Short Stories

Too Clumsy

2012-02-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's wrong with me lately. Sleep deprivation? Loss of brain function? I got up the other morning to get Reid a bottle just before 6, and went crashing down the stairs. I'm in so much pain, still, it's crazy. And I'm going to have a long bruise from my hip to my knee, I'm sure of it. I can walk better, but now the muscles in my back and neck and shoulder are starting to act up. It's like one thing after another. I slipped on the ice a few weeks ago and banged up my knee really bad. Then I'm sure I chipped my ankle bone on the edge of the bed (I have no clue how that even happened, I just know that it made me want to barf and it was swollen and I couldn't walk), then the car accident, now this fall. Plus I get no sleep at night due to one infant that will remain nameless. Makes for a long and painful day when I'm too sore and tired to run after him.

Car Crash

2012-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

Reid and I were in a little fender bender today. We are both totally ok. I was driving through an intersection and a kid in his brand new car thought that he could beat me on a green light. Hit the breaks, hard, as soon as I saw him going for it, but it wasn't enough. Creamed right into him. So scary. I saw the whole front of the car explode (and by explode, I mean get smashed to bits). Reid was scared, but not hurt at all. No air bags went off, so that's another good thing. Did you know those things could break your nose? Sheesh... Anyways, turns out I had no clue what to do. I just sat there in shock for a few minutes (or maybe seconds) and then called Christien. He was in class and wasn't answering. So I called Christine. I knew if she didn't know what to do, then at least she could call Brian. She told me to call the cops and that she would come and meet us. Thank goodness for that. I didn't want to keep the car running. Who knows what was going on with it. And it was cold. I was outside for a couple of minutes and my hands were freezing. Got the police to come, and gave them a statement. Got him to deal with the exchange of information. NOBODY stopped. Well, I shouldn't say that. Nobody who saw the accident stuck around. One young girl stopped before I even had a chance to call the police, but she didn't see the accident. She just stopped to make sure everyone was ok. And then after I called the police another couple had pulled over. They saw the accident after it had happened from the other side of the road and turned around to make sure we were all ok. Had to wait for a tow. Thank god we could wait in the car with Christien, Cash and Chelsea. Yes, we threw three car seats in the back and they all fit in the Venza! Good news for Christine (no she's not onto number three, but one day....). I'm so grateful that she came to meet me. Helped to calm me down and keep my mind off the awfulness...

On a positive note (I guess), when the cop gave me the information back, he informed me that it totally wasn't my fault and that he was giving this kid the ticket (I say kid because he was 16, driving his brand new 2012 Hyundai). And after I went through everything with the insurance company, they also informed me that it totally wasn't my fault and they even waived the deductible. And we got a rental car for free until the car is fixed (2012 VW Golf, total fluke), and we had to get a new car seat, but they are covering that for us as well. It's not an ideal situation, but it could have been worse. Way worse. I have to be grateful for how it turned out because nobody was hurt.

I almost feel bad for that kid. His dad showed up and he was so mad. He came over to me (the dad) when I was cleaning out the car and could barely get out what he was trying to say. He knew right off that it was his kids fault, and he was so glad that nobody was hurt, but you could tell how disappointed he was. I think seeing me take the stroller out of the back set him off into realizing that "holy crap, there was a kid in that car too". The poor kid was in tears when I went to his car to tell him that the cops were on their way and we'd exchange information when they got there.

And this was all at 9:25 this morning. Not exactly what I had in mind for my Friday. Christien had to leave school early. I didn't get a play date/coffee date in with Christine and Cash, and I'm not going on a fun wine tasting date with my husband tonite. I pray when I wake up tomorrow it'll just be a new day and we can start fresh. Hug everyone and make sure they know you love them. Always.

Deep Freeze

2012-01-21T09:34:00.001-08:00

It's been colder then cold out there this last week. Below -30 and yet, by Wednesday it's going to be +10. At least it's something to look forward to. With it being that cold, it's hard to get out with the little guy. In and out of the car, warming it up, making sure his mitts stay on his hands. Sheesh. We did manage to get out a few days last week. It was a relief. And a much needed break. Went swimming once with mama and once with dada. Saw Cash and William. Reid needs to get out and run his energy off. Back and forth from the living room to the kitchen just doesn't cut it. He's now off with his dada on an adventure. They are taking the train to Chinook. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it. So I've got the house to myself for a few hours. Going to do a quick workout (11 lbs gone so far) and get to cleaning the house for our big date with Shannon and the losing Oilers tonite. Have a happy weekend all!!

Skating

2012-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot! We took Reid skating on New Year's Eve during the day. He did so great. He got a pair of bob skates for Christmas, and he was just wicked on the ice. It didn't take him long to get his balance. He could skate forward (tried to skate backwards like his dad). He was falling down, and then really mastering getting back up and regaining his balance on skates, which is amazing. By the end of it, he was getting his balance before he actually fell. I was pretty much in awe. A 22 month old, actually getting it. We were out there for 45 minutes. He's a little trooper. Then it got super warm, and the "rinks" that we were skating on just started to melt, and now it's super cold and windy and snowy. We're going to have to take him to the indoor skate this weekend at Village Square.

Christmas Time

2012-01-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas with my folks this year. It was so much different then last year, with Reid being a bit more aware. I don't think that he really knew what was going on and why (except that he did know all about Santa - he was obsessed with the guy), but he did know that there was something different happening. He was a ball of excitement. From the time we put cookies and milk and our stockings out for Santa, to his wicked reaction when he woke up the next morning. It took us so long to open presents. About three hours. I think that it took us over an hour to get the stockings done. Reid didn't do much opening. He would get something and put it in his little cart and run it up and down the hallway. And then we'd open something else, and he'd usually do a double take (especially if it was a truck) and then get all excited about that. It was crazy fun. Lots of movies and toys and clothes. He got spoiled. First shot on Christmas morning...Boxing day, we had our annual open house. And we had a really good turn out this year. It was nice to have everyone over during the holidays. We turned the basement into a playroom, and had Reid's new AC/DC video playing the whole time. The boys were all down there with the kids, while the girls hung out in the kitchen drinking wine, and the Langis' and the Desilets' hung out in the living room, chatting and catching up.
We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve again this year. Just the three of us. At home, making pizzas and watching some TV. We let Reid stay up a bit later and then Christien and I just hung out and had some drinks. We even made it to midnight this year. Party animals!

Carousel and Hockey Practice

2011-12-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas, Christine and I took Reid and Cash to the mall. To get out of the house and to ride the carousel. The boys loved it. Cash was a bit weary of getting on the horse, but he had a blast riding in the sleigh with Christine. Reid thought it was the coolest. He just said "horse, horse, horse" over and over again the whole time he was on it. Mid-way through the ride he was pushing my hand away from his back. He could do it himself, apparently.

A couple days after Christien got home, we took Cash and Reid to a Flames practice. Christien had researched it the last time that he was home, and it's a free practice, open to the public.We even got to park for free, which was great. Thought that we'd take Cash off Christine's hands for a bit in the morning, so that she could chill out with Chelsea. The boys had a blast, and half an hour is basically their attention span. That might have even been too long, but we still eeked it out for the 30 minutes. If they were interested, we could have stayed and watched the other team practice. When the Oilers come to town, I think that we'll take them again. But for the second half of the practice and we'll all wear our jerseys. Ha ha. It was totally dead when we were there, but looking back, that kinda makes sense. It was a Tuesday, in the middle of the day. Most people are working, I suppose.

Mama's Little Helper

2011-12-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

I started my Christmas baking last week. And who knew I had such a keen little helper on my hands. Cleo brought up Christien's apron, hat and oven mitts that he used to wear when he was little, last Christmas. So we pulled them out, and he was all about it. Especially when I put on my Christmas apron. What a blast we had. He was so helpful, and loves helping! Now, every time I take out the mix master, he gets so excited. And he can't stop with the "Num! Num!". He helps to dump and turn the mixer one. It did take me one try to realize that he can't turn it on full blast after I've added the dry ingredients. We had a little mishap, but it was still pretty funny. What a great little guy.

Mama's Night Out

2011-12-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

Christien and I went to the Lullabye League mixer in October and found us a couple babysitter possibilities. One of the girls came over and met Reid back in October and I haven't really needed a sitter. Till tonite!! Shannon scored tickets to the Oilers/Flames game and she's bringing me! So excited. I haven't been to a hockey game in so long. And just to get away for one night, without Reid, is going to be so fantastic. I love him to death, but this new screamfest (and waking up at all hours of the night) has just got me worn out. This date with Shannon couldn't have come at a better time. We'll see how the babysitter makes out. She's a bit older, and has lots of experience with kids, so I really hope that Reid doesn't scare her off. When she came over to meet Reid he really seemed to take to her. That was a few months ago, so I hope it'll be the same thing tonite. And then if it's all good, when Christien comes home and is going to school, maybe we'll even use her again, and go out together. Just the two of us. Dinner and a movie? Sounds fabulous. Drinks with friends? Don't mind if I do. For now I'm just really excited about tonite and really hoping that she makes out ok with the little devil! Good luck Amanda!

Big Boy Bed

2011-12-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2011. The day we put Reid into a big boy bed. We just couldn't keep him in his crib anymore. He was always crawling out of it and thinking that it was the funniest thing ever. It just wasn't safe anymore. So we went out, and finally tracked down a rail for the convertible crib that we have. The first few days were great. Naps were a different story, but they always are. So I knew that they were going to be as tough, if not tougher then they had been before. We lucked out the first few days with naps. He was actually tired enough to be rocked to sleep. Sleep time is my new hell. We have a routine that we've had for months, and it's always worked. Teeth brushed, book, bottle, rock, bedtime. Now as soon as I lay him in his crib he SCREAMS his lungs out. Over and over and over again. Forty five minutes is my limit. I can't handle it after that and I just leave him to scream it out. I'm sure that I should leave him before that, but I can't take the screaming and the kicking at the door. I've tried everything. It's been so bad that I'm considering turning his bed back into a crib. I don't know what to do. Why does everything with this child have to be at one end of the spectrum or the other. Either he's sweet and wonderful, or he's just the devil. There has to be something that I can do to stop the screaming. Right now I just try to do what I can for 45 minutes and then cry until he stops screaming at the top of his lungs.

Gymnastics

2011-12-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Reid had his last gymnastics class last week. It was a family day, so Christien and I both went with him and played around the gym with him. Christien even got to jump on the trampoline with Reid. He got a little certificate at the end, and I think that he had a really, really good time with mama and dada. Sad that it's over. Now we just have swimming and playdates to keep us busy till Christmas rolls around. Reid is quite the little dare devil thanks to gymnastics. I still blame gymnastics for the reason that he started flipping out of his crib.

Balance beam action shot

Dominican Republic 2011

2011-12-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

What a vacation. Sun, sand, surf and beach. What more could you ask for? It was awesome to get away from the impending winter. We had a blast. It was, however, very hard to be on a beachy, relaxation vacation by myself with Reid. I had massive help from my family. Ty, Stacey and my dad played with him in the waves all the time. And my mum took him for loads of walks and put him to bed so many nights for me. It was so helpful, but at the end of the day, it was still me responsible for Reid. If he was fussing, or crying for me, or causing a fit, then I was the one to take care of him. And if you take a baby out of his element for a week, you are bound to get some of those scenarios. It was wonderfully fantastic though. Just missing dada while we were away, that's all. Ty, Stacey and I took a horseback ride as our outing of choice while we were there. It was great. None of us had been on a horse in years. It was right along the beach. Through the water. Took us an hour and 45 to get to the top view, and then 15 minutes to gallop back. It was super fun. SO SORE though. Holy smokes. Didn't think I'd be able to bend my knees once he helped me off the horse. Needless to say, Stacey and I took the next two days off from our workouts.Reid LOVED the waves. They were much bigger then they were in Cuba. On the first day, and the first time that he ventured into the water, he kinda veered away from the surf a bit. By the time he set his feet in there the second time, it was like he was a pro. He would lay, belly down, just past the smallest swell. Once a wave would break, he'd ready himself and then let the wave take him. He totally learned to keep his head up when the wave was pushing him towards the beach. We had to have two people with him at most times. One to make sure that he didn't flip too much by being washed up shore, and the other to make sure that the current didn't tug him out into open waters. He was crazed for the water. People who were walking along the beach would stop and watch him. He was so crazy.There was also a little turtle pond that he loved to visit. It was right at the end of our walkway towards the beach/pool/restaurants/bar. He even learned to say turtle on Day 1 when we were there. One day I went up to get his stroller to take him on a walk/nap and when I got back to the beach he was wearing a turtle necklace. Give to him by a vendor. They loved him on the beach. They were taking pictures of him and chatting with him all the time.

We had a great time with poppa and baba, and Tyyyyyyyyy and aunty Zouzou. Was glad to get home to see Christien, not glad to leave paradise.

Two More Sleeps

2011-11-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! We are leaving for the Dominican on Monday! I can't even believe it. It seems to have just snuck up on me. I am really sad that Christien isn't coming with us. And maybe that's why it seems to have come out of nowhere. We aren't all going, so we aren't all anticipating it at home. He's excited that we get to go. And said if mum and dad ever want to take us anywhere ever again, there is nothing that is going to stop him from coming with us. We are excited though. I asked Reid today, if he wanted to go on a trip and he said "otay". And I told him that we are going to see Grandma and Grandpa. And he's been looking for them and asking for them all day.

Now, he calls dad Pappa - which is all his doing. And calls mum - Baba (or something like that) and again, that's all him. My parents seem to think that we had something to do with him calling them something other then grandma and grandpa. What can you do. He's his own little dude. Franklin is "Daydee" no matter what. For two years it's be Franklin and he comes back with Daydee all the time. Yet we're at Christine's the other day and the puppy is all of a sudden Patch. What a guy.

Now it's Saturday. I have most of our stuff laid out on the bed ready to be packed. Lists have been made. I'm starting to scratch a few things off the list, meanwhile adding many things to the list, but I have faith that I will be done by the time our taxi is here to pick us up on Monday night. Then it's off to paradise. I've got some books downloaded. Imagine, to read a book on the beach. Read some magazines and gossip with Stacey? I can't wait. Eeekk... Getting super excited.

Prison Break

2011-11-11T11:27:00.001-08:00

Well, Reid can now successfully get out of his own crib. No falling out. He can execute the dismount perfectly. I blame gymnastics.

I put him down on Tuesday. Didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Went to the basement to work out. Franklin was ripping around the house, so at the end of my work out I put him outside and then turned on the monitor - still not hearing anything from his room. On the monitor I could sort of hear him chattering, nothing much, but I kept checking (I can't keep the monitor constantly on cause it just makes me crazy). Then I heard some jingling/rattling. I ran upstairs and opened his door and there he was. Sitting by the wall shaking his piggy bank. His room was trashed. He had opened the top drawer of his dresser, where all his diapers and wipes are kept and just launched them all over the room. He had a big glob of Vaseline on his cheek and had unrolled a whole roll of diaper bags. I was just dumbfounded. Not only at the mess, but how on earth did he get out of his crib. Especially when I heard nothing. I kinda gasped when I walked in and he looked at me and looked around the room and started making funny sounds as if to say "What? Oh my. Look at this mess. Who on earth broke in here and did it?" I kid you not. Then he got right up and helped me clean it up. I eventually put him back in his crib and sat right there to see how he managed to escape. Sure enough he walked to the corner of the crib, pushed himself up, swung one leg over then the other, then slid right down. Are you freaking kidding me?

Needless to say, nap time has been hard these last few days. He hates to nap and over the last few months he's been basically screaming or crying or yelling himself to sleep. He'll usually only go on for about 5 minutes, but it's just been awful. Now that he's managed to figure out how to get out of his crib, that's all that he does. I put him down, he gets up and goes straight to the corner to plot his escape. I spent an hour and 45 minutes sitting outside his door on Wednesday cause he needed a nap and I didn't want him climbing out of his crib hurting himself. So every time I'd hear him get up and close to the rails, I'd just peek my head in and tell him to lay back down. It eventually worked. Yesterday all I had to do was tell him once. That sent him into a screaming frenzy but he did eventually lay down. And it lasted all of 2 minutes. And then he was out. I took a shower after my workout and after I had gotten out of the shower, I heard a crash. Not the sound of a baby falling out of a crib, but a crash. I ran into his room and there he was, behind the rocking chair. He had pulled the lamp off his change table. I guess he just decided it was time to get up and out of bed.

He's OK at night. He's still up between 4 and 5 at which time I usually get him and bring him into bed with me, cause I know that we'll get an extra few hours of sleep if I do it that way. I think when Christien comes home it's time to transition his crib into a big boy bed. Sigh... Just when you think you've got parts of it figured out, those parts are all awash. What a guy.

