Wyatt in the Dell

2010-11-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

Health, Happiness and Prosperity for the coming year.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

Lots of family, yummy food and the Disney Christmas Parade

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

a beautiful diamond to commemorate the 10 years my husband and I have been together

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

crafting with my son and my nieces (using stuff I already have), baking cookies and generally just being together

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

we always played cards - mostly rummy

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

the pumpkin pie always has to have whipped cream and honey, which is how my Grandma always served it

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?

Arizona which is where I spent most of my childhood Christmas's as my Grandparents wintered there every year

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

A XBOX360 with the Kinnect stuff and Mario Kart

share the art/love/stuff

2009-04-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I said I would play along. But since most of my friends on Facebook aren't crafty I am breaking the mold and posting on here. So, who wants to play along???

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made for them by me.

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU (or with you collectively in mind).
- It will be done this year (2009)(ish).
- It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.
- It might be a drawing, a list, a book, a print, a small painting, a trinket, homemade something yummy (cookies!), a mix CD, a found item (that is changed somehow), a sticker collage, a bracelet or an altered garment. (really anything!)

In return, all you need to do is post this text into your blog and make 5 things for 5 other people.

Make sure to comment here that you are in.

Easter and a few more projects

2009-04-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice and fairly quiet Easter weekend. Long weekends don't really change much for us since Wyatt isn't in school and we still have cows to milk twice a day every day. On Sunday the grandkids met up at Granny and Pa's as the Easter bunny had arrived and left eggs all over the yard. And for an Easter miracle, the three cousins posed for a photo SO nicely. I noticed in the photo that for the first time ever Wyatt is the same height as his cousin Alex who is 5 months older than him. But, I suspect that won't be for long as she will probably have a growth spurt soon.

While the whole Easter egg hunt was going on, Tom's youngest brother Brock decided he needed for whatever reason to jump on the trampoline. The whole time his Dad is yelling at him that he is going to get hurt, to stop etc. He had bad ankles and a bad back from sports injuries, so fair enough. But being 17 and being Brock, he kept going trying to see how high he can go. Suddenly on one of his bounces, the trampoline (which is probably about 20 years old - it was my sister in laws when she was a kid) breaks at its seam, springs fly everywhere and Brock tumbles to the ground in a pile. Thank goodness he didn't get hurt, but he got a few "I told you so's" from his Dad and a whole lot of laughs from the rest of us. Since I had my camera and was right there of course I had to snap a few photos and can already see a scrapbook page of them. He won't be living this one down for a while!

And for a couple of crafty things, here is a page I did with Making Memories Valentines paper from The Paper Crate. I also got a Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine for my birthday and was playing around with my scalloped circle Nestabilies (dies) and made a couple of cute cards. I haven't done too much with it yet, but am looking forward to playing around more.

Loving Crate Paper

2009-04-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have been loving Crate Paper's recent releases. I must have done 6 layouts and 3 cards with the Lemon Grass line and now I am totally into the Prudence line. I don't usually go for such dark colors, but I really like the look of the papers in this line. Here is one of my little Starbucks fan.

A Couple New Pages

2009-04-01T21:53:00.001-07:00

I have been on a roll since I got back from Saskatoon last week. I even finished a double page layout which is huge for me. I almost never work with that size spread, so it was definitely a challenge. I used the paper from the Layout Challenge Kit at Scrappin' Your Way. I love the paper and wish I had bought some of the other pieces to go along with it. It is from Fancy Pants Daily Grind line. The second layout is Rose Moka paper from a line called Pause Cafe. Seemed fitting for a layout essentially about coffee.

Pretty Pink Fridge Magnets

2009-03-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am a few days late on getting this posted, but still wanted to share them. I was out to my Craft N Chat group on Friday night. We were small in numbers (just 4 of us), but had fun anyway. We just put out a bunch of crafty items and played away making a bunch of different fridge magnets. Not sure if I will put these on my fridge, as I suspect the will end up on the magnet board in my scrap cave.

For supplies - we Prima Flowers and Making Memories buttons for the flowery ones. Basic Grey Bittersweet paper, unknown pink ribbon and glass beads (the kind you use as a base for candles) for the pink ones, and Making Memories clips plus unknown ribbon for the clip.

New Frame

2009-03-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a new frame I did using one of the 18X18 frames from Cut Your Way. I am happy with the look of the finished product, although not with the paint finish. I used Ranger Crackle Paint and love the color, but the finish is pretty rough and didn't crackle evenly (ie, some sections crackled and others didn't). Possibly because I was covering such a large area. As it was fairly rough, the Decor Elements from Stampin' Up didn't adhere very well. I had to peel one leaf off the Lollipop Flowers. But I think the rest will stay on ok with the coating of Krylon Triple Thick that I used on it. I might have to order another set of the words so that I can do another frame up, then maybe sand this one down and start over. I still have half the Lollipop Flowers left as I cut a pack of white and a pack of brown up into individual stems so I could alternate the colors.

Saskatchewan Scraps

2009-03-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

I had just an amazing time over the weekend in Saskatoon. It was 21 hours of scrapbooking over a day an a half. Doesn't get much better than that for a crafter. I met some amazing women while I was there - incredibly talented and just plain fun to be around. There were a couple of times I was laughing so hard I was crying (thanks Leica, Lori and Allison)! If you are ever in Saskatoon and need a place to stay, I have stayed at a great B&B the last two times I have been up, the Ninth Street Bed and Breakfast. The hosts Daryl and Lola, have a lovely character house, and serve up an excellent breakfast. And the price was great too (about $60 a night)

I am going to show a few of the projects I made over the next couple of days and intend to start posting more regularly as a way to keep myself working on projects and pages. My absolute favorite project I made over the weekend is the wooden letters we decorated. Laura Lee Harms, the instructor for the class I took is about as awesome a person as you will ever meet. She makes the coolest picture frames and wooden letters that can be painted, altered, decoupaged, basically finished in any way to suit your decor. They are cut out of MDF and fantastic to work with. I made 3 of her frames for Christmas presents and have 3 more now, plus some large M's to work on. She just started up a blog for her business Cut Your Way. Check it out - the prices are extremely reasonable and I know she will ship them (although shipping maybe be pricey due to the weight).

So, here is my word - "home". I covered the letters in paper from the Basic Grey line Urban Prairie. It suits my house colors really well. I think it will end up in my kitchen or living room, once I finish painting those two rooms. I added some miscellaneous ribbon (unknown and Making Memories), Kaiser Craft Bling, Basic Grey chipboard and die cuts, plus Making Memories letter stickers. I think I am still going to go back and either Crackle Accent or Glossy Accent the chipboard bird and bee.

Conversations With A 3 Year Old....

2009-03-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

The best part about going away now that I have a child is coming home to a little person who is so, so very excited to see you. The first thing out of his mouth as he ran into my arms is "I missed you Mommy!", followed by "I missed you Mommy lots!".

Conversations are definitely getting very funny now - two examples from today;

After the I missed you moment;

Me: I brought you a present baby.

Wyatt: What is it?

Me: A tool kit so you can fix your tractors. (showing him)

Wyatt: (handing to mouth, gasping) Just what I always wanted, forever!

Then as we were getting dinner made;

Wyatt: Mommy, can we have 'ssert? (aka dessert)

Me: We could, but once we have supper.

Wyatt: Yippee. I know. We should go to Granny's.

Me: Oh?

Wyatt: We go Granny's and get cookies. Then we have them for 'ssert. That good idea?

He certainly has it cased that Granny's is the place for cookies!

Will be back with more later or tomorrow. I am going to make it my Spring resolution to post more. And I have lots of fun stuff to share after a fantastic weekend in Saskatoon.

Summer

2008-08-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it is already August. While last summer seemed to last about 2 years, this one has gone by quickly. I feel much more settled here than I did last year. Last summer was pretty painful. I was miserable, homesick and lonely. And now, while I still miss my family, at least I have friends and activities to keep me occupied. And I am looking forward to fall and all that it brings - new activities, birthdays, changing leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, all my favorite things!

Hmmmmm, what's new here...... Well, I have decided to try and pursue my photography a bit and see where that leads. Someone very wise recently broke it to me that I have more talent than I give myself credit for and that I need to believe in myself and if I do I can accomplish a lot more than I think I can. So, as tough as it is to put myself out there, I am going to and see where it takes me. I did a session for a friend earlier this week and despite the thunder storm, I think it turned out quite well. Just have to finish editing the photos and get them back to her now. She has two incredibly cute and photogenic kids, so that made my job much easier.

In other news, I can hardly wait for October. I am going to Saskatoon for two nights to go to this fabulous all day crop (9am to midnight). There are workshops too which I am really looking forward to. This is the info about the crop and classes.

http://10-4livingoutloud.typepad.com/leica_forrest/2008/06/crop-info-is-he.html

I also had a pretty exciting phone call a few weeks ago - from Jackie Ludlage from Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine. She phoned to tell me that I won a trivia contest I had entered on their website and that I won $500 worth of scrapbooking stuff. ($100 from 5 companies -Rose Moka, Clip It Up, Melissa Frances, Stix 2, and Best Craft Organizers). I cannot wait for the box to arrive - I have been stalking the post office which is getting a bit embarassing. I hope it arrives soon!

This page is one I did a year or so ago, but is still one of my favorite pages, simply because of the photo and the journalling. Leica, if you read this, this is the one I was talking about.

The rest of the post....

2008-07-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of the layouts that I did while I was away. A few don't have photos yet as I have to order them from scrapbookpictures.com and they will take a couple of weeks to get here. The "Don't Drink the Water" layout has a little piece of paper over the journalling card as I listed everyone's names and I am didn't want that shown online like this. Out of that group of us there were 4 baby girls and 2 boys. Jody who is the last one, after me actually had her twin girls a week before I had Wyatt despite being due a month after me.

New Pages

2008-07-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

This is about half of the pages I did while I was away. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Basic Grey. Will post the rest later, along with some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Tall Ships, Little Boys

2008-06-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

A few photos from our trip to BC so far. The Tall Ships Festival has been here the last few days and the ships are pretty impressive.

The life of a 2 1/2 year old....

2008-06-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Oh to be two years old where you think this is a brilliant idea.....

Step 1 - mix up the rainwater and dirt in the sandbox creating a filthy mud concoction
Step 2 - slash it everwhere
Step 3 - just because that wasn't messy enough, jump into the above mentioned mud
Step 4 - oh so cutely crawl towards mom to share the filth
Step 5 - fall so dead asleep on the couch at 5:30 pm that you don't even wake up when your mom changes you into pj's.

April Snow Brings May.......

2008-04-27T22:32:00.001-07:00

What a bizarre month for weather this has been. Maybe this is normal for the prairies, but since it is only our second spring out here, I guess I am allowed to be baffled. My mom came for a week to visit at the beginning of the month. The day she arrived it was chilly, but decent, then we got a couple of days of downpour rain, then a bit better, then her second to last day here it was 27 degrees. Since then it has dropped again and two days in the last week we have woken up to snow. It was fairly nice this afternoon and I noticed one sign of spring that I have been dreading - the flies. I really despise them and they are absolutely rampant here. I suppose I am delusional to think there is any sort of way to keep them away?

This is one of my new favorite photos of my handsome little dude.

So, the last month..... my mom came for a week which was just wonderful. Wyatt absolutely adores "Grammers" as he calls her. We did lots of fun things while she was here and she was able to partake in Wyatt's activities - gymnastics and playschool which was great so now she can picture it when I tell her stories about his latest escapades. We did a bit of sightseeing, walked around Wascana Park which is a beautiful green space in the middle of the city. There is a nice 4km loop around the section with the legislature and it was packed on the sunny day we headed out.

With Gramma at the airport when she arrived.

At Wascana Park.

In the mud at home in his new Muddy Buddy (aka one of the greatest inventions in kids clothing EVER).

Tea party with Gramma

Tea party with his friend at Playschool.

At the airport with Gramma when she was leaving. Too bad it wasn't a better photo of Wyatt as it is a great photo of my mom (IMO).

The only part I didn't like about her trip was the leaving part. Wyatt was rather distraught for a few days. Even the morning she was leaving he burst into tears a couple of times. He also wanted in his crib and once I put him in there, he didn't want to get out. We figured out that he probably felt it was a safe place and that she might not have to leave if he stayed there. But, we got through the trip to the airport and the goodbyes and are now counting down to our trip out there in the summer. Tentatively we will go about the 7th of July and stay for 2 1/2 or 3 weeks.

What else is new? Well, I spent the two weeks before my moms arrival frantically getting the house ready. We got the guest room painted (thank you Chandra!), I finished painting our bathroom, trim in several places, got my new (birthday) light fixture in the dining room hung up, fan from there moved to our bedroom. Pretty much every job I have been putting off since her last visit! I need to take a few photos of the room makeovers with the paint etc. It made a HUGE difference.

Not too much planned at the moment - hopefully a trip down to Minot in North Dakota for a night or two with Tom and Wyatt. They have a hotel attached to the mall and it seems to have a really cool indoor water park. So, it would be a fun getaway - Wyatt will love the pools and I will get to go to Target. Minot is about 4 hours away, so it isn't too far to go. I wish it was a bigger centre, but it's North Dakota which is essentially like Saskatchewan......tons of tiny, tiny towns and about 2 or 3 major ones.

I have a few cool projects on the go at the moment that I hope to get done and photographed and posted. I need to make a trip to Michael's though for a few supplies for one of them. Hopefully will get there this week.

And to end this post, a photo of Wyatt doing his "cheeeeeeeeezzzzzeeee face". This always involved goofy grin, eyes shut and head tilted. Sometimes he says "cheeeeeeeezzzeee pizza" which cracks me up. Speaking of funny things he is saying, forklifts are forklips which for some reason cracks me up. Oh and everything he says when referring to himself starts with "I, me". As in "I, me, Daddy go swimming", "I, me have apple juice". While I am on a roll, yesterday we were in the car in town and went down Albert St past the Mackenzie Art Gallery where they have three cow sculptures outside. We have driven by this place at least weekly since we moved here. But yesterday for the first time I think he noticed them as he yelled out to me "Mommy, stop the car, there's baby cows!!!!!". He was so serious about this I got a good laugh. Ok, that's it for now....enough stories of things my little dude does that I think are funny.

