Crazy train = mood swing central

Hey, so I have noticed lately that I seem to get grumpy easily.  Then I remembered that I am now on hormone stuff to help produce baby number 2.  Therefore the moodswings are right on schedule.  Once I remembered this I was a little bit relieved because I was genuinely confused as to why I was so irritable.  Not that I use this as an excuse, I believe you choose your attitude.  It just helps my mind know that there are other factors to consider these days.  Officially back on the crazy train.  

For an example of this mood-swinging-ness I was at the grocery store today with Kiwi.  We were minding our own business looking at the bread on the discount rack when a lady suddenly started, not yelling, but talking loudly and sternly at me.  I was caught off guard and didn't even see her coming.  She was mad because she said that she almost ran right into me because she was booking it.  Ok, 1. I was standing still, 2. she was booking it and almost ran into me, when and how did this become my fault??  I pulled my cart back an inch and she carried on her hurried way  (to the washroom).  As she went passed I muttered under my breath, "then maybe you should slow down".  I just don't get why I got scolded.  

Another example, yesterday at church....oy. I was talking to my second cousin when a lady came up and said, "I don't mean to interrupt, but..."  I replied, "yes you do".  Brenton said this made me socially awkward.  Whatever.  I guess a little back story needs to be put in here, this particular lady interrupts me quite regularly, therefore I thought it was ok to bring it to her attention.  Was this done tactfully, no, it wasn't.  Was it humourous (we all laughed so I'm guessing so).  Did it get the point across, yes.  Did it make a difference? Nope, she interrupted me again shortly after.  Was I grumpy after this? Yes.  Also as soon as you say "I don't mean to" - but still do then yes you do mean to do it.  Another thing, the word "but",  erases everything that was previously said in my opinion.  It's like when someone apologizes and then follows it with a but - creating an excuse.  You're either sorry or you're not.  Ahh.  (Again with the mood swings.) I know this isn't a big deal, I really do.  But for whatever reason I can't seem to let it go.  

I have a house I need to clean.  I will harness this negative energy and clean with it.  I don't know why but I enjoy cleaning when I'm angry.  Anybody else do the same?  

Michelle

Mod Podge of what's in my head

Did you notice the new decor on the blog? I decided that since it's fall now I shall embrace it and put leaves on my blog, yes leaves! Don't worry these ones don't get wet and soggy and stick to your shoe, they're the pretty ones that you can just look at and enjoy - so you're welcome.  

I am procrastinating once again, but this time from something I enjoy.  I know I don't get it either.  It's baking day and I need to bake some chocolate chip cookies.  Not hard, I know.  So why am I procrastinating, I have no clue.  I have my favourite baking moving plugged in and all I have to do is hit play and away I'll go.  I think it's because I just had some lunch and so now I'm letting it sit, you're not suppose to bake until 30 mins after eating right?  So then I have another 20mins to kill.  I don't think I'll wait that long.  Just another 5 or so.  I also have a to do list once Kiwi is awake.  We have some errands to do.  After being cooped up for the last couple of days I am excited to get out and venture into the world of errands.  (I've been down with a cold).  And I'm afraid to say that my cold resembled a man cold.  I was pure pathetic for a couple of days where standing up was not a fun place to be.  Now I just have the lingering sniffles and raw nose (from blowing it so much).  That I can deal with.  

This coming weekend I have a fall festival I am going to.  I will be setting up my second ever table with some treats and home made kid items. Aprons and baby wraps.  It should be fun.  We'll see how it goes as it's held outside and it's a freezer outside been super cold out lately so I am not really looking forward to that part of it. Hopefully summer decides to make a brief return for that day.  A girl can hope right? I guess I should remember to pack my gloves.  Dagnabit.  

My hands are super sensitive to cold since I've had frost bite on both of them, thank you Manitoba.  So I am usually the crazy person who is wearing gloves extremely early in the season, where most people would say, it's not that cold?!  Alas, if I don't my hands change funky colours (they look really dirty) and they start to lose feeling. So to keep my hands, I will ever be the crazy girl with gloves on in October.  

This has been fun. But I now can hear the oven calling my name and it's time to embark on some baking fun.  Julie and Julia by my side here we go. 

