5 Things You May Not Know About Me

After reading Stephanie and Sheryl's posts, I thought that I too would jump the bandwagon and enlighten you all:

1. One of my goals in life is to become a motivational public speaker to young adults. To encourage them to pursue their dreams and believe in themselves. To a certain extent I have accomplished this goal with being active in Rotary and the leadership programs it offers, but I would love to let this build and become massive. Youth today need the encouragement rather than the pressure to succeed.
2. I happen to thrive on public speaking and enjoy every opportunity that I have to get in front of a crowd and speak to them.
3. I am an avid reader. Reading is my outlet to relieve stress. I will make the time each day even if it means to deprive myself from much needed sleep to read a book. On an average, I read a new book every second to third day. I also have to finish reading an entire book, even if it is bad before I can start another one.
4. I am a truly hopeless cook. I can follow a recipe but it will never turn out to be a fabulous meal.
5. I don't handle mess very well in my own home. Perhaps it is because I always have to keep busy and can't sit down for long periods of time (unless I am reading a book), but I always have to be tidying the house or taking on cleaning projects like washing walls or doing yard work. Yet, I can go to other peoples' houses and never even notice dirt or disorder.

Working During the Holidays

There are a few pros and cons with having to work throughout the holiday season:

Pros:

1. Driving to and from work is a breeze due to the lack of fellow drivers on the roads.
2. When a skiff of snow falls the night before, driving to work during rush hour traffic takes 25 minutes as opposed to the regular 2 hour chaos.
3. Tim Horton's Drive Thru takes 2 minutes to get your coffee fix as opposed to the 10 - 15 minute wait in a parking lot full of enraged individuals needing caffeine as well.
4. You can actually get work done as everyone else is enjoying their holiday season. This means no ringing phones and limited meetings.
5. You are making money rather than spending it on killer Boxing Week Sales in the mall.
6. You get a welcomed respite from the guests that are camping at your house. After four days of togetherness, the old addage of "You can love them but don't have to live with them" becomes your mantra.
7. You can surf the internet at work and not have to worry about feeling guilty if caught.

Cons:

1. You can't bask in that holiday hangover of sleeping in, relaxing around the house and gluttoning yourself on turkey leftovers and junk food.
2. You miss out on the Boxing Week Sales (see Pro Point #5 to soften this blow).
3. Your following of the World Junior Hockey Championships exists via highlight reels, so you miss out on all of the live broadcast games and excitement.
4. After spending four solid days with your child, both of you experience separation anxiety upon your first day back to work. This usually involves tears spilt by both parties.
5. You become a witness (and to an extent, unwilling participant) to office gripe gossip due to others that are required to work and are bitter about it.
6. Your work production increases at work due to it being so quiet therefore raising the bar of expectations of your productiveness.
7. You miss out on the entertainment and scariness of your fellow work commuters. This means very little road rage incidents, examples of very poor driving and catching people either singing to themselves or picking their noses.

Wordless Wednesday

Little Drummer Boy

A loving gift from Auntie Christie and Uncle Rob. Sigh ... I guess that it is better than the pot lids and wooden spoons of late .....

The Great Skating Caper

My hockey hound of a son got spoiled rotten at Christmas this year. Santa brought him his coveted hockey ice skates, helmet and sticks. Additionally, Santa also brought him a hockey net for outside and pucks. Both Daddy and Kaelen were in their glory just dreaming of what awaited them outside. Daddy; finally can use that rink that he has been so dedicated in making over the past month and Kaelen; envisioning flying around the ice like the pros that he sees on T.V.

Kaelen was so excited yesterday to get out on that rink with his skates and helmet that he wouldn't go down for a nap but rather jumped around, squealing with delight and asking to go outside. Finally caving in to his demands (after 1 1 /2 of trying to get him to nap), we suited him up and out Daddy and Kaelen went.

Although the pictures don't really capture the ambience, try to envision a crying toddler on skates and a Daddy who is adament on pushing his son around on the ice. After five minutes of this we gave up, took the skates off and the two of them played shinny on the ice in their boots.

Kaelen has been wearing his skates around in the house all day today in hopes of finding his balance on them. We will try putting him on the ice again this afternoon just to get the feel. Poor Daddy though, all he wants is to be on that rink with his son in skates ...... one can't help but smile and giggle at this scenerio.

Not enjoying the feeling of skates


Really not enjoying his first skating experience with his first wipe out ....


Happy as can be with boots on and shooting pucks into the net.

Santa Came!

It took almost 3 hours to open all of the gifts partially due to the extravagance of my family whose tendency to go overboard on gifts is legendary, and of course because it took Kaelen an average of 10 minutes per gift to open as the wrapping paper had to be taken off piece, by painfully little piece.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful and blessed Christmas. Gifts aside, Christmas is a time for reflection of how truly blessed our lives are. It is a privilege to be able to spend it surrounded by the ones that you love, to share in laughter and warmth. Take a moment to send your prayers and best wishes to those who couldn't be with their loved ones due to service duty or having no family or friends.


A loaded Christmas Tree full of surprises

Stocking stuffed with love and care from Santa

Kaelen showing off one of the two hockey sticks that Santa had brought him

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Over the past couple of years, we have made it into our own tradition to have the traditional turkey dinner on Christmas Eve. With all of the excitement that surrounds Christmas Day, who really has the time and inclination to spend half of the day getting everything cooked and prepared for later on that night.

I have to say that our dinner this year was probably the best tasting dinner that we have ever had; all in attendance for dinner agreed. Paul was graciously giving a turkey from work - a 24 pounder!

As you can see, we had a lot of fun. I have also included Kaelen's picture that he drew to give to Santa along with his offerings for all of Santa's hard work throughout the night.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday season so far and Merry Christmas!!


Kaelen showing off his hat that came with his Christmas cracker. It is tradition in our family to wear these paper hats throughout dinner.


A shot showing Paul, Kaelen, Auntie Christie and Grandma getting dinner already.


The picture that Kaelen drew for Santa as well as his offerings to Santa for all of his hard work that night.

Only 3 more sleeps!

It is amazing to think that Christmas is only 3 days away. With all of the whirlwind of the festive holiday season that seems to start earlier each year, time just goes by so quickly with the anticipation of how each person celebrates. For me, the excitement is knowing that my mom arrives tomorrow, that a huge turkey dinner feast is 2 sleeps away, watching my son get excited over Santa's arrival, coming home each day to see who has sent me a Christmas card in the mail, reliving the memories of my childhood and how much laughter there always seemed to be that day and on Boxing Day.

Christmas has always been such an important experience in my life for me. It is a time of year that I find myself very reflective. Where I take long profound moments and reflect on how truly blessed that I am in my life. I am always aware of how lucky I am but I think that I almost dwell on it for the holiday season. Along with that, I also allow myself to grieve for losses that I may have held onto for the year. Christmas for me is almost like a cleansing and a way to start the upcoming year with a fresh new outlook and set of goals.

Now I know that this will sound contradictory, but I find this year too that both Paul and I have been going out of our way to ensure that our son is getting the most out of the holiday season. We have created that excitement for Santa, the countdown to his arrival and the concept of giving presents. I think most importantly though, we have been teaching him about the spirit of giving. Whether it be in the form of money, a present or just a hug to someone who seems down. No matter what, Kaelen has embraced this whole heartedly. It moves me to tears when we walk by a donation kettle and he puts money that he wanted for his piggy bank into the kettle instead, or when he wanted to give away all of his stuffed animals to the sick children in the hospital. When he does thoughtful stuff like that, I feel infused with so much more love and know that Paul and I are doing something right in our parenting.

