So far

Obviously life has changed enough for me to not be able to blog... Although I wasn't doing a very good job of it before Piper came along either.

I have to admit that life with two kids isn't that much different so far than life with one kid, except I have to be a little better at time management, and it takes me longer to get out the door each day. (Can I just have a side rant for a second? Our elevator still isn't working after the flood. So I have to lug a carseat and a toddler down and up three flights of stairs every time I want to leave the house. Sometimes Zoey walks, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes I carry Piper in a carrier, sometimes in the carseat, but holy hell its really getting to me. Add winter coats, which are both hot and slippery, and you have a recipe for disaster. Also, forget every coming home with anything other than a backpack and the kids. No coffee, no groceries, no shopping errands... GAH it's KILLING ME!)

Ok so maybe my patience has decreased a little too since having our second child. But so far, not nearly as hard of a transition as when the first baby came along.

Zoey and Piper are becoming good friends. Zoey loved her from the start, but now Piper can interact with Zoey and they just love it. One day, when I didn't have the carseat cover over Piper's seat (she can still see out, but it's like she has a little warm cave to protect her from the weather), she and Zoey laughed at each other in the car. There are few sounds that are sweeter, let me tell you.

Zoey is getting really good at using the toilet, so she gets to run around in underwear all day. I don't know what it is, but losing that bulky bum really makes her look grown up! She also had her first haircut, and she sat there a little stunned, which made the whole thing quick and easy. She is singing and dancing more than ever, which led me to sign her up for a little class once a week starting next week. Unfortunately I didn't realize until after we signed up that I couldn't bring Piper with me, but luckily my mum is free and it's right by her house, so she can watch Piper for the 45 minutes while Zoey and I dance away. I can't wait to see if she likes it.

Piper is a pretty mellow baby. She sleeps fairly well, eats fairly well, and loves looking around and smiling. Her hair is growing in much lighter than her existing hair, which makes for an awesome hipster combover thing. She has way more hair than Zoey had until she was about 1.5 and it's definitely curly. I am eager to see what it looks like in a few years.

I am slowly but surely getting back into exercise. Time is a contributing factor as well as me not wanting to take away from family time. I signed up for the St. Patrick's day 10 km so we will see how that goes. I picked up a double chariot on kijiji and love it so far. I'm going to swim as well so hopefully I can get a little fitter. The body isn't bouncing back as quickly this time around but that's to be expected I think. I'll take it slow but try to keep my motivation. Not the easiest thing out there!

Now I have to try to stay awake until 9:30 so that I can take advantage of the night owl swim prices.  The last 90 minutes of the day is only 7$ for a drop in at the talisman centre (a couple of blocks from my house) so that means 9:30-11. I don't normally stay up past 9 so here's hoping I don't fall asleep in the pool!

A little late, but here nonetheless

The title applies to both this blog post, and the arrival of our second daughter, Piper!

She was born on August 28 (8 days late) after a fast (!!!) and not too furious labour. I feel a little guilty saying that my labour was only an hour and a half, and she was born in just one minute of serious pushing. I'm so thankful I got to have both of my babies at home, this one with a nice, calm water birth. One of my midwives said I looked like I was at the spa, which I can promise was definitely not the way I felt, but it's nice to know that even in my most vulnerable situation, I can appear somewhat in control! This birth was so different from the first, in that I knew what to expect, and just went with the flow. Everyone was so calm and things just kind of happened. I feel very very lucky.

Since then, we have been adjusting to two kids, one of whom just turned two! I can't believe Zoey is already two! We had a fun birthday party, which I will save for another post (hopefully not too far down the road!). It's very hard to find time to sit at the computer, which is why I've been so absent.

Now, I'll shower you with cute babies!

Surreal

The last two months have been some of the most interesting of my life. I haven't posted because I haven't been at home, and I didn't really know what to say. But six weeks and one day after we left for our family reunion, we are finally home.

We went on vacation to Maine, which was amazing. Unfortunately, the day after we left, Calgary suffered a major flood, and our neighbourhood was one of the more affected in the city. We had no way of "saving" our truck or storage room, and we knew our basement (where both of those things were) would likely be completely underwater. Since we were helpless, we decided to just enjoy our vacation and deal with it on our return.

