Being grateful - 20120430

I am grateful for small, but important milestones and Froot Loops.

Our little W is 1 month old today. He has grown so much and already, his newborn features are starting to become more distinct and he's filling out. And, he's also got his baby acne coming in, which makes me excited for when his skin becomes super soft right after. Ahhhh....

Also, we bought a box of Froot Loops. I'm trying to get out my sugar craze and the only time I can have some is after D-nut is asleep. Otherwise, he asks for "Green Cheerios". I forgot how good Froot Loops are.

Being grateful - 20120429

I am grateful for moments that remind you how amazing you have it.

Being grateful - 20120428

I am grateful for coffee.

I'm not a big coffee drinker. I only drink decaf. I once had a medium double double one morning in university and I was so wired, I almost pulled an all-nighter studying for an exam just because I couldn't sleep. Also, my stomach was not happy. My first and only caffeinated latte (Mr.S ordered decaf but I'm pretty sure it wasn't decaf) gave me the worst gas of my life. And keep in mind I've been pregnant twice (if you don't know, you get pretty gassy sometimes when you're pregnant). Mr.S is never going to get a coffee/latte/whatever for me without double and triple checking it's decaf ever again.

But today felt like a coffee day. Do you ever have days like that? You just feel like having some coffee just for having some coffee?

I had a large...which is their old extra large. BIG.

Make your Toms different

I just found out about this guy's idea. It's so cool. Now, if I can just find my Toms somewhere...

Being grateful - 20120427

I am grateful for Thomas the Tank Engine.

We have this DVD of Thomas the Tank Engine. 15 episodes back-to-back or something like that. D-nut recently rediscovered it and loves watching it...which makes my life a little easier when I have a ton of stuff to do. I know, TV, the babysitter = not good parenting. But seriously, sometimes you need TV or some sort of distraction just to give you enough time to get some stuff done, and when playing with toys, reading books and all that other good stuff isn't working, sometimes you desperately need TV. Ugh, I sound horrible.

BTW, does anyone else think Gordon is scary?

Being grateful - 20120426

I am grateful for breaks.

Mr.S and D-nut had a date tonight to spend time together and to give me a break. It was nice to be able to watch just one child, something I haven't done for weeks. I had no idea how easy it was to have one child versus having two.

And you know, when they came home, I felt more appreciative of them in my life, and D was so excited to see me. I love that.

Being grateful - 20120425

I am grateful for little hands learning to do things and random run-ins.

I was watching D-nut's hands today as he fed himself. It's amazing how much he has learned and you only remember how far he's come when you realize how little he used to be able to do. Gotta love the human body and mind. I love watching his little hands do things. And I love watching him think. He's so bright, that one.

Later we went to pick up Mr.S and ran into one of my bffs who was running errands before her vacation. We then ran into our other bff and her love and just like that, like old times, we were hanging out at the mall.

Being grateful - 20120424

I am grateful for quick getaways.

Today was one of those Momster days. D-nut was having a terrible two day and I needed a break. So after Mr.S got home, after dinner, I escaped to the grocery store for diapers.

Grocery stores are so peaceful after the after-work rush is done. The bigs stores especially. It was a quick trip but much need and very enjoyable.

I'm not saying a need an escape from my life but sometimes you need a step outside of your day, some time alone to spend with yourself, to regroup and go back to be a better you. Mothers know what I'm talking about, right?

OMPFC

It's finally coming to Canada.

Holy, double pan-fried noodles, Batman.

P.F. Chang's Coming to the Shops at Don Mills

(Thanks, SAM, for sharing! I'm so happy...and so is Mr.S!)

Being grateful - 20120423

I am grateful for naptime.

What mother, at home with her kids, isn't? Today's naptime came at something like 6PM. Dinner time. I knew though that if I had kept the big one awake to eat, he wouldn't have eaten and likely would have had a meltdown...and then I would have one too. So 6PM naptime was fine with me.

