I did it!!!

I'm being published in Canadian Scrapbooker's summer addition!

I really am thrilled for myself.

Crazy I know but we all have something right?

I had to remove my post from two threads ago.

So excited...thanks for always commenting on my pages...it really means alot!

Facebook fail

When I first set up my Facebook account 2 1/2 years ago, I set my privacy settings high.

The reason at the time was due to a strict work policy.

Basically it was found out that people who worked for our company were creating fan pages and using the company’s logo on the site, which was a huge breach of their privacy agreement that every employee signs upon hire.

And on these pages they created they were talking smack (did I really just type that?) about the company and some of the management team.

The company didn't take it lightly and some employees were terminated.

The other reason was I wasn't sure if I wanted people working for me seeing things about my private life.

I had some employees send me requests and I felt very uncomfortable accepting them.

So I didn't.

I made myself invisible.

Only I could add you as a friend.

It was a little lonely.

Gone were those days where you would log in and see a friend request waiting for you.

The excitement of someone from your past wanting to catch up with you was gone.

So I un-stealthed myself and changed my name to one that wasn't so familiar.

If you know me, and know me well, you know that my first and last name together have been used as a 2 syllable nickname for years.

So I took B's last name and Viola, I am back in business.

Until tonight.

I still don't get many friend requests, and that's okay.

There is something to be said about that saying why people from your past didn't make it to your future...

I didn't like the friend request I got tonight.

I don't understand how after almost 20 years he could have found me.

And then I perused my friend list and saw two possibilities.

Crap.

My quasi-anonymity is gone.

I know that it is silly to be angry that he found me probably by riffling through their friends list but still.

My profile picture doesn't even look like me....Unless overnight I turned into a pair of red mittens.

I feel a little hypocritical venting like this for basically the entire world to read but I still feel slightly anonymous.

But what if he reads this blog?

I don't want him here, (I DON"T WANT YOU HERE!) learning about my life, my kids, my friends, my family, my hobby.

I don't.

But I am also not willing to give this or Facebook up, because they are my two minute Mommy time out breaks when I need them.

And I do need them.

I just wish that Facebook didn't give me up.

Now if it were MarK Ruffalo sending a request I might feel differently.

And now my other secret is out.

My movie star crush is Mark Ruffalo.

Worse things could happen right?

A word on manners

I was brought up to mind my P's and Q's.

We excused ourselves from the dinner table.

We ate what was placed in front of us.

We didn't speak to grownups unless spoken to.

It was a bit of a tight ship.

Manners are important.

It tickles me that M now asks for things prefaced by "please."

And when he doesn't want something he will say "no thank you".

Mind you sometimes if he really doesn't want it he will scream it.

Manners are the reason why I don't like most people.

Or I should say lack there of.

I really didn't appreciate the lady at Costco this a.m. who felt that she had paid her dues and therefore should be able to charge through the crowd with her shopping cart without so much as a blink of an eye when she nearly ran down me and my son.

So I offered up these words to her:
"I believe  the words that you are looking for are, pardon me and I'm sorry"

This snide remark was rewarded  with a dirty look to which I gave her my best stare down.

I've got at least 2o years on you lady...don't push my sleep deprived buttons.

Here's the thing.

She couldn't have been brought up that way could she have been?

Surely she knows what she did was wrong, does she not?

It can't possibly be that she feels such a sense of entitlemnet to that particular ilse space that she would actually plow down bystanders.

Right?

I'm so glad I'm bringing my kids up in this world.

*sigh*

This is why I don't like most people.

And just because I don't want to leave you thinking I'm all snarky today a pic of the boys in their christmas sweaters made by Grammy H.

Vegetable soup for breakfast.

That is what I fed my kid this morning.

Why?

Because I just gave in.

This past week has been killer.

Last week our whole family minus J got sick with what can only be refered to as hell in my stomach.

AKA: norovirus or norwalk or the stomach flu.

Regardless it was hell.

It has taken Michael over a week to recover.

He has been irritable no doubt brought on by bouts of hunger.

The kid won't eat.

And my kid can pack it away like nobodies buisness.

He will ask for something then leave it unfinished.