Blowing bubbles in Maine

Our family reunion was great. We spent some quality time with people we normally only see once a year (and more time with Matante Kristen of course), and relaxed at a lakefront house. I will admit it was a little sad being pregnant and not enjoying the plethora of cocktails that were going around, but I did get my fair share of Polar Seltzer, so I was content.

As we began our return home, I started to get more and more anxious. I knew we were in for a big mess at home, and sure enough, it was chaos. We stayed with Matt's brother the first night, and in the morning went down to our place to check it out. It was crazy.

That was my work luggage and the entrance to our storage room

Baby swing totally flipped over (that was on the floor somewhere else) and the bassinet and stand all disheveled

We were lucky enough to have lots of help that day, and managed to clear out the room and salvage our bikes, bags of baby clothes, and a couple of other small things. Our truck (only three months old, sniff sniff) was a write off, being submerged almost completely. Some of my amazing friends came and took all the baby clothes and washed, folded and sorted them for me, and that was so appreciated since it probably would have taken me a month to do it all.

We spent the following week with Matt's brother, then moved in with my Mum. My 89 year old grandma, who lives around the corner from us, is also staying there (key word: IS) so it was a bit of a crazy house. My mum is used to living alone, so I'm sure having her mother, her daughter, son in law and granddaughter was a bit of an adjustment. I will say, she is the most patient person I have ever known, and she proved that during our entire stay. Zoey absolutely loved staying with Grams, and every morning she climbed up the stairs saying "Heyo Grams! Heyo GG! Heyo Wiyo!" (Willow is the cat, who is super mean and scratched her) and helped get GG (Great Granny) her breakfast, feed the cat, and learned how to peel and orange. I'm happy that she was so happy there, and I was also thankful for the help chasing her around since I am getting bigger and bigger.

Having fun in the hammock swing at her uncle's house

Our entire basement in our building was trashed, so all the electrical, furnace, hot water heater, fire alarm, elevator etc. all needed to be replaced. We got updates, but it became increasingly obvious that we would be gone for a while. I was getting so nervous about my approaching due date (August 20) and couldn't wrap my head around the idea of bringing home a new baby to my mums, never mind potentially giving birth in her basement with everyone present. (I had a quick labour last time, so that was a very real possibility).

A great photo snapped on my phone after our photo shoot I'll post about later

Anyway, weeks passed, and finally, six weeks later, the power came on, the fire alarm got replaced, and we came home!! We worked really hard all weekend to get our place cleaned and baby ready, and I'm so relieved that we did. I feel "ready" now for the baby to arrive!

First night back at home!!!

What I have learned from this is that people are extremely generous. I find it hard to describe, and am very overwhelmed. People gave their time, their things, and their money to us. Some people we know well, some we know a little, and some we don't know at all. I feel unworthy of all the generosity, but so appreciative. There are many people who lost their entire homes, and we, luckily, only lost a vehicle and some "extras", so we know others need more help than us. But people have still reached out to us and given a little or a lot, and all we can do is thank them. This whole experience has made me want to be more generous since we just feel so loved by everyone in our lives.

I'll leave it at that. I'm 38 weeks pregnant and ready! Thank you for reading, thank you for tweeting, thank you for emailing and thank you for thinking of our family. We are so lucky to have you all "in our lives" and we won't forget it.

This one is for Sandra. She looks like a Von Trapp!

Three Things Thursday

I've been MIA again; such is the theme to this blog! I've been hot, sick of the rain, and pregnant. Also suffering from heartburn. But life goes on! As do my three things!

1. Matt and I can NOT agree on a girl's name for our baby. We are polar opposites it seems, and we think the other's suggestions are crazy. I love Violet, Piper, Lavender and Paige while he has issues with all of them. I think we will end up choosing one of his names, so I won't list them, but I'll give you his specifics: doesn't like names ending in "et", two syllables or less, and not Piper. PLEASE give me some suggestions! (I'll throw my specification in there, which is preferably not ending in "y" or that sound, since we already have a Zoey). We have a boy name already so no need to worry on that. This happened last time too - we chose the boy name right away, and waffled forever on a girl name. It's just killing me.

2. I'm so thankful the weather has turned around and it's no longer raining. I never knew how much I could hate the rain until I had a toddler chanting "walk!" 24/7.

