our trip with you through our pictures!

Ok, so blogger won't let me upload some pictures today for some reason so I'll try it on facebook and hope for better luck!

Off on Vacation

2011-08-10T12:33:00.001-03:00

The Conner Clan is taking a vacation to Ontario to visit friends and family. I'll be back in a week and I'll update the blog then!

Ciao for now!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T08:33:00.001-03:00

Sleepless Nights

2011-07-30T06:57:00.004-03:00

Why is it that everytime I get away and get the chance to have a nice relaxing sleep in, I'm awake at an ungodly hour? It's because I had a kid.

I understood that having kids was going to change my sleep and that I would get used to waking up at 7am, but I'm sitting in a hotel room in the dark while Adam sleeps because I woke up at 6:10am and couldn't get back to sleep. Happens every fucking time. Adam doesn't have this problem. Oh to be a man! It happens at home too but at least there I'm in my own bed and I know that within a half hour I'm going to hear "out! out mommy...out!" over the monitor so it doesn't seem so early/wasted/stupid.

We dropped Mya off at Nana's house yesterday for a little sleep over while me and the hubs took off to Bathurst for a wedding. I love weddings and it's about time someone got married! This is the first wedding we've been to since our own 4 years ago. I love the dressing up, the excitement, seeing everyone with their hair done, the food, the dancing. It's all good. I think this weekend will turn out even though I got very little sleep, our hotel (ok, who are we kidding...motel) room smells like cat food, our bathroom has a heater that can't be turned off, I can't drink at the reception and I'm missing my little girl. It's nice to get away but it's nice to go home too.

Ok, it's 7:08am now and I'm tempted to wake up Adam so we can get our breakfast on. I hope Mya's having a good time at Nana's house!

Nosy Neighbor

2011-07-28T08:19:00.005-03:00

Does anyone else have a nosy neighbor? We haven't even lived in our new house a whole week and ours has presented herself twice already. Once to just introduce herself before we had even moved in, and then again yesterday during the morning garbage collection.

I'm sure as most of you have moved at some point in your lives, you understand that you end up with a lot more garbage and recycling than you normally would in a given week. Well, after Adam put our stuff out at the curb and the guy came and picked some of it up, we got a knock at our door. It was the nosy neighbor. I almost didn't answer but then remembered there's a window in our front door and she had probably already seen me.

When I answered she had informed me that the garbage man hadn't picked up all of our things and that he had left an orange sticker on one of the bags. She said she wasn't able to see what the orange sticker said (cause you know, it's none of her business), but I assured her we would go out and check and that I wasn't even sure what was out there because Adam was the one who had taken everything out. She informed me exactly how many blue bags we had and exactly how many garbage bags we had. She counted them! At this point I was starting to get annoyed.

In this condescending voice she tells me that since she doesn't have eight (gasp!) recycling bags, we can throw some over to her side of the street since the garbage man hasn't come by her place yet. I thank her and smile and nod a lot to try and get her off my front step pronto, but before she goes she quickly adds "oh, and I also noticed you have your pop bottles mixed in with other plastics." Uhh yeah...isn't it all plastic?! and more importantly, you were LOOKING IN OUR GARBAGE?? I'm pretty sure that's a big neighbor no-no. That was it. She crossed the line. She has officially black listed herself. No Christmas card for her!

Now I understand why people on our street don't just take their bags of garbage to the curb and bring their entire garbage bins instead. It's so she can't look and see what's inside!

Really? Really.

Pretty Mya

2011-07-22T08:31:00.003-03:00

Mya's new thing lately has been wearing dresses and then following it up with "pretty Mya" or "pretty dress". Well, auntie Jessica has been dying to hear Mya say it so we took a video this morning just for her.

10 on Tuesday

2011-07-19T23:08:00.002-03:00

1. I'm tired of moving and moving day hasn't even come yet.

2. I made corn chowder today for the first time. I hadn't had it in a really long time and I think I've found out that I'm the only one in this house who likes it.

3. We finally got all the painting done in the new house. Kitchen, living room, Mya's room. Done, done, done!

4. I find this summer to be cooler than last. This year I'm able to wear clothes while IN the house. Amazing really.

5. Mya is in a phase where she only wants to wear dresses...even on days when it's rainy and cold. So those are the days we have to wear pants under the dress. There's only one clean dress left in her closet, so I'm thinkin' I should get on the laundry.

6. Our car desperately needs to be cleaned inside and out. Anyone wanna help us out?

7. Saturday is moving day. It will be a bittersweet day. I hate nothing more than moving but at the same time I know it'll be into our permanent home and good things are in store.

8. Pat and Jude's wedding is coming up! I'm getting excited!

9. I'm thinking about starting a small vegetable garden next year. I don't really know anything about growing vegetables, so I should probably start my research now.

10. This past week I've learned that green is a really hard color to like.

New House Tour

2011-07-15T21:00:00.002-03:00

So while I was at the house today I took a video tour to show the fam out West who aren't able to get a real in person tour. Please ignore my labored breathing. At first I thought, "man! I must really be out of shape!" but then I realized my allergies were bad today and I was probably breathing through my mouth because I couldn't breathe through my nose. Also, the camera shut the video off to inform me my battery was about to die half way through the tour so that's why there's two videos.

Meet The Jeffersons!

2011-07-09T19:33:00.003-03:00

Sorry I've been lacking lately on the blog front but that's because we've been busy...

Whose house is that you ask? Well, that is OUR NEW HOUSE!!! And we've been busy cleaning it up and getting things moved in. On Thursday our new fridge and stove will be delivered. Super pumped about that. This is the only picture we have right now but after everything is moved in and painted I'll take some more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Aren't you excited? I am!

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-02T08:38:00.002-03:00

Yahoo! Canada day is here once again and we spent it in Halifax soaking up the fun they had to offer. We started out with the pancake breakfast at the town hall and Mya ate more than her fair share...I have no idea where she puts those pancakes but I think she could eat her weight in them.

Then it was off to the parade then we took a stroll through the public gardens. The gardens made me so happy...I've been waiting a year to walk through them on a sunny day and it was a beautiful day yesterday!

After a quick bite to eat it was back to Nana's for a nap and some down time. Mya hadn't had a nap in a few days and I didn't realize how much I took her naps for granted. After 4 days of no nap, I was ready to go insane. I needed a break. We're going to be here until Monday morning and then we'll be heading back home cause we have to drop off our passport applications for our trip we're taking next month!

We're getting excited for it! It's been a long time since our little fam took a vacation away and it'll be nice to see friends and family we haven't seen in awhile.

Ok, time to get this kid dressed so we can head out to take advantage of this nice weather!

Grammie Visits

2011-06-26T22:37:00.005-03:00

My mom arrived at our place on Thursday and it was nice to see her after a year of not. It was a short visit because she had to go back on Saturday but we tried to do some fun things during that time. We took her to the farm to pick some strawberries and I think Mya probably ate more than we picked.

It didn't matter to her that she was eating the stems or white ones or ones that a bug had hollowed out. Ew.

We picked four quarts before calling it a day.

Before we left the farm though, Mya got the chance to check out the animals and even help feed a baby cow! The other little girl who was feeding the cow was also named Mya which made it funny when the moms were standing there with cameras saying, "Mya, look at mommy!"

Mom had a good day at the farm and Mya had a good day at the farm. What more could you ask for? My mom is back in Alberta now but it won't be long before she's back in Nova Scotia for good and hopefully we'll be able to see her more often.

