I just put an old lady's maxi pad through the wash and all I can think is this is my life...

.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Jumping on the Yearly Recap Bandwagon

It seems to be a trend in blog world to end the blogging year with a nice little recap. So, no need for me to disappoint.

January - We had to put down our sweet kitten Rocco. We cried. I celebrated my 26th birthday in Cottage Country with Turkey Butt.
February - We found out we were expecting our little pumpkin on the 16th.
March - Celebrated our 1st anniversary at my in-law's very cold camp.
April - Turkey Butt celebrated his 27th birthday with a homemade ice cream cake.
May - Moved to a new apartment.
June - Found out that our little pumpkin is going to be a girl.
July - Went to the zoo.
August - Had an unpleasant run-in at work that led to a few days off of work - funded by Worker's Compensation.
September - Got beautiful maternity photos taken by RavenDawn Photography. Attended my first baby shower - and it happened to be my own.
October - Turkey Butt & I got hitched on the 1st. On the 18th we welcomed our Little Miss Elle into the world. On the 31st we celebrated our first Halloween as a family of 3 (+dog) with cuddling and horror movies.
November - Took holiday photos of Little Miss Elle for our Christmas cards.
December - Found our dream house and put an offer on it. Celebrated Christmas as a family. Officially bought our dream house - now we wait for the closing date.

All in all it was such a wonderful year. I feel so very blessed to have had such an amazing year! I can only imagine what will happen for us in 2012. Will be so hard to top 2011! This is my life!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ten Weeks Old

My sweet squishy face is now ten weeks old. My how time flies! This is my life... :)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Baby-o is 9 Weeks

This is my life.

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

I've got to be honest... juggling caring for a newborn, keeping house, going through the process of purchasing a house, the holidays and a marriage is hard! You're bound to drop the ball on something. Sadly, in my case, I let my marriage falter for awhile.

The stress of everything had been piling up on my shoulders. I was cranky and frustrated. I felt more like the nanny/maid/chauffeur than a wife and mother. I made the mistake of taking my frustration out on Turkey Butt. We ended up fighting and arguing on a daily basis. Heck, most days we weren't even speaking to each other because saying nothing was better than saying something we might regret.

The low point came one morning when neither of us could remember if we had ever been happy together. Believe me when I say this was the worst because we've had such an amazing relationship full of so much happiness! We were just becoming blinded by the bad. For awhile that day I honestly thought we might not make it. But then Turkey Butt, after awhile of nothing being said, told me loved me!

Well folks, that woke me up! Why was I getting so frustrated and pessimistic? I have an amazing husband who is so in love with me he bawled at our wedding. I have the most perfect baby girl whom I have waited my whole life for. I have an adorable, lovable dog. We're in the process of buying our dream house. I have wonderful family and friends who fill my life with joy. So why was I so angry all the time?

Enough was enough! After that low point, I vowed to take a deep breath and relax. My life is absolutely amazing and I plan to enjoy every last second of it. It's only been a few days since I vowed to see the glass half full instead of half empty, but I can already feel the difference. I talk to sweet hubby respectfully, I can laugh about all the house buying hoops that I jump through daily, and I'm enjoying my time with Little Miss Elle!

Instead of trying to end my maternity leave so that I can go to work and feel as though I'm accomplishing something, I'm taking the Little Miss out into the community to meet new people. Yesterday we visited my Great Great Aunt and her husband. They don't get many visitors and have been under the weather lately so it was truly amazing to see how much they adored their visit with Little Miss Elle. We also stopped in to the Nursing Home I used to work at yesterday. The little old lady's all got a kick out of holding the squirming baby and giving her lots of kisses! Having one of the Alzheimer's patients ask me who I was really made me appreciate my life. I think after the new year, the babe and I will have to visit more frequently. It is wonderful the joy ten minutes with a baby can bring!

As always, thank you for listening to my rant. This is my life....

