Photo Time

I haven't posted pictures in ages and since I just dumped a bunch of photos from the camera onto the computer today I thought this would be a good time.



My brother, his wife, and their baby were out for a visit last month. Here we all are at church. (And no I don't have a tree growing out of my head. It's some sort of Lenten decoration thingy.)

Trina and my kids. Can you believe she's only 7 months? She's heavier than Lily already! I could squeeze those cheeks all day.

A random image of what happens when we leave the kids alone with my parents so we can go out for a date.

Lily showing off her fancy outfit that Auntie Meghan gave her for Christmas.

My family of hoodies. Nick was sick in case you can't tell.

My kids along with Hailey, our recent "addition". I take care of her on Mondays and Tuesdays. She's 13 months and oh-so-adorable. She puts up with a lot from Lily!

This is us today after picking up Nick from the bus. Hailey on the front and Lily on the back.

Oops

There should be a health warning on vegetables.

Last month I lopped off the tip of my thumb chopping red peppers. Today I sliced off a piece of my index finger dicing some carrots. Le sigh.

Can I somehow blame this on Krista? I was after all using the mandolin she gave us as a wedding gift.

It's very annoying, by the way, to be dealing with mopping up blood when you're following one of those obnoxious recipes that wants various ingredients added after a very specific amount of minutes. I can't clean up my finger and chop at the same time damnit. If supper tastes odd tonight, Liam, I apologize.

And here I thought that homemade meals made from nice fresh veggies was supposed to be GOOD for your health.

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun

My God, I forgot how much I missed the sun.

According to the nifty Weather Eye feature in my toolbar, it warmed up to a balmy +10 today. I'm sure it was closer to 15 on my deck, though, judging by the fact that Lily stripped down to the buff and played outside for a good 45 minutes without getting chilly. The only thing that got her dressed was that she wanted to go play in the snow. I couldn't help but laugh at her as I watched her bare little bum jiggling in the sunshine as she ran around.

I had big plans for my day today. I was going to go for a walk in the ravine and run some errands of some sort. The kind of errands didn't matter so much as me just getting out of the house did. Instead, I ended up being drawn outside by the golden sunshine which poured over my deck and I never did end up leaving the house. I snacked and read while Lily explored the deck then the yard. It's been about five months since we've spent a significant amount of time in our back yard and it was like a whole new world to her.

As I basked in the warmth of the sun, I realized just how much I'd missed its ability to leave me feeling deeply satisfied. Feeling the fresh air on my bare arms I felt more alive than I'd felt in months. When I came back in the house I was struck by just how dead the air inside is. There are no breezes, no tastes, no sounds of birds or squirrels. There's just air that sits there. And does nothing.

On days like today I wonder what it would be like to winter in a warmer climate, one where I could be outside year-round. I love the moderate summers around here but I could certainly do without the bone-chilling weeks that seem to stretch out forever.

Lessons my children have taught me

Someone else's cookie always tastes better than your own. (aka Filched food tastes best.)

The best place to be when you're hurt, scared, or upset is in the arms of someone you love.

Farts are really funny.

Touching and cuddling are requirements in life, not perks.

Exploration cannot be hurried.

The most interesting things in life occur close to the ground.

Sleeping in and taking naps don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Time spent doing nothing is important. It's also the best time to do really neat stuff.

Being naked feels good.

Being loud for the sake of being loud is a perfectly good reason.

Getting dirty isn't so bad.

If you say enough, you'll eventually communicate your point.

Blessings

This morning, a woman I know told me how her 6-month-old daughter was diagnosed earlier this week as having a serious congenital heart defect which will require open-heart surgery in the very near future. I realized just how blessed I am to have two healthy children.

I received news that a new friend will be moving away. She's very sad to be leaving the support and friendships she's developed over the past few years and wonders what it will be like to be without these. I see that it's such a blessing to live in an area where I'm close to my family, extended family, and many wonderful friends.

This afternoon, a boy in Nicholas' school was lying in the snow and crying after being bullied by some older boys. After spending a great part of the day being frustrated over the way he was treated, I've come so see what a blessing it was to have been able to comfort this boy and help him get back on his way home.

I received a phone call this afternoon that Nicholas' school bus was involved in an accident and that none of the children were injured. I hugged Nicholas close and realized just how happy I was that I'd picked him up from school today.

This evening, I was chided for still breastfeeding Lily. I was annoyed by this until I realized that it's the first negative comment I've received in the 17 months I've been breastfeeding her. It's been a huge blessing to have found so much support for my decision to breastfeed a toddler.

There are so many moments during the day when I have the choice of how to react to the world around me. I can become offended over every bump, or I can gloss over the parts I don't enjoy. I can spend my energy complaining about the injustices in the world or I can focus on each small joy. Although I do get caught up in negativity sometimes I know that life is too short, blessings are all around, and I like being happy.

Childhood

I came across the following quote this morning and found it to be very thought-provoking.

"When we adults think of children, there is a simple truth which we ignore: childhood is not preparation for life, childhood is life. A child isn't getting ready to live - a child is living. The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question, "What are you going to be?" Courageous would be the youngster who, looking the adult squarely in the face, would say, "I'm not going to be anything; I already am." We adults would be shocked by such an insolent remark for we have forgotten, if indeed we ever knew, that a child is an active participating and contributing member of society from the time he is born. Childhood isn't a time when he is molded into a human who will then live life; he is a human who is living life. No child will miss the zest and joy of living unless these are denied him by adults who have convinced themselves that childhood is a period of preparation.
How much heartache we would save ourselves if we would recognize the child as a partner with adults in the process of living, rather than always viewing him as an apprentice. How much we would teach each other...adults with the experience and children with the freshness. How full both our lives could be. A little child may not lead us, but at least we ought to discuss the trip with him for, after all, life is his and her journey, too." - Professor T. Ripaldi


I really enjoy how this quote encourages us to totally shift our perspective on children and childhood. In our society, we play Mozart to our embryos, enroll our preschool children in enrichment classes, and spend Grade 1 preparing for post-secondary opportunities.

While I scoff at the idea of doing flashcards with infants who can't even hold their heads up yet, I recognize that I've been guilty of pushing my children into growth rather than enjoying the process of unfolding and experiencing. Now that I've had my second child and I've seen how quickly the early years spin by, I find myself relishing the moment more often than I did. I'm constantly amazed at the beauty and joy which children perceive and create.

How differently would we live life if we really respected the value of childhood, if we saw its value for the experience it provides rather than the future it leads up to?

A tea party of a different sort

Lily's baby bathtub is sitting in the middle of my kitchen and the water in it is a murky yellow. No, she didn't have and "incident" in the tub. The water is filled with chamomille tea and oatmeal. There's a teapot and a couple of little cups as well. Yes, the kids really did drink her bath water. Lily's skin took a serious turn for the worse today and the tea/oatmeal bath was an effort to soothe her itchy, oozing back.

For those not in the know, Lily has been suffering from eczema for about a month and a half. It's been all over her entire body except for her head, hands, and feet. We've eliminated wheat, dairy, sugar, red meat, citrus, and tomatos from her diet. Since her consultation with our ND, she's been taking Sulfur (a homeopathic remedy), Astragalus (a herb), acidophilus, fish oil, and flax oil. I've also switched laundry detergent three times (each of them more and more mild).

Earlier this afternoon as I picked Lily up, I realized that what I thought were stains on her undershirt were actually wet spots from the open sores on her back. Ugh. It hurts me to see her in this kind of shape and I feel like crying. I'm the Mom so I'm supposed to fix things, aren't I?

Now I'm questioning all sorts of foods she eating and that I'm eating and possibly exposing her to in my milk. We've cut so many things out already that I just don't know what to do next. I really, really hate this. Right now she's got a layer of Polysporin on her lower back and gauze and tape over top. She looks like a burn victim or something.

Oh how the times have changed!