To end off this meandering post, on behalf of Paul, Kaelen and myself, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May your holiday season be enriched full of love and laughter.

Yesterdays News

The appointment went better than I had expected. There are still some uncertainties that need to be dealt with but that will come later this afternoon at my appointment with the high risk obstetrician.

The exciting news is that we are having a girl (not that it really mattered the gender). We have always kind of known but the ultrasounds until yesterday were never really able to confirm it. Yes, I know that ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate but let me tell you - we had the perfect in between the legs shot so there really left no doubt in our minds as to what the gender is of our baby. Our baby girl is doing fabulous too! She is already practising breathing and her gestimated size right now is about 3.25 lbs. We got the perfect frontal face view and it almost looked as if she started smiling right at us as we zoned in on her facial features. She's got perfect little hands and feet and looks perfect in everyway. Just seeing her yesterday, has made me all that much more excited to meet her in person.

The uncertainties that still exist is that she is in a Frank Breech position right now. So, hopefully she will be able to turn herself around in time for birth. As selfish as this sounds, I don't really relish the thought of a cesarean birth nor the pain that is associated with the physical attempts to move the baby in the proper position. In addition to her positioning, my cervix didn't measure up to where I was hoping it would be. It came in at 2.8 cm. My obstetrician had told me that if I was anywhere under 3 cm, that she would likely want me to start bed rest as a precaution, yet the perinatologist that oversaw my ultrasound yesterday felt that I could continue going about my regular routine and just be cautious. In the big picture, it is my obstetrician's call as she is the one who is my primary caregiver, so it will be interesting to see what she has to say this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment or called me with encouragement. I was pretty nervous about the ultrasound yesterday and your prayers and support really, truly comforted me. I am blessed to have such good people in my life that care about me.

So my friends, here is to hopefully another encouraging post tomorrow of me not being laid up in bed.

No Wordless Wednesday

Sorry. I couldn't get my act together to scan Kaelen's picture with Santa this year as today's Wordless Wednesday. Perhaps it will be tomorrow or Friday.

I am nervous today. This afternoon I go for an ultrasound to measure my cervix and of course check out the baby. What makes me nervous is to hear what my cervix length is. I am praying that it is good, but there is that little nagging doubt in my mind that it won't be as good as we would all like it to be. This constant fear of preterm labor really takes it's toll on a person. I have already been in preterm labour twice with this baby and should the cervix length be anything less than 3 cm, then I will be placed on bed rest. Should that happen, well I guess I have no choice but to do it, but it will certainly cause short term chaos in our household.

The big picture that I am focusing on is making it to at least January 15th as that will put me right around the same gestational time that I had Kaelen at (33 weeks). Having been through the Special Care Nursery experience once, we are confident that all will be okay for both the baby and our family. We are blessed to live in Calgary really to have all of these types of services right at our finger tips. And, I swear that the Special Care Nursery at the Rockyview General Hospital is the best around. It is filled with wonderful angels who make yours and your baby's stay comfortable and for us the first time; fun.

So in short, please keep your fingers crossed for me that I have some good news to share tomorrow. If not, you may subjected to more posts like this in the future.

An Early Christmas Present

Kaelen gave me an early Christmas present last night. It was a present that every Mother dreams of getting but not necessarily at Christmas time. Any guesses?

Hint: Three powerful words.

Okay. Well it wasn't quite I Love You, but it was "Me Love Mommy" followed by a hug grin, a wet kiss and the perfect hug. I mean - that was music to my ears. I know that Kaelen loves me, but just hearing it was just so endearing and heart warming.

Oh - and I should mention that Kaelen also told Daddy "Me Love Daddy" so Paul got to share in this incredible moment too.

Being a parent is truly the best experience on earth. I just don't think that there is anything else out there that can beat it.

Random Comments

I don't have anything particularly exciting to share despite having a busy weekend. Here are a few highlights of my weekend though:

Friday Night - I stayed home with the little man once I got home from work. My husband's company Christmas party was that night but Kaelen was too sick for us to feel any measure of comfort to leave him with a babysitter, so I told my hubby to go to the party and have fun. I wanted to stay home because I worried about Kaelen all day while at work. Yet, there was a very small part of me that was sad (basically feeling sorry for myself) as this would have been my first social outing in months. That thought lasted all of two minutes and then the guilt seeped in. The guilt only last for about 5 minutes because Kaelen was adament on cuddling with his Mommy to settle in and watch hockey on TV. Once my sick little boy was wrapped in my arms, I distinctly remember thinking that this is exactly where I wanted to be. Why feel sorry for myself when I had this precious little angel wanting to be close to me? Soaking up every minute of our cuddle session, I let Kaelen fall asleep in my arms and I just held him. Gazing down into my child's innocent face deep in slumber, I kept thinking of how truly blessed I am and what a fantastic night this has turned out to be.

Saturday - I particularly love the winter as this means that my husband is actually home on the weekends; that the three of us can actually do family activities as a family together! The three of us spent the entire day together playing, shopping, laughing and cuddling. It even ended perfectly with the Canucks being the feature hockey game on Hockey Night in Canada and they won to boot! Our family was in serious bliss!

Sunday - My company held a children's Christmas party for all of our kids. We decided to take Kaelen just for a little bit to get him out of the house. Kaelen's highlight of the day was getting to see Santa Claus. As soon as Santa walked into the room, Kaelen started yelling and ran up to him to give him a great big hug. After the hug, he came running back to us with a huge smile to tell us that he hugged Santa. As soon as it was announced that you could come and sit on Santa, Kaelen ran up and practically vaulted himself into Santa's lap. At that point he hugged Santa yet again and told Santa that he was a good boy because he liked to share. That promptly caused me to cry because I was so proud of him.

Last night, the three of us settled into our bed to watch Charlie Brown's Christmas. My husband hates those Christmas shows but I insist on watching them especially with Kaelen. Besides, this particular show is one of the few remaining shows that actually reminds kids what Christmas is all about. Due to his nasty chest cold, Kaelen fell asleep and Paul and I just looked at him in his slumber. Both of us welled up with tears as we just couldn't believe how big our baby was getting. After starring at our perfect little boy, Paul moved him into his bed and then jumped into ours just in time for the Survivor Finale. Only, we didn't really watch the show ... instead we spent the two hours laughing until tears came. We laughed about such random things that happened over the weekend and about just plain silly things. It felt so good to laugh with Paul and act like a kid again.

Snot, Puke and so much more

I jinxed myself. I committed that fatal error of voicing my amazement that our household has remained so healthy this year.

Kaelen is sick. As in not just a cold. What started out as an innocent runny nose on Wednesday night has now mutated into some nasty disease producing vomit that is fluorescent green (yes - snot balls), a bright red chapped nose that would give Rudolph a run for his money, diarrhea, a mild fever and the worst part: a wheezing, rattling chest that is impairing Kaelen from breathing normally.

I am most concerned about the wheezing and Kaelen's struggles for breath. Being as asthmatic who especially suffered bouts of both bronchitis and pneumonia throughout their childhood, I can identify what my poor little man is going through. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that when he wakes up this morning, that he will be showing signs of losing that aspect of this disease. The rest can be easily dealt with.

Thoughts or Four for Thursday

As I was driving home from work yesterday through the glorious eventful rush hour traffic, I started thinking about life after this pregnancy and what it would be like. Due to a) my morbid humour that only my sister usually finds extremely funny and b) trying with due diligence to not exercise road rage, here are a few randoms thoughts that were whirling through my head. Keep in mind that I am truly thankful for this pregnancy; I really am.