On turning 32 and other things....

2008-03-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my 32nd birthday on Saturday. Thanks to all for your birthday wishes. I had a pretty great day. Got to sleep in, then went to town for some shopping. Got some great bargains at Toys R Us during their BOGO sale. Little Peoples sets were on, so I got the airport and the castle for Wyatt to give to him for some occasion in the future. They were a pretty smokin' good deal at buy one, get one free. Did a few other things in town, then came back home. Tom and Wyatt got me some great presents - a new light fixture I wanted for our dining room, 2 cd's and a pretty easter ceramic mug from Starbucks. Oh, and a Rider's toque....(which was more of a joke than anything, except it is pink, so I probably will wear it). Then had to feed the calves. Wyatt went to bed late, as he napped really late, but then Uncle B (Tom's youngest brother) came over to babysit once Wyatt went to bed and Tom was in from milking about 9 and we went out for a very late dinner to Earl's. It was really nice, but I was shocked at how busy it was for being 10:15 at night (by the time we got there). We had a great dinner and were home by midnight. Tom and Wyatt made me a cake (which we had some of before we went out for dinner so Wyatt could have some with us) and one of the ladies from the newcomer's club made me one too. All in all a great day.

I just finished project number 365, 775 that I am working on. Really cute easter garland. I got the idea from Creating Keepsakes mag and it was super easy to make.

I will post photos of a mini-album I finished in the next day or two once I do a photomerge of the pictures. I have a second one in the works which I hope to have done this week too.

And I want to get my bathroom painted....not sure when all of this is getting done.

Off to bed now.

11 on the 11th

2008-03-12T22:11:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am finally back to explain this. In one of the recent editions of Creating Keepsakes they had an article on fast formula albums and one in particular caught my eye. It was all about capturing everyday moments. The stuff we often don't put in albums. The author did an album of 12 on the 12th. Twelve photos about random things they did on the twelfth of each month. The album went together really easy as it was the same format for each month. Journaling on the left and photos on the right with similar formatting and layout of photos. She used on big photo and the other 11 in a smaller size around it. I chose to do 11 on the 11th as that is Wyatt's birthday.

So for our first month (March - planned to start in January.....another story altogether...). The photos are in no particular order, but our day pretty much went as follows; playschool, errands (bought muffins, or muffa's as Wyatt calls them), through the carwash, back home, muffa's and tea, went up to the barn to feed the babies, Wicket joined us, it was a warm day and the snow was melting, we got a new cow (red one), hung out with Tom a bit, then home, dinner and bed. I will expand the journalling a bit for the album, but that is the gist of it.

Happy Birthday Wicket!

2008-03-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Came accross this photo while searching for my layouts to post and wanted to wish my first "baby" Wicket, a Happy 6th Birthday! I can't believe she has been part of our family for 6 years already. She came home a couple of days before Mother's Day 6 years ago and was born on March 9th. She and Wyatt are becoming good buddies now especially since he started wanting to feed her milk bones. Now he almost always has to have some when we are outside so he can give them to her. It is pretty cute to see him going up and hugging her and saying "love Wick, nice dog".

A few layouts.... I am also working on a few projects I hope to have done shortly - a mini album (gift for a 2nd birthday - more for the mom), an Easter project, a couple layouts and another mini album (for Theresa's wedding). And I am waiting for more photos to arrive both to scrap and for a competition I am entering at the end of the month.

The stress of motherhood....

2008-02-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

I have decided tonight that there is not much bigger stress as a mom than not being able to find your child's beloved stuffie/blanket/insert item here at bedtime, when they WILL NOT/CANNOT sleep with out it. I frantically combed our house tonight in search of Pupper. Thankfully just as I was starting to panic, I found him fast asleep on the chair in the living room under a blanket and a couple books. Pupper has been Wyatt's most beloved companion for almost a year now. He is ratty and dirty and so completely loved it almost breaks my heart. I cannot imagine the day Pupper gets lost or falls apart. We had one night where Pupper went for a "swim" in the toilet just before bed. So he had to have a bath and dry off before he could join Wyatt (aka a run through the washer and dryer). Well it was just heartbreaking listening to Wyatt in his crib sobbing for Pupper. I try not to take Pupper out too many places, as I just can't fathom losing him. So far I have been able to convince Wyatt that Pupper needs to stay at home to sleep while we go out places. The only time he has really been able to bring him along was the trips to the hospital for the cast being put on/taken off. I don't think I will ever forget the ex-rays with Wyatt sobbing on the table terrified and clutching Pupper for comfort. We love you Pupper! A is a photo of Wyatt and his beloved.

Ok, its about time.....

2008-02-28T19:45:00.001-08:00

I have felt terribly guilty since June when I last posted, so about time to get this blogger rolling again. Where to even start? I guess with a brief synopsis of the highlights of the last 8 months.

We had four great trips to BC but are now unfortunately on a trip moratorium for a few months. Can't afford to keep up the rate we were going back, plus it is really hard on Wyatt schedule-wise (sleep etc) and we end up missing too much of our activities. We had great times with everyone, a wonderful trip to Parksville for a couple nights with my parents where Wyatt really experienced his first time at the beach. He loved the water and digging in the sand. We also had a fabulous birthday party for him in November with all his little friends and their mama's (some of my favorite people!).

In December Wyatt broke his leg while playing on the play structure at the Y and got a cast on from his toes to above his knee three days before we were scheduled to fly to BC for Christmas. Both doctors we saw said to go on our trip anyway, so we did. Wyatt was walking/running on his cast within a week and although it was a different kind of trip not being able to go run in the park and ride his bike, we still had a great month with my parents. We were supposed to be gone for 3 weeks exactly, but ended up extending by 5 days as we both got violently ill with a norwalk like virus and Wyatt was not well enough to travel home by the time we were supposed to go. He got his cast off the day after we got home and now about 6 weeks later he is completely back to normal, no limp, seemingly no pain. Fully recovered as far as we can tell.

He is now talking up a storm and really stringing words together. He is constantly telling me something (ie, "Daddy milk cows", "Mommy, look sunshine", "Wick eat bones".) That last one is his new favorite activity - feeding Wicket hoards and hoards of milk bones. And in return, Wicket has really taken a liking to him lately! I wonder why!

The winter here hasn't been as terrible as I expected it to be. We have definitely had some cold weather, but not as much snow as I thought we might get. And we have had some great days around zero degrees. I have even tried snowmobiling which I quite like. I am truly embracing this whole winter thing.

I have been doing a ton of scrapbooking. Here are a few of my newest layouts. The first one looks a bit weird because of the scan - I am working on perfecting the technique of scanning or photographing layouts with dimensional embellishments.

I have a couple more to scan and post too. I also had an exciting start to the year - one of my photos was picked to be published in Canadian Scrapbooker. The issues is just hitting newstands now. I got my issue two days ago, but haven't seen it on newstands yet. If you see it, check it out - it is on the last page (just inside the back cover) on a page called "In the End").

Ok, I think that's about all for now. I am going to try to keep this updated more regularly than I have been!

This is taking FOREVER to post photos - I am going to post the text, then will add the photos later or tomorrow.

Father's Day

2007-06-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of quick Father's Day photos before I head to bed. Taken on the way back to the house from milking tonight.

Odd Night

2007-06-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post tonight. I had a very odd night the other night. Wyatt has been sleeping through the night consistently, so when he wakes up and cries out enough for me to hear him, I always go to him assuming that he is hungry. Well, I get the bottle ready, go to his room and he stands up in his crib as per usual. He takes the bottle from me and I lift him out to change him as I know two bottles and one diaper equals a very wet boy in the morning. But, something feels strange. When I put him down on the change table, I figure out that his pj bottoms are around his ankles and his diaper is off. wth? I have no idea how this happened, as I really don't think he took them off himself as he would have gotten the pants right off. I think they probably slid down and then rolling around the diaper came off. Poor little guy was half naked and probably cold! (And had peed in the bed.....). I am not looking forward to him being able to actually take off his clothes like the stage my niece is at. A few times my sister in law has gone in to her room in the night to find her naked.

About time...

2007-06-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I have good news today.... it looks like we will actually be getting high speed internet next week. YIPPEE!!!! It probably won't be quite as fast as cable or ADSL, but it is up to 20X faster than dialup. It is wireless internet, so they have to put a dish on our roof and it will bounce off a tower we can see out our kitchen window. We are within 10km of the tower, so it shouldn't be a problem like before when they tried to reach the tower in Edenwold, 20km away with a ridge between us. This time it is a straight shot. The installer is coming Tuesday, so I will finally be able to upload photos for printing, download some new songs in iTunes, use my webcam to see Inga's new little dude Bennett and see my parents. YAY!

On a roll.....

2007-06-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Three posts within a week after very sporadic posts for a couple months, I feel like a superstar. I don't know whether it is just because I have dial up now or not, but it usually takes at least 3 or 4 tries to get onto Blogger. Anyone else having this problem?

Just a few photos for now - from our trip to the "Tot Lot" at the community centre with Grandma yesterday. One quick story now though - Wyatt has a couple of baseball caps that he has been wearing since it started getting hot out. Anyway, he now likes to wear his like Daddy. Or at least how he and Daddy do when they are together - backwards. It is pretty cute. We were out working with Tom one day and I left them for a few minutes and come back to find them both with their hats on backwards. I don't know who turned theirs first, but Wyatt either had to have his like Daddy's, or Daddy's like his. So, now he always wants to wear it this way.

Two Rooms Down.... Part Two

2007-06-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

The office...all I can say is what a difference a can of paint makes..... The office is a fairly small room (10 x 9ish), and is pretty cramped with our furniture in it, but is workable. The desk under the window and bookcase is my scrapbooking area and the other desk is our computer desk.

Before

After

Two Rooms Down.... Part One

2007-06-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we are two rooms down and too many to count left to go. Here are some before and after photos of Wyatt's room and our office. I am trying to decide what to tackle next, the hall, our room, the guest room or the two bathrooms. I suspect it will be the hall, then our room. I am going to go around and paint the trim in all those rooms, then decide what to do.

Before

After

We are still alive....

2007-06-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad at posting. I swear that the dial up internet totally zaps any inspiration I have to use the internet. It is so slow it is painful, but I am also not about to pay $700 for the setup for sattelite internet that isn't even as fast as high speed. If dial up is a one and high speed is a 10, then it is a 5 and not really worth spending all that money on. There is some hope that we might get ADSL at some point, but not anytime too soon.

We are doing quite well and getting pretty settled into our house. I have our office and Wyatt's room painted and hope to do the hallway next, the our bedroom. The the two bathrooms, then the guest room and on and on..... I really hate painting, so it is a b it of a chore, but needs to be done.

Wyatt is turning into a little comedian. If you ask him if he's the dude, he answers with dudude. Or if you point to him and ask who he is, he says dudude. He isn't talking a ton yet, but he also isn't around a lot of other kids, which I know speeds up the talking. He uses the more sign a heck of a lot though. More stories, more snacks, more dropping stuff off the table, more, more more.... Grandma is here visiting right now, so we are going to take some videos this week that I hope to post.

Just a few photos for now - it's getting late and I need to get to bed. A couple of Wyatt, one of him and I on Mother's Day and one of his playroom (our sunporch) that we got set up today. More before and after photos of our house to come shortly.

All about me....

2007-05-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

April posted this on her blog and I am sure she doubted that anyone would follow her lead. I took a break from Facebook and finally did it - LOL.

A
- Available: No
- Age: 30
- Annoyance: improper capitalization or lack there of
- Actor: Patrick Dempsey

B
- Beer: not at all
- Birthday/Birthplace: March 15th, 1976, GR Baker Memorial Hospital, Quesnel
- Best Friends: Inga
- Body Part on opposite sex: eyes
- Best feeling in the world: seeing Wyatt’s pure joy
- Big words: assinine
- Best weather: thunder storms
- Been in Love: yes
- Been bitched out?: yes
- Been on stage?: yes
- Believe in yourself?: yup
- Believe in life on other planets: not sure
- Believe in miracles: yes
- Believe in Magic: not sure
- Believe in God: I can’t say I do believe, but can’t say I don’t
- Believe in Satan: no
- Believe in Santa: Why wouldn’t I?
- Believe in Ghosts/spirits: I’m skeptical
- Believe in Evolution: yes

C
- Car: Honda CRV - love it!
- Candy: Twix Bar
- Colour: pink
- Cried in school: don’t remember
- Chocolate/Vanilla: definitely chocolate
- Chinese/Mexican: can I say both?
- Cake or pie: cake, or non fruit pie - cooked fruit grosses me out
- Country to visit: is Disneyworld a country?... LOL

D
- Day or Night: day
- Dream vehicle: probably a Honda Pilot or Dodge Durango - something that isn’t a mini-van and seats more than my CRV
- Danced: used to
- Dance in the rain?: no
- Do the splits?: yeah right.... maybe in my Yoga days...