Yesterday morning, I was headed out to run some errands and I met our mail-lady in the driveway. She handed me the usual stack of envelopes as well as a large manilla envelope. My curiosity piqued, I started the car and immediately looked at the interesting package. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was from the law firm which handled the purchase of our new home. I figured it was yet another request to re-sign papers or some other unforseen hoop we'd need to jump through.

Fortunately, it was none of the above. I found instead a pile of papers relating to the final details of the purchase as well as a cheque. It turns out that the money which the law firm had held in trust for us was more than their fees had ended up adding up to. So, there attached to the cover letter was a cheque written out to Liam and I in the sum of $340 (Ok, it was actually something like $339.60 but $340 has a much nicer ring to it). Sweet. Who knew that you could actually GET money from lawyers?

The portion of my brain inhabited by the perma-child deep within me immediately burst out with "Wicked! We can go on a shopping spree and blow all of it since it wasn't money we were expecting anyhow!". Then (un)fortunately the adult me wised up to the situation and brought up the mature arguments such as "Weren't you just saying how nice it is having a bit of extra money sitting in the bank account at the end of the pay period?" and "Aren't you all into this non-materialistic stuff now?".

As things turned out, Liam and I did agree to spend some of the money. He will buy the Sandy Foster cd he's been pining after as of late. I will buy a YES nursing bra, a Diva Cup (guys, don't click if you really don't want to know), and some cloth shopping bags.

I also went on a shopping trip to Planet Organic today and was able to pick up some nice stuff. I splurged and bought a 1L bottle of organic maple syrup. Since it's pretty much the only sweetener I use in my baking and oatmeal, those little bottles just don't seem to last. I also got some organic extra virgin olive oil in a funky square bottle and some organic sesame oil. I was so sad when I ran out of sesame oil a couple of weeks ago since the tofu in my miso soup doesn't seem to have the same flavour or texture with olive oil. I also picked up a variety of items from the bulk section including a new kind of rice, quick-cook oats (so I can actually cook Nick's oatmeal before he gets on the bus for school), carob almonds (like chocolate almonds only more coacoa-y), and some nifty little things called energy squares (which taste incredibly like Eatmore's).

As I did a little happy dance over my bags of groceries at home, I realized just how much I've changed in the past few years. There was a time when groceries were taken for granted and I had no idea as to the cost of food. These days, I'm the one paying at the checkout so I realize just how little our dollars can be stretched. I'm also finding great satisfaction in cooking and experimenting with new dishes. Instead of opening the fridge or pantry and seeing a bunch of food to be eaten, I now see the little dollar signs attached to each item as well as the possibilities for the vareity of dishes I could create with each.

Voluntary Simplicity

Yesterday, I attended a workshop on voluntary simplicity which was being offered at our church by a few of the parishioners. There was a retreat a few months back, but being the mom of two little kids (one of whom still nurses several times each night) doesn't lend itself well to that type of activity. I was thrilled when the workshop was announced, both because it was something I could manage and also because it was free. I'm big into free things.

My idea going into this workshop was that I would learn ways of being fulfilled with less material goods and possibly find some ways of reducing excess spending. We're pretty good about keeping costs to a minimum, but living on one income means there's never a lot of extra money hanging about in our bank account.

I ended up learning much more than I would have thought. I learned how wrapped up we as a society are in material things and how much the media influences us to believe that spending money will put us in a better place. I was also given the chance to ponder how having, buying, and focusing on stuff draws my focus away from important things such as God and my family. I also found myself really thinking about the impact that my living has on our planet and how simple choices which I make can have very large results.

Since beginning my elimination diet at the start of this month, I've found myself thinking differently about the types and quality of foods I'm putting into my body and the bodies of my family. It seems like a very natural progression to go from healthier eating to healthier living.

I've also been focusing during the past year or so on streamlining my life and focusing on thoughts, people, and activities which enhance my life. It's so easy to get bogged down in scattered activities and negative patterns of thinking, and there's so much I want to do with my life. By the time I've worked through all my responsibilities as a wife and mother my time is very limited and I want to get the most out of my spare time and energy.

In all, I suppose I'm feeling drawn toward making more conscious choices about life which make me feel good about myself and satisfied with my actions.

Ah crap.

So red bell peppers and thumbs are completely different things. My knife and I learned this lesson together tonight.

In the last step of my mad-dash supper creation, I mis-judged the distance from the knife to my thumb and chopped myself instead of the pesky red pepper. I gave Liam the job of inspecting my thumb because I was too scared of what I'd see. His professional prognosis was "It's pretty bad" and he gave me a tissue to sop up the blood.

Ten minutes later, I pulled the tissue off only to have blood start oozing out at an alarming rate. On went a wad of toilet paper. As an aside, toilet paper is a BAD choice for dressing a wound. Fifteen minutes later when I removed the toilet paper I found that it was stuck and I accidentally opened the cut up a bit more. And I bled more. Of course.

At this point, Liam picked up the Lil and announced that he was taking me in to the ER for stitches. I managed to hold him off by phoning the Health Link to ask what the criterea is for getting stitches. By the time I got off the phone, the bleeding had stopped, the throbbing had mostly subsided, and I was fairly confident that I could forgo the two hours of waiting to see a doctor at the Medicentre. I contemplated following the Health Link nurse's advice to go in for a tetanus shot, but between Liam, my Dad, and I we figured that my clean and shiny knife posed little threat.

My lesson for the night is: chop more slowly, watch more closely. In the end, at least I didn't mess myself up as badly as Liam did. I'd be miffed if I lost the ability to make fun of his knife handling skills.

And on that note, off I go to watch TV. Liam has just put "Snakes on a Plane" on. I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared...

Heh

These made me snicker.

Happy Happy Dance

As of today, I'm down 9 lbs in 14 days. Who'd have thunk that cutting out all the crappy food in my diet and not snacking for emotional reasons would result in weight loss? (I should amend that statement. I do still occasionally eat when I'm not really hungry, but it loses its charm pretty quickly when you're chewing on carrot sticks and pieces of apple.) I'm sure a certain amount of the lost weight was fluid, but it feels great nonetheless. This is the lightest I've been since Lily was born. I think I'll throw myself a party when I'm down another 30.

The transition with changing Lily's diet has gone pretty smoothly, mostly because she's too young to really know the difference. We've had the occasional bumps in the road such as when she saw the yogurt in the fridge this morning and when she saw Nick eating a ham and cheese sandwich the other day. There's really nothing quite as sad as a toddler moaning "Cheeeeese. Cheeeese." especially when it comes out sounding more like "Deeee, deee!". The really nasty patches of eczema on her elbows and knees have faded quite a bit and now look more like dry skin than the red, raw patches they were a week ago. I worried a bit at first about what she would eat but she actually seems to be eating more now that I've cut dairy, wheat, and sugar from her diet. She's been devouring big bowls of oatmeal and kamut, entire boiled eggs and kiwis, and soups and casseroles of all sorts. She's also been nursing more lately and actually drinking lots of milk rather than wiggling around constantly like she used to. I get the feeling that a growth spurt is in the making.

I bought groceries today and it was a nice experience outside of the episode with Lily running wild in the bulk section (here's a tidbit for other parents: the bulk section is NOT the place to finally cave and let your toddler out of the shopping cart). I loaded up the cart with produce of all kinds, chicken, and various foods from the "natural" sections scattered throughout Save On Foods. I feel better about the foods that I'm buying and cooking since I know they're nourishing my family instead of filling us up and adding to my previously-expanding waistline.

Foodi-ful goodnesses

I feel the need to update since the comments on my last entry have been so lively. I'm starting to get jealous.

I'm now on day 11 of my elimination diet and I'm doing really well. In my first week I lost five pounds between the change in diet and having the flu. I'm sure I'm down a couple more by now judging by how my clothes are fitting and how well I'm feeling. Eating so much more healthily is actually really nice in a subtle sort of way.