1. I am truly looking forward to that first blissfully long pee after giving birth. A pee where there is nothing kicking or impending the bladder from functioning like it was meant to function.
2. Sleeping on my tummy again. I can already envision myself snuggled deep under the covers in complete bliss.
3. Getting my barely there A cup boobs back. These honkin bowling balls of boobs that I have truly get in the way all of the time. I totally have a new respect for my sister and what she went through with those gianormous things. Good for you sis to fix them up and shrink them. Your life must be so much more enriching! Like, no offense to any readers, but why on earth would women actually want to get them enhanced bigger?
4. Bending and twisting at the waist with relative easy again. Shoulder checking while driving? Nope. No longer possible thanks. Tying my own shoe laces that always seem to come undone? Nope. No longer possible so I am dependent on other's mercy.
5. Shaving my legs once a week rather than every second day.
6. No more panel pants!!
7. Did I mention having a waist?
8. Hopefully lose this frizz that used to be called curls. Now only if I could wish away the grey .....
9. Being able to go for walks and runs again, and just the general freedom of moving around. (I have been on modified rest since week 9 - no exercise of any type ... yes and that includes sex too! Poor Paulie .... ) Being able to horse around and rough house with my son. I miss this the most that Mommy can't get right in there with Kaelen's little adventures of late. Mommy used to be the horsey, Mommy used to be the goalie in the net and the jungle gym for my little monkey.
10. Meeting this little one. Yes. That will be probably the best part.

What will I miss? Well, I will miss the comfort of rubbing my belly when this little one starts moving around. I will also miss having the pregnant belly to a certain degree as this will be my last pregnancy should all go well for the remainder.

Wordless Wednesday

Youthful Santa with the beginnings of that famous white beard or ....

just bubble bearded boy ... ?

A Prize for Mommy

After fighting 1 1/2 hours through rush hour traffic last night on my way home from work, I was more than relieved to pull up to my house with the intentions of putting on a nice pair of comfy sweat pants. Arms full of mail, empty boxes to mail Christmas presents off in and my suitcase of a purse, I bang around and eventually get the front door open. Kaelen is wired and is off yelling somewhere and hubby is clanking around in the kitchen getting supper starting seeing as I was so late in getting home. I stagger into the kitchen, unload my burdened arms and attempt to get my coat and shoes off with record speed as I had just received a very unkind boot to my bladder compliments from the little monkey inside my belly, and thought that I would pee my pants. Kaelen is still yelling at the top of his lungs and Daddy is talking to me at the same time. I had a distinct moment of wanting to yell "Calgon ... Take Me Away" .... if only for five minutes to run upstairs pee in the toilet and get into some comfortable clothes.

Instead, Kaelen came running to Mommy, still yelling phrases like "Flowers" and "Cathy fixing backpack". He was very insistent on getting my attention so I cautiously kneeled down to give him a big hug and kiss (while trying in vain not to pee my pants). To my surprise, Mommy got snubbed in her attempt to acknowledge her wild little boy with affection and ended up frustrating Kaelen. Kaelen was obviously trying to tell me something that I just was not picking up on. Kaelen kept yelling "flowers" and "Cathy's house". Somewhat perplexed, I tried to get him to calm down enough so I could understand what he was doing all of this yelling about. At this point, I had assumed that he had come home with a craft or drawing from Cathy's house (Kaelen's dayhome mommy) that he was adament on showing off to Mommy. Meanwhile, hubby is laughing and telling Kaelen to calm down but the longer Mommy got delayed, the louder and more persistent Kaelen became. With patience, thinking if I actually peed my pants that at least I was at home to deal with the repercussions, I followed Kaelen on his obvious quest. Upstairs and into the computer room we go with Kaelen now jumping on the couch, screaming "Mommy flowers" at the top of his lungs.

Still not understanding what my child is trying to tell me, I quickly scan the box of books, the computer and the bookcase looking for a drawing or craft that Kaelen as made. In a motherly tone of voice, I calmly grabbed my flying child and told him that Mommy doesn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Kaelen's response? "Mommy! Flowers! Rrrriigggght there!" and proceeded to jump off of the couch and point to the floor in the corner. There in the corner was a bouquet of wrapped flowers with a card sitting in the dark corner.

Still not understanding quite what these flowers are doing on the floor (as Mommy truly doesn't not receive stuff like this very often. - maybe ... maybe ... once a year if I am lucky), I pick up the flowers and Kaelen starts yelling "Yay" with his hands up in the air in celebration. Hubby is downstairs laughing and telling Kaelen that he spoiled the secret and comes up to laugh with me. I open the card and promptly start to cry. It said this:

"Thank you for being such a good Mommy, good wife and such a trooper"
"We love you very much, Love Kaelen and Paul"

The flowers also happened to be my favourite too - lilies. The card is sitting beside my bed and I found myself reading it over and over last night. Everytime I read it, I would start to cry.

So thank you to my husband Paul and my secret keeping son Kaelen. You made Mommy's day, week and month by surprising her with this gift.

PS - I didn't pee my pants

Holy Flying Teddy Bears!

Seeing as my son is a hockey fanattic at the tender age of 2, we often seize upon the opportunities to introduce him to hockey at all different levels.

Today was the annual Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear Toss. The Calgary Hitmen were playing the Prince George Cougars in their regular season WHL match up as for the first goal scored by the Hitmen, the fans in the building were to toss a teddy bear onto the ice in celebration. All teddy bears would then be donated to Toy Mountain (a community Christmas toy fundraiser) as well as a visit by both the Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen players tomorrow to the Alberta Children's Hospital here in Calgary. All children that are currently in the hospital will receive a teddy bear from one of the players.

Every year, Calgarians make the trek to this game in efforts to maintain being the record holder for this event. Just last week, the Portland Winterhawks broke the record by tossing 14,000 teddy bears at their game. That record only lasted a short week as the Calgary Hitmen's dedicated fans tossed a whopping 15,540 teddy bears onto the ice. Establishing once again, that Calgary has a generous heart.

Here are a few pictures of the pandamomium that ensued at 14:52 (ish) minutes into the first period, when the Hitmen scored their first goal:

Teddy Bears and other stuffed creatures continued to rain down on the ice for a good 10 minutes.

It took more than 8 trucks stuffed to the maximum to clear the ice.

Picture of Daddy and Kaelen. This teddy bear happened to hit Kaelen in the back of the head from a generous fan in the second level.

From where we were sitting, we often got hit in the back of the head with flying teddies from above - in the higher sections of the building. Kaelen had an absolute blast throwing the 3 large teddies that we brought and then all of the addtional ones that rained down on us. All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon as a family. We are already looking forward to next year's event!

How Weird Am I?

Okay Kate - I am game! I had posted my "Weirdness" on Sari's blog as a response, so here are just a few of my quirks:

1. At 34 years old, I still to this day can not have any limbs hang over the bed while sleeping as I am convinced something will grab me and suck me under.
2. If ANYONE (with the exception of my 2 year old son at this point), were to use chap stick or lip gloss of mine - I will never use it again and immediately throw it out.
3. If ANYONE (again with the exception of my son) were to take a drink out of my cup, bottle or can - I will not finish it and dump it out.
4. I can't leave my son's room without lining up all of his little critter friends so they are sitting all nicely looking at me for fear that one of them will have a hurt feeling and come and get me at night. See #1 for further explanation.
5. I freak my husband and son out on a daily basis as I still am secretly hoping that I can be a Solid Gold dancer one day, therefore am constantly dancing flamboyantly around the house.
6. Have to brush my teeth with care as I have the most overreactive gag reflex known to man. This flows over to using utensils as well.

