My Baby is Free

Today, Baby Girl, you turned free. Free years old! I can hardly belibe it.

Three years ago you came bursting into our lives, like the star of a play bursting onto stage, smiling and singing -- and you've managed to shine in your own spotlight ever since. Despite making us wait for your big entrance, we enthusiastically cheered your arrival on stage.

You are the missing piece that we didn't even know was missing until you filled it's spot, completing our family puzzle perfectly, as you do.

You do things your way, in your own time, just like how you came into our family in your own good time. Refusing to be told how and when, you basically potty trained yourself in a few days, when you were good and ready. In just the last week you learned how to dress yourself. It seems every time I turn around you are mastering something new, on your own (being the third child means fending for yourself a lot more). Rather than try to keep up with you, I find myself sitting back and just observing you, watching you grow your wings and fly...

You are fiercely independent and you have a mind of your own, which you love to share if people around you would just listen. I do love listening to your chatter and stories, except maybe at 8:30 pm, when it's time to sleep and you have to tell us just ONE more thing, or do one more thing, or read one more book, "I promise just ONE more and I'll NEVER ask again". Mm hmm.

You love to be our special helper, whether it's cooking (trying to keep your little hands off hot burners while you sample everything), or laundry (matching socks or throwing folded clothes in the air); if you see a job being done you're the first to say "Can I help?" while pulling a chair behind you, not waiting for an answer.

You are sunshine and thunderclouds. You give the BEST hugs and kisses, and the biggest smiles, even (especially?) at 6 am when it's still dark out. You can throw the most epic tantrums. Go big or go home, right? You may be the littlest but you won't let that stop you from making the biggest impression. You're tenacious, and spunky, and you give mommy more gray hairs than anyone. You've found yourself in plenty of sticky situations, but you just shrug and smile and hold out your hands (for mommy to wipe). You've got a sparkle in your eye that makes it impossible for anyone to be mad at you -- and I think you know it. ;)

I love you Lolo Bird. Thanks for letting me watch as you fly.

Love, Mommy Bird

The Great Clothing Purge 2015

Anyone who knows me knows I rant and rail against laundry on an almost daily basis. WHY do we have so much clothing?? WHY??

With that in mind, and given that the kids' drawers were literally teeming with clothing, we set out to do a giant purge. I really like the idea of Spring Cleaning, but for me, Fall is when I want to get RID of stuff.

We set aside 2 hours and got to work... dumping out drawers, assessing everything for size and wear and stains. The kids were a big help (if you count throwing clothing in the air and jumping in the piles like piles of leaves "help"...).

Purging is so cathartic though -- if you can put aside the emotional attachment you have to clothing ("Aw this is what she wore when she lost her first tooth!") it just feels good to let things GO.

Queue Frozen tagline in 5... 4... 3...

I'll be honest... I didn't think we had THAT much to get rid of -- maybe a handful of things that didn't fit the kids, and a few things I never wear anymore. So I was shocked when we dumped all the clothes we were parting with down into the front foyer, and ended up with this:

That doesn't even include all the outgrown clothes from the youngest -- her closet is literally full, but she was already down for a nap by the time we finished. 

Now I look in the drawers and closets and instead of feeling overwhelmed and a sense of dread (at the task ahead, of the impending laundry), it's like a breath of fresh air. Everything that's there is there for a reason, fits, will be worn. 

Well... almost everything. Turns out I don't know my kids as well as I thought I did, as the first thing that The Hubs pulled out of Baby Girl's drawer this morning was too small! D'OH! My excuse? She must have grown overnight.... ;)

Today you are EIGHT

Well kiddo, eight short years ago your arrival made me a mommy, and for that I will be eternally grateful. You've brought me more joy, laughter, aggravation, fun, intrigue and love than I ever could have imagined.

You are goofy, funny, caring, inquisitive. The love you show for your family makes my heart burst. The questions you ask make my head explode (sometimes!) -- both because of how smart they are, and how dumb they make me feel. You keep me on my toes, that's for sure.