I've also dragged my poor innocent baby down into the mud with me. About a month or so ago, she began to develop some patches of eczema in the creases of her elbows and knees. The patches are now red and angry-looking and new spots have shown up all over her arms, legs, and torso. At the suggestion of my ND, she's now completely off of dairy, wheat, sugar, and red meat (the alcohol and caffeine are kind of a given). I'm also shoving flax oil in her once a day and smearing various lotions all over her whenever I can pin her down long enough. It's starting to look a bit better after three days of this.

Watch for updates. I'm sure I'll have found a reason to overhaul Nick and Liam's diets before long. Mwahaha!!!

Property laws according to kids

If I like it, it's mine.
If it's in my hand, it's mine.
If I can take it from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it is mine.
If I think it's mine, it's mine.
If I saw it first, it's mine.
If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
If it's broken, it's yours!


(Anybody else going crazy because of siblings picking on each other??)

Baby ode

Baby,
Oh Baby,
When your Mom
Drags her sick butt off the couch
To tidy,
Dumping
The bin of toques
Is not
An appropriate sign of your appreciation.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Last night, I did my New Year's Eve reflecting from my bed. It was 9 pm and I was cozied up in bed between both kids and getting ready to fall asleep. You see, we ditched the party at James and Janine's in order to take the kids to the early fireworks in Sherwood Park. Then we ditched the fireworks in order to keep the sickly children from completely dying. Then I decided that going to bed as soon as I got Lily to sleep would be my best bet at shaking the early tinglings of their germ getting to me.

So, there I was going to bed at 9 on New Year's Eve while my friends were out at various parties and my husband was downstairs writing. I started thinking about how past New Years Eve's (which I will now type as NYE because I'm lazy) have set the tone for the coming year. I decided that instead of feeling sorry for myself for missing out on NYE I would instead appreciate stepping into the new year in a manner which was respectful and nurturing to my body. It fits well since today is the first day of my elimination diet and I've decided that it's time I really start taking better care of myself in general. You'd think that as a holistic health practitioner I'd be doing a better job than this, but you'd be wrong.

Looking back at past NYE and the way they have fit in with the following year...

2005: We took the kids out to the fireworks then once they were in bed Liam and I played Monopoly and had a really good time. The past year has been one filled with so many wonderful family moments and our marriage has grown in many ways.

2004: We went to a house party and announced our pregnancy to our friends. I was exhausted (thank you first trimester hormones!) and we went home shortly after the countdown. This one's pretty self-explanatory, but the year was consumed by my pregnancy and Lily's birth. I spent a lot of time tired and sleeping.

2003: We went to a party at The Party House. I remember being annoyed with Liam about something and not really enjoying my evening at all. In the coming year, I learned a lot of lessons about relationships, and the first few months of marriage taught me more than I could have imagined.

2002: The infamous party at The Party House where I met (or re-met if you want to get technical) Liam. I stayed up until 4 am talking to him and spent the next day exhausted and trying to think of a reason to call him. The following year was filled with falling in love and getting way way WAY too little sleep.

For the love of Pete!

Nick got sick. Lily got sick. Lily hasn't slept for longer than 10 minutes at a time in two nights and two days. We spent two hours at the Medicentre waiting to see a doctor and now we know that at least she doesn't have an ear infection.

In some strange way, this page makes all the hours of lost sleep a little bit less painful.

'Twas the week before Christmas

I figured I'd better pop on and post a bit of an update. I've been lacking in the inspiration department as of late and next week looks like it might be a busy one, so here goes nothing!

Nicholas came home from school on Thursday complaining that he ate too much at his class Christmas party. He suffered through supper then spent almost an hour rolling around on the floor moaning. Just before bed he made a sudden dash to the bathroom where he proceeded to throw up his entire supper and probably some of the junk from the party. Yum. I managed to get splashed on the leg. Eeew. He then perked up, ate some toast, and went to bed. I figured all was well but right after midnight he woke up and threw up all over Lily's bedspread. Believe me, at 1 am you really don't want to be dealing with a blanket covered in vomit and a baby who has decided that she should wake up for the excitement. I finally got Lil back to sleep around 2. I kept Nick home from school the next day, which I really didn't think was a big deal since it was only a half day anyhow.

And then there's Liam. For anyone who's not familiar with Liam's back, it's a pretty tempermental kind of thing. He put it out a bit a couple of months ago then he fell last week and tweaked it again. On Thursday (right around the time of Nick's rolling around on the floor with a bellyache) Liam tried to get up from playing with Lily and put his back out. Since then, he's been spending quality time with a bag of snow and limping around in a Quasimodo-esque manner. He's been to the chiropractor twice in two days and goes back again early next week.

As for Lily, she's truly turning into a toddler. Her range of words and signs is increasing rapidly and, of course, that means that she now knows the word "no". It usually comes out as "no no no no" which is quite cute unless I'm trying to get her to eat something or get dressed. On the topic of eating, she's decided that all food going into her mouth has to come from her own hand or on a spoon in her hand. It's been a bit of a struggle but I'm amazed at how quickly she's mastering it. She's been so excited to be feeding herself that she's probably eating twice the amount of solids she was a few weeks ago and she's still nursing as much as ever. I see a sudden growth spurt in her near future.

And then there's me. I'm muddling along as usual. I've been in a bit of a funk as of late but I'm feeling better the past few days. I'm looking forward to Liam being home for the next 10 days and also seeing friends who are in from out of town. My biggest wish for this Christmas break is to get some extra sleep as I've been really missing out on that lately.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Party like a party

Our busy busy weekend is over, and we're all alive if a little worse for wear.

On Thursday, I visited a friend, had dinner with my parents, and went to my LLL meeting. By the end of the day, I had spent 6 hours supervising Lily in non-child-proofed environments. Anyone who's been a parent to a 15-month-old can figure out how that went.

Friday was the Intuit children's Christmas party. After a very exhasperating drive all the way to Castledowns, we found ourselves in a room packed with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, a plethora of greasy finger foods, two children's performers from Australia, and a swarm of little people. Nick was thrilled with the performers and the craft tables while Lily took full advantage of all the space to run...and run...and run.

Saturday was our Christmas party at home. I've never seen so many people in our home. I think we counted something like 20 adults plus 7 children and 2 tiny babies. Despite the very full state of our home and the ongoing battles between Nicholas and Preston, the evening was a whole lot of fun. We were able to share in a great evening with a bunch of friends and we even found out about a new baby on the way.

And then on Sunday we went to...yet another Christmas party! This one was out at the community hall where my parents live. It's been decided that since I lived there for 12 years I'm an honourary community member. Liam and I were in charge of the craft and toy area as well as the singing of the Christmas carols. We only lost one toy to a minor casualty (which Liam may be able to repair) and the singing was greatly aided by our Piano Lady (I'm afraid I never actually found out her name). Liam's voice gave out on the second last song, which was quite entertaining but didn't keep his little groupies from hovering. Yes, Liam had teenage girls for groupies. They looked quite disappointed when I told them we lived in Millwoods.

The unfortunate incident of the evening happened shortly before we left for home. Lily was standing up on a riser type thing and took a head-first tumble off of it onto the hard tile floor. She had a giant blue indent on her head instantly and spent a while screaming both because it hurt and because her idiot mother kept trying to put cold compresses on it. I must admit that I was close to tears at one point. It looked so nasty and it's the first real injury she's ever had. I did comfort myself with the thought that by this age Nicholas had taken at least a dozen spills of this size. Today, she's got a big blue splotch on her forehead but I'm very happy to say that it's not nearly as nasty as I thought it would be.

So now we've got two weeks left until Christmas and no more Christmas parties planned. Whew! I've got a few more items to shop for and a whole bunch of things to wrap. Oh, and one gift to mail out to my brother and his family once I return to Winners so they can remove the security tag which was left on Trina's outfit. I'm looking forward to a semi-quiet week before we jump into Christmas concerts and Christmas break!