Love ya
Michelle

Going back in time: Kiwi's Birthday party

Hi blogging world.  I am in fact still alive.  I have been busy this summer and therefore no blog updates. I am in fact procrastinating from my to do list for today even though it's a fun to do list.  Go figure.  I am in the process of redoing a kids table.  I have primed it and started painting.  The colours are fun for a kids playroom and I am excited for the finished product, once it's complete I will add pictures and you can see for yourself if you approve or not.  If you don't, just think,  you don't have to live with it.  

I guess I never did say anything about Kiwi's birthday party on here.  Wow that was 3 months ago already.  He's such a talkative little fella now.  He's also very exploratory.  I love to watch him discover things.  He's so funny.  Yesterday he kept practicing making funny faces.  He would wink or drop his jaw open like he was surprised and make a huge smile afterwards.  When he winks it almost appears like he's in pain. It's so funny!!  

Kiwi had a jungle themed birthday party and it turned out really cute.  It took a lot of time to set up but I think the end product was super cute.  I am biased though so what do I know. I made a kids table with a table cloth, each kid had their own animal mask.  We started the party with a craft. Painting an animal sun catcher.  After that was done we played a game of duck duck goose. Then we had some lunch.  I had renamed the food into jungle themed names.  We had noodle salad: Hankuna ma pasta, Potato salad: Grub Salt and vinager chips: Alligator flakes, Ketchup chips: Crocodile Teeth, Hamburgers: Hyena cakes, Hot dogs: Hot snakes, Cheetos: Cheeta treats, Veggies and dip:  Hungry Hippo dip, Animal crackers: animal crackers, Fruit skewers: Giraffe legs, Banana chips: monkey chips.  We also had beverages, we had two types of juice: Jungle juice, water: The water hole and pop: swamp scum.  It was fun coming up with the names although this took me the longest out of all preparations, haha.  My creative juice had run out by the time I thought it would be clever to come up with names for everything.  After we had our lunch I brought out Kiwi's smash cake.  I had made a chocolate bear cake for him to go crazy on. He did rip off the ear but he was much to gentle.  Not much of a mess was made.  Then I brought out the birthday cake.  I had made each of the kids their own special cupcake (Kiwi destroyed that and ended up having to have a bath afterwards before the party could continue).  We sang happy Birthday and then we divided the other cake up for the adults to partake in the cake eating as well.  After cake I gave Kiwi a quick bath and then we came back down and opened presents. After the presents were opened we set up the pinata and the kids had a blast trying to bust it open.  It was so much fun to watch!  That was the end of the party.  It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun! I am already planning on next years party.  I already have the theme picked out.  Should be fun!  Here are some photos from W's 1st Birthday.  

Table with the fixings and grub.  The balloons are suppose to make it look like a tree above the table.  

Every month since Kiwi was born I took a picture of him with this bear and then I displayed all 12 photos above the bear for the party.

Between activities the kids had free play time - the train table was a hit

Smash cake time

Giraffe cake

Kids eating their special animal cupcakes while we sang Happy Birthday to Kiwi

Eating his cupcake, more like smashing it.

Opening presents

Kiwi's turn to hit the Lion piñata

Heavy Heart

My cousin's little guy is struggling for life.  He needs a heart transplant and while I prayed for him this evening it really hit me, what I'm praying for.  It's such a heavy prayer.  Because as you pray for a heart to become available you're praying for another parent's worst nightmare to become a reality. 

How is it even comprehensible for a family to make that choice in that time, to donate their babies organs so other's babies can live.  To wish that their baby could have had the chance that their baby is giving to others.  To say it's heart wrenching is an understatement to the extreme.  

I wish the big picture could be seen. What is the plan here? What's the purpose?  I know that my cousin and his wife's faith has been shone on and it is stronger than ever.  This whole experience has brought a community together. I just don't understand, and I probably never will.

I continue to pray for a heart for him,  please will you too??

with a heavy heart.  
Michelle

June Bug

Hello, long time no update, like usual.  Kiwi's first birthday has come and gone.  I can't believe I have a one year old.  It's cliche to say but it's no less true that this past year has gone by so fast.  I think I blinked and it was over.  His party was fun.  I enjoyed planning it and I have to say his cake turned out how I wanted it to (first time my vision has actually come out the way I had envisioned it.) 

I have to say he learns so fast and is surprising me daily with the skills he's developing.  He is able to put two shapes into the shape sorter without assistance.  He's learning to play with toys the way they were meant to be played with. He's also quick to pick up on a new skill, such as the other day he brought me a toy fan and I showed him once how to press the button to make the fan go and since then he's barely put the thing down, constantly making the fan go.  