I can see you starting to compare yourself to your peers. Remember that there will always be someone faster than you, and there will always be someone slower. None of that matters -- what matters is that you are kind, and that you try your very best every day. Don't ever stop being you. You are a great kid -- never forget that.

You are growing up. You've mastered the art of snapping, and you've almost learned how to whistle. You can whiz down the street on your scooter like a pro (even past the second driveway where you're supposed to stop). You've surpassed my video gaming abilities but you show patience when I don't get it. You can call your friends on the phone now, and when you are with them, you have deep conversations about things that I don't know much about, like Pokemon and Skylanders and Stampy Longnose.

I saw you roll your eyes a little yesterday. That's okay -- it's part of growing up. I see you maturing before my very eyes, especially when you take care of your little sisters. I miss my baby boy, but I love watching you grow and seeing who you are becoming.

When I look at you, I see me. I see your anxiety, your fears, your creativity, your joy, and your head-in-the-cloudsness. It's all good -- they're all a part of what makes you YOU, and you are really pretty awesome. You'll find a way to make it all work for you; hopefully I can help along the way.

Happy 8th Birthday to my big boy. I love you to the moon and back.

DIY: An Easy, Fun, Meaningful Family Gift

It can be hard to come up with gifts for grandparents who seemingly have everything, and really just want a piece of the grandkids anyway.

With this in mind, we recently made this canvas for the Nonna in our life (hi!) and I think it turned out great! The bonus was that we were all able to participate, and in years to come it will server as a reminder of how small (and messy!) the kids hands were at this age.

Cool huh?

We started with a blank canvas from the Dollar Store, and painted the background all over. Then I added the brown tree shape - you could make it as realistic or whimsical as you want, with as many branches as there are family members. The kids chose their own colours for their hand-prints, and those become the 'leaves'. It just so happened they ended up making a rainbow of colours... that was a total fluke (but neat, right?).

The phrase we went with - you could put anything, this was inspired by how the tree came out in our case:

Family
   a little messy
      a little off-centre
          lots of love

What can I say... I was thinking on my feet! ;)

In any event it was hung at Nonna's house almost immediately and the kids are so proud to have been able to make something so neat for their grandmother. (I am annoyed that the lettering at the bottom ended up crooked... next time I'd put down some painter's tape to help guide me!)

Countdown to Christmas: Family Advent Tree

It was around November 30 last year when I suddenly realised I hadn't done anything about advent calendars for the kids. Now, what childhood would be complete without a countdown to Christmas?? Clearly I had dropped the ball and had to remedy the situation... STAT.

jump to activity list

A frantic search on Pinterest revealed a lot of very cute, some very elaborate advent calendars that just weren't going to cut it. First of all - ain't nobody got time for that. Plus I didn't have a whole bunch of supplies ready to go and no desire to run out to craft stores etc - this had to be something I could whip up on the very last day possible with whatever I had on hand. That's just how I roll. 

As a result, I put my thinking cap on and came up with THIS GEM... which we plan to do again this year and for years to come: A Family Advent Tree.

Countdown to Christmas: A month of giving

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to make this year 'different'. Every holiday season I vow sometime at the beginning of October that THIS YEAR, it's going to be different. We're going to replace "stuff" with meaningful experiences. We're going to give to others, and buy less for ourselves. We're going to do some good, rather than filling our home with things we don't need out of obligation or tradition.

And then, inevitably, the season gets away from me, and we find ourselves at the mall with everyone else, scooping up the latest must-have gift or taking advantage of a deal too good to pass up (but... it's 40% off!).

Don't these people look filled with the holiday spirit?

I'm usually able to 'fit in' a few good moments among the craziness - baking cookies, or decorating, or watching a holiday movie as a family. But, those moments seem so fleeting in a season filled with to do lists, pressure, events we're obliged to attend (another breakfast with Santa...?), things not finished, stress.

So. I am here now, mid-November, making a pledge. This year really IS going to be different.

