Aaaaaaaand We're Off!

Alright. So I packed. It was by the skin of my teeth (What is with that expression anyways? If you have teeth skin then I think you need to re-think your dental hygiene), but I got everything packed. And sweet little 7pound, 6ounce baby Jesus in the manger, it's a good thing we're taking a van on this trip.

I've written posts for every day next week - yay me! I should go on vaca more often - at least you would get more reliable posts!

Anyways - I'll miss you all, have a fab week. Be safe, healthy and happy till I return!

mwah

Some Things I've Learned Since Becoming a Mom

1. That it IS possible to have a two minute shower.

2. To appreciate these moments when she doesn't want anyone but me. When she's a teenager she'll probably want anyone BUT me.

3. That the house will always be messy. I need to get over it.

4. That it's amazing how quickly my clothes will become "vomit clothes."

5. That it's also amazing that it doesn't phase me to go to the grocery store in above mentioned vomit clothes.

6. That babies don't do anything before they're ready.

7. That socks don't stay on babies.

8. That she doesn't care that I've already changed 5 poopy diapers that day. Here comes another one.

9. That I will never remember to use the "$3 off" coupons for diapers, even if they're in my wallet. I need to quit wasting my time by collecting them all.

10. That it is worth getting up a million times when she's having a bad night, because the smile that spreads across her face when she sees that I've come to rescue her makes my heart melt every time.




And here she is this morning sitting up like a big girl in her Bumbo seat. Since I still haven't started packing, you'll note that she is calmly raising her arm as if to say "Can you please remember to take me, even if you forget everything else?"

Procrastination At Its Finest

It's like I am mentally and physically incapable of packing for our trip to Calgary. We leave on Friday morning. Not only do I have to pack for myself, remind husband about half the stuff he needs, and do things like remember to clean out the fridge, empty all the garbages, water the plants, and ask our neighbours to collect our mail, but I have a baby to pack for. And sweet merciful Lord, she requires more garbage than husband, myself, and a pack of boy scouts put together.
At first I was thinking "Oh this will be easy! We'll just grab some clothes, diapers, and the pack n' play and she'll be all set!"

Ha!

I forgot about a few things *ahem*, like: the monitor, wipes, baby powder, baby soap, her little bath thingie she lays on, her sun hat, the stroller, the car seat, the diaper bag, the Snugli, the Bumbo seat, her bouncy seat, toys, books, her brush, the stuff to clean her pierced ears, receiving blankets, her fuzzy blanket, the blanket she sleeps with, the sun shades for the van, the mirror so that we can see her when she's facing backwards...the list goes on and on.

And of course, I have other things to do over the next couple days as well, but I just can not force myself to pack. To prove my point - I can hear some cat-murdering music coming out of the tv that involves a pan flute, and has been screeching for about 15 minutes, but as soon as I post this I'm actually going to go park my butt on a chair to watch it. Laaaaaaame.



Oh, and Terri - I absolutely will do that blog idea you had one day. Though these days, my favourite songs consist of anything that includes the word "baby" so that I can sing them to E.

I'm Guest-Posting Today!

Hello Lovelies,

Today I've done a post over at The Princess Diaries, as my dear Princess in living in a bit of a whirlwind at the moment.
Come check it out if you are so inclined!

I'll be back here tomorrow.

Ali

A Stolen Meme

I stole…yes, STOLE, this meme from Slyde’s blog. Because I’m bad ass like that.

It’s about the relationship between the husband and I, so here goes:

1. What is his name?
Christopher, aka Chris, aka The Husband.

2. Who eats more?
Meal wise it’s him, and he eats like someone is going to steal the food right off his plate. But eating junk throughout the day? That’s all me.

3. Who said, “I love you” first?
It was me. And it was awkward. And it was over the phone. And I was 14 years old, so I am totally entitled to the lameness that comes with that.

4. Who is taller?
He is, by about 6 inches or so. No offense to shorter men, but I'm into that “feeling safe in his arms and leaning my head on his chest” scenario. Not so much “feeling safe in his arms and leaning my head on the top of his skull.”

5. Who drives most when you are out together?
He does, which is totally beyond me, because I have got to be the most annoying backseat driver ever. I can’t go 10 seconds without telling him something he’s doing wrong. But in my defense, the man gets lost going down the street we live on.

