Old friends...

Computers are amazing.  As a result of my computer I recently reconnected with my university roommate - who has lived in Italy for the past 13 years, and just returned to Canada - I would have never known she was back in Canada if it wasn't for my computer.  Because of my computer I have been inspired by women in other countries who I have never even met.  This summer our computer crashed, and we lost all of our email addresses, documents, everything - except photos which were backed up (thank goodness).  I lost touch with my friend Tara, because I couldn't remember her email address... until last night.  It "popped" into my head right before bed, so I dropped her an email to see what was new, to give her an update on the babies, and to let her know about Clinka's Apples.  She emailed me back with her blog:  seven spoons.  Unlike myself Tara can cook, and cook very well.  Try a recipe or two, and if you need someone to sample, let me know.  

Every day the world gets a little bit smaller...

jbxo

It's potty time.

We are trying desperately to potty train Julian.  Tonight we had an interesting discussion on the potty about poo:

Mommy:  "Julian, where do you think Teletubbies poo?"

Julian:  (mortified) "MOMMY!  Teletubbies don't poo, they don't have bums."

Mommy:  "Teletubbies don't have bums?"

Julian:  "No Mommy, they have tv's."

jbxo

Ouch!

I drive a Volkswagen Beetle, which I love.  I always wanted one, and even though it is an  incredibly impractical vehicle when you have two children, I still love to drive it.  I was en route to work this morning, when I saw a young brother and sister, walking to school, and they appeared to be fighting... exchanging jabs back and forth.  I considered pulling the car over, and telling them to love each other a little more when I realized that they were both looking at me, and that my car was actually the instigator in the punching.  They were doing "punch bug" back and forth.  It is ironic how such a peaceful, happy little car can cause so much pain.

jbxo

Honestly.

One of the best things about children, can also potentially be one of the most embarrassing things about them.  They are so terribly honest.  To make matters worse, when they are nearing three years old they don't yet know about how sometimes being completely honest can be rather unacceptable.  I was grocery shopping with Julian last weekend, and we were waiting in line at the deli counter.  The ladies at our deli counter are very friendly, but as a result the line up can get fairly long as they like to have a little chat with each customer.  Julian was sitting in the shopping cart, quietly observing his surroundings.  There was an older woman ahead of us in line, and I could tell by her body language that she was becoming annoyed with the wait.  Crossed arms.  Furrowed brow.  I didn't realize that Julian was noticing the same thing until he announced, in a booming voice:  "Mommy, that lady is not happy."  Then, even LOUDER:  "Mommy, that lady is GRUMPY!".

jbxo

That is SO 1980...

I don't really know how it happened.  Somehow Julian decided he liked video games.  I think one of the older boys at daycare was playing Super Mario or something.  Andrew and I do not like video games, at all.  However, we are willing to make personal sacrifices based on the needs of our children.  We were on the computer one evening when Andrew decided to play Pacman... Julian watched... Julian liked it... Mommy and Daddy got hooked.  We now play Pacman every night before Julian goes to bed.  I think we have convinced ourselves it is something we do for Julian's entertainment, but the fact is we are now in it for the pure joy of the game.  In fact tonight Julian actually said he doesn't like Pacman.  We both pretended not to hear him.

jbxo

Give me back my soother.

Nora isn't feeling well, so we spent the day at home together.  She had a lovely, long nap, and when she awoke I thought I would take a few photos of her because:  a) she's pretty and b) we haven't had a little photo session in a while.  So, I removed her doddy (that is what we call her soother, I know everyone has their own word for it) and began taking her photo.  This is what she did... her eyes welled up - you can see the tears about to fall - and the poor little wooden ballerina went in her mouth, and remained there until I returned the soother.

jbxo

Kiss them goodnight...

Before I began reading Sheye's blog I was so much more "by the book" as a mom... I thought that Julian wanting to wear a cardboard box on his head, pretending to be a robot, may be something to be concerned about.  Once the children were tucked in bed for the night I never ventured into their rooms... God forbid I may wake them.  Tonight Andrew and I spent a lovely evening together, and before heading off to bed we decided to "take a peek at the babies".  My, we have some beautiful children.  At 11:45pm they are in a deep, sound sleep, and just beyond gorgeous.  They are so beautiful I wanted to pick them up and cover them in kisses. 

 

After you kiss your babies goodnight, let them fall asleep, and then kiss them goodnight all over again...

jbxo

Inspired Nesting.