Saturday, December 17, 2011

A letter to Little Miss Elle

Dear Elodie,

Choosing to vaccinate you was an easy decision for me. The possible side effects of the vaccinations were easier for me to accept than the consequences of you contracting a serious disease. We were lucky that you didn't experience any side effects with your first set of needles. In fact, the most notable part of that day occurred that evening while your Daddy was changing your diaper...

I was in the kitchen and I heard him holler for me to come quick. I dropped what I was doing and ran into your room. You were lying on the change table and smiling up at your Daddy. Everytime that he said, "Hi Lady" in a high pitched voice, you would squeal with laughter. The joy on both your face and his was enough to melt your Mama's heart.

We love you sweet baby-o. Forever and for always!


(This is my life...)

Friday, December 16, 2011

Added Holiday Stress

Ohhh the stress of trying to purchase a house. Now I remember why I've rented all these years. Being not a very patient person, the waiting is literally killing me. Okay, okay not literally but still. Gah!

It all started off innocently enough - doesn't it always? - with me casually perusing MLS listings. I saw a couple nice ones and one amazing one that was shocking priced reasonably. But still, I knew we were in our lease til the end of April 2012 so it was all just for fun. But then our bedroom closet sprung a leak. By bedroom closet, I really mean the bathroom of the aparment upstairs sprung a leak. I'm talking serious water damage and an increasingly alarming mould outbreak. Turkey Butt and I had to clear out the closet, move our clothes and bed into the (already crowded) nursery and close up the room. Our landlords solution? A few days later they stopped the leak but have yet to address the fact that the closet will have to be torn out and redone, the mould issue will have to be dealt with, and the carpet will have to be ripped up.

All of a sudden, Turkey Butt and I are thinking we should fast track our home buying plans. So we contacted sweet hubby's bank and a real estate agent to get the ball rolling. Cut to a week later. After looking at 4 houses, we had my father-in-law come up to inspect our top two picks. Pick number two ended up having structural damage to the tune of approx. $50, 000 so scratch that off the list! Pick number one (a.k.a. dream house) needed a new roof ($3,000 to $5,000) and my father in law had a few questions about the spray foam insulation in the basement.

So, we put an offer on our dream house last night. We offered $7,000 less than the asking price. We felt this was generous considering the house had been on the market for a year and was located within spitting distance to a busy street. They counter offerred at $2,000 below their asking price at about the same time we found out the insulation needs to be covered to meet building code regulations and insure it isn't a fire hazard. Father-in-law estimates this would cost another $2,000. Oye.

Here's my dilemma, I am not moving my family into a house that has unsafe, flammable materials in it. This is a given. But at the same time, do I really want to add another out of pocket expense onto an already expensive home? So far we're looking at a minimum of $5,000 of work and this doesn't even include the little things (like bannisters need to be built for both staircases). This is my dream house and it is magically, just barely, in my budget due to the poor location but there has to be some give. If the Seller's agree to fix the basement and install smoke detectors ( there are none in the house), then we will accept their counter offer. If not, we may up our offer by $1,000 but that will be our final offer.

Soooo much stress over the holidays. My patience is wearing thin. Oh, and did I mention that the bank was supposed to get back to us "by the end of the week" with the amount that they'll preapprove us to borrow for a mortgage? But look at that, the bank closed forty minutes ago and it's a Friday. Now we'll have to wait til Monday to find out if we'll even be approved for enough money to purchase this house. Sigh. This is my life.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

8 Weeks Old!!

Wow, does time ever fly! My little miss is eight weeks old now. She smiles, babbles and coos, and sticks out her tongue. She usually only wakes once during the night (anywhere from 3am to 5am) and goes back to sleep til 7 or 8am once she has eaten. When she gets up at 7 or 8, she usually falls back to sleep til 10am or so, after she's eaten. She loves bouncing on laps, being sung Baby Love by The Supremes, and staring at lights of any kind (especially if they're reflecing off a picture frame). She's super serious when she's pooping and when she's in the bath tub. She grasps onto our fingers so tightly when we're feeding her a bottle. She loves to talk to her fishy's (on her swing) and yells at them when they stop spinning. She always falls asleep in her car seat, though sometimes I have to sing a few verses of the ABC song first. She's just beginning to enjoy spending time in her carrier, and typically falls asleep while in it. Her hair sometimes looks dirty blonde, sometimes looks brown and sometimes looks red. She's got the biggest dark blue eyes that I have ever seen on someone so little. She's pretty much perfect and we're madly in love with her.