Le sigh

It's been 18 days and 5 hours since I've had a coffee. Give or take a few minutes. Somehow I'm still alive, though the week-long headache at the beginning tried to prove me otherwise.

I'd been wondering as of late if drinking coffee was at least in part leading to my digestive woes and it turns out that I was right. Damnit. I've been feeling gobs better and my energy level is pretty much back where it should be. It's actually kind of funny that the drink I was guzzling to perk me up was really wearing me out in the big picture.

So now, I'm mostly back to normal. In an effort to get all the way back there I went to see a Naturopathic Doctor yesterday ( Jackie Yurko for anyone interested). As per her thoughts, come January I'm going to go three weeks without dairy, wheat, refined sugar or red meat. After that I'll re-introduce the foods one at a time to see if they're causing me problems.

Part of me is excited to have some concrete plan on how to improve my health, but another part of me is freaking out. I love foods, especially my chocolate and breads. Food is a huge comfort for me (hence the inability to lose the 35 lbs I'm so angry at) and I know I'm going to have to change my way of coping. Ugh.

Someone hold my hand?

New news

I finally got around to updating my links. You can now go directly to Jo's new blog without doing the roudabout through the old one. Yay! I also added in my 101 goals blog and a link to Karen's blog.

Also, in case anyone doubted it, I now have further proof that Lily is Liam's babe. Ready for it? She...talks in her sleep and has an unhealthy fascination with Tostitos. Just wait til she can sit at the computer!

A tragedy 17 years in the making

In 1989, my cousin Duncan MacPherson went missing. As a 9-year-old, I was almost oblivious to the event and my only clear recollection of it is when my aunt and uncle spent some time at our house during what I'm assuming was their journey to Austria to look for their missing son.

As I grew up, the story of my missing cousin was just a part of life. My aunt and uncle spent numerous summers searching for him and my father once visited a psychic for some sort of lead. I only had a few wispy memories of Duncan and as time went on him being missing was just the way things were in my mind.

In 2003, Duncan's body was discovered on a glacier on a ski hill. I thought that my family would finally have some closure now that he was found and his fate detrmined. Now, though, there is concern that he did not die as the result of an accident but rather as the result of being run over by machinery grooming the hill. It's a gruesome and horrible thing to imagine.

The Fifth Estate recently aired this story (which can be seen here) . There is a link in the sidebar on the right to see the full broadcast.

Tonight as I watched this entire story summed up in a 40-minute broadcast I saw things in a new light. Now that I am a mother, I can look at the pain in my aunt's face and get an inkling of what my life would be like should my son go missing. I had never before seen pictures of Duncan's body or the CAT scan taken of his remains, and seeing these things finally made this tragedy real to me.

It's heartbreaking to think of the countless hours of fear, worry, and desperation my aunt and uncle suffered through. You'll have to excuse me if I hold my kids extra close tonight.

Ho-hum

Liam has been gone for four hours so far out of a four day business trip. Yes, I'm a total sap and I miss him already. As the Lil and I have been puttering around the house this morning I've had some thoughts.

I must have married the right guy if him being gone leaves me feeling lonely so soon. Yes, I'm used to him being gone all day, but knowing I won't see him tonight leaves me lonely.

I would not at all do well in a marriage where my husband travelled frequently. My favourite time of day is 5:30 because it's when Liam gets home.

My home is just a house with half the family gone (Nick is at my parents' house right now). Our home is made up of the people who live in it, no matter how much I love my super-cool kitchen.

Like only a baby can

Warning: the following entry contains nudity (no, it's not Liam)





What, you ask, could be cuter than a baby?

A naked baby.

What, then, could be cuter than a naked baby?

A naked baby with a tea cozy on her head.



Ok. Could there possibly be anything in the world cuter than a naked baby with a tea cozy on her head?

Yes. The naked baby with the tea cozy on her head could carry around a container of toys like it's a purse.

Babywearing online

I've been doing a little bit of online research today in an attempt to find a comfortable back carry for my Penguin Wrap and Little Lil. First, I found a cartoon I feel the need to share. Anyone who has worn a baby or who has watched someone try for the first time will understand.



Secondly, I want to share an exerpt from a German page which I believe was translated using some sort of software.

"The baby can see after in front , by which many impressions can it however to an incessant flood of irritations come."

Here's a picture from their webpage. I swear just looking at it makes you want to climb a mountain.

Dude, who broke my blog?

Umm...my blog broke. The sidebar thingy is not where it's supposed to be. You'd think that with a Computer Scientist in the house things like this wouldn't happen. I guess you'd also think computers wouldn't die left right and center.

I'd like to say hi to Sonia. "Hi Sonia. Leave a comment you comment snob." :P

Retrosexual

The following is a letter from the Dr. Laura website. (I'm a big fan of hers for anyone who doesn't know) It was submitted by a listener and I think it rocks. In this day and age when so many people equate "women are equal to men" as "women are exactly the same as men", it's nice to get a refresher on what makes a man a man. I'm proud to say that I'm married to a real man and he fits many of the points below.

Please allow me to vent. I have had it. I've taken all I can stand and I can't stand no more. Every time my TV is on, all that can be seen is effeminate men prancing about, redecorating houses and talking about foreign concepts like "style" and "feng shui." Heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, metrosexual, non-sexual; blue, green, and purple-sexual - bogus definitions have taken over the urban and suburban world!Real men of the world, stand up, scratch your butt, belch, and yell "ENOUGH!"

I hereby announce the start of a new offensive in the culture Wars, the Retrosexual movement.

"The Code :
A Retrosexual man, no matter what the women insists, PAYS FOR THE DATE.

A Retrosexual man opens doors for a lady. Even for the ones that fit that term only because they are female.

A Retrosexual DEALS with IT, be it a flat tire, break-in into your home, or a natural disaster, you DEAL WITH IT.

A Retrosexual not only eats red meat, he often kills it himself.

A Retrosexual doesn't worry about living to be 90. It's not how long you live, but how well. If you're 90 years old and still smoking cigars and drinking, I salute you. If you are still having sex, you are a God.

A Retrosexual does not use more hair or skin products than a woman. Women have several supermarket aisles of stuff. Retrosexuals need an endcap (possibly 2 endcaps if you include shaving goods.)

A Retrosexual does not dress in clothes from Hot Topic when he's 30 years old.A Retrosexual should know how to properly kill stuff (or people) if need be. This falls under the "Dealing with IT" portion of The Code.

A Retrosexual watches no TV show with "Queer" in the title.

A Retrosexual does not let neighbors screw up rooms in his house on national TV.

A Retrosexual should not give up excessive amounts of manliness for women. Some is inevitable, but major reinvention of yourself will only lead to you becoming a froo-froo little puss, and in the long run, she ain't worth it.

A Retrosexual is allowed to seek professional help for major mental stress such as drug/alcohol addiction, death of your entire family in a freak tree-chipper accident, favorite sports team being moved to a different city, favorite bird dog expiring, etc. You are NOT allowed to see a shrink because Daddy didn't pay you enough attention. Daddy was busy DEALING WITH IT. When you screwed up, he DEALT with you.

A Retrosexual will have at least one outfit in his wardrobe designed to conceal himself from prey.

A Retrosexual knows how to tie a Windsor knot when wearing a tie -- and ONLY a Windsor knot.

A Retrosexual should have at least one good wound he can brag about getting.

A Retrosexual knows how to use a basic set of tools. If you can't hammer a nail, or drill a straight hole, practice in secret until you can -- or be rightfully ridiculed for the wuss you be.

A Retrosexual knows that owning a gun is not a sign that your are riddled with fear, guns are TOOLS and are often essential to DEAL WITH IT. Plus it's just plain fun to fire one off in the direction of those people or things that just need a little "wakin' up".

