Fun in the Sun

Today Daddy went golfing, so Matthew and I had a Mommy and Me day.
We had lots of fun! This morning, we had breakfast and Matthew showed me how well he can eat an entire container of yogurt all by himself!

He had a good nap and then we went to run a few errands. Matthew was such a good boy in the stroller while Mommy got some alterations done and did a bit of quick shopping! Matthew discovered at the dayhome this week that he loooovvvvess cheddar flavoured rice cakes.. so Mommy is keeping those on hand in the diaper bag for outings... after all, they're only like 20 calories right?? eat away and stay happy!!! :O)

Then we came home and napped again, although the afternoon nap seemed more like a 1 1/2 hour play session in the crib. Oh well, at least he stayed pretty quite the whole time. Mommy even got an hour nap in.

So for being such a good boy, Mommy packed up beach supplies into the wagon and Matthew and I headed down to our lake! This was our first official "lake trip" since Matthew was born! Last year, we didn't really hit the beach because he was a bit too small.

I could tell right away that this was going to be a favourite activity of Matthew's. I think it's been oh, say at least a good 15 years since I've tried to build a sand castle, but Matthew and I did a pretty good job of making sand hills with his pail and smashing them down!

....and he didn't even try to eat the sand!! (although, we did get sand into about every other imaginable place.. note to Mom's - sunscreen and sand don't mix...)

But the biggeset attraction of all was... you guessed it! The water!!!! Again, Matthew had that "I am sooo happy, but I don't want to seem too happy" smile on his face as soon as he realized that this was the biggest bathtub he's ever seen! I wish I could have caught it on camera, but because I was myself, I didn't think having the camera by the water and helping Matthew walk were a good mix.

The funny thing is, he didn't want to leave, of course! Every time I brought him back to the beach towel, he would try to walk back to the water. But, it's hard to walk on uneven sand when you're just learning to walk, so Matthew would get down like a little sea turtle and try to high tail it to the water before Mommy could catch him!

I can tell we're going to have lots of fun this summer!






Enjoying an afternoon snack....



Off I go.....



Aren't you coming Mom?



Exploring I will go, exploring I will go...

Where do I start?

... wow, it's been a while since I've blogged! I always seem to have so much to say and now, so little time to say it in!
I often think about blogging something on my way to work in the morning, but our work has any blog sites blocked, so that doesn't work and most nights I'm too exhausted to blog after putting Matthew to bed, cleaning the kitchen and getting things ready for the next day.

I think we're all adjusting to our new lives though! I know my body certainly hasn't taken too long to cope with less sleep! It hasn't forgotten what it was like a year ago and so I'm already finding that I'm not that tired through the day, even if I've been up several times through the night.

That said, Matthew is hopefully starting to sleep better again. We discovered he has an ear infection this week, so we're on antibiotics and he seems to be on the mend. He had a few rough weeks there with all of the mixed up schedules and birthdays and you name it.

We have switched him to a new dayhome. Our first one just wasn't working out for us. We needed something with a bit more structure for him. He is doing really well there... he seems much happier when he comes home in the evening and seems to have bonded really well with his new caregiver.

Matthew is on the go all the time now! I don't think I've seen him crawl at all in the past week or so. He has even learned to climb onto the chairs in our upstairs bonus room all by himself!! He is quite proud of himself when he does it and likes to sit and watch the big comfy couch from his own chair!

We've also said good-bye to the bottle. We didn't really force the issue, it just seemed to happen naturally. Matthew got a really great sippy cup for his birthday and it's easy to drink from and so he doesn't miss his bottle at all. Now, we've started a new tradition of eating some cereal or fruit out of a bowl, drinking milk from his sippy cup and reading a story before bedtime.

He is becoming more and more fun every day as we see his little personality develop! I look forward to sharing lots more stories with you very soon!

What a wet weekend!

Did we ever have an exciting day today! Despite the fact that it's miserable outside and raining, we managed to have some fun.

Matthew had a good, long 2 hour nap this morning, so we decided to go to Chinook mall for a while. The highlight of the afternoon for Matthew was his very first ride on a merry-go-round! Of course, we were planning to get a picture, but our silly camera decided to crap out on us just as we were about to use it. Oh well, next time I guess.

So, Daddy stayed on the sidelines and Mommy and Matthew went on! When we first got on, we had to wait a few minutes as everybody loaded. I sat Matthew on a horse and held him and he thought this was pretty fun. We petted the horse and held its rein and then Matthew decided that he would rather sit on the black horse next to it, so we had to switch. Luckily, he didn't want to switch back because some other little boy had already claimed the white horse.

And then.... we started to go!!! You should have seen his face when he realized that the horse was going to move! He had that famous little smile that I love where he wants to have the hugest grin, but he's not sure if he is supposed to be as happy as he wants to be and so it comes out like a little smirk!