So there! I could go on with my list ..... scary thought. Seeing as this is good for laughs, I tag:
1. Sheryl
2. Amber
3. Jenn

Oh ... and PS - Sari .... if you are reading this - who doesn't have leg warmers and that nicely weaved headband just like Olivia Newton-John? I am the real deal man when it comes to living the 80's - particulary the early 80's.

The Spirit of Giving

I would like to put a question forth to all of you that may be reading this. What is your idea of giving during this time of year? Do you do something special?

I have always been sensitive during the festive holiday season. Always extremely aware of how fortunate I am versus others that may not be as much so. I find if I am in a store, I can't just walk by a Salvation Army kettle without putting at least $5 in it. Nor can I leave a store if they have a Christmas tree filled with children's wishes for a toy to be present under their tree on Christmas Day. While I certainly am not rich, I find that I can't help but spend my money on others - I want to give it away.

Prior to having Kaelen, I tried giving in the form of volunteering. I was one of those people standing and ringing the bells at the Salvation Army Kettles. The one serving lunch and dinners to the homeless people at our local shelter. The one that would organize through work the adoption of at least two families to provide them with food for a month and a small gift for each member of the family to open on Christmas Day.

Whenever you watch TV or listen to the radio at this time of year, it all seems to be about the unfortunate. The desperate pleas of help by social services groups to fill their coffers and hampers to help alleviate the burden of those that can not afford it. I am sure that this is prevalent across the continent, but it seems extremely so this year in Calgary. As you may or may not know, Calgary is experiencing a boom - a huge boom of growth and wealth. But with that comes the inflated prices so there are families that can't find or afford housing. There is just nothing available. There is an extreme labor shortage, yet the wages are low in relative comparison to the cost of living.

I find though that no matter how much I give, it just never seems enough. Does anyone else feel this way? What do you do to help out?

ABC and 1, 2, 3 .....

I was tagged with this meme by one of my new blogging friends Sheryl . It is kind of fun!!

A - Available or Single? - Very happily married actually.

B - Best Friend? - I am blessed this way: my Hubby Paul, my sister Christie and my dearest friend Debbie

C - Cake or Pie? - Of late - both! When not pregnant, most definitely Cherry Pie!

D - Drink of Choice? - Coca Cola

E - Essential Item you use Every Day? - My Chi flat iron.

F - Favorite Color? - All shades of Brown

G - Gummies or Worms? - Super Sour Worms

H - Hometown? - Nelson, British Columbia

I - Indulgence? I indulge everyday. Of late though ... Turtles ... Strawberry Cheesecake

J - January or February? February as that is when I am hoping to meet this little one baking in my tummy.

K - Kids and Names? A boy - Kaelen so far .......

L - Life is Incomplete Without? Family and Friends who love me

M - Marriage Date? April 8, 2003

N - Number of Siblings? A younger sister, Christie

O - Oranges or Apples? Definitely green apples or red McIntosh apples. (and I totally agree with you Sheryl about the caramel dipping sauce!)

P - Phobias or Fears? Worms (yes - see G; a bit of an oxymoron right?) and Snakes

Q - Fav Quote? One that a teacher told me in high school " Don't go with the flow; make waves"

R - Reason to Smile? My son Kaelen. He keeps the smile on my face throughout the day as I can't stop thinking of him.

S - Season? Fall with all of the browns, oranges and greens, the beauty always takes my breath away.

T - Tag Three People: Beth, Ellen, and Karen

U - Unknown fact about me? Hmm. I have broken almost all of my toes and have the ugliest feet known to man as all of my toes are knobby and bent.

V - Vegetable you don't like? Mushrooms

W - Worst Habit? Not saying "No" and therefore taking on too much.

X - Xtremely BIG Husker fan? Err .... being Canadian, I can't say that I follow college football too closely .....

Y - Your fave food? Sushi (which I can't have right now) and a nice big Steak

Z - Zodiac sign? Cancer

Three websites I love:
1. Lainey Gossip - A guaranteed laugh while taking a break at work
2. CNN - to get my fill of the news around the world
3. Baby Center - A regular participant on the message boards

Wordless Wednesday

Kaelen and Mommy - Christmas 2005

Mommy and her Babies

I will be 27 weeks pregnant tomorrow and I think that I have officially hit that point that I am sure most Mommy-To-Be's for the second time experience. That feeling of: "Oh my, what have I done here". That mixture of fear, nervousness and uncertainty of your abilities to love another child as much as you love your current baby. And wait: before you go shaking your head thinking that I am a meathead, I know that I will love this baby the minute I get to cuddle it - heck, I am already in love with it inutero. What I find so ironic is the people who insist on telling me that I am an idiot to feel this way. This is coming from those who don't even have children or only have one. When I mention it to mothers that have two or more children, I get that little smile and nod of the head in knowing understanding; that it happened to them too. And when I confided my fears to my husband what kind of response did I get? "Well it is a little late for worries now isn't Allie?". Hmm. Just the reassurance that I needed.

I think that Kaelen picks up on these moments of insecurity that I have. It seems of late that the two of us are more cuddly than usual and can't get enough of one another. So much so, that I am breaking "the rules" just to cater to my needs to be with him. During meals, he lasts half of his meal in his chair and then transitions over to my lap for the remainder. At bed time, I lie down with him in his bed and we cuddle face to face and whisper sweet nothings into one another's ear. Kaelen will eventually fall asleep but has to have his hand on my tummy to "touch the baby".

There are those who kindly point out to me that I am going to make things harder on myself by allowing these little "wrongs" to happen, but I just can't help but do them. To me, these are my last precious moments to be with Kaelen alone; just the two of us. Once the baby arrives, the dynamics change. It won't just be Kaelen and me. I won't be able to drop everything and give him 100% of my attention and affection all of the time. The two of us will have to adjust and allow for sharing of each other's time.

I think Kaelen feels it too. That he knows that our together time is ticking away before the major change comes. He is seeking me out more for the cuddles. He is always asking me for hugs and kisses. And just on Saturday night, my perceptive little boy asked me this:

Kaelen: Hug Baby Mommy?
Mommy: Sure (and lift up my shirt)
Kaelen: Me hug baby Mommy when baby comes?
Mommy: Of course Kaelen, you can hug the baby whenever you want and as much as you want.
Kaelen: Me still Mommy's baby too?

That question made me cry. I of course reassured Kaelen and told him that he would always be my baby and that I would love him forever. But it was painfully obvious to me that I wasn't the only one who was experiencing a certain amount of fear and uncertainty about this impending arrival.

Kaelen Meets Santa

Last year, Kaelen was less than enamoured with good Ol' Saint Nick. I would even go so far as to describe their short interview as a painful session for both parties involved. But, we were those parents that were adament on our son meeting this more than famous individual.

This year we were curious to see how he would react to meeting Santa again. For the past 3 weeks, everytime we came across anything that either resembled Santa or had his picture on it, Kaelen would point and say "Santa" or "Hug Santa" and would proceed to hug whatever the object was. Trying to contain our excitement, we envisioned a memorable meeting between this little boy and great man.

Last Sunday, in an attempt to get a head start on our Christmas shopping, the three of us bravely hit the mall. Our theory was that it would likely be less than crowded due to the deep freeze going on with the weather outside. True to our wisdom, the mall was managable without the usual crowds of holiday shoppers. We thought that it would be a great idea to take Kaelen to the area where Santa is usually to show him that is where Santa comes to visit all of the good boys and girls before Christmas. Kaelen, wired with excitement was all too happy to comply with our little suggestion. Much to our surprise, who was sitting on his great throne but the king himself; Santa Claus. If only I had a camera present to capture the sheer look of awe on Kaelen's face and the three second delay of an exhuberant squealing scream of "Santa! Santa!".