He makes me laugh daily with the things he decides are the best toys.  For the last couple of days his favourite things to play with are a bag clip and a broken lego window.  He puts the chip clip into the window and shakes it around.  I laughed a lot today as he played with them over and over and his toy box overflowing with awesome toys just sat behind him untouched.  

Speaking of the last couple of days, our entire little family have been sick.  It started with Kiwi, he started throwing up for the first time in his life (other than the newborn spit up stage).  At first I didn't know how to react, I was wondering what do I do, do I call 811 (the nurses' help line) and after I calmed myself down and  got myself together, B and I cleaned him up and got him some toast and he was always his happy little self carrying on like nothing was wrong.  Such a little trouper.  It was that evening it hit me and I got sick for the first time in a long time.  The following day it didn't ease up.  Let's just say that Kiwi and I spent the day hanging out in the washroom for the entire day.  When I texted B to come home early from work cause I didn't think I could make it much longer he gathered up his things and then it hit him.  We were a sad little family for a few days and B's still on the mend, but doing much better than before.  

I am also still in recovery from my tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.  I finally got them taken out and I have to say after the second day I noticed a dramatic difference breathing through my nose.  I never realized it was so blocked before.  I guess you assume what you know is normal until it changes right?  I am hoping that after the swelling goes down I will no longer be a snorer! Wouldn't that be awesome?  So far B says that he's heard me snore - louder than before surgery - yikes!  (That was 3 days after surgery) and then since day 5 he said that I've just been breathing really heavy but no snoring.  Let's pray that continues to fade and that I will one day be a quiet sleeper :)  Not dead, just quiet.  I will try and update on some of these things in their own entry because as I type this very brief -yet long - novel update I realize I have so much more to talk about on each topic.  

Well, that's long enough for now.  Until next time,
Michelle

Happy Easter

So this has basically become the holiday blog.  After a holiday you'll get a random update about what we did.  I jest.  I can't believe it's been over a month since the last time I updated.  I keep up to date with posts in my head but just lack the ambition to actually write it out.  Let's see what have we been up to....hmm. Lots! 

 I take Kiwi to a program at the elementary school at least once a week.  It's a drop in program for kids ages 0-4.  It's to help get kids use to what school might be like.  They have centres for the majority of the time with a circle time and a snack.  Very fun!  Kiwi loves it there because he has free reign of the whole room.  

We use to go to library time.  It's actually called "Baby Rhyme Time".  He loved going!  But it is sadly over now until September.  

We have also continued to go swimming every Friday afternoon.  I love swimming and Kiwi does too! He is a fish!  He gets very talkative and loves to splash. If he sees a ball in the water he almost tries to push me away so he can go get it, however I don't let him go since he can't swim on his own.  It is a huge motivator though.  Or a toy boat.  He really likes them too. 

Kiwi is hilarious!  He makes me laugh constantly.   And a huge personality, he is so caring and loving and has quite the sense of humour. He has also been showing me things he's interested in.  If he hears the mixer going he makes his way over right away and wants to sit in his high chair and watch.  He has also started getting into all the cupboards.  We have put all the safety locks on all except one that is Kiwi proof filled so if he pulls everything out it doesn't matter.  He LOVES that cupboard!  It gets a lot of action.  It's also funny to find toys in random places.  Always an adventure.  He loves to put his toys into things or on things.  While folding laundry today he insisted on putting his football in the basket.  And he found his rubber duck on the edge of the tub and put it on the toilet lid. 

Also today he picked up the phone, held it to his head and said, Dad.  So I immediately called B at work (we got his voicemail because he was in a meeting) but when B's voice came on Kiwi smiled really big and his eyes lit up.  So sweet!

On Saturday we took him to the park for an Easter Egg hunt.  It was a really good turn out.  We had a lot of fun.  It was already past nap time for little guy so he wouldn't give me any smiles for pictures. On the way home he fell asleep in B's arms, so sweet!  On Sunday we went to church and then we came home for a nap (I say we because I had a nap too!) Kiwi is cutting his third tooth and he had woken up at 3:45-5:30 and then up for the day at 8.  And because I'm a gluten for punishment I hadn't gone to bed early so I was wrecked!  So a nap was in order for myself as well as little Kiwi.  When we woke up B took Kiwi downstairs so I could bake uninterrupted. Once the cookies came out of the oven I put some on a plate and away we went to B's Aunt and Uncle's house for Easter dinner.  It was Delicious (with a capital D!)  We had bbq'd steak and mango salad, yams, brussel sprouts!!! (they get 3 ! because I liked them that much), home made apple sauce, and homemade blueberry pie for dessert.  Such a yummy dinner!  