New Mattress = Better Sleep

2011-11-05T15:34:00.001-07:00

Christien and I bought a new mattress today, and it's been a long time since I was really, really excited about a new purchase. Our old mattress is Christien's old mattress, so let's say it's at least 10 years old. We've tried to revamp it by getting a memory foam thingy for the top, which totally helped. But even now Christien is having issues sleeping with that. We've tried flipping the mattress and memory foam, all to no avail. My back aches every day when I wake up. Christien spied a big sale at the Brick for today and we were there first thing this morning to pick out our new mattress. Of course the sales guy had us try the best of the best first off, and then nothing compared to it. At 50% off you can't really go wrong. Plus a 180 day sleep guarantee. I'm so excited for it to be delivered tomorrow. Reid has gotten better at sleeping longer periods throughout the night, so this is just the next step in getting a better sleep and feeling more refreshed in the morning. Who would have thought that this would cause me so much joy? Can't wait to try that puppy out!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-11-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Reid's second Halloween was much more fun then his first one. He still didn't have a clue about what was going on, but he definitely knew that something was different. He was the cutest little sock monkey ever. A cute gift from his auntie Kerri. I'm super surprised that he kept his little hat on for as long as he did. He definitely liked to be dressed up. He loved the pumpkins, but wasn't too into taking the guts out. Too gross. He thought that it was pretty cool when they were all carved out and lit up. Christien took him around to a few houses in the neighbourhood and he had a blast. He tried to walk right into a few of the houses. Not shy this one.

Poor little monkey ended up getting sick at the end of the night. We first thought that it was cause of all the candy that he was chomping on, but by the time he had thrown up for the third and fourth time in the middle of the night, we realized that there must be something else wrong. I knew that he was a bit off all day. Kinda sleepy way before his normal nap time. Kinda fussy. Then in the evening after his nap he seemed to perk up. That didn't last for long. Poor poor guy. He was red, but not feverish all day today. We all just took a sick day and cuddled on the couch and watched movies and he napped a bit. He seems to be feeling a bit better now, but still not himself.

Beyond Exhausted

2011-10-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to do with this little guy anymore. He just refuses to sleep, hates to nap and definitely is not close to sleeping through the night. He's so active. And I get him outside as much as possible to pump all that fresh air into him and still. It's a massive battle at nap time now. And he's just not quite ready to cut it out of his routine. Not only is he still tired (cause he'll sleep for at least an hour an a half), but I can't imagine not having that little bit of down time to myself. If you thought I didn't keep a clean house when he was napping wait till we're on the go from 6am to 8pm. Well, today he decided to be up at 430. It was awful. He was so crabby all morning. Then I went to put him for a nap, fell asleep in my arms but the second his head touched the pillow he was up and screaming. And for those of you that think, when I say screaming, I mean that he was just loud crying, or you might even think screeching. Also, no. He was full fledged, at the top of his lungs screaming. It sounded like someone was being tortured. I am beyond surprised that nobody called the cops. I just don't know what to do with him anymore. How can I be the best mum possible if I wake up exhausted and crabby every morning? I think that Christien feels the same way. He mentioned that Reid's lack of sleep is really interfering with our relationship. And on top of that, how am I so exhausted and he's just fine all day. I don't get it. I need a sleep class. I need someone to come into my house and tell me what's wrong with my baby. Until then I might resort to sleeping in the basement. Cry it out little boy. Cry it out.

Pumpkin Hunt

2011-10-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Reid went on his first pumpkin hunt on Sunday. We went this early so that Christien could join us and so that we could beat little Miss Dunhams arrival. It wasn't the most beautiful day to spend outside. Kinda windy and cold. However, we still had a blast. Cash and Reid both found super great pumpkins! And we got to check out a few of the animals and we had a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Good times. Good buddies. Fun Sunday.

Found one dadaCash too!Reid's first pumpkin huntAnd with mummyWagon ride back to the farmMomma and Cashy boy

After the hunt we sent the boys home for a nap and then the Shorts joined the Dunhams and the Hassmans for Thanksgiving dinner. Was a great afternoon. Cash and Reid had their first bath together - momma Dunham got some incriminating pictures of them. And we just walked that little baby out of Christine. Well, we tried too. And today she made her I cannot wait to meet Miss Chelsea Lynn Dunham!! Congrats Brian, Christine and Cash!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-10-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Seeing as it's a nice time to reflect and to give thanks to what and who make us what we are, please indulge me....

I'm thankful for my amazing husband. He'll do anything for his family. He loves us unconditionally and is always open to try out everything with us. He will support us no matter what and that's always the first thing in his mind. We love him with all our hearts. "Oh dada..."

I'm thankful for my lovely and sweet little boy. He is the most amazing person I have ever met. So smart. So cute. So fun. I might not be thankful to his inability to sleep, but I am thankful to have him in my life. I would be lost and sad and lonely without him.

I'm thankful for my parents and my in-laws. They offer so much support and love. I'm really very lucky to have been born into and married into these families. We love you with all our hearts and appreciate everything that you do for us.

I'm thankful for my brother and sister in-laws (that includes you Miss Stacey and Miss Kerri). The love and support that you have always shown us is unbelievable. We love you to death and would do anything for any of you.

I'm thankful for my honest friends. Not my facebook friends (although some of you might fall into that category) but to my real friends. Friends who have always been there for me with a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen, or glass of wine to share. I hope that you know who you are and I will love you always.

I'm thankful that I am able to stay home with my son. The first year of his life was great and very documented (thanks to a lovely camera... that I still don't know how to use, but stay tuned..). Now that I get to take him out of daycare and stay home with him indefinitely.. I can't even tell you how amazing this is. We are able to do so much together. My mum was able to stay home with myself and my brother when we were young and I think that was a great opportunity for us. I'm very grateful that I'm able to provide my son with this opportunity as well.

I'm thankful for my health and the health of my family. We all suffer through our droughts but so far we've all come out on top. Fighting and stronger then ever. For that I am grateful. Because as you fall, you learn, and you become more and more grateful for what you do have rather then wanting for what is beyond your grasp.

I'm thankful for the sun that shines on my face and warms my body. I'm thankful for those senses. I'm thankful for the rain that helps my tulips and grass to grow. And for the snow, that I know we are going to make many many snow angels in this winter.

And finally I'm just thankful for my life. I'm bound to falter every now and again, but when I take one step back, how could I not embrace this. My husband, my son, my friends, my family and my health. I love you all and thank you for making me thankful for being me. Hugs and kisses, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Surprises Surprises!!

2011-09-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we pulled off a few good surprises last week. For one, Reid and I flew home to surprise mum for her birthday. I've been planning it for a few months, and have had my tickets booked for about a month now. Dad was in on the surprise, so he's been quietly getting gear together for Reid. A crib, car seat, high chair, all the while trying to keep the secret from mum. Which was hard, seeing as he works from home, and mum is retired so she's around the house a lot with dad. He did manage to pull it off. A few secret phone calls and e-mails later and we were back home. Mum was really shocked when we showed up. We let Reid in the house first and mum was in the kitchen. She didn't even recognize Reid, cause she wasn't expecting him. She just said "hello there" to him, then it started to hit her and dad and I walked in. I was really happy that I was able to bring Reid to my childhood home before mum and dad move. He won't remember, but we made some really good memories while we were there. Dad raked the leaves (Reid helped) and then he jumped into the piles (Reid, not dad). On top of that, we had a surprise visit from dada Monday night. Dad knew he was coming and at about 8 the doorbell rang and "surprise". He even got to stay overnight with us. Too bad he had to be up at 4 to head back to work. It was great to see him, and helped break up his two week stint.

We drove down to Edmonton on Thursday. Reid was really good in the car. Maybe because it was a different car seat, or maybe because I was in the back seat with him. Who knows. But it was a decent ride. No freak outs at all. Only slept for half an hour or so, but as long as he isn't screaming, then it's all good. Visited with my friend Trish and her daughter Rylan that night, and then headed to Ty's for the weekend.

It was aunty Sandy's birthday on Friday, so us "kids" all went over to surprise her for dinner. Her two kids, and three grandkids, plus Ty, Stacey, Reid and I, and mum and dad. Made for a good surprise and a nice dinner. The grandkids all went out back after dinner and cleaned up all the apples that had fallen off the apple tree. They each got a dollar too for all their hard work. His first paid job. LOL.

We pulled together a surprise party for mum and aunty Sandy at Ty's place on Saturday. Neither of them had any idea and it went off without a hitch. We all had a really great time. Especially the kids. So much fun running around and playing with each other. My aunt and uncle, who I haven't seen in about 16 years, showed up a little later in the evening. They missed mum and dad by half an hour which was really too bad. But it was great to see them and catch up for a bit.

Extracurricular Activities

2011-09-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Swimming starts tomorrow! It's his second time for lessons but this time I think he's more into it. So excited to learn how to teach Reid to kick and breathe and float. He loves the water. He's going to go crazy. I finally got him enrolled in gymnastics today. It's been crazy trying to get ahold of them and figuring out what times work best for us. We wanted to be in classes with Cash, but they were full by the time I called. Finally figured out a time that would work for us and got the last seat in the class. So looking forward to it. Reid jumps on the couch enough, the trampolines should give him an outlet. Christine and I are going to try to get in a class or two from Gymboree (music I hope) before her next little bundle of joy arrives.

Butterfield Acres

2011-09-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

We visited the farm! It was so much fun. Grandma Cleo and aunt Bernie came with us to see the animals. I knew that Reid would have a blast considering he is such an animal lover. We showed up and it was a beautiful day. Too bad all the adults didn't have the appropriate footwear. Luckily they let us stay and just advised to thoroughly clean our feet once we got home. Sheesh, you'd think "close toed shoes are a must" would be something that they would post on their website. Anyways, Reid had his kicks on so we were all good.
He went crazy when he saw the goats. Two footed jumping. And man, those goats were a bit aggressive. I would guess because they are so used to people bringing them food. But they were babies and pretty cool to touch. The lambs were my favorite. So soft. Reid cuddled into them too. They were pretty chill. The piglets scared the crap out of me. First there is this barn, and you look into it and there is a hog the size of I don't even know what. She's like 300 or 400 lbs, and she just snorted as me as soon as I looked into it. Assuming I was going to see some cute piglets, well... That made me take a step back. The piglets rushed us once we figured out that they were sleeping and kept licking our legs and feet. Yuck. Then one got out while we were trying to make out way out of the pen, and instead of coming to the aid of his wife, mother and aunt, Christien and Reid bailed out the back way. They had a beautiful black stallion that just let us pet her. She was amazing to look at.

And Reid had his first pony ride. He was so serious the whole time. Holding on really tightly and just concentrating. He finally gave a bit of a smirkey smile once we got to the end of the ride. Very cute and I'm sure his aunt Kerri will be so proud that he was on a horse at such a young age. We rounded the day out with a tractor ride on Old Blue. It was pretty cool being pulled by such an old tractor all around the farm. We've also purchased tickets for the Pumpkin hunt. It'll be Christien, myself, Christine, Cash and Reid. I can't wait to see the two of them hunting for pumpkins and petting the animals. We're going at the beginning of October so fingers crossed that we'll still have some nice weather and that baby Christine is lugging around doesn't come too early.

Greek Dinner with the Aussies

2011-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

With Christien's aunt and uncle being in town from Australia, and staying with their nephew, Super Dave, we obviously wanted to have them over for dinner. And after the great moussaka at Jasmine's the other night, I was dying to try out a recipe from my Greek cookbook. I kinda went all out on my Greek theme night and was very proud of the results. On Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market and I got a few olives and breads from 2 Greek Gals, then on Monday (which went from Date Night to Date Day - thanks Grandma and Bernie), Christien and I went down to the Greek grocery store. Greek grocery store, you ask?? Yes, I had no idea that Calgary had one either. Not only did I find it on my first try with Google, but all I read were great reviews. Obviously had to go there and get some hard to find items. It's downtown, just off 11th Street. Just a little place on the corner. It was JAMMED packed. You had to walk sideways down most of the aisles. But man, did they ever have some great stuff. To start off, on their cheese menu, the first two cheeses listed, which are very hard to find, were the two that I needed for the moussaka and the saganaki. Perfect. We bobbed around the store a bit. Picked up some baklava for dessert (oh my) and found the honey that Christien fell in love with in Greece. When we were there for our honeymoon we would get breakfast brought to us in our room. It was always about half a dozen (or more) fresh buns/pastries, cheeses, meats, sometimes eggs, juice, coffee, tea and honey. Christien would eat all the honey, every morning, simply spread on a fresh roll (or two or three). Needless to say, he was beyond happy when he found it. Pricey, but worth it. I also sought out our sommalier friend, Mike and inquired where I could get some drinkable Greek wine. Now, Greece has vineyards. They are definitely different from what you are used to in North America, but they have them. The wine in Greece left something to be desired though. Mike made a recommendation and told me that it was actually a pretty nice wine. It turned out that it was definitely drinkable and went really well with our dinner. We also picked up a 6 pack of Mythos (for $15.99 - sheesh) to round out the evening. It was a blast. The food was great, the company was great, but not only that, it was really fun to go and pick up all this stuff with Christien and reminisce about our honeymoon. Six more years and we're going back. I can't wait!!

Visitors

2011-09-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Christien's mum arrived yesterday for a visit with us. She hasn't seen Reid since Christmas, so she's seen quite a change in the little mister. I think she likes him. Enough to take him back to Halifax with her? We'll see. I kid. She does seem to be having a good time with him. He is a lot more fun now, that's for sure. He was pretty good at Christmas too, but now he's just got more words, is down to one nap a day so there is plenty of time to actually get out and do things (he's always been an awful car/stroller napper). We've got a few things planned so I hope that this weather clears up like it's supposed to. I want to take Reid out to Butterfield Acres. I think that'll be a hoot. It'll definitely crack us all up.

We were just at the airport this evening welcoming in Christein's aunt and uncle from Australia. They are on a month long tour of Canada (home) and have just spent the last two weeks in Newfoundland doing their rounds. They are in Calgary for the next two weeks now and staying with Super Dave. We didn't get much chatting done at the airport as their flight was late and it was so hot in there, and Reid was starting to show signs of falling apart (which he did promptly when we got into the car). So we'll be seeing them again tomorrow for a get together that Dave is planning. Sounds like it's going to be quite the party. Cleo and Bernie are going to babysit Reid for us on Monday so Christien and I can head out on a date. Not sure where or what we're doing but looking forward to it. And I've decided (after the marvelous moussaka at Jasmine's) that I'm going to have them over for dinner on Tuesday and do a Greek themed night. I didn't even realize that Calgary had a Greek market. I'm off to check it out on Monday. Hopefully I'll find some magnificent things and Christien will finally get his cheese saganaki.

The Enchanted Forest

2011-08-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

Our final stop on our trip to the Okanagan was The Enchanted Forest on the way home from Kelowna.

It was a perfect stop in our trip. Reid was just waking up from his nap, and it was pretty close to lunch time. We were planning to stop there ahead of time, so we were excited. Reid was also very excited. Jumping up and down and running around like a loon. In and out of houses. Having tea with wolves, meeting Pooh and his friends. It was definitely worth it. It took us about an hour just to walk through it. Reid was amazed at the giant swing from the zip line place. He's just too little right now. He's going to be quite the daredevil when he gets old enough. There were ducks in the pond at the end of the walk as well. Again, he went crazy over them.

Speaking of birds, we met The Dunhams down at Prince's Island this weekend and we let the boys run around the park for a bit. They spied a duo of geese and made their way straight towards them. Just chasing them all around. By one point Cash was at the bottom of the hill running up at them, and Reid was at the top, running down at them. Those geese were trapped. Good skills from the boys. I had to grab Reid and get him out of there. Those geese gross me out.

Kelowna

2011-08-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

The continuation of our travels this summer...

We left a great weekend in Kamloops to spend a few days in Kelowna. Joined, after a day or two, by my parents. We rolled into Kelowna a bit later then expected, so we didn't get to meet up with Christien's buddy and his family. We just made our way to my aunt and uncle's place. It was, of course, the most beautiful weather. The next couple of days we spent a lot of time during the day with our little family and then came together with our extended family at night. Couldn't' have asked for anything better. We went to the H2O Center in Kelowna a couple of times. One day we went in the morning to work out, took Reid and put him in "child care" and then after our workout we went swimming in the splash pool. So much fun. The real fun stuff wasn't open till later in the day so we went again the next day after the vineyards and Christien got to try the wave runner out (indoor, standing surfing) and a water slide or two. It was lots of fun. I loved the lazy float river. Reid loved the slides in the kiddie part. **Christine, you have to take Brian and Cash when you are there next week**

We, of course, went to Cedar Creek. I have to go back there every time we are in Kelowna. Holds so many special memories for me, as that's where we were married. Funny, we never go back to the Manteo. I guess that's where the party was, and the vineyard is where the real stuff happened! We checked out the Last Straw vineyard this year. I loved all the wines from there. So great, and so cute.

Four Years Later

Me and the munchkin at Cedar Creek

Little Straw Vineyards

Ding-A-Lings

With grandpa

Push up contest - Reid is the winner!

