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!

Love Notes

I am the kind of person who requires a lot of affection or else I worry that I'm not loved anymore. Turkey Butt is the kind of guy who isn't openly affectionate or quick to tell me how much he loves me or that he thinks I'm beautiful. I know he loves me but it's easy to get doubtful when he's gone so much and so busy when he's home. We're working on it.

One way that he has always been good at expressing his feelings is through his writing. So, while he's away this weekend and I am missing him desperately I will read and re-read passages from his little love notes to me, like this one:

"You have given me all that I could ever ask for and more than I could ever want!" - from his Valentine's Day card to me from this year.

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.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

If you know me, you know how much I love chocolate! I have to get my fix every day or I feel like something is missing from my life. Sometimes I have a hard time finding something and resort to eating a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I have a secret stash of chocolate bars from days passed when Turkey Butt was feeling chocolate bar generous. You see, I don't necessarily need a lot of chocolate each day - just enough to satisfy my craving. So if my sweet hubby comes home with a handful of Wunderbar's for me, I may eat one then and stash the rest for another time.

Lately I have been a baking machine so Turkey Butt is sure to keep my pantry stocked with chocolate (and other baking supplies) so that he can eat some baked goodness too. Today I dug into a bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I always bake with these and never milk chocolate chips - but that's just me) and whipped up some Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies! Here's the recipe that I use:

Mama's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

2 or 3 bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar and butter together. Add beaten egg and mix until fluffy. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla - beat until well mixed. Sift the baking soda, salt and flour together. Add to the banana mixture and beat only until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease, spray, or put muffin papers into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12.

____________________________________________________________________

Yup, that's my recipe! Super easy and super delicious. This time around I used 2 and a half bananas because that was what I had. In the past I've done it with 3 bananas and with 1 and a half bananas. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference. This time around I also used muffin papers - I sure do hate the clean up afterwords if I don't - and I find that it makes more muffins that way. I got 16 muffins when I made it today. They come out soft, warm and gooey in the centre with a crisp top. And they are so good. But don't take my word for it - after sending the following text message to Turkey Butt (he was on the third floor working out):

Wait, what's that? Banana chocolate chip muffins, warm out of the oven? You don't say!

I immediately heard a thump thump thump as he came running down the two flights of stairs and straight to our kitchen! This is my life!

P.S. Just for fun...

Turkey Butt runs on the treadmill in his tactical vest (which is full of 30lbs of weights from his gym) while wearing his gas mask. He's a little nervous because he has to spend 6 hours in a gas hut during his birthday weekend. Poor guy!

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!

And Repeat.

It took Turkey Butt more than a year to make it through the Canadian Forces application process and be sworn in. Now things are moving far too quickly. He just called me from the base after his night there ended. He phoned to tell me that they worked their butts off (another new recruit vomited and then passed out), and that he'll start his on base training in a few weeks. This means that from March til July he will be living on base all weekend, every weekend. Gah! Turkey Butt and I have been lucky during our relationship that we've never spent more than a few days apart (I went to Maine for a few days without him - it was hell). I cannot imagine having him so close yet unable to see him so frequently. I just have to keep repeating to myself that he's doing this so that we (he, Elodie, and I) can have a better life.

The really sad part is that this is just the beginning of the Canadian Forces keeping us apart. Turkey Butt has already informed me that he would love to do a tour of duty overseas if he is given the opportunity. Oye. Not to mention any course/ training that he'll choose to do that may keep him away. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. Sigh. This is my life.

Love

My sweet hubby phoned from work tonight to whisper "Good Night" to Little Miss Elle as she was falling asleep in her crib. I love that man. Love. Him. Sigh... This is my life!

"I'm in the Army, Bay"

Sweet hubby went to the base to pick up his kit yesterday. I was expecing him to come home with a uniform and maybe a couple t-shirts for PT (physical training). Instead he cam home with this:

I cannot even tell you everything that was a part of his kit but I'll give you an idea : gas mask, snow shoes, arctic gear, shirts for PT, underwear, socks, gloves, air mattress, sleeping bag, parka, scarfs, canteens, cook stoves, etc. Speaking of gas masks,

... worst thing ever! Seriously. I was nauseous for hours after taking this baby off. Blah. Anyway, the Army sent my boy home with a whole sh!t load of stuff and he couldn't be happier. Me? I couldn't be more paranoid that Adora wouldn't use one of his new pairs of boots as a chew toy. Needless to say, I cleaned out the board game closet on the second floor and made Turkey Butt store his kit there.