Being grateful - 20120422

I am grateful for social activism and Apple.

So Cover The Night was two days ago and for the past two days, I've been seeing Kony 2012 paraphernalia up in various parts of the city. There wasn't too much to see considering I live in the burbs, but it was nice to see posters up at main intersections and main roads. On Friday, someone even stopped me to ask me about my shirt and it turned out she was actually planning to do some covering of the night herself.

Also, today was a fun day. Even though our initial plans didn't plan out, we decided to do something fun today, something outside to celebrate Earth Day (Happy Earth Day) and decided to become connected. After much research, rationalizing and number crunching over the past few weeks, Mr.S and I finally decided to join most of the world and get smartphones. We are now proud iPhone owners (I know, I know, iPhones aren't really considered to be in the smartphone category) and since then, our marriage has gotten quiet. Too quiet. But we do facetime sometimes. Just kidding. But really, we now understand why we go places and kids are on their phones during dinner or people are on their phones when out with their friends. We're not saying we'll do that nor that it's okay, we just get it now. They're hard to put down.

Being grateful - 20120421

I am grateful for face painters.

We were at my cousin's daughter's 3rd birthday party today. It was fun! They had an awesome clown come in who did amazing balloon creatures, face painting and magic. She was really patient and really quick too.

Is it crazy of me to kinda wanna do this for fun on the side? I think I could be a good clown who does face painting...and wouldn't it be a crazy talent to be able to twist balloons into animals?

Ladybugs on my face!

D's Nemo -- he didn't want it, but she managed to get it on his cheek really quickly and pretty well done!

The birthday girl and her amazing Rapunzel.

Being grateful - 20120420

I am grateful for turn arounds.

Let me explain what this is first. You're having a bad day, and you purposefully and willfully turn it around into a good day. It's an active choice and decision and it's hard to do at first, but when you've done it enough times and have had good practice and results, it's easy to do.

I had a long To Do list today, where all the items were past due. For example, I went to apply for a new passport today. My last one expired...in OCTOBER. Anyway, I needed to apply, not renew, because I wanted to update my last name on it.

Because of all the things on my mind about all the things I had to do today, my mind was everywhere. That caused me to make trips back home while on the road because of things I forgot and also caused Brother, my guarantor on my application, to go back home to give me his passport number because I forgot to put it on the form...in NOVEMBER, even after asking him for it several times. I had just deleted the text he sent with that info from NOVEMBER because I thought I should clear out some space on my phone. Anyway, after many, many wrongs, I found myself crying twice in public, once where a man was doing that try-not-to-look-but-can't-help-it-because-he-feels-bad thing. Ugh.

Anyway, it turned around. Mr.S reminded me that I could do that. People were no longer walking through the handicapped doors and instead were pressing the button for me and W in stroller. Lines weren't too long. D was okay and having a fun time with my parents. There were no issues with my passport application. W's hearing was fine. Chatted with random strangers. I finally changed my address on my license.

I got things done today. It was nice.

Being grateful - 20120419

I am grateful for crepe makers.

I want one. The kind that comes with that tool that looks like a T and you woosh it around in a circular motion and have a perfectly circular crepe. I had one for dinner today at the mall and I think I enjoyed watching it being made more than eating it (it wasn't completely cooked and the batter was too sweet for my savoury crepe).

Look at how fun...

...this looks!!

Penis

Yes, I just called this post that.

Boys, by nature, are viewed to be the more curious sex at times...and well, D-nut has discovered his junk. Not just discovered it though, but is also exploring it. It's gotten to the point that he finds that putting his hand down his pants helps put himself to sleep. We're not sure what to do about this.

So, I was reading up about it and trying to remember what stuff I've read and heard about this topic, and found this.

So, if you're ever around my son, don't be surprised if he says "I like my penis". He's just learned it has a name.

(AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Help me.)