E
- Eggs: over hard
- Eyes: blue-green
- Everyone has a: secret
- Ever failed a class? yup
F
- First crush: can’t remember
- First kiss: refuse to say.....
- Full name: Sarah Elizabeth MacKenzie
- First thoughts waking up: Where am I? What do I need to be doing?
- Food: pasta, peas, pinenuts, and cheese

G
- Greatest Fear: something happening to Wyatt, Tom or I
- Giver or taker: giver more than a taker
- Goals: to be happy, healthy and to save money
- Gum: sometimes
- Get along with your parents?: yes
- Good luck charm: nope

In girls/guys:
Eye colour: brown
Hair Colour: dark red
Short/Long: short or long
Height: taller than me, but not too tall
Clothing Style: button down shirts and geeky glasses

H
- Hair Colour: red (from a bottle
- Height: 5'8"
- Happy: yes, very
- Holiday: Christmas
- How do you want to die: I don’t want to think about it
- Health freak?: I’d like to be
- Hate: like April, I have to say fat...
- Hockey Team: I must be anti-Canadian, but I hate hockey
I
- Ice cream: Island Farms Moose Tracks
- Instrument: I have no musical genes whatsoever

J
- Jewellery: wedding ring and earrings that Tom bought me
- Job: stay at home mom - in my pre-Wyatt life Administrative Officer

K
- Kids: one
- Kickboxing or karate: neither
- Keep a journal?: no

L
- Longest Car Ride: to Arizona and back
- Love: Actually
- Letter: W
- Laughed so hard you cried: yes
- Love at first sight: yes
- Long Distance Relationships: yes - been there, done that, can write the book, no desire to do it again

LAST PERSON WHO...
1. Slept in a bed beside you? Tom
2. Saw you cry? Tom
3. Went to the movies with you? Tom
4. You went to the mall with? Wyatt
5. You went to dinner with? Tom, Wyatt, my brother in law, sister in law, my two nieces and two of my brother in laws business associates and one of their spouses - Earl’s in Saskatoon which was fantastic
6. You talked to on the phone? my Grandma
7. Made you laugh? Wyatt

M
- Milk flavour: Vitasoy Original
- Movie: The Bridges of Madison County
- Mooned anybody: no
- Marriage?: yes
- Motion sickness? yes and it is getting worse as I get older

N
- Number of Siblings: O
- Number of Piercings: 2
- Number: 5 gazillion billion, 15

O
- Overused Phrases: “Why did you move here from BC, are you crazy?” and “Wait till you experience your first Saskatchewan winter.....”
- One wish: to win the lottery
- One phobia: making sure the doors are locked - got that one from my husband....

P
- Place you'd like to live: Disneyworld.... LOL, back on Vancouver Island
- Perfect Pizza: Perogy from BP
- Pepsi/Coke: neither

Q
- Quail: have deeber dobbers.

R
- Reason to cry: TV
- Reality T.V.: Amazing Race
- Radio Station: country station from Moose Jaw
- Roll your tongue in a circle? yes
- Rolling Stones/ Rascall Flatts: Rascall Flatts

S
- Song: James Morrison - Undiscovered
- Shoe size: 10
- Salad Dressing: Basil Vinegrette from the Reebar Cookbook
- Sushi: Yam Tempura Roll
- Scent: Oceanus from Bodyshop
- Slept outside: yes
- Seen a dead body?: no
- Smoked?: yes
- Skinny dipped? yes
- Shower Daily?: if I can
- Sing well? not at all
- In the shower? no
- Swear?: yes, more than I should
- Stuffed Animals?: no
- Single/Group dates: single
- Strawberries/Blueberries: both
- Scientists need to invent: a way for me to lose weight without waiting
- Sex: I decline comment

T
- Time for bed: 11pm/12am-ish
- Thunderstorms: are pretty cool
- TV: Grey’s Anatomy
- Touch your tongue to your nose?: nope
- Truck: Dodge Ram 3500 Diesel
- Tattoos: no

U
-Unpredictable: No
-Unpredictability: is a trait I don’t have

V
- Vegetable you hate: brussel sprouts
- Vegetable you love: mushrooms
- Vacation spot: Disneyworld (I know I’m boring)

W
- Weakness: cute things for Wyatt
- When you grow up: I want to be a Veterinarian (unfortunately I feel a bit too old to start the schooling for it)
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Kim
- Who makes you laugh the most: Tom and Wyatt
- Worst feeling: lonelyness
- Wanted to be a model?: yes, and I did a few Fashions Shows for Addition Elle in Victoria
- Where do we go when we die: somewhere fun
- Worst weather: cold and snow - why am I in Saskatchewan

X
-X-Rays: once

Y
-Year it is now: 2007
-Yellow: was the color of my living room
-Zoo animal: Penguins and Flamingo’s
-Zodiac sign: Pisces

Leaving on a jet plane....

2007-03-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

The equipment left on three flatbed's.

Tom and Wicket left in our car.

The cows left on two cattle liners.

The contents of three houses should be on the moving truck by now (or at least I know our stuff is).

And now it is Wyatt and I that are officially off to our new province tomorrow. It is so strange that tonight will be our last night as BCer's. We fly tomorrow morning to Saskatoon to stay with my sister in law and kids until we can all go down to the farm in Regina next week. I apologize for lack of post and lack of emails/response to emails, its just been too crazy. Once we are settled, I promise to be a better blogger/emailer. I will post pics as soon as I have some.

Thanks April for the birthday wishes. I had a nice day - got my hair done, got to go to the scrapbooking store and spend my birthday gift cert from Tom and my parents took us out to dinner. All in all a good day. I didn't even pack any boxes that day!

Saskatchewan Bound

2007-03-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it is long overdue for an update. I have been rather stressed lately as we found out two weeks ago that we are moving to Saskatchewan at the end of the month. Actually, Tom, Wyatt and I leave on the 24th or 25th to head out there. Long story short, Tom's parents have sold the farm here and have bought a new one out there. More acreage, better barns, more cows etc. It is a big move for us and is happening very fast, so there isn't much time for it to sink in. We are excited about it though and looking forward to this new phase in our lives. No time for much more now, but I will probably be starting a new blog about the move and about our farm to keep it separate from this one. Will post about that once we get settled as this week is going to be CRAZY!

The Boy Who Says Nya.

2007-01-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post a quite update and some random thoughts before I head off to bed. I have to get up a little after 4:30 to take my in-laws to the airport, so need to get my beauty sleep.

Wyatt has taken to saying NA as his new favorite saying. Reminds me of the Knights Who Say Ni from the Monty Python movies. It sort of comes out nyyyya. I can't quite figure out what it means if anything, but it is quite cute.

First off - Karen and Inga, I got the dates a bit mixed up for our trip over. Karen, can we hang out on the 15th? And Inga, can we stay at your place that night instead of the 16th? I thought the conference started on the 15th, but it actually starts on the 14th, so that bumps everything up a day. I have managed to convince Tom to let me go to Bellingham to do some shopping on our way to Abbotsford, which rocks. Cannot wait to hit Target, Freddy Meyer and Lane Bryant. (Karen I will email you this week about the trip etc).

For anyone who has little boys, check out these trucks. We got them for Wyatt at Costco today. Both of them for $44.99 which is what you would probably pay for one at Toys R Us. We were going to save them for the summer, but Wyatt kept trying to get into them, so we opened them up and he happily took off pushing them around the house smashing into the walls!

I found soy pudding and soy yogurt at the grocery store the other day so have been trying it out with Wyatt. Here is a shot of Wyatt at the beginning of the pudding. The end shot is far too gross looking to post! LOL.

We also had a big day today. I finally switched Wyatt around to forward facing in his carseat. It definitely fits better that way and he seems to think it is ok. He was happy rear facing, so it wasn't a big deal to leave him that way, but the carseat was starting to compress the seat cushion and combined with Wyatt planting his legs on the seat back and pushing, the carseat was getting at an angle that wasn't ideal. So, we finallly moved him. I was going to wait till he got closer to 30lbs but at 25lbs I am happy with his weight and readiness for forward facing.

Last thing....where do you make this kinda cash to spend on a house? I can understand in Hollywood, NY etc, but in Saanich? Who spends that much on a house in Saanich?

(April - I posted on the comments on your blog about a potential place for Andy to stay if he is open to a condo share (roomate situation)).

Very Bad Blogger

2007-01-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been a very bad blogger recently and just have not been posting, so am due for a long update and will do as much as I can before Wyatt wakes up from his nap.

I guess I should start with today then. When I met Tom, I fell head over heels in love very quickly, as did he, hence our wedding 9 1/2 months after our first date. I really though that was as all consuming as love could be. Then I had Wyatt and it is a completely different straosphere. I love Tom and know he loves me, but the love we have for Wyatt is so much more intense than that. What has exemplified that is that Wyatt is quite sick for the second time in his life. He has had the sniffles and cough a couple times, but nothing major. In the summer he had a bad bout of the rota-virus. And it seems he may have it or something similar again. He woke up this morning and was kinda whimpery when I got him out of bed, but I just assumed he was hungry. So, I carried him to the kitchen and gave him a sippy cup of moo-so (our term of endearment for the disgusting substance called hypoallergenic formula that he drinks). I put him in his high chair, and he promptly drank it all down. Just as I was about to give him some breakfast when he was done the moo-so, he proceeded to throw it all up. His tummy was obviously upset. Then, something happened that has never before - all he wanted to do was snuggle up to me and lay there. We sat in the chair in the living room for quite a while, not moving. That is sooooooo out of character for him. If he is awake, he is on the move all the time. And there he was just cuddled up against me, completely lethargic. It was so sad it broke my heart as much as I was enjoying the snuggling and that he just wanted me to comfort him. I eventually carried him to his crib and he slept for a big longer and was definitely better but not 100% when he got up. All I have wanted to do all day is to take away his pain and discomfort. I wouldn't care if I had to get it instead of him. I just want him to feel ok. And I am sure every mom who reads this will agree with me that you would go to the end of the earth to take away any pain your child has. We are very fortunate that thus far, this is as sick as he has been. Others, like Little B have not been so lucky. Karen - I have been a bad writer and have not emailed you even though I think about you guys everyday and hope the little guy is back to normal and that everything has healed up well. We hope to see you guys soon (read down in the post). If you are up for talking (got from your blog that you haven't been for a bit), let me know and I will call and we can catch up. We don't need to talk about everything that went on as I am sure you are talked out about it, but can if you want.

On to some good news - it looks like we may get a wee family vacation to the Lower Mainland in February. Tom is going to go to the Dairy Expo/BC Ag Show at the Tradex in Abbotsford, which means Wyatt and I will hopefully get to see Karen and Brandon for a day (if they are up for it) and hopefully all three of us can stay for a night with Auntie Inga too. We would be over on the 14th, hopefully have a chance to zip down to Bellingham for a bit of shopping in the afternoon, then back to Langley for the night. Then out to Abbotsford/Chilliwack for farm tours on the 15th, staying in Langley for a second night. On the 16th, Tom will go to the conference for the day and we hope we can get together with you Karen. Then hopefully we could make it back to North Van to stay with Inga and Jamie that night. Then home the next day. We would normally stay out in Abbotsford as we have the last two years, but we realized we have a small issue this year - Wyatt goes to bed at 7pm and will only do so in a quiet dark room, and we go to bed at 10pm-ish. Wyatt can't stay up later and neither one of us can fall asleep as early as him. So, I found a Hampton Inn and Suites in Langley that is somewhat reasonable for a one bedroom suite - at least more so than the hotels I checked in Abbotsford. And they have a great pool/waterslide, so we can take Wyatt swimming which will be fun.

What else is new??? I joined the gym last month and have been going regularly and have notice a difference already. Much easier to walk on the treadmill and the weights are getting a bit easier. I was having major problems with my feet and couldn't walk more than a km or so before I started getting intense pain and burning in them. I am up to about 30 minutes bfore they bother me now, which is nice. I think wearing my orthotics religiously helps too. I am hoping by summer to be able to start running again as I really miss it.

I haven't been scrapbooking much, but am trying to get back at it as I have a ton of photos to do up. I spent much of my time before Xmas finishing up an album for my inlaws of their three grandkids. I am thrilled with the way the book has turned out. I will have to scan some of the pages soon and post them. I must say it was hard to get used to scrapping 8X8 pages as opposed to the 12x12 pages I usually do. Speaking of that, here are a couple of my recent pages that I am extremely happy with. I am also going to my first crop on Friday night. There is a new scrapbooking store about 5 minutes from my house and they are having a cropping party on Friday night from 7pm on. My mother in law is babysitting, and I am pretty excited to actually be going out for an evening. Other than a couple of dinners out with Tom after we put Wyatt to bed, this will be the first time I have gone out in the evening since he was born. Pretty exciting life we live - LOL!

I am also excited to report that I am going to be a Aunt for the third time - although this time not by relation. Inga is due May 14th with a baby boy - a first baby for her and Jamie. I am so excited to have another little boy to shop for, after having two nieces.

As for other Wyatt news - he is growing like a weed, and getting to be more and more of a little person every day as opposed to a baby. He is saying a few more words now in addition to mama, dada and dog. He now says up, baa (for sheep) and hot. Hot is quite funny as it is more of a "haaawt" and is accompanied by a hand movement sort of like shaking his hands. It is hard to believe that he is 14 months old. I am so glad that I took the extra time off work, but will be ready to go back in March, that is if I actually have to go back (which I do).

I am also pleased to report that Wyatt is sleeping through the night. I decided a couple weeks ago that I was sick of getting up in the night, so was not going to anymore, and he could just sleep through. I know he can, so it was getting a bit ridiculous. His schedule was thrown off at Christmas and he was getting up a couple times a night. He has to stay in a consistent napping routine or we are done. Anyway, we made a couple of changes - dinner earlier, time to run around outside in the barn after dinner, then a dream feed at 10:30ish and then nothing till morning. It has worked wonders. The first night he woke up around 5am, and I just went in and laid him back down and told him to go back to sleep as it wasn't time to get up. He screamed for a few minutes then back to sleep. The next couple of nights were better and I actually had a night where I slept through from 11pm when I went to bed until 7am. Didn't have to get up for him, to let the dog out or to pee. It was pretty damn wonderful. We cut out the dream feed last night and he made it right through. I am not expecting much for tonight since he is sick, but once he is better, we will be back to no feeds at night. It is a vicious cycle for him - eats at night, then isn't as hungry in the day, doesn't get enough to last him through the night, then wants another nighttime bottle. The dreamfeed helped us adjust that hunger cycle.