So, Matthew had a blast! Mommy was completely dizzy after the two minute ride in circles... I figured it had only been about 25 years since I'd been on one. Daddy also was completely dizzy from standing right beside it trying to wave at Matthew each time he went by! But like I said, Matthew had fun :O)

Then, just as we got home, we saw these two husky dogs running down our main street. The animal lover I am, I immediately ordered Darren out into the rain to see what was going on. The poor little dogs.. they came right over to him and wanted him to take them home. They were soaking wet and one had a very sore paw that he couldn't walk on.

So, we brought them to the step and called the city. They had tags thankfully. But, I couldn't just leave them on the step until their owner came, so we set out old shower curtains in our front hall, blocked off the entrance with our laundry hampers and made a small doggie shelter for them while they waited for their owner.

At first the city didn't want to give us the owner's info and only wanted to send the pound out (which could take forever since the city is about to flood (but that's another story)... so they eventually gave in and 2 hours later the owner came and got them and they were safe and sound.

What poor doggies.. they're owner was out for 4 hours looking for them! Apparently they dug their way under the fence in Copperfield, crossed the highway, went through muddy fields and ended up in Auburn Bay...

Oh what a weekend!

Well, we had a busy May long weekend to say the least!

On Friday night, we had 4000 square feet of sod delivered. Do you know how much that is? Enough to take... oh... about 25 man hours or so to lay! So Darren and some of our friends helped us Friday night and all day Saturday to get it laid down. On Sunday morning it was my job to go around and cut all the corners and make it all look pretty! It's all in now and our yard looks great. We can't wait to let Matthew run around in the grass. I'll post pictures soon but I forgot to take some before the rain started.

Matthew got his first doozy of a cold on Friday. He had a major runny nose which he had never really had before and it progressed to included quite a yucky cough. Poor guy didn't know what was happening to him and that led to Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights with virtually no sleep for any of us. By Sunday night, we decided to take him to Children's just to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or something. It seemed as though every time we laid him down he'd only sleep for an hour or two before waking up crying and staying crying for the next hour or so.

Everything checked out ok and after our 4 hour wait to see the doctor, we came home. Matthew is on the mend now but luckily Daddy was able to work from home today so that Matthew didn't have to get up early and go to the sitters.

In the spare time I had, I managed to level out our garden plot and get a few seeds in the ground. I know, I know, I was supposed to be relaxing, but I have waited a LONG, LONG time to finally have a real garden!! Not containers on my patio, not the garden plot that you rent (we had those in bc) but a real garden.. so let's see if I can actually grow anything. Well, let's also see if the rabbits don't eat everything I grow.

Anyhow, all is well. Matthew finally learned how to climb down stairs. So today he practised up one stair, down one stair, up one stair and so on. We also had a lot of fun in the bath tub today as it was the first time Mommy used bar soap instead of liquid soap and Matthew found it quite hilarious to chase it around the tub and try and pick it up while it slipped out of his hands!

Hope you have a great, short week!

Just like it was

One day down.
Actually, day one wasn't that bad at all.
1600 e-mails to go through when I arrived. Did you know you can delete about 1200 with one stroke of the keyboard??
I didn't have a password to get into the computer and I couldn't even remember how to make a phone call on my fancy VOIP phone, but hey, what do you expect after a year?
It didn't take long for everything to come rushing back though. It really feels a lot like starting a new job again, except that as you start to do things, you remember that you actually do know how to do this task already, so the learning curve is much quicker!
I wasn't there a mere 3 hours and we were already celebrating a birthday with.... you guessed it... birthday cake. I'm quite sure the absence of birthday cake and dinners out was what enabled me to lose 25 lb in the last year, so I may have to shy away from those things a bit more!
By mid afternoon, I was already getting phone calls and e-mailed requests as though I'd never been gone. It seems like the company is so busy and everyone is chomping at the bit to get help.
Mostly I answered 3 questions all day:
1. So how does it feel to be back?
2. Can you believe it's been a year?
3. Where are your pictures of Matthew? (to which I replied I thought it best that I wait a few days so as not to spend my entire day gazing at pictures and actually start to get some work done again).

One more day and then a long weekend! I could get used to this kind of a schedule :O)

Ho Hum....

So here I sit on the eve of my return to w#$*. (it's a bad word, so I won't say it out loud).
It's funny, a little more than a year ago I was doing the opposite and wondering how different my world was going to be. Now, here I am again going back to the same place again, but this time wondering how different it will be.

I honestly can't believe it's been a year. Wow... and to think, there are tons of women in the world who only get 1/4 of the time we do to be off with their babies. I can't even imagine.

So, tomorrow starts a new chapter again! I'm excited and sad and nervous and everything else all at the same time.

I just keep telling myself that I can't be super mom. I'll do my best and do what I
can when I can and take whatever shortcuts I can to make things easier! After all, millions of other women do the same thing every day, right?