Last week there was a terrible wind storm.  I actually woke up at 3am from the sound of wind (I know, crazy) and truly thought the house may fall down.  We didn't think much about it until the next day when our neighbour informed us that a piece of our roof was hanging loose.  I don't know much about the names of house parts, but I believe it was the "flashing".  We quickly enlisted the help of Pop to repair the damage.  Poor Pop, having to do repair work on a 35 foot roof!  That evening I took Oliver for a walk, and on my way back up the driveway I couldn't help but notice the little bird's nest in our tree.  This summer we watched the birds build this little nest.  Julian loved to see them flying about from his bedroom window.  One summer day a baby bird, still unable to fly, fell out of the nest.  I was quite distraught when I saw the mother trying to protect the baby bird on the ground, so I put on a pair of gloves, and climbed up a ladder, baby bird in hand, to return her to the nest.  As I walked to the door with Oliver I couldn't help but think about how big we are, how big our house is, how our house is made of wood and metal and nails, and it somehow still isn't quite strong enough.  Then there is this tiny nest, made of twigs and pieces of string, standing just as it did when it was built seven months ago.  

jbxo

Print:  "Inspired Nesting" by groundwork on Etsy

Venti Vanilla Cappuccino, please...

I love it... it is a lovely, sweet coffee treat.  Now that I am a working woman once again I can pamper myself with this sort of luxury.  On my way into work on Friday morning I decided to stop at Starbucks and pick up my favourite beverage, along with a slice of lemon poppy seed loaf.  The combo is a recipe for a fantastic morning.  I remembered that I was running low on coffee at home, and decided to grab a bag of beans.  I picked up the first bag I saw.  It was a gorgeous, dark chocolate brown colour, and the fonts appealed to my senses, so that means it must taste wonderful, right?  I turned it over and read the back:

"Casi Cielo has amazing character and great depth of flavor.  Smooth and versatile to please a variety of tastes, every sip begins with an elegant floral aroma and surprising lemony flourish, and finishes with deep, satisfying dark cocoa notes."

I think I may have blushed a little bit.  Was this making love, or drinking coffee?  Let me think about it... SOLD.

I brought my elegant bag of beans to the counter, and the pretty girl rang it up (along with my venti vanilla cappuccino and lemon poppy seed loaf) and said:  "That will be $25.90."

I just bought a bag of coffee beans for $17.00.  It's a good thing I received my first pay cheque this week.

jbxo

 

Special.

Putting Julian to bed tonight we shared a very special moment:

Julian: "Mommy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Julian: "Mommy, you are my..."

Me: (in my head: this is it, this is it... it's going to be something wonderful, maybe "You are my best friend." or "You are my hero." or "You are my inspiration.")

Julian: "Mommy, you are my..."

Me: "Yes?"

Julian: "You are my special cousin."

jbxo

Lunch is for Losers.

I hate to go on and on about how my life has changed since returning to the working world.  But it really has... and I don't have much else to write about since work has been occupying the majority of my time.  During my last year off with my babies I was on a 2 hour feeding schedule.  Much like a newborn.  

8am Breakfast

10am Snack

12pm Lunch

3pm Snack

5pm Dinner

8pm Snack

I realized today that every day this week I have eaten ONE thing between the hours of 8am and 6pm... One packet of instant oatmeal.  One.  It has been my lunch.  Not breakfast - there has been no time for breakfast.  Yesterday I decided to treat myself to a box of Organics Instant Oatmeal to keep at my desk - since this is my solitary source of nutrients, it may as well be organic, right?  I even purchased the variety pack, so every day it will kind of be like eating something different.  Lunch time rolled around.  I was weak.  I was dizzy.  I reached into the box of oatmeal packets, purposely not looking at which variety I pulled out - as I wanted to be surprised.  I poured the contents into a bowl.  I added hot water.  I waited 5 minutes.  I closed my eyes and slowly brought the spoon to my mouth.  The flavour I had selected?  Plain.

jbxo

p.s.  I found this super cute lunch bag on Etsy... I even thought about buying it... but realized I don't really need it now that I have a box full of lunch surprises at my desk.

That was then...

My biggest concern was if it was wrong for us to remain in our pyjamas until 10am.  It was difficult deciding if we should go to the library, the park, or visiting friends.  To walk with the stroller, or take the car.  I had the Treehouse daily schedule memorized, and particularly looked forward to Max & Ruby in the morning.  Lunch was an exciting adventure, and two hour naps in the afternoon were a delight.  