Being grateful - 20120418

I am grateful for Tylenol.

I had some funk going through my body today. It felt like the flu and a migraine met, hooked up and impregnated me with their child. Horrible. And sudden too. What sluts. Anyway, that's how it felt. It settled in yesterday night actually, and then in the middle of the night, I was freeeeezing and covered myself with layers and blankets and then woke up in the middle of the night sweaty but with chills. Don't you hate that feeling? We didn't have any Tylenol other than what the hospital gave me after I delivered so I popped some of those after realizing I couldn't "tough it out". Phew, thank goodness. I don't think I could have survived the day, especially with two little ones. I kept thinking about how I felt like I was living a Tylenol commercial today. Seriously.

Open letter (to W):

Dear W.,

Please wake up and eat soon. My right boob is starting to hurt.

Thanks,
Momma

Being grateful - 20120417

I am grateful for during the day shopping.

Particularly, Costco during the day. Mr.S had today off and since we needed to stock up on Vaseline for baby butts, we decided to go to Costco today. We actually planned to go this past weekend, but we pulled into the parking lot, saw the ZOO and drove out of the lot. So, since we were there today, we decided to go inside, walk around a bit and have some cheap lunch. The place was almost deserted. If I didn't have W in a stroller (D was in the cart -- our double stroller with D in the front has been killing my back. Must work that out.), I would have zoomed around the place like I was on that grocery shopping game show. What's it called again? SUPER MARKET SWEEP!!! Yeah, it was that empty. Too bad there weren't any samples going out today.

Being grateful - 20120416

I am grateful for Oprah.

She's actually in town, IN TOWN!! Her traveling Life Class show is here, in Toronto today. A few of my friends got tickets to go and had one for me to buy, but because it was so close to my due date, I declined. And then they asked me again this weekend and I still had to decline. Oh man, to see Oprah, in person...definitely one of the things I want to do while she and I am still alive. Maybe she'll come back to Toronto or I'll have the opportunity to meet her somewhere else. Anyway, I'm grateful for her. Just to know she's in our city, imparting her wisdom with others so that we can live better lives for ourselves. She's had so much to share and has given so many the opportunity to share as well. What a wonderful person.

Being grateful - 20120415

I am grateful for innovative ideas.

We were at Michael's today so I could get some ideas and possibly buy some supplies for W's birth announcements. I haven't found myself in Michael's for a long time (shame on me) and so I was really excited to go. I wanted to lose myself in there and anticipated having so many ideas, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

It turned out though that I wasn't finding anything. I was hoping to find something from which I could stem the rest of the project, something that would create a string of ideas that I could tie into one very crafty, colourful piece. Didn't happen. I walked around like I was in a maze (what's with the layouts of the newer Michael's stores?!) and told myself I wouldn't buy anything - I didn't have the coupons anyway - and just remember what stuff I liked and go home and put together some ideas and then come back to make my purchases.

But then as I looked around, I started thinking about what I could do with this tool and that paper and ideas started flowing. I had to figure out the specifics, but I was coming up with something doable. Nope, it wouldn't be as close to D-nut's announcement as I had initially thought it could be, but it would be similar enough that after announcing all our children's births, we'd have a nice collection of birth announcements.

I'm excited to put them together. Now I just have to go back and buy more supplies...and wait for W's baby acne to come and go (it's just starting to come in).

Being grateful - 20120414

I am grateful for loving cousins and sugar.

W is a very loved cousin. He's the newest and the second baby brother on my side of the family. All his cousins seem to want to hold him, it's so cute. Today, at their cousin's 7th birthday party, so many of them took turns holding him on the couch, using the arm rest as their arm rest and support for his head, some along with a pillow. It's the cutest thing, how they look at his face moving and admire his tiny features that are still learning to make regular movements. My heart melts at how their love and admiration for this little one is so visible on their faces. It's so sweet.