I'm kicking off a Month of Giving, starting on Nov. 24. This will give me a month to give, outside my own friends and family, for a month before showering my own circle with love and joy and gifts.

My plan is to find ways, big and small, to make a difference. This all came to a head today when I read a Facebook status from a friend (hi Paula! :)) who had just gotten a free coffee, thanks to the person ahead of her in the drive-through. Such a simple yet powerful gesture. I bet that person ahead of her never imagined they would be the catalyst in a month of giving by someone totally unrelated to the exchange at the drive-through window!

I have some ideas of things I can do, but I'm looking for more ideas (keep in mind I have two kids, 7 months pregnant and a full-time job...). Anything - big or small - I will consider it all. I will do something each day from Nov 24 - Dec 24. I am excited!

Anyone want to join me?

Happy Third Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my favouritest three-year-old girl in the world!

Thought I'd share ten things about The Girl as she turns the big 0-3:

1. She loves Bubble Guppies and Dora the Explorer
2. Her favourite colour is green (despite me trying to make it purple)
3. Her favourite outfit is anything with Dora on it, or her flowery dress (see pics below)
4. She is kind and generous (when she's in the mood) -- she'll offer you bites of her food, or she'll offer to get you some of your own. "You want some?"
5. She has the BEST and most infectious giggle
6. Her favourite indoor activity is putting together puzzles
7. She needs "Other Bunny" in order to sleep (one of three bunny blankets, the other two are "Bunny" and "Bun-Bun", but Other Bunny is her #1. Ironic, yes?)
8. Her hair is curly and her eyes are blue... we don't know where either of these traits came from!
9. She has a thing for mommy's shoes, especially the ones in mommy's closet with the 4" heels that mommy will probably never wear, and the strappy gold ones that were bought for Halloween one year.
10. She really, really loves her big brother, laughs at all his antics, and wants to do everything he does. (Except potty train, apparently, but who's counting.)

Finally, some pictures from her party. She had SO much fun with her three best friends, Sara, Olivia and Meghan. It was a simple little party at home, and it was perfect for this spunky little 3-year-old.

Love you, baby girl.
xo, Mommy

Diary of a Real Pregnancy: Week 20 - Rootin Tootin Cowgirl (and the big reveal!)

Yeeee-HAW!

It's quite the ride out here in the wild west, pardner! Yippee-kai-yay!

Have I lost you yet? I've lost a few things (mostly marbles and my cool) lately, so that seems fitting. So what's all the rootin and tootin about?

Well let me tell you. It's about the cacophony of bodily instruments up in this place. I am a sound machine like no other... and the sound is the TOOT. I cannot.stop.tooting. Passing gas. Farting.

Alright, I know. That's horrible and also laughable. But let me tell you what's NOT laughable. When you walk around the office and it sounds like you are walking on ducks.

Walking on ducks.

Thankfully, by the grace of maude, these vociferous exclamations have been loud but otherwise innocuous. Still, totally embarrassing. I have no control either. No warning. Just 'toot toot toot!' as I walk-walk-walk. I can only hope nobody has noticed. A girl can hope!

Now on to much more important details...

The Big Reveal

We had our big ultrasound this week, aka the anatomy scan. Again, because I'm old as dirt, I got to go 'upstairs' to the Floor for Special Pregnant Ladies to have the scan done. The bonus of this is of course better technology, but also a doctor doing the scan, so he's at liberty to talk about everything he's seeing on the screen... including what's between the legs*! Yippee!
*On the screen! Not HIS. Gross!

Before I get into that I will say that everything looks great, baby is measuring right on track for dates - measuring 19w 6d when I was 20w 1d. The doc spent extra time on the palate to make sure there was no cleft (it runs in the family) and saw nothing of concern. I was also told I have the blood work of a 'fifteen-year-old'... so that's good! I think!