Now where should I put the board games.... 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!

Fast Food Burgers

Let me confess something to you. I am addicted to McDonald's hamburgers. There. I said it. Because of this addiction, I thought that perhaps it would only be fair if I ate burgers from all the local fast food places to see if McD's burgers really are the best. Turkey Butt decided to join me and compare the "healthier" options from each place.

First up was A & W. I was a little disappointed by the burger selection - or lack thereof. I could order a Mama Burger for about $4. That seemed ridiculous to me for one measly burger with just ketchup on it. So I decided to get the Kid's Meal instead - $4.49+tax for a baby burger, mini pop and mini fries. The burger was small obviously, but it was good. The bun was far too big for the size of the burger, but it was alright. Certainly no McDonald's but it was alright. Turkey Butt decided to opt out of this review because the A & W outlet we went to didn't offer salads (his healthy meal of choice at McD's).

Let's score A & W:
Burger - B
Price - C-
Healthy Option - F
Overall Satisfaction - C

Next up we stopped at Harvey's. Again I was shocked by the price of a plain old burger. In this case it was $3.99+tax. I guess one thing it has going for it is you get to pick your ingredients from a Subway-esque tray in front of you. This didn't have much appeal for me as I only like ketchup on my burgers, but for someone else it'd be nice. Turkey Butt inquired about their salad offerings and was disappointed by their one and only option - a BLT salad. Instead he opted for a veggie burger. He wanted me to mention that he was offered a choice between a white bun or a whole wheat bun. This was only offered for the veggie burger but it was still nice to know it was an option. Turkey Butt would also like to mention what happened when he went into this particular Harvey's location: I guess he walks in and the entire staff is sitting at a table in the corner. He stands in the front at the counter for a\few minutes and no one got up to serve them. He (probably not so politely) asked them if they were all on a break or if someone might want to take his order. Eventually someone did but clearly slacked at their job. The fries were soggy with awful smelling, old cooking oil and my burger was still very pink on the inside. So pink that I couldn't even eat it for fear of getting food poisoning.

Let's score Harvey's:
Burger - F
Price - C-
Healthy Option - C
Overall Satisfaction - F

Until next time, 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!

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....

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!

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

All Nighters

My dear hubby is sick, sick, sick (potentially) with food poisoning. His illness has led to the creation of Super Mom! Super Mom can take care of hubby, baby and doggy - all at the same time. Super Mom is capable of anything, including rocking the baby to sleep with one arm while simultaneously spreading Cheez Whiz onto crackers (for sick hubby) with the other. No easy task if I do say so myself!

Now I'm giving up my night to sleep in (albeit only til 7am) so that sweet hubby can get some rest. Oh the joys of new parenthood - all nighters! This is my life.

Three Weeks With My Baby

At 10:55pm, my perfect little baby girl will 3 weeks old!! How the heck did that happen? I am honestly in awe of the fact that so much time has passed and I haven't done any irrevocable damage to my daughter. Well, at least not as far as I can tell!

It's amazing to me how quickly time flies when you're sleep deprived! Turkey Butt and I have devolopped a tag team approach when it comes to sleeping. One of us, usually him, takes baby duty for the first part of the evening (starting around 11pm) while the other holes up in the bedroom and catches up on some uninterrupted sleep. Then at sometime during the early morning hours (anywhere from 4:30 to 8:30) we switch. When the switch occurs typically depends on when Turkey Butt has to work. Baby duty, by the way, consists of diaper changes, feedings, sleeping on a make shift bed by the crib in the nursery, checking if the baby is still breathing, holding the sleeping baby because she refuses to sleep for more than 20 straight minutes in her crib, watching mind numbing amounts of YouTube videos while holding said sleeping baby, and fighting the urge to wake up your spouse early so that you can sleep in a real bed. Sounds like a pain in the butt, doesn't it? Whenever we explain it to people they, without fail, tell us about how they had the baby in their room or how they both got up with the baby - one doing diaper duty and one doing feeding duty. That's all well and good, and I'm glad it worked for them, but it didn't work for us. One night we really missed sleeping together so we both camped out on our makeshift bed by the crib. The problem with that? When the baby was up fussing, neither of us were getting any sleep. With Turkey Butt working 6 days a week and me being home all day with the babe, we couldn't both be completely sleep-deprived. I don't know, it works for us.