Ice Skates

2011-06-22T14:02:00.003-03:00

My mom flew in over the weekend and with her she brought a ton of stuff for my little one. One item in particular that really made me swoon was a little pair of ice skates. It's true that things just get cuter when they get smaller. We tried them on this morning and sadly, they just barely fit her now which means she's not wearing them this winter. I plan to hold onto them in case I can use them later down the road, but for now I guess we'll just have to be on the look out for another pair.

The little pink skate guards are my favorite part!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T09:15:00.004-03:00

I forgot to post this yesterday but today is just as good. For father's day yesterday Adam got to sleep in, was brought breakfast in bed, had steak for supper and ice cream cake for dessert. Add that to the round of golf he played the day before and I think he had a pretty good father's day. Mya's favorite part was the ice cream cake.

My dad is still out west so I didn't get to see him on Sunday and I didn't get to talk to him either. Every time I called he was out enjoying himself on his day.

Happy father's day to all the awesome dads out there!!

10 on Tuesday

2011-06-14T08:33:00.003-03:00

1. Only 4 more sleeps till I get to see my mama!

2. We went for our first family bike ride on the weekend. I. am. out. of. shape!

3. When we were at Walmart the other day we walked down the aisle that sells bathroom scales so we could weigh Mya. Back in January she weighed 33lbs. I thought it was safe to assume she weighed more than that now and anytime someone asked I would say, "Around 35lbs" because it made sense that she would have gained between then and now. Well, my giant toddler must be losing weight because she was only 31lbs. And we weighed her twice to make sure.

4. This year's spring has my allergies all riled up. I haven't had to take allergy pills in more than 5 years and this year I can't seem to take one that will bring me some relief. Dealing with it during the day is something I can handle. It's the night when I'm trying to sleep that I would like to tap my sinuses like they do with maple trees.

5. Mya is doing really well with her talking. It seems like everyday she's repeating what we're saying resulting in a slew of new words. Just this morning she pointed out the window and said, "daddy, work" and it made me so happy! It's super cute when they start putting words together.

6. My back is doing much better and it seems I've made a full recovery. It's a good thing I work where I do!

7. We've been talking lately about putting Mya in a big girl bed. I'm not totally sold on the idea yet but I'm getting there. I think by the end of summer/this fall she'll have her very own bed! And to make it special I think we'll get some Dora or Sesame Street sheets to go on it.

8. I am loving the new clothes that the nice weather brings! Mya has so many dresses and cutie pie shorts that she wasn't able to wear but now that the weather has turned around, it's cute overload everyday.

9. I can't wait till Adam is done school..! Only a couple more weeks of teaching and then he's home everyday! Yahoo!

10. We've been going to the playground a lot lately. Mya likes the independence she has being able to run around without us on her constantly and we like the little break of being able to parent without a lot of effort. Win win!

Rhubarb Season

2011-06-11T22:30:00.003-03:00

You can tell that rhubarb is in season because everyone here is selling it. We stopped at the Wolfville market this morning and picked some up along with some nice local beef and homemade bread. The bread tasted delicious with my homemade squash soup leftovers and there's hardly any left...one day that lasted us! Tonight after Mya was in bed I decided to make a little change to my strawberry rhubarb pie recipe. Instead of a top crust I thought it would be yummy to make a crumble for the top.

The only thing is, my pie recipe says to leave it in the oven for 35-40 minutes and the crumble was ready after only 25min. I didn't want it to burn so I took it out but I think the rhubarb could've handled a little more time.

It turned out yummy anyway and I don't think it'll be sticking around for long!

P.S. how awesome did I do on the crust, huh! It looks just like the ones you can buy, but I crimped it all by myself!

Snip, Snip, Hooray!

2011-06-05T08:47:00.002-03:00

So yesterday when we drove Mya to the city for a little sleepover with Auntie Elisa, I stopped and got a haircut. Finally. I was still a bit worried that after it was chopped I wouldn't have enough to donate but I actually did. One foot of hair was cut off and i have the pony tail to prove it. I'm happy with the end result and think my new hair cut is cute!

It doesn't quite look like I thought it would but I think that's only because my usual girl no longer works where I usually go and of course I'm probably never going to find her again. So, a new girl cut my hair and it turned out ok...not quite what I wanted but it's ok. And, after all, it's just hair. It'll always grow back.

Apple Blossom

2011-05-31T23:02:00.005-03:00

This past week has been the Apple Blossom Festival here in the valley and we really didn't take part in a whole lot of it. It seems that the festival is a much bigger deal to you if you're from this area. I am not.

However, we decided to attend the children's parade which was fantastic. It was just the right length, anyone could join, lots of music, lots of kids in it...all good things. Mya really liked the music and joined in the dancing whenever a group went by that was rocking out. I couldn't help but take a video. And now I will share with you!

Sleeping Beauty

2011-05-26T11:06:00.003-03:00

Someone didn't get a nap yesterday and around 6pm this is what Adam found on the couch

He said it was quite the battle to wake her up and bath her and get her ready for bed. I don't think he'll be doing that again.

Ten minutes later she graduated to full blown drooling while sleeping.

Adorable, but never doing that again.

Broken Back

2011-05-24T23:06:00.006-03:00

So a week ago on Monday I threw out my back, or as my physiotherapist friend says, I sprained my SI joint. It all happened when I leaned over where I was sitting on the couch and tried to pick Mya up off the floor. Bad idea. It was followed with immediate pain and suffering. I spent most of that week looking like this:

Combine laying on my doggy bed, getting physio 3 times, not working that whole week and having Adam basically do everything for me (I couldn't even get into the shower alone folks), I think I'm finally on the road to recovery. Today was my first day back to our old routine and that meant being a full time mommy while Adam was at work. It didn't totally suck but only because my child is now old enough to walk and understand what I'm saying so I totally made her help me with things. She's a good helper...when she wants to be. When I wasn't on the floor, my time was precious and had to be spent doing other things like showering and eating and then it was back to the floor! So, basically, that's my excuse for not having updated in awhile. Sorry!

To make up for it, I'm willing to share some cute pics. Good deal? I think so.

I think it's cute that she'll grab a couch cushion and sit on top of it like she's a princess or something, especially when she's doing something as princessy as watching tv.

Showing off her beautiful dollar store necklace

Blowing bubbles with dad

Showing off her trike skills in the driveway

That's all for tonight folks! I'm headed to bed!

Camping Time!

2011-05-14T13:44:00.003-03:00

We had been scoping the flyers for a couple weeks now looking for a sweet deal on a tent. Although we both know that camping in a trailer would be easier, we can't afford a trailer right now and our car won't pull one either. So, instead we're settling for what we can afford right now and that happens to be a kick ass tent! We just picked it up this morning.

We were looking for a 2 room tent because of previous incidents where we learned Mya cannot sleep in the same room as us and this one offers us that as well as a screened in porch area that'll help keep the flies off if it happens to be a buggy summer. This tent was only $98! Not bad, huh? The 2 room tents at Canadian Tire were around $300 and that seemed awfully steep. I know the one we bought probably isn't the best tent you could get but for the amount we're going to use it, I think it'll be just fine.

Adam is keen to get out now and wants to go camping for the long weekend. I can't say I'm on board...I would prefer if it was a little warmer because we've gone camping on the long weekend in May before and I nearly froze to death. Mind you, that was in Ontario. It might be different in NS. Ok, time to take the tent down and test our abilities to cram it back in the bag before the rain comes back!