3. I think Zoey might have some sort of nut issue. She threw up once when I put cashews in her oatmeal, and today she threw up after eating a homemade granola bar with pecans in it. This has never happened with peanuts though. Kind of strange! I wonder if it's a coincidence or not.

Can you think of any names that fit? Help!

Hilarious hair day

The condo version of a kiddie pool

Hallelujah!

The sun is out! FINALLY! Yesterday it snowed for a strange few minutes, but today, it's sunny! Already we have gone for a walk, played at the park, bought some gluten free bread and buns at the g bakery, and now Zoey is having a nap! All before 11:15 am!

I don't have much else to say... I know lots has been going on lately in the world, and I am very thankful that my family is safe, that my sister and brother and law didn't go to Boston this year, that I am healthy so far in this pregnancy, and that I have a hilarious daughter who is learning new things every day.

What have you done to enjoy the weather?

Three Things Thursday

Two for two TTT! I'm on a roll!

1. I did NOT get that chair. And I don't even want to talk about it. I'm that disappointed.

2. I just ate a gluten free bagel that was so delicious that I had to double check the package to make sure I didn't buy regular bagels. It's Glutino's multigrain bagel, and man it's good! I used to not be the biggest glutino fan, but their english muffins are delish and now I'm a bagel convert. (After looking at the website, neither product that I love is on there... Strange)

3. It snowed again today. Oye vey.

And since it's also Throwback Thursday, I'll leave you with a picture from my first solo excursion with Zoey. How the times have changed! Today I had to convince her to come out of the elevator for two minutes while I held two extremely heavy bags of groceries.

Three Things Thursday

My first Three Things Thursday! (I think...)

1. I am obsessed with getting this chair for Zoey. She is so over her lobster chair and I've been coveting the ridiculously expensive stokke chair for years. They are hard to find on kijiji and when they are there, they are still really expensive. Yesterday morning, one popped up for $50!! That's a good $100 less than most used ones, so I emailed the seller (twice) in hopes for a response. The chair in conveniently located in High River, where Matt works (and where most other Calgary shoppers don't live) so I hoped I'd be a shoo-in. Well fast forward to today when I FINALLY got a response which basically said "how high are you willing to go" since they got so many responses. The only thing keeping me from offering $125 is that it's disassembled, so there's no way to truly verify that all pieces are there. I wrote a response that showed my extreme interest, reminded her of quick pickup, but that also wasn't just a blank cheque, and I'm dying to hear back. The suspense is KILLING ME!

2. We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday which was actually our first one this pregnancy. We got confirmation that there was only one baby, and that it has all the normal limbs and organs. They don't give much more info than that (other than the sex, which we opted not to find out), so I guess I'll find out at my midwife appointment next week if there is anything concerning.

3. I think my heartburn has returned. When I was pregnant with Zoey I had awful heartburn for the whole second half of the pregnancy, and wouldn't you know, at 20 weeks and one day, I started to feel the slow burn again this time. I guess I'll be walking around with a bottle of Gaviscon in my purse. I feel like Elaine's co-worker from Seinfeld who walked around with tic tacs in their pocket and drove everyone nuts. That's me but with heartburn relief! Oye.

Spring!

Although I think it's supposed to snow tomorrow, we have really enjoyed our last few days of amazing weather. 

We are also thoroughly enjoying the long weekend. Now that Zoey can walk, she LOVES walking outside. If we carry her, she wriggles out of our arms saying "walk". She also says "hello" and "buh bye" to each person who passes. I am reminded each day why I love living downtown in such a great walking community. One evening after supper we walked around the corner to a playground and played for a while before bed. Delightful. 

Yesterday we walked to a park a few blocks away and Zoey spent quite a while exploring the playground. She is such a daredevil, just scrambling up the play structures and sliding down the slides all on her own. We then ran a million errands and took her to my mum's community garden and she showed her all around. My mum has been working on this garden for a couple of years and it looks amazing. It has sophisticated (to me) underground "plumbing" that collects water and then it seeps somewhere else and waters the gardens. I don't really get it but it's super fancy. Anyway she's there all the time and has wanted to bring Zoey there for a while to show her around. Zoey doesn't really get the concept of a hill yet so it was pretty funny to watch her all of a sudden start running down a hill or fall backwards when she came to an uphill. She'll get it eventually.