Crying. There are very few reason that a Retrosexual may cry, and none of them have to do with TV commercials, movies, or soap operas. Sports teams are sometimes a reason to cry, but the preferred method of release is swearing or throwing the remote control. Some reasons a Retrosexual can cry include (but are not limited to) death of a loved one, death of a pet (fish do NOT count as pets in this case), loss of a major body part, or loss of major body part on your Ford truck.

When a Retrosexual is on a crowded bus and or a commuter train, and a pregnant woman, heck, any woman gets on, that retrosexual stands up and offers his seat to that woman, then looks around at the other so-called men still in their seats with a disgusted "you punks" look on his face.

A Retrosexual knows how to say the Pledge properly, and with the correct emphasis and pronunciation. He also knows the words to the Star Spangled Banner

A Retrosexual will have hobbies and habits his wife and mother do not understand, but that are essential to his manliness, in that they offset the acceptable manliness decline he suffers when married/engaged or in a serious healthy relationship - i.e., hunting, boxing, shot putting, shooting, cigars, car maintenance

.A Retrosexual knows how to sharpen his own knives and kitchen utensils.

A Retrosexual man can drive in snow (hell, a blizzard) without sliding all over or driving under 20mph, without anxiety, and without high-centering his ride in a snow bank.

A Retrosexual man can chop down a tree and make it land where he wants. Wherever it lands is where he damn well wanted it to land. Except on his truck--that would happen because of a "force of nature", and then the retrosexual man's options are to Cry, or to DEAL with IT, or do both.

A Retrosexual will give up his seat on a bus to not only any women but any elderly person or person in military dress (except 2nd Lt's) NOTE: The person in military dress may turn down the offer but the Retrosexual man will ALWAYS make the offer to them and thank them for serving their country.

A Retrosexual man doesn't need a contract -- a handshake is good enough. He will always stand by his word even if circumstances change or the other person deceived him.

A Retrosexual man doesn't immediately look to sue someone when he does something stupid and hurts himself. We understand that sometimes in the process of doing things we get hurt and we just DEAL WITH IT !

L.

Question period

Here are my questions for my fellow bloggers tonight:

What does it mean when the new laptop dies before you've even started paying for it?

Am I the only one who finds it really really funny that Lily's sign for Dad is to smack herself over the head repeatedly with both hands?

How can such a small and cute baby create such vile poo?

When does Nick's brain re-adjust itself so he can hear the frequency of female voices again (my voice in particular of course)?

Fun-due night!!

In order to fulfill one of my goals and in order to have some suppertime fun, we had fondue night tonight. I did up a cheese fondue (incredibly disappointing as it was way too grainy) along with a honey raisin dipping sauce. This was served with potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and tiny biscuits. Dessert was a raspberry chocolate sauce with fruits, marshamallows, and more biscuits for dipping.
The family chows down:
Nick gives full approval for anything involving marshmallows. My poor poor kitchen. I don't think it'll ever fully recover.
The end result for Liam. Too much fondue for this dude.

Picture Pictures

My bay-bee is bee-yew-tee-full!!
Trina doing her best impersonation of a doll.

These are pictures that were supposed to be on the last entry, by the way, but Blogger didn't approve. Screw you Blogger! Cute baby girls deserve to be uploaded!

I'm walkin', yes indeed I'm talkin'

Ahem.

This is important so I need to clear my throat, er, keyboard.

Lillian (aka Lily, Lilu, Lu-Lu, and Jiggly Butt) has officially taken her first steps. And they were to reach a phone. Holy crap, we're in trouble.

She was playing with my cousin's cell phone last night at Thanksgiving dinner and all of a sudden she took her first two steps. I was thrilled but figured it was a one-shot deal and that would be the end of it for a few more weeks. In typical Lily fashion, though, she proved me wrong and went on to take a few more steps here and there during the next half hour, many of them accompanied by an entire room full of people cheering. We're not setting her expectations high at all are we?!

I'm proud of the Lil for not only reaching this milestone while Liam was around, but also for doing so in the same room where Nick took his first steps five years ago. It's all kind of creepy. Trevor has informed us that he'll place some shackles on Trina's feet until they make it back out next summer.

The scene of the walking incident. Note the giant crowd of various family members.

The proud parents of the little angel at her baptism.

Two beauties once again.

The long-awaited blog entry

Yes, it's been ages. Due to problems loading pictures on Blogger as well as lots of stuff going on around here I've neglected my blog terribly. Tsk.

First, as you can see, the West Coast MacPhersons made their way out today. Trina is unbelievably adorable. Her cheeks are gigantic, her eyes are beautiful, and her gurgling noises make my heart turn to goo. And she still smells like a milky angel. I'm smitten. Lily, by the way, has never looked so huge (and white!). We had a great time and they're still in town for another 6 days!

In other news...not too much has been happening around here other than unpacking, cleaning, and people being sick. Multiple colds and stomach bugs in the month of September set us back three school days, two work days, two birthday parties, and one girl's night out. I guess it's just a typical September around here but I'm sure tired of it.

What else. Hhmm. Lily's not quite walking but is still managing to get into everything in sight. The more mobile she gets the more attitude she has. Lots of fun. Her favourite things to do these days include "talking" on anything that remotely resembles a telephone, using Jack as a stool/squeaky toy, riding in the wagon, and eating dirt out of the vegetable garden.

On the Nick front, he's into the swing of things with school. His teacher is a really dear woman who has been teaching grade 1 for 26 years. He's made a few new friends and has only been sent to the office (for an ice pack after a "play" fight) once. Beavers and Tae Kwon Do have also resumed so he's a busy little man.

As for Liam and I, we're old and boring so there's nothing new to report.

Happy birthday Lu-Lu!

Summertime pictures

My kids are beautiful.

Give me the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Today has been one of those days of which summer is made. It's as if the sun warmed up time and the hours became longer, sweeter, and brighter. The entire day was filled with many satisfying moments and our family enjoying time together was at the center of it all.

At the end of a summer which has been filled with countless hours scurrying around open houses, packing, and (literally) worrying myself sick, I truly appreciated the beauty that filled my day. As the four Edmontonian Johnstones sat on our new deck drinking smoothies a la Mom and basking in the morning sunshine, I was filled with a sense of satisfaction knowing that all the work had been worth where it has brought our family.

When I was younger, I used to think that the bumps and difficulties got in the way of the good times. As time goes on, however, I've learned to expect less than perfection and to enjoy the truly blissful moments which come along if you wait patiently. When days such as today come along I think to myself “This, this is what sustains me.”

When the house is a mess and I'm scattered and stressed I can look back at today and know that there will be other days like it. Life isn't about sunshine and lollipops, it's about maintaining an inner focus throughout the rough patches and basking in the joy of the good times.

Help!!!

Ok, so I was a bad Mommy and I failed to pre-order school supplies from the school in June like I was advised to do. I figured I'd possibly save a few bucks and do the shopping myself.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a Kanga Pouch. Can anyone offer me any advice on where to look? A Kanga Pouch, by the way, is like a nylon sack large enough to fit a binder with a flap that velcro's shut and a clear plastic sleeve on the front. I've seen them before, but I have no clue on where to get one.

Help??! Anyone?

Home sweet new home!

We're here! We're actually living in our new home. Yeehaw!!

After 12 nights of living at my parents' house, one long day of packing and unpacking a U-Haul, and a last-minute wrangling of friends for help, we've moved us and all our stuff into the house. Today was spent unpacking and making paths through the piles of boxes. The kitchen is slowly coming together (after I unpacked and arranged for about 5 hours!) and the rest of the house is insane. Fortunately, Liam got the laptop hooked up and I'm now sitting in the middle of our living room floor with a small plastic bin as my desk. It's so sad to be this desperate to get online.