6. Who is more sensitive?
Me. I’m a total emotional roller coaster...though since the baby was born I’ve caught him looking at us with tears in his eyes more than once.

7. Who does the laundry?
*snort*

Me. He’s not permitted to wash anything, except maybe a load of his uniforms once every six months or so when I’m feeling too lazy.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
He does. Because that’s the side closest to the door, and if one of us is going to get slaughtered in the night, it’s not going to be me! Okay, I realize how bad that must sound - but he’s a man, so he should be able to fight off any intruder…right?

9. Who pays the bills?
I do. He doesn’t even know if there is 20 dollars in his bank account without asking me.

10. Who cooks more?
I am a shitty cook. Plus, I’m really lazy when it comes to meals, so unless you want to have a handful of crackers and a can of Pepsi at about 9pm, it’s best to eat what he makes. He’s dynamite in the kitchen.

11. Who is more stubborn?
Me. In an argument, he's like Bambi, and I'm like some sort of crazed, possessed dragon.

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong?
He used to…but now it’s me. When I’m the one who always has to be right, it’s not easy to hide the fact that sometimes I’m really wrong.

13. Who has more siblings?
I’ve got a brother, he’s got a sister. Tie!

14. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Not to emasculate him or anything, but that would be me. But in his defense that is all because of our personalities, he’s laid back and I’m high-strung. Things have to be my way.

15. What do you like to do together?
Mostly we just like to actually be together. We don't have to be doing anything particularly exciting, because it's rare that we actually have the opportunity to be around each other.

16. Who eats more sweets?
I win hands down; I’ll be chowing down on a Mr. Big bar that I’m dipping in ice cream and washing down with a two litre of pop, and he’ll be sipping a glass of water.

17. Guilty Pleasures?
Maybe John and Kate Plus 8? I've got him hooked.

18. How did you meet?
High school. We started “going out” after my first month of grade 9, and the rest is history.

19. Who asked whom out first?
He asked me out over the phone. The funny part was that Monica was over when he did it, and when he asked me I told him to hang on while I thought about it (then covered the phone with my hand and screamed like a maniac at her because I was so excited – I’d already been in love with the boy for like 2 years) then calmly put the phone back up to my face and said “Yeah, I guess…”

20. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me first, and it was the stuff movies are made of. We both remember the line he used, and sometimes I get him to re-enact it, then I laugh because in hindsight it seems so lame, but I totally fell for it.

21. Who proposed?
He did. I’m a bit of a traditionalist in that sense – there’s no way I would have asked him.

22. His best features and qualities?
He’s got a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. Plus, he’s not too hard on the eyes.

I'm Leeeeeaving, Iiiiiiiin a Dodge Caravan...

Yeah, so I don't have a jet plane at my disposal, but my in-laws' van suits me just fine.

And I'm not actually leaving for Calgary yet, but rather next Friday, the 29th for a week-ish. It's actually a bit longer than that, but I'm not too into the details here.

Anyways, the purpose of this post is to say, well, um, uhhh....is there anything anyone would like me to blog about? Or rather, is there anything the three of you are wanting me to spill my little heart about? Anything at all?

The thing is, I'm planning on blogging normally next week, but once we get to our destination in Calgary, I think my chances of posting are slim. I can get to a computer fine, but since we're staying with family and considering Dave's profession (he's the daddy/cousin-in-law) is basically Computer Genius, I don't really want them finding out about this blog. Soooo...I was thinking I would write some posts ahead of time, but we all know that my mushy brain can't come up with a weeks worth of topics ahead of time.

That's where you come in. Give me an idea. A thought. A meme. Anything your little heart desires - and I'll write about it. And if it's something you don't want anyone to know you asked about - email it to me at spookygem@hotmail.com and I'll write about it without mentioning you.

Mkay?

Heatwave!

Since temperatures around these parts have been appallingly hot as of late, I'm finding it harder and harder to actually make myself leave the house. The car is always so damn hot when you first get in, and I'm too impatient to wait for it to cool off, so half the time Ellery and I are just hanging out in our very warm house.

And before you ask - yes, we have a/c - but I don't usually run it so much when the husband (aka Mr. Hottie McAllthetime) isn't around. The reason? In recent years it's begun playing havoc on my sinuses; drying out my nose, and leaving we with bad sinus headaches, so I usually leave it off until just before he comes home.