There was no way on earth that Kaelen going to shop without seeing Santa now. Thankfully the stars were aligned and the line up was short (probably because no one expected Santa to be out so early in the season). After a patient 20 minute wait (seriously - this 2 year old boy stood in line patiently) it was our turn to meet Santa. The scene and conversation went a little like this:

Kaelen: Santa! (backing off just a little with uncertainty)
Daddy: Look Kaelen! Santa wants you to sit on his lap.
Santa: Ho! Ho! Ho! Come on over young man.

Kaelen slowly and apprehensively approaches Santa. Just knowing that Daddy is standing there gave him the courage to proceed onto Santa's lap.

Santa: What have we here?
Kaelen: Hug Santa. Hug.

Santa all too willingly complies.

Santa: You have grown so big over the year Kaelen. Have you been a good boy this year?
Kaelen: Hug Santa. Hug.
Daddy: Kaelen ... have you been a good boy?
Kaelen: Yes. Hug Santa. Hug.

Santa again gives Kaelen a hug.

Santa: What would you like for Santa to bring you this year?
Kaelen: silence
Daddy: Kaelen ... what would you like for Christmas this year ... from Santa?
Kaelen: Ocky Ates
Santa: silence
Daddy: in a whisper .... Hockey Skates Santa
Santa: Ahh .... Hockey Skates ...
Kaelen: Yes.
Santa: Do you like hockey Kaelen?
Kaelen: Yes. Ocky Ates. Ocky Stick.
Santa: Ohh .... a hockey stick too? I see. Santa used to play hockey too, but he can't anymore because the elves said that I was too big to play with them.
Daddy: Did you hear that Kaelen? Santa body checks the elves!
Kaelen: Ya .... followed by a look of pure admiration in his eyes for Santa

You see, for a little boy who lives and breathes hockey, Santa has probably just become a bigger idol to him than Wayne Gretzky. I mean, Santa Claus body checks? Wow .......

This little meeting soon came to an end with a really cute picture (which I hope to scan properly and post for this upcoming Wordless Wednesday). After the picture, Kaelen continued to hug Santa to the point he didn't want to leave him, although on the last hug, he didn't overly love the scratchy feeling of Santa's wirey beard. After finally peeling Kaelen off of Santa, Santa gave him a little box of cookies for being such a good boy and told him that he would see him in a few sleeps.

Watching this whole scene put some serious tears in my eyes. Perhaps it was pride or pregnancy hormones, but something tells me that this Christmas is going to be the best ever!

The Gift That Just Keeps on Giving

Last year, in the first week of December, Kaelen and I were at a local drug store picking up medicine and your basic household toiletries. As we were waiting for our prescription medicine, Kaelen began playing with some of the Christmas toys that were on sale. You know, those toys that you press a button and it sings a little Christmas song while dancing. So, there Kaelen is dancing away with the toy of his choice, as Paul has fondly named: Doug the Penguin.

Doug the Penguin

Doug the Penguin provided Kaelen at least 10 minutes worth of entertainment while we waited, but Kaelen also provided other customers who were waiting immense entertainment as well. I mean, who could not chuckle when seeing a 15 month old toddler laughing and dancing away to a singing penguin?

Our prescription was done and it was time to go. Kaelen of course was a little sad that Doug couldn't come with us, but Mommy promised that we could come back and visit him again. You see, Mommy wasn't into the Christmas spirit quite yet. Kaelen was recovering from serious trauma to his mouth where he knocked out his four front teeth and I was dealing with a pregnancy that wasn't looking hopeful. I wasn't ready to be happy and celebrate all that I am blessed and thankful for.

As we got our coats, hats and gloves on we headed outside to our car. Just when we were about to open the car door, this friendly elderly man approached us and the conversation went a little like this:

Elderly Man: "Excuse me Mam"
I look around only to realize he is speaking to me. "Yes?"
Elderly Man: "I couldn't help but notice your son inside at the prescription area and how much fun he was having dancing to all of those toys"
Me (now smiling): "Yes. Kaelen loves to dance. He was certainly having fun wasn't he"
Elderly Man: "Yes he was. Your son was just the medicine that this old man needed today. Of late I haven't had much to smile about and just watching your son today filled me with so much joy. I hope that you don't mind, but I would like to give your son this gift to enjoy. If he could bring such joy into my life, then I would hope that this gift will continue to bring smiles and laughter to others as well."
Me (standing there stunned): "Why thank you. I don't know what to say. Thank you so very much. Would you like to meet Kaelen?"
Elderly Man (with such a fond smile on his face): "Oh I have. Your little boy's pure joy will ensure that I wear this smile on my face throughout the holiday season. He is a beautiful little boy"
Me (now with tears in my eyes): "Thank you so very much. Your thoughtfulness is very touching. Merry Christmas"
Now holding Kaelen in my arms, we say thank you again and wave good bye to this generous and thoughtful elderly man.

That Christmas, Kaelen played with Doug the Penguin non stop. And every time the penguin danced and sang I thought of this elderly man and wished that I knew more about him.

As we pulled out our Christmas decorations on Saturday afternoon, Doug the Penguin was at the top of the pile and Kaelen of course squealed in delight at seeing his dancing partner. Doug has been played over and over and over. So much so over the past two days that one would tend to get completely annoyed with the repetition of the song. I can't however seem to find myself getting annoyed though. Every time I see Kaelen dancing with this penguin, I think of this elderly man and wonder about him. We regularly go to this drug store and I have not seen him once since that day a year ago.

Perhaps he was an angel who came to brighten my day and remind me of all the good that I have in my life, or perhaps he was just an amazing man who I will have missed an opportunity to get to know.

This gentle elderly man's thoughtfulness is still bringing a smile to our faces over a year later.

'Tis the Start of the Season

With the cold weather and snow that we are experiencing here in Calgary, it is kind of hard not to get into the festive holiday season. Especially when one is looking for something to do inside of the house as it is -25 C outside. So, what better opportunity is there than to put up Christmas decorations!

Here is the finished result of our Christmas tree. Kaelen was a perfect little helper! And wait .... are those presents under the tree already? Wow! The Whittingham household must have been VERY good so far this year!!

Fate

Some people believe in fate; some don't. Some people believe in love at first sight; others don't. How many people can claim that they met their husband in a bar? Okay, lets qualify that a little better: How many people can claim that they met their husband drunk as a skunk in a bar? Both of us had had our fair share of drinks that night and despite living in a small little town, our paths had never crossed. Paul had only been living in Nelson for 3 weeks before he sealed his fate: me. I often tell him that it is his fault that he met me because he was the one that swore to all of his buddies back in Quesnel that girls were off limits and that he was just going to concentrate on school, get it done and then out again. Little did Paul know that his life would forever be changed on Friday, November 24, 1993 .......

Yes. I am one of those corny women that have this amazing ability to remember dates without really needing to. It is not like I write them down, but they stick in my mind. It is not like Paul and I met in this incredibly romantic setting either. We were in a nightclub, he asked me to dance and continued to dance for the remaining 3 songs of the night. That is it. But what struck me that night, which is still so clear in my mind, is how polite and respectful he was. We laughed and had fun for three songs. That's it. We barely got to exchange names in a greeting before the bar was closed and it was time to go home. I managed to pass on enough information that Paul would know where to find me the next night. I wanted to meet this boy again. He was the first boy in many years that I instantly felt comfortable around. Comfortable in the sense that I would not have to hold my constant guard up against him nor be on the look out for sleezy sex attempting moves or even physical harm. I instantaneously felt secure around Paul which was something so out of the ordinary for me.