The Boy was able to be there with us, due to an unfortunate incident the night before requiring 5 stitches in his lip and skipping school the day of the ultrasound (he's fine now). I thought it would be so neat for him to see all this stuff with us... He thought it was much neater to play Battleship on the iPod. 5-year-olds...

When I saw that the doc was hovering around what I assumed was the crotchal area, I made sure to mention that we'd like to find out the sex if we could. He said "Sure thing! I will let you know as soon as I know! This is the stomach..." Right, I knew that.

At one point The Hubs and the Boy went to the washroom, and thats when the doc said "So, do you want to know what you're having?" And I said "Yes!! Do you know??" And he said yes. I suggested we wait until the men returned. The doc had another idea... his plan (which he shared with great enthusiasm, as if he'd planned the whole thing out on his way to work that morning), was for me to make a big list of things I wanted done around the house. Then, he'd tell ME the sex, and I could withhold the information from The Hubs until everything was done! Haha! Wouldn't that be GREAT!

I was like, "Honey, I hear ya. But I've had a list like that going for YEARS." I didn't say that The Hubs would probably just tickle me until I peed my pants and then I'd have to tell him.

Anyway he told me. Hee hee! Then the boys got back, and the doc went on with the ultrasound with nary a word about gender the rest of the time. Finally, he finished, said everything looked great, and no need to come back as he got all his measurements. Have a nice day!

The Hubs on the other hand was giving me A Look that said "WTF!", but didn't say anything. I nonchalantly said, "Oh... I know what we're having, by the way." He said "You do?? WHAT!" Ha. I asked one last time, what everyone thought. The Boy said a brother. The Hubs said a brother. I said...

Nope! You're wrong!

We're having another baby girl!!

We are thrilled! A baby sister for The Girl. The Boy was like "Oh that's nice" haha, and The Girl's reaction was basically to tell us she knew this all along so what's the big deal?

Now we're on the hunt for names, as I don't think Plate or Table are quite fitting for our little princess :)


Previous: Week 19 - Almost Half-way! What!
Next: Week 21 - Anger Management

Thoughts on Routines (and how changing them can make a world of difference)

I recently made a small but magnanimous change in the way we get out the door in the mornings. I don't know what took me so long.

You see, for so long (nearly a year, in fact) we'd been doing almost exactly the same things every morning... and it wasn't working very well. Day after day we'd be rushing out the door, late of course, most likely missing something important, feeling frazzled and usually yelling at someone about something. For some reason, we kept this up, just kind of going about it as though it was the only way. Which is silly, really, since we'd completely changed how we did things once I started working outside the home again.

I want to add that while having to leave the house to work every day presents all sorts of wild and wonderful challenges, I relish it. But that's just me (and it's not what this post is about).

Our Old Routine

• 6:45 am - I wake up, go downstairs for coffee and cereal, watch the news
• 7:15 - finally drag myself upstairs (it's way too easy to sit and sip coffee while watching the morning news, before anyone else is awake!) to get in the shower, kids starting to get up, The Hubs is on kid duty
• 7:30 - 8:15 - I shower, get dressed, makeup, hair etc etc. Hubs feeds & waters the animals children, gets them dressed etc.
• 8:20 - I rush downstairs, pull a brush through The Girl's hair (in a rush, so she freaks out), yell about boots/coats, etc
• 8:35 ish - out the door

Several problems here. Can you spot them?

1. The Hubs was left to do everything related to the kids on his own in the mornings. Not fun for anyone.
2. This left no time for The Hubs to shower in the mornings, so he was having to do it at night, meaning less time together just he and I. 
3. We were late every day.
4. Most importantly: the only time I saw the kids before 6 pm was to yell at them to get their boots on or kiss their heads as I rushed out.

Funny thing was I didn't even realize how much it wasn't working, until I wrote it down as part of building my Control Journal, thanks to the FlyLady. (I could go on for days about FlyLady but for now I'll let you go check it out for yourself. Go ahead, I'll wait.)

Anyway, the new routine is much better. Sure, we are still running habitually late, in large part to the fact that we've all been getting to bed too late at night (I'm working on that now). But, overall things are running much smoother, and we're all a little happier as a result.