This is my life!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Stalking the Mailman: Day 7

4 new packages today!! Only had to wait in line for 45 minutes to get them... Sigh.

Bringing our grand total up to:

11 packages
24 items
3 cards

This is my life!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Stalking the Mailman: Days 5 & 6

Yesterday I received 4 headbands for Little Miss Elle, a gift for Turkey Butt, and 2 gifts for my sister Aych.

Today I received Little Miss Elle's first Christmas tree ornament.

Bringing the grand totals up to:

Packages: 7
Items: 14
Christmas Cards Received: 3

This is my life.

P.S. It is super difficult to type with an over-tired, crying baby in your arms!

Little Miss Elle at 7 Weeks

This is my life!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Stalking the Mailman: Day 4?

So, finally my stalking has paid off a little. Yesterday, a.k.a Day 3, there was nothing. Sad. So sad. After waiting all weekend (Canada Post doesn't deliver on Saturday or Sunday), to find nothing waiting for me yesterday was a huge disappointment. Luckily I had 2 packages and 2 Christmas cards in the mail today. One is an oufit for Little Miss Elle while the other consists of a few scrapbook supplies for me (Project Life). Which brings our total up to:

3 packages
6 items received

This is my life!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Growing.

My, almost, 7 week old babe just moved up to Size 1 diapers! Yikes, how did she get so big? I'm amazed by all of the little changes that have been occurring in her. She loves hanging out with her fishy's in her swing! And she's babbling up a storm!! She has many story's that she shares with her fishy's - including yelling at them when the swing times out and the fish stop spinning.

Oh, and you would not believe the leg muscles on this kid! She stands on Turkey Butt's lap and can hold up her own body weight. Well, she leans her body against his chest but he doesn' hold her up at all! Less than 7 weeks old! She's amazing!!!!

This is my life!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Stalking the Mailman - Day Two

Yesterday (a.k.a. Day One) I received 1 package in the mail (from Amazon) that contained three items. All three items were gifts for others (two for Turkey Butt, one for Little Miss Elle). Today, Day Two, we had an empty mailbox. Sigh. This brings our grand total to:

1 package
3 items purchased

This is my life!

My List To Santa

It may or may not be a secret that I'm expecting 20+ (okay, more like 30+) items to arrive in the mail over the next week or two. What with Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday occurring shortly after I got some extra moolah (5 weeks of EI, paid out over a 2 week period), I was bound to do a little online shopping. Of course we all know that moderation is not something that I often practice so that little became a LOT! Oops.

That being said, I am quite positive that not a single item soon to arrive in my mailbox is actually for me. It's the sad fact of life for a Mama. Well, that and I just love buying gifts for people (esp. sweet hubby who acts like a kid in a candy store when you gift him a used t-shirt). Of course I do have my eye on a few enjoyable things for myself. I store them in my Favorites area on Etsy just incase I ever feel like splurging on myself.

So Santa, incase you were wondering what you could buy me this year (from Etsy of course) - here is a handy list for you:

Vintage Ornament Xmas Frame from Mmim
Love Dishtowel from Brookish
Mini Calendar from KaydenAshley
Airstream Notebook 3 pack from Red Tile Studio
I Love You Mug from Retrogalusa
Peas in a Pod Bracelet from Aden Creations
Thanks Santa, you're the best! This is my life!

