Absent!

Oops, I've been a little M.I.A. from this blog again. Sorry everyone! Incase you didn't hear, I've been busy trying to get my cloth diaper shop up and running. Very exciting stuff! I'm going to do my part to make cloth diapering a less intimidating and less expensive option for parent's in the Annapolis Valley (or anywhere else for that matter)! If this is news to you, please check out the shop's Facebook page, Elodie's Dipes & Wipes, email me at: dipesandwipes@gmail.com, or check out the shop's blog here!

In other news (point form style):

- Elodie is officially 6 months old as of 10:55pm last night. Where has the time gone? Seriously! Here is her six month photo with Big Teddy:

Like our new-to-us patio furniture? Courtesy of my in-laws! Thanks Nanny & Grampie I.

- Our roof has finally been replaced. Another task to check off our massive you-just-bought-a-100+-year-old-house list. Phew! And, today my Grampie (Elodie's GaGa) is supposed to stop by and install our patio railing and privacy fence. So exciting! Turkey Butt and I have been doing some painting touch up's on the fence posts while the weather has been nice.

- Poor Adora Poop Face is finally starting to mellow out after three loud days of roofing. Poor dog is such a scaredy "cat"! Oh, and what we thought were her food allergies ended up not being so. Best guess is she had an allergic reaction to the flea bites - though we don't know the reason for her pulling her hair out in the first place and therefore inviting the fleas to feast on her. But it doesn't really matter right now because all her hair has grown back in and she is back to being our completely adorable, mopey dog! Seriously, she's the Eeyore of dog's!

- Turkey Butt is loving his military training! We were lucky enough to have him home for a week and a half straight but he's back to the base on Friday. I see big things in his future with the Canadian Forces and I couldn't be happier for him!

- Little Miss Elle is almost to the point where she can sit up without help. She says "Dada" alot - even when she's not upset (she only says MumMum when she's upset). She is trying her darndest to crawl but just doesn't have the upper arm strength yet. Oh, and still teething (since two months old, oye) but no teeth. I'll be very excited to see her with a cute little tooth. I'm not sure if her Soph (teething toy) will feel the same way though! What else? She stands holding on to something - like our fingers of the coffee table. She's slept 13 hours straight two nights in a row - but then reverted back to her previous sleep schedule. She is just, overall, a really pleasant baby and only fusses when she is tired or hungry. No complaints here! They really broke the mold when they made this blue eyed cutie:

Photo courtesy of AVH Photography!

- And little ole me? Well, I'm busy buying stock for the new shop, loving on my family, and looking after an adorable little boy a few days a week. It certainly keeps me busy and if you know me, you know that's the way I like it!

This is my life!

Easter? So what?!

Am I a bad parent for skipping Easter celebrations this year? For starters, I hate Easter! Really. As a non-religious person I find it completely pointless. I hate pastel colours and milk chocolate and bunnies. Seriously! A big, scary white bunny bringing baskets of candy is nowhere near as adorable as a fat man in a red suit coming down your chimney to bring you gifts. I mean really. All the Easter Bunny does is hop. And there's nothing very fun about that now is there? I can hope. Enough said. Anyway, not only do I hate Easter but my sweet hubby Turkey Butt was on base the entire long weekend (Thursday til whenever we pick him up today - Monday). Where's the fun in celebrating a holiday when the only person to appreciate it can't even be here. The guy is missing enough, I don't need him calling home and me being like, Oh hey hun, you missed it, we had this big super awesome easter celebration without you. Oh, and did I mention that Elodie is only 5.5 months old and couldn't given a crap if she has a basket full of goodies outside her bedroom door?

Considering all of these things, why is it then that I feel like a bad parent for not celebrating her first Easter? I'm also feeling a little bad for not celebrating her first St. Patrick's Day but again, hubby was away, I don't drink and we're not Irish! You know where my guilt comes from? It comes from following the blogs of these perfect little mama's and their perfect little newborns. I have two in mind in which the babies are younger than Elodie, the Mama's look better than I did before I ever got pregnant, and they have adorable little outfits for every damn holiday. As adorable as it is, it's kind of annoying too. I have a newborn so I know that looking perfect and well-rested and getting a baby (no matter how good natured) to sit still long enough to get a perfect photo of them is hard. I just wish they'd be a little more honest and admit that. Show the photo of the baby spitting up all over their perfect little First Easter outfit. Maybe then I won't have to feel so damn guilty about my lack of holiday parenting, my messy house, my unwashed hair, and the spit up stains on my daughter's onesie. That is all. This is my life.

So Much Going On Right Now!