I think that's about all I have to purge right now. Hopefully I won't be as bad a blogger and will keep up with regular updates now.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

I thought I should finally get around to blogging again as Ihave been very bad about it lately. Just too much to do lately I guess. We had a great Christmas. Wyatt (and Tom and I) were completely spoiled by our families. I think it was all bit too much for Wyatt as he was pretty grumpy by bedtime last night. Too much chaos in his house I think, although he did have great fun with his new toys, especially the tractor his Uncle Brock got him and the escavator from Uncle Hammie. I hope to get pictures of him playing with them in the next couple of days to post. He is such a boy - already making vroom vroom sounds to go with his tractor. We got him the Little Peoples farm accesories (to go with his farm) and he thought they were pretty neat too.

I'm too tired to post much, but just wanted to say I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you were able to spend time with your families. With numerous recent events, I am even more grateful for family no matter how crazy they drive you!

Here are a few pic's.

Be Thankful

2006-12-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

I had a really heartbreaking phone call this morning from a friend. A group of us are supposed to be getting together next weekend to celebrate our babies first birthdays. One friend of ours from this group is going through a very difficult time right now. Her husband went missing on November 17th and hasn't been seen since. He took all their money and just dissapeared. The police are now involved and they know he has gone to the States, but that is the last they know. I am so heartbroken for her. She was a stay at home mom to their two kids and is now left on her own with them, no job and no money. And he left just a couple days before their daughter's first birthday. There is a chance he may be having some issues due to a head injury in September which may have caused the sudden dissapearance. I am normally not into praying, but in circumstances like this, I have to ask for everyone to pray for her husband to return safely.

I was going to write about what a brutal week we had last week being stuck inside because of the snow, but that seems quite frivolous in light of what is going on for my friend and her family, so will post that another day.

Wyatt's First Haircut

2006-11-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

I finally gave in and cut Wyatt's hair. Even though I know he needed it cut, as he was starting to look like a girl with his long curls, it was still traumatic. I am glad we did it though, as it is very cute, and he looks like such a little boy now. Tom did most of the cutting, and I did a bit at the back. I think next time, I may take him to my stylist to get it cut, just so it is a bit more even than we did! She is pretty reasonably priced, so I don't think it will cost much for a haircut for him.

Here are some pic's.

Before

During and After

Officially An Age

2006-11-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

As Wyatt's Uncle Ham says, he is now officially an age. I have no idea where the last year went. Last year at this time, I was sitting at home, trying to watch TV and have something for dinner, but the contractions were getting pretty painful and Tom was getting ready to take me to the hospital. We left our house at 8pm last November 11th, and 2 hours and 45 minutes later Wyatt came into the world. A bit of a shock for us, as we were very sure we would get sent home for not being far enough along.

The party was great today. Everyone who was invited made it. We had 23 people - 17 adults at 6 kids. It was pretty chaotic, but it was lots of fun too. Of course Wyatt loved having all his people around and being the center of attention. He was pretty beat by 2pm and fell asleep before Tom even finished his bottle, and then woke up 40 minutes later looking for the rest of it. At that time I passed out for an hour too, as I was exhausted after two days of major preparations. Especially after the cake disaster yesterday. It took me three tries to get a cake to turn out, and that was without even icing it (which went surprisingly well this morning). First cake didn't cook through on the smaller cake, which I didn't notice till after it cooled, and after scooping out the uncooked part (thinking I would fill it with icing), tasted a tiny bit and it had NO flavor. It was supposed to be gingerbread, but was obviously lacking in the ginger department. Then I make a chocolate cake which fell into about 8 pieces and was beyond repair when I tried to take it out of the pan. Third try was a charm though - a delish cholocate layer cake with raspberry jam between the layers. Wyatt quite enjoyed it as you will see from the picture.

I also made my goal of getting the his first 6 months scrapbooked by his birthday. I finished about 10pm last night. Now I am going to try to get the remainder of his first year done by Christmas. I will post a few of the new pages in the next couple of days, as I am really, really happy with them.

Just have to say we missed you today Auntie Inga! Hope your trip to Kelowna is going well and we can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks.

50 hours and 18 minutes

2006-11-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

Only 50 hours and 18 minutes and Wyatt will officially have been in our life a year. I am busy doing the final preparations for his 1st birthday party on Saturday. Thankfully my mom is coming up tomorrow to help, as having 22 people over tends to put a bit of pressure on to have a clean house (something I don't always strive for.... ha ha). I am also working frantically to get his first 6 months of pictures scrapbooked by Saturday (the goal I set for myself). It is doable, as I only have four or five pages left to do, and a couple are pretty simple ones that I already have partly laid out. I have a lot of the second half of his first year done too, I just want to have the first 6 months complete.

Off to make cupcakes, but had to share a quick video of Wyatt walking. He is now doing laps around the house which is quite entertaining.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

My new love...

2006-11-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

If you can love inatimate objects, then I love my new camera. We finally made the jump yesterday and bought a digital SLR camera. I used to love my 35mm Pentax SLR, but haven't used it much in the last few years, as I prefer digital. Finally had enough of our point n shoot Minolta. I am sooooo glad we finally did this and that we bought a Canon Rebel. I am so pleased with the quality of the photos. Here are few from today at my parents and in front of their building by the water. The last one of Wyatt in the leaves is from last week with the last roll I took with my 35mm.

Our First Halloween

2006-11-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Oh how I remember how miserable I was last year at this time. On Halloween I was 4 days from my due date, swollen, uncomfortable and in pain. I could barely walk because my hips hurt so bad, and all I could do was lay on the couch all day and wonder if each twinge might be the start of labour.

Now this year was much better. We took Wyatt out trick or treating for the first time aka showing off the costume at mommy spent way too much money on but it was so damn cute she obsessed about it for weeks and finally had to buy it. We started off the day going to see Grandma and Grandpa in Victoria who had no idea what costume I bought. They thought I would probably get a cow costume, which is definitely a good guess. We went to see Great Grandma, to see Grandpa and his friends at the golf course, then to Auntie Marg and Uncle Bob's then to see their daughter Joanne at her new store in Market Square called Flight 167. Wyatt tried to pull her clothes off their hangers, so that trip was cut short!

After a visit in Victoria and my couple of hours to myself that I get every Tuesday while Grandma and Grandpa babysit, we headed home and went to see a couple of neighbours and Granny and Grandpa Mac. One neighbour phoned the day before to make sure we were coming. She would be in her late 70's or in her 80's and has been waiting for more kids to come trick or treating since Tom and his brothers would go up and down the road! All in all a great day and Wyatt was a champ in his costume. Didn't fuss at all about the headpiece, although everytime we put him in his carseat he tore the paws (and his socks) off. But he does that with his shoes, so I'm not surprised.

Here are a few photos of our little skunk.

Misery is....

2006-10-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Misery is having a full blown headcold while your husband works 13 hour days and your son is cutting a molar. Welcome to my life right now. I cannot count how many times I have been sick since I stopped breastfeeding at the end of May. I was not sick my entire pregnancy or while I was breastfeeding, then whamo, as soon as that is done, I have been sick on and off since then. I have had at least 5 ailments of sorts ranging from minor sniffles to feeling like I got hit by a cement truck (like today). And ironically Tom was pouring cement today for the new part of the barn, so he was only in the house for about 20 minutes at lunch, then from 5:30 - 6:45ish and is now back outside milking. And on to poor little Wyatt - another tooth. Luckily though, this is his the last of his first molars. He has two more teeth to come in on the bottom (non-molars) then we just have to wait until the second molars. He did ok with the front teeth coming in, but his molars have given him a lot of pain and he has been up every couple of hours at night. Hopefully tonight will be better.....fingers crossed, as I need some sleep to accompany the echinacea, Advil Cold and Sinus, and Vitamin C and Zinc tablets that I am taking. This is all after just recovering from a minor cold two weeks ago. I mentioned to Tom today that I think we should all get the flu shot this year. I just cannot deal with the thought of us all getting the flu, as I know we will if we don't get the shots the way things are going right now. I know it doesn't protect against everything, but I am willing to get whatever protection it gives. Anyone else getting it, or had it in the past?

I borrowed my mom's digital camera to try it out, and took a few shots of my scrapbook pages, so thought I would share to end on a happier note!

Shoes

2006-10-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

My parents just got back from a trip to the States and Wyatt was definitely SPOILED. Amongst their purchases were two of the cutest damn pairs of shoes I have ever seen. Both are Converse sneakers - one pair of hightops and the other more like skate shoes. (Karen - once he grows out of them I might have to send you on a mission to Fred Meyer next time you are stateside!)

In other news, I can hardly believe Wyatt is going to be one in three weeks. Where has the year gone? Someone I met the other day said she had heard a quote that says "when your kids are young, the days are long, but the years are short". Isn't that the truth? In the last year, I have had some of the longest days of my life, but the year has probably gone by the quickest. I am really glad I decided to stay off work for an extra six months even if it means really cutting back on our spending to live on Tom's wage. It is definitely the right decision for us.

On the topic of birthdays, I made the invitations to his party and am really pleased with how they turned out. I used some scraps left over from pages I have done for Wyatt's scrapbook. I used the die-cuts at a scrapbook store I go to, to make the cows, chickens and fences. As you could have probably guessed, we are having a farm theme party. I am going to "attempt" to make a cow cake. I am going to have to do trial run number two sometime this week, as trial run number one was a grand disaster. Note to self - freeze the cake before icing it.

Wyatt has also started shifting his sleep schedule a bit I think. He seems to be sleeping later in the morning and has gone down to one nap a day for the past few days. It is actually a pretty good schedule, considering I feel a million times better gettting to sleep in more in the morning. 6:30am doesn't agree with me so well when I am still up in the night to feed our hungry little bear. He has started sleeping through the night intermitently so I hope that continues. And once he is finished with this whole teething thing and I talk to my dr at our one year visit, I might have to try something new at night to try and get him to consistently sleep through.

What a day....

2006-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

6:15am Hear Wyatt rustling around in his crib, so turn off the baby monitor.
6:45am Tom finally gets out of bed for work, and I can hear Wyatt fussing without the monitor so get up.
7:30am Feed Wyatt breakfast, eat toast.
8:00am Play more, Wyatt realized that there was somthing new to play with in the dining room - the Little Tykes play structure I just bought second hand two days ago, play in it for a bit.
8:30am Give Wyatt his morning bottle.
8:45am Put him in his crib and PRAY that he goes to sleep as I am EXHAUSTED as we are all sick, and I only got 6 hours sleep last night.
9:15am Wyatt alternated between a few bouts of crying, some whimpering and quiet, but will not give in to sleep
9:15am - 11:30am I get progressively grumpier and more tired - to the point where we go in his room and he throws his books around, flips through them, plays with his bears, while I lay back with my eyes shut in the chair.
11:30am Finally I cannot take it anymore, so put him in his crib. Thankfully 5 minutes later the crying/whimpering stops and he is asleep. I rush to my bed.
Sometime after 12:00 I finally got warm enough under the covers to fall asleep hopeful for a nice two hour or so nap.
12:20pm I wake up and have to pee then go back to bed.
12:30pm Wyatt wakes up refreshed from his hour long nap and is starving, as am I suddenly. I proceed to put in some microwave popcorn to tide me over while I make his lunch, forget it is in, burn it and my house now stinks of burnt popcorn.

Please let tomorrow be better.

One good thing today was that I got a couple of good photos of Wyatt in his playhouse (in our dining room).

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

2006-10-12T16:47:00.001-07:00

If you have a chance, check out this video. It is only a minute long and a pretty fascinating look at how "unreal" ads can be.

Evolution

Giant Pumpkins and Unhappy Boys

2006-10-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Wyatt has been MISERABLE with teething lately. He has cut four teeth in the last 2 1/2 weeks and is definitely feeling it. I feel so sorry for the poor little dude and can't do too much about his pain other than give him Tylenol, and comfort him. I will be glad when all his teeth are in. He now has two molars on the left side, 5 other top teeth, and 3 on the bottom. We had a really rough night last night. He woke up SCREAMING his head off at 11:30 and took quite a while to settle down. We gave him gripe water, decongestant (for his runny nose that is either a cold, or teething related), and brought him into bed with us. Eventually he calmed down and fell back asleep and I put him back in his crib. The cute part was that he was sharing my pillow and was laying on his tummy. Tom moved, and Wyatt popped his head up as if to say "Dad - quit moving, I'm trying to sleep".

On a another note, we picked all our pumpkins today. Or rather should I say, Tom and our farmhand Hedzer loaded them in the bucket tractor and brought them up to our front yard. We had two small ones around 25 - 40 lbs, a bunch of medium sized ones around 100 - 150lbs, a couple around 200lbs and one large one that is probably pretty close to 300lbs. We tried to weigh them on our bathroom scale with moderate success. A total of 17 pumpkins. Next year we are going to plant more and try to work very hard to get bigger ones. We want to enter the biggest pumpkin contest up at the Nanaimo Pumpkin Festivalnext year. We will probably go this year with the biggest one, but won't stand a chance of winning. First prize is $1000.

Here are some pictures from today, including the disaster than ensued after giving Wyatt his bowl of mashed potatoes at lunch. The other picture is him enjoying his first taste of Great Aunt Florie's pumpkin pie (recipe), a Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition on my mom's side of the family.

Elizabeth Addison

2006-09-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

I just had to announce that Tom and I have a new niece and Wyatt has a new cousin. Elizabeth Addison was born last night at 3:42am and weighed in at 8lbs, 11oz and 23 1/2". Chandra pushed her out in about 15 minutes and drug free! (Although apparently not by choice - I am not sure who would go through that kind of pain willingly when you could have an epidural!). Congrats to Ty, Chandra and Alexandra! We can't wait to meet her, although it will unfortunately be a while since they live two provinces away.

On other news, Wyatt has taken a few steps. Nothing consistent, but yesterday on two occasions he took one step, then fell down. And on three other occasions, he took two steps. I don't know how quick he is going to start fully walking, as he is so fast at crawling and so comfortable doing so.