We think he is afraid to eat for fear he will see his dinner resurface and decimate his pj's, John Deere and Wonderpets blanket, Puppy and any other perfectly clean and unsuspecting surface on his bed.

I fear this because he had a repeat bout three days later when we thought he was feeling better and gave him some timbits only to have them decimate my couch.

Thank goodness for scotchgaurd.

So on my hands I have a cranky kid, whom I am trying really, really hard to be patient with because I know he was sick.

But after days of whining and crying all I want to do is stick my fingers in my ears and scream "shut up, shut up , shut up!"

Nice.

So instead of screaming that, I fed him soup.

For breakfast.

Which for the record I think is disgusting because I am a hard core cereal eater.

But in an effort to put something into his belly and raise his angry blood sugar levels, he got soup.

I could feed him worse, right?

I mean it is vegetables.

What's the worse thing you fed your kidlets for breakfast?

And please don't say Frootloops.

They happen to be a staple in our pantry.

Happy Weekend.

Sick

Is where we have been.

M on thursday night.

B and myself on friday night.

All night.

Every 15 minutes.

Did I mention it was all night?

Still waiting to get my strength back.

So here is my public service announcement to you.

If you are sick, stay home,

And wash your hands.

(Insert smiley face here incase you thought I was being rude, which I wasn't trying to.)


Happy Family Day everyone, or at least those of you in Ontario!

P.S.  Are you watching those Athletes?

Do you believe?

Good luck Canada!!!

Going to get myself these mittens tomorrow. 

Watching the coverage in bed and I can't wait for the parade of atheletes and naively thinking that the world has something to learn from these games.

Nighty Night.

Scrappy stuff...Project 12 style.

Scrapbook and Cards Today is one of my favorite scrapbook magazines..Mostly because it is Canadian.  :)

This year they started a  challenge called Project 12 in which a sketch is posted each month and you create your page, using pictures that best convey what your month looked like.  Simple right? If you are a scrapbooker or want to be one its a great jumping off point.  Here is my interpretation:

I don't know about you, but January was cold for us.  And by cold I mean we had a 14000 feet of snow and temps that made noses fall of.  I really should be used to this weather.  It was a nice break to have temps that were only -12.  I don't do well couped up in the house.  It does give me time to scrap though.

Anyways that is my post for today.  Sorry my non scrappy friends if that was as exciting as you are used to.  ;)

Happy Hump Day!

Sleep

If there is one thing that Moms obsess over more than anything else, it is sleep.

Either that their child doesn't nap long enough,

Doesn't go to sleep on their own,

Wakes in the night...

I 'm sure we could all make a mountain of a list citing all the grievances we have with sleep issues.

And you probably have a mountain of resources citing the many techniques used to get your babies to sleep.

Unless of course you are one of *those* who has a baby that has slept through the night since 6 weeks...and is a good napper.

If you are that Mama...you are lucky.

I'm not that Mama.

M woke every two hours until he was 11 months. It then filtered down to once or twice a night.

Then magically at 16 months he slept through the night.

I tried letting him cry it out.

He and I were both not cut out for it.

I include him in this equation because instead of the crying getting shorter, it got longer.

And I wasn't up to the task....all 4 times that I tried.

After three nights of it getting worse, not better, I stopped.

I never once made it past 45 minutes.

I'm okay with this, but I wasn't at the time.

I tormented myself that I should try harder and that my inconsistencies would ruin his sleep habits forever.

He is now a great sleeper.

A solid 11 hours per night and usually a 2 hour nap after lunch.

Enter J.

I told myself that I wasn't going to get myself worked up over his sleep habits.

I let him nap when he wanted.

He had a routine instead of a schedule.

He slept like a dream until 4 months...then it all went to sh*t.

He is now waking every two hours, and my patience is dwindling.

I have been letting him cry just long enough to figure out that I don't jump to attention for his Majesty.

But his personality is so different than M's.

He is so much more expressive. You know when he means business.

Which is why again I am having a hard time with the whole CIO technique.

I would like to take that technique and shove it up the nostrils of the persons responsible for making Mamas feel like they have to do this to get their child to sleep.

I did it tonight to J. He cried maybe for 10 or 15 minutes while I shushed him and rubbed his back.