Now, Doesn't this say it all?

Happy 1st Birthday!

Matthew turned 1 on Monday, but we celebrated his birthday on Sunday along with Mother's day!
We had lots and lots of family over! Grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great aunts, uncles and even some family friends.

Matthew did great although I'm sure he was wondering who the heck all those people were in his living room and when he was going to be able to enjoy his toys by himself again!

He was pretty spoiled by everyone who showered him with presents and also carried him around and paid full attention to him for several days!

What party isn't complete without a cake? Remember my grumbling... well, here is the finished product.



And a few more pictures from the day:

Matthew's First Birthday

In a Year

Dear Matthew,

Wow, I can't believe that you are one whole year old today!! Time has gone by incredibly fast!

Mommy is so excited that you're becoming a little boy, but a little bit sad too because you're not going to be a baby much longer.

Your daddy and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy. You have been the best baby we could have asked for! You never cried too much and you only make Mommy get up in the nights once in a while. Even when you were a little, little baby, you never stayed up all night and cried. Mommy thanks you for that!

Mommy never knew that you could spend so many hours just looking at a little face and wondering how she got so lucky! Mommy and Daddy have so many dreams for you and we are so excited to watch you change and grow every day.

In a year, Daddy and I have gone from being novices at changing diapers to having to do it with one hand while you roll around and play! We watched you crack your first smile at us, and then start to grab your feet. Pretty soon you were interested in looking at all of your toys. Then you could lay on your tummy and play and push yourself up. Before we knew it, you were sitting up and trying to grab the kitty's tails! Then Mommy decided to encourage you to crawl and before we knew it you were all over the house! Now, you're walking and talking and more fun than we could have ever imagined!

Happy birthday Sweetie Pie! We wish you nothing but fum and learning and laughter and kisses all year long :O)

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

The Cake

Ok, so there's three things I have to tell you before I blog this.

1. I'm a perfectionist. Yep, I openly admit that one and you don't have to know me for long before you realize that one.

2. I'm stubborn. Again, I'll openly admit it and hopefully you need to know me a bit longer before you experience this side of me.

3. I'm an eeensy weeensy little teeny weeny bit of an obsessive compulsive sometimes.... I'll only admit this the one time though.

So, it started months ago when I started to dream about what kind of birthday cake I was going to make Matthew for his very important first birthday. Sure, most of you are reading this at this point and wondering why the heck I was not dreaming of which store I was going to go buy a cake at, but there's point #2 coming in.... I am/was determined that I could make a cake.

Ok, so months ago I found the perfect cake. And how the heck was I going to make it? Who knows? So, I e-mailed the lady who made the cake that I saw a picture of and she happily sent me instructions. Ok, so I had a cake.

About a month ago, I started to obsess over what kind of cake I was going to make. Here's #3 coming in. Oh, and #2 again. I was determined that I would make Matthew a "healthy" cake because god forbid he eat all that sugar!

So, for the past 2 weeks, I've made several "healthy" cakes. Today, I went with the TNT family standard Chocolate cake. Let's just say there's a reason bakeries only make chocolate and vanilla cakes and leave it at that. So, chocolate it is. The kid will probably go into a sugar induced coma, but what the heck, he won't eat that much, right?

Once I stuck with what I knew, the cake was a breeze. Came out of the character pan beautifully!

Now, on to the icing. Here's one more thing you may not know about me. I hate sweet stuff. Put me on a desert island and I'd bring a bag of chips with me. I could seriously live without sugar (well most of the time anyhow).

But when you're making icing, of course you want to take a little taste here and there. and here and there. Blaghh... I may never eat icing again in my life.

Anyhow, so at this point I have successfully made a test cake. (after all, when point #1 comes into action) you need to have a cake to test everything out on... I wouldn't dare wing it!

All seems to be going well now. The real cake should be a snap.

Oh goodness gracious... good thing birthdays are only once a year ;o)

p.s. Do check back next week... I promise I'll show you a picture of the cake. BTW, it will probably look nothing like the one in the picture, but it's the thought that counts you know.!

Dinnertime!

I can walk!

Matthew took his first steps a few weeks back, but in the last week he's been trying to walk on his own more and more. In the last day or so, I've pretty much noticed him walking all the time!

He can get pretty far, like all the way from the living room to the kitchen! Sometimes he'll fall forward and do a downward facing dog pose (gosh, wouldn't it be great to be flexible like that again!).. and sometimes it's flat on his bum, but he is doing better and better each day!

Of course, if he really really needs to get somewhere fast (like to a cat perched in the corner), then crawling is still the optimal mode of transportation!

I can't wait to have grass in the backyard because now he wants to explore everything outside! We have to sit in the gravel at the park for half an hour so that he can pick up each little individual rock and hand them to me (or try eat one or two)....

Summer is going to be a lot of fun!