I keep meaning to update this regularly and I keep failing miserably. In my defense, it has been very busy around here. Some of you may or may not have known that when Turkey Butt was assigned to his BMQ his civilian job fired him (such a big no-no). That meant that for awhile, his only income was from his 3 days a week on base. After searching and searching for another civilian job - he was offered two and opted to start work last week at a Cheese Factory in a town that is about a 20 minute drive away. For me, this meant that he was not only on base all weekend, but he would leave for work each weekday at 7:20am and not get home until 5pm. By the time Turkey Butt arrived home, it was pretty much time to start Elodie's bedtime routine. Needless to say, it has been hectic around here.

Did I mention that I recently got accepted into the Business Administration program at the local Community College? Well I did. Which should be great. Except I kept flip flopping about whether or not I should do it. On one hand, I'd love a career change and am planning to open my own business in the Fall so the practical knowledge would be great. On the other hand, can we afford for me to not be working for the next two years? Do I want to put off trying for Baby # 2 for at least two or three years while I finish school and get settled into a job in my field? So many what if's... And if you know me, you know that I hate to make a decision.

And this is where Friday comes into play. Friday afternoon I get a text from Turkey Butt. It was something along the lines of,

Hey, I got paid $### by the military.

And guess what? That the amount he got paid was a whole $700 less than I was expecting it to be! First off he was misinformed about how much he would be receiving as a day's pay, and secondly they only paid him for the first two weeks of this month instead of for the entire month. Seriously? It was bad enough when they decided not to pay him on the 15th, but I was then expecting he'd just get twice the money on the 30th. But no. Course not. Anyway, cut to later on that afternoon when I got my usual post- work day phone call from Turkey Butt. It went something like this...

Hey, the factory just went out of business and we all got laid off.

Yup. This is what we're dealing with around here. It's enough to make me pull my hair out to be honest. Especially since we just spent more money than usual on frivolous items to celebrate our 2nd anniversary thinking we were getting a big cheque from the military and a weekly cheque from the Cheese Factory. Ohhhhh boy are we just barely scraping by. But I guess there's one good(?) thing to come out of this - my mind has definitely been made for me on this school situation. We don't even have the money for me to reserve my seat so I'm thinking we definitely won't be able to afford for me to not be working for two years. Oh well. I can always try again in a few years when/if we're more financially stable.

On another note I might start looking after a sweet little one year old boy a few days a week. I'm enjoying doing a little baby proofing/ rearranging to make our house better suited for two busy little ones to play! If I can manage to get it finished today I will try to add some pictures of the play area I've created in our Dining Room. Oh fun, fun, fun! This is my life!

Overheard in the Tub

Turkey Butt to Little Miss Elle: "The rubber ducky is floating because he's buoyant. Remember we learned about buoyancy?!"

Love.

This is my life.

The Reasons That I've Been Neglecting My Blog.

I know, I know - I have been M.I.A. lately. I apologize! Incase you were wondering what I`ve been doing with my time these days, here`s a rundown:

- Turkey Butt is no longer working his civilian job and his BMQ is only Friday to Sunday at the moment so I`ve been enjoying spending extra time with him. I especially love to watch him and Little Miss Elle interacting with each other:

Action Shot.

- A local gym was having a 10 days for $10 deal so I decided it was time I got my butt in gear and tried to lose a little baby weight. So far I`m really enjoying it and am attempting to find the money in my budget to get a membership once my 10 days are up.
- Baking. I`ve been a baking queen! It`s pretty much the only housewifely duty that I truly enjoy. Around this house you wouldn`t be hard pressed to find brown bread, chocolate brownies with peanut butter icing:

This is what happens when you cannot wait for it to cool down first...

, apple sauce, banana chocolate chip muffins, or peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter icing to name a few. Oh, and it is so much fun eating all of these delectable items.
- My lovely friend Jay has introduced me to this magical thing called a Diaper Co-op. Long story short, items are offered at wholesale prices if a minimum amount is ordered. I`m addicted. So addicted. I don`t even know where the money comes from that is paying for this obsession - let`s just say it is fabulous and I am never ever paying retail, for a cloth diaper or home pregnancy test or wooden toys, again. Love!
- My sweet sissy Aych had her 24th birthday on Friday. Sadly she came down with the flu and her party was postponed til Sunday night and my Mama had to miss it (she was down for the weekend). Luckily the party was still quite spectacular and well worth the extra effort that went into it.

The birthday banner that I made for her!