Reid is coo-coo for water so we had him at the water park and city park. Once my parents got there, we spend one day at Gyro beach (my favorite) and Reid just had the best time. He found this stick and would hold onto the ends, while Christien held onto the middle and just spun him around and around and around. He just killed himself laughing. They also did some balancing tricks in the water. Christien would pop Reid up on his hands and he would balance and then he would push him up at high as he could and then drop him into the water. Again, another thing that made him giggle uncontrollably. I think that he's starting to get his "water legs".

Eighteen Months

2011-08-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Eighteen months old on the 18th. Isn't that a special golden birthday or something? Happy year and a half my sweet baby boy. Stop growing up so fast. I love you.

Kamloops

2011-08-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from our week long trip out to the Okanagan. It was a blast. And the trip itself was so much better this year with Reid. He seemed to be more relaxed in the car. I think, round trip, we did 18 hours total of driving, and he fussed for maybe 3 hours total. While still frustrating (try driving for an hour with a screaming baby that you can't calm down), it was much better then last year's drive out to the coast. Seeing as we have loads of pictures, I thought that I would break up the blog posts so that it's less like a novel.

We made it to Kamloops in pretty good time, 7.5 hours. Considering we have a baby that we had to stop a few times for to let him out to stretch his legs, that wasn't too bad. And man was it hot when we got there. We opened the windows as we were rolling down the highway and put our arms out and it was just heat. I think that it was about 35 the whole weekend that we were there. Dale and Kristin and Mackenzie showed up a few hours after us. Seems they had the kind of trip that we had last year becasue Dale got out of the backseat with a screaming baby. Ah the joys... We had a good visit with the Witzaneys and the Lockharts. Christien started this "push up contest" at work. It basically includes challenging someone to a push up contest. Whoever goes the longest wins and then they can challenge any duo of dudes to do a contest and so on and so forth. So of course he had the boys in on it on the weekend. They did it so often that even Reid caught on. He would say, "You, me, push up contest, right now" and Reid would fall to the ground on his stomach and just wait for someone else to challenge him. Then he would do one "push up" and proceed to run and jump on his challenger. Needless to say, he was the winner every time. We hit up the beach and the waterpark while we were there. And celebrated Jenni's birthday. Good times with good friends.

Say My Name, Say My Name

2011-08-04T15:01:00.001-07:00

Reid started saying his name today. So cute. He basically says "Reeeee", but that's his version of it for now. He's slowly adding more and more words to his vocabulary. I thought that we were going to have a "B" issue on our hands. Ball was his first word, and he does dada all the time, but we were looking at the fish and it kept coming out "bish". It has now progressed to "fish" so he's catching on. It's crazy how fast he's picking things up. Sounds and grunts and groans. We have to be careful what we say around him now. I think it's time to bring back the swear jar. If we start saving now, I'm sure we'll have enough for Disneyland when he's 5!!

We're off on holidays starting tomorrow! So excited to head out to the Okanagan for a week. Didn't think that we'd be able to do it this summer, but once I quit my job, time just seemed to open up and Christien suggested we head out there. We're going to be spending the weekend in Kamloops with the Witzaneys! And we just learned last night, that we're having an impromptu visit on the Saturday night by the Lockharts!! Just got better and better. We're all staying with Jenni and Ryan. It's going to be quite the packed out, but that always makes for the best times. I can't wait to see everyone again. Christien is quite lucky, as he's gotten to see his best buds three times in the last two months. That's saying something seeing as we all live about 8 hours from each other.

We head to Kelowna on Sunday and are going to meet up with a guy that Christien works with up in Firebag and his wife and two daughters for the afternoon, then we head to my aunts place. Going to have a nice visit with them for a few days and then my parents get there on Wednesday. We're hoping to hit up the splash park and the beach a few times. Reid is going to love the beach this year. Lake Okanagan just goes out for so far and doesn't really get that deep. And it's warm! I've already got his beach kit packed! Full of buckets and shovels. We're going to stop at the Enchanted Forest on the way home. Reid loved camping so much, and loves it outside that I think he'll get a kick out of it. He won't really "get it" - with all the references and stuff, but he's still going to love being outside and walking around I am sure.

We get back on a Friday night and are planning our annual patio party for the Saturday. I am so happy that we're having it again this year. And surprised that Christien didn't put up more of a fuss. He's never one for the planning of the parties, but he always has the most fun out of everyone. I actually, finally, convinced him to get a new BBQ (smokin' deal cause it's "end of the season, even though I bought it in the middle of July). So we're just going simple this year. Burgers and dogs. A friend offered to bring a salad and I might try to recruit a couple other buddies to help with the snacks. We're just wishing for the sun this year. Last year we got rain and Curtis ran to the store to pick up some tarps to cover the deck so we could actually BBQ. Great guy! Totally helped too. It wasn't really cold out, just rainy. So we did get to spend some time out on the deck. But we don't want that this year. We want a nice day, full of sunshine. I think that Christien is most "cool" about the party this year, cause he really doesn't get to see our friends all that much with him being away. When he comes home, we really try to spend most of our time together (and with Reid). I think (even though it's the best spending time together as a family) we need to remember that we have a lot of amazing friends out there, who we love and miss and want to spend time with. We just have to make it more of a priority and remember that we're still doing it together.

I can't wait for this vacation to start! Love to you all, and have a great week!

Last Day of Daycare

2011-07-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's Reid last day of daycare today. I'm going back and forth on this. Are we making the right decision? I know that we are, but then I question myself sometimes. Am I being selfish by wanting to stay at home with him? That doesn't make any sense. All I want to do is raise my son, instead of having someone else do it. Is he going to miss all his friends? He seems so happy when I drop him off. Running and laughing and holding hands with his buddies. Will he be socialized enough when it's just the two of us? The ladies at daycare are going to miss him so much, and that's all that I've heard over these past weeks when I pick him up. And then I start to feel guilty for wanting to take him out of daycare to stay home with me. We're going to have so much fun together. I've got so many things researched and lined up for him and I to do together. Plus it's summer and a lot of my friends from baby class are teachers so they have the summer off. So there will be play dates. I know that it's the right thing to do for him, and for us. And then sometimes I think that I'm robbing him of this opportunity.. to be in daycare... Agh. I guess it's just cause it was such a big decision to make and there were a lot of pros and very minimal cons. I am very excited to start this next chapter in our lives and I vow to do right by Reid and be the best stay at home mum that I can be.

Counting Kisses

2011-07-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite things of Reid's, as of late, is his kisses. It's just the sweetest thing. He started off blowing kisses, and how can that not melt your heart. He'd blow kisses to me when I dropped him off at daycare, blow kisses to the daycare ladies when I picked him up, blows kisses to grandma and grandpa when we are on Skype. It's just so cute. From there he progressed to, coming right at ya, mouth open, suck on your face kisses. Gross, I know, but also so sweet. We were in Lethbridge a few weeks ago, and the three of us were laying down trying to have a nap. Reid in the middle, and he kept going from Christien to me, with big wet kisses. Actually, come to think of it, that's when his kisses started coming a bit more under control. Now he's give little becks. That's the best word I can think of to describe it. He can make the kissey smacking sound and as he makes that sound he bounces off you. It's so cute. He kisses Franklin, and the dog next door (Chewy) and the cat next door. And me, and his dada. He's one sweet little boy. Two more days of daycare and then it's just the two of us....

Another Week

2011-07-24T21:18:00.001-07:00

It's Reid's last week at daycare next week. The ladies are already going on about how sad they are that he's leaving and how much they are going to miss him. I feel bad that I'm taking him from all the ladies at daycare and his friends, but like everyone I know who has kids, I want to raise him, and spend time with him. I'm excited. I don't have much of a plan of attack list for next week. A few things need to be cleaned out still, and I might start either making meals and freezing them, or at least getting a meal plan done for a couple of weeks out so that it'll be easier, and more productive when I do grocery shopping.

I've got a few things lined up for when he's done daycare and it's just the two of us. Art classes, music classes, swimming lessons, and gymnastics (I'm still waiting for some information of those classes from my friend... hint hint...).

We went to a great splash park that's real close to our house today. It was so nice out and Reid loved it. I could have used an extra pair of hands, cause he needs to be followed and monitored at all times. Even with me right with him, he still had a couple of spills on the slippery ground. He loved it there. And there is a great park right there as well. He almost fell asleep in the swing. So tuckered out.

One more week then Christien's back! Yay! Then we get to finalized our plans for our week long trip to the Okanagan. Can't wait.

Four Years and Counting

2011-07-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

It was Christien and my four year anniversary yesterday. We didn't get to spend it together, again, as he was working. We did celebrate a bit before he left with a nice dinner and some bubbly. We always try to get each other traditional wedding gifts. I'm so glad that we've decided to make that a tradition because it always results in some cool ideas. Last year was leather and I got a beautiful bracelet, that I still get compliments about and Christien got a new strap for his guitar. This year the traditional theme was "flowers and fruit" and the modern take on it was "china, silk and appliances". I got Christien an edible arrangement. For those of you that don't know what those are, they are big fruit "baskets" that are shaped to look like a bouquet. As well as a little, single burner camp stove. Funny though, he was going on and on about us needing this stove for our camping trip. I thought that we would do fine without it. Then I was shopping for food for the trip and found this little one burner for a fairly good price, so I picked it up for him. Not realizing that it was a good fit for the modern aspect of our gift giving. So that worked perfectly (as a gift and for our camping trip). Christien gave me a beautiful tea mug with flowers on it (creative) and a Gordon Ramsey electric tea kettle. I love it. I hated that old, ugly tea kettle that we had on the stove. And this one works amazing. The box said that they are "appliances you can swear by". Ha ha ha. I also love Gordon Ramsey. I'm addicted to Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef. We also enjoy Kitchen Nightmares.
We also got two beautiful bouquets of flowers from my parents. Dad cooked for me last night. Made my favorite dinner and we shared a really nice bottle of wine. We look at my parents, who have just celebrated their 40th anniversary and think, wow... they've been married 10 times longer then us. I can't wait to get there. It's been a great, wonderful, loving, sometimes hard, but mostly superb 4 years. I look forward to the future with my husband and our family. I love you Christien.

First Family Camping Trip

2011-07-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

We went on our first camping trip this weekend. Took the family to Two Jack Lake out in Banff. We weren't sure if we were going to go for one or two days. Christien was initially leaning towards one night, so that's kind of what we were planning for. We got out to the entrance to Banff and started talking to the lady about camping at Two Jack. She asked us if we had a reservation, which we didn't cause you can't make reservations out there. So we took our chances. We got out to Two Jack LAKESIDE and it was full. There were no real signs indicating that there was another site, Two Jack MAIN that was, definitely, not full. We drove down the road anyways, and ask the girl at the counter and she said that they never fill up and that they have 300 campsites. We went from depressed to relieved!! We got it, set up camp and then headed out for a hike at Stewart Canyon. We borrowed a walking backpack to throw Reid in and it worked out great. He loved being in it. And carrying a 26lb baby on your back is definitely more of a workout then the hike itself... We spent the rest of the afternoon around camp. Reid loved running around in the woods. He learned that fire it hot (new word). I think that he had a great time. We put him to bed at his regular bedtime and he did not want to go. However, I just left him in the tent, and he cried for about 3 minutes then he was out. So much fresh air. He woke up in the middle of the night screaming and crying. It was hard to get him back down. And then we were up at 6:30, but that really wasn't all that bad.
Setting up the tentCar campingFirst hike We did decided to pack up and head home that day. We were going to go on another hike but after the two that we did the previous day, my ankle was really bothering me and pretty swollen, so we scraped that plan. Instead we drove into Banff and went to the hot springs. Reid said he's never seen a bathtub that big. He loved splashing around in it. He liked to crawl out and then jump back in. He had us running around like mad making sure we were there to catch him. Then we hit up a little lunch and the candy store - Welsh's. He yammered on in the car for a bit and then boom, was out like a light. Didn't wake up till we pulled into our street. This baby loves it outside. We would have liked to stay for another night but a) we only packed enough food for one night and b) Christien has to go back to work today, so coming home on Sunday and doing everything that we did on Saturday just would have been too rushed. It was nice to be able to have that extra flex day before he heads back to work.

NKOTBSB

2011-07-14T21:15:00.001-07:00

We went to NKOTBSB last night!!! What a fun, fun, fun, super fun time. I went with two of my uber good friends, Christine and Shannon and another three girls!! We had a super great time. We were all so excited about the concert, we've had out tickets for months, it was amazing. I was telling the girls how funny it was, to hear the generational gap when it came to this concert. I was definitely going to see New Kids, and when I was on the train on the way to the concert, I heard a girl on the phone telling her friend that she had an extra ticket to Backstreet Boys. Too funny. Don't get me wrong, I knew them both, but it was NKOTB that I "grew up" with while I was in (gulp) junior high. Either way, I don't even know why they had seats in that place, cause I know that I definitely didn't use mine. I belted my heart out to about 98% of all their songs (there were a few new ones that I had to clue about). I loved it!!! I danced, danced and danced some more. What a great night. I stole the play list from my friends blog.. Enjoy!!

Single / The One (Mash-up) – NKOTBSB
Summertime – NKOTB
The Call – BSBDirty Dancing – NKOTB
Bye Bye Love – BSB
The Right Stuff – NKOTB
Larger Than Life – NKOTBSB
Blow Your Mind – NKOTB
Valentine Girl – NKOTB
If You Go Away – NKOTB
Please Don’t Go Girl – NKOTB
Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely – BSB
10,000 Promises – BSB
I’ll Never Break Your Heart – BSB
Inconsolable – BSB
Drowning – BSB
Incomplete – BSB
Step By Step – NKOTB
Cover Girl – NKOTB
My Favorite Girl – NKOTB
Games – NKOTB
Click Click Click – NKOTB
Tonight – NKOTB
Shape of My Heart – BSB
As Long As You Love Me – BSB
All I Have To Give – BSB
If You Stay – BSB
Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) –BSB
I’ll Be Loving You Forever – NKOTB
I Want It That Way – BSB
Don’t Turn Out the Lights – NKOTBSBENCORE
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – BSB
Hangin’ Tough / We Will Rock You (Mash-up) – NKOTB
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) / Hangin’ Tough (Mash-up) - NKOTBSB

We are going camping tomorrow for the weekend! Our plan is for the weekend, but we'll see how the weather and our son cooperates with us. We borrowed a hiking baby backpack for tomorrow and Christien tried it out on Reid the other day and he LOVES it. He cried when we took him out and cried even harder when we wouldn't let him back in. We're all set up (even have a child sleeping bag for the babe). I'm super excited to hike and hang out and maybe even hit up the hot springs in Banff this weekend. Wish us luck!

Run and Roll

2011-07-13T07:44:00.001-07:00

We took Reid out for a run and roll last night. Seeing as I can't run anymore cause of this dang knee, Christien suggested that I dust off the old roller blades and I can take him in the running stroller when Christien's isn't around, but we can also go out together when he is home. The rain stopped for a bit last night and we hit the pavement. Did about 3.5 kms so it wasn't half bad. Reid was mesmerized by my weird shoes. And it just felt good to get outside and do some exercise.

We also took Reid to a Stampede Breakfast yesterday morning at Hull House. It was great. Reid loved the petting zoo. He was the star of the show making everyone laugh and going crazy with petting and hugging the lambs and goats. It was too cute. This kid loves animals. There was balloons and horses. And then the Stars Ambulance and the Police Hawk helicopter started circling around, getting lower and lower till they finally landed amongst the crowd. Reid was captivated by it. Chrisitien and I thought that it was pretty cool that the pilots of the Stars helicopter were girls!! It was a great first Stampede breakfast. Well, second if you count his breakfast at daycare on Monday, which was cute too.

Career Change

2011-07-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

As of today, I am officially, a stay at home mum. I'm very excited and nervous about this change. I have had a job since was 14 years old, and even though I was on maternity leave last year, I didn't really feel unemployed. However, I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to stay at home with Reid. I know that he likes daycare, and that the socialization is good for him, but he's still so young, and I think that being at home together is going to be the best for all of us. I already have major plans for us. Gymnastics, music lessons, swimming, play dates... It's going to be a great and wonderful time and I'm so happy that I get to do this with Reid.

Mr and Mrs Lockhart

2011-07-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

We were off to Castlegar this past weekend. Such a fun trip. We took off on Thursday after Christien got back from work. Headed to Fernie, for a hard night - Reid was totally freaked out by how dark the room was, it was impossible to settle him down. When we finally figured it out, he was up. Like wide awake and up at em... So we only got a few hours of sleep that night then we were off to Castlegar in the morning. Was a pretty good trip. Rolled into Dale and Kristin's to see how things were going and to chill out. Met the parents, hung in the yard, dipped into the wine early. Then we were back that night for a BBQ with their friends and family.

The next day we went on a long, long walk in the hot, hot sun. Found a park and played some frisbee and some football. Was a nice way to spend the afternoon before the wedding.