The change in lifestyle from "Stay at Home Mom" to "Working Mom" can best be defined by what one eats for breakfast:

Then:  Granola & yogurt, waffles with syrup or toast with jam.

Now:  Three Cheerios stolen off of Nora's highchair, one of which is mysteriously wet.

jbxo

A little Globophobia.

Nora doesn't like balloons.  At all.  When one comes near her she pulls her hands back towards her chest and cries.  I don't know how I forgot about this when I was buying some last minute things for her birthday party on Saturday morning, and decided to add a little balloon bouquet to my purchases.  Three balloons:  one pink heart, one purple heart, and one round "1st Birthday" balloon.  Super cute.  She seemed happy enough in the shopping cart with them.  Until we left the store and the wind began to blow wildly.  It was like she was being attacked by the balloons.  I was moving that shopping cart as quickly as possible, but by the time we got to the car she was in tears, and almost lying flat to avoid the wrath of the balloons.  I thought things would be better once we were in the comfort of our home.  I was wrong.  I didn't think about what Julian would do when he saw the balloons.  He LOVES balloons.  He ran non-stop for 20 minutes with the balloons.  Every time he went by Nora she would shriek.  Poor thing.  Half way through the birthday party I decided to put the balloons in the laundry room.  The day after the party I knew I had to dispose of them.  They were just causing too much trouble.  They were still so pretty though.  I didn't want to throw them out.  I decided while the children were napping I would have a little solitary balloon release in the back yard.  I held the balloons up, and let them go.  I thought of a little angel in heaven who would love them when they got there.  It was a beautiful moment.  Then my paranoia set in.  Is it legal to release balloons in Canada?  I ran inside to my computer to Google "Canada balloon release law".  It turns out that it is illegal to release more than 10 balloons within 24 hours.  So, I think I was within the confines of the law.  Stranger than the balloon release law is that when I Googled "fear of balloons" I discovered that there is an actual, treatable phobia called Globophobia.  I think I'll just hope she outgrows it.

jbxo

Say it with flowers.

July 1999, Macy Gray got me hooked.  It all started with her video for "I Try".  That was the first time I really noticed a bright, beautiful Gerbera daisy.  In the video she wakes up sad, gets ready, leaves her hotel and stops at a flower shop to purchase a little bouquet of pink Gerbera daisies.  From that point on she can't stop smiling.  Red, purple, orange, pink.  They have been with me for every monumental occasion in my life, the centre pieces at my bridal shower, wedding and baby shower.  All of the girls in my wedding party carried them.  Each girl picked out her own dress... as long as it was either red, purple, orange or pink.  They became beautiful, walking Gerbera Girls.  Gerbera daisies are just such a happy flower and I can't look at one without smiling.  They don't really have a scent, just a little earthy and fresh.  These ones are from Nora's birthday party on Saturday, aren't they lovely?

jbxo

Reality Bites.

I nursed Julian until his first birthday, and I have been slowly weaning Nora the same way.  Therefore, tonight was our last nursing session.  I find this to be a very emotional moment.  It was her and I, in our cozy rocking chair, having a little talk about the past year.  I let her know how special our nursing sessions have been to me, and I began to feel very nostalgic.  The tears began to slowly fall down my face onto hers.  The realization that this was the last time we would share this connection was overwhelming.  I began to think that maybe I should extend nursing her for another few days, weeks, maybe even months.  Then she bit me.

jbxo

One year ago today...

I was 9 months pregnant, and had a terrible cold.  I spent New Year's Day coughing and feeling miserable.  I was folding laundry around 6:00pm, when I felt my water break.  Family members were notified with excited phone calls.  Nanny hurried over to watch Julian while Andrew rushed me to the hospital.  I was hooked up to little machines, and the nurses began monitoring my progress.  An hour later I was told I could go home as my water hadn't, in fact, broken... It turns out I had been coughing so hard, and with all the pressure from the baby on my bladder, I had in actuality um, well... peed my pants.  The worst part was I now had to phone all family members, and advise them of this embarrassing little bit of news.  The next morning little Nora entered our lives.  Such a good girl, taking the attention away from my "accident".  Happy birthday tomorrow, beautiful Noo-Noo (and as per Sheye, happy "birthing day" to me!).

jbxo