P.S. Oh Santa, you didn't honestly think I would forget to include something for you did you?
Xmas Tree Cookies from Broken Road Farm

Protection

Let's talk about birth control. Personally, I have never been a fan. Perhaps this is because the only option that was ever offered to me was the Pill. I am thoroughly annoyed by the Pill. Seriously, if you can remember to take it at the exact same time, every single day - good on ya. But me? Not a chance in hell.

As I got older I started researching other options and, at the time, the IUD seemed like the best option for a forgetful girl like me. Have it implanted and forget about birth control for five years. Woot! Of course the eventual downside to this was no baby for the next 5 years. At the time that I was pondering this conundrum I was with a ho-hum (a.k.a. boring) boyfriend whom I didn't plan to have kids with, EVER! But upon further consideration, I didn't plan to spend the next 5 years of my life with him either. So, I decided against the IUD.

Then I met Turkey Butt, fell madly in love and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't shell out the big bucks for an IUD. I could definitely see a future with this man. One that included many, many babies!

Cut to present day. I just got home from my 6 week appointment with my OB-GYN. At this appointment he asked me about birth control. Now personally, I am SO ready for baby number two. Sweet hubby on the other hand says we have to wait a year before we start trying again. Fair enough. So, now I'm sitting here with a sample of the NuvaRing, prepared to do a little research on it before I put it to use.

Anyone out there in blog land have any luck with a certain method of birth control? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! This is my life...

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Kitchen Progress

Little Miss Elle had a good napping day. That being said, she's 6 weeks old so really I only got about 3 or 4 hours (total) to dedicate to cleaning the kitchen. Here are some photos of the progress I've made:
Waiting for my dishes to dry. It's takiing foooorrrreeeeevvvveeeerrrr.

Stove is clean. Counter is clean. Glass canisters are drying. Now I just need to look for a bread box at a thrift store.
Sorry that I forgot to get before photos of the cupboards. But this is my organized dishes cupboard.
My organized spice cupboard. Used a box that a stuffed animal came in to hold all the refill spice packages.
More organized baking/hot drink cupboard. Still could use a lot of work.
Got rid of all the half empty boxes of snacks and created the snack basket.
Still needs a lot of work but all my baking supplies are in the pink box (i.e. candles, cookie cutters, etc.). My plastic measuring cup (top right corner of photo) holds all my smaller measuring utensils.
Slow and steady wins the race... Or at least that is what I've heard. This is my life!

Cloth Diapering: Pre-folds

I finally got around to prepping my pre-folds (in my case, I boiled them) so I figured today I would give them a shot on Little Miss Elle.

My stash of (clean) cloth diapers that currently fit Little Miss Elle. 2 Fuzzibunz XS pocket diapers, 3 homemade All-In-Two's, 3 fitted diapers (one homemade, 2 Rearz), 11 newborn prefolds, and 4 diaper covers. 
This is a prefold. It's made up of a varying number of layers of absorbent material. The middle will always be the most absorbent and therefore have the most layers. This one happens to be 4X8X4 which means the middle has 8 layers while the two sides have 4 layers.
This is how I folded it today to use on Little Miss Elle. Let's call it the "tri-fold".
An example of a diaper cover that you would use with a prefold. I took these photos after Little Miss Elle was diapered and napping again so these aren't the exact ones on her.
I placed the tri-folded prefold into the diaper cover like this and then put it on Little Miss Elle like you would put on a disposable diaper. This diaper cover has velcro tabs.
So, I put a prefold onto the babe at 12:41pm.
The disposable that I had taken off was urine soaked.
She hasn't had a poopy diaper since approx. 9:15am.
She's very gassy so I wouldn't be surprised if I find a #2 in her prefold.
She drank approx. 1oz of formula before she fell back to sleep.
Cut to 1:51pm and Little Miss Elle has sprung a leak.

Upon closer inspection I realized that I didn't attach the velcro tight enough on the right side. This of course was the location of the leak. On a more positive note, the left side of her sleeper was perfectly dry so I know this epic fail was due to user error. Oh well, better luck next time.

This is my life!