Breathe Right, Adam Style

2011-05-12T11:20:00.000-03:00

Yesterday morning I woke up very stuffed up. I wasn't sneezy, I wasn't itchy so I ruled out allergies. I didn't have a cough or a sore throat so I ruled out a cold. I don't know what my problem was but my neti pot only partially worked, twice. By evening it still wasn't better but I had figured out at work that if I held my nostrils open I could breathe better (I know, I'm odd. I'm ok with it.). So, even if I couldn't make my sinuses less stuffed up at least I could breathe as long as I was able to keep the ol' nostrils open. I never really understood how breathe right nose strips worked besides the obvious. How can they hold your nostrils open from the outside?? Anyways, by the time I got home from work everything was closed and I wasn't heading out to track down some breathe right strips so Adam got to work crafting one for me from stuff around the house so I could sleep last night.

Please ignore the tired looking, naked faced girl in the picture. I just got home from work, it was late, I was tired and I had just washed my make up off.

I know I look like the biggest moron out there but know what? It worked! It honestly worked. And plus, I was only going to sleep so no one was going to see my anyways. He took a little piece of hard plastic from the framing of these plastic utensils Mya got with her play food for her birthday and bent it slightly and then popped some duct tape over it. Voila. Homemade breathe right nose strips.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

2011-05-09T14:08:00.005-03:00

So, as I mentioned before we were in Halifax this past weekend where we house sat for the mother in law. Even though it was only an over night trip I feel like we did a lot this weekend. There was a lot of running around! We went to a last minute birthday party (where Mya may have met her best friend for the first time. How cute is it when one little girl grabs another little girl's hand and takes her out on the deck to the set up table to color? So. Cute.), we had a bbq supper/get together with friends, we went to the new Farmer's Market, we went shopping for a baby gift, we bought a couple books at Chapters, we picked up a new pair of sunglasses for Mya because her other ones are MIA, we went for a walk, we tidied up Nana's house so it looked the same as when we arrived. See? Full weekend.

My favorite part of the weekend though was Mother's Day. Mya lovingly slept in until 8:30am and I like to think she did this just for me. If only she had known her thoughtfulness didn't matter because I was awake at 7am with a stuffy nose and couldn't breathe. Oh well, I was up and showered and ready to start the day before I even heard a peep from her. Worked out well for me as you can see in the photos: hair? Clean and brushed. Teeth? Brushed. Clothes? Clean and on. Make up? On. Mya? Not so much...

Her hair was a little more wild than usual because she had to go to bed the night before with damp hair. I hadn't thought to pack the hair dryer and I guess Nana took both of hers with her on her trip. Result? Crazy bed head.

So after the card I got to open my present! Adam bought me a locket that he had picked out himself and put two pictures in it that make me happy. He also got me a book I've been wanting to read:

It was a pretty good weekend I think! I was a happy mama! And last but not least, I share with you Mya's new sunglasses:

I had a hard time getting her to look at the camera. At least she's saying "cheese" in this one!

10 on Tuesday

2011-05-03T10:37:00.005-03:00

1. This weekend is Mother's Day weekend. I haven't bought my mother a card yet and I'm not sure what to get her. I'm sure I'll think of something.

2. This weekend we are headed to Halifax to do a little house sitting while my mother in law is away. We'll only be there for the weekend because we both have to work on Monday, but it'll be fun to get away and play house in someone else's house.

3. Why, why, why has it been raining for 2 weeks with only 2 days of sun!? I'm not even exaggerating. That's the sad part. Hopefully the sun will win out in this weather battle cause I'm tired of being cold in my house.

4. So, the Conservatives won with a majority government. Not sure how I feel about that, but it's not good!

5. After spending Easter weekend in Cape Breton and realizing that the highlight of Mya's trip was Adidas the cat, Adam's started thinking we should get a cat. We've looked at the SPCA's website and we can't decide between Lou, King, and Richard. Adam's picks are King and Richard but I can't get on board. I prefer Lou. None of this is official though...we aren't even sure our landlord allows cats but we're thinking about it.

6. My 2011 Census package came in the mail about a half hour ago and I'm already done filling it out. I think I might be the first person in Canada who has it done. Go me. Want me to fill yours out too?

7. Animal crackers are oddly addictive. I can't tell if it's the feeling like a child, or the sugar. Probably both.

8. I feel like I'm battling daily headaches. I don't think that's supposed to happen. They suck.

9. We've booked a trip to visit friends and family in Ontario this summer. We're really looking forward to it!

10. Mya is doing awesome with her words...she can say lots of them now and it seems like she whips out a new one everyday.

Voting Day!

2011-05-02T14:11:00.002-03:00

Today is voting day for the Federal Election. Go vote! That's all I have to say. We're lucky to live in a country where we get the chance to vote. We get to decide who's elected to run our government. Do you know how many countries out there don't have that privilege?? Even if you don't know who to vote for, vote anyway! Spoil your ballot if you really want to if you don't think any of those guys deserve to be in office but at least that way you've still done something with your vote. You've still done something with your say. I voted today and was happy I did it. I can't wait for tonight to see the results!

Green Smoothies

2011-05-01T14:21:00.004-03:00

For awhile now I've been making smoothies with frozen fruit and yogurt and banana. Me and Mya share one and she likes them and they're good for her/us, so it's win win. But recently it seems like everyone's been drinking these "green smoothies" and I have to say, they look gross. I only found out a couple days ago what was in these green smoothies and really, it's all the same stuff I already put in with just some fresh spinach added. How bad could it be? They say you can't even taste the spinach because of all the other stuff. So, today I gave it a shot.

Note that my smoothie is far from green. I think I might've screwed up? But I can't figure out how...I put a ton of spinach in it, and then when I noticed it wasn't even green I added more. I also put some honey, yogurt, Mya milk, a whole banana, some frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries). This is how it turned out. It tasted good and I felt good knowing I was getting even more healthiness than I usually get in my smoothies but I still wanted it to be green.

If you look close you can see little green bits floating around...yum! Not a bad way to use up any leftover spinach you might have since you can't even taste it...!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T13:10:00.004-03:00

So, did any of you wake up nice and early to catch Wills and Kate get married? I did! I was originally planning on getting up at 3am since that's when it all started but then Adam had the brilliant idea of checking the "royal itinerary" online to see when the good stuff started. He's a smart one I'm telling you. It turns out the only parts I cared about didn't happen until 5-6am so I got to sleep a couple extra hours. Not enough extra that I don't think I need to nap when Mya naps today, but we'll see.

Ok, how pretty was Kate?

Although her dress seemed very conservative, I understand it was because there are certain rules of dress where Westminster Abbey is concerned. Still, I think she was stunning! And William was so handsome in his uniform. When I heard him say his vows I swooned just a tad. Tall, handsome, nice deep voice, hot in uniform...a real prince! Despite his thinning hair (hey, he can't help it!), I think he was definitely easy on the eyes. I think my favorite part though were all the hats! I so badly wanted to be there so I could wear my own ridiculous hat! Some of them looked almost space-agey and blocked half their faces. Not pretty.

Ok, my own prince charming just got home and it's time for our nap!

Easter Weekend pt 2

2011-04-26T14:28:00.007-03:00

Ok, so now that our lives are back to the regular swing of things and I'm trying to simultaneously fold laundry, cook supper, and get ready for work all while blogging, this post will be mostly pictures. Enjoy!