The wedding was fabulous. Just a nice, intimate ceremony with family and close friends. And back to the hotel to have a party!! Reid was a bit on the outs that day. He napped like a crazy person, but it was so hot! He was up from his second nap at 5 and I thought that would keep him up later that night, but by 8 he was over it. We had to bring him to bed and didn't really have a plan. So Christien and I just took 30 minute shifts watching him. Closer to the end of the night, Dave and Kelsey were heading to bed and I forced them to go and get Christien :) They ended up passing out on our bed and letting Christien and I party for a little bit together. All in all it was a great weekend. British Columbia.. So beautiful. Why do we not live there?

Reid Recycles

2011-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

He did it again. I gave him the box that his dinner came in. A totally different box then the other day and he grabbed it, stood up and marched straight to the recycling box. The gate was up and he just tossed it over the gate into the box. What a smart cookie.

Putting it Into Perspective

2011-06-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend's blog today, and it was full of all the wonderful things that her son does that melts her heart and amazes her. I realized that I tend to omit those kinds of things from my blog, cause I'm always feeling sorry for myself. It's been all about cranky baby and restless nights. Although it is very frustrating, I need to focus more on the positives that he brings to my life. I do this on a day to day basis with him, but I find that I unload too much on my blog. I'm not going to promise that I'll never do it again, but I'll definitely offset it with more wonderful memories that Reid and I and Christien are making together.

With that being said... here are a few things that he does that amazes me and makes me laugh:

- You can give him a diaper and he'll open it up and try to wrap it around his butt and sit on it. So smart that he knows what to do with it.

- Yesterday, I was tidying, it was close to dinner and I had a kids microwave meal on the counter. Reid was playing with it. He took the meal out of the box and gave it to me to heat up. While I was heating it up, he took the cardboard box that it came in and threw it in the recycling box. Again, so smart!! How did he even pick up on that??

- When he plays with cars he does the whole "vroom vroom" back and forth on their wheels

- He says "baba" all the time when he wants a bottle, and ball.

- He knows his nose, my nose, Christien's nose, Franklin's nose. But... he calls it a go.

- He knows his name. When you say "Reid" he'll look at you and say "bwaahh?"

- He tells on Franklin when he's on the table and he shouldn't be. He'll run over with a finger in the air yelling "GO"

- He was jumping on a trampoline this weekend with a 5 year old and laughing his head off about it. He picked up on it really quick too. From launching himself around to actually jumping off the trampoline.

Christien said something to me today that put it all into perspective. I told him that last night was a good candidate for one of the worst nights of my life. Reid was up at least every hour, and when he wasn't waking me up, I was keeping myself up with this massive hacking cough that I've inherited from Christien. After told him that it was the worst he said "did somebody break into the house?"... and you know what...?? That would have been the worst day of my life. That just made me take a step back and look at what really matters. It can always be worse.

Time Flies....

2011-06-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

... when you have a baby who doesn't sleep. Seriously. Christien's already been to work and back, and for some reason I haven't had a chance to update this blog. Oh right, it's cause I don't really sleep all that much and just kind of float through my day, zombie like. Good grief baby. You are almost 16 months. Give. Me. A. Break.

Yeah.. not sure what's going on with him, but he's up at least once a night now. I've just taken to bringing him to bed with me and a bottle. He'll at least, eventually, go back to sleep. And before you judge, yes I know that it's probably not the best thing to do. And yes, I know that it's going to become a habit, but I just can't do it anymore. Getting up once or twice a night, and staying up, doing it all by myself (not just the getting up, but the feeding, the changing, the shuffling to and from daycare, the rocking, the playing) for two weeks is just too much when you throw in not sleeping at night. Yes, even in bed he's a wreck. Tossing and turning and kicking. But at least he's not screaming, and that's just fine by me. Sometimes he'll even sleep through my alarm. I think in the last two weeks, I got to shower by myself maybe 4 times (and that includes weekends). Ai yi yi.

Christien's back and we're getting some things done around the house. Feels good to see some of those things get crossed off our to do list. Things that both him and I are doing. I really want to get started on some of the renos that we talked about with Kristin WEEKS ago. I know that we don't have the moulah right now to do anything major but there were a few things that we were just going to paint, add new fixtures to, things like that. Things that were easy and relatively cheap to do. I hope that we can get to our bedroom next week. That's the only room (besides the upstairs bathroom) in the whole house that we haven't done something to. Not even paint!!

Christien is only back for about a week and a half this time around. He's got to go back to work early so that he can take off early during his next go around so that we can head out to Dale and Kristin's wedding. It's going to be rushed, but fun! He'll fly in Thursday night (the 30th) at 7:45. We'll have a quick jaunt home, get him unpacked and then packed up again and then we're off to Fernie. Staying overnight there and then off to Castlegar first thing in the morning. Dale and Kristin really want us there for the rehearsal dinner on the Friday night, so this is the only way to do it. Super looking forward to it though. The stag is here this weekend, so that's why I'm headed to Edmonton by myself (well, with Reid too). I thought that it would be nice for the boys to have a place to come back to after their night of debauchery without having to worry about waking a baby and a wife. I'll stay here Friday night, cause I'd like to see Dale, but then we are out for a night with auntie Stacey (and maybe uncle Ty - but he's working). Excited and nervous. Reid is still not a good traveller. I just pray that he naps the whole way to Edmonton. I hear it's supposed to rain, so that might be nice for the drive. Kind of dreary and dull. Might lull him to sleep for longer then normal. Cross your fingers for me.

First Haircut

2011-05-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

Although you wouldn't describe Reid has having luscious locks, he was really starting to have more party in the back then in the front. So we decided that it was time for a haircut. For any of you who know Reid, you would know that doing this myself would have been a nightmare. This boy doesn't sit still at the best of times, so I could only imagine the wiggling that would have happened if I were to take scissors next to his head. Not pretty. We took him to Beaners instead. Cute little place where the ladies are all great with kids and know what they are doing. Plus it was a new experience for him, so he was pretty still and quiet the whole time. Taking it all in...

And I now have a little boy instead of a baby.

Weekend in Montana

2011-05-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

We had a really great trip to Montana last weekend. Reid was pretty good in the car on the way there. Not a lot of sleeping (which made for a late bedtime) but still pretty content. The way home was a bit harder, and we had to take turns in the back with Reid. Still, all in all, a really great get away.

It was a pretty quick trip, and I think that we've decided when we do it again, we'll make sure that we have more then a quick weekend. There was still more that we wanted to do and see and just not enough time to do it. Christien and I managed to work out last weekend too (something that I never do on vacation, but really enjoyed). We swam with Reid both mornings. And he napped, and slept really well. We did our routine run to Costco and got some great deals from Target. And we had a great time at Famous Daves! We all got a change to enjoy it this time. Even Reid!!

So much fun. Next time we go we want to go with some friends. I don't know why, but we always have a blast!! Until next time Kalispell..

Road Trip!!

2011-05-13T11:19:00.001-07:00

We're heading to one of our favorite places this weekend!! Montana!! Christien and Reid are picking me up right after work, and we're hitting the highway. Can't wait to do a little shopping and Christen has been so excited to hit up his favorite restaurant in all the America's... Famous Daves!! We're going for a celebration dinner on Saturday night in honor of how well Christien did on his exams, and in school in general. Do a little shopping at Costco and Target, and do a little touring of the town. Can't wait!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! Today was my second official Mother's Day. I had a nice day planned. Play date with Candice, Logan, Christine and Cash. Trip to the park or StirCrazy, throw some wine in there. Sounded like the most fabulous day, especially considering Candice and I are by ourselves for Mother's Day this year. Unfortunately Reid was up ALL NIGHT long. And this comes on the heels of him actually sleeping through the night for the last week, so that made it extra hard. He was super hot, and by the time I actually took his temperature, he was coming it at 38.8. He felt so hot. And he was so uncomfortable. I had to cancel our play date. So sad. I was so looking forward to it.

However, I did feel special this Mother's Day. On Friday, as I was putting Reid to bed, I heard a knock at the door. A couple seconds later, the doorbell rang. I got Reid down and looked out our bedroom window. Didn't recognize any cars outside. Then the phone rang. By the time I ran downstairs to get it, I was too late. Again, I looked out the window and saw Mike getting into his car. Thinking that it was kinda weird, cause he knew that Christien was at work, I opened the door and he was just pulling away. On the door, there was a bag. Inside the bag was two cards (from Reid and Christien), flowers and a bottle of wine!! So thoughtful of Christien. So sweet. Made me feel so special. I've saved the wine for when Christien gets home tomorrow night.

I had a Mother's Day supper at Reid's daycare on Thursday too. It was so cute to see all the other kids that he goes to "school" with and to meet a few of the other mums. I also got the sweetest card and flower pot from him as well (side bar: I put the flowers on the couch when we got home and busied myself tidying the kitchen. There was not a peep coming from the living room, and when I looked in there he had totally dismantled the flower pot that he had made for me. So I tried to re-create it).

To Run or Not to Run

2011-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Agh, running... I started years ago, taking a "Learn to Run" clinic with Christine. Waaaay back when we used to live together in our house in the NW. I was so proud when we ran our first 5k, and I really, really started to love running. Christine and I would run at least three times during our lunch break for years. We started to train for a half marathon. A half marathon that we ran in the middle of February. And by we, I mean, Christine, Brian, Christien, Jim and myself. It was a cold and snowy day, but man did it feel good to accomplish that. However, it was bittersweet. While it felt great to run a half marathon (that's 22km) with about 3ks left my knee just started to give out. Christine and I had run the whole thing together, pacing each other well, I think, and I had to let her go on ahead of me. I just couldn't do it anymore. I tried to walk for a bit and then every time I started running it was just a crazy shooting pain down to my toes. So unfortunately my time wasn't to die for, but I did manage to slowly jog through the finish line. Every since that day, over 4 years ago, I have not been able to run. I've been to the doctors, had MRI's and been instructed to go to physio. The doctor has said that there is little to no fluid in my knees, so the pain is resulting in the bones rubbing against each other. It's not serious enough to require surgery, but it's the kind of pain that I can't push through.

Christien has been running a lot lately. He picked up a relic of running stroller and has ran once with Reid, so I figured that seeing as I want to get back to working out that running would be great. And maybe we could run together and that would be even more fun. The first 15 minutes of my run today was good. I thought, hey, maybe this is going to work, and then boom. My knee just buckled and that was it. I had to walk the last five minutes home. I'm so disappointed. I have to make a doctor's appointment soon, and have him refer me to physio again (is that how it still works, does a doctor have to refer you). I need to get this fixed. I really miss running.

Smart and Talented

2011-04-30T18:53:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me, all the little things that Reid picks up and learns. Most of them without any "formal training". Right now my most favorite thing is that he gets getting dressed and undressed. When it's bath time or bed time, he knows what to do to help. He knows that he has to lift one leg then the other to get out of his pants. And once his shirt is unbuttoned, he immediately lifts his arms so that I can pull it over his head. Same thing goes for getting dressed. He knows that one arm pushes through then the next. When his jacket comes out, instead of screaming and throwing a fit, as he used to do, he runs over and shoves one arm in the sleeve, and seeing as he's usually got a toy or a cracker in the other hand, he knows to swap hands so that he can push that one through. I just think that it's the sweetest thing. Oh, I also love that he brushes his own hair. Have no clue how he picked up on that one, but he's so proud of himself when he does it.

Here's another art project that he brought home this week. I'm thinking that we have a little Piccaso on our hands.

Easter and Such

2011-04-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

We had a nice relaxing weekend in Edmonton with my parents and brother and "sister in law". We had planned to hit up the waterpark, but alas, by the time I got everything ready to leave the house Friday morning, got everything packed up in the car, drove to Edmonton, got to the mall, tried to find swim diapers for Reid, finally found a parking spot, got to the longest line in the world, butted into a smaller line off to the side, and then realized right before we got to the ticket booth that I had forgotten the tickets back at Ty's place, I had about had it. I was so excited to hit up the waterpark with Reid. He would have loved it. It just seemed like everything was against us. On a positive note, it was beying busy at the mall this weekend. The waterpark already looked watered down with heads. And we were one of about 100 in line up. We really need to go when it's not a holiday for all. Reid loved Ty's dogs. He was scared and wanted to touch them, and then scared and wanted to play, scared and wanted to be in the middle of their craziness. It was pretty cute. He's now associating every animal (well, cats and dogs) with "roof, roof". It's so cute. I'm now trying to teach him that it's only dogs that are "roof" and cats are "meow".Dance MachineReading with grandma

First Day

2011-04-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

This was me all day long, considering my first day in my new department was an Orientation for a company that I have been with for six years.Hopefully tomorrow will be better as we're actually going to start training and learning new stuff. Here's to hoping...

What I'll Miss....

2011-04-13T08:56:00.001-07:00

This is my last week working in my current job. Unfortunately, on Monday, I got the news that I didn't get the job that I had applied for a few weeks ago. If everything falls through with his number one pick, then the job's mine. Wicked. Not really what I needed to hear on an already rough start to the week. So knowing that, I am gearing up to prepare for a transition, or a demotion, to shift work. Definitely not an ideal situation, especially when I have a husband who works out of town for two weeks every month and a child in daycare. I'm going to make the best of it, and keep applying for other jobs out there. There are quite a few things that I'm going to miss because of this transition. However, I am trying to keep a pro and con list to keep everything in perspective.

Con - not being able to do lunches with my friends anymore. My hour long lunches are getting moved to 30 minutes, and because it's shift work, I won't always have lunches at noon like the rest of the core.

Pro - I'll be starting out with a bit of a higher wage, with raises every 6 months. That's great considering right now, in the role I'm in, I'm at the top of my pay scale and haven't received a raise in a few years.

Con - Shift work. The call center is only open 7:30 am to 9:00 pm, which isn't horrible. Dropping Reid at daycare will never be an issue, however, if I have to work any later then 5:30 pm or 6:00 pm then I'm not sure what we're going to do.

Pro - With that being said, there is the possibility of trades. When Christien is gone, I can try to make my schedule as close to perfect as I can with the help of the people that I work with. This is a bit of a pro/con because it's just going to be a lot of work, and stressful if I can't find a trade for the day that I need it.

Con - Working in a call center. I did a sit in there a few weeks ago, and it's just feels like a bunch of kids working to get through school. I'm not sure how much I'll like that environment after I've been working among a group of professionals for the last few years.

Pro - The call centers are moving to the 3030 Building on Memorial. I'll be able to drive to work. I'm not a huge fan of working downtown, or of paying $90 a month for a bus pass. Working closer to home means that I won't have to leave as early, and I'll be able to get home quicker. As it stands right now, Reid is one of the first kids to be dropped off at daycare and one of the last to be picked up. It's no wonder he just wants you to hold him until he goes to bed.

The job itself is going to be extremely easy, so I'm not concerned about that. I would just really like to keep my 8:00 - 4:00 security. Maybe Christien can fast track his ticket and start making a million dollars so that I can quit and stay at home.

The Eve of My Birthday

2011-04-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my birthday. I don't understand people who don't like their birthdays, or don't want to celebrate them. Without your birthday, there wouldn't be you! And sometimes, I think that celebrating yourself is all good. Tomorrow my day will consist of some of this...

Which will be enjoyed like this....

Followed by a little bit of this...

And finished off like this....

Saturday is still part of my birthday weekend, plus it's Amber's birthday, so we can't stop celebrating can we? It's our annual tradition. We're going to do a little bit of this...

With a stop here for lunch...

Christien and I will partake in a little of this...

And the night will continue like this....

I think what adds to the excitement is that my parents are here watching Reid, so it's actually allowing Christien and I to go out with our friends on Saturday night. Christien also missed my birthday last year because of work, and Reid was still pretty new, so although it was a great time having friends over (except for the massive storm and intermittent power surges), it'll be nice to dress up and go out on the town.

Forty Years and Counting

2011-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today my parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. What a wonderful, and inspirational milestone. They met in Hawaii 40 years ago and three weeks later were married. With such a quick whirlwind romance, it makes it even more special that they made it to 40 years. Goes to show you that there is such thing as love at first sight and soul mates. My dad's quote today was "What is worth keeping is worth working hard to keep". I thought that was very touching and insightful. I wish that I had a picture to post, but alas, there were no digital cameras back in the day. Either way I am sending them lots of love and excitement on their anniversary. Sometimes you are just meant to be together. I looked it up too, and for your 40th anniversary the traditional (as well as the modern gift of choice) is rubies. I wonder if they were aware??? Love you mum and dad!!

First Art Project

2011-03-29T18:26:00.001-07:00

Reid brought his first art project home from daycare today. So sweet. I'm so proud of him. He seems to be very good with cutting along the lines, which is surprising to me, as I've never let him use scissors before. Ha ha, psych. I know that he wasn't the brains behind this project, but I've still got it hung on my fridge, as proud as can be. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

Babies Are One!!!