Clean Up: Kitchen Style

The baby is asleep. I am not tired enough to nap.I went to the kitchen to disinfect bottles and found a leaking glass of bacon fat sitting in the sink. After a big sigh, I decided it was due time for a major kitchen clean up! Here are the BEFORE photos:

View of the kitchen (and bathroom door) from the dining room. Notice the cluttered stove area.
I've got to confess, I thought to take pictures after I had began cleaning. This is why the area to the left of the stove looks clean-ish.
The glass canisters with chalkboard labels haven't been cleaned since I got them. Which was before I started dating my hubby. Oops. They've been emptied, cleaned and are currently drying.
This area is to the right of the initial photo. On the right is our "pantry", the back wall (covered by the curtain) is for overstock items (i.e toilet paper from Costco) and our garbage sorting area, to the left is the laundry room entrance and the fridge.
Our toilet shelf turned into a pantry shelf. Will need to clean these jars and organize this area.
Our garbage sorting area is on the bottom and the shelf holds our Costco purchases, the breadmaker, and junk.
This closet sits to the left of the area in the above photo. It holds all of our appliances. Our clothes drying rack is currently blocking the laundry room door. P.S. We still don't have a washer or dryer in our laundry room. Sigh.
Last but not least, the area above the fridge needs some serious help.
Stay tuned for updates as this ovehaul progresses. This is my life...

Monday, November 28, 2011

I dislike pink.

The following tale will elaborate my dislike of the color pink:

Turkey Butt put Little Miss Elle in an all pink outfit this AM. Because of this, I wasn't careful with my spit cloth placement and oops she got spit up on her pink onesie. Oh, and since you have to change her anyways, could you please put her into her navy onesie? It looks much nicer with the bubblegum pink pants you've put her in. Thanks : )



This is my life!

Chocolate.

I must stop eating chocolate bars for every meal. Seriously. I'm sitting here at 9:30am, eating a Crispy Crunch bar that I found lying by the couch. It's not even satisfying, it's just something to eat within arm's reach. I really must stop eating chocolate bars for breakfast.... at least I will once my house is rid of them. Don't want that King Size Coffee Crisp or the box of 10 "Mars Bars" to go to waste now do we? Sigh.

This is my life...

Saturday, November 26, 2011

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Today while Little Miss Elle was sleeping, I did a Christmas photo shoot of the babe. I used various props (stockings, ornament balls, xmas decor) as well as various locations (laundry basket, rocking chair). I then used Picnik to turn the photo's into Christmas cards for my loved ones. So far I have 4 different cards created and I simply cannot choose which I like the best. *Insert consultation with Turkey Butt* Okay, we've both agreed on a favorite so I will show you the ones that didn't make the cut:







And just for fun, our (mine & my sister Aych's) holiday photo from last year:



and our Christmas card from last year:


from Gwen Marie Designs

This is my life!

Elodie at 5 Weeks


This is my life!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

One Month!

Big Teddy was given to me by my Diddy the day I was born.

Elodie turned one month old on November 18, 2011. I can not believe that my little Muffy is a month old already. Boy does time fly when you're having fun! Yesterday we went to the Dr's for her one month check up. My babe now weighs 8lbs and is approximately 55cm long (21.7 inches).

After the appointment, we went for a drive so that little Miss Muffet could take a nap - she sleeps so easily in her car seat! I went to two baby stores and bought her all kinds of new goodies! I guess I could say they were one month gifts but really I just like shopping for baby stuff. I really don't remember the last time I bought something for me. Anyway, I bought her a new hooded towel, 7 Sandra Boynton board books, a sleeping wedge (luckily it was used and only $6 because I don't think it'll work for our squirming baby), a pacifier clip, some clothes and a couple newborn sized cloth diapers.