The next night, I was working a part time job in a busy bar and Paul showed up. I didn't have much of a chance to talk with him as the bar was packed, the patrons demanding and Doug and the Slugs were rocking it out hard in the corner. But just seeing Paul with his smiling eyes and telling me to smile was enough to ensure that I was sailing on cloud nine for the remainder of my shift. Once my shift was done, I quickly hurried back to the nightclub from the night before just to get a dance or two in with Paul. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about this boy.

Again, after two dances, the night was done and this polite boy asked me if I would be interested in going to a movie with him the next night. Without hesitation I said yes and gave him my phone number to call me. That was it. He went his way and I went mine. Again, I was shocked. I was jaded. Like seriously jaded against men; all of the men in my life up until 21 years of age I had felt let me down. But, there was something about Paul that completely intrigued me.

So we went on our movie date on that Sunday, November 26th: our first official date or should I say chance for conversation. You know it must be true love when your date takes to to the blockbuster hit: The Beverly Hillbillies. Paul even fell asleep at one point during the movie, which he still denies it to this day. After the movie, we started to talk. We had so much in common: our love of sports such as playing volleyball, we were both hockey and football fanattics and even loving the same teams (Vancouver Canucks and Miami Dolphins). I remember thinking to myself: Is this love at first sight? Like how can this get any better?

After two years of dating casually, we decided to take it to the next level: living in sin. It was one of those things that we never really discussed; we just did. I don't think his parents were overly impressed at the time or for even a couple years later, but we did it anyways. We lived in sin for almost 10 years, focusing on paying off our student loans and getting our careers established. We were committed and knew that we would be spending the rest of our lives together despite the everyday questioning from people about our committment. Why weren't we married and what was wrong with Paul? On April 3, 2003, we boarded a plane with 24 of our friends and family to the Dominican Republic and on April 8, 2003 we officially tied the knot; legally becoming husband and wife. It was our grand plan in life. We were getting to the age where we wanted to start having children, but it was very important to us that we were married before doing so.

Life for the two of us keeps getting better and better. We have so much fun together, despite being borderline polar opposites. Paul likes to be social, have social drinks and be the life of a party; I would much prefer intimate settings and deep talks. He likes to watch TV; I am an avid reader. I am a communicator; he is SO not. I am all about making sure that everyone around me knows that I love them in case something happens; Paul thinks that it is morbid and naively takes it for granted that everyone will be there tomorrow. But despite these differences, we make it work. We love participating in activities together like golfing, curling, volleyball, badminton or running. And now, I think the most important activity is parenting together. We love it and love planning our family outings. I fall in love with Paul more and more each day when I see him with our son. He is a fantastic dad and it is going to be so much fun watching him parent our children as they grow. He will be the fun Daddy. The Daddy that gets involved with everything and isn't scared to look stupid doing so in the process.

I firmly believe that Paul was meant to come into my life. He is my soul mate. And yes, I do believe firmly in fate .... now. After all of these years, we are still going strong and will remain so.

Thank heavens for Friday, November 24, 1993 .... it will be a day that forever changed my life for the better.

To My American Friends

Happy Thanksgiving! May your day be filled with joy, laughter, love and reflection.

Wordless Wednesday

Afternoon Cat Nap

Appreciate Your Life

I often wonder how many people truly take the time to reflect on all that is good in their lives. With the stress of everyday life, do you find that people more often than not tend to voice their frustrations, their disappointments or their jealousies of others? It is natural of course. To vent your frustrations as it needs to get out. But, how often do people actually take the time to reflect on the good?

This thought hit home for me today as I watched a fellow coworker attempt to come back for her first day of work after losing her husband suddenly to a heart attack over a week ago. She thought that she was doing well, but just trying to get back into a routine of her normal life, brought back a flood of memories and glaringly obvious absences. Absences like no one to tell her how much they loved her as she left for work, to arriving at work and seeing a picture of the love of her life starring at her as she turned on her computer. As I stood there in her work space holding her as she was overcome with a fresh wave of grief, I couldn't help but cry too. Cry for her losses, the changes that she must face to move on and of all of the losses that I had experienced in life. The thing is, you never really get over death. Death will always affect you in your life and it is natural to grieve even when perhaps years have passed.

I grieve still. I grieve for the teenage girl who lost her daddy at the age of 13. I grieve for the woman who never got to know her daddy as an adult. I grieve that my children will never meet this man that I have placed so high on a pedestal that no superhero could ever measure up to him. I grieve that I lost my belief in romance and love to a greedy man that struggled with his own demons and felt that he must punish me for his sins. I grieve for a boyfriend who thought that his life was so bleak, that he took his own life thinking that he was sparing the loved ones in his life from his pain and misery. I grieve for the three angels that Paul and I lost due to miscarriages and always wonder what gender they would have been. I grieve about a lot.

Having said that, I also have an incredible appreciation for life. I appreciate that I have a family and a wealth of friends who love me and accept me for the person I am. I appreciate that I am married to an amazing man that I will share the rest of my life with and the best part is that he loves me unconditionally. Just when I didn't believe in relationships, here I get hit smack dab in the forehead with love and it is still going strong after 14 years. I more than appreciate this privilege of being a mother. Being a mom alone, makes the journey of my life up to this point worth every single heartache, tear and laughter that came out of this body.

A woman by the name of Stephanie Klein posted on her blog the question: Are you really happy?

http://stephanieklein.blogs.com
greek_tragedy/2006/11/are_you_happy

She was going to ask random people in her life this question; whether it were a nurse or grocery store clerk, whomever crossed her path, she was going to ask. It was interesting to read the feedback from people who made a point of commenting. There were many who felt that they would be offended if posed this question by a stranger.

So ask me. Am I happy? Like truly happy? ABSOLUTELY! I would not trade one moment or experience in my life as it has shaped me to be the person that I am today. My life has brought me to this point of pure bliss and contentment. I am a rich woman. Rich in a wonderful husband, a gorgeous son, and a baby on the way. Rich with family and friends who love me, a house over my head, food on my table and clothes on my back.

Sure I can covet things that I would like, but that doesn't change the fact that I am happy. Truly happy with my life.

Conversations with Kaelen

Just a few conversations that Kaelen had over the weekend. As you can see, he is certainly a very astute little boy. More than I give him credit for anyways .....

Auntie Christie: "Kaelen: Where is your baby?"
Kaelen: "Over there ... in Mommy's tummy. One baby in Mommy's tummy (along with one chubby little finger held high in the air to emphasize his point)"
Auntie Christie: "Are you going to be a good big brother?"
Kaelen: "Yes. Kiss Mommy. Kiss baby in tummy."

Kaelen runs over to Mommy and rips up Mommy's shirt to plant soft, wet kisses all over his sibling.


Kaelen: "Mommy - feel baby kick."
Mommy: "Pardon Kaelen? (as he hasn't asked this yet)"
Kaelen: "Feel baby kick"

Kaelen proceeds to pull up Mommy's shirt to place his perfect little hands on each side of my tummy.

Kaelen: "Baby kicked!"
Mommy: "Really .... you felt the baby kick?"
Kaelen: "Yes! Baby kicked me!!" (followed by immense squealing and a little foot stomp dance).
Mommy: "I guess that must be because the baby loves you so much and knows what a good brother you are"

Note: The baby did not kick Kaelen, but has since ........


Kaelen: "Mommy?"
Mommy: "Yes Kaelen"
Kaelen: "Feel baby kick?"
Mommy: "Sure. Come on over here"

The baby begins to kick as if this is rehearsed.