Today we walked to the diner for breakfast and then walked to a different park and she played some more. I need to film her walking on the tiny rocks some parks have because it is hilarious. (A few playgrounds near us have the solid rubber ground, which is really nice, but some of them have the old school rocks). The rest of today has been cleaning and napping. 

Tomorrow we will have a mini easter egg hunt and an easter dinner. I didn't want to give Zoey chocolate but I still wanted to do something fun, so I hit the dollar store and got a bunch of pom poms, foam shapes, plastic bracelets and little pinwheels to put in hollow easter eggs. We will hide a few and then give her the rest. I'm sure she will have no clue whats going on but oh well.

What do you do for easter? My dad has a sweet tooth, so the easter bunny was always very generous and we had lots and lots of candy to hunt for. One fateful easter, I stole one of my sister's "big ticket" easter chocolates and my punishment was that I couldn't eat candy for two weeks and had to give my whole collection to her. It was horrible. Although she was mad, I am pretty sure she snuck me some anyway since she doesn't love candy as much as I do. 

Have a great weekend!  I'll leave you with a few photos of Zoey walking down the hall of our condo building. If anyone has a welcome mat outside their door, she HAS to walk over it. 

What I've been working on

Totally haven't been posting. I'm tired and busy. And if you follow me on twitter then you know the reason why is that we are expecting baby number two!

I'm trying to be a little more regular with taking pictures this time around, but so far it's a total fail.  I will try harder. (And I'll also try to post more in general.)

13 weeks

17 weeks

I still have to figure out the best way to take those pictures... sideways makes sense to see the belly but front ways shows the quirky shirt more, so I'll experiment. Excuse the tired look on the 17 weeks photo; I was.

2012: a few thoughts and a look forward to 2013

I don't have a really insightful post ready and prepared, but between a whirlwind of working, snowstorms, and baby cuddles, I thought I'd take a second to reflect on this year. And what better way than in point form.

• We started the year with a three month old baby, not really knowing what we were doing but working mainly on instincts. I quickly realized that most of what I wanted to do was along the attachment parenting style. I wouldn't say everything, but a lot of what "felt right" for us fell into that category. This brought a few raised eyebrows but mostly support from those around us. 
• I started training again for a half marathon and though I completed a pretty good race in May, I completely fell off the running wagon after and have barely crawled back on it 8 months later.
• We took a couple of fun trips with family so that more people got to meet our happy smiling baby. We went to Montreal in March to visit Kristen and to Vermont and Toronto in June. Everyone loved Zoey and she loved them. I realized that traveling with a baby was harder than I thought it would be but not impossible. Good thing she's so cute!

• Matt worked up north for two ish months and I was alone with Zoey for two weeks at a time. That was probably one of the hardest things either of us have done in a long time. I was faced with many night time challenges (like teething, gas pain and growth spurts) and Matt had to be away from his new daughter and watch me struggle from afar. There were many times where I wanted to just let her cry and cry, but at 6 months old, I just wasn't prepared to do that, so I shushed and rocked and nursed her all night. We took many late night walks to get her to sleep after me trying unsuccessfully for 2 + hours. I would lay beside her quietly once she was finally asleep, not even wanting to cough in case she woke up and I would have to start all over again. It was hard, but the payoff was worth it, and now we have a little more money (from matt!) and a baby who sleeps wonderfully through the night and wakes up happy and healthy every morning.
• My return to work in October was harder than I expected. We found great childcare, but leaving my family at home still is very difficult, even three months later. I know that this job allows me much more time at home, but it's still hard picturing Matt and Zoey at home playing without me, while I sit alone in a hotel room. I thought I'd love the time to just relax by myself and sleep alone in a huge bed, but I really just feel envious of Matt at home and wish I was there too. I'm still waiting to get part-time status, which means I have to fly 30 fewer hours, so perhaps that will make it a little more enjoyable. 

