Smart and Talented

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

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

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....

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

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

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!!