And speaking of sweet, I love sugar. I almost forgot how much with how little I was ingesting while I was preggers. Okay, no wait, I cheated a few times, but I never went overboard or anything. It was all in moderation! Anyway, birthday parties mean birthday cake...and juice and sweet stuff and foooood. I did not skimp on anything. Food makes me so happy and I didn't realize it until recently. And juice? OMG, juice is delicious. Anyway, yes, my sweet tooth is back and I'm doing my best not to go crazy.

Being grateful - 20120413

I am grateful for shared guilty pleasures.

D-nut and I did something bad today. While waiting to meet up with Mr.S after work, we had some time to kill, so we opted for a snack. We went to McDonalds. We had ice cream and medium fries and shared it. I realize that what we snacked on was actually my decision, not his. I just craved something sweet and salty and hot and cold and that was exactly what I needed. And, I figured I'd introduce my little man to this cheap snack, and if he didn't like it, he'd enjoy the ice cream and fries separately.

So, we did it. And he liked it. At first he kinda poked the ice cream with his fry, and then he was swooping in like I was. I also taught him how to lick ice cream from a cone. And then he learned what a cone was. He kept saying he wanted to try the "cookie" and I kept telling him, "No, this is called a coooonnne." "A cooooonnnne, Momma?" "Yes, a coooonnne." "Mmmm...I try... ... ...Mmmmm! I like coooommme!" "No, cooooNNNNNNNNe!" "Yeah! I like cooooome!"

So really, this snack was not only a guilty pleasure, but a lesson in food. HA!

Being grateful - 20120412

I am grateful for awesome things.

1000 awesome things is winding down, but that doesn't mean that we're running out of awesome things. Mr.S has the Awesome Things calendar at work and sends me ones he likes. Today's is:

"Finally farting after the guests leave."

True, no?

Being grateful - 20120411

I am grateful for downtime.

Mr.S and I have been spending more quality time together after the boys are asleep. I've been finding myself eating (my stomach seems to still be on that diabetes diet, which requires a snack before bed), while he does other stuff, sometimes eating too. We did a lot of this last week too, and I guess this is just continuation of that. Also, because it's pretty late, we've been finding funny things to watch online. Sometimes the only time I have to check my email and read my blogs is late at night.

Here is one of those videos we found funny...
INJURED SOCCER PLAYER GETS BUTT TO THE FACE
(yes, you read that right.)

Being grateful - 20120410

I am grateful for easy days.

Day 2 - me and the boys. Today was much easier than yesterday. This week is kind of experimental. With it being the first few days of me being home with the boys, I'm trying to figure out what works and what doesn't and what the best methods are for juggling the needs of two very different boys of two different age groups, who are also in the process of adjusting.

Today was good. There wasn't much juggling involved since their needs seemed pretty much staggered, and well, D-nut put himself to sleep for a nap...which meant that I could also go to sleep for a nap without what has becoming a very daunting task of getting him to sleep.

I think there's hope for me.

Being grateful - 20120409

I am grateful for survival.

Today was the first day of me being home with the two kids without Mr.S. He went back to work today.

It was a LLLLLLLLONG day.

And at the "end" of it, we met up with Mr.S, who missed the boys and me ("the boys and me"!!!) so much, he asked us to meet up with him so he could see us ASAP.

Being grateful - 20120408

I am grateful for Easter and Diaper Derbies.

Alleluia! He is Risen!

Easter is one of my favourite holidays. Aside from the fact that it celebrates the main reason for our faith, it is a time for celebration with family. I love fam jams. We didn't get around to doing an actual egg hunt this year (sorry, kids), but it was still a fun gathering.

It was especially nice for our new family of four because our family gathering also welcomed our neWest into the family. My family threw a Diaper Derby for us with our Easter celebration. It was a very nice surprise and we're so grateful for all the diapers and wipes we received (God knows we'll need them!) along with all the gifts that came along with those necessities.