What have we learned in the last week?

2006-09-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wyatt has suddenly blossomed with his communication and comprehension in the last two weeks. Suddenly he says Da or Dawg to the dog, has said Dada specifically to Tom a couple of times, and will go to his ball or his stuffed dog when you say - "where's the ball" or "where's the dog?". He also got his 7th tooth yesterday. And I think one of his molars is coming soon. I can see it and feel a lump under the skin. Hopefully he takes it like a champ as he has the others.

We also discovered he LOVE, LOVE, LOVES ham and blueberries. Not necessarily together, although I have been serving them at the same meal. I have never seen food go down so quick as the ham I cooked the other night. We will certainly be cooking it more often and/or begging some off Granny when she cooks one.

Wyatt turned 10 months yesterday. Hard to believe only two months left till he is one, and only another 10 days till my mat leave officially ends and my 6 months of unpaid leave starts. Only one and a half more EI/paycheques. YIKES!

I had Wyatt weighed and measured today and he is 21lbs, 3.2 oz and 29". And he is very difficult to weigh as he will not sit still for the scale to balance and capture the weight. Finally a little girl walked by and she caught his attention and he stayed still long enough for it to set.

Dog

2006-09-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

We think Wyatt said his first word the other day where he really connected the object and the word. He has been saying lots of mama's and dada's but really with no conection to either one of us. But then on Sunday, we were at my parents place and my mom and I were playing with him. He has this white plastic dog that you can pull on a string in his toybox at there. Anyway, he had it in his hands and said a very distinct DOG. The "g" was very pronounced, so it came out more like dawG. He seems to say it a lot now but not always at the dog or his stuff dog. Although yesterday he said it twice while looking at Wicket. Moms with kids who started talkin - how long did it take for your little ones to start consistently saying things once they started?

He is also getting into lots of things. He managed to get himself into these two predicaments. And of course like any good mother, I laughed, then ran to get the camera. Two examples below.....

5 Years

2006-08-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it has officially been 5 years since Tom and I tied the knot on that beautiful August day. I can't believe that much time has already passed. In some ways if feels like much longer, and in other ways I can't believe it actually is 5 years. Highlights of the past 5 years - our honeymoon at Disneyworld, and most definitely topping the list is adding Wyatt to our family. Hopefully the next 5 years will include more kid(s) and a trip to take them to Disneyworld. (Hopefully with Grandma and Grandpa too).

For our anniversary my parents babysat and we had a great two part date - to see Pirates of the Carribean in the afternoon, then back to my parents houes to put Wyatt to bed and get changed. Then out for dinner at the Arbutus Grill at the Brentwood Bay Lodge. The food was wonderful, but the service definitely left something to be desired. Not what I was expecting for a 5 star resort. We had a table overlooking the ocean and were able to catch glimpses of the fireworks from Butchart Gardens in the reflection of the window. The next day, my parents took the three of us for breakfast at the golf course, then my mom, Tom, Wyatt and I went to Butchart Gardens. The flowers are amazing right now - especially the dahlias and the hydrangeas. I am looking forward to taking Wyatt out there this Christmas in our family tradition of going to see the Christmas light up that they do. We missed last year since he was so little.

Our Anniversary

Wyatt with my friend Marnie's dog Jessie

"Hey Clive, do you see what I see?"

A gorgeous hydrangea at Butchart Gardens

Look at what happens when you leave the room.....

2006-08-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

Left Wyatt in the bathroom (with the toilet seat down of course given his interest in fishing in the water and flushing the toilet) for a few minutes while I was right around the corner in the kitchen. This is what I came back to......

9 Months Old

2006-08-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

It is getting harder and harder to get photos of Wyatt because be pretty much refuses to sit still. Here are the best from yesterday. He turned 9 months old. It is so hard to believe that he is just about going to be a year old. Last year at this time, I was just starting to see all my friends from work have their babies, and was still waiting out my last trimester. Now they have one year old's and mine is just about there. Everyone always warned me how quick the time would go by, but I didn't realize it would be this quick......

Challenge Update

2006-08-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, I am doing reasonably well on the challenge although was slightly disrailed yesterday. I made it from the 1st to the 5th with nothing but groceries and gas. But yesterday I went to take a scrapbooking class (prepaid) at Scrapalicious in Langford. I ended up buying a couple of things, but I really did need all but one to keep working on my scrapbook. I bought two types of adhesive (glue pen and sticky tabs) and a corner rounder. Then, since it was one of the few times I have actually been out on my own for any amount of time, I went to Starbucks for Chai and a cookie. BUT, I did get $36.50 from Abra Kid Abra for selling some of Wyatt stuff we didn't need and $4 for selling a book. So, between the scrapping stuff (about $40) and my snacks (about $6), I am only out about $6 of our actual income, so I am not displeased with that. I am back on track now, and will see how much longer I can make it without anymore spending.

On that note, I do have some window shopping I am going to do this month, as I think I have Tom convinced to reno our bathroom and put in some new flooring. So, I am going to start price checking various things we will need, starting off with a new and non-chocolate brown bathtub, sink and toilet.....

Boycott Superstore

2006-08-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, finally have time to type out my rant about Superstore. This all started at the end of June. I went in to get some chemicals for our pool, which just so happens to be the biggest pain in the ass, and money pit possible (the pool, not the trip to Superstore). Everyone seems to think having a pool would be great, but honestly it isn't. I have probably spent $400 on chemicals this year, plus another $200 on a new hose for the cleaner/vacuum thingy. And we have gone swimming all of 6 times this year. Partially because the pool still isn't really clean, and it takes so damn much time to keep it clean. Anyway, not the point....

So, I go to Superstore to by Shock It, which is the main chemical you need to dump in it regulary. I glance at the price - $34.95. Ok, off to the till, where it comes up as $49.95. Since I have cranky baby with me, I just assume I misread the tag on the shelf, and that the $34.95 was for something else.

Fastforward three weeks, when I go back for another tub of it. This time I do pay attention and the price on the shelf is in fact $34.95. So, at the till, it comes up again as $49.95. This time I know what the shelf said, so tell the clerk, she gets someone to check, they have to get a supervisor to override. I get it for $34.95 and $10 more off for the price being different at the till. So, I tell the Supervisor about the previous one I bought, and she said if I could bring it back in that night, or the next day she could fix it. Well, this is at 7:30pm the night before we leave for Saskatoon (at 7am). I still have to pack and get everything organized, so can't get back in that night. I told her I could come back when I get back the next weekend. She said since the "price on the shelf was wrong (it was a handwritten sign)", she couldn't honor it for that long.

So, when we got back from our trip, and I had to pick up a few things there, I took my receipt and checked the price when I went it, and sure enough they had a new proper tag on the shelf (not handwritten) and sure enough it had been the till that had been wrong, not the shelf as the Supervisor had said. This is all less than a month since I bought the first bucket.

So, I go up to customer service to try and get a price adjustment because their tills were wrong and I was over charged. This is where I got pissed off. The head person (not sure if she was the manager or supervisor or what) informed me that it was too late, and how were they to know that the price hadn't been reduced since I bought it the first time, and that it wasn't an error. Well, you would think there would be some way to check.......!?!?!?!?!? And in any case, pool chemicals NEVER EVER go on sale. They are always ridiculously high priced. The head person who had just pissed me off just walked away and the clerk that was helping suggested - maybe you should start checking your bills when you get to your car. Ummmm, maybe you should start making sure your prices are correct.

So, all in all, I refuse to shop anywhere, where they misprice goods, and then refuse to do price adjustments. How I am I to know other stuff isn't mispriced? And I am not about to take my note pad around with me and write everything I buy down so I can cross reference it at the till. It isn't even so much about the fact that I overpaid. It is more about the bad attitude and complete lack of customer service. I can list any number of stores that would have gone out of their way to do a price adjustment or make sure I was happy. So, I am no longer shopping at Superstore, here or anywhere else.

I am also pissed at Walmart, but just the Duncan one. Mostly because it is dirty and disgusting and gross. I think it says it all that the police actually have their own parking spot right out front. They also have totally useless staff. I went in looking for a fan (since I can't shop at Superstore) and finally found someone to ask, and she just shook her head. I finally had to ask her if she didn't know, didn't understand me, or what. She was shaking her head that they didn't have any..... I think it might just be a Duncan thing, as I also had a similar experience at Canadian Tire recently. Or maybe I just attract crazies and incompetent people.

Groovy Ride

2006-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

We popped by to visit our friends Jen and Emilie the other day. While Emilie was at her Grandparents house, we did have a good visit with Jen, and Wyatt totally loved Emilie's groovy coupe.

New Babies and a New Challenge

2006-07-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

Thought it was about time for a little update. And to start off, I must say congratulations to a few people. First off to Robin and Darren in Prince George who welcomed a baby boy that they have named Garnet Virgil into their family on Friday the 21st. Then to Karen and Ken in Coquitlam who welcomed Brandon Kennedy to their family on Monday the 24th at 10:58pm after a DRUG FREE labour! Way to go Karen! And finally to Kim, who is an aunt for the second time. Her sister in law had a tiny and beautiful baby girl named Finn on Tuesday the 25th, which just so happens to be her son's birthday too. What a great week!

Now on to the challenge part.... We have decided to join a group of people who are going to try doing a "no buying" challenge. Various people are trying this for different lengths of time, from 1 week to 1 year. We decided to try for one month. What this means is that other than essentials - food, toiletries, utilities, and gas, we aren't going to buy anything else for a month. This is going to be quite challenging given my addiction to Starbucks, but I think it is doable. In addition, I am going to try to buy as little packaged food as possible and try to buy local produce when I can. We have a local farm market, so the local produce should be reasonably easy. For us, this challenge will serve two purposes - to make us more mindful of the spending we do on non essential items, and also to save some money. I am also going to make a list of all the things that tempt me in my daily travels (things for Wyatt, things for the house, coffee and lunches out). At the end of the month, it will be interesting to see what I feel I would like to or need to buy. I am sure most of it won't be all that important in hindsight. We have given ourselves an allowance to include two items - our monthly ZIP membership, and dinner out for our 5th anniversary, which is coming up at the end of the month. We are starting this challenge as of August 1st.

The "birthplace" of this whole idea is a lady in New York who decided to do this challenge for a year, then wrote a book about it. So, I am challenging anyone reading this to try this in your family. You don't need go to the length we are, but try to figure out something that you and your family can give up and try to do so for a week, or a month. Whether it is cutting out daily coffee, a dinner out or miscellaneous spending. One friend has already decided to try for a week, then see about going on from there. If you decide to try this out, keep me posted on your progress either on your blog, or in the comments.

On a funny and related note, since we are going to be cutting our spending, I had to "stock up" on scrapbooking supplies, so placed a rather large order with A Million Little Things. Now I just need to order my photos as well. And I went to Starbucks today for one last Chai Latte.

On a non-related note, I will be back later with a rant about Superstore (which I am now boycotting) and the Walmart in Duncan (which I am now boycotting too, although will go to other Walmarts, just not this one).

Creepy?

2006-07-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Is this creepy or is it just me? There is something very eerie about this duck's eyes. Wyatt's uncle got it for him and it is made of the same material as the rubber ducks for in the bathtub, but it is just gigantic. It is about a foot and a half high and is a pretty killer duck, but man, the eyes kinda creep me out.

On another note, Wyatt with the baby duck in his mouth, posing with the gigantic duck...... For some reason he likes to crawl around with the duck in his mouth. It is odd, but none the less very cute.

A Fluke?

2006-07-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wyatt has suddenly decided to sleep almost all the way through the night the last two nights. I am not sure if it is a fluke, and we will go back to the every four hours, or whether he is just finally ready for longer sleeps. It also could be the food, as he has been eating up a storm the last week and a half. I swear he has a hollow leg when it comes to Cheerios. He slept from 8:30 till 5am two nights ago, then after a bottle went back to bed until 7am. Last night he went to bed at 7:30 (his normal bedtime) and slept until 5:15am, then had a bottle, and back to bed until 7:45am. I can't tell you what a difference the extra sleep makes for me! Especially after a just about a year of being up several times a night.

Pic's from this morning, with his stuffed Rottie.

Back from the Prairies

2006-07-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

We are back from our whirlwind 140 mile an hour tour of the prairies. I can say that because that is how fast everyone out there drives, particularly my brother in law. Took me a bit to get used to! We had a great trip, and it was really nice to have a chance to see them one on one, without all the other family and distractions around.

Chandra and I spent time together taking the kids places. We went and toured around a bit, went shopping, out for lunch and to the local outdoor pool. Alex loves the pool, while Wyatt is a bit too young to really enjoy it. He was also pretty sleepy when we went, and I knew it was time to take him out of the pool when he was starting to be lulled to sleep by the rocking motion of the water. After swimming, Wyatt had watermelon for the first time and was quite pleased by the discovery. I'm not sure if it is a food that should really be introduced at his age, but he seemd to enjoy it....

We went to a really interesting lake outside of Saskatoon called Lake Manitou. It is a salt water lake, and you are completely buoyant in the water, which was a pretty cool feeling. It was a little on the cool side in the water, but Wyatt seemed to enjoy it.

It was a nice relaxing trip, but I am definitely glad to be home to my own house, as is Wyatt. His scheduled had been disrupted due to a few too many late nights and I think it will be a few days to get back into routine. On a positive note, he hit a few milestone's while we were away - he decided to start eating. For some reason, a few Cheerios on his tray did the trick. Now he will eat a bit at each meal, which is great. He also can now get to a fully sitting position from crawling, which he couldn't quite do before, and sit from standing. He doesn't do the later all the time, but at least he can get back down some of the time!

Here are a few photos from our trip.

Nearly Five Years Ago

2006-07-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

In honour of our 5th anniversary coming up next month, and at Karen's request, I have dug out a few wedding photos to post. I have some that are better, but these are the only one's I don't have to scan as I had them on a disk. Enjoy!