Big highlights so far:

• I discovered a small herb garden and some rasperry bushes in the back yard.
• I've been able to get my gardening "fix" by weeding the various flower beds. Lily weeds with me, only her version includes sitting her butt in the middle of the flowers and eating rocks. Just because you're named like a flower...
• Nick and Lily's room doesn't have a closet. It really threw me for a loop. Just ask Liam.
• I'm falling more and more in love with my kitchen. It's so freaking cool.
• I met a neighbour at a garage sale. She seemed really nice and I detected...an east coast accent!
• Janine the super Telus geek hooked up my phone jacks in the kitchen. Geek friends are the best.

I'll update as things progress. Hopefully I'll get my life straigtened out enough that I can re-create a social life!!

Life in a trailer

For anyone who doesn't know yet, my family has moved out of our home and into my parents' trailer. Woot! There's nothing quite like living out of boxes waiting for idiots to pay you for your home three or more days after they were supposed to...but that's a long story in itself and I'm not in the mood.

If you're trying to phone us, don't. You'll get a message that our phone number doesn't exist. If you need to get in touch with us, phone my cell or my parents' house (which I won't post on here) or e-mail us.

I'm very much looking forward to moving into our new home partly because I'm excited about the house, but largely because I'm growing frustrated with spending my days in a non-baby-proofed home. I can't put Lily on the floor for more than a minute before she's pulling things down or headed for the stairs or slamming her fingers in the kitchen drawers. I knew that there were going to be frustrations with living here for 10 days, but I hadn't counted on this being one of them.

Other than the small bumps, we're all alive and well. Liam managed to bike all the way in to work and back yesterday without dying on the road. Nick is in his glory, spending days on end at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He loves the space out here and I can certainly see why. He goes off on his own for long periods of time and quite often I'm really not sure where he is.

A week until we take posession of our new house and one day after that til we move in!

New baby pictures!

Does it not look like Mina poked her in the eye just before the picture was taken??!
A baby on a beach. Doesn't look like they're trying to get her tanned yet.
A classic baby in the tub shot. Extra cute points for the curled up arms!
Family photo!
Mina looking beautiful as always. I think motherhood suits her.
"I love you Mummy! Can I have some milk now?"

Folk Fest 2006

Yet another year of Folk Fest has wrapped up. Well, technically I guess it's still going for another 30 minutes or so, but our family is home and both kids are asleep so it's over for us. Much fun was had by all, and I learned a few things along the way I felt like sharing.

Everything I needed to know I learned at Folk Fest

If you follow Liam into the woods, bad things can happen. Babies can get grumpy, families can get lost, and small boys can fall flat on their faces in the mud.

Sunscreen is good for babies. It would probably also be good for moms if they remembered to put it on.

If a mom who happens not to be wearing sunscreen wears an unusually low-cut shirt, the top half of her boobs can sunburn.

Everything tastes better when eaten outdoors, and it gets extra points when it's eaten in front of a stage.

Seeing an old heart-throb six years, two kids, and a husband later can make a girl feel old, especially when she remembers how naive she was when she used to swoon over him.

Port-a-potties which have been sitting in the sun for four days stink. A lot.

Children, given nothing but a hill covered in grass and a bunch of other children, can entertain themselves for hours and hours and hours...

Hawksley Workman is a pretty cool drummer.

A workshop which includes Hawksley Workman and Feist on the same stage is very cool.

Although it's so very different each and every year, Folk Fest is a sure way to fill four days with enough sunshine and music for at least six months.

My 101 in 1001

I've come across this idea on a few blogs and I thought it would be interesting to give it a go myself. Here are my 101 goals to be achieved in the next 1001 days, which would bring me to May 6 2009. I'll likely set up a separate blog to track progress, but for tonight I'm going to leave it with just posting my list. Voila.


101 in 1001

1.Buy wooden kitchen table and chairs for my new kitchen.
2.Buy furniture for basement.
3.Complete Leader Applicant work and officially become a LLL Leader.
4.Incorporate FlyLady principals into organizing my home (at least zones, routines, and weekly plan).
5.Buy a nursing bra that fits (preferably while I'm still breastfeeding).
6.Have Liam and Nick's lunches prepared before I go to bed.
7.Extend meal-planning to include lunches and snacks.
8.Regularly wash my face and brush my teeth before bed instead of collapsing into bed at the end of the night.
9.Write up Lily's birth story.
10.Plant a herb garden and use it while cooking.
11.Plant a vegetable garden with Nick.
12.Keep my flowers alive for an entire summer.
13.Get some indoor plants (and keep them alive too of course).
14.Make sushi.
15.Do a family fondue night.
16.Have a girl's night dinner party at my house.
17.Have a housewarming party.
18.Complete a scrapbook.
19.Regularly back up my digital photos onto disc.
20.Get professional family photos done.
21.Get professional photos of the kids done.
22.Frame and hang up all of my pictures.
23.Go through proofs of wedding pictures and get prints made.
24.Decide if kiddo #3 is going to become a reality or send Liam to get snipped.
25.Meet my niece Trina.
26.Enroll Lily in swimming lessons.
27.Run regularly for an entire summer.
28.Exercise in some form 3 times each week.
29.Teach Nicholas how to tie his shoes.
30.Start keeping a journal in which I write at least once each week.
31.Go for 5 massages.
32.Give 10 Reiki sessions.
33.Receive 5 Reiki or reflexology sessions.
34.Write Liam a love letter.
35.Go on a family vacation.
36.Weigh 170 lbs.
37.Have all the boxes unpacked in our new home before Christmas.
38.Have a “home” for everything we own.
39.Start a compost.
40.Enroll Lily in a preschool class.
41.Breastfeed Lily until she's at least two years old.
42.Volunteer at Nick's school.
43.Read 2 classic novels.
44.Read 5 non-fiction books from my bookcase.
45.Have a Christmas party at our home.
46.Write up a will.
47.Make a new friend.
48.Keep a written inventory of the deep freeze and pantry.
49.Paint the kitchen.
50.Create a Body Clutter control journal and fill it in fully and honestly for two months.
51.Meet with Financial Dude and set up RESP's for Lily.
52.Meet with Financial Dude and set up monthly deposits into Nick and Lily's RESP's.
53.Take part in a Bible study, either in person or online.
54.Make prayer a structured part of my daily life.
55.Visit Jo's home.
56.Take a class of some sort by myself for myself.
57.Begin a written journal for Lily and continue to update the one I've started for Nick.
58.Find a meat dish Nick will like that isn't hot dogs, meatballs or chicken nuggets.
59.Make a soup from scratch.
60.Fill and deliver a Christmas hamper.
61.Go out for a fancy dinner with Liam.
62.Buy myself something at Lush.
63.Take dancing lessons with Liam.
64.Complete my 100 things about me list.
65.Make plans to build bathroom in basement, including jacuzzi tub.
66.Watch Ghostbusters with Nick.
67.Regularly put laundry away after folding it instead of leaving it all over the couch/recliner.
68.Make bread...without using my breadmaker.
69.Write an article and attempt to have it published, either in print or online.
70.Buy something that makes me happy and is not practical in the least.
71.Fill a blank book with poetry.
72.Complete a cross-stitch project.
73.Lean how to make a new (alcoholic) drink, then make and drink it.
74.Return all the books I've borrowed from people.
75.Take a picture a day for two months.
76.Walk barefoot on a beach holding hands with Liam.
77.Memorize a reading from the Bible that is significant to me.
78.Make Playdough with my kids.
79.Write my brother an e-mail at least once a month.
80.Bake a cake from scratch that isn't for a special occasion.
81.Get a pedicure.
82.Play baseball.
83.Go to a batting cage.
84.Do all four yoga videos in my box set at least once each.
85.Paint a picture.
86.Buy something at Linens 'n' Things.
87.Take my kids to Whyte Ave on a Saturday afternoon.
88.Make puppets with my kids and put on a puppet play for Liam.
89.Plan a celebration for our 5th wedding anniversary (August 21 2009!)
90.Get my and Nick's health care cards switched from my maiden name.
91.Make a soufflé.
92.Frame and hang my diploma and certificates.
93.Write a short story.
94.Learn how to play poker.
95.Get another tattoo, or add to the one I have.
96.Grow a vine of some sort on the lattice in the back yard.
97.Take Nicholas to a live sporting event.
98.Teach Lily to count to ten.
99.Make something out of clay.
100.Buy some nice pyjamas.
101.Sleep in until noon.