As luck would have it, Turkey Butt arrived home from his BMQ just as my Mama was packing up her vehicle to go. This was a wonderful surprise - a) because I missed him so desperately and b) because the Little Miss had just woken up from her nap and I hadn`t accomplished anything party related except for the decorating and the cupcakes. The Little Miss slept through most of the party:

It was her second one in as many nights (my childhood babysitter celebrated her 60th with a big surprise party the night before) and I think she was all partied out.
- Speaking of the Little Miss, she is changing and growing so much lately. She now waves and gives kisses (especially to her rubber duckies in the tub). She has started her first veggie (avocado) and is not a very big fan of it:

At all... The faces this kid makes, sigh! She is very quickly approaching the 5 month marker and she is just a delight to be around 95% of the time. Love. Her.
Anyway, those are a few of the things that have kept me from blogging much lately. I hope to get back into the swing of things this week perhaps. There may just be a recipe or a beauty product review in your not too distant future! This is my life!

Exhaustion.

Elodie is still screaming. Happy screaming, sad screaming, angry screaming. Sigh. I'm exhausted! I've been lucky enough to have Turkey Butt home more than usual the last few days but have his first weekend of BMQ quickly approaching.

I've been attempting to use Turkey Butt's extra time around the house to get a few things done. The main thing that I have been dying to complete is Little Miss Elle's bedroom. I'm happy to say that, aside from a few hours that I need to focus on organizing my craft supplies, I am almost finished. Looking around it today I am shocked to see how many ideas I picked up from Pinterest. Love Pinterest. I hope to be able to show everyone in blog land some of my Pinterest projects soon.

On top of Elodie's room, I have a very important birthday coming up! My very favorite (and only) sister in the whole wide world, the lovely Aych, is celebrating her birthday in 8 days. I have offered to throw her a little family birthday gathering and am loving the ideas I'm planning for it. Can't give anything away incase she reads this, but again, I love Pinterest. This is my life.

Funny Thing About Parenting...

The funny thing about parenting is that just as you think you've scored a small victory, an overwhelming defeat is thrown at you. Last night Elodie slept from 7pm til 7am only waking up once. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever because a good night usually has her waking up 4 or 5 times throughout the night. I let myself think, hey this was nice. This parenting thing might not be so difficult afterall...

And then.......

Then today she refused to nap for more than half an hour at a time. From approx. 3pm to 6pm she screamed any time I put her down for a second. But it didn't end there, if I held her she'd cry and try to wiggle out of my arms. So I'd set her down, and she'd scream again. For 3 hours straight! Finally it was nearing her bedtime and gosh, she must be tired since she hadn't napped. But no! It is 10pm now and I've been trying to put her down for the last 3 hours. Once she fell asleep for about 20 minutes. Then the screaming continued. Screaming so loud she was losing her voice mid-scream. So I would go and retrieve her from bed, try to feed her a bottle, and then try to put her down again. Let's just say she is still awake.

Turkey Butt came home from work about ten minutes ago and wouldn't you know, she didn't scream for the first 5 minutes he was here. I felt like a drama queen. But then the screaming began. And so it continued until he brought her into the tub with him to splash around. I can only hope she goes to sleep soon because I am exhausted and get to do this "single" parenting thing again tomorrow. I am dreading the day that Turkey Butt begins his BMQ and is gone for a minium of 48 hours at a time. This is my life and I love it but oh gosh, this is my life...

Ellie Belly & Mama's Snowy Love Day

First time in the snow - any other time she's been covered in her car seat on the way to and from the Jeep.

Little Miss Elle & Elle :)

In the doorway of our new house!

Back inside - Baby-o getting kisses from her Mama. Did you know that Mama Kisses are the best kisses because they're filled with love? True story!

Thanks Jay for letting us borrow your little man's Jolly Jumper. She loves it.

Too cute for words.

Yayyy, cloth diapers. This is a One Size FuzziBunz - my current favs. How cute?

Because Turkey Butt works tomorrow on the actual Valentine's Day, we are celebrating today. Unfortunately Turkey Butt had to shovel the driveway, pick up his kit (uniform, etc) from the base, and get groceries for our Love Day Supper. Ellie Belly and I had some pre-nap fun without him though. This is my life!

P.S. Little Miss Elle got me the sweetest Valentine's day card (thank you Turkey Butt). I literally bawled when I read it. It talks about how "she" thinks I'm the perfect Mom to guide, teach and motivate her through her wonderful life. It also thanks me for all the hugs, kisses and songs I share with her each day. Gah. After a rough, nap-less day yesterday - this was such a nice thing to read.

Sleep Schedules.

Getting Little Miss Elle on a sleep schedule is an up and down battle. Already. Even though I'm only two days into it. This daughter of mine, on a good day, goes to bed around 11pm , gets up twice during the night (usually 3:30 and 6:15), and is up for good at 7:30am. On a bad day you ask? Well, on a bad day she goes to bed closer to 3am, is up four or five times during the night, and is still up for good at 7:30am.

As for the up's and down's of sleep training:

Thurs Night: To bed at 7:30pm. Up 4 or 5 times during the night.