When he stopped and rolled on his tummy and closed his eyes, he did that weird, can't catch my breathe after crying so hard, thing.

It has been all I can think about all night. Poor babe.

It makes me feel like a crappy Mom.

Interestingly enough however, I am not alone.

I know his because I consulted my new magazine that just happened to have a feature on sleep.

Check out these statistics based on almost 1000 peeps with babies’ surveyed from Today’s Parent Mag:

• 53% of babies between 6 to 12 months wake most nights...woowza.
• 20% wake more than 3 times ...That's me folks.
• 53% tried controlled crying...Have you?
• 36% tried controlled crying before the recommended 6 months....I know someone who did it at 6 weeks with success.
• 43% who tried it started a round of it 4 or 5 times...that's me again.
• 80% of parents and experts make controlled crying sound easier and more foolproof than it is...Sooo true.
• 73% of parents rated it as stressful on the parents...really Sherlock?
• 63% rated it as stressful on the child. *crickets*

They concluded that in the cases that it didn't work it was due to the fact that the parents didn't believe in the technique, disagreed that they could actually control their child’s sleep habits, or had no support .

I fall into the first two of those explanations.

So why did I do it? Why am I trying it with J? To say that I did? Because it feels like the expectation? Because maybe it might only be 10 minutes of crying before he falls into a blissful sleep?

I have no clue.

I told myself I wasn't going to get wrapped up in this crap and here I go again.

And I know he will eventually sleep through the night, on his own, bunked in with his brother.

I know in my heart it will happen.

Eventually right?

Right????

Sleeping  babies are probably the most beautiful things in the world...so peaceful.

*sigh*

Nighty Night.

Tales from the potty and other randomness

So I think...*think* the time has come.



He has been peeing in the tub for some time.



We bought the potty seat with the cars all over it, along with big boy undergarments in August.



Yep....August.



We talk about it all the time.



Project Big Boy Phase Three has been creeping forward for months.



MONTHS.



With no pressure, no time lines.



When he is ready it will happen.



Four days ago he said he wanted to pee on the toilet.



His words were "I'd like to pee on the twoiyolet".



Okay Bud off we go.



And he did.



Pee that is.



And he did the day after.



Today I think it might be a little bit of way to get Mommy's attention.



Because I bought a stool to sit on while he does his business.



And we read stories.



And we banter back and forth about how he would like to pee in the twoiyolet and I tell him that I would like him to pee in the toilet.



He gets off.



He gets back on.



We read more stories.



We giggle.



Yup... This is me starting to Potty Train.



I have presents bought for the big day and everything.



No frickin clue what I'm doing but I'm sure it will happen.



Eventually.



My Baby is growing up. Makes me a little sad.



Not much is happening around the D/H household.



It has been cold.



I have felt a little housebound.



I am watching the Superbowl with hubs....mostly just to catch some of the commercials.



The Bud commercial made me teary..."Nothing comes between friends, not even fences."



Beautiful commercial but I'm not so sure how much weight I would put into that statement, but that is a whole other topic.



What are you doing tonight?

GO NOW!

Right this instant.

Run.

Don't walk.

And get your butt in the kitchen and make these muffins.

OH.  MY.  GOSH.

They are some good.

I blame it all on Lisa for linking me up yesterday.

But I repeat....Go make them now.

I should warn you though, they are a bit of an ass buster as my favorite food bloger The Kitchen Witch likes to say, but totally worth it.

I made mine into mini muffins and baked them for 13 minutes and they are so moist and delish that I can't help but keep shoveling them into my mouth.

Welcome back 5 pounds that  wasn't gone for very long.

And if you like peanut butter, this is the best cookie I have come across.

That's it, I have nothing else for you tonight.

Nothing but calories.

And if you drink a nice big cold glass of milk with them, you will probably sleep like a dream tonight.

Unless your like me and have a baby that doesn't sleep.

Then you can just eat more muffins.

Or cookies.

Nighty Night.

Like an elephants...

That would be my memory.


I don't often forget things. Or conversations. Or peoples names.

Memories from my childhood are vivid.

I can remember FRIENDS episodes like it is nobodies business.