Easter Weekend pt 1

2011-04-23T22:13:00.003-03:00

This weekend we're spending Easter with Grampie and Monica and even though the Easter bunny isn't coming until tonight, I thought I would share some pictures of our weekend so far. Oh side story: when we left home and we were driving through the lights in New Minas, we passed this Hyundai Santa Fe and would you believe we ended up being stuck with him all the way to the freaking causeway!? I know! We started thinking they were afraid we were stalking them but obviously we weren't. I am curious where they were going though.

Ok, back on track.

So I thought had been all smart in getting my Easter shopping done ahead of time and before the crowds got all nuts and crazy. I bought a basket (2 actually, one for the Easter bunny and the other for collecting eggs), some fillable plastic eggs, a pair of pajamas, some bubbles, a kinder egg, some stickers, yogurt covered raisins, hair clips and animal crackers for filling the eggs and the bracelet I got a few weekends ago at that jewelery party. I thought I was set, right? Well, I was so organized in getting things ready to go for this weekend trip that I completely forgot ALL of the Easter stuff in my closet and only remembered when we were in New Glasgow. So, out we went today to re-get the Easter goods. So much for beating the crowds. Thank goodness it was mostly food and stickers and bubbles and stuff cause it'll all get used. One perk was that because it was the day before Easter, we were able to get the same jammies (only a different color) on clearance! Yay!

Ok, picture time.

The Easter basket that was left behind

Monica went to town this afternoon and came back with a basketball hoop for the kids to play with. When Mya got up from her nap she was quite excited about it!

Tomorrow there'll be lots more pictures taken, so stay tuned!

10 on Tuesday

2011-04-19T09:14:00.005-03:00

So, since I don't think I can come up with ten random things to share today, how about I share ten songs that are current favorites? These are in constant rotation at our house...maybe they're played over and over at your house too?

1. Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland. I had to put this as #1 since Mya hardly lets us listen to anything else. When a song starts she'll listen to the first few lines and if she realizes it's not what she's looking for she shakes her head no and gets upset until you change it. It inevitably always ends up being this song that she wants and once it starts her shoulder dance begins.

2. Rich Girl$ by Down with Webster. Don't judge me based on the fact that this song has a dollar sign in the title. At first I also thought "oh great, is this like a Ke$ha song?" but it isn't and it's great and catchy. It's actually a group from Canada...which just means I like them more. The song is a cover and the original is done by someone called Nina Simone. Sometimes I think I like the original more.

3. Raise Your Glass by Pink. This one always gets Mya dancing. Most Pink songs are upbeat and get a dance party started in our kitchen.

4. Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble. This is one of my favorites but Mya hates it and I hardly ever get to listen to it unless she's not around.

5. The Elmo Song. We have a 2 year old. Need I say more? (This one doesn't get a link to the video because she's sitting right beside me and I know if she sees him I'll have to listen to it and I really don't want to.)

6. Speak Now by Taylor Swift. There is a lot of Taylor Swift that goes on in this house. I think it might be unhealthy how much I hear her.

7. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars. I absolutely love this song! Personally, I think it sends a great message and although there are other artists out there who sing songs with great messages (like, Pink with Raise Your Glass and Less Than Perfect), I think the fact that this one is sung by a man makes a big difference. If only there were more male artists out there that would sing songs like this.

8. Loser Like Me by The Glee Cast. This is mostly Adam's doing. Don't get me wrong, I like Glee and I think this song is cute but I'm not the one who listens to it all the time.

9. Valerie by Amy Winehouse. This song is so catchy! It's not one of Mya's favorites but I like it so it makes the playlist.

10. Forget You by Cee-Lo Green. Me and Adam really really like this song but saying Mya doesn't like it is an understatement. She actually cries when it plays and as I'm writing this she is hiding behind me and clinging to my shirt because I have it playing on YouTube. We aren't sure where this comes from...we assume maybe the man scares her because he is kind of loud and wears loud clothes? We don't know.

There are more songs that we listen to on a daily basis but I could only pick ten. Maybe I'll do another ten another time.

Ask Me About Midwifery

2011-04-14T15:19:00.004-03:00

So, I went to my information session last night and really didn't learn anything that I didn't already know. I think it was more designed to teach people about midwifery and what a midwife was for those who didn't know much about it. I'm fully aware of what a midwife is and the services they provide, that's why I want one. I was more interested to learn our position in the process of bringing midwifery back to Nova Scotia. They didn't really touch on that too much, but that's ok cause I got this nifty button.

I'm still glad I went and showed my support even if it wasn't overly informative for me. I assume, based on the amount of brown corduroy and dreadlocks I saw there, that it probably wasn't very informative for most people there, but there were some that I think were new to the midwifery concept. Anyways, I hope wearing my button around town will get people to approach me on the subject! I'm actually kind of excited about that...!

10 on Tuesday

2011-04-12T13:22:00.005-03:00

So, sometimes it's hard to come up with ten things. I try to think of ten...I really do. I'll give you what I've got. Hey...what happened to my font?

1. My friend Laura is have a baby and she's been knitting a few things for her baby. I would really like to take up knitting but I'm too lazy to put the effort in to learn how. I commented on one of her pictures of the things she'd made and she offered to make MY baby a sweater! For nothing! How sweet is she?! She's even going to pop it in the mail for me...I offered to pay for her yarn or bake her some goodies in case she had any pregnancy cravings but she turned them both down. I can't wait for it to get here!

2. Tomorrow I'm switching shifts with someone at work so I can attend the discussion on Midwifery in the Valley in the evening. I can't remember where I said it was before but I'm pretty sure I said it was at the Kentville Library (because that's where I thought it was all along) but it's actually at the Wolfville Memorial Library. I'm really excited about switching shifts...it's like having a day off only I've still put in the same amount of time. Uhh, hell ya!

3. Because I'm so pumped about being able to go into work early tomorrow, I'm bringing everyone coffee and muffins.

4. We FINALLY paid off one of our debts! Our car is officially ours! I shouldn't say it's "FINALLY" paid off cause it actually only took us 10 months to pay it off but that's one less thing I have to share my money with. When our student loans are paid off, we're having a party.

5. We really want to go camping this summer. We REALLY want to own a tent trailer and go camping this summer but our car isn't big enough to pull a tent trailer, plus us, plus our crap. So, it'll probably end up being a tenting trip. The logical side of my brain is telling me "don't do it...Mya isn't old enough to enjoy it yet...you'll regret it" but me and Adam still really want to go. I think he'll start to see the benefit of a child leash...

6. I measured and I think my hair might be long enough to cut and donate! YES! Finally! It has to be 10 inches and either in a pony tail or a braid. I braided it this morning and whipped out the measuring tape and it was just a little over 10 inches. I'm planning on putting it in a pony tail and getting Adam to measure when he gets home just to get a second opinion. That means I can get a haircut way sooner than I thought I was going to be able to!

7. Much to Adam's dismay, I think I've embraced the idea of wearing a romper this summer. What's not to like? It's a one piece outfit...the top and bottom are already decided for you. I think it's win-win.

8. We finally took down the decorations from Mya's birthday. It was time and Adam was tired of looking at the random balloons that had been taken down for Mya to play with.

9. I think we're going to be in Cape Breton for Easter weekend this year. Grampie Conner was asking when we were going to be up for a visit and we haven't been in awhile so we thought we'd take advantage of the long weekend.

10. Since I was only able to come up with 9, I'll share a picture for #10. Mya is modeling one of the tops she got for her birthday from Auntie Elisa. Now that she gets the basic concept of how taking a picture works, she's more cooperative if we tell her we'll show her the picture on the camera afterwards.