• As much as I thought I'd get back into working out hardcore, I really haven't. I struggle to make it a priority and although I feel a little guilty sometimes, I mostly am comfortable with my decisions. I've gone to hot yoga a few times, I tried out the new spin studio down the street, and I signed up for a half marathon in February that I have barely trained for. Though I enjoy it when I'm there, the cost (of the first two) and the time commitment of running just isn't easy. Zoey, now almost 15 months old, isn't super keen on hanging in the stroller for more than 30-40 minutes. That means running without her, when Matt is home, and honestly, I'd rather be at home playing with them. I know in a year or two I may feel differently, but right now I'm content with low-moderate exercise. 

• This year I am looking forward to learning how to parent a toddler and teaching her new things. I really like looking at what she is doing and seeing if I can teach her something small that can make her playtime a little more interesting. I'm not huge on teaching her random things (like what sounds animals make for example) but I like to just add a little to what she already knows. It's fun to see her kiss people good bye, clap when she hears applause, say hi when the front door opens... it's a really cool thing to see her learn at her own pace.
• I REALLY can't wait until she walks! I know I wasn't in a rush before, but now that she's heavier, I'm really ready to have her walk beside me instead of always carry her. Time will tell.
• I think this year will be full of adventure. I can't wait to see what it brings!

December

It's mid December, and I feel like all I've been doing is working!  This month I've been gone for three nights at a time, which is taking it's toll on me. I asked for Christmas off, which I got, but in return I didn't get my short two day work shifts like I've had for the past two months. Working for four days, especially in the high travel and weather delay season, is physically and mentally taxing. Luckily things are great at home with Zoey, Matt and our nanny, so I don't have to worry about that. Also, being gone for four days means Zoey is weaned off breastfeeding, which I feel fine about. I wanted it to be a natural and gradual thing without being "traumatizing" for her, so this was a nice way to have it happen. I got home from my first four day and she nursed for about a minute, then just stopped and hasn't since. So that's that I guess!

When I get home on Wednesday, I'll be home until the 27th, so we can fit in all the holiday dinners and festivities. Zoey really likes Christmas trees and decorations, and I really think she will love opening her presents and stocking. She isn't walking yet, but she's standing on her own and crawling like a crazy woman! She is really starting to understand lots which makes life a little bit easier. She can say quite a few words, like "ya", "eau" (which is water in french), "uh oh", and she can shake her head for "no". She loves dancing and she sometimes sings along to music. I feel so lucky to have such a happy and hilarious daughter!

Hopefully my next post will have lots of pictures, but for now I'll leave you with happy and fun wishes for the holidays!

Etsy holiday gift giving guide

Although it might be pushing it time wise as far as online Christmas gifts go, I thought I'd share some things I've gotten for or as gifts from Etsy that you might like!

1. My grandma is a huge stationary and card writing lover, as most people who are pushing 90 years old are. I got her some personalized stationary this year and I hope she loves it as much as I do. Bonus: because I got her two sets, I got two free cards with MY name on them as a thank you gift from the seller! 

2. For my sister's birthday last year, I got her a running medal display for her wall with a personalized message that says "don't think, just run". I haven't been to her house since so I don't know if she has put it up yet, but I thought it was a pretty cool gift (if I do say so myself).

3. For Mother's Day this year I got a beautiful necklace  in yellow gold with "zoey" stamped on it. I like it because it's a little different than your typical name necklace (aka the "carrie" necklace from sex and the city). I get compliments on it weekly!

4. I got a friend of mine a custom baby onesie, burp cloth and bib when her son Charlie was born. I got to choose the fabric, initial and font. Unfortunately, the shop is closed over Christmas, but you can save it for the next time you need a baby gift!

5. For Matt's groomsmen gifts, he got them each a secret flask in a book. He got to choose the books too! He got one for himself (what is with guys and doing that?!) and he still uses it as a little secret hiding place. I often mistake it for a real book and drop the flask on the floor when I open it to flip through the pages.

I did a lot of my shopping online this year and it has been such a pleasure not to be in malls weekend after weekend. If you're still looking, maybe give Etsy a try!! 

I have also done a fair amount of xmas shopping this year on Zulily, which is a sort of discount steals type website. Right now they have a special section with guaranteed delivery by Christmas, so you could give that a try too!!

Happy Shopping!

Snow way I'm running in that!

The competition is on!

Please head to Calgary Natural High's facebook page and "like" my photo! I'm currently in second place and I'd love to win!

Thanks!

