The Journey up north

We recently bought a house north of where we've lived most of our lives. The decision was both an easy and difficult one; difficult in the sense that we weren't sure where in the GTA we wanted to live, and easy in the sense that when we broke it down to what we really want for our lives and our family, this place was it.

So right now, we're still in the process of settling in. I used to love moving. Love love love. The idea of such a big change excited me; packing up my life only to unpack it in a new place, where my life would take a new turn. This time around, though, is a little more of a challenge. Or well, it's really tiring. It's not just about my life -- it's about our life, which involves four separate lives, with four sets of things to pack and unpack and find homes for. Add to that two little boys, full of energy, who, in this new space, want time to play with you. So many things to do, so many things I want to do, but also so many things I need to do. If only I had more time and energy!

Don't get me wrong though. There is still plenty of excitement there. It's exciting to see my husband putting together furniture and the satisfaction in his face when he finishes piece after piece. Every time I open a box that I haven't opened in two years, it's like Christmas all over again. When I finish unpacking a box and putting the stuff in their new homes, I get excited at the result of the love and care I put into making it all work, especially when it looks so neat and organized and makes sense!

When I see the boys screaming with excitement at the idea of so many toys in one space, I remember that this is exactly what I have been hoping to see. For the first few weeks that we lived in the house, we let them make a HUGE mess of the toys. All the bins were opened, empty, and their contents scattered on the floor. It was a big mess, but it was a happy mess. What kid doesn't want to see a mess of toys in their new rooms?

And so, in the bitter cold of winter, we settle in, and stay inside, with eager anticipation for the warmer weather, when we can go out, play with the neighbours, explore the neighbourhood, and enjoy the sun!

Hope you're all keeping warm! Brrrr....

Being grateful - 20120717

I am grateful for co-parenting.

There are many, many, many reasons I am grateful I am married to and am a co-parent with Mr.S. Today, we really needed each other when disciplining D-nut.

D-nut is the King of not finishing his food if he wants something else to eat. We'll be eating and he'll decide midway through the meal that he wants to eat something else (usually junk food, sometimes fruit though!) and will not eat what he's supposed to be eating. So, we tell him that he can have that other thing, but only if he finishes his actual meal first.

Tonight, he was eating pizza for dinner. He had one small piece left and decided he didn't want to eat it. He wanted to eat Smartfood. So, we told him to finish the last piece and he could have some. The boy cried and cried. He wanted Poppa to finish his last piece. So we told him if Poppa eats the last piece, Poppa eats his popcorn too. He cried and cried.

D-nut is also the King of attempted distraction. In such situations, he tries to bring up something else in an attempt to get us to forget what we just said. It never works. Maybe he got this from us -- he's easily distracted, like most kids, so we use distraction when we need him to forget about something.

So, what did he do while crying? "GASP! Where's the broccoli? I can't see the broccoli!!!!" His hand on his forehead, like he was looking for the treelike vegetable in the far-off distance on a sunny day...only his palm was facing upward.

We did not have broccoli AT ALL for dinner. I have no idea where this was coming from.

Mr.S tried to get him to stop it, but then started laughing. And then I jumped in to try to get him to stop it (and also corrected his hand - palm down) and told him if he wanted broccoli, we could find him some...and then I started laughing. Both of us had to put our heads down on the table and hide our laughing. It was horrible. He tried this again a few minutes later, looking for green grapes. We did not have green grapes either. And this time, we didn't laugh, since we got our giggles out already.

Being grateful - 20120608

I am grateful for naps on long drives.

We headed up to Blue Mountain for a nice getaway with my side of the family, and we were nervous about the drive up...but the boys slept pretty much the whole way, giving Mr.S and I some time to just talk and stuff, like old times on long drives. :)

Being grateful - 20120606

I am grateful for survival.

The boys each had shots today. And Mr.S was volunteering so I was tackling this on my own. Heaven help me. And Heaven did!

Another sweet sweet proposal

Check this out:

Being grateful - 20120522

I am grateful for my Toms.

They are probably the most comfortable shoes I own (and hopefully the most comfortable shoes a child in Africa owns too!). They were packed away. Sad face.

Until today! Happy face!

With the changing weather and my body adjusting to not being pregnant (is this ever gonna stop? Haha!), I have been digging into bins of packed clothing, searching for suitable clothes for this weather, for clothes that fit me for now, and well, it's been difficult to not dig into the shoe box. No, really, it has been difficult. I don't know where my big box of shoes is. The only shoes I've had out are the ones my swollen pregnant feet could fit into, i.e. the function over form ones, and winter shoes. It's Spring.