Stella and Dot

2011-04-10T21:27:00.006-03:00

So last weekend a friend of mine threw a Stella and Dot party. I had never been to one before and didn't really know what Stella and Dot was but I had heard of it. Stella and Dot is a brand of jewelery and they have some really pretty things. Such as this necklace:

and these earrings

I got a bracelet for Mya too but I'm too lazy to get up and take a picture of it so you can see it here.

I love them so much I don't want to take them off! I was never really into jewelery before but I think I could come around on the idea...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T09:05:00.000-03:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-04-05T09:47:00.009-03:00

I think today it will be hard to come up with ten, but here we go!

1. We went to a flea market this past weekend and Adam scored a pair of winter boots. I've been telling him for years that he needs a pair but he's convinced that he doesn't. That is, until this past winter we got hit with snow storm after snow storm and he realized shoveling with sneakers on sucks.

2. Me and Mya watch Ellen every morning. It's our daily 10 o'clock date.

3. I was able to hang clothes on the line three times last week! THREE! I get really happy when I get to hang clothes on the line even though I grumble about having to do the actually hanging in the morning.

4. My mom called the other day to tell me she'd be coming down for a week in June! I. am. so. excited! And then both her and dad will be home for good in August/September and I will no longer have to share them with Alberta!

5. Mya can say lots of words now like baby, bye, no, please, hi...she makes me so happy!

6. I went to a jewelery party on the weekend and bought myself a necklace and earrings. I don't usually get myself something "just because" because I'm too frugal but I couldn't help myself...they were so pretty! Plus, I got Mya a bracelet and I think the Easter bunny might deliver it for me.

7. We have Mya almost totally potty trained now. She wears a diaper for bedtime and naptime but during the day she wears underwear the whole time. We've even started going out of the house with underwear on...yay!

8. Recently we've been buying our meat from a local farm and it is just so much better than the grocery store. The prices are comparable and the meat tastes better. Plus, we feel better knowing we are supporting local farmers and we know the meat isn't pumped with hormones and antibiotics.

9. Mya has picked up pedaling her trike she got for her birthday. Now, if the weather could stay consistently warm enough we could take her outside to ride it!

10. Stay tuned for wordless Wednesday!

And now, just a little video to make your Tuesday brighter:

Almond Milk

2011-04-02T15:41:00.003-03:00

Ok, so I know a few people who drink almond milk as opposed to cows milk and it never really interested me until lately. I thought "why drink milk that comes from nuts when you can get it from an animal?" and never really desired trying it. Well, today we were at the grocery store and decided to pick some up. Of course they didn't have any 1L to try so we were stuck buying a 2L. I said to Adam "I hope this stuff isn't gross!" because I hate throwing perfectly good stuff away...especially food.

Plus, even though we give Mya lactose free milk and limit her intake of yogurt and cheese she still gets eczema like patches on her skin and I've wondered if she was on a completely dairy free diet if it would make them disappear. So, now that she's older and her diet doesn't depend on milk so much I decided to compare them and I found out that you got the same amount of your daily requirement of calcium and vitamin D, and you got iron and vitamin E (which she wasn't getting in her cows milk). Everything else was comparable. I thought it seemed like it was worth a shot so we plunked 'er down in the cart. We tried it out at lunch and both me and Adam agree: it tastes like crap. I don't think Mya would have a problem with it if we gave her some but it tasted like watered down milk and I just can't get past that. I expected it to be more wholesome or thicker or something. It wasn't bad...it just wasn't good.

So, does anyone out there want some brand new almond milk?

Library Trip: Success!

2011-03-30T14:10:00.003-03:00

So, this week we decided to venture to the library again despite last weeks "adventure". Our friends couldn't come this time so we went alone but it was still fun. We got ourselves a library card and took out some Franklin books and a Berenstein Bears book. Mya still wasn't keen on sitting with the other children to listen to the story being read but she was much better behaved than last week and was really good while we sat quietly and read our own stories. She even took part in the craft without me trying to get her to engage. This week we made an owl!

She colored it and stuck the eyes on all by herself and I helped with the gluing. Pretty cute owl, if I do say so myself. The best part of our trip to the library was this: Mya used the bathroom at the library without her potty seat! I was so proud of her! Before we left I explained that she was wearing underwear and she couldn't pee in them, so if she had to go to let me know and we would go to the bathroom there. We just recently put the potty seat on top of the toilet to start getting her used to using the big toilet and she has yet to use the toilet as is. So, when she said she had to go, off to the bathroom we went. Mind you, the pants and underwear (and therefore, shoes!) had to come completely off, but it was still a success and she got lots of kisses afterwards.

Oh, and I also ran into a woman I met one day at work. She was at the library with her son and it was nice to see her again. We got to talking the day I met her and she was wearing a pin that said "ask me about midwifery" so I did (because I'm interested in midwifery and can't seem to find anyone else who is) and I found out about this group she's a part of (Valley Families for Midwifery) and I'm slowly starting to get involved with them also. It was nice to touch base with her again. If anyone's in the Valley and interested in midwifery, there will be an information night at the Kentville Library on Wednesday, April 13th from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Everyone is welcome to come and learn about our current situation.

Then it was back home we went and had lunch, read one of our new stories and had a nap.

I think it was a pretty good day!

Baby Bears

2011-03-28T13:00:00.004-03:00

Last week we were invited by friends of ours to go to the library for some sort of children's activity time. There was coloring, reading, and a craft. Sounds like fun, right? Well, sort of. Every other kid there (all Mya's age) understood the concept of structured activities. First we color, then we move over to the reading area and grab a mat to sit on, we listen to the stories, then we move back to the table for craft time. She had her own agenda that day and it didn't really consist of the above mentioned items. Well, it did...I guess...just not in that order. I'm telling myself that it was because she was the only non-daycared child there and she therefore wasn't used to structured activities. At home it's color until I don't feel like it anymore, have a snack, get naked, pick out something to wear, help mom sweep the floor, maybe go for a walk, watch Ellen...all at a leisurely "I-do-what-I-want-when-I want" pace. I don't know if the lady in charge of children time liked us very much but I don't think I have a choice but to keep going back to get Mya used to it.
The craft the kids made that day were bear masks and then they got to read "We're Going On a Bear Hunt" while they all wore their creations. They all looked like a bunch of cute little baby bears!
Wanna see my baby bear?

Cute, eh? I know.

Me again...

2011-03-26T20:58:00.009-03:00

It's been a long time since my last post (this is Adam btw), but tonight just felt like the right time. I'm not feeling overly inspired tonight, but I have a few things to talk about.

I'll start with march break. It was great being home with Mya for a whole week and being able to spend some quality time with her and Mabyn. We tried to do stuff every day, even if it wasn't major.

We took a trip to Greenwood Mall (where I had never been), and I saw a ping pong table at Cleve's in the mall, but it was on sale for $100!!! wow!.. If only I had a truck to bring it home I would have.

Anddd.. the toy store in that mall is just AMAZING.. It's a good thing Mabyn was there, because I could have easily spent $150 or more in that store. Last but not least, Mya and I went and checked out some nice fancy new cars while Mabyn was chatting up the lady selling tent trailers (which we'd love to have if we had a car that could tow it). Watching Mya sit in between my legs in the driver's seat of the cars and turning the steering wheel was just too cute :)

We also took a nice little trip to the nearby park at Aldershot Elementary School and Mya loved it.