Gharg.

To the cashier at Safeway,

Surely, if two school-aged children and one baby can keep from smooshing my bag of apricots during our grocery trip, you could have managed to do the same. I bought three apricots specifically for my baby, so when I found them crushed underneath a bag of apples I was more than just a little bit frustrated. Don't they teach you how to bag groceries properly in Cashier 101?

Signed,
The not-so-satisfied customer


Dear Lily,

Cheer the heck up.

Sure you're cute, but looks will only get you so many hours of whining time. Two days straight is more than enough.

Much love,

The Mom who's sick of all the complaining

P.S. Peeing all over me today when I was running your bath was a trick I'd rather not see you repeat again, thanks.



Dear milk,

I'm very afraid that you're bad for me. While it would be nice to find out that my recent ill health is thanks to you so I could quickly get better, I'm going to be sad if we have to part ways completely. Sure, I'm not the kind of girl to chug down tall glasses of your frothy goodness (unless I'm pregnant of course), but life won't be the same without my double-doubles or my crackers and cheese. The rice milk makes me feel like I'm cheating on you, but what's a girl to do?

Signed,
Not sure if I love you or if I hate you.


Oh, and I almost forgot...

Dear Liam,

Thank you for taking the kids to the playground this evening. Being in the house alone listening to really loud Guess Who is the equivilant of drinking daiquiris on a patio, without the inconvenience of drunken breastfeeding.

Giant kisses to you,

Your wife who is ALL ALONE in the house!!!!

Injury upon injury

Talking to my Mom on the phone today, I learned that my Dad had an accident while biking home from work yesterday. Something happened to his chain and before he could get his foot underneath him he took a tumble off the side of the road, which had a shoulder 12 inches high. He ended up re-injuring the shoulder on which he had surgery this winter.

At his doctor's appointment today, he was unable to get a definite answer as to the extent of the injury, but there's a possibility that the tear that the surgery repaired has been torn again. Ugh. He's to go back in a few weeks when the inflamation has gone down and he'll have an MRI done. Ugh ugh.

While I'm extremely grateful that nothing worse happened (like falling under the wheels of a vehicle) I'm still worried.

Childish moments

I've been having a lot of fun with my kids this summer, so I feel the need to share some of the more amusing moments.

Nick quotes:
"You shouldn't pick at your scabs because it's a waste of platelets."

Me - "Nick, what are you doing?"
Nick (from behind a chair) - "Hiding from Istanbul!"

"But how does the dad fertilize the egg?" (Just the conversation every Mom wants to have with her 5-year-old.)

"When I'm a farmer and I have a farm, people in Africa who don't have any money can come work for me. They can live there and have chickens instead of money."

And now for some Lily moments. Since she doesn't say much besides Mama and Da, there aren't any good quotes but there are still cute moments to share.

- Every single time she or anyone around her farts loud enough to hear, she yells "Aaah!" with a very satisfied look on her face.

- Yesterday, she thought that me sticking my toungue out at her was funny enough that she giggled furiously for ten minutes straight.

- Her favourite exercise is yoga. She pops up into Downward Dog about a million times a day and enjoys peering at the world from between her legs.

We did it!

Minchau...is ours!

The various obstacles and paperwork have all been sorted out, and we've signed all the dotted lines. Our condo is sold. The Minchau house is ours. The date is still up in the air a bit, but it's going to be somewhere between the 15th and the 24th of August. Really freaking soon!

It's been an intense three weeks of playing the real estate game and I'm so happy to be done with it. The ups and downs of falling in love with homes and losing out on (some of) them was more than enough for me. There were a couple of points where we came really close to buying a place in Sherwood Park but neither house ended up working out for us.

I'm really looking forward to moving now. Leddy-ites and a few others aside, I'm more than ready to be out of this complex. I can't wait to have double the amount of living space either, and for BBQ's on the new BBQ! We'll have to have a housewarming party before it gets too cold so we can take advantage of the patio off of the kitchen.

Aaaah, Minchau.

More baby pictures!!!

My brother...the new dad. I'm still trying to get my brain wrapped around that idea.

I just want to squish those cheeks!!
So cool and so pretty all at the same time.
This is the face of a kid ready to take on life.
The new family!
There are few things cuter than a baby yawning.
Yet again with that "Here I am world" kind of look. I can't wait to meet this kid.

Pretty Momma with the pretty babe.

I'm an Aunt!!!

We arrived home from camping just a little while ago. When I checked my e-mail, I was thrilled to see a letter from my big brother Trevor announcing that his wife has given birth to their little girl!!!

They've named her Trina (Trevor and Mina combined) and she's 7 lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long. Here are the pictures I've been sent. Check out those chubby little cheeks!!!

I'm done

We've sold our home. We don't necessarily have another one to move into.

My solution? Drink a beer and take off camping for the weekend. If it doesn't fix anything, it'll at least keep me from looking at homes online.

Adios amigos!!

This morning's quote

"If God closes a door in your life, get your face out of the way and it won't hurt so much."

- Sherri Rose Shepherd


Also: As of this morning, our condo is officially sold. Weehaw!!!

Updates updates!!

So, here is a condensed version of what's new in our world of real estate.

The house in Sherwood Park is not happening. After looking at a number of substantial drawbacks and listening to our gut feelings, we walked away from it. Whew.

The sale of our house is pending. The only thing left is the inspection, which isn't a real concern since we had it inspected only two years ago when we purchased. Chances are this sale will go through, but until Thursday nothing is set in stone. We're preparing a virtual tour just in case.

About two hours ago, we made an offer on a house we've fallen in love with. It's in Millwoods (Minchau in specific) so Nick stays at the same school and Liam can still bike to work. It's got a big beautiful kitchen, four bedrooms, three levels, and a nice big yard. I'm trying to hold myself back in case the details don't work out and we don't get it, but I've really got my heart set on this place.

And there you have it. Big changes have been the name of the game during the past week, but hopefully things this week will settle down and we'll have some closure next week at this time. I know Liam and I could use a break from the stress!!

Morning thoughts

Some random thoughts to share...

Nothing says "I love you Mom" like puking up chunks of unchewed grapes all over said Mom. Or at least this is what Lily thinks.

Real estate is the key to weight loss. In 8 days, Liam and I have lost a combined total of 17 lbs.

Never mind suffocation, laying over or falling out of bed. The true hidden danger in co-sleeping is Dad. Lily spent a good portion of yesterday smelling of Liam's armpit. Poor child.

Packing up half of your posessions and knowing you won't see them for at least a month is a good lesson on what is truly important in life.

Paint is difficult to get out of dried paintbrushes, harder yet to get off of lino, and impossible to get off of a baby's skin.

Stress? What stres?

I think we're moving to Sherwood Park.

Yikes.

Liam and I keep asking each other if we're really doing this. A week ago, we were still toying with the idea of moving. Today, the sale of our condo is pending, our purchase of a house is pending as well, and half of our belongings are in boxes behind my parents' garage.

Everything came together so quickly that our condo didn't even make it onto the market. In the unlikely event that this deal falls through, we'll have it listed by the weekend, but as things stand right now we'll be out of here on August 15. Holy crap.

Back I go to painting and cleaning!! I'll update as things progress.

A day to remember

The past 24 hours have been, to say the least, quite unprecedented. For your literary pleasure, here is a brief synopsis of the many events.