The result of that is an extremely warm house - which results in less clothing - which just backs up my whole "our daughter will think we are nudists" worry.

Anyways, with the energy draining heat added to yesterday's fresh air fishing extravaganza, the poor babycakes could barely keep her eyes open, and ended up snoozing most of the day away.

So...what does any super cool (and I use that term verrrrrry loosely) mom do to wile away the hours?

Well first of all, she ignores the messy kitchen, the buried dining room table, the mountain of laundry, and the carpet in need of vacuuming, and she does a photo shoot.

And she decides to do this after she pulls her hair into an even cooler 80's style back-combed side ponytail, while she's showing off her scorched chest and shoulders.

Then as if that wasn't cool enough, she gets even cooler with the whole "fake cocked gun" hand waving around.

And finally, she drags her poor, unsuspecting daughter into the mix, who by the looks of this picture, is screaming in protest, because she knows her mom in in fact, NOT cool.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

My husband loves to fish.

I love it too, I just rarely get the chance to go.

A week or so ago I suggested to the husband that we take Ellery on her first fishing trip, thus guaranteeing myself a spot in the "best wife hall of fame" - at least by my husband's standards.

We decided to go somewhere that we could cast offshore, since being in a boat with a 3 month old didn't sound particularly appealing - and quickly settled on Garson's Sportfishing Park.

One of the walleye ponds. All I managed to get in there was snags.

This place is private property, where you pay to get in, then take your pick of about 12 ponds, each stocked with a different kind of fish. Yes, for avid fishermen, this isn't much of a challenge, but we decided that for now this would be the easiest thing. Husband and I both grew up on Lake of the Woods, so you can bet Ellery will be "real" fishing soon.

The husband with one of the "huge" trout that he caught.

After putting in a valiant effort, E finally crashed in her stroller.

Anyways, it was a beautiful day, Ellery was a complete dream, and we even caught some fish, so we all left happy...sort of...

In case you can't tell (though you'd pretty much have to be blind not to be able to) I'm a little on the crispy side. Actually, a lot on the crispy side.

Only At Our House

The following conversation takes place between 9:15 and 9:18pm:

*precursor - it has been bloody sweltering here, so pretty much whenever we're home, we're naked or damn close to it - I swear, Ellery is going to grow up thinking we're nudists*

Me: Ugh...it's hot...

Husband: I know, and tomorrow's supposed to be 30 degrees.

Me: Ugh.

Husband: (looking over from where he's stretched out on the couch) Whoops...I thought if I pulled the blinds mostly closed, the bush outside was high enough that the neighbours couldn't see me...

Me: (glancing at the patio doors he's referring to) And?

Husband: Well the bush isn't high enough.

Me: (laughing) Oh yeah?

Husband: Yeah, so they can see me...in my...lingerie.

Me: What? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!


*He was wearing boxers and a wife beater.

The Rest of the Story

This is sort of a follow up to the post before the last one...you know, the one where I had done loads of junk but was in dial-up land, therefore unwilling to be blog productive?

Yeah, so I didn't take as many pictures as I had first believed, but I took enough, so here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

Here is Ellery mid-coo. She has been babbling more and more, and I just happened to get her in the middle of one of her "words".

This is a terrible picture of both of them (they're both much more beautiful than this picture shows) but here is the Bahama Mama (aka Monica, the best friend) and Ellery. You would never know it from the picture, but I swear, Monica is tanned!

I had mentioned our friend Rachel in a post months ago, and had posted pictures of two of her kids. Monica and I went to visit her last week, and they had added a puppy to their family. Here he is licking poor defenseless Alia.

I had also mentioned Rachel's "hell-raiser" child Taryn in that older post - and here she is, true to her crazy reputation...she was egging the poor dog on, then when he would bite her skirt she'd run around the kitchen dragging him around. I love this kid.

Poor Ellery passed out in the middle of my parents' kitchen table, while my mom and I feasted on Holiday pizza. God bless America for their Holiday pizza!

And Lady E with daddy. This picture is one of my favourites.

Otherwise, the rest is pretty self explanatory...except maybe the whole falling down the stairs and taking a trip to the emergency room part. Hehe.