My First Swim

2006-07-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

Create your own video at One True Media

Farmer Wyatt and His Herd

2006-06-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post of what is going on with us. Wyatt is now pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on - the coffee table, the end table, the footstool, the bed, the toilet, the laundry basket. The list goes on and on. I have to be pretty careful, as he isn't really that good at figuring out what is stable and what isn't. What is funny is when he gets himself ontop of something now, like last night - we were getting ready for his tub, so he was crawling around naked. Next thing you know I find him on top of the laundry basket of dirty clothes. And was high centered, so he couldn't get off, which angered him.

He also finally started crawling on his hands and knees. We were at Kim and Lily's on Saturday and Lily's friend William was over. Kim and I were discussing how William crawled commando style for quite some time then just suddenly started going like crazy on his hands and knees. As she finished saying that, we look down and there goes Wyatt's truckin' accross the floor on his hands and knees. We were conviced it was watching William that did it.

It was Lily's first birthday party on Sunday. We had a lovely and hot afternoon at her party. We sat under the fruit trees at her aunt and uncle's house and I had lunch and cake, and Wyatt chewed on Lily's shoe. Of course, being a good mama, I documented this on film.

And I've been tagged....

2006-06-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

Karen tagged me and Carolyn tagged all her readers, so here it goes, a combo of both your tags.....

I AM: Wyatt's mama. Tom's wife. Glenys and Noel's daughter. In that order.
I WANT: to renovate my bathroom.
I HAVE: a child who brings me laughter and tears daily in amazement of his accomplishments.
I WISH: I could stay at home and raise my family rather than going back to work, even part time.
I HATE: people who abuse "the system", no matter what "the system" may be.
I LOVE: my family.
I MISS: my old house and the way things were back then (with the exception of the addition of Wyatt to our family).
I FEAR: bats and owls.
I HEAR: cows mooing outside.
I WONDER: what Wyatt will be like in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years......
I REGRET: not going to university, but then again, I wouldn't have ended up where I am now if I had.
I AM NOT: a risk-taker.
I DANCE: on Monday mornings in mom and baby West African dance class.
I SING: the Farmer in the Dell really well (but off key).
I CRY: when I hear stories of parents losing their children, which has to be close to the most painful experience in life to go through, burying your child.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: punctual anymore.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: a scrapbook of memories of Wyatt's life.
I WRITE: emails everyday.
I CONFUSE: my husband sometimes when I have half a conversation out loud and half in my head.
I NEED: to eat better, exercise more and take better care of myself to be a good roll model for my child.
I SHOULD: spend less time on the computer and more time reading.
I START: pruning the trees in our yard every spring, and only get half done.
I FINISH: every day by checking on Wyatt sleeping in his crib.

And now it is my turn to tag Inga, April, Jody (I am sure C & G will let you hijack their blog for one post), and Rebecca if you happen to read this.

Put on the vacuum cleaner????? Are you kidding me?

2006-06-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have to rant about something this morning that completely pissed me off. Yesterday, I woke up with a horrendous sore throat. First time I have beens sick since before getting pregnant with Wyatt. So, I pretty much feel like crap, although the sore throat subsided which made it at least bearable. Anyway, I started noticing Wyatt was congested too and was definitely not feeling well. He was just out of sorts, kinda whiney, snuffly etc. This is the first time he has had any sort of major cold. So, last night I gave him some Dimetapp for the congestion (which worked before when he had the snuffles and had a hard time sleeping). This time it did NOTHING and he would not settle down to sleep. He went to bed at 7:30, was up at 8:30, then 9:30. It was looking to be a long night. I could tell he was in pain and wondered if I could give him a dose of Tylenol with the Dimetapp (since the Dimetapp was only for clearing up congestion, had no pain relief in it). So, I phoned the BC Health Guide 24 Hour Nurse Line. What a waste of time. He didn't really every answer my question other than at the end when I pressed him, he said, well, I would probably wait until the Dimetapp wears off, since you just gave it to him. I thought they had a Pharmacist on 24 hours a day who could answer questions too. Anyway, not the point. He was going through all these questions, like, could it be colic. Ummm no, did you not hear me say that my son has a COLD??? Is he teething? Ummmm no, did you not hear me say he has a cold. The final straw was when he suggested I RUN THE VACCUUM CLEANER, as it sometimes calms babies! Ok, my child has his first big cold and is in obvious discomfort and you are telling me to RUN THE VACUUM CLEANER???? You obviously have no children of your own. Yes, I know some babies find the vacuum comforting. But not at 11 at night when they are sick, and you are trying to make them comfortable so they can sleep.

We ended up taking Wyatt outside for a few minutes to get some damp air to try and clear his breathing a bit, left his window open and put a fan on to circulate the air. He slept OK, but kept crying out in his sleep. He was up twice to feed too. But then I couldn't sleep because I was so wound up/worried etc. I am feeling crappy and didn't get to sleep until after 2am because I couldn't fall asleep. I think I was down for 30 minutes when I had to get up to feed him. Thankfully my mom is coming up today to look after Wyatt for a bit so I can sleep. And then later, we are going to a pharmacy, to get something to relieve Wyatt's pain, so he can sleep better tonight.

Standing Tall

2006-06-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

We had a big "first" yesterday afternoon. Wyatt was playing on the living room floor, and I was busy at the coffee table putting the finishing touches on a scrapbook page. He was crawling around me, and suddenly reached up and grabbed the coffee table and pulled himself up to standing. He has been pulling him self up to his knees and can pull him self over a very low footstool we have, but this was the first time standing. Out of sheer luck, I managed to get a video of him the second time he did it, and I am going to attempt to put in on this blog.

More Teeth and More Mobility

2006-06-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in while, so thought I would put up a few photos of Wyatt from the past few weeks and provide an update on our activiites.

Just after Wyatt turned 6 months, my mom and I and Wyatt flew up to Quesnel to see my grandma and to let her meet her great grandchild for the first time. It was great to see her, and she was sure pleased with Wyatt. I haven't been back up to Quesnel in three years, and really have no desire to go back. It has changed a lot since I lived there, and I guess I have changed a lot too. I couldn't imagine living there now. But, then again, I absolutely love living where I do on the island. I also can't believe how many businesses have shut down and how quiet downtown is. I guess that is what happens when Walmart comes to town. Here are a couple photos from the trip, including Wyatt in his stroller in the airport without any pants on. I swear it was 30 degrees in the terminal.

What else has happened? Well, Wyatt now has four teeth. One of his top teeth came in right after he turned 6 months, then the other just came in this week. It certainly changes the look of his smile.

Wyatt is also starting to pull himself up on his knees, like up on the small footstool we have. I don't think it will be long before he is pulling himself up to the coffee table etc. He is also getting into EVERYTHING. I have had to start baby proofing the house, starting with all the electrical outlets, putting the computer powerbar out of reach etc. He certainly has a knack for finding anything the least bit dangerous, liking heading right for the stairs in out bedroom when put down anywhere near our bedroom, the garbage in the kitchen....the list goes on. I am glad he is inquisitive but I also know I am going to have my hands full when he can walk.

I think he has also had a growth spurt, as he is looking very long, and I weighed him at baby group yesterday and I think he has put on about a 1 and a 1/2 in the three weeks since last time I weighed him. He has been putting on about a pound a month, so he has shot up a bit recently. I figure he is about 18 1/2 lbs and over 28", maybe closer to 29". Will find out for sure when we go for 6 month shots on Monday.

Can't think of much else, so will just post a couple more photos.

6 Months Old

2006-05-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is officially six months old. Yesterday was his half birthday. We went to the health unit for a weight and measurement check on Tuesday and he is 16lbs, 15oz and 28". He is now crawling all over the place, although not too fast yet as he is still pulling himself around commando-style, and not quite on his hands and knees yet. In the last week, he has been getting up on his knees to crawl, but can't quite get the coordination of moving his hands down. And he is finally starting to sit a bit. Won't stay sitting for very long, but I can sometime put him down and he won't immediately fall over.

My baby has a foot fetish and other incidents and accidents.

2006-05-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, if bad things happen in three's, I have certainly had my share this week. Started off with a flat tire when I went to visit our new friends Krista and her daughter Alexa. We were going to go for a walk, but once I got to her house I realized I forgot bottles for Wyatt. Since he is into refusing to breastfeed most of the time during the day, this was going to cut our visit short anyway. But, we geared up and headed out to go the park. As we left the driveway, Krista noticed that my tire was flat, as in too flat to drive. So, we headed out to the park knowing I would have to deal with that when we got back. At the park, Wyatt went on the swings for the first time which he kind of enjoyed. He was a bit cranky because he was getting hungry and his horrible mom forgot bottles. So, we headed back, had to wait a half hour for the tow truck guy to come change my tire (thankfully I have a BCAA-like service with my extended warranty on my car, and a full size spare). We were going to change the tire ourselves, but a bit out of the question since we all had infants, and Wyatt in particular was getting fussy. Anyway, we dealt with that and made it home to feed a very hungry baby.

On to Sunday where I am exhausted because Wyatt is still getting up at least twice a night and is usually up for the day before 7am. Most days around 6am. Although he is thankfully getting better at napping during the day. At about 10am I was anxious to get him down for a nap, because he was yawning and there is short window to get him down while he will fall asleep without fussing. And I was tired and wanted to go back to bed. So, probably not paying full attention to the task at hand, I slipped on the two stairs in our bedroom and fell down HARD. I seriously hurt my foot, probably spraining three toes. Have been barely able to walk since, although it is marginally better today. Didn't go to the doctor since there isn't anything they can do for broken or sprained toes anyway.

On to Wyatt's foot fetish..... I put him down on the play mat at baby group today and what does he do?? Could care less about the toys or other babies. All he wants to do is crawl over to the other moms feet to get their toes or their shoes or anything he can get in his mouth. It was pretty cute, but also frustrating as I had to keep grabbing him and putting him back on the mat away from the feet. He also has the same attraction to baseboard heaters and the powerbar/cords to our computer. We need to rig up some sort of barrier so he can't get to the powerbar for the computer as that is a disaster waiting to happen.

I have to share one more photo. I can't believe Martine actually got this shot, as Wyatt was starting to fuss and this was at the end of the session, but I absolutely loved this photo of our hands showing how little his are.

Photos Part Deux

2006-05-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

We got our family photos back today and they turned out amazing. Here are two of my favorite shots. This one of Wyatt is my favorite of the whole lot.

Cool Dude and the Alternate Universe

2006-05-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

Some days I feel like I am living in some sort of alternate universe. We had a couple of horrible nights of sleep. But, for some reason Wyatt has decided that napping is ok (knock on wood it continues). Monday I put him in his crib at about noon when he was getting tired. I put on the mobile, and didn't hear a peep from him. Just feel asleep for just about two hours. Then yesterday, he did the same thing. Put him in his stroller at baby group and he lied there awake for a bit, then fell asleep for a nice long nap. Then again in the afternoon, put him in his crib, put on the mobile and didn't hear a peep for just about two hours.

We went to see oru Doctor for Wyatt's six month checkup and he is doing great - about 17lbs and over 27". She also gave the go ahead to start solids and was hopeful that would help in the sleep department. So, we tried some rice cereal last night. At first he was more interested in the spoon than the cereal, but then he sort of figured out that the cereal was ok too. I am not sure whether it helped him sleep better, but we did have a much better night. Went down at 8pm, up at 10:40 for about 15 minutes and then again at 2am for 20 minutes, then slept until 6am. I feel like a million bucks today after that much sleep.

We had a couple of other firsts yesterday. It was such a nice day yesterday, I took Wyatt out on the lawn and let him crawl around. He thought it was rather interesting, and actually sat up for the longest he has yet. He hasn't really been interested in sitting, since he wants to be on his tummy so he can move. But, I have been making a point of trying to get him to sit for a bit everyday and he can now actually sit for a minute or two without support before he falls over. He looked like one cool dude in his sunglasses and baseball cap.

Today we are going to Victoria to meet Kim and Lily to go for a picnic of sorts. It is rather sad that Kim's maternity leave is nearing its end and we won't be able to hang out as much. I also am going to pick up the family pictures we had done last week. I will post a couple of the shots later. We went to the same photographer who did our shots at Christmas time, Martine Thomson of Fisheye Photography (www.fisheyephoto.net). She does amazing pregnancy and family photos. Thanks Carolyn for finding her and sharing her!

Exhausted...

2006-05-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Oh when, oh when is Wyatt going to sleep through the night??? Or at the very least stop needing to be fed between two and four times a night??? I thought we were doing well at the end of March when we got it down to only waking once a night at around 2 or 3am for a quick 15 or 20 minute feed, then right back to bed. Well, once his first two teeth broke through that all went to hell and it has been getting worse since then. I am now up at least two times a night and sometimes as many as four times. Last night I was up for an hour and a half trying to feed him then get him back to sleep in the middle of the night. He would fall asleep while feeding, so I would gently put him back in his crib, then as soon as I put him down, his eyes popped WIDE open and he starts screaming. Back to the boob, rinse, repeat.....for an hour and half. At one point I made it back into my bed for about 10 minutes.

I am convinced he has mild reflux or an allergy or some sort of tummy bug, since he has been getting progressively crankier at night the last two weeks. And sometimes when he feeds, he starts arching his back and screaming and pulling away from the bottle or the boob. But then as soon as it is out of his mouth he is trying to get it back in because he is hungry. So, we are going to the doctor tomorrow to see if she can offer any advice. If not, I am going to see if she thinks it is ok to start him on solids. She told me earlier to wait until at least six months due to his risk of allergies. But, I think in the whole scheme of things, a week isn't a big deal. And I am very hopeful that once he is on solids he will start sleeping more. My mother in law said that none of her four boys slept through the night until they were on solids. They just needed something more to get them through the night. If that doesn't work, we will have to go to plan B, which may have to involve some crying it out (and thus putting him into his own bedroom).

My morning so far.....