Kaelen: "Doctor fix when baby ready?"
Mommy: "Pardon Kaelen?"
Kaelen: "Doctor fix?"
Mommy: "Sorry Kaelen, Mommy doesn't understand what you mean by doctor fix"
Kaelen: "Doctor fix? Baby come out of tummy? Doctor fix?"

Sitting in stunned silence, again I marvelled at how astute Kaelen is. It just goes to show you that those little ears are always listening to what is being said and that these little precious people are truly like sponges absorbing everything that is going on around them.

Thirteen Thursday

In following a post from a fellow blogger who had linked my blogsite to her Thirteen Thursdays last week, she listed websites that she visits.

Here are the websites that I visit on a daily basis (in random order) and why:

1. http://goofballsworld.blogspot.com - My good friend Ellen from Belgium who came to Canada on a student exchange.
2. http://meganpratt.blogspot.com - A beautiful young lady that I used to work with and now consider as a younger sister.
3. http://totalmomhaircut.blogspot.com - A blogging mom whose blog I stumbled upon and now love. I hope to meet Beth one day as I so very much enjoy our communications back and forth as well as her stories about motherhood.
4. http://crazybloggincanuck.blogspot.com - A former Canadian, now mom of 2 who has this amazing ability to share her mothering experiences with immense humor.
5. http://adventuresinbabywearing.blogspot.com - Yet another blogging mom. Stephanie's posts always seem to remind me what to be thankful for.
6. http://peepingmoms.blogspot.com - Just have to visit Kate's site on a daily basis especially now knowing that she is a true lover of Duran Duran.
7. http://stephanieklein.blogs.com - Love this woman and her ability to express herself so freely. Check out the comments that she receives as well. I envy the talent that Stephanie has to be able to get so many people talking and at times debating.
8. http://jennandlucas.blogspot.com - Jenn is my Thirteen Thursday inspiration. Thanks for linking me last week as a website of interest to you!!
9. http://laplantefamily.blogspot.com - The Laplante Family is the newest Mommy to join the blogger community. I look forward to Karen sharing many more stories with us - especially when those twins arrive! Welcome!!
10. http://stephiecee22.blogspot.com - Another beautiful young woman that I used to work with. Reading her posts make me so reminicent of my days of young adulthood and the struggles that came with it. Keep your chin up Steph - it will get easier!
11. http://uselessmen.blogspot.com - Discovered this site via a comment that was left on my blogsite. If you are looking for good sarcastic fun, you just have to check this out.
12. http://protein.org.uk - This site has been a tremendous source of information to me since being diagnosed with Protein S and Antithrombin deficiencies. It has given me comfort of going through pregnancy and knowing that it is possible to have another child with these blood clotting disorders.
13. http://babycenter.com - Another site that I am sure almost every woman at one point has visited when trying to conceive or being pregnant. Again, I participate in a forum called Lovely Lovenox Ladies - a message board for women who have a blood clotting disorder and how they are dealing with this during pregnancy.
14. http://infantrefluxdisease.com - Last but not least, even though this is #14 and I don't visit it on a daily basis anymore, this site was a savings grace for me when Kaelen suffered from Infant Reflux Disease due to his prematurity. It is a tremendous source of information but not necessarily one that all doctors will agree with or believe. This sickness for babies is difficult to get diagnosed but so very easily to treat. Again, the message boards was a huge support system to me at a time that we were completely frustrated. Kaelen has since outgrown this sickness.

Daddy is an Old Man

Happy Birthday to an amazing Daddy and an almost ripe husband at the tender age of 35.

May you be spoiled rotten and survive the cake that Kaelen and I made.

Photo Credit to be given to Kaelen; his first attempt with the digital camera.

Daddy's Christmas Craft Project

This is Paul's idea of Christmas crafts ........

How do Babies Grow?

Growing up and being the older sister, I took this as also meaning that I knew much more than my younger sister Christie. She would ask a question, not really meaning for me to answer, but I would take that as her asking the wise old owl for sage advice.

I remember when the two of us were sent to do the dreaded chore of cleaning up our toy closet. We were lucky kids as we had a whole closet with shelves dedicated to the mass amount of Barbies, dolls, dress up clothes, games and books. What we didn't know, was that we were expected to utilize those shelves to present a semblance of order to the closet. Seeing as this was rarely ever executed, we would on a weekly basis be assigned the painful task of cleaning our mess up. Now that I look back on it, it was more painful for my mom as it would take Christie and I literally an entire day to get the job done.

I have this one particular memory that took place while we were procrastinating like crazy in cleaning up our toys. We were sitting in the closet playing with our dollies who were our babies. Christie asked me where babies came from. Our conversation went something like this:

Christie: "Allie, where do babies come from?"
Allie: "They just grow in you."
Christie: "Really?"
Allie: "Yes. Right now because you are so young, you probably only have a hand in your tummy. Me? Well, because I am so much older, probably have an arm and a hand, maybe even a foot."

Now flash forward to Saturday night. Kaelen, Paul and I went out for dinner with a friend. Just before dinner was served, the baby in Mommy's tummy gave me a rather uncomfortable boot delivered into my poor abused bladder. Out of habit, I rubbed my tummy to comfort the little one who was obviously displeased about something. Kaelen, being the ever perceptive child, looked to me and we had to following conversation:

Kaelen: "Mommy? Tummy hurt?"
Mommy: "No Kaelen. The baby was just tickling Mommy's tummy"
Kaelen: "Baby in Mommy's tummy?"
Mommy: "Yes Kaelen"
Kaelen: "Hand in my tummy too"
Mommy: "What is that Kaelen? You have a hand in your tummy?"
Kaelen: "Yes. Baby hand"
Mommy: "You have a baby' hand in your tummy too?"
Kaelen: "Yes Mommy. Baby in my tummy" (this was followed by Kaelen sticking his tummy straight out and rubbing it vigorously)

So, I guess the point of my story is that being an older child most definitely makes you knowledgeable about everything. Kaelen is already exercising his intelligence that he will no doubt share with his sibling.

Mommy versus The Monsters

Kaelen has learned the concept of monsters somewhere over the past week. Likely daycare. On Thursday however the obsession of monsters lurking everywhere became extremely prevalent. I was concerned about this and hoping that it didn't lead to total night time hysteria and that it was just an indication of Kaelen's imagination developing. After about an hour of monsters popping out left, right and center while Mommy was lying in Kaelen's bed with him, Mommy decided it was high time to come up with a few rules.

They are as follows:

1. Monsters can only come out during the day when the sun is out. This is especially so for the big purple ones that seem to stalk Kaelen at every turn of his shoulder.
2. Purple monsters are scared of closets and the space under couches and beds.
3. Blue flying monsters are like birds - they sleep at night and look for worms to eat during the day.
4. The tiny yellow monsters are like spiders. Harmless and very scared of Kaelen because he is such a very big boy.
5. If you tell the monsters that you want to hug them, they will just want to cuddle and play with you (or on Thursday night's case, sleep beside Kaelen).
6. If monsters want to play hockey in our basement, they too need to wear imaginary helmets.

So far these rules have been working. The monsters even went so far as to play a game of hockey with Kaelen and his shadow, Peter Pan who had made a return after a long sabbatical. After a long, tough hitting game full of injuries and penalties, Kaelen and Peter Pan eventually won the game in a shoot out.