Long story short - Monica and I were hanging out one evening, and decided to make a quick trip across the border to Minnesota on a junk food run. I grabbed Ellery, strapped her in her car seat, and we left the house. Part way down the outside stairs, I went over on my right ankle, and fell down the rest of the stairs, landing in the driveway. Ellery went flying and ended up upside down in her car seat - she's fine, thank God - Monica just grabbed her and popped her soother in her mouth and she was happy.
I, on the other hand, laid in the driveway for 10 minutes intermittently whimpering and laughing, while Monica stood there asking me if I was okay, then laughing whenever I did. When I finally got myself into a sitting position I realized I had skinned one knee, both of my forearms, seriously hurt my ankle, and had gravel in my hair. Nice.

Oh right, this is supposed to be the short version...sorry.

Needless to say, I couldn't drive my car (it was the gas and brake foot) and once my mom came home and saw the swelling, she decided I may have broken something. The next morning I could barely walk so we headed to the ER, where after the doctor checked me out, he determined it wasn't broken, but was severely sprained. And I would be in pain for 8 weeks, and I would notice a definite weakness in it for at least the next year. Apparently because of where I twisted it, it stretched or tore something...I don't know, it just hurts. And of course, now I'm running into everything, accidentally kicking stuff, hurting it in my sleep...

So that's my story. Despite the stupid stairs, it was a great week home and I had a blast visiting with Monica. Now the countdown begins till I get to see her at Christmas!

Wha?!?!?!

Several months ago I wrote a mock complaint letter to the company providing us with our Internet/tv/phone service. Since that time, said company has continued to be a pain in my ass.

So, when their rival company knocked on our door a few weeks ago the husband was happy to listen to their sales pitch, and the clincher to signing up with them was the free pvr we would receive as a bonus. In all actuality I couldn't care less about the pvr, but the husband was giddy about getting one for free - so yay I guess.

After figuring our what our monthly bill would be with the rival company, I found that we would be spending nearly the exact same amount each month, plus we got the pvr and some additional channels (in high definition, which is apparently something else I should be excited about) we had been wanting - yay Discovery Health!

When the husband called the "other" company to advise them we would be terminating our relationship with them, we got a snotty "Well you still have to pay for the next 30 days."

Great, fine, no problem - and really, thanks for not asking what you could do to get us to stay with you, or even just asking what the problem was - I would have hated to take an extra 2 minutes out of your day.

*Just a side note here, in case anyone from the "other" company should read this...get some customer service training into those bitches on the phone.*

Okay, so where was I?

Oh yeah, so last Thursday a little man from the new company came by and hooked up all our new services. When I got home yesterday, husband was chomping at the bit to show me how it all worked (I didn't have the heart to tell him that all I wanted to know was how to change the channel off Sport Centre) and everything seemed great.

Today I got our first invoice from the new company. I opened it up, gasped, asked "Is this a joke?", then started mildly hyperventilating...I'll wait while you all click on the picture to see what the fuss was all about...

...okay, did you catch that? SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT DOLLARS AND EIGHTY-FOUR CENTS. Yeah, you read that right.

After the husband looked at me like I was crazy, grabbed the bill and looked at it himself, then blinked a few times while he thought about it, he had the same thought as me - holy crappity!

He picked up the phone to call the new company, and several minutes later we were relieved to find out that we are to ignore this invoice, and another one will be coming next month, where they do all this cancelling out charges, crediting for this, yadda yadda stuff, and then bill us the proper amount. Apparently they have to bill this amount on the initial invoice for their records.

Never mind letting your customers know that you plan on doing that, just to avoid them having a stroke. Sheesh. The new company may be a better deal, but eeek, talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

I'll Be Back on Wednesday, But in the Meantime...

Since I last talked to you I've gone home to my parents' in Ontario (where I still am), visited with the Bahama Mama (Monica), fallen down the stairs, made a trip to the emergency room, re-arranged my bedroom, made a cake, visited my other friend Rachel and her 4 kids, went to church, seen Ellery roll over for the first time (although it was in a fit of rage), got into a fight with my mom, visited my sister-in-law for the first time in about 5 months, got my stupid Blackberry fixed, taken about 3000 pictures, done laundry, had a dance off/sing off with Monica, almost fallen down the stairs again, and now I'm about to go make dinner.

And that's that.

I'll be back soon - miss you all!

And The Lifelong Love of All Things Sparkly Begins

I had a fairly uneventful long weekend, though really, a long weekend is barely noticeable when you're on maternity leave...every day is sort of a weekend day.