1:30 am: Liam and I finally crawl into bed after a late night of watching "Walk the Line". (I really enjoyed this movie, by the way, even though "Johnny" made a lot of creepy faces when he was singing.

5:45 am: Lillian wakes up and starts playing and laughing in bed. I refuse to acknowledge that my night might be over after only 4 hours of sleep and I do my best to ignore her.

6:30 am: Lily finally decides to go back to sleep. The world is a good place.

9:30 am: Lily and I finally get out of bed. The world is a really good place.

10:30 am: Mortgage Dude (aka Jamie) phones to discuss our request for a mortgage for a new home.

10:40 am: I hang up the phone, convinced that we're bound to be condo dwellers for at least another six months.

11:15 am: Liam gets off the phone with Mortgage Dude with the news that his number crunching and proposed shuffling of monies has ensured us an adequate mortgage for a real house. I realize what a brilliant man I married.

12 noon: We phone my cousin, our realator from our last endeavour in the world of real estate, to discuss the possibility of putting our house for sale. He tells us he's in the neighbourhood and will stop by to talk to us.

12:15 pm: We have a quick meeting with Realtor Dude and get a more accurate idea of what the sale of our condo and the purchase of a new house will involve.

1:00 pm: We drive to H&R Block to (finally) do our 2005 taxes.

3:00 pm: We finally get to submit our paper work.

3:45 pm: We leave H&R with a paper that says we'll have $3400 deposited into our account within 10 business days. The world is getting better by the moment.

4:00 pm: We make a stop at KFC for some much-needed foodstuffs.

4:05 pm: While scarfing down my food, I completely fail to notice a gigantic pothole. As Liam gives me crap for hitting it square on, I watch our hubcap roll across 75th street through my rear view mirror.

4:06 pm: Liam goes running down 75th to retrieve the lost hubcap. This is the reason why women marry men.

6:30 pm: Liam returns from his box-hunting expedition with 4 boxes and we beging clearing out closets of "extras" that we can store at my parents' place to make the condo look roomier.

8:30 pm: We stand back and look at the pile of boxes and bags sitting by the stairs. It dawns on me just how much stuff we own that we really don't use.

10:45 pm: After going for a walk and getting Lily bundled off in bed, I sit down with a wannabe screwdriver (Mango Five Alive with vodka...not bad, actually) and blog about the insanity that was our day. (I'm noticing, by the way, a direct relationship between my drinking and blogging. I swear I really don't drink all that often!)

Snapshots of a lifetime

Tonight, I'm preparing a Father's Day gift for my Dad. I've been going through all my pictures, paper and digital, in search of the nine perfect photos to put in the frame I've bought him. It's so easy to forget how many pictures I have stashed away in my picture box and in various folders on the computer, but so many vivid memories are re-awoken when I flip through them.

There are a few small photographs of me as a young child which have been handed down from my mother. My small chubby cheeks so full of life show glimmers of the gleeful grins of my children years away from existence. Life was so simple then. Summers were so bright, my brother was my hero, and my parents knew all the secrets to life.

Another section shows my life during high school with friends long gone and some still dear to me. I want to step into those pictures and say "Stop being so scared of looking stupid and just enjoy yourself. You're young and brilliant and you can do anything".

After the high school pictures come the pregnancy pictures. I laugh now at how huge I thought I was. Six months pregnant and you can't even see that bump under that huge t-shirt! Just wait til the next baby, chick, that'll show you what a big belly looks like. I was so young, so unaware of all the changes that were about to come into my life with the entrance of such a small beautiful boy. I had no idea what it meant to be a mother and how many lessons I would learn deep within my heart, many of them during the darkest hours of night as my babe and I nestled together.

The stack of Nicholas' baby and early childhood pictures is huge. We took shot after shot of that daring grin and those dancing eyes. I'm blown away at how quickly those chubby little legs grew long and lean, and I still can't quite figure out where those cheeks I used to kiss for hours on end went.

As life continued there are the pictures of such happy times: the night I met Liam, Jo and Graeme's wedding, my wedding and honeymoon. As I look back on these pictures I know I am truly blessed to have had a life filled with so many loving people who have borought me such joy.

Now I have another pile of baby pictures growing, though these are almost exclusively digital. Lillian's babyhood is such a part of my life right now that I can't imagine looking back and saying "She was such a beautiful baby and look what a big girl she is now". I love how soft and sweet she is and I cannot imagine her ever changing.

As much as I may try to hang on to the present, though, all these pictures have reminded me of just how quickly change sweeps through everything. My interests change, new friends come into my life, and my children grow up more quickly than I can keep track of. I love my life exactly as it is right now. I would give so much to freeze everything just as it is right now so I could enjoy these moments forever...The deep and fulfilling love I have found with Liam, Nicholas' bright and curious spirit, and the deliciousness of Lillian. I know, though, that new joys and experiences await me, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for my family. I'll just make sure to take lots of pictures so I don't forget what today has been.

Open letters once more

I apologize to my poor blog and those poor people who read it. I've rather neglected my blogging duties lately, and although I've been crazy busy these past few weeks there's no good reason for ignoring a perfectly fun blog.

To break the recent silence, here are some open letters.

To Intuit,

I want my freaking husband back. Sure, you may have given him a job that he loves so much that work is like play, but you're going to kill him if he doesn't get some sleep soon. Not to mention the kids barely recognize him anymore. Today, I sat at the computer and Nick looked around and asked "Where's Liam?". It's a sign. Leave him alone for a few hours now and then would you?

To my neighbour's mom,

I'm sure Neighbour Chick appreciates that you're house-sitting for her, but the rest of us would appreciate it if you'd tone down your porn-like escapades. When my baby wakes up at 4 am because you're literally screaming your little head off, you're making too much noise. It's nice and all that you're getting so much enjoyment out of your sex life this late in life, but the rest of the world really don't need to hear about it once or twice every night. Shut the hell up.

To Nicholas,

Please erase the phrase "Stop telling me what to do!" from your brain. You can also lump in "He-LLO?" with it too. You're not a teenager yet so stop talking like one.

Sad news

For those of you who recall my entry requesting prayers for a young woman a few months ago, I wanted to share the sad news of her passing. I'm shocked by the sudden downward turn her health took and I still don't quite have my brain wrapped around it. I can only hope that her family is able to find some some comfort in this time of sorrow.

The following is her obituary.


Tanya Kilkenny


KILKENNY, Tanya Marie (nee Sundlie) 1975-2006 It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Tanya Kilkenny, our beloved "T" on Thursday, June 1, 2006 at the age of 30 years. Tanya leaves to mourn her loving husband, Clint and her five month old daughter Trinity; her parents Gordon and Sandria Sundlie; her sister Shawna (Keven) McGhan and their children Ethan and Julia; her brother David Sundlie. Also surviving are her mother-in-law Myra Kilkenny and brothers-in-law Brad (Jamie) and Tyler. Four days after Tanya was diagnosed with cancer, she had a healthy baby girl, Trinity, by emergency c-section and had surgery to remove the tumor. Always upbeat and positive throughout an aggressive chemotherapy and radiation regimen, Tanya was an inspiration to many. Sadly one month after a clear bill of health, the aggressive cancer returned and she passed away surrounded by family and friends. Tanya grew up on acreage in Sherwood Park and from a young age loved horses. The free and wild yet gentle spirit of horses exemplified her life. She graduated with distinction from University of Alberta with a commerce degree. Tanya made her passion for people and horses her livelihood which was evident in everything that she did. Her riding students, friends and families meant the world to her. The family would like to thank the doctors and staff at the Cross Cancer Clinic and Royal Alexandra Hospital for their loving care during her illness. A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, 205 Fir Street, Sherwood Park. Friends who so wish may make donations to the "Trinity Kilkenny Trust" fund. This may be done at any Alberta Treasury Branch. South Side Memorial Chapel. Patterson, Mittelstadt & Justik. 432-1601. To send condolences visit, www.southsidememorial.com