So, since I need my runners (YAY!), I asked Mr.S if he could do some digging for me and get them out. And while there, he pulled out my Toms. Yipee!!!!!

Being grateful - 20120513

I am grateful for beautiful days on beautiful days.

Happy Mother's Day, Mothers! I love Mother's Day. I think it's partially because I love being a mother, and partially because I like having a day a week or so after my birthday where I get more presents. Just kidding about that last part.

Wasn't it such a nice day out today, for you Torontonians/GTAers? It was a beauty.

I got to do things like this...

It was so cute. We woke up D and told him he could have some popcorn, and after, blow some bubbles. There was so much open area around for him to chase after the bubbles. He was so excited, and even made some friends with people sitting around or people walking their dogs.

Pinch little guys like this...

Argh, isn't he so scrumptious?!?!? Sometimes I find myself pinching his cheeks so hard, he ends up with marks on his face. I know, bad momma, bad momma, but I can't help myself.

 And eat cold, sweet things like this...

....from a sweet thang like this! Hahahaha!

I hope your Mother's Day was a beautiful one!

Being grateful - 20120501

I am grateful for Mindy Gledhill and what we call Tag Team dinners.

Mindy Gledhill is just awesome. Download her music on iTunes. You won't regret it.

Mr.S and I sometimes like to cook together. We would both say our best "Tag Team dish" is our lasagna. Mr.S makes his sauce (it's really good...like really, really good...I dare say that I like it better than our friend's mom's sauce...and we all go crazy for our friend's mom's sauce) and I use my lasagna recipe with many kinds of cheeses. It's a very saucy and cheesy lasagna, and very flavourful, if I do say so myself. Yum yum yum.

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 - 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 - 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 - 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.

Being grateful - 20120330

I am grateful for pain tolerance/experience and cheery nurses.

Today I am in labour. It's crazy. This is actually happening. I was scheduled for an induction today, but with  how busy it is in the Labour and Delivery unit, it looks like this baby isn't coming out today. Maybe like his brother, he'll be born in the wee hours of tomorrow. That's fine with us.

I've been sitting for the majority of the day and the pain I feel is mostly on my butt...from sitting for HOURS. Yes, I have contractions, but they're not so much painful as uncomfortable. Mr.S is liking that I'm cruising through them instead of getting frustrated with him to touch me or not touch me. Haha! I think because I know what to expect in terms of the pain, I'm okay. It's not at its worst, or at least not at the worst it was last time, so this is okay.

The nurse in the assessment area is amazing. She's one of those people who seems to be doing exactly what is her calling. Imagine being good at calming 10+ pregnant women in labour or about to be in labour or about to undergo a c-section. She gets a prize, seriously. And the unit is so busy, she's the only one in here.

See you tomorrow, when I'm officially a mother of two!

Being grateful - 20120327

I am grateful for chicken wings and instant test results.

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic and tiring for us. Mr.S has been studying for an exam for one of the courses he's taking and it has required us to manage our time and energy differently, i.e. time and energy we don't have, or at least that I don't have. It's been quite challenging...until today.

The exam was this morning, and Mr.S did very well. The good thing about this exam was that his pass/fail result was given once he was done (PASS!), so there wasn't any anxiety or worry between the end of the exam and waiting for a mark.

We met up for lunch, wings, to celebrate his passing the exam, to celebrate going back to our usual time and energy assignments (i.e. me going back to passing out every opportunity I get because I'm so frickin' tired these days!), and to celebrate, er, WINGS!

Congrats, Mr.S! Until the next exam!

Being grateful - 20120311

I am grateful for successful errand running and ice cream.

Mr.S and I (and D-nut too) were on a mission today to get as much stuff done as possible for D's party on Saturday. With the way I've been feeling and Mr.S having a bunch of stuff on his plate, we weren't able to get on this as early as we would have liked, but we made up for it today. We were all GO GO GO! And then DONE! DONE! DONE! As with all successful things we accomplish together, we crossed things off our to do list with high fives and treated ourselves to some ice cream on what was an amazing spring-in-winter day.

Being grateful - 20120227

I am grateful for quick learners and foot rubs.

The swelling has begun. A few months later than last time, but it's here. My wedding band is snug (I shoved it on this morning after putting on lotion and will likely have to pry it off tonight with more lotion) and my feet feel like they're gonna bust out of my shoes. I'm doing my best to keep hydrated and flush extra fluids out (which comes easily since this child is bouncing on my bladder and getting lower and lower), but I think my body has just decided that it's time to retain water. I'm scared to look at my nose for longer than 3 seconds.