The Shiny New Routine 

• 6:30 am - my alarm goes off *(in theory this is when I get up, but lately it's when I hit snooze)
• 6:45 - I'm up and in the shower
• 7 am - The Hubs gets up with the kids, gets them dressed (clothes laid out the night before, down to socks), and downstairs for breakfast. Straw-sippies of juice (prepped the night before) are waiting in the fridge. Coffee is brewing.
• 7:30 - I'm downstairs, dressed. The Hubs goes to shower etc. Kids eat while I get coffee, sit and eat with them, then I brush The Girl's hair (and I can actually take my time and be gentle... less protesting!), empty the dishwasher (!!), and reload it. 
• 8:00 - kids finished, we clean up and get coats on, get in the van.
• 8:15 - The Hubs arrives, clean and refreshed, and takes the kids to daycare. I head to work.

Ideally we'll be able to tweak this so we're actually rolling by 8 am, but all in all I'd say these were such small changes that have made a huge impact. There's something to be said for starting your day right, and I can't believe it took me so long to recognize that it just wasn't right!

Also there's the bonus effect of having a tidy kitchen in the morning, so it's more manageable after supper (rather than having to empty & reload the dishwasher, and deal with the pile of backlog dishes, we just need to load from supper and run it). There's something kind of magical about opening the dishwasher to find it ready for dishes to be put in, rather than full of clean ones!

My evening routine has also changed... but I'll save that for another post... The Control Journal comes into play there too. I'll just say I'm surprised how positive these changes have been!

Impromptu Family Marching Band

Kids LOVE to stomp their feet and make noise... why not put those natural instincts to good use, and form your very own band?

It was some random night after supper, the kitchen was a mess and it was bathtime, and yet there we were: four of us, shirking our duties and instead marching around the house, one following the other, making noise. A LOT of noise.Giggles and smiles abound.

It was one of those impromptu family events that you don't plan or anticipate, and ends up being so fun and memorable that the kids occasionally say "Remember that time we...?".

I'm demented! Heeheeheeheehee!!

One of us - I can't recall who - asked, "What makes music?" (a la Let's Make Music Elmo Video which we had just watched*). The challenge was upon us: find the things around us - in the kitchen, living room, toy box - that would make 'music' -- or, in our case, just funny noises. Now, maybe you have one of those sets of toy instruments with a tambourine and various other noise-making apparati, but we do not - we were winging it!  


*As a side, can anyone tell me why Elmo is always giggling? What is so damn funny all the time? What is that dude smoking that makes everything worth a giggle? "Elmo loves his green crayon! Hee hee hee hee hee!"

Just like this, only with more spoons. And fewer carrots.

Anyway. There we were... marching with gusto, playing our instruments -- coffee cans, spoons, toy cars, containers filles with popcorn kernels... we even added vocal instruments with the likes of "Bup bup buhh-bup!" and "Doot doot dee doooooo". We took turns being the leader (not on purpose, mind you... some of us just got lost going around the corner and / or changed direction and ended up in the front somehow!). The 'song' (I use the term loosely) changed as we went, but we all went with the flow and I'm telling you, we had a blast in our Impromptu Family Marching Band.

Personally, I thought we sounded fantastic... The neighbours may have beeged to differ (or begged for earplugs) had our windows been open. Lucky for them it's the middle of the winter...

If you try this at home, tell me about it, okay? I want to know about all the parades going on in other houses. What instruments did you come up with? Keep in mind it's not about making some elaborate thing that requires glue or scissors or talent... it's literally just pick it up and start marching.

And if you're not giggling right along with your kids by the end of it, there's something wrong with you. ;)

We did it! - Monthly Family Challenge: January

We did it! We went to the library!

I know... this seems like no big deal. But, given that our weekends are usually jam packed with all the chores and errands that we don't get to during the week, taking a few hours out to just hang with the kids is a rarity.