This is my life!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Elodie at Four Weeks


Yesterday my sweet baby girl was four weeks old! We were lucky enough to spend time with her Auntie Aych. So far, my lovely sister has been able to visit every Tuesday of Elodie's life (and other days during the week as well). Life as a Mommy is certainly not easy but it is so amazingly worth it. I look forward to every single moment that I get to spend with my sweet little bundle of joy! This is my life!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Cloth Diapering

Turkey Butt and I had this idealistic idea that we would cloth diaper our baby. I went online and purchased used diapers. I researched the different types of diapers, how to clean them, how many you need, pros & cons, etc. I even have a wonderful friend who makes cloth diapers and gifted me a dozen or more when Elodie was born. Fast forward to four weeks after her birth and we've only cloth diapered her twice. Believe me, it's not because we don't want to or that it's too much work. The fact of the matter is that six months after we've moved into our current apartment we are still waiting for the washer our landlord promised us. Honestly, what's the point of cloth diapering if you have no cost efficient way to launder them? I say cost efficient because our current laundry situation involves one old washer and one old dryer in a building frequented by 30+ tenants. So when you take into account the fact that it costs $1.25/load and for each load of dirty cloth diapers you have to do a cold rinse followed by a hot wash and another cold rinse. That would add up quickly. Probably a lot more quickly than disposable diapers do! Add to that the fact that the washer is notoriously bad, awful, horrible at cleaning anything. Sigh. Until the time when we can cloth diaper on a full time basis, here's an adorable photo of Little Miss Muffett in a cloth diaper (and cover)!


This is my life!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

My Caged Animal


This is my life!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Baby Love

I am overwhelmed with love for my perfect little baby. The one who arch's her head back and puckers her lips in her sleep. The one who pecks her Daddy's nose like a little chick when she's hungry. The one who nuzzles her head into her Mama's neck and wiggles til she has her head near her Mama's heart. The one who "throws gang signs" when she gets startled in her sleep. The one who, at this exact moment, is sound asleep with her entire right arm hanging out through the bars of her crib. The one who stares intently at her Daddy like he's the most amazing, interesting and entertaining man she has ever seen (I happen to agree with her). The one who melts my heart, blurs my painful labour memories and makes me desperately yearn for another baby - already.

Daddy is so cool!

Kisses, kisses baby-o!

I love you Muffy! You have made us the happiest people in the world! This is my life <3

Elodie at Three Weeks Old


Elodie turned three weeks old on November 8th. She was having a fussy day - the kind in which she was only happy when being walked while being walked around the apartment. Luckily for me, her Auntie Aych showed up in the early afternoon and gave me a break from all the pacing! Then later that evening she had a bath, what a funny kid she is in the tub. She doesn't cry anymore but she does contort her body in mysterious ways in order to try and get out of the water. So serious! Love that kiddo!

This is my life!

Elodie at Two Weeks Old


On November 1st Little Miss Elle turned two weeks old! She went for another Dr's appt at which we found out she was back to her birth weight (6lbs11oz) and was measuring 52cm long! Again she was alert and awake and not fussy. That evening Little Miss Muffett and I went for our first outing, just the two of us! We drove a few towns over to visit with my parentals, a.k.a. Grampie & Nanny Beth.

This is my life!

Elodie at One Week Old!


On October 25th, my little one was a week old. That day she went to her first Dr's appt! She got all dressed up in a navy dress with cherry's on it and navy leggings. She was awake and alert and not fussy throughout the entire visit at the Clinic. Oh, and the medical office assistants were all in LOVE with her. But gosh, who wouldn't love that squishy face?

This is my life!

Elodie's Birth Day


So, better late than never... I hope to keep track of Elodie at certain week and month milestones.

October 18th, 2011 at 10:55pm - I got to see my baby girl for the first time! The nurse brought her to Turkey Butt and then he showed her to me while the Dr's were stitching up my belly. He then passed her to me, and although it was a fleeting moment, it was wonderful just the same. Then Turkey Butt and the baby left and I was wheeled off to Recovery. While in Recovery, Turkey Butt brought Elodie to visit with me again but they were only there for a minute or two before I became nauseous and they had to leave so that I could vomit. Again. Those two short moments were all that I got to see of my babe on her birth day!

This is my life!

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