Delayed

You know when you know something is overdue and it stares you in the face every day, but you just can't bring yourself to do it? That's how I feel about my blog. I like most things about it, but I just feel overwhelmed every time I sit down to post. Maybe I'm trying to fill people in on all that's going on instead of just saying a thing or two. Either way, I know I've been absent, but I'm just doing my best.

I finally got my lazy butt out the door for not one but TWO runs so far this week. Monday, I dressed Zoey up in her winter woolies and we tackled 7.3 slow kms. I had a great time and even snapped a photo for Calgary Natural High's photo competition. (If you don't know about Calgary Natural High, it's a new low pressure fun running group in Calgary. They meet Sunday mornings and run various distances and speeds. Check out their website and facebook page!) It was pretty cold but not too bad. Zoey took a nap and then said "hi" to all the passers by.

Our entry for the snowy running contest. I figure babies get votes right? I think voting starts December 1 if you wanted to check it out.

Tuesday I ran my first treadmill run in over two years! I honestly don't remember the last place or time I was on the treadmill, but normally I'm in a hotel, and yesterday was no different. I went down to the shoebox sized "gym" in my hotel in Edmonton and ran just under 5 km. It was interesting... Not great but not bad. Today I took a rest since I had a very challenging night. I got home from a long and delayed work day around 1:00 am and Zoey was tossing and turning until about 4:30, keeping me up the whole time. This morning, Matt suggested that next time I get home late I should sleep in the guest room so that I don't disturb her. Anyway, we had a rough go today and after some snuggly naps, I felt human around noon. We took a nice walk and that was that for the day.

Tomorrow, my plan is to go for another run outside with Zoey and tackle maybe 6 or so kms. I think I'm gearing up for the Hypothermic Half, but I may reconsider and check out the race that Leigh will be running, Run for L'Arche. I'll look into them both and decide before the end of the week, when the fees go up for the Hypothermic Half. I'm just not sure if I can pull off the training for it yet since it's earlier, but I may just go for it anyway. Thoughts?

I'll leave you with a few pics of Zoey enjoying her first steamed milk!

Zoey turns 1!

This post is a little late, but I've been busy working in between Zoey's TWO birthday parties. We decided to split the guest list in half and celebrate twice so that there was less chance of being overwhelmed and we would be able to manage it space wise. I'm very happy we did that since everyone had a great time, got to spend a little time with Zoey, and she didn't get freaked out.

Her first party was at my mum's place.

Good thing she had help opening her presents... those packages are hard to get in to!

She looks so thrilled to be wearing her party hat.

She ate that giant piece of carrot cake in about 1 minute.

Her second party was at our house instead of the park since it was minus 4. She had a great time there too!

She got this fun baking set to go with her kitchen. And has been wielding the wooden knife ever since. 

This is her cool train cake. With a little too much sugar in it, we later found out when she was still partying at 9:30 pm

Zoey loved tickling her friend Nathan.

And there you have it. You can see from the picture with the party hat that I turned her weekly photos into banners and hung them at both parties. I would like to maybe put them around her room permanently and I'm most likely going to make a photo book too. Some of them are definitely better than others, but all in all the project was a success!  I'm still trying to decide how to post them on here... Should I really do all 52?

Overdue

No, I'm not overdue right now like I was a year ago, but a post is overdue! I have a lot going on right now, so a bullet list is in order!

• Yesterday was my last day of maternity leave. Sad face.
• I start re-qualification training on Monday (yes, Thanksgiving Monday. Oye.)
• I will be away and flying on Zoey's first birthday.
• We are having two parties for her! One with one side of the family, and one with the other! (Only family this year... We decided that we have years of big birthday parties ahead of us, so for her first one, one she definitely won't remember, we'll keep it casual.)
• I have been madly studying and completing homestudies which take FOREVER in preparation for work training. I forgot how annoying these are.
• I have been battling with Photoshop and trying to get Zoey's weekly photos all done and edited before my 30 day trial runs out. I really wish I had: remembered to smooth out Zoey's onesie before taking the pictures, tried to white balance the camera, and taken them at the same time of day. Oh well. They are what they are. (I'll post the finished product soon!)

I think that's it for now. My brain is a flurry of random airplane facts and to-do lists. I'll leave you with a couple of pics from our fall photo shoot!