Anyways, the husband was working nights, so he was sleeping during the day, and Ellery and I were just trying to be quiet enough not to disturb him. We went shopping, and for walks, and drives, anything to pass the time till we could be noisy again.

So yesterday in the late afternoon when husband got up, we decided to get out of the house for awhile and noticed that the mall was open. I didn't think anything was ever open on the civic holiday here, but apparently I was just out of the loop.

We went to Ben Moss jewellers first, so I could drop off my wedding ring to get the claws fixed. I had bent 2 claws (I bend at least one a year) and to me the centre diamond actually looked crooked, so I figured I'd better get it done quick!

Then we continued on down to People's jewellers, because I had heard they pierced ears there. We were informed that yes, they did do it there, but the flustered older woman working said to come back on Tuesday instead to get it done. As we were walking out, husband stopped to ask the other guy how much it cost. He explained that all you had to do was pay for the price of the earrings you picked, and that the piercing was free. We decided to go look at their selection, and decided that we'd come back eventually to get Ellery's ears pierced.

Our whole original plan was to get them pierced when she was 3 months old (which she's not yet), and then I figured I wouldn't be able to go through with it, and would probably end up waiting till 6 months or maybe even later.

But when the guy found out we were going to do it another time he started fast talking about how he loved to pierce baby's ears, and that it was easier (for the squirm factor) when they were smaller, and totally convinced me that we should get it done then. So I turned to the husband and said "Should we just get it done now?" and then he got all mushy and started thinking maybe we shouldn't, and that we should wait...I tell you, it's a whole lot harder to do when you're looking at your happy baby with her itty bitty earlobes, thinking that you're going to be punching holes in them.

But I finally just decided to get it over with, so I sat down with her on my lap, and in 5 minutes it was all over. She yelled with the first one, then screamed with the second, but about 45 seconds later she was happy again.

And as if she wasn't cute enough before, she's freaking adorable now, with her sparkly new pair of diamond and gold studs. And I swear, she was actually batting her eyes at the guy once it was all over, and he kept smiling at her and telling her she was a beautiful baby girl - what have I started? lol

Random Bits of Quite Boring Things

1. I am currently munching on a peanut butter sandwich. And it's on homemade bread, and it's delicious. It's also the first peanut butter sandwich I've ever eaten in my entire life. What can I say? I'm not a sandwich girl.

2. I'm currently working on a freelance piece for a local magazine about a very intense topic. It's going to be so much work, but I'm going to get a sweet pay cheque out of it, so I guess it's worth the awkwardness.

3. I put on a pair of high heels today for the first time since I was about 8 months pregnant. It felt so nice to actually have something "grown-up" on that I wore them half the day along with a blouse Ellery had spit up on, and a pair of shorts...I can't say much for my clothing choices these days.

4. We bought a video camera on Friday. I tried to use it tonight to record some baby cuteness while the husband was at work. I recorded some stuff, then tried to play it back so I could watch it but ended up hitting a few buttons I wasn't sure about, then panicked, let out a long stream of expletives, turned it off and put it back where I found it. I probably deleted everything husband had recorded so far, whoops.

5. I'm heading back to Ontario this Wednesday as the Bahama Mama is in town! She's been calling me every day wanting to know when I'm coming, so as soon as I get a few article interviews under my belt, I'm out of here!

6. I've really been neglecting music lately. There is so much good stuff out right now, and I'll get the cd, or download some tracks, and then I never ever listen to it. It's just waaaay too easy to turn the tv on for background noise during the day.

7. When I get back from my next Ontario trip we're going to move Ellery out of her bassinet in our room, into the crib in her room. It makes me sad that she's already big enough to need her crib, but I feel that it's probably not the best idea to leave her in her bassinet much longer, since she only has a couple inches of space between her feet and the end of it. I don't want her to end up being tiny forever, like those women who bind their feet so they stay dainty.

8. It is so freaking hot in here right now that I'm actually sweating. Of course, it's a very sexy, womanly sweat - more of a glow really, and in fact...yep, I do smell like fresh roses. That's how all women smell when they "glow".

9. My apartment is in a hideous state of disarray at the moment. Surprise! Bet you guys never would have guessed that!

10. Um, I don't have anything to write for number ten, so...have a wonderful day!

I Adore This Child

A sweeter miracle does not exist.