All in all it was a great week, and I managed to procrastinate doing ANY work, which was just right.
I'm now back at work again, and in my first week back, Mya managed to make me happier to be a father than I had been probably since she was born.

Pulling in the driveway on my way home was such a sublime experience. I looked in the window and saw Mya standing on the back of the chair with a huge smile on my face yelling what I could tell was "daddy! daddy! daddy!" all while keeping a huge smile on her face. I felt so happy looking at her smiling face and only then did I realize how desensitized I had become to leaving her for work nearly every day since she was 2 weeks old, it always just felt normal. But after a week of real fun and becoming attached to her (especially now that she's old enough to realize I'm home and enjoy having me there) I realized that I really miss her when I'm gone to work.

But, knowing she's going to be on that chair smiling, waving and calling out "daddy!" at the end of my day really makes even the tough days seem quick :)

Hopefully my cheezyness hasn't caused too many annoyances, and you'll all tolerate future posts from me, as I'm sure there will be others.

Goodbye.... for now!

10 on Tuesday

2011-03-15T23:44:00.003-03:00

So, remember the last time I posted I said that I would do something different the next time? Well, I realized that I had to wait until Tuesday to try it out. It's called "10 on Tuesday" and I think it's basically a way to list 10 things that have been on my mind or 10 things I'd like to share. I totally stole this idea from another blogger, so I can't say I thought this up by myself.

So, here goes!

1. Mya is really good at holding our hands when we go for walks sans stroller. Sometimes we leave the buggy at home to give her a chance to get her little legs moving and we just go around the block but she loves it and she's so good the whole time!

2. Tuesdays have become my least favorite day of the week. Adam gets involved in his computer world on Tuesday and Thursday nights because I tend to work later those nights, but on Tuesday I don't have Grey's Anatomy to distract me.

3. I CANNOT wait to get a haircut! I know I'm kind of a once-a-year-haircut kind of person but it's getting even hard for me to like it. Once I can chop 10 inches and still have something left to work with, it's getting done!

4. This Friday Mya is spending her first weekend at Nana's house and I'm feeling kind of nervous! It's her first weekend overnight anywhere and I know I have to cut the cord sometime but I don't know what I'll do without her here!

5. My parents are moving back to NS later this year and I can't wait!

6. I'm looooooooooving the warm weather and can't wait to break out the summer clothes!

7. I'm totally looking forward to a shopping day in the city with the girls in a couple weeks. I have a list of things I want to look for and can't wait to get away.

8. We still haven't taken down the balloons and streamers from Mya's birthday party. I think it makes the living room look festive and who doesn't want a little festivity in their lives?

9. I scored two pairs of kid sandals for a rockin' 7 bucks today! Love summer steals.

10. I've been thinking about taking Mya to an eye doctor/dentist lately. I wonder how that would go...

Two Years Already!?

2011-03-08T13:04:00.008-04:00

Well, that time of year has come by and gone again. Yesterday was Mya's second birthday. I like that she's getting bigger and more independent but I hate that she's getting bigger and more independent. I want her to just stay this size forever. Wouldn't that be great?

So, this year I decided I would make the cake again but instead of a cupcake cake I made an Elmo cake! She kind of has a thing for Elmo so I thought it would go over well. I didn't quite get the reaction I was hoping for from her but I think she enjoyed it nonetheless.

In between baking and cooling the cake we blew up some balloons and hung some streamers. I'm glad we decided to do these things the night before because it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

She got lots of nice presents and had a blast opening them all and playing with her little friends.

Then it was cake time! With a little bit of assistance we blew out the candles and cut into the Elmo.

Time for a thumb break!

After everyone was gone and things had died down a bit we decided to try one some of her new clothes but she was more interested in playing with her new "cutting foods" game.

I hope everyone who came had a good time! And thank goodness I don't have to make another cake until next year!

I think tomorrow I'm going to try a new kind of blog post that I stole from someone else...we'll have to see how that works out!

This and That

2011-02-28T08:20:00.006-04:00

Ok, I know I haven't blogged in awhile but I haven't had anything exciting to blog about! So that's why today's post will just be a little bit of everything that's gone down in the last couple of weeks. We bought Mya some Bob Skates to take her skating on the outside rink in Coldbrook but when we got there the rink was closed. We have yet to use them but since we had talked up the skating and got her all bundled up in ski pants and the whole kaboodle, we felt the need to make up for the lack of skating so we played outside. When you're not quite 2 yet, playing outside in the snow is just as fun.

We also got to dream about warmer climates and the end of snow with a present we got in the mail. Auntie Jessica went to Cuba last month and brought back a sundress for Miss Mya. I only wish it came in my size! What a lucky girl to have such a nice auntie!

I tried to get a picture of Mya in her Valentine's Day outfit but it was hard to get her to cooperate that day.
And to finish off, some "because she's just too cute" pictures

Ok, that's it! I'm off to get a birthday present/supplies cause someone has a birthday coming up!

Lazy Sunday

2011-02-13T14:36:00.003-04:00

Today is a lazy sort of day. We woke up and decided we'd make some bread and while it was rising we took a walk in the chilly air.

When Mya saw me wearing my apron she wanted to wear one too. Auntie Jessica sent us this one from Ikea and it was a little bit too big I think. When we got back from our walk, we threw some lunch together and then Mya laid down for a little nap. Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride 2 was on in the background while I finished my bread and started cooking some beans for a new soup I'm trying for supper tonight. It's been a perfect Sunday!

Models and Mail Buddies

2011-02-01T09:43:00.005-04:00

The other day we were getting ready to head out for brunch with some friends and where it wasn't crazy cold out, I thought I would dress Mya in the sweater she got for Christmas rather than a coat. It didn't disappoint!

How sweet is that sweater? Thank the little old lady at the Digby Scallop days because she knit it. And then our model tried on a hat that we had made for a little friend of ours who was turning 1 and we wanted to see how it would fit so she gave it a go.

Adorable, right? I know. A woman who lives somewhat locally (Halifax) has a little business and she knit this cutie pie teddy bear hat. I ordered two, one in toddler size and one in newborn for another little friend of ours. She just knit a bunny hat too and I think it might even be cuter than the teddy bear hat. I'm definitely going to be getting one from her. If you're interested you can check out her facebook page here.

And one last picture for good measure. We were off to mail our hats and I took a pic of my mail buddy.

Snow, Snow, Snow!!

2011-01-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

I haven't complained once all winter about the cold or the snow or the winter boots we have to put on our kid everytime we go out. But now, I am tired of the snow.

Adam's had way more snow days this year than last year. After looking at the picture above (which was taken today after a snow day) and the picture below (taken on a snow day last year), do I really need to explain?

I would like to wear some sundresses and flip flops please!

Picture Hanging Funness! (note the sarcasm)

2011-01-24T13:14:00.005-04:00

Last night we finally hung our picture collage that we got for Christmas. This is amazingly good for me considering more times than not, the item in question gets left until a couple years later. I went ahead and picked out all the pictures and got them printed and then frigged around trying to get them to look right because they didn't actually hold the size they said they would.

When I started putting the pictures together in the frames I noticed on that on the back of one there were instructions on how to hang them. I thought to myself, "ha, seriously? who doesn't know how to hang picture frames?" and then realized I didn't and found myself reading them intently a few minutes later. I also didn't realize how long it would take or how difficult it would be to hang several frames in such a manner so that they were all lined up with each other and that they were all spaced evenly. Having a level only helped a little but not with the nailing or the distancey part.