Friday: Up at 6:15am. Tucked into bed with me and slept til 8:20am. Napped for an hour in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and another hour in the early evening.

Friday Night: To bed at 8pm. Up 10 to 15 times during the night.

Saturday: Up for the day around 7am. Didn't nap for more than 10-15 minutes at a time all day.

Saturday Night: To bed at 7:15pm. Up only twice during the night.

Sunday: Up for the day at 7:30am. So far she has had one 45 minute nap.

As you can see, it's a work in progress. I'm still trying to get a feel from her when she naturally feels tired during the day so that I can plan her nap times for then. Once I get this worked out, I will have to work on getting her to fall asleep on her own (a.k.a. without a bottle in her mouth). One step at a time though. This is my life.

Update.

Sorry for being so absent lately. We've been busy packing and moving and living - without the internet or my cellphone. Here is our update:

Turkey Butt is officially a member of the Canadian Forces Reserves as of last Thursday. He is taking his road test in less than an hour and fingers crossed by 11am I won't have to play chauffeur any more. He's still cooking but hopes to be out of there ASAP - or June at the latest.

Ellie Belly is creeping up on her 4 month milestone. She had this amazing growth spurt where she became so long (but still so slim) and now in the past few days she is finally starting to fill out. such a solid babe, just like her Mama was :). She loves to stand while clasping onto any willing fingers and can even pull herself up from her knees to a standing position. She talks alot, especially if someone is making eye contact with her - sometimes her words even resemble the sounds of real words which we obviously adore. She is even beginning to sing along (ahhh babb bahh's) to some of her favorite songs - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Goodnight Sweetheart, Twinkle Twinkle, Baby Beluga, and the ABC song. Her hair is getting long (minus the bald spot she's created on the back of her head from rubbing it back and forth against her crib bedding) and darker blonde. Though occasionally it still looks reddish. Oh, and she is finally into cloth diapers 24/7. My favorites being One-Size FuzziBunz and Size One Sunbaby's.

Adora is slowly getting used to her new house. The transition was made easier by the woodstove which she loves lying in front of - some mountain dog, eh? She is battling ear infections in both ears like a pro and has been diagnosed with an Aural Hematoma in her right ear. We considered surgery but have instead opted to give it time to heal naturally. So far the medicine she's taking for her ear infections has been easing the amount of fluid in her ear. Other than that, Adora is Adora - into everything, wildly playful at times though usually lazy, and pretty darn lovable. You know, when she's not making me tear my hair out because I've come home to chewed up baby toys, cloth diapers, trash, etc.

And me? Well I've been busy with the new house. We have officially been living in our dream house for almost two weeks now. It is pretty darn amazing, but also a lot of work. I don't know that I'll ever get ahead in my laundering or dusting. Just keeping the fire in the woodstove going is a chore in itself. Especially on days when i'd rather stay in bed - in Turkey Butt's dirty sweats for the 6th day in a row. A baby who often gets up 5 or 6 times through the night will do that to you. Pure exhaustion I tell you. I'll be happy when Turkey Butt can drive himself to and from work so that I can try to get Little Miss Elle on a sleep schedule. I'm thinking about trying the no-tears method. The few times that she's been exhausted and I've had things to do, I've tried to let her cry it out but she just becomes catatonic - screaming, can't catch her breath, coughing fits. Clearly it's not working. That being said, my attempts at the no-tears method have resulted in 15 to 20 minute cat naps if I'm lucky. Oh happy medium, I will find you.

As usual, this is my life!

Three Months

My sweet Ellie Belly is now officially three months old. A quarter of a year flew by oh so quickly! She stands, laughs, babbles, giggles, smiles, pounds her fists on the table, drools up a storm, and recognizes Turkey Butt & I. She's pretty amazing - even if she does keep me up til 3am and get Turkey Butt up for the day at 7am. This is my life :)

Thirteen.

This is my life.

Pinterest Inspired Prints for Elle's Room

A little ode to Little Miss Elle's birthdate - October 18th.

Oh baby - Little Miss Elle's birth details.

Luckily there is a deal on online photo prints at Walmart right now! This is my life!

12 Weeks

Love that mischevious grin! This is my life.

Eleven Weeks Old

It's a brand new year and my baby girl is now 11 weeks old! My poor squishy face has been fighting a cold since Christmas. Lots of snot and teeny little sad coughs. Sigh. Luckily she enjoys cuddling with her Mama when she's not feeling well. But I hope she gets better soon - her sleep schedule has been out of whack and I need some sleep. Turkey Butt and I are so excited to move the little miss into our new home. She'll have a big bedroom all to herself and a massive wal-in closet that I plan to turn into a secret play area or book nook when she gets older. Anyway, this is my life :)

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!

Ten Weeks Old

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

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....

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...)