2006-04-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt stuck in a corner? Well, this morning Wyatt learned about that - literally. He is now mobile and is pulling him self around not really crawling, but definitely scooting around.

First, he got himself stuck between the door and the wall. Then he crawled over and tried to knock Tom's guitar off it's stand and lick the stand. Then when I took it away, he proceeded over to the plug in and tried to put his fingers in it. I pulled him away from it and then he occupied himself for a bit by pulling off his sock and chewing on it. He then rolled/scooted around a bit making screechy sounds and is now back to eating his sock.

Guess it is time to baby proof......

Happy Easter

2006-04-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a good Easter. We had a nice weekend. Wyatt's Auntie Inga came over from Vancouver and he was very excited to see her. And luckily she wasn't mad at me for being half an hour late to pick her up from the ferry! (Since I thought it was 2 1/1 hours not just 2 hours! Ooops!) We spent Saturday morning at the spa after purchasing a greatly discounted spa package for two off of auctionmart.com. We had a small incident with my car not starting and having to be towed to Honda but I won't get into that...... Dinner went off without a hitch even though we forgot to put the timer on the oven and could have had a blackened lemon tart.

Today was brunch with Tom's extended family which was enjoyable and as always my mother in law put out an amazing spread of food.

We also had very good news this morning, my brother in law and his wife got their amnio results and are expecting a second healthy baby girl. Wyatt will now have two girl cousins to chase around when they come to visit.

Here is Wyatt's Easter pic in his fancy new dress up outfit. Who would have thought you could buy a tie for a 5 month old???

10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

2006-04-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well, since I put up the challenge to all of you to make a list of 10 things about you, no one, or not many people I know, I figure I should put up my list. I came up with 8, then took me an extra day to come up with the last two. So, here it is;

1. In a former life, I used to be a pretty good golfer, and could have been even better if I practiced more. I was an 8 handicap for a little bit and my best game ever is 80.

2. Tom and I have a large collection of Mr. Potatoheads. In fact, they have their own china cabinet in our dining room. The latest addition to the Tater family is Mr and Mrs Easter Tater.

3. Tom and I got engaged 4 months to the day from our first date, and got married 5 and half months after that. We will have our 5th anniversary this summer.

4. If I could got back to school and pursue another career, I would become and Vetrinarian. However my high school science grades and my proximity to a vet school preclude me from pursuing this at this time.

5. I used to run and trained for a half marathon but got injured 3 weeks before the race in October 2004 and couldn't run it. My longest run ever was 26km and it was the one I got injured on. I still hope to run a half marathon some day.

6. As much as I actually thought I could have a completely natural birth, I was completely relieved when my dr told me I needed a c-section as I was not enjoying contractions what so ever. And I will sign up for a c-section next time around.

7. Before I met Tom, I didn't want to have kids. Not long after we got married we visited friends of his, and seeing Tom pick up their little guy just melted my heart and I knew then and there that I wanted to have a family with him.

8. I am eating pretty close to a vegan diet due to Wyatt's intolerance to dairy. Since I didn't eat meat to begin with, this has left me with pretty limited options. However I am still not sure if I will go back to eating dairy after I finish breastfeeding as feel much better without the dairy in my diet.

9. My favorite dinner out in the whole wide world is at Vij's in Vancouver with Inga. Saag Paneer......mmmmm mmmmm.... With the appetizer that comes with the mint mango chutney. (Or at least I think that is what it is - can never remember!)

10. I live on a dairy farm. We have about 160 cows, 3 horses, a dozen or so chickens and as of this morning 7 baby goats.

So - now it is your turn - add your ten to your blog, or if you don't have a blog, add your 10 to my comments.

Welcome Charlotte and Grace

2006-04-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

Wyatt's little friends Charlotte and Grace (Twin Dutchies) now have their own blog, so welcome girls! The three have not officially met, however hung out together in utero while their mama's enjoyed several lunches out. Wyatt hopes to meet them someday soon when their parents bring them for a trip back out to SUNNY BC. Welcome to the blogosphere girls.

Since Charlotte and Grace are too young to type, their mama has to do it on their behalf and needs some inspriation for posts. So, I have a challenge to all my blogging friends, write a "10 Things You Won't Know About Me" post. If you can't come up with 10, then try for five about you and five about your short friend. Or in Charlotte and Grace's case, 5 for them and 5 for mama. I will post my list in the next couple of days once I do some brainstorming!

5 Months Old

2006-04-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is officially 5 months old today. We went to baby group at the Health Unit this morning and then had him weighed an measured. He is .2 of an ounce away from 16lbs (15lbs, 15.8oz) and is now 27" long. His favorite activities include; putting things in his mouth, drooling, pulling anyone who gets near him's hair, jumping and rolling. And of course hanging out outside with Dad and the moosers (read: cows). We are also taking a baby sign language class which is turning out to be awesome. We (I) already know over 20 useful signs and should be up to between 75 and 100 by the time we are done.

Here are his monthly photos with P-Bear.

99 Cents

2006-04-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Man I love bargains. My mom and I took Wyatt on a shopping trip to Nanaimo yesterday. The Children's Place had a sale bin, and I found this hat for 99 cents. It is so priceless on him, it cracks me up. He looks so grown up!

Chomper X 2

2006-04-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't posted in a few days so thought I should put up something. Hasn't been too exciting of a week, but Wyatt's second tooth did come in shortly after his first. So, he now has two bottom front teeth. They are pretty much visible now as opposed to only visible if you were lucky to catch a glimpse before he decided to lick you. He is definitely into sucking on anything that come near his mouth these days, doesn't matter what it is - your face, your hair, the newspaper, food in your hand, ANYTHING! It is actually pretty cute.

Prompted by April's comments, I must add that we are now on the countdown to "real" food. He will be 5 months on Tuesday and we are waiting on our dr's advice until 6 months to give him solids, since there are issues with allergies in the family. And the fact that we already know he has a dairy allergy/sensitivity. I am hoping to do everything I can to give him the best chance of outgrowing it. Now that breastfeeding is going well (after the first two months), I am also trying to hang on to that for as long as possible - well, maybe not as long as possible, but hopefully closer to a year than six months. I am also hoping that once we introduce solids, we can cut back on the formula I am supplementing with, as it is none too cheap, and hypo allergenic formula never goes on sale (and only comes in ready to use in the brand we are using).

We had a party last week, and had 11 moms and babies (all under 10 months) over. It was a great afternoon and fun seeing the babies interact, even though Lily was the only one who was mobile. Some of the others were rolling, but she is the only one actually crawling. I don't think it was too relaxing for Kim, as she was constantly trying to catch Lily so she wasn't grabbing the other babies! Can't imagine what it will be like when they are all mobile. Will probably have to cut down on the numbers invited over at once then!

Here is a photo from the party of Wyatt with Jordan (7 weeks) and Olivia (8 1/2 months).

Ok, now that I have the Wyatt update done, I must comment/rant on a few other things, specifically TV;

Survivor - why is Shane still on the show? He has some serious psycho eyes going on. He should have been booted weeks ago when he was whining about not being able to smoke.

AR - felt bad for the nerds getting booted. I quite like them and hoped to see them in the final three with the frat boys and the hippies. HATE Lake and Michelle and not really a MOJO fan either after her meltdown.

ANTM - where are the pretty girls this year? Watched my first episode this week, and can't get over how most if not all of the girls are not all that pretty or just plain odd looking.

Grey's Anatomy - please give us a new episode. It has been two weeks and I am going through withdrawal. This is the only show on TV anymore that I get seriously upset if I miss. In fact once we cut our cable in a few weeks, this is the only one I will be bothering to get someone to tape, or going to my in-laws to watch. Well, this one and AR until it is done.

We decided we watch far too much TV, and the best way to combat that is to cut the cable off. Figure we can spend our evenings in more productive ways, especially in the summer, like playing outside with Wyatt, working in the yard or going for walks. It also freaked me out when I read in the paper a few days ago that toddlers who watch more than two hours a day of TV are prone to obesity - doesn't matter if they are actually watching it or not, the same goes if the TV is just on for two or more hours a day. And apparently the average household has the TV on for seven hours a day. I figure now that I am a parent I should try to be more responsible and promote a healthy lifestyle, less TV, more activity, more fruit and veggies etc.

Finally a bit of a rant about other parents. Read an article in the Globe on the weekend about parents who were struggling with getting their kid to bed at night. Takes 1 1/2 hours to get their kid (under 10 years old) to bed at night. I think he was 7 or 8. He wants to watch TV/play video games. Generally drags his behind to go to bed. Anyway, at the end of the article, the mom says something to the effect of "I guess we might have to take the TV and video games out of his room"!!!!! Hmmmmm.......where is the problem here, and who is the cause of it? Maybe it might be the fact that you put a TV and video games in his room? Sort of like the parents of young girls who complain because they dress provocatively. Well, someone is buying them the clothes. If you don't want them to dress that way, don't give them the option of buying the clothes. Maybe I am over simplifying this because I haven't been there, but it sure seems like parents can't say no to their kids anymore. I know my parents told me no on occasion and I don't think I am traumatized by it.

Ok, done with the update and rants..... off to bed.

Chomper

2006-03-31T18:26:00.000-08:00

It was a big milestone today - Wyatt cut his first tooth today at exactly 20 weeks. I was talking to my mother in law about teething and asking when Tom first cut his teeth this morning. She had said about this age. I was holding Wyatt in front of me and caught a glimpse of something in his mouth. Put my finger in and sure enough a tooth had just broken through.

Agitated

2006-03-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we went shopping yesterday for a new carseat for Wyatt, as he is getting too big for his infant seat. What a fiasco. First we went to Toys R Us, as they were having baby days and thought the one we were looking for might be on sale. Well, it wasn't, but we decided to get it anyway and use the $10 off coupon from the baby catalogue. So, we go through the till, I pay for it, and the clerk phones the baby area to ask them to bring it up. So, we wait and wait, and then wait some more. Meanwhile Wyatt is getting more and more agitated that nothing is happening. Finally the person phones from the back and can't find the carseat even though it says they have it in stock. Wonders if we want the floor model. The 17 year old clerk can't understand why I wouldn't want it! Maybe because I have no guarantee there is nothing wrong with it, and it is my child's safety we are talking about. So, even thought I never had the carseat, we have to do a complete return. Huh? I never had the carseat, so how can I be returning it? Now instead of helping us, who have been waiting and waiting and waiting with a infant who is not interested in being there anymore, she says she has to help the people in line before doing our "return". I think the look of death I gave her prompted her to just help the one customer then get on doing my return.

After this, we headed over to Sears to find it. The nice sales lady went in the back to make sure they had one before ringing us through and sending us to the pick up area. After waiting for them to help the five people in front of us, we finally got the carseat and managed to wedge the box in the car with all of our luggage from the trip to Vancouver we were returning from.

So, today I got the seat in stalled and HATE it. I was warned the puzzle buckle is a pain in the ass, and the people who warned me were both right. I don't know how you could get it done up with a kid wearing a snow suit. And Wyatt is exceptionally long in the torso/upper body, so to get the shoulder straps at the right height the padded piece that is supposed to cradle his head sits too low, and is extremely complex to take off. With all of the extra padding pieces etc, it is a pain to get him sitting in the seat correctly, so, I am going to take it out of the car tonight and return it. Not sure what I am going to get to replace it, but will have to do some research on the net tonight.

I also need to rant about my newest pet peeve (since having a baby) - kids departments and stores where you can't get a stroller around. The Bay in Victoria is an excellent example of this. I have a stroller with a great turning radius (three wheeled with spinning front tire), and still can't get to half of the racks. A lot of these stores also have bins of stuff on the floor I am always running into. I have to give Baby Gap (downtown Victoria) and The Children's Place (Nanaimo) credit - they have an excellent layout with lots of room to get around. I wouldn't' even bother trying to get into Please Mum in Nanaimo the store is so small. I definitely have a new appreciation for people in wheelchair's trying to get in an out of places. It must be damn near impossible to get in and out of some places just trying to navigate the doors let alone getting around racks, displays, shelving etc.

On a positive note, the David Gray concert was amazing. He played for two hours straight and played just about every song from White Ladder and Life in Slow Motion. Well worth going to.

Another Year

2006-03-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official, I am now 30. I had a fairly relaxing day and was spoiled by my family and friends. I had a great afternoon at the spa thanks to my husband and son. Had a back massage, facial and pedicure at Le Spa Sereine which was pretty amazing. The spa is gorgeous, would definitely go back. I however, could not get a break yesterday. First, Tom was a bit late getting in to the house, so of course we were late leaving, but still had just enough time for lunch before my spa appointment, so I didn't pack anything for lunch with me or eat before we left. As soon as we started up the Malahat we came to a standstill, as there had been an accident. We should have known it would be a problem as a police car passed us in Mill Bay. So, we turned around and backtracked through Shawnigan Lake, adding at least half an hour onto our trip. This put us in Victoria too late for lunch. So, I thought I would grab a pumpkin scone from Starbucks (which I am currently addicted to since giving up chocolate). Of course they were out, so had to settle for a bagel. On top of this I went back to my car after the spa appointment to find a ticket on my car. I paid for parking, but in the rush to get to my appointment and to get the stroller adjusted for Tom, I forgot to put it on my dash. So, $27 down the drain. But, between the spa, a visit with Kim and her daughter Lily and takeout Chinese for dinner with my mom, dad and Grandma, the day was very enjoyable.

The BIG day....

2006-03-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, is is officially less than 24 hours till my 30th birthday. It seems so weird to be turning thirty. I am not the least bit stressed about it, but have been thinking about how strange it is that it is finally here. I remember working at my parents golf course as a teenager, and all the people I worked with who were in their late twenties, and turning thirty and had been to college or university, were getting married, having babies, buying houses, shacking up etc. Now that is me. I am the one who is married, has a house, has a steady job, has bills to pay, has a baby and is turning thirty. That seemed so far off and now it is my life. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. Especially my husband and son. I would trade in the house, having bills to pay and having to work, but that is another story!