Feeling tired, I lay down in bed after eating dinner and cleaning up, and familiarized D-nut with the word, "Tired". It clicked right away. "Momma, oo ty-yed?" "Yes, babe." "Okay Momma." Mr.S looked at me with pity and sympathy at the same time, and the good man he is, asked me what he could do without actually saying it. I asked him to rub my feet. And he did. I remember needing him to rub my feet a lot more when I was Pw/D, so he knows what he's doing. D-nut was curious as to what was going on so he came to look. Then Mr.S taught him how to rub Momma's feet. They each took a foot, my left one being a bit more tickled because of the tiny hands that played with my toes, and I just watched them and felt like the Queen. Not A queen. THE Queen. As in, of the Universe or something. It was so cute, I wanted to take a picture, but Mr.S insisted that I stay lying down and just enjoy it. And I did.

Being grateful - 20120226

I am grateful for clean clothes, team work, and Oscar fashion.

Today was devoted mostly to laundry, as many weekends are. After our usual Sunday, we had a good nap and then I was off to do some washing. I think because we have so much laundry over the course of a week, it just feels good when it's all done and all clean. The folding, though? I could go without it. Unless there's something good on TV, it just feels like a bigger chore than it is (which is a BIG chore). Luckily, both the NBA all-star game was on (which I don't mind watching...it's the Raptors games that frustrate me haha) as was the Oscars and the Oscar Red Carpet, of course! Since we both were interested in what was on TV, Mr.S and I both folded the laundry, while D-nut entertained himself...something he's getting better and better at every day.

Being grateful - 20120214

I am grateful for dim sum at off hours and love letters.

We went cheap and cheerful for this V-day again, (we'll likely keep that up) and went for dim sum. With it being dinner time, you can't really find actual dim sum with the carts and stuff, so we ended up at one of our fave Chinese restaurants and ordered off the menu. Much easier for us non-Chinese-speaking folk, and a lot less sign language. It was delicious. D also entertained the other customers around us as well as his waitress friend there. Oh, and I got a very good helping of the snowpea shoots and garlic that are never on the menu, but always available. I could eat those every day.

Mr.S and I exchanged letters too. If there is ever an occasion where you think you want to give me a gift, write me a letter. Seriously. I LOVE letters. And I love love letters even more (but that doesn't mean I want you to write me a love letter....let's reserve those for Mr.S). Love letters come much less often these days, but when I see them inside a greeting card, or sitting under my pillow, I think those are some of my happiest moments. I just sit and read and cry.

Hope you had a happy V-day :)

V-Day from a Preggo

I love Pregnant Chicken.

'Tis Vday everyone!

And you know what that means! You better have reservations for that restaurant you were planning to go to tonight! Or have a back-up plan!

Haha.

Mr.S and I aren't big on Vday. As my father-in-law said this morning (among other funny things related to the topic), it's "for young ones." We do "celebrate" it though. We're going out for a cheapo dinner (and these days, cheap is romantic for us, people!) and exchanging $5 gifts as we've done in the past. We celebrate our love every day, so today's no different. Hahaha.

Anyway, have you checked out the Google Doodle today? It's really cute. Turn down your speakers though. It was kinda loud.

Oh, and did you watch SNL this weekend? My homegirl, Zooey Deschanel, (yes, she's my homegirl, because she feels like my best friend, even though I don't know her) was hosting and even though I slept and missed the whole thing, I did watch clips of some of the sketches. Her monologue was good too.

Has your Valentine ever forgotten about Valentine's day? Mine has. Or well, he didn't forget, he just didn't have time, with midterms and stuff going on at the same time. And if you know me, I'm not a big understander of the excuse, "Sorry, I didn't have time." Because to me, if something means something to you, you make time. I've come to understand the excuse more these days as my time has been filled up with mom-things, wife-things, work-things, pregnancy-things, being-tired-things, life-things, but I try to make sure that the people involved in the time I should be making understand that I wasn't able to make time, and promise to try in the near future. So yeah, Mr.S said that one Vday he didn't have time, and this was back when we actually celebrated V-day with actual gifts and stuff. But you know what? The year after, he TOTALLY made it up. Like, FO REAL. That day went down in history as one of the days in my life where I felt super duper special.

Anyway, Happy V-day, y'all! Have a good one, whether you're of a couple or a singleton. You don't have to be in love to celebrate love!