Being grateful - 20120407

I am grateful for nursing stations.

Modernization of malls these days means more places to nurse your baby. I probably wrote about this when I was a new mom, but yeah, they're awesome. They're always nice, quiet places to nurse your baby. The good ones even have places to entertain your older children or even have a TV for you, usually on CP24 or something like that, so you're not entirely out of touch with the world.

Being grateful - 20120406

I am grateful for sacrifices and the park.

Today is Good Friday, the day we remember Christ's sacrifice for our sins. It is one of the most important days of our faith, as Christians, and we remember this sacrifice every time we pray. I am so grateful for our Saviour and for all that he has brought to us and done for us.

After Good Friday mass, Mr.S thought it would be nice to go for a walk in the park. It was a nice sunny day and so we picked up some coffee (darn, Roll Up the Rim cups were done at the location we went to -- I didn't win anything this time around!) and cookies and went for a nice stroll at the park. With how busy we've been trying to adjust to the juggling that is being new to having two kids, we haven't had much down time to just talk and so Mr.S and I found ourselves walking towards a bench to sit and talk while D munched contentedly on a cookie and W slept soundly and snugly. We were greeted by many fellow walkers and runners who were taking advantage of the day's beauty too. Today was great.

I shouldn't be buying those organic bananas

We're currently on a grocery shopping break. Living with my in-laws, we don't shop as much as we used to, and also, that means we're eating less organic food, something my stomach has taken some time to adjust to. As we look forward to going back to doing our own food shopping and making our own food purchases and choices, I've been reading up on how to save money while shopping for organic food. Why does it all have to be so much more expensive?

Anyway, I thought this was a good start.
The Benefits of Eating Organic

Being grateful - 20120405

I am grateful for understanding people.

We had a family outing today - we went to the mall to buy some birthday presents. We ended up eating dinner at the food court. D-nut was tired and moody. When Mr.S went to go move the car from a department store lot (where we'd get stuck if they closed the entrance) to a mall lot, D-nut freaked out. He's become quite clingy and has been suffering from some separation anxiety since W was born - more on his adjustment later. So, I was sitting there with a sleeping infant and a screaming toddler as people scrambled up and down the escalator to leave the mall that was closing in minutes. Some of them stared but most of them looked then looked away. It's like those people knew that this kid was tired but was going to be heading home soon. Thank God for them.

Being grateful - 20120404

I am grateful for clean bills of health.

Today W had his first visit with his pediatrician. It was a good one. It must be nice to be fresh and healthy.

Being grateful - 20120403

I am grateful for sitz baths.

Recovery post-delivery is a tricky process. Each woman has a different recovery process and feels different discomforts and pains. Mine's been okay. It hasn't been intolerable, but it hasn't been fun either. The best part of my day when I'm alone lately is my sitz bath. If you don't know what it is, look it up...I'm not explaining it here. Anyway, it has been helping the healing process, for which I'm truly thankful as well.

Being grateful - 20120402

I am grateful for sashimi.

We were discharged today. Yipee! And as is becoming a tradition, for lunch, we had Japanese. Included in our take-out lunch was sashimi just for me. Life is good.

I would like to introduce you to...

...the newest addition to our growing family:

Isn't he sweet?

We're still in the process of finding his "web name", but for now, we'll just stick with W.

More details (and a wonderfully long blog post, I'm sure) to come.

Being grateful - 20120401

I am grateful for empty semi-private rooms.

Even though we opted for a private room (yay for insurance that covers private rooms!), the Mother & Baby unit has been so busy, we got the last room available for the next while, which was a semi-private room. Darn. We were placed first on a waiting list for a private room but were told that there was next-to-no chance of being moved. Darn again.

Anyway, today, our neighbours were discharged and no one has been brought in. It's not that we don't like having neighbours; it's just nice to have a room to ourselves. So, it was a very quiet day with a few visitors (thanks to everyone who visited!!) and lots of room.