2011-03-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

All of our little monkey's from our birth and babies class turned one last month. We finally managed to get together to celebrate. So much fun, especially to see how different they are from the day they met. These ladies have been so wonderful through my maternity leave. It was so nice to be going through the same things together. These ladies, and their babes are amazing.

Me and my sweet boyThe mommasThe daddy'sSandwich boy

I Love Carbs

2011-03-16T09:33:00.001-07:00

I started a new diet two weeks ago. It's called the CarbLovers Diet and it's more about eating the right foods and the right portion sizes. I'm super loving it. Great recipes, and I'm always full. Not stuffed, but I feel good after a meal and I'm not counting down till I get to eat again. I mean what other diet tells you to eat bread and pasta and rice? The cook book that I have right now is great. Haven't tried all the recipes yet, but what we've tried has been great. They are coming out with another cook book soon, so I'm looking forward to that. It's not a fad, just a way of life. Once you start to get the process behind the diet, you can go right ahead and start cooking from whatever cook book you want. I've lost 5 lbs in two weeks, which means I get to treat myself to a new top or two. At 10 lbs it'll be a new pair of pants, and 15 I get a nice, new pair of jeans that fit me! Once I add exercise to my regime I'm sure even more weight will drop off. I just really like it cause I don't feel like I'm on a diet. Don't get me wrong, I'm still snacking on mini eggs every once in a while. And having wine. However, it shows that even with those few treats you can still lose weight. Don't deprive yourself of something you love. Eat it in moderation, or else you'll end up binging on it. Christien thinks that I'm starving him to death, but I think that he just needs to up his portion sizes. He's still eating everything that I am, but he's turned into a chip-a-holic since he's been home. That's usually my deal. At least I'm stocking the pantry with baked chips, which for the record, aren't bad.

Livin' For The Weekends

2011-03-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Oh man. I forgot what it's like to just crave a weekend. For the last year everyday was like the weekend. I actually liked week days better, cause there were less crowds at the mall, at the grocery store, on the roads. I usually tried to schedule play dates or just stayed home on the weekends. Now I'm just workin' for the weekend. And I use the term "working" very loosely. There is not a lot for me to do at work. And everyone knows that my stint back in this department is coming to an end soon, so nobody is really throwing me any real work. I just at the opportunity to do some printing for someone. Anything to keep me a tad bit busy. I would 100% much rather be busy during the day, then have nothing to do. It makes for an agonizing week.

With that being said, it is Friday today! Yahoo!! Getting together with some ladies tonite to find out how to work Heritage Makers so that I can finally, after almost 4 years get our wedding book together. I'm actually pretty excited about that. Got a play date with Mr Cash and Miss Rylan on the books for tomorrow, and then Sunday is shaping up to be a pretty nice little Sunday. We're going to Lowe's. Yeah to check out some tubs, maybe some flooring. Stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath and Beyond. I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time.

Daycare Woes

2011-03-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

Day three of daycare resulted in pink eye. Good grief. His poor little eye looked so sore yesterday when Christien brought him home. A quick trip to the walk-in clinic proved that it was, indeed pink eye. Which means no daycare, and momma had to stay home with him today.

Not only that but some kid bit him on the arm yesterday. He's got a big bite mark to show for it. Christien was too upset about it all when he picked him up, so he's going back there today, after school to talk to his teachers. I know that kids are kids, but I hope that some sort of discipline was enforced on the kid that bit him, and I hope that his parents were told about it too. Daycare is just a cesspool of germs. A friend's daughter got foot and mouth disease and another friend's son got the measles. Disgusting.

Daycare

2011-03-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

It's Reid's second day of daycare today, and as of right now we have mixed reviews. We have to get into a routine for the morning, that's for sure.

Today's routine went much better then yesterdays. Reid got to eat breakfast with his dad and even had time for a bit of a bottle before we were out the door at 6:45. When I dropped him off yesterday he couldn't get out of my arms fast enough. I even tried to get there early cause I thought that it would be hard and all that, but he didn't really seem to care. There were a few other early dropped off kids in the room and he just wanted to play and check out the toys. So off he went. When I got there to pick him up, he was standing at the gate (throwing toys over with another little boy, when he should have been in the circle singing songs). As soon as he saw me he just broke down. Big tears, big cries. He was fine when I picked him up and just sat really quiet and cuddly in my arms while I talked to Miss Raga and Miss Mary. He lost it again when we got into the car and for half of the car ride home (thank goodness it's only a five minute ride). Once we finally got into the house and got undressed I gave him a bottle and he was happy for a bit. He just wanted hugs and cuddles. Once Christien got home he was all over him as well. Giving him big tight hugs.

Although this morning started off better, I was still a bit nervous with dropping him off. With how attached he was all night, I was worried that there would be tears. There were none. He wasn't as keen to run and play with the kids when I got there. He sat pretty glued to me the whole time that I was getting him geared up for his day. He smiled lots at the early morning teacher who was there. And she gave him a cracker and he seemed better. Then she distracted him while I left.

I couldn't bring myself to even call today to find out how he was doing. Too scared that he's been having a breakdown of some sort.

He did do well at daycare yesterday though. Apparently he cried and played and cried and played in the morning. Didn't drink a lot or eat a lot, but actually went down for a nap by himself. AMAZING!! Miss Mary said that the lights were out and all his friends were sleeping, so he figured "hey, might as well get a little shut eye too", and he grabbed his blanket and laid down. Now, mind you this was his only nap of the day and he only slept for an hour. As soon as some of the kids started to move around and wake up, he was up at at 'em, apparently stealing blankets from the boy sleeping beside him.

I just hope that he had a good day today and that this whole daycare experience will improve his habits that aren't at their best right now, like eating, and napping and god forbid, sleeping through the night.

Reid's First Birthday

2011-02-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun weekend celebrating Reid's very first birthday. Friday I brought home jungle Crave Cupcakes for Reid. We had a pizza party and then had cake via Skype with grandma Cleo. Reid got to open his presents from his grandparents and his auntie Kerri and us.

Getting ready to blow out the candles

First cupcake

Crave cupcakes

Saturday morning Ty, Stacey, Dale, Kristin and baby Mackenzie came over early, before the party. We got to hang out for a bit, and then all Reid's friends started to arrive. It was so much fun. Lots of friends, lots of laughs. Everyone had a great time.

Cake I made for Reid

Getting ready to blow out the candleHamming it up - as per usual Personalized M&M's for the birthday boy

My Little Boy is One!!

2011-02-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

It's Reid's first birthday today!! I was so excited to hug and kiss him this morning. The little butt slept in till after 7, so I almost missed out on the opportunity. I was putting my make up on and I could quietly hear him saying "go" in his room. I was very happy to be able to kiss those sweet cheeks before I had to leave for work.

We've got a fun weekend planned full of lots of cake and friends! I still can't believe that I am the mother of a one year old. And such a special little guy too. He's getting much more chatty. Among his favorite sayings are "go away"(mostly to Franklin), "good boy", "good bye", and "hi". He's been really working on the G sounds lately. He's still walking like a champ and growing like a weed. His new measurements are 22.6 lbs and 30.25 inches!! Time to turn the car seat around and ride in the car like a big boy!

I'm very grateful this little guy came into our lives. He has definitely changed us completely! Watching him grow and learn is astonishing and I'd never trade it for the world. He amazes me everyday and I am so excited for all the years to come.

BitterSweet

2011-02-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, February 14th. It's a very bittersweet day for me today. It's Valentine's day, which I'm not usually a "fan" of, but Christien's coming home today too, so it kind of makes it special. And it's Reid's first Valentine's day too. It's all about the love now! Christien being home tonite is another great thing. Not only is he going to be home for his two weeks, but he's going to be home till the end of April. He'll get to be here for mine and Reid's birthdays! Exciting. It's a beautiful day out. However, it's also my last day of maternity leave. How quickly a year goes... I'm exceptionally happy that Christien will be here to be with Reid for the next two weeks. Makes going back to work a bit easier, knowing that not only am I heading back into the workforce, but I don't have to deal with dropping Reid off at daycare too. Christien and Reid will have their two weeks together. Then I get a vacation day at the end of the month (ha ha) so that Christien can start school on the 28th, and I can watch Reid and get him ready for his first day of daycare on the 1st. So many transitions. On one hand, I'm very happy to be getting back to a normal routine. Waking up at the same time everyday, going to work, picking up the baby, having dinner and getting a work out in... It's great. But then I look at his sweet face and think how much I'll miss him.

I think that if I had a legitimate job to go back to things would be different. As it stands, I'm just heading back to another "no job, job" for the next few months. So basically I'm every one's gopher. Whoever gets to me first gets my time. I didn't like it before I went on mat leave, and I'm not going to like it now. At least before I went on leave I had something to look forward to. I'm not being a cynic, but it just really stinks when you are just left in the lurch by your company. A company I've worked for for the last 6 years. You'd think that they would have something better to offer me. I should not be surprised as I've seen them do this to countless other employees. Either way, that's my fate. For the next few weeks at least.

That's enough optimism for one day. Ha ha ha. I'm just counting down the hours till I get to see my husband now. And Reid's birthday party is this weekend, which is going to be so supremely exciting!! I cannot wait.

February Mergers...

2011-02-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

There is all so much that's been happening in the last few weeks. We're planning Reid's birthday. We have company coming to stay with us. I'm starting the Happiness Project (more on this to come). Reid's turning 1 (did I mention that...)?

Christien will be back on Monday and I start back to work on Tuesday. It's nice that he's going to be here for the last little bit of February so that Reid doesn't have to be in daycare. I'm not worried about him being there all day, right now it's just about saving the money. Ha!! Reid's going to be a champ. He loves people, he's so social, I'm not concerned a bit. We can take him into his daycare for an hour or so before he starts and I'm just waiting till all the paperwork is complete before we bring him in there. So Christien is the one who will be hanging with him. He's going to be fine, and he's going to love it. So many new friends!!

For Reid's birthday we're going to have a little family get together on Friday night (his actual birthday). Saturday we're having our close friends and family over. I'm making a marvelous pulled pork for lunch. And making a fabulous monkey birthday cake. I also ordered some personalized M&M's for the party and they came back and are the best thing that I've ever seen. On Christien's "to do list" is to pick up balloons when he's off. Reid loves balloons. I can't wait for this birthday party. He's one. That's so special. I feel beyond blessed to have him in my life. He'll never remember this party, but that's ok. I'm going to remember it forever cause it's a milestone for me. Hopefully Amber and I can pick out a cute outfit for him tomorrow too.

I'm starting to feel very pressured all of a sudden. It's just cause so much is coming to and end and so much is starting up. When I go back to work our lives will have done more then a 360. It's still whirlwind. I'm very happy to have Christien back home with us for two months. At the same time we had to postpone a few things we were planning, and Christien has been doing this job for over a year. It's going to be strange to just have him here on a daily basis. It's all going to work out for the best and I can't wait. I love my little family.

Mexico 2011

2011-02-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile. We we have been back from Mexicoi for about a week now. Christien is back at work and I'm getting ready to head back to work byself. Mexico was great. We had a fabulous resort. Great food, great people. Great beach. So much to do. So much fun. Glad we decided to do one more big trip before I went back to work. Christien got accepted at SAIT for a February 28th start. We always knew that he'd be going to school to further himself in his trade but this seem to have come up rather quickly. We're both very excited for him to be in school and for him to be at home for two whole months.

Reid turns 1 on the 18th. We're going to have a little party for him and all our siblings will be here to help us celebrate!

Here's a few Mexico pictutes for y'all

One More (Last) Adventure

2011-01-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

We're officially going to Mexico. We've been talking about it for so long, but I hadn't really looked at any deals or booked anything, so it didn't really seem real. Till now. I booked it on Tuesday night and we leave on Wednesday. Yikes. So much to do in such a short amount of time. Christien will be home for one whole day before we ship out again. We were planning on going to Puerto Vallarta. Thought something new might be fun. I just couldn't find a really good deal, nor a good hotel with good reviews to go with any of the packages I was coming up with. So the Mayan Riviera started to pop up again on my searches. We had such a good time the last time that we were there, and that was only a few years ago, so we thought we might as well go back. We've got a cute little eco hotel about 45 minutes from the airport. Cute and little don't really describe it as I feel that it's going to be quite a large hotel. Comparable to our hotel in Cuba. There is a whole kids area that just opened up with... 17 water slides I think it said. Hopefully there will be some wee ones that we can take Reid down. I think he'll like that. And he loves the ocean. I think that we might even hop the ferry to Cozumel this time. Not sure how long the trip is, but you can see Cozumel from Playa del Carmen, so it might be a fun day trip.

I wish it would just warm up in Calgary for a few minutes for me so that I can get some errands done. I don't like bundling Reid up and getting him in and out of the car in this weather. He hates hats and he hates his mitts even more. So getting him to keep those on when it's -21 is proving to be a bit of a challenge. And I'd rather he not get frost bitten. With that being said, Mexico is coming at the best time. Get us out of this cold and snow.

The New Year

2011-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Well, it has indeed been a busy month. The time seemed to fly by once we got back from Cuba. Bernie, I promise I'll get some Cuba pictures up here for you soon. We had loads to do the week before Christien went back to work to get ready for Christmas. Got the tree, did some shopping, started making some "to do" lists. Then he was off again. I managed to stay really busy while he was gone, trying to get a few things ticked off my list everyday. You have to be much more planned out when you are doing errands with a baby, I find. There's no way I can do 5 or 6 stops with the little guy. He's done after two stops. We did our best, and got a lot of things done.

Christien was back only a few days before the grandparents showed up. Cleo's flight arrived early Christmas Eve morning. I have a feeling she was pretty excited to see Reid. The last time she had been here to see him, he was only four weeks old. He's sure changed a lot since then, and turned into his own little man for sure. He definitely kept her laughing while she was here. My parents arrived just before lunch. Although they get to see Reid quite often, they are still always very excited to see him again, and again, and again. It was great having all those grandparents under one roof. Lots of people willing and wanting to hold, rock, feed and clean the baby.

Christmas morning was one for the record books. Reid was hilarious. He had no clue what was going on but he was sure excited by all the commotion. We got everyone up so that they could be there to see his little face when he came down to see what Santa had left. He was kind of weirded out when he first came down with Christien cause everyone was just standing there looking at him. Christien put him down, and he looked at the tree and the presents and went crazy. He jumped at Gerome, his giraffe. And hugged him, and jumped up and down, and squealed. He loves that crazy giraffe. It took us ALL morning to open presents. Reid had no real interest in actually opening anything, and he had the lion's share of what was under the tree. His interest was all over the place. He'd take a shining to a few presents and ignore the rest, then he'd turn his attention to a few other new things once he figured it out. He does love his Mega Blocks and his tunnel. He also loves all the stacking blocks. He just loves to knock them over. And he loves all his bouncy balls. We've sorted the toys upstairs, main floor and down stairs, and put away a lot of his "old" toys so that we aren't overwhelmed. And the house is still over flowing. But they keep him entertained. He also loves all his new books. Sometimes I'll be in the kitchen and it'll get really quiet and I'll go into the living room to look for him, and he'll just be sitting there, by the tree flipping his book open and closed. Looking at the pictures and feeling the pages. Not only is he handsome and cute, but he's also going to be super smart :)

We had our regular "open house" for Boxing day. Didn't have a big turnout this year. A lot of people were out of town, and those that were going to be coming had the flu. Still the friends and family who were here made it totally worthwhile. It's too bad that Davis wanted to go home so early :)

The flu ended up hitting the Short household just before New Year's Eve. I came down with an intense bout on the Wednesday night. And I was 100% out of commission the next day. I'm so lucky that I have such an amazing husband who was able to keep Reid away for the day. Unfortunately Reid and Christien both caught it too. I think that I might have had the worst of it, which was good, cause if Christien were any sicker, I would have thought he was for real dying. So dramatic. Reid is still feeling a bit gross. Today is the first day he's worn real clothes. He's been in his jammies for a week now.

The New Year always seems to bring with it a punch of reality. Not only are all the festivities of Christmas and New Year's over, but you're looking at a long stretch before there is a holiday at all. And a long, cold stretch, filled with snow. It's doubly worse for me this year, cause I've got to start back at work in a month and a half. Some days I'm OK with it, and others it just makes me want to puke. We've got Reid registered in a day care. It's not our #1 choice, but he's close and it's much cheaper then bringing him downtown. He's still on the wait list at our first choice, and nothing seems to be changing his status on that list, so we needed a back up plan. That's a relief. And I'm sure once I get back to work, and into the swing of things it'll be just great. It's going to be interesting how the two weeks that Christien is away goes. With me working, dropping Reid off at day care and picking him up... I was saying to Christien that I'm going to leave him there till 5:30 or 6:00 every day. Even though I'm off work at 4. It will just give me a few hours to get some errands done. Even get dinner started. Or to go for drinks after work. Kidding!!