We're lucky that our local library has a great kids' section with a load of toys and puppets and such, amongst all the kids books and tables and couches. There was a lot of complaining, whining and crying before we left the house (mostly from me) but by the time we got there, we were ready to get our book on.

I had to giggle when The Boy looked around at one point and said, "Woah... look at ALL the BOOKS!" like a kid in a candy store. Love that.

The kids had a great time pulling the books off the shelves and putting them back in the wrong spots (er... sorry librarians), and we left with two armful of new books to read - and try to keep track of for the next three weeks before we return.

January's Challenge: check.

Monthly Family Challenge: January

Screw the New Year's Resolutions. The "Resolution thing" didn't really work out for me -- surprise surprise -- so, I'm doing this instead.

I read about the "Time Well Spent Family Challenge" recently (here) and I think it will be a much better challenge for us to take up. Sure I can try to exercise more -- and I will. Probably. Maybe?

But... the monthly family challenge means

1. planning ahead for family events (something we're terrible at), 
2. knowing we will be breaking out of our normal routine at least once a month, and 
3. spending quality time doing fun things as a family. 

Plus it's really only 12 things spread out through the year, so it's not a huge change or time commitment (great). I'm IN!


The challenge for January:  Visit a Library

January - Visit a library: In celebration of National Literacy Day on January 27th, how about planning a family trip to any one of the great public libraries in HRM?  While you're there be sure to browse their huge selection of books, stop for a play in the children's area, check out their events calendar and more.  Before you leave, don't forget to take a few minutes to get your kids their own library card! 

This is GREAT, because I've been meaning to take the kids to the local library here since we moved. It's been nearly a year and we still haven't gone! So, I will be at the library tomorrow, with my two little ones in tow. I'm actually really excited about this since The Boy is SO into books right now.

Yay for 2012! Yay for books!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the dentist we go!

We had a Family Outing this morning to visit our friendly neighbourhood dentist. Oh, what fun it was.

In the days leading up to this magical event, I'd been telling the kids how AWESOME and FUN it would be, how they'd get to ride the chair! And show the dentist our teeth! And pick out a sticker! I even went so far as to tell Matthew that going to see the dentist was even MORE fun than going to see Santa! I was practically shaking pompoms about it to get everyone excited, and mostly to try to avoid the limp-noodle effect when we tried to remove them from their car seats to head into the office.


It worked! They totally bought it! They both went happily in the car, excited about our Family Outing. Emily said, "See Santa?" and then shook her head no. "No Santa. See dentist! Dentist say, 'Ho Ho Ho!'". Hmm. Well, not usually, but maybe if we ask nicely?

We filed in there a full 5 minutes early, and proceeded to rummage through our purses (well, mine) and pockets (his) for insurance information and health cards. By the way we were scrambling to locate these things you'd think we'd never done this before. "What? Insurance? Cards? Huh??"

Matthew was up first and after the requisite tears and running away, he hopped up into the chair like a champ. Okay, so it took a threat of his sister going first for him to get in there but, meh. Whatever works, right? He got his teeth cleaned and polished like a pro, did everything the hygienist asked and dutifully opened wider when the dentist came to 'count his teeth'. I was a proud mama! (And tried to avoid the question as to why he hasn't had a cleaning yet... umm... because we're bad parents?)

Then it was Emily's turn. WELL. She wasn't having ANY of it. She was quite pleased with all the stickers and the new toothbrush... but sit in that chair? Open her mouth? Are you kidding me?? She screamed and cried and flailed about as if we were attempting to strap her into a torture machine. We did get to 'brush' her teeth (sortof) and the dentist wrangled her into submission long enough to count her teeth, so I count it as a success. She was laughing and playing in the waiting room a few minutes later, so hopefully she's not permanently damaged by the experience.

Now I'm just wondering if I've played the "It's super fun, trust me!" card one too many times, and the kids will never believe me when I tell them how AWESOME something's going to be. Maybe next time I'll just tell them we're going to see Santa.