Anyways, they're done now and I'm glad. Because I'm never doing it again.

Phil and Ted Are My New Boyfriends

2011-01-20T10:54:00.005-04:00

So, we had been thinking of getting a new stroller for awhile but we couldn't agree on what to get. Adam wanted something with big wheels for better maneuverability, I thought we should get a double stroller so we'd have something for future use and I also thought we should get a travel system cause we'd need one someday. Well, we got all three. So pleased am I. We got the Phil & Teds Inline Dash stroller and it's AWESOME! We got it second hand from Kijiji and it came with the second seat to turn it into a double when we need it, the single rain cover, the double rain cover, the cocoon for newborn little babies, and the bug net.

I will admit that I didn't even know this fabulous invention existed until I spoke with my friend Heidi when she was mentioning she wanted one for when her little baby was born. Well, it got me thinking that I wanted one too. So, I hunted around and found one and we haven't stopped playing with it since we got it home.

Mya liked it so much she wanted to just sit in it and eat snacks all night...! Lets hope the novelty doesn't wear off!

Going Private?

2011-01-13T22:37:00.002-04:00

So, it seems that most of my beloved blogs I love to stalk are all going private one by one. Well, why don't I email them to be put on the special list of people who get to read it you ask? Well, that's because the blogs I read are by people who don't know me but I stumbled upon their blog one day and got hooked (mostly because they also have kids and live somewhere in Eastern Canada) and I think it would be weird if I emailed them and asked to be part of their private circle. Especially where I'm a stranger to them. So, now what do I do?

And since a post isn't fun without a picture...

...I'll give you two silly ones! What a silly girl!

Our Beauty Queen

2011-01-07T14:08:00.002-04:00

Love her!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T21:51:00.003-04:00

To celebrate the new year we took our tree down tonight and it was about time. Don't get me wrong! I loved our tree and I love Christmas but our living room is quite small and that was before we brought a tree into it. I couldn't believe how much bigger the room felt once the tree was out and to think our living room/dining room felt small before. Anyways, 2010 is over and I guess it was a good year. Normal things happened, birthdays were celebrated, little trips were taken, we moved...again, but nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe 2011 will bring exciting, new things? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Yesterday Mya took a maiden voyage on her new sled now that we have snow and she really liked it! I don't know how if she knows what to make of snow though...

...but we taught her to make a snow angel!

That's how we spent part of our New Year's Eve...sledding with Mya. Once I picked my nephew up at the airport we settled in for a Criminal Minds marathon and I was in bed by 10pm and probably asleep by 10:15pm. The holidays had us too pooped to do anything fun so early bedtime it was!

Christmas Pictures!

2010-12-26T13:40:00.003-04:00

Sorry this post will have nothing but pictures in it but today is a lazy sort of day...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T23:43:00.001-04:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Santa definitely found us and needless to say, I felt extremely blessed to have family and friends that would put that much thought into buying me lots of beautiful things!

Pictures to follow!

One Week!

2010-12-18T14:46:00.002-04:00

Is everyone ready for Christmas? Because it is officially one week until Christmas Day!!! I'm spending this Saturday listening to lovely Christmas music while I bake some cookies and the baby naps. It couldn't be better, really. When she wakes up we're going to spread some holiday cheer by bringing some homemade cookies and a Christmas card next door to the neighbours.

I think I'm as ready as I can be. Everything we need present-wise has been bought and now we're just focusing on groceries for Christmas dinner.

Oh my God! I can't believe I forgot to mention this first thing: Mya has peed on the potty a total of 4 times now! I am so proud and impressed!! It was the best Christmas present ever. Really. I wasn't going to try potty training until after she turned 2 but she started showing me she was ready...so out we went to buy a potty. I'm so happy. Let's just hope it keeps progressing forward and she doesn't regress at all.

Ok, gotta get back to the cookies before they burn!

Happy holidays!

Out With The Old...

2010-12-16T00:03:00.003-04:00

and in with the new!

Please ignore the dust and bits of styrofoam that you can see in the pics...it will eventually get cleaned up. We (I) were just too excited once it was put together to bother with the detailed clean up. I love, Love, LOVE our new table...and it is just the right size for our Christmas dinner crew with the leaf in. So in love.

O Christmas Tree!

2010-12-13T07:50:00.004-04:00

So last night we finally put up our tree. I shouldn't say "finally" because I think this is just the right time...unlike those fools who put theirs up in November. Anyways, the tree turned out to be too high for our little ceilings and we had to trim a little off the bottom AND the top and even after all that we still had to tip the tree a little to get the angel on top. We decided to put Mya to bed before we got started and I think it was a good idea but then it was brand new this morning and she hasn't stopped touching it since. I think it's the most beautiful tree we've ever had! It's hard to tell a) how big it is when it's outside, b) what its flaws are and c) how full it is. Well, we got 'er home and she's just perfect! The man at the tree farm gave us a good rule of thumb: when you're Christmas tree hunting, always add 2 feet to whatever height you think the tree is. If we had known that we wouldn't have had to cut 2 feet off of our tree, but oh well! She's up now and she's awesome!

Behold!

And just for nostalgic reasons I thought I'd add a last year photo and a this year photo of the rug rat:

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Christmas Tree Shopping

2010-12-12T17:07:00.003-04:00

To continue a tradition that we started last year, we went to cut down our tree today. Mya was much more excited about it this time around and was quite taken by the snow. She didn't want to really hold our hands though so she would run away and slip and fall on the ice and snow which resulted in her jacket, hands, pants and Adam's gloves getting dirty with mud. Oh well! I think she had a good time.

The hardest part was trying to find a tree that would fit inside our low ceilinged living room. Last year we had really high ceilings so we could choose whichever tree we wanted but this year we kept saying "well, how big do you think it is?" and "Adam, go stand next to it to give me an idea". We think it'll fit but if not, worse case scenario we just have to chop a few branches off the bottom and saw off a few inches. We think we found the perfect tree and I'm so excited to put it up tonight! Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product!

Christmas Fun

2010-12-09T15:02:00.000-04:00

Can anyone guess what I'm doing this afternoon?

Happy December!

2010-12-01T13:31:00.003-04:00

Can anyone believe that it's already December? Seriously, where has the time gone? My baby is going to be 2 soon, Christmas is just around the corner and before we know it, it'll be 2011. Insanity. Even though December tends to be a busy month for me (and most of you I would assume), I am proud to announce that with the exception of stocking stuffers, I am DONE my Christmas shopping! This includes shopping for Adam's birthday, which is right around the corner on Monday. I'm so happy with myself for not leaving things till the last minute like I usually do. Now I can take my December to leisurely bake, decorate, listen to Christmas music and get my house ready for holiday guests!

The Christmas baking menu this year includes:

-homemade holiday eggnog (with rum of course!)
-pumpkin cookies with browned butter icing
-molasses cookies
-pumpkin pie
-apple cranberry pie

and last but not least...chocolate peanut butter cream pie. How fat am I gonna be after Christmas?

I haven't even started decorating for the holiday but shh! don't tell anyone because apparently I'm the only one in this world who doesn't have my tree up yet. That really burns me. Don't people know that Christmas is NOT in November?? It gets earlier and earlier every year! With Adam's birthday on the 6th, we use that as a guideline and don't put up before then. This year we're planning to go cut ours down (just like last year) on the 11th and I can't wait! I think Mya will really get a kick out of it this year. Last year she liked the twinkly lights but other than that she pretty much left the tree alone...which was fine by me!