In order to alleviate some of this depressing reality, we've decided to head to Mexico for a week. Might as well get some sun and sand before I'm back from my year long "vacation". Reid was great in Cuba so I'm sure he'll be just as good in Mexico. Shorter flight too, which is a total bonus. Not that he was bad during the flight, but holding him for the two 4 hour flights was hard on the old back. So that pretty much reminds me that I should get back to looking for deals to Mexico. We knew we were just going to last minute this trip. We know when Christien is off, so here's to hoping that some hotel, somewhere in Mexico will have the availability for us to stay for a week.

Much love to you all in the New Year!

Cuba Beach Baby

2010-12-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing time in Cuba. It was so much fun, and so very relaxing. Usually when you go on vacation you feel like you need another vacation when you get home, to recoup from it. Not this time. This time I felt relaxed when I got home. Mind you, Christien and I both found ourselves suffering through vacation depression. It's hard to come back to reality, when your reality for a week was getting up, eating breakfast in an open air restaurant, heading to the beach by 10 and filling up your mug with rum before you've even hit the beach. Ahhh... if only life were all inclusive.

It was great to have mum, dad, Ty and Stacey there with us. Lots of hands to help with little Reid. Even if that meant rocking him to sleep on the beach, like grandma did for the first few days, or taking him for a walk down the beach, or burying him in the sand (thanks uncle Ty). Reid loved all of it. He loved the sand. And loved the sea. The first few days he seemed to be a bit scared of the ocean and the waves. Even though he would go crazy with excitement when he would see it. He would hold on pretty tight when you were actually in the water with him. By the weekend he was a pro. He liked getting hit by the waves and being in the water. He liked to play in the surf on the beach too.

We basically just relaxed the whole time that we were there. Christien is starting to get weirded out by all the guys at work commenting on his tan. He did come back pretty tanned though. That's what you get for laying out on the beach or body surfing for 7 days. We did go into Havana with Ty and Stacey one day. Mum and dad watched Reid for us. I think that he managed to tire them out pretty well. Havana is a beautiful city full of history. It's too bad that our tour guide didn't know any of the history to share with us. We were a bit disappointed by the tour itself. They didn't give us nearly enough time at the stops. For example, we spent 45 minutes in the cigar store, but only 10 minutes in downtown Havana. That didn't make any sense. The four of us wish that we would have hitched a ride into Havana and then ditched on the tour and done it ourselves. Oh well. Live and learn. We did have fun at the market though. Bought some cool new instruments for the instrument trunk that we are going to have to make. Reid thought that they were pretty cool when we played them for him the next morning.

I have loads of pictures. I'll go through them and upload more soon!! Stay tuned. All in all it was a great time, and Reid proved to be a pretty good traveller. He powered through the long and late night flights like a champ. Poor guy is so messed up with his sleep now. However, this has solidified our desire to head to Mexico in January. One last trip before I head back to work in February.

Cuba in Three Sleeps!!

2010-11-19T14:51:00.001-08:00

I can't believe our trip is almost here. We've been looking forward to this for almost a year now. I've spent the last two weeks compiling and checking things off of lists to make sure that I wasn't leaving anything to the last minute. I believe that I have everything that I need, now it's just a matter of packing them into suitcases. Have Christien's and Reid's preliminary packed (I'm such a spazz). Just have to see what needs to go in still before I can officially zip them up. Still have to do all my packing, but that can wait till tomorrow or Sunday even. Then it's off to pick Christien up on Monday. He managed to get an earlier flight in from camp, so that's a relief. Even if something does go wrong and the flight is delayed, then at least he's got some leeway now. Fingers crossed that it's all good and we're picking him up from the airport at 4:30. Then it's Reid's first flight! At midnight to boot. I have a feeling we are going to be very tired when we hit Toronto and very happy to see Ty and Stacey. It's going to be a Reid hand off. Mum and dad have been in Cuba since Monday, so they'll be waiting for us at the hotel. Another Reid hand off while we get checked into our rooms. Dad has already volunteered to be our waiter as the lobby bar is right beside the front desk. I cannot wait. This is going to be so much fun!!

Halloween

2010-11-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year. It was a lot of fun with Reid, dressing him up and all. He was the cutest spider you ever did see. Chrsitien and I didn't dress up again this year. We always have such great ideas and then just leave them to the last minute and they never get executed. Next year Christine said she's having a Halloween party where costumes are mandatory. I'm so holding her to that. Will be so much fun.

The Thursday before Halloween we went to Christine's to carve pumpkins. Well, Christien and I carved ours before we got there. There is usually so many people, and so many pumpkins, that it was easier to do it beforehand. We carved a baby Reid pumpkin. Two teeth on top, two teeth on the bottom. So cute.

The Saturday before Halloween we just did our regular day, but I dressed Reid up in his cute Halloween shirt. I know that he looks freaked out in this picture. And contrary to popular belief, I am not in a scary costume on the other end of this...

For Halloween a friend from our baby class had a party with all the babies and their families. It was beyond cute to see them all dressed up in their costumes. We had monkeys, spiders, donkeys, dinosaurs, frogs and a princess Leia. They were too cute.

We stayed at home that night and just handed out candy to the kids. I feel that trick or treating with a baby who can't talk, or even eat the candy is a bit weird, so we'll save that for next year. All in all it was a really fun Halloween.

I went away this past weekend. Overnight!! Without the baby. Went to Canmore with a bunch of my girlfriends. We went to the spa during the day and shopped. And then had a great condo rented where we just had dinner and drank wine and chatted all night. It was so nice to get away (and have a great sleep), but not be too far, or gone for too long. Reid and Christien had a blast while I was gone. They went swimming and out to the big mall Christmas shopping. They even had a pretty good overnight together. I always knew that they would be great, but after them spending the night together, I'm even more sure.

Cash and Reid

2010-10-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

A couple of shots from my baby sitting gig yesterday. Playing side by side like best buddies.

2010-10-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

Wow. Christien has been back for almost a week and it's just flown by. As sad as it is to say, I think that, a year later, we're finally getting into the swing of things with this two weeks on, two weeks off. We still do a ton of things together, but we have our moments where we do our own thing. Christien went to a movie with Mike this week. He's going out jamming with his buddy this weekend and making plans for getting together with a buddy he works with next week (hello Christine... Play date?? Krisin too??? Also Jasmine... And Candice?? Party at my place???). I'm going to Canmore next weekend for the night with my friends. So excited for that. Just a night away. A night with the girls. I hope that I'm not craving my baby too much!

I babysat Reid and Cash today for about an hour. It was a fun little hour. Twins would be impossible. Ha ha ha. Those two are getting so much better together. It's like they almost have a little language together. When Cash starts chatting Reid listens, and chats and laughs back. It's just the cutest. They have also started playing together. Side by side. It's very sweet. They are going to be best buds. Christine thinks that we should move into the same neighbourhood cause that would make going to school so much easier on them when they go with their best buddy. They are the cutest boys ever!!

Ten Reasons I Love Shoes

2010-10-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

1) A great pair of shoes is sexy
2) A nice pair of stilettos can make your legs look toned and smokin'
3) Doesn't matter if you are having a bad hair day, bad face day, bad weight day, a nice pair of shoes can make you feel better
4) You can wear the same outfit over and over and just change up the shoes and voila, new outfit
5) A funky pair of shoes can allow you to "let loose". You might not be one for a leopard print jumpsuit, but leopard print shoes?? Who can't pull those off?
6) Shoes will always fit. They don't care how much you weigh. Well, unless you are pregnant then you've got a few months of pregnant shoes
7) Shoes can make your feet look so great. A nice polish job poking through peep toes is so pretty 8) You can borrow and lend shoes
9) You can never have too many pairs of shoes. You can have a closet full of black shoes and none of them are the same
10) Heels can make you taller. That helps when you are pushing 5"4

Stepping Stones

2010-10-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Reid took two steps today!! I've got to set up the tripod and try to take a video for Christien tomorrow. We were practicing standing. I would hold him at arms length while sitting on the floor and count to three then let go, and he would just stand there. He was getting cocky about it and would start bouncing and would keep standing. Then he started with the steps towards me. First it was one, and that's all good, but I figured a fluke, then he was doing two, and balancing himself and then looking at me, laughing and falling down. So crazy. He kept doing it over and over. I thought, again, it was just a fluke and didn't count, but Christien says that they do count, and those were his first steps. October 17th. One day before his 8 month birthday. Insane. He will be walking by Cuba, I'm sure. If not, then for sure by Christmas. What a guy.

Home Sweet Home

2010-10-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Montana! Much better then when we were there in the summer. Reid still really hates the car, so we get about an hour of quiet/sleep time from him, and then either Christien or I need to get into the back seat to calm him down for the remainder of the trip. Besides that it was pretty good. We had a good dinner at Famous Dave's (Christien's most favorite restaurant in Montana), and we got some good shopping done. Santa sent us home with some presents for Reid. It was a fun time!! And we managed to get some champagne beers and some wine to last us for a few months!!

Now we're back and our days are full of chores. Christien goes back to work on Monday so there are a few things that we want to get done before he heads back. We did a bunch of cleaning around the house today, which was great. Tomorrow, there are a few last minute things to get accomplished for Thanksgiving. Then we're meeting some friends at the Old Spaghetti Factory for a good old carbo load before the 10K race on Sunday. I'm not running (insert sigh). As crazy as this sounds, I really wish that I was running. Christine, Kyle, Kristin, Amber, Curtis, Christine and Brian are all running on Sunday. They are all looking forward to it, and Reid and I will be at the end cheering them on. Mum and dad get back from the Dominican tomorrow. They are going to help Ty and Stacey move into their new place and then they are on their way to Calgary to see their grandson. I won't lie..... that's why they come down now a days :) They'll be here for dinner on Sunday night.

Christien heads back on Monday and mum and dad are staying on for a few days. Always nice to have them here. Especially when Christien is not. I can't believe that the next time Christien comes back, it's Halloween and then the time after we're headed to Cuba. So crazy. Time is flying by way too quickly.

Reid is on the waiting list for a day care really close to our place. He's 4th on the list and I'm really hoping that they'll be able to take him. I have yet to hear from my boss. I've been trying to get ahold of her to find out what the deal is with my return to work, and she's still not gotten back to me, so we'll see (soon) what they have to offer (I hope).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Look around you and enjoy and be thankful for the friends and family that surround you.

Baby Photo Contest

2010-10-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

Christien and I went to the Baby Fair this weekend, and there was a baby photo contest at the Cheerio booth. Well, we entered, of course. The picture quality is not that great, and Reid wouldn't smile when the camera was on him. So it's basically "Mr. Serious", but check it out. And put an "awesome" vote for him. There are so many that I'm sure it's a long shot, but who knows. The prizes are a few Baby Bjorn items, which we love. Here's the link: www.weewelcome.ca It's the Say Cheese Baby Photo Contest (number 2 when you log onto the page, you'll see the numbers in red). Reid is on page 17, and he's number 078. Meh, who knows. It could have been much cuter if he wasn't so serious and if he was smiling!! But he's cute anyways.

Missed It

2010-09-29T19:48:00.001-07:00

Man... I missed my 10 Reason Tuesday! I was just having such a good time with Christien that it completely slipped my mind. I will be more on tune for next week.

Christien being home has been great. We've just done a lot of hanging out. We're headed to Montana on Monday. We're both very excited. Reid loves to ride in the shopping cart now, which is going to make shopping so much more fun and easier. We're looking forward to picking up some cheap... everything. Maybe we'll come up with a good Halloween costume for the family while we're there. Gotta pick up some beers and some wine. Plus some Target shopping. Not sure why I love Target so much. It's basically Walmart, but I just do. They have such funny stuff there. We're going to get a bunch of weird candy for Halloween while we're there. Staying at the good old Holiday Inn. They have a pool and a work out room, and the hotel is fairly new, so I'm thinking that it'll be nice.

Aqua size and book club tomorrow. What a great day to look forward to. I can't wait to see the girls!! And Christien is here, so I can go and enjoy myself knowing that Reid is at home with daddy. Really looking forward to it. Not much planned for this weekend. Maybe a play date or two. Christien is thinking of going hunting with Brian, so we'll see if that happens. There is a Baby Fair this weekend that I'd really like to check out.

Amazement

2010-09-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

Watching Reid in all his craziness just amazes me. Every day he seems to be learning something different. Yesterday, he stood up twice, on his own, no hands. Only for a few seconds, but still. Just amazing. He will grab onto his play pen, and just hoist himself up. Feet off he ground and everything. I'm starting to think more and more that one day, he'll be talking to me. Talking back to me too, I'm sure, but communicating with me like we all communicate with each other. It's just so crazy that I'm seeing this person emerge now. He's his own self right now, if that makes any sense. It's hard for me to think of him as a baby anymore, because he seems to be so self sufficient. He's all over the place. He's really fast when he crawls. If I take the gate down he is immediately at the stairs. He made it all the way up the stairs last week. I'm not sure how to "teach him" to go down the stairs, but I'm trying. And I'm definitely right behind him when he does it. He'll go up a few and then turn around with this grin on his face. Just so proud of himself. However, he doesn't understand that he's on a small step and he can't just turn around and not expect to fall down. He's a funny little monkey.

Survivor NIght

2010-09-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's the twenty first season of Survivor. For years and years a big group of us used to get together to watch Survivor. Never fail. Thursday night. Everyone would take turns hosting. The girls would show up with wine, the boys with beer, and everyone with some sort of sharsies appy. I miss it. I miss it a lot. It was always one night a week that you knew that you would get to see your friends. Yeah, we had "Survivor Rules". You weren't allowed to talk during Survivor. No comments. Wait till commercials to discuss. When we first started there was no such thing as PVR. You couldn't rewind or pause, or FF the commercials. We would watch live at 9:00 pm. Everyone would show up much earlier, and we'd eat and talk. We started this so long ago that we used to get together to watch Friends first. How long has that been off the air. I'm glad that I still get to see a loT of the Survivor Crew. Our little group grew a lot from what it was in the beginning. And who could forget Survivor Scotch Creek?? I watched Survivor at home, by myself tonite. No Survivor snacks. No colorful commentary. Miss my crew!!

10 Reasons Why I Love to Travel

2010-09-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

1) The memories. You can make memories no matter what you do, but when you think back on them and remember that you were surrounded by a beach, or a mountain, or the ocean, it just seems to make them that much more special. Not to mention who you are making the memories with. It's a wonderful bonding experience. Getting caught in a torrential downpour in Mexico. Riding donkeys up and down the switchback in Greece. Ice skating in New York Rockefeller Center.

2) Experiencing different cultures. When Christien and I travel, we try to take in as much of the culture as we can. We venture off the resorts, we take public transportation, we talk to the locals, we check out things that are off the beaten path. There is so much history in so many places around the world that it's very neat to see first hand.

3) The break from reality. For some reason when you are on vacation, you don't think about those bills that need paying, or your budget, or plans that you have made for the week. You just get to be. I think that it's good for the mind and the soul to just get away every once in awhile.

4) The excitement. No matter where you go there is always going to be fun and exciting things to do. When I look back at a lot of the vacations that Christien and I have taken together it makes me smile cause we've added a lot of our own excitement to these trips. Got engaged in New York, honeymooned in Greece, my 30th birthday in San Francisco, Christien's 30th birthday in Mexico. You never know what you are going to get until you get there. And it's the excitement of the unknown that's fantastic. Even if you have been to these places before, the excitement is still different. You're in a different place in your life, you might be travelling with different people. No matter what, it's going to be a different experience.

5) Seeing the world. It's very interesting to visit other places. Not all of them have different cultures, like all the places that we've been in the States, but they are still different in some ways. I've already checked off the top few places in the States that I've wanted to see. Now my list is growing. I'd love to see Boston, and Hawaii. Palm Springs would be great. Looking forward to Cuba in the fall and Vegas in the spring.

6) Shopping. Duty free is great. Going to Montana and not paying taxes and getting things for a steal is wonderful. Outlet shopping is great. Picking up things that you know that nobody back home will have is priceless. I like to find things for my friends as well. Little things that are reminiscent of the places that I've been. Olive oil soap from Greece, sarongs from Bali...

7) It's addictive. Once you start travelling it's hard to stop. You start seeing the world, meeting different people, learning new cultures and you want to know more. Some of the most friendly people I have ever met have been in Greece and Bali. Just people who want to chat, get to know you. If you show these people how interested you are in their culture and in seeing their city, they just open up even more. It's easy to do when travelling with Christien. He's always chatting up the locals, and I think that we get to see a lot more then if we just tried to live out of a travel book.

8) Sun, sand and surf. We don't always go on tropical vacations, but when we do what is better then sitting on the beach with a sea breeze at 10 am looking out into the aqua blue water of the ocean?

9) Eating. Food from all over is so different. And so delish. You'll never get a taco in Calgary like you can get at some restaurant on the beach in Mexico. Fresh seafood? Try sitting on the pier at a restaurant in Greece as you watch the boats pull in and that fish go directly to the waiting BBQ. Nasi Goreng? It's a staple at the breakfast buffet in Bali. And tastes better then anything I can attempt at home. What about the smell of roasted chestnuts on the streets of New York?