I could tell you stories from my teenage years that should be lost somewhere within the depths of my brain due to the copious amounts of alcohol involved but I remember all the silly and really dumb things I did.

I would not study for an exam in university and cram for two hours before and ace it.

I consider it one of my talents. Seriously...I do.

That is why I am a little bit saddened by a recent memory loss.

I blame sleep, or lack there of.

I was nursing J the other night and thinking about how he was getting so close to sitting up when it struck me that I couldn't remember the process with M.

Did I train M to sit? (Train? Should I have said that?) When exactly did he start? I know he was 7 months and sitting independently but how did we get to that point?

And when did he start picking things up on his own and feeding himself?

When did he start sleeping marginally better?

How did I wean him?

What was I doing when he started to walk?

Why didn't I document that time when he randomly counted to six just after his first birthday?

When did I stop giving a sh*t about what other parents thought?

I know I have two scrapbooks filled with M's milestones and J's well under way but it tugs at my heart a little that I have already forgot some of their little lives.

I can no longer scoff at those who say "I don't remember" because apparently you hit 36 and senility starts setting in.

I don't know, maybe it’s not as important as I think it should be.

Maybe pinpointing the exact moment an infant spews out his first sound isn't all that it is cracked up to be.

And are they going to care that I don't remember?

Probably not.

But their wives or partners might.

They might hold me in high enough regard to ask for my advice one day on how to wean, or treat cradle crap, or deal with teething.

Maybe.

Or they might think I'm an old bat who doesn't have a clue and is going to do it her way regardless.

Or they  might have a fabulous sister to get advice from.

Regardless, I just want to remember the teeny tiny moments that might not be very important the vast majority of the population, but they are to me.

Because when I sit back and think about it, it really is those small, teeny, tiny moments that put a smile on my face.

Those little memories make this parenting journey easier on the days when I just want to sit in a corner and pout.

And really, I want to maintain my slight superiority complex about my wicked awesome memory.



FYI, Jack ate Cheerios for the first time today, and used the pincher grasp to feed himself too.  That kid is genious!

Update

Yesterday he:
















Turned 8 months old...where has the time gone?

Is just over 18lbs, and is 23 inches tall.

Now has four teeth, the fourth of which has made the last week miserable for him.

Waves and flails his arms madly when he wants attention.

Is almost sitting up.

Says "mum mum, ada ada, & yaya"

Is NOT sleeping well at all.

Still has those wonderful blue eyes...I think they are here to stay!

Throws a hissy fit when I take him out of the bath.

Is starting to like food more and more...especially fruit.


Tomorrow he:

Will turn three in three months...again, where has the time gone?

Has a wild fascination with all things zipper related.

Recognizes name brands and their logos by exclaiming "That's The North Face!, That's Arc teryx!"  This was Daddy's contribution to child rearing.  Beware Costco shoppers wearing any sort of coat with a zipper or logo...my child may attach himeself to you.

Still naps.  * listen to the angels above sing their praise peeps!*

Loves snack time.  So much that I will tell him it is snack time to get him upstairs.  This kid packs it away.

Just had a growth spurt because his jeans that had to rolled in September now fit perfectly.

Doesn't throw too many tantrums but when he does....watch out!

Loves to Rock and roll with Daddy.

Loves his new Iggle Piggle stuffy.

Has started using the word please again.

Still communicates in the form of a question to himself when he wants something and answers said question himself: "M, would you like a pickle?  Ummmm sure!!!"

Has started to ask us for things in the proper context: "I'd like to go downstairs....now!!"  Maybe a little demanding at times.

Likes to touch the ceiling...again a Daddy contribution.

Loves puzzles.

Has rediscovered storytime with his Mommy....Yippee!!!

Today I:

Am getting a little frustrated with the sleep situation... or lack there of.

Am starting to think about how hard it will be to return to work in 4 months.

Lost 5 pounds.

Am the reigning Wii ski jump champion, much to B's chagrin and efforts to beat me.

Desperately need a haircut.

Look forward to Monday nights and watching The Bachelor...

Am bored with winter.

Am using my slow cooker and muffin tins like crazy....separately of course.  :)

Am cherishing the little moments of love with my family.

Don't mess with naptime....

I'm just sayin'...