I hope that this year the tree is still something she keeps her hands off of but if not at least I know she's old enough that she understands when I say not to touch it.

More fun news to report: we are getting a new table and chair set! We have been wanting one for a long time and have been scouring Kijiji in the hopes of coming across one that we liked and that wasn't a ridiculous amount of money for a second hand piece of furniture, but we had no such luck. My wonderful mother in law and her boyfriend will be delivering it sometime during the week in about 2 weeks time and I can't wait! I will post before and after pics so you can see for yourself how bad our current table and chairs are.

Alright, that's enough blogging for now. I have lots to do before Mya wakes up...which I think is right now! Damn! Ok, I'll talk to you later!

AppleCheeks Giveaway!

2010-11-24T23:01:00.004-04:00

AppleCheeks is having an AWESOME giveaway...check them out on facebook if you want in. Basically, they're teaming up with Ergo Baby and giving away an Ergo Baby Carrier. Have you seen these? They have all the benefits of a wrap style carrier but without having to deal with the yards and yards of material. I've been wanting one for awhile now but felt that my baby had outgrown the carrier stage. I will have more babies someday though! It even comes with a little insert for newborns to make them feel all snug and close.

So, if you wanna win one of these little pieces of awesome, head over to facebook and like both Ergo Baby Carrier and AppleCheeks and then comment on their note about it. You have until December 7th at midnight EST.

Parade of Lights

2010-11-23T13:22:00.005-04:00

Sorry this post is a little late but last weekend we made our way back to the city for the Parade of Lights! I don't mean to sound like a whiner but I don't know if it was worth it after seeing how it went. We contemplated for hours on how to dress her and brought the necessary gear for a cold night but at the last minute we decided to leave it home and just dress her normally.

She was still dressed for coldish weather: hat and hood, winter coat, mittens, lined pants, etc. We thought her feet would be warm enough with just shoes on because she wasn't going to be running around in the snow but apparently we were wrong. The parade didn't start on time and we ended up leaving early after watching it for over an hour. Our poor baby was over tired and a little bit of an icicle. When we got back to Nana's house all she wanted was to be snuggled as she cried and cried. I love the snuggles but I hate that they always seem to come around when my bebe isn't feeling the greatest. What's up with that? She eventually thawed and got some sleep. By morning she was back to her old self.

So, remember those shoes we bought for her way back in March for her birthday? Well, they finally fit now and she wears them all the time. How cute are these suckers?

Speaking of adorable footwear, we got her some slippers from Superstore the other day because the floors are starting to get cold now that there's snow on the ground. Take a look at these cutie beauties:

Oh, and speaking of Superstore, have I mentioned I would like to win the lottery and blow all my money there on super cute kid clothes!? The plan was to pick up a pair of jammies to go with some books and then Mya would be done and I could cross her off my Christmas list, but I don't think I could buy just one pair! They have fleece nighties and fleece 2 piece pajamas and flannel 2 piece pajamas...all adorable. AND they have their clearance racks out with stuff I could get for cheap for next summer! I know!

Alright, time to stop fantasizing about Superstore and get some housework done while my helper is sleeping.

Ciao!

Weekend Getaway

2010-11-17T13:05:00.005-04:00

This post is a little overdue but I blame that on kids and Christmas. I can do that, right? Anyways, last weekend we were in the city for a planned getaway. Adam's sister got us a suite here

and offered to take the baby for the night. Let me just say, it. was. awesome. After we dropped Mya off at Elisa's place we left to get some shopping done and holy crappoly, I forgot how easy shopping was when you do it alone. There was no getting someone out of a car seat when you got to the store. No wrestling someone back into the car seat when it was time to leave. No stroller taking up your precious trunk space and then having to be opened everytime you get said someone out of car seat. There was no one whining to leave the store before we were ready (except me when we were in Golf Town). Can you believe that we managed to cross almost every single person off our Christmas shopping list? I know!! And to top it all off, it was unseasonably warm and sunny so me and Adam got to walk around without jackets on! It was probably the best day ever.

Next weekend (this weekend?) we're headed back to the city so we can take Mya to the parade of lights. Our town is putting on its own parade but it's being held on Thursday night and I have to work so we won't be able to go. I mean, who has a Christmas parade on a Thursday?? Weirdos. So, back in the car we go for Mya's first parade. Well, technically it's her second but she slept during the entire Canada Day parade so it doesn't really count. I hope she likes it as much as I want her to. She might still be a little young to fully grasp the concept but we have to start somewhere, right?

What else is going on in our lives at the moment? Well, the weather forecast is calling for snow this weekend so we bumped up our plan to get snow tires on the car and we have an appointment for Friday. At least we'll be prepared for whenever the snow decides to come even if it changes its mind about this weekend.

Ok, sorry for the boring post but I hadn't updated in a long time. I'll leave you with a little game:

Can you find Mya?

One of these things is not like the other...one of these things just doesn't belong...

And now a couple just for the cute factor:

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies the Recipe

2010-11-11T20:55:00.003-04:00

Someone commented on my last post asking for me to post the recipe of these awesome cookies I made (see picture below!). I actually took that pic...turned out pretty good eh? So, give you the recipe I will:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix together, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Put 1/2 cup of the sugar in small bowl and set aside. With electric mixer beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients mixing just until a dough forms. Pinch off and roll dough into balls about 1 tbsp in size. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat. Bake until edges are just firm, about 10-15 min.

**These cookies didn't spread as much as I thought they would based on the picture the recipe provided, but they were still chewy and yummy. Now, the first sheet I put in the oven I left for 15 minutes because I couldn't tell if the edges were firm. They seemed to be harder and darker than I wanted but were still good nonetheless. The second sheet I put in for only 10 minutes and they were definitely softer and lighter than the first batch but I think that the third batch (which was left in for about 12-13 min) turned out the best. Oh, one last thing: I found the dough to be really soft so I popped it in the fridge while waiting for the oven to preheat and in between batches and it was much easier to handle. So those are my tips and observations!

Good luck! I wanna know how they turn out!

Christmas Baking

2010-11-09T10:36:00.003-04:00

So, yesterday I decided to get a start on my Christmas baking. I came across this recipe I had bookmarked online while looking through my recipes for a gift for someone. I found what may be the only-cookie-I'll-ever-bake recipe: Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies.

Now, I don't normally bake cookies. I'm more of a pies, breads, upside down cakes kind of girl. I don't know why. Something about making cookies seems hard or time consuming. But not these puppies! They were definitely quick to put together and they were easy to make. I happened to have everything I needed in the house which is one of the reasons I decided to make them. That and Adam made this "I would really, really like some holiday cookies" face so I had to do it. I came home from work last night to see that a good dent had been made to the cookie container, so I guess they must have been good! Now that I've made my trial run and passed, I'll be making these for Christmas!

I also found a holiday eggnog recipe that I'm dying to try. Adam wants to do a trial run of that too (shocking!). So, I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out.

Have you started holiday baking yet? What are you making for goodies at your house this holiday season?

Baby Blues

2010-11-03T13:26:00.004-03:00

So, there's this comic strip on my fridge that I came across some years ago and it was so funny (because it rang so true) that I cut it out and saved it. Some of you already know about my comic strip and some of you have already read it but I thought I'd post it on here to share with everyone because I know almost all of you can relate.

See? Don't you feel better now? I thought so!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:27:00.003-03:00