Now while watching Kaelen and interacting with his vivid imagination is certainly entertaining, there is also that small part of Mommy that is concerned that one day, this will develop into true fear. The only savings grace is that this Mommy has a very active imagination (or so she has been told throughout her years of growing up) so it is very much doubtful as to whether any monster will be able to scare Kaelen for long.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Boy

Things that I Have Learned as a Mommy

1. That puke really can give you that warm, fuzzy feeling .... As it is running down your arm and front of your shirt that is .....
2. Watching your husband struggle to change a 4 month old's diaper can be probably one of the most entertaining things to witness. Especially so if your 4 month old has a lethal butt and your husband has the weakest stomach known to man. Note: Ensure that husband changes diaper on an empty stomach or else Mommy will end up scrubbing the remains of dinner off of the floor.
3. Like babies, husbands will outgrow their vomitting tendancies. This is because they develop the technique to change the diapers by holding their breath and closing their eyes upon opening the diaper.
4. Nothing hits home more that you are a milking machine as when you are pumping your tender engorged breasts and your husband meanwhile is "mooing" like a cow to get his point across. For supreme engorgement and entertainment, try double pumping to see which boob can fill the bottle up faster. That really keeps a husband entertained and amazed.
5. Children will produce more snot than poop.
6. Enemas don't equate to geriatric patients only.
7. When administering an enema to your child, the directions actually hold true that action will be produced within two minutes. What the directions don't warn you is that the cannon like explosion produces the sound of a gunshot along with very strong earthquake like aftershocks. Note: Ensure that husband is prepared for this. Especially so if he is holding and comforting the child. It is recommended that husband is sitting down for this explosion or else he could be startled into dropping the child thinking that he has been shot.
8. If air travelling with a toddler, it is guaranteed that they will have a nasty bout of diarrhea upon boarding call.
9. There is no such thing as the 30 second rule when perishable, edible foods hit the floor. It is more like the 5 minute rule; if it still looks clean, then eat it.
10. Spiders can truly provide not only entertainment for toddlers, but nutritional value as well. After all, theory has it that the average person will consume (unknowingly) 7 spiders in their lifetime.

Does my Hubby read my blog?

I am hopeless. Really. After spending the past 14 years with my husband, I am still truly and utterly in love with him. My husband is certainly not a man of many words nor actions. He has no concept of what romance is and I have to practically beg him to get affection in the form of hugs or the daily "I love you". Oh how I wish there would be a day that he would just surprise me and do something out of the blue: like send me flowers just because, to just grab me and tell me how he could never live his life without me. You know - all of that fantasy stuff that most of us married women dream about, read about in novels or see in budding relationships with others that you may work with.

Despite these little things, we have a rock solid marriage. A marriage that will withstand the test of time. One that will make it through the times of uncertainty and the rough patches that all relationships and people in general go through in life. Some may say it is naive, but I will be spending the rest of my life with hubby. Giving up on our marriage just isn't an option for us. From the moment that we knew that we would be spending the rest of our lives together, we both said that when we got married that it would be forever; that divorce would never be an option for us.

Things have been rather difficult in our household of late. With hubby working extreme hours, to the emotional start and continuation of this pregnancy to our worries about Kaelen. Our home hasn't been that soft place to fall, but rather that tense place to continue to run around in and play catch up on life. The laughter and love are still there, but the two of us are acting like a team; all business. We just get home, get things done and then fall into bed exhausted. There has been no room for the two of us to take care of one another. Kaelen and this baby is our primary focus, then comes the finances followed by the house. It has felt lonely and even though we have talked about it, we just haven't attempted to bridge that gap of intimacy. Intimacy not in the form of sex, but in the form of comfort. Of providing those warm fuzzies, that feeling of unconditional security of knowing that everything will work out for the best. That no matter what, we will be okay.

After a weekend of quality family time, things are changing. The sunshine seems to be out again sending us rays of positive hope. And, you know what? The most amazing random act of kindness happened to me already this morning. A beautiful message was left on my voice mail at work from my hubby. You know - my hubby who is a man of many words (not). What did it say? Well, that we have a beautiful son who woke up like a new little man this morning (that is a whole other story to follow) and how much fun he was and ...... that I looked beautiful this morning. That the outfit that I am wearing shows how beautiful I am. Man - let me tell you .... THAT is better than any amount of flowers that I could EVER receive! Especially of late. How did he know that it would appeal to my pregnancy vanity? He must have read my blog .........

Random Acts of Kindness

As a society, we often do not have the time to stop, sit down and soak in the world around us. It is a constant go, go, go. Dictated to us by our jobs, by our partner's jobs, by family, by debt and the need to have things. Along with this hectic paced life we all live, communication tends to break down, emotions run high and one may feel that their life is completely out of control.

That is where Random Acts of Kindness kick in. Why not take a moment out of your day to make someone else's day? Not only are you benefitting from this, but you have put a smile on another's face; made them feel loved and appreciated. You gave them the gift of forgetting about their worries for a moment and allowed them to focus on themselves.

I have to admit that I have rather slacked off of late with my little acts of kindness. It used to be a goal of mine to secretly target someone once a week to make their day; whether it was by a small gift, a note about a quality that I admire in them or giving them a huge hug and telling them how much I appreciated them. Sadly, I have gotten wrapped up in my own life and haven't thought about others.

So, thank you to my dear friend Jodi for reminding me what is important in life. Jodi made my day yesterday with a random act of kindness. For the rest of the day, I had a smile on my face that lasted through the night. The irritants of the norm that usually get me all riled up seemed so petty that I just didn't bother wasting my energy on getting upset. All because someone thought of me and did something thoughtful.

My Little Halloween Goblin

As initially predicted, Kaelen showed no interest to go out on Halloween to Trick or Treat. However, that all changed as soon as the first little goblin came a knocking at our door. Once he saw that they received a handful of candy upon yelling "Trick or Treat", his tune was much different. He quickly ran upstairs to get into his costume, to get outside amongst the competitive action.

Daddy took our little fireman to about 8 houses in our neighborhood and Kaelen would quietly say Trick or Treat at every single house. Due to the chill, 8 houses was plenty for him. Besides, the suspense of checking out the goodies in his bag was killing him.

Home my chilled boys came (it was -17 C out with the windchill) and filled their gullets with sugar. And, that sugar high fueled Kaelen's desire to help give the candy out to all of the kids that haunted our doorstep for the rest of the night.

On our front porch steps.

Checking out the fruits of his labor.

Sunday Morning

Look what we woke up to on Sunday morning. Thankfully the appeal of shovelling snow is on the top of Kaelen's to-do-list.

The Magic of Mr. Boo

Sometime in the early 90's

Back in the days, we thought that we were pretty cool as we had an 8 person hot tub. Mom had converted Dad's old workshop into an indoor hot tub room, which also doubled as a sauna seeing as it was located in this tiny room in the basement. We loved this hot tub except when it came to having to empty the thing. The jets were located about mid level, so when draining the hot tub, we would have to bail out about 60% of the tub via a bucket and then dump into a sink. This was a lot of water to bail out, but a small price to pay when it allowed us the luxury of warm relaxation and of course the coolness around your fellow friends.

Mr. Boo decided to take pitty on us one night, however obviously didn't realize that Mom had a night of rowdiness planned for the following night. My mom checked the chemicals in the hot tub at about 11:00 PM, just before heading to bed, to ensure that all was good for her party. At about 7:00 am the next morning, when she was getting ready for work, she thought that she heard some grinding. As she searched around for the noise, her hunt lead her to the hot tub room. The motor was making a loud over worked noise. Fearful that this meant that it was on the frizt and that the water was likely freezing cold, she lifted the lid to the hot tub only to discover that the hot tub was bone dry; water gone. Where did the water go, only Mr. Boo knows. But we can tell you that the hot tub couldn't have leaked as it would have flooded the basement and there was not enough time for it to dry out.