Kiwi entertained us for a good part of the evening and we had some great adult conversation as well while B's cousins entertained our little.  Then we came home and I was sure he would sleep through the night because of how active he had been and how much he had to eat.  But nope! He woke up in the night and then up for the day at 6:30.  6:30!!!!  If you know me, you know I'm not a morning person. I talked to my sister for a bit and she was like, I'm hanging up now, you're ignoring me.  I wasn't meaning to ignore her, I was just so tired and loopy and distracted by anything.  And I got distracted by my little man bringing me a book "I love you Forever" and I couldn't resist reading it to him.  He's just so stinkin' cute!  

That pretty much catches you up on our little lives.  I hope my next update won't take as long to post.  Until next time, 
Michelle

A little bit of bliss

Oh well hello there. I hope I find you in good measure. I am in fact in a mighty good mood. Might be because yesterday my sick hubby (he's got a cold) took on the lil' kiwi and allowed me to sleep in for the first time since...well I don't know when, well before Christmas that's for sure. Anyways, it was blissful. Then to top it off he took him out with him to do errands while leaving me at home so I could clean up. I was able to do my entire to do list in one full sweep (pardon the pun). I didn't have to take multiple breaks as you do when you have a wee one after your attention or feverishly destroying everything you've just cleaned. It was amazing. However, after about 2 hours of them being gone I started to really miss them! I called to catch up and see where they were at. I couldn't help it! When they got home I quickly changed Kiwi and fed him and then we were off, out for dinner at Swiss Chalet we went! (We had a coupon). It was a lovely evening out and B's mom joined us. We showed off Kiwi's first tooth that just started to sprout that morning. 

Today we have had a very lazy day. I woke up with kiwi at 6:50am. This kid is cute but I'm still not a morning person. I allowed him to play around me while I lied down on the floor. He's so funny. His favourite game right now is peekaboo with everything. He took a wicker basket and put it on his head and then peaked at me from underneath. He's got such a personality and loves people. He loves to make people smile and doesn't play strange with anyone (so far). He's walking along everything and has gotten really fast at pulling himself up. I love how he uses the handles on the drawers in the kitchen as a ladder. He's just started climbing onto things (which makes my heart skip a beat - ok that's my heart murmur but it does make me hold my breath!) He is sporting his first noticeable bruise on his forehead from a small fall :( Makes me sad but I know it's going to be the first of many. He has no fear. He is also starting to stand without holding on to anything. It's just a matter of time before this little guy starts walking.

Here is Kiwi blowing kisses

He likes to cuddle with everything, including the hardwood floor

In his hockey chair ready to watch the game

Did you have a great Valentine's day?  Unfortunately B was sick with a mighty cold on the actual day but that didn't get us down.  We celebrated with a romantic burger and blizzards from DQ. They were super yummy and I had made B a candy bouquet that I had seen on Pinterest. It was a quiet day overall but it was nice.  

Candy bouquet I made for B for Valentine's Day

 I'm excited about a piece of furniture we're going to invest in. A china cabinet. I need something to put my fancier dishes in to make some room in the cupboards for the more practical every day stuff, especially since lil kiwi's dishes will be moving in. I am not sure how to fix it up or if I will. I kind of want to try something as a project and I guess if I really screw it up I could always call my amazingly talented sister-in-law. She's got some mad skills! But before I go that route I think I want to try it. I am hoping that it will jump start me into doing some house decorating. I have yet to do any window treatments and get a game plan on how to organize the playroom. I need some inspiration and I have to be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed as it's not really my thing. Decorate a cupcake, sure no problem. Decorate a room?! Yikes! I guess cause a cupcake/cake is such a small surface and if you don't like it you just eat it scrape off the icing and start again. Where as a room just seems more permanent and a financial investment. Curtains aren't cheap, and what if you don't like the way your vision comes together? Oh my, can you feel my anxiety building? I think I need a cupcake! 




 

Here's Kiwi pulling himself up on the laundry basket - everything is fair game if it's at his height