Now if only I could stop dreaming that the baby is in bed with me and about to suffocate! This dream occurs every time I go to sleep in our bedroom and it causes me to frantically tear through the bedding (or laundry on the bed) in search of my suffocating baby. Sometimes it's 15 minutes or more before I calmly remind myself that the baby is in her crib. Even then, I have to get up and go check on her in her crib to insure that she is really there and really breathing. Usually I wake up Turkey Butt in the process and I have to step over him to reach into the crib. One day during an afternoon nap I even imagined that I did find her in my bed and carried her (the invisible her) out to her crib and was shocked when I found the real baby was already asleep in the crib. But don't worry, I laid the invisible baby down in the crib right beside the real one and then went back to bed. Yup, Turkey Butt was a tad worried about my sanity after that one! Oh, and did I mention that these dreams occur on an hourly basis when I'm sleeping? Like last night, where I went to bed just before 11pm. Got up during the 11 o'clock hour, and the 12 o'clock hour and 1 and 2. Yeah... I think after that I might have actually fallen asleep til Turkey Butt woke me up to tag me in. But you get the picture. Welcome to parenthood!

This is my life!

Nesting.

Nesting instinct refers to an instinct or urge in pregnant animals (including humans) to prepare a home for the upcoming newborn.

Yesterday I read a lot on the subject of nesting. No wonder, considering that yesterday the thought of getting off the couch to pee seemed overwhelming yesterday. I really had nothing to do to pass the time except look up random pregnancy facts/expectations on the internet. I even told Turkey Butt about the nesting concept and we both had a good laugh about how I most definitely was NOT nesting.

Now let's jump ahead to about 10pm last night. Turkey Butt is asleep in bed and I am in the living room updating the photos in all of our frames to wedding pictures. While watching Season 4 of Dexter. While creating a frame wall in the living room. While writing comments in our wedding photo album. While filling out as much of Little Miss Elle's baby book as I can considering she hasn't arrived yet.

Yup, I went to bed shortly after 2am thinking perhaps I was nesting, though it was probably a random burst of energy due to the two large glasses of iced tea I'd had post-9pm. But then I woke up this morning with a strong urge to put away our clean clothes. Side note: They've been clean since Sunday AM and have been sitting in the laundry hamper, not folded, since. Anyways, I only got a little discouraged when I rolled out of bed to find that Turkey Butt had dumped the whole basket onto the floor with our dirty clothes (Why Turkey Butt? Why?). By discouraged I mean I ate 4 chocolate chip cookies and caught up on life in blog world. But now, after making myself another tall glass of iced tea, I am ready to put the clothes away. And make my bed. And put away the clean dishes that have been air drying in the sink all week. And bag up the extra winter baby clothes that have been handed down to me (to be taken to a consignment shop). And. And. And. And.

.... I might just be nesting.

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This is my life.

The Difference A Year Can Make

One year ago today...
- We were still enjoying the secret that was our first pregnancy
- I enjoyed a turkey dinner at my grandparents house
- Turkey Butt was at work
-We were hosting a HUGE turkey dinner the following day at the cottage
- I arrived home and noticed I was spotting blood
- I called Turkey Butt up in a fit of tears saying, "I think something is wrong with Bun!"
- I called my Mama, let her in on our pregnancy secret, then told her the problem
- She called my sister to take me to the ER
- Turkey Butt met us at the ER
- We were there for hours before someone confirmed the worst, I was miscarrying our precious little Bun...

Today...
- Turkey Butt has to work
- We have no turkey dinner plans this year
- Turkey Butt and I are now an old married couple (a whole week and two days)
- Oh, and I am 37 weeks pregnant with Pumpkin!

It's amazing the difference a year can make! We will never ever forget our precious Bun, or the heartaache we shared over losing her/him. That being said, if we hadn't lost Bun we'd never have had Pumpkin. We are so madly in love with the baby girl that I am growing inside of me right now - I couldn't imagine my life without her. It's such a tricky situation - but I just have to believe that everything happens for a reason and it only made us stronger and more in love!

Happy Turkey Day to my fellow Canadians! This is my life!