Since Wyatt's four month birthday just passed, I took him to the health unit today to get weighed and measured. He is now officially half an ounce shy of 15lbs and is 26 1/4 inches. He weighed in at 14lbs, 15 1/2 oz. He is also getting to be quite the little charmer and will smile and just about any lady that talks to him and has quite the infectious giggle. I also shocked a few people by putting him on the mat at baby group this morning while I put some books back. I came back and he had rolled over and one of the ladies was very surprised when she looked over and there he was flipping over! The little Loveasaurus is calling for lunch, so will close with a picture of Wyatt with the Easter taters. For those of you who have been to our house and have seen the tater cabinet, these our the latest additions to our tater family.

The Loveasaurus

2006-03-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

We went up to Nanaimo last Friday to pick up copies of the paper we write for to distribute in Duncan as we do every month. We went to the mall while we were up there, and they have a new to the island kids clothing store called The Children's Place. I know it is all over the rest of Canada and maybe the US. They had some cute stuff. Very cute line of what I would call golf clothing for little boys - with sweater vests and chinos in various colors. Just about bought an outfit for Wyatt but thought we might wait for them to go on sale. But, I did get him a sale shirt left over from Valentine's Day for $5.99. It is very cute. Here he is this morning wearing it.

I must be crazy....

2006-03-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know how addicted I am to the TV, you will think something is seriously wrong..... Tom and I have decided to cancel our cable next month or in early May. We are just waiting for the time to change and for Grey's Anatomy and maybe Amazing Race to be over for the season. We waste far too much time in the evenings watching TV and want to be able to spend the time reading/palying with Wyatt/outside in the summer etc. It is going to be a big adjustment at first. I wonder how long we will be able to keep it up?

Roll Over Red Rover (Again)

2006-03-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

Wyatt has become a rolling machine. Pretty much anytime he is put on his back now, he flips right over to his tummy. This started on Saturday. Doesn't matter where he is - kitchen counter (which will be ending now that he is rolling), living room floor, play mat etc - he flips himself over. And more often than not, looks up at whoever is with him and smiles and giggles, obviously proud of his accomplishment! The only downside is that he still doesn't have rolling back to his back down and gets quite mad being on his tummy for any amount of time. Hopefully he will regain the tummy to back rolling skill that he had a few weeks ago.

I need a housekeeper....

2006-03-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

I despise doing housework. I think I always knew this, but have certainly realized it lately with an infant who really doesn't like mom to put him down for more than about two minutes at a time. Thus the house is not so clean since the only time I can clean is when someone is here to watch Wyatt. I am rather proud of myself for actually cooking dinner every night and keeping the kitchen pretty tidy, but floors and the bathroom are down to infrequent cleaning now. We do need to get some sort of schedule going for this, but I just don't seem to get around to doing that either. It doesn't help either that our vacuum that was great for doing hardwood and carpet has pretty much packed it in, and the new one we have only really works on carpet - even though it is supposed to work on bare floor. I loved our old vacuum, you could just plug it in and vacuum all the floors and not need to sweep.

On another note, we have been starting to shop for a big boy carseat for Wyatt. Have pretty much settled on the Eddie Bauer carseat by Cosco, which is the same as the Alpha Omega. It fits quite well in our car, and we can get one in tan which matches the interior of our car (which is important to Tom). I was quite partial to the cow print Britax, but it wasn't a good fit in our car, and sat too high to easily get Wyatt in and out. Oh, and it was $100 plus more than the Eddie Bauer. The only downside to the Eddie Bauer is that it has this (apparently) new puzzle buckle, which is kinda complex to do up, but I am sure once we get used to it, it will be fine. Now I am just waiting for Baby Days at Toys R Us which starts on the 18th to see if it goes on sale.

Spin Me Round

2006-03-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

I had to do laundry yesterday and Wyatt wasn't really excited about me being too far away from him, so I put him in the laundry basket on the dryer while I moved clothes from the washer to dryer. He thought it was quite fun and spent the whole time giggling! And I got a big smile for the camera.

Big Boy

2006-02-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

I go to a baby group at the Health Unit once a week, and so many of the moms of babies Wyatt's age dress their babies in sleepers and pj-like clothes still. I just can't do that - Wyatt looks far too cute in his big boy clothes. We went to Victoria earlier this week to see Grandma and Grandpa and Wyatt was all dressed up in his cords, oxford shirt and sweater - looking like a little man! As you can see in the pictures, he is far better dressed than me. But then again, I figure it is a good say when I can get a bath in the morning and get dressed in clean clothes.

Picasa

2006-02-23T20:31:00.000-08:00

My mom uses Picasa to store and send her photos from her computer. I can't get it because it isn't Mac friendly, but if you have an IBM, it is a free download at www.picasa.com. One really cool thing it does is makes collages. This is one my mom did of pictures from the first day of Wyatt's life. I love this photo of me and him.

Jumping Bean

2006-02-20T16:55:00.000-08:00

Wyatt's grandpa bought him a jolly jumper yesterday. He quite enjoyed jumping around once he sort of figured out what was going on!

Sweet Dreams

2006-02-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a great night last night, and had a big first. Wyatt slept through the night. And not just 6 or 7 hours - he slept a whole 10 hours. I can't tell you how excited it made me. I am not expecting it again tonight, but will certainly be pleased if it is a new trend! We put him down at about 8:30 and he didn't get up until just after 6:30, then I fed him and put him back down for another 45 minutes. We did one thing a bit different yesterday which may have contributed to the sleep, and that was trying to stretch out the time between feedings so that he was really hungry when he did eat and got a full feeding. He was getting in a bad habit of eating, then wanting more an hour later, then going three hours etc - really inconsistent intervals. Yesterday I tried to keep his feedings at least three hours apart, and one of them was four. We have done this again today, so will see what happens tonight. It certainly was a shock for me waking up to go to the bathroom and looking at the clock and seeing 4am, which is usually the time he gets a second night time feeding, or close to it. I got a bottle ready expecting him to wake up soon, and then fell back asleep only to get to sleep till 6:30am. I'm a happy mama today.

Ahoy Matey

2006-02-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Wyatt went on his first ride on BC Ferries last week. We went over to Vancouver from the 14th to the 17th so Tom could go to the BC Dairy Expo and Ag Show at the Tradex in Abbotsford, and so Wyatt and I could see some friends and do some shopping. Auntie Inga and Uncle Jamie were good enough to give up their Valentine's evening to let us stay with them and to make us yummy fajitas for dinner. We then stayed for two nights out in Abbotsford at the Coast Hotel which was nice, but not worth what we paid for it. While Tom was at the conference on Thursday, we drove into Coquitlam and did some shopping and visited with Karen at Douglas College. She took us on a nice walk around the lake across from the campus, and despite nearly running us over a couple of times with the stroller (she pushed while I carried Wyatt), we had a nice walk! We had a very uneventful and calm trip home on the ferries despite high winds that day, which made the thought of the ferry ride very stressful for me.

The whole gas surcharge thing irks me. I just looked at my BC Ferries bills, and a fuel surcharge on our car, and on each passenger in addition to a port fee. I am in the minority I think in just wishing they would just charge a the ferry fares, and that would be it - none of this blaming everyone else for the increases.

We didn't do too much shopping, but got a couple of good bargains - a t-shirt for Wyatt at Roots for $4.95 and two toques at Please Mum from the sale bin for $1.99 and $2.99 less 10%. Here is a photo of one of them.

Happy Birthday

2006-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

Wyatt turned three months old yesterday. He is really starting to interact and be a little person not just a baby anymore. He is getting quite talkative and is getting better control of his hands - which he likes grabbing things with. Even when it is Dad's neck or Mom's face and it hurts!

First Time in a High Chair

2006-02-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

Wyatt and I went to visit his friend Lily, and my friend Kim yesterday. He sat in Lily's high chair, which was his first time in one, and he seemed to quite enjoy it. He and Clive sat in it while we had lunch.

Tractor Wyatt and His Sidekick Clive

2006-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

I am just testing out putting photos on here - found another web browser called Safari on my computer that seems to work. Neither Netscape or Explorer did, as we have a Mac and not all websites are compatible with Macs on certain software. It is quite frustrating sometimes, as I have to open both programs and if a site doesn't work in one, I try the other.

Big Boy

2006-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Wyatt and I went to the Health Unit today for his three month weight and measurement. Wyatt is 13lbs 11oz and is 25 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. I finally learned what percentiles mean today too - that with height 90 percent of babies of the same age are shorter than him, and 10 percent are taller. So, he is a big boy for his age as we suspected. I now have to check with the car seat inspection guy at the car dealership in town, as our carseat says only up to 26 inches. But I have also heard that you can keep babies in an infant seat until they are an inch from the top. So, I need to see what he advises. I guess we need to start seriously car seat shopping soon.

What gets you through the night....

2006-02-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

I am still getting up at least twice a night to feed Wyatt. Most nights it isn't too bad as he gets up sometime around 1-2am and then again around 4-5am. Last night was 12:30 and 4:30. He is also still sleeping in our bedroom which he will until he is either sleeping through the night, or at least down to getting up only once. We both quite like having him there as it seems safer for some reason to have him closer. He did just move from the cradle to the bassinet in his playpen, which went quite well - he fussed a bit the first night, but after that has been fine. I think it was harder on me than him, as the cradle was right next to me so I could reach over and touch him to comfort/put the soother in/pull the blankets up etc and not have to get out of bed, as well as hearing when he was starting to get ready to eat (lip smacking and licking his hands). Now he is across the room, as there isn't room for the playpen on my side of the bed. But, it went surprisingly well, and I can still hear his lip smacking/hand licking/rustling to wake up and feed him before he starts to cry.

I am also really glad I put a chair in the bedroom to feed him at night. For the first month or so, I brought him out to the living room to feed him. But then I moved a big chair into the bedroom and put a nightlight beside it. It is perfect, as I can usually get him before he starts crying to be fed, Tom rarely notices us up, and it disrupts my sleep far less. I can also usually sleep through the first part of the feeding or at least doze! It is harder to do when you are holding a bottle in their mouth, but definitely doable when you are breastfeeding!

YAY! Another blogger.

2006-02-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just as I was inspired by Karen to start blogging, my friend Inga has just started a blog of her own to keep her family and friends around the world posted on she and Jamie's adventures.

http://Vancouverwheelers.blogspot.com/

Another Week Half Over

2006-02-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have no idea where the time is going - well, actually I do - I spend it staring at Wyatt, playing with Wyatt, feeding Wyatt and changing Wyatt! We haven't done too much this week, but we did take a trip to Victoria and took Grandma for a walk. We also went to baby group at the Health Unit yesterday which was nice to get out and be with some other moms and babies. We will go back there tomorrow before yoga to have Wyatt weighed and measured as he will be three months old on Saturday and I have been getting his measurements monthly.

When we were in Victoria we also went to Michael's to buy scrapbooking supplies to feed my new hobby! I started an album of Wyatt's photos and have about 6 pages done so far. I manage to get a bit done each night after he goes to bed, and sometimes a bit during the day if he cooperates or naps.

I want to post some more pictures of Wyatt, but I am having a heck of a time posting photos - likely due to the fact I am using a Mac, and a lot of websites aren't fully Mac compatible. I will keep trying though!.

2006-02-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

Wyatt in his spiffy new (sale) jacket from the GAP!

Roll Over Red Rover

2006-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Wyatt officially rolled over today for the first time from his tummy to his back. He did it for the first time at lunch while laying on the kitchen counter on a blanket watching Dad eat. He then did it two more times tonight. He doesn't quite have going from his back to his tummy down - he can only get onto his side. He is also getting quite good at holding his head and shoulders up when laying on his tummy so he can look around.

A Week in the life of Wyatt

2006-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

We have had a pretty hectic week thus far. Monday was a trip to Victoria to check out Homesense/Winners and to Grandma and Grandpa's. We had to get out of the house for a bit while Dad had a tractor safety course in our living room. The weather was great, so we went for a drive. Found nothing at Winners/Homesense that we needed, which is pretty common for us. I have bought baby stuff at Winners, but have never found any housewares or clothing for me that I liked. They have great deals on baby clothes - far more girl clothes than boy clothes though and not much gender neutral clothing.

We also had a doctor's appt on Monday afternoon to check on Wyatt's weight gain. He gained about 7oz this week, which is excellent as we had to switch his formula (that we are supplementing with) to a hypoallergenic formula to accommodate his dairy and soy allergies. He is now 13lbs 7oz approx. We will go to the health unit for an official weight and measurement next week just before his three month birthday. We also went back to the naturopath (last week) and she confirmed that the new formula is definitely agreeing with his system better than the soy. He is back to his old happy self and sleeping more, which makes for a happier mom too!

We also spent yesterday in Victoria - had lunch with two of my friends from work. I had to eat with Wyatt on my lap, as he decided he wanted no part of anyone else holding him.

We then met Kim and Lily at the mall for some shopping and chai's. I found a great blue puffy winter coat for next year at Baby Gap. Regular $88 on sale for $33.95. Also slurged on some regular price jammies for him - couldn't resist as they have tractors all over them! Will have to take the receipt back in two weeks in case they discounted them further and I can get a price adjustment. Wyatt and Lily had a good "talk" when we went to Starbucks. It is certainly cute seeing a 7 month old and a three month old trying to communicate. Lily kept lunging towards Wyatt in her stroller and grunting at him (he was sitting on my lap in front of him). He would laugh in return.

After picking up Granny (who had to get her car serviced, and ended up leaving her car for a couple of days), we also went to Michael's for scrapbooking supplies. I have decided to start scrapbooking Wyatt's photo's now rather than deciding when he is five and having to go back through five years of photos. It is much easier to start with three months worth! I was inspired to start after seeing my mom's great album of Wyatt photos that she scrapbooked.

Today is orthotics assessment, physio for me, then grocery shopping for Wyatt and I.

Time to get Wyatt dressed.