10) Doing things you wouldn't normally be able to do in Calgary. Snorkeling with the tropical fish is the coolest. Body surfing the waves. Regular surfing. Scuba diving (ok, haven't done this yet, but am thinking about doing it in Cuba). Major League Baseball games.

I look forward to making many new memories, experiencing many different cultures and seeing a lot more of the world with my family!

New Mommy Workout

2010-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Started my first ever water aerobic class today. It was a great work out. They had these cute little boat floaties that the babies float around in. You've got a floatation device around your waist, then the babies are tethered to you. They just float around. There are a lot of people in the class. I'm taking it with three other mums from my Birth and Babies class. It was a lot of fun. Reid had a bit of a meltdown half way through the class today. Not sure what happened. He might have been cold. He was totally cool, then just started crying and reaching out for me. Big tears streaming down his face. Poor monkey. But he was fine, and he was good for the rest of the class. Then we sang a few songs at the end, and had them out of their boats. He loved that the most. All of us girls from the class hit the warmer kiddie pool at the end to warm us up. Then we went for coffee and chats after. It was a great afternoon. I'm so glad that I signed up. I've heard great things about aquacize, so I'm really looking forward to this class. It's six weeks, and Erin is going to sign up for another six weeks when this is done, so we'll see how I'm feeling. And if I think that I'm getting a good workout in this class. I'm very excited.

10 Reason Tuesday

2010-09-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

I had fun writing my "10 Reasons Why I Love My Husband". I decided that Tuesdays are going to be "Ten Reason Tuesdays".

10 Reasons Why I Love Reid

1) He is darn cute

2) He's our miracle baby. As trying as he is, we wanted him so badly. Failed a lot of times, and we finally did it. And this is him!! I love him for that, and I love him for who he is and for the joy that he's brought to our life

3) His smile and belly laugh are to die for. He can just giggle and giggle for no reason. It's too funny.

4) He's made me more patient. As impatient as I am with him sometimes, I still feel that it's more patient then I usually am. I'm not the most patient person, so this says a lot. He's taught me to take a step back and a couple of breaths, and to know that this isn't going to last forever.

5) Mat leave. Ok, that's not really a reason to love my son, but I love that I've got a year off to spend with him. And I love that Christine is off for the EXACT same amount of time as I am. I love that we can have play dates any day of the week. I love that Christien, Reid and I can take off whenever we want to travel.

6) Love. The love that I feel for him is like nothing you can describe. The love that I feel for my husband when they are together is more then I could have imagined.

7) His desire to learn. I have to call it that. I'm not sure what else it is. This baby was rolling over at 4 months, and sitting and crawling at 5 months. He was standing in his crib before he hit 6 months. And now he's going from couch to chair to couch pretty easily. He can maneuver along the couch easily. He can walk around in his crib. He's just go, go, go.

8) His cuddles. Actually, that's something that I have to force out of him, and he usually hates it, but I make him do it anyways. He's too squirmy, and doesn't like to be held down, but once in awhile he'll surprise me and let me cuddle him, or hug him for a split second longer then usual. That makes me happy.

9) His love for his dad. It's so crazy to see how much he loves his dad. He just follows him around with his eyes. Even when Christien is at work, he'll call and I'll put him on speaker phone and when Reid hears his voice, he just beams. It's so cool. I hope he loves me that much!!

10) For the joy that he brings others. Everyone laughs and smiles at him. Strangers. Wherever we are, people are always looking at him, smiling at him, talking to him. People are always telling us what a cute, and bright baby that we have. Friends. He's always making them laugh. He's just so all over the place. Grandparents. Well, they just can't get enough of him. Aunts and uncles. Love, love, love.

He's a pretty special little guy. We've had our ups and downs, but really, that's a bit selfish, I guess, on my part. Wanting sleep and all.. Ha ha. In the whole spectrum of life, that was only six months. Now that he's sleeping and I'm enjoying him so much more (on account of not being exhausted all day long) it's the most wonderful and precious gift I could ever imagine. It's hard work. Oh man, is it hard. Especially the first time around, but it's really worth it to see that smiling face in the morning when you pick him up. To have him chatter with you, and light up when you enter a room. Nothing compares, really. I love my little man.

10 Reasons Why I Love My Husband

2010-09-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

1) He's very handsome.

2) He's sweet and kind. He'll really do anything for you. You just have to ask. He's always willing to help out and lend a hand.

3) He's the best father. His relationship with Reid melts my heart. He can make Reid belly laugh like nobody else. Reid's face lights up every time Christien walks into a room, and he literally follows him around with his eyes the whole time. Their relationship is so different from the relationship that Reid and I have, and that warms my heart.

4) He's a hard worker. No matter what he's doing, he'll do it with his whole being. He'll put the extra time in and try to learn as much as possible from it. Whether it's selling print, shoveling snow, or learning a trade. He's doing it 100%. He leaves his family for two weeks every month to provide for us, and to better himself. He's amazing.

5) He loves to travel. I'm so happy that I have someone that I love to do this with. I've been travelling since I was a little girl, so it's always been in me to see new things, and visit new places. Since we've been together, we've done so much of that and seen so much of the world. I can't wait to see more. He's a great travel partner!! We always have so much fun, and see so much of the culture in the different places that we visit.

6) He's very adventurous. There are lots of things that I wouldn't do, but that he's dying to do. Bungee jump, sky dive (again), eat weird foods... I love him for that.

7) He sticks up for himself and others no matter what. Even though it embarrasses me when he yells at the people parking in handicap parking stalls without the proper sticker (sometimes he even knocks on their windows to tell them to move), I still admire him for that.

8) He smells really great.

9) He's the funniest guy that I know. He can tell jokes for days. Even bad jokes :) He's always asking for jokes from others, and he's always got a load of jokes to share. He's always making me and others laugh.

10) He's very thoughtful. He tells me and shows me his love for me. I get very sweet cards, gifts and texts from him. I know that Reid and I are the center of his world, and that means a lot. It's nice to know that you are appreciated.

BONUS - He's very handsome!!!!

Rainy Days

2010-09-09T09:26:00.001-07:00

The weather here has not been nice over the last few days. It's movie nights and sitting in the basement with the fireplace on. I guess seeing as we're spending the days indoors, it'll give us a chance to get a few work outs in. Since Christien has been home, I've managed to work out once. Not a good record. On the plus side, I have been eating Phase 1 South Beach, with minor alterations.

Reid had a doctors appointment yesterday with the pediatrician. They had a cancellation and were able to fit us in. He agrees with our doctor that it could be a reflux problem, so we're going to continue treating that for the next few months. Then we'll take him off the medication and see how that goes. That makes me nervous, cause he's finally starting to get better. No more waking up and screaming at night, and he's back on solids. He still wakes up at night, but he cries, and it's much easier to let him cry for five minutes when it's just a soft cry, rather then an all out scream fest. He usually puts himself back to sleep. I'm still getting up once or twice a night to feed him, but I've always expected that. And I'm fine with that. He's going down much easier too, once he gets those feeds. For a few months it would be just painful to lay him back down after I'd fed him. Which would lead to me being up for an hour or two, just trying to calm him and get him comfortable. So we've got hope for the future. Christien and I have actually been able to sleep these last few weeks. We're still exhausted at the end of the day, cause this baby is constantly on the go, but at least it's not a lack of sleep exhaustion.

Car's getting fixed today, I've got a dermatologist appointment (that I'm a bit nervous about) and we've got an appointment to check out a day care not far from our place tomorrow. Yikes. I can't believe that we've gotten to that point already where we have to start looking for child care. There are so many places in Calgary that have wait lists, it's ridiculous. I'm not even sure if this day care is wait listed or not. I just know that it's cheaper then downtown, it's right across the street from the train station, and that's about it. How I wish I could just stay home with him. Right now is when we really wish we had family closer who could watch him during the day.

First Week

2010-09-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

Christien's back. It's so nice to have him home. And so nice not to have any plans. Not to say that we haven't done anything while he's been back, but we have no definite plans any day. We just get up and make plans in the morning. No going out of town.. It's been so nice. With that being said, this last week has gone by really quickly!

On Tuesday we got family pictures done! I'm so excited to see them, and will share when I get them back. I have a friend from my baby class who is a semi-professional photographer. She's got a cute studio in her basement and lives right close to Fish Creek. So we did some inside shots and some outside. I think that they are going to be really nice. They'll be Reid's 6 month pictures. This time we got lots done with the three of us. Get ready for pictures for Christmas, grandparents. Ha ha.

Reid had his 6 month shots on Monday. And he didn't even cry. It was only one this time. And no more now till he's at least a year. I think that I'm going to push that one as far past a year as I can so him immune system is as strong as it can be. Jasmine did that with her kids, and I like that idea. Especially with all the different ideas about vaccinations in general. He was a bit fussy, but nothing major.

Thursday was book club!! Christien went fly fishing with Brian during the day, and book club was at Christine's. So it worked perfect. He came back with Brian, had a little dinner (thank you Christine) and took Reid home with him. Mummy got to hang out at book club with no baby. It was so nice!! Just as book club is always nice, it was great not to have to look out for Reid the whole time, and leave early, and try to keep his fussing and crying to a minimal. Brian even took Cash for a walk. For an hour. We all got to have dinner like normal ladies. It was fabulous.

We went to the zoo yesterday. The weather here is so weird. It was not cold, but not super warm when we left the house. Christien even went upstairs to put on a long sleeve shirt. By the time we got to the zoo it was boiling hot. And Reid was still a bit fussy (I blame his shots still). Too hot for a baby who wasn't dressed for the weather. So we didn't get to stay long. And Reid didn't really even "get" it. When we were looking at the elephants I don't even think that he saw them, he was way more interested in the fans in the building. Ha ha.

We went for Dim Sum at our favorite DimSum place today. This time we went with a buddy of Christine's who he works with up North. Blaire and Linda. She's Chinese. Apparently we've been experiencing reverse discrimination this whole time, because this was the best experience we've even had at Dim Sum. Not that we've had bad experiences, but we always felt like we weren't really looked after. Either way, Linda ordered a bunch of stuff that we'd never tried, and probably would never have tried, but was SO good. It was such a fun time. They came with their two kids and her parents. So much fun. Reid decided to forgo his first nap of the day, so he was a bit squirrley. It was so nice that we had so many hands to help us hold him. And we could all eat. It was great.

So, seeing as we didn't have any plans for this two weeks off we've still been pretty busy. We've had car appointments to get the sunroof fixed. The Cavalier is fixed. The yard is mowed. Fish tank cleaned. Fish tank cleaned. It's been a great week. We've even watched three movies. Date Night (great and funny), The Crazies (not good) and Youth in Revolt (great, too slow for Christien but it was funny).

Now I might call mum and dad to update them on their grandson. Christien is jamming with Jaime, and I'm chilling with a glass of wine by myself. Have a happy long weekend all!!

Sir Stands-A-Lot

2010-08-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

He's learning how to do this all on his own. There is no way that I am trying to teach him how to walk this early. He can now successfully hold himself up by one hand. I just spent the last few minutes watching him go from his rocking chair to the scratching post. He just wants to go, go, go.

BC Vacation

2010-08-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

We had a nice first family vacation heading into BC. Did a lot of driving and a lot of visiting. It's too bad that Reid decided that he didn't like the car all too much. I think that we still did a pretty good job, considering he wanted to scream most of the time that we were in the car. I ended up sitting in the back of the car with him most of the time, and I think that we ended up making pretty good time. While we were in Kelowna we got to head up to Cedar Creek with Reid. Both days that we were there they were setting up for something. A wedding perhaps. Or a concert. The weather in Kelowna wasn't fantastic, but we still had a great time. We brought Reid to Camelis, the goat cheese factory. He got a good laugh out of all the goats. We then headed to Mardi Gras in downtown Kelowna with my aunt and uncle.

Being astounded by the goatsAt Cedar Creek

Mardi Gras in Kelowna

Vancouver was a bit on the blah side. Just as we were getting into the outskirts it started raining and didn't stop till we left. Rain, rain, rain. We took the sky train into downtown Vancouver the first night and had some dinner and walked around with Reid for a bit. And the next day, after a sleepless night, we went to Stanley Park. Again, it was really rainy, and the line up for the aquarium was crazy long. So we just walked around a bit, and found the kids farmyard. Because it was so miserable, we decided to get the early ferry to Victoria.

Ferry to Victoria

My aunt took care of Reid a couple of times while we were in Victoria. It was a nice break. Christien and I got to go into town and walk around one day. We just stayed around the harbour front and had a nice, quiet and relaxing grown up lunch together. It was fabulous. Reid swam in the pool for a bit one day as well. It was a bit cold for him. As were the water in Kamloops and Kelowna. Which was really too bad, cause I was looking forward to getting him in the water out there. The water will be nice and warm in Cuba, however, it's going to be salt water, so we'll see how he reacts to that.

Getting a kick out of dad playing guitar and singing Christien dirt biking in Nanaimo. His favorite part of our trip

All in all it was a nice family vacation. Went by really quickly. We got home and Christien had to turn around and head back to work.

Butchart Gardens in Victoria

Unassisted Sitting

2010-08-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

Reid seems to pull out a new milestone whenever we go on vacation. Back in June he rolled over for the first time, and hasn't stopped since. I really wish that he would have poked a tooth or two through as it seems like he's been teething for ages. In so much pain. Poor little devil. While we were away he was really working on sitting and crawling. He pushed and pushed and pushed and finally when we were in Victoria pushed himself to sitting all alone. It's the cutest thing. That's how he does now. No matter where he is, always a push to sitting then he'll play. In his crib it's so cute. Except when he's been crying and we walk in there, and there's a weepy baby just sitting in the middle of his crib. So sad. Otherwise, it's just the cutest. Dad went to get him up from a nap the other day and found him standing in his crib. Happy as punch. Hanging on to the rails. Immediately after dinner, dad and I lowered the crib. I was talking to Christien in Reid's room last night, and he was playing in his crib, then he just grabbed onto the back rails and pulled himself up. My goodness. What's next? Walking, I know. Time to really get cracking on baby proofing.

Happy six month birthday little Reid.

Kamloops

2010-08-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Our drive down to Kamloops was half horrible and half great. Reid was great for the first two hours of the drive. He just chilled in his seat, slept for a bit. Then he started to get fussy. We pulled over and fed him, but that just didn't seem to make him happy. He started up again immediately when we put him back in his seat. And we were only at Lake Louise. Christien voiced his opinion that we were crazy thinking that we could do this trip, which lead to a bit of a tense car ride with a baby crying in the back seat, and nothing that we could do about it. We got stopped in some major construction outside of Golden for a whole hour. In the hot car. In hindsight, we really should have just turned the car off and gotten out with Reid. Walked around for a bit. That might have made him happier. We just weren't sure how long we were going to be stopped for, but I guess, driving this highway every year, we should have known, that with construction comes long wait times. We are definitely going a different way home. Reid was great from Golden to Kamloops though. Fussed for a bit, and I just covered him up and he went to sleep. Then he was happy when he woke up. I think that it was hot, and he was obviously uncomfortable in his car seat. We made it in one piece though.

Spent a couple of hours at the beach yesterday. Had Reid in the water for a bit. He loved getting his feet wet, and thought that the sand was super cool. Christien brought him right into the water, and I think that it was a bit cold for him. The water temperature here in the lake is not like it is in Kelowna. So I can't wait to get him to Gyro and actually be able to swim with him. Christien and Reid went over to the water park, but again, the water was really cold. So it's just not as fun. We're looking for a few things to get out to do today. There's a bazaar downtown that we're thinking of checking out. And maybe the Wildlife Park. I'd like to walk around some of these parks. If Reid's in his stroller then that'll buy us a bit more time to be out and about instead of having to come home to put him down for a nap. Heading to Kelowna after dinner sometime tonite... Can't wait to get a family picture taken at Cedar Creek.

BC Bound

2010-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Just waiting for Reid to wake up. Ha. Never, ever thought that I would utter those words. We just weren't quick enough with waking and getting the car packed up this morning. He got too grumpy and wanted to nap. NOW. So to bed he went. The little booger rarely naps more then half an hour, yet he's been down for over an hour now. Go figure. When we need to get up and do something, he'll just sleep and sleep and sleep. But when I just want to nap with him, then he makes sure those are quick cat naps. What a guy. Hopefully this nap will have him nice and refreshed and ready for the trip to Kamloops. Fingers crossed baby Reid likes the car today. I'm planning lots of stops, so I hope that will help. And I hope that the rain stays away from us and our ride so that we can have lots of stops. Can't wait to see all our friends and family out West!!

Random Shots

2010-07-28T08:47:00.001-07:00

Just a few pictures of Reid from the last few weeks. Mowing the lawn with dad. Worked for a few minutes, then it got annoying.

Popping some Proseco for our anniversary.

Chilling with the caterpillar that he loves and that he got from cousin Paige. Yellow, yellow, yellowKind of stunned, but laughing at grandpa.

Chew chew chewSleepy faceSitting with grandpa. Again with the chewing on anything he can get his hands on. Even if they are his own hands.Such a sweet baby face. In his new sleep sac with one of his many animal friends.

All smiles with grandma

Busy Week

2010-07-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

End of July. Cannot believe it. Summer is half over. It's crazy. Less then a week and Christien will be home and we're going to BC for a whole two weeks. Christien has our itinerary with him at work, and we're planning on taking our time getting everywhere. Lots of stops for Reid. That'll just give us loads of picture ops. That's my reasoning. I think that's how patience becomes you... You start to take the bad and turn it into good. Yeah, we might need to stop every hour (the poor baby is strapped into a seat, going backwards in the car), but let's just make it fun.

Either way, I am super stoked to see Jenni and Ryan, and my aunt and uncle in Kelowna. We're going to go to Cedar Creek vineyard. Three years ago we were there getting married and now we're going back with our son. Vancouver is going to be a bit of a quick stop, but I really want to go to Stanley Park. Reid will love the trees. And I want to go to Kitsalano. Get his feet in his first of many oceans. Taking the ferry it going to be so much fun too. I really hope we see some whales. More for me then for Reid, cause he won't get it. I had to force him to look at the shark at Big Al's this week. He thought that it was cool, but it was right in front of his face and it took him awhile to get it. So I'm not thinking that some whale tails will do it for him right now. But for me! I've never seen the whales on the ferry over to the island, so that would be so cool. Then we'll be with auntie Tania and uncle Manfred for a few days. Christien wants to head to Nainaimo for a day to visit a guy that he works with, so that'll be cool too. Auntie Tania and uncle Manfred have a pool in their backyard. Reid is going to LOVE that. Let's hope it helps to tire him out at night. And we're going to see my friend Mel, who moved to England a few years ago. She'll be back in Vernon visiting family while we're there. So excited to see her and Isabelle.

I'm trying to keep busy while Christien is gone. I've only got two more days of strollercize left for this month. I think that I'm going to do mommy and baby yoga at the end of August to keep up the working out. I'm going to a Norwex party on Thursday too. I've always seen the stuff, so now I'm going to look at it up close. Reid had some crazy eczema for awhile there, and I was thinking that this kind of stuff might be pricey but could be good for him. We'll see what they have to offer. Patio on Saturday. Can't wait to meet up with some friends.

We got our toys from the Discovery Toy party the other day. Of all the toys that I bought for Reid, I just gave him one. The other two were for "older" babies. However, he loves his triangle. He totally plays with it! I'm going to host a toy party at the beginning of November as there were a few of my friends who were interested in the stuff that they had to offer. It's a very cool company. Anyways, I thought that the beginning of November would be perfect cause it would give us some time to get our toys before Christmas. Exciting.

Let's pray this baby gives me more then two hour sleep intervals tonite. He's starting on solids tomorrow!

Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit

2010-07-23T16:52:00.001-07:00

And what a visit. Sunday night, Christien and I were able to go to a movie together (Inception, so great), and dinner. It was amazing. Amazing to be out of the house by ourselves, and to be able to just have normal conversations. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary even if it was a couple of days early.

The grandparents stayed until Thursday and it was wonderful. I got to have two naps in two days. It was a great way to refresh, especially after Reid reverted back to only sleeping for two hour blocks at night. I was still feeling pretty exhausted this morning, but I think that it has to do with him sleeping so little as well as the frustrations building within me cause I just don't understand why he's sleeping so little. He's five months old now. I'm not asking for "through the night" but I'd like a little more then two hours at a time. It might sound crazy but I would rejoice at consistent blocks of three hours. That, would be a miracle.

I didn't have to do any cooking while my parents were here either. And they made enough food to last me for a week or two... I even got some chores done that I wouldn't have been able to get done without some help. It was great. Gotta love the grandfolk.

Momma's Night Out

2010-07-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

I went out with some girls for the first time since Reid was born, last night. We went to see Kid Rock at the Stampede. Super wicked awesome. It was nice to get out of the house on my own for something other then groceries. Was still home by midnight, but what a fun grown up night. Reid's been a bit fussy lately, so I think that Christien had a bit of a crying baby on his hands for a few hours. I sort of felt that I had to rush home while I was out, but once I really thought about it, Christien is Reid's dad. They're fine, even if he is screaming or crying. It would be more fun if he didn't, but that's what happens sometimes. It happens to me lots when Christien is gone. Sometimes even when he is here. There's no better way to learn patience and how to deal with it, then to experience it. They need their daddy and son time anyways. Tomorrow my parents get here, and Christien and I are going to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. Wow, a whole meal that we'll get to eat together without rushing through it. I cannot wait. And a movie theater... Without the baby?? Exciting!!

What's Been Going On...

2010-07-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

July has been a pretty busy month so far. I can't believe that it's already half over. Mum came to visit at the beginning of the month. It was great to only be by myself for one week rather then two this time around. Mum, Reid and I got to spend some really good times together. Just hanging out. She was here for Canada Day. Christine and Cash came over for a BBQ. It was cold and windy all day, but when they got here the clouds sort of disappeared and we got to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening on the deck. It was great. Amber came by for a bit. She had just gotten back from England, so she was a bit jet lagged. Glad that she came over though.

We had our Third Annual Patio Party on the 10th. It's always been a good time, and this time was no exception. Stacey and Ty came down. Which was a surprise. I was expecting Stacey, but not Ty, so that was totally cool for him to come. My cousin Paige and her boyfriend also came down from Edmonton for the festivities. It's always been super nice for our patio party. So hot on the back deck... This year was not so nice. It was gorgeous all week long, and then Saturday hit and the clouds came in. It poured Friday night, and I was hoping that would be it. However, all day Saturday it was just nasty. Dark clouds, but no rain. I kept thinking that I could see them splitting apart and blue skies coming, but that never did happen. As soon as Christien fired up the BBQ the rain started, and I really don't think that it stopped. People were still hardcore and tried to be outside on the deck, but they were coming in soaked. Curtis walked in the house, eventually, with two large tented tarps. We were like "Where did those come from??", "Curtis brought them", "From his truck", "No, he just bought them from Superstore". Way to come through Curtis!! It was awesome. The guys were all out there setting them up in the rain (and probably Alana too). It was a nice warm day, so we did end up spending some time outside under the tarps. No wind, just rain. Either way, it ended up being a super fun time.

We went to Montana on Monday. Were supposed to stay till Thursday but ended up coming back on Wednesday. Reid was having a super bad time. He was not happy in the car the whole way down there, and he was super fussy and in pain (atrocious diaper rash) for the rest of the time. So we figured spending $100 to sit in our hotel was a waste of money, and came back early. We did do some shopping, but were kind of rushed. Now that I am home, I'm looking at all the things that I wanted to buy and never really looked for. But that's okay. Kalispell isn't going anywhere. We're supposed to go to BC in August. I think that Christien is bailing on us (I really hope not). I'm going to trek through, even though we had a bad experience once. We also had a good one when we went to visit Dale in Castlegar. I think that we just pushed Reid a bit too much in the car this time. We broke up the Castlegar trip into two days, and from here to Fernie (which is about a 3.5 hour ride) we stopped three times. We need to think more about that. I don't have any issues with stopping once an hour for 15 minutes or so. Makes the trip longer, but that's what you have to do when you have a little one.

Now we're back, and we have a few days together before Christien heads off to work again on Monday. Mum and dad are going to be here Sunday to watch Reid for us, so that we can go out together for our 3rd anniversary. I am thinking that a nice dinner out will be so nice. No interruptions. Eating at a normal pace... Sounds like heaven.

As Promised...

2010-07-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple shots of our little swimmer on his last day of classes. Go figure, we bring the camera to take some shots on the last day, and I get three off and it dies on us. Oh well, there will be more swimming classes for sure. He got his report card on Friday too!! So proud of the little guy.

Lil' Swimmers

2010-07-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Mum has come and gone. And now Christien is back home. The last stint that he was gone went by super fast. I think that I'm keeping myself extremely busy. The week that mum was here, she said that she was exhausted keeping up with me. But I do what I have to do to make the time go by faster. How much fun would we have sitting at home all day long?? Not much, that's for sure.

Reid started his swimming lessons on Monday. It was everyday this week for half an hour. It's been so much fun. We went by ourselves on Monday cause Christien didn't get back till late. And since then it's been the three of us. He's been having a blast. He can float, and kick, and even got dunked. Every class. I'm still weary of it, but he does it, and doesn't freak out. The instructor said that if you can do it with them now, then they won't be afraid of the water when they are older. He always looks pretty shocked when he comes up, but not like he's going to freak out or anything. It's been so much fun. I'm going to look into more swimming lessons for the end of the summer. I think that Lil' Swimmers is just the first of a set of classes for the little guys, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I've got two cousins who swam their whole lives. They both ended up coaching when they got older, so maybe he's got a little of that in him. He sure does love the water though. I can't wait to get him in my aunt's pool this summer.

We're heading to Kalispell on Monday. Got a cute little hotel (I hope) that has a pool, so we can hopefully tire the little guy out. We ended up getting a Junior Suite, so we'll see if it's as nice as the one in Fernie. It'll be nice to be able to put him to bed in one room and still sit up and chat and watch TV in the other without worrying about waking him. I can't wait to hit up Target. I have no idea why I love that store so much. And Costco. They have a great deal on beers and wine. Also, Christien is looking forward to Famous Dave's BBQ. Funny little joint. We're hoping to head to Whitefish as well, and maybe get a hike or two in. Check out the town a bit better then when we were there in October. It was cold when we were there last. And we were there over a weekend so when we went into Whitefish on the Sunday, everything looked pretty deserted. I think that it might liven up in the summer time. We'll see, but I sure am excited.

In August we'll be heading out to BC for two weeks. Stops include Kamloops to see the Witzaney's, Kelowna to see my aunt and uncle, Vancouver to hit up Stanley Park and Kitsalano, Victoria to see some more family, and then Vernon to see my buddy who lives in London but will be visiting her folks in BC for a few weeks. Lucky that our trips will overlap. Sounds like a lot, but we've got about two or three days in each stop so I think that it's going to be mega loads of fun. I can't wait to hit up the ferry with Reid. I haven't been on the ferry in YEARS. Maybe we'll even get to see some whales this time!!

We haven't taken any pictures of swimming yet. Brought the camera today, but Reid was having a bit of an off day and didn't really want to stay in the water any longer then necessary. That's OK. We'll try with some pictures again tomorrow and I'll post them as soon as I can.

Grandma's Coming!

2010-06-26T08:15:00.001-07:00

One more sleep and grandma is going to be here to visit. I can't wait. It'll be nice to have some help with the little guy for a week. I'm hoping grandma will be okay with watching him for half an hour everyday so I can do a quick workout. She hasn't seen him since he was 6 weeks old. He's changed lots since then. He's so funny now!! I think that grandpa wishes that he was coming to visit too. Maybe this will convince him to fully retire now. They will both be back on the 18th to spend a few days before they head to Kelowna for the summer. And I'm sure that they are planning on staying a few days on the way home from Kelowna as well. So they'll get to see him a few times this summer. I'm thinking about booking a flight up to Fort Mac at the end of August. When Christien goes back to work. We'll see how Reid is doing once we finish our travels to BC in the beginning of August. Don't want to throw him too much out of whack.

Father's Day

2010-06-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Christien was here for his very first Father's Day this year. It was a beautiful Sunday and we spent the whole day together. We got to sleep in for a bit, as well as you can sleep in with a baby consistently waking you up and/or kicking you and punching you. We went to Dim Sum at our new favorite restaurant in town. Forbidden City. WAY better then the Silver Dragon. The only thing that I like more about the Silver Dragon is that they come around with the little cart and you can pick off of it, and you know for sure (well most of the time) what you are getting. At Forbidden City you get to order it off a card, and then come around and drop it off. That's nice too because all the food is extremely fresh. Christien's neighbour at Firebag is married to a Chinese lady and they said that Forbidden City is the best dim sum in the city. They want to take us the next time that we go. Which would be great, because we could order some different stuff, but we'd at least have someone there to tell us what we're ordering. Right now we stick to the basics, cause sometimes going out of your comfort zone can be too weird.

Anyways, long side bar there... we walked around the mall for a bit cause we had to exchange the running shorts that Christien got for Father's Day. How was I to know he'd get so skinny running every day while he's at work?? Christien and Reid went for a little nap in the afternoon, and I stocked up on groceries and made a nice steak dinner for Christien. Was so nice that we got to be outside to BBQ. Christien and I even got a few minutes where we got to sit outside and have a beer and a glass of wine and just talk. The two of us. Was a nice day. A nice way to spend Father's Day and a nice way to spend the day before he went back to work.

The Continuation of our BC trip...

2010-06-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

We got back to Kristin and Dale's and the boys went to work demolishing a shed in the backyard. Reid just chilled outside. Rolling over was something that he learned that weekend too. We were all having breakfast on Saturday and he had been trying and trying to roll over for ages. He was going, going, and then, whoop.. he did it. Now he just does it like it's no big deal. It's pretty cute how high he can hold his head.

We took another route on our way home, and stopped into Kimberley for some schnitzel and fudge. We stopped overnight in Fairmont. I'd never been to those hot springs, so we thought that we would check it out and see what Reid thinks. He LOVED it. Christien had him swimming around the hot pools. Holding him by his stomach, head up, mouth open, kicking his legs like crazy. One little girl in the pool said "That baby thinks he's swimming". All the older ladies were going on about how cute he was and how bright he is. So much fun.

Great trip. I can't wait to hit up Kalispell in July and Kamloops, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria in August. So exciting. Especially since Reid loves to travel.

Southern British Columbia

2010-06-18T22:27:00.001-07:00

Hello!! We went out to BC last week to visit Dale and Kristin, and did a few little side trips on the way. We left here on Thursday and got back Tuesday. Was a great trip. Great weather. Great friends. Lots of laughs. So much fun. Here is Reid driving us out there....

We stopped in Fernie on the way. Not just to break up the trip but also to have some fun...

Fernie was great. We didn't really know what to see or where to go, however, we checked out downtown, and spent some time in our suite. It was a nice stop, and all three of us had a great time.

And then we saw Dale. So much fun. We hung out with Dale and Kristin all weekend. We went out to Nelson, and spent an afternoon at Syringa Beach.

Dale and Kristin brought us up to Deer Park. We had a little lunch and hung out at the beach.

To be continued, cause this blog spot is not easy to maneuver..... Hence the reason we've got doubles of Christien and I yet no way to move them around or delete them.. Please stay tuned...

Daddy's Home!

2010-06-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Christien gets home today. I can't wait We pick him up in four hours. Now, if only my baby will have himself a little nap before we head out to get him, that would be wonderful.

We're heading to Castlegar on Thursday. Excited to see Dale and Kristin. And to do that drive. I've never been out that way. Only driven as far as Fernie before, and in the fall/winter. It should be a nice and pretty drive. I'm sure we'll have a few extra stops with the little guy, but it'll be fun along the way. We're going to break the trip up into two days. A whole eight hours is a lot to ask out of Reid. I don't even like sitting in the car for eight hours, so I can just imagine how he's feeling buckled into that death trap car seat. We've got a room booked in Fernie for Thursday night, and I'm excited about that too. I've never really been to Fernie, so it'll be nice to walk around and see what's up. Our hotel has an indoor pool, so we'll be sure to bring our swim suits and get Reid into the water again. I hope that we'll have a chance to go swimming in Calgary before we leave. It's supposed to be nothing but rain all week, so that could be a fun rainy day idea.

As I check on the little guy, he's finally given into his nap. I should be productive here and try to get a work out in before he wakes up.

Diana F+

2010-06-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

Amber and I took a photography course from Dick and Janes today on our new Diana cameras. Well, I've had mine for awhile, but never really knew how to use it to it's full potential, and Amber just bought one to document her European adventures. It ended up being just the two of us in the class, which was awesome cause we were able to just throw out random questions and get them answered right away. I learnt a lot. We took a whole roll of black and white 120 film doing all sorts of different effects with the camera. I'm totally excited to see what kind of shots we ended up getting. Tres exciting.

While we were at class, I hit another milestone with Reid. I left him with Kristin and Kyle for three hours! That's a huge deal for me. Not that I didn't think that they could handle him. I have the most faith in both of them, I was more concerned FOR them, as I know that my baby can wail for hours and not calm himself down. Maybe I need to have more faith in him, cause it seems that he was a good boy for them. Had a nap, ate some food, went for a walk. Amazing. Not only that, but they were the first people, who weren't family that I left Reid with. Ever. It's a big step! I'm thankful that I have such wonderful people to choose to leave my son with. Thanks Kristin and Kyle! Love to you both.