Potty Training?

I've been thinking a lot about potty training and how Hailey is sooooo not ready yet! She's just NOT even interested...and that's fine with me. She's not even two yet! But, I do think we're making progress as far as the 'being comfortable with the toilet' thing goes.

Wouldn't you say?? In fact, she may love this toilet a bit too much! Don't worry it was a brand new toilet...not even installed yet (which would explain why it's in the middle of the living room); so it was clean. It is now nicely situated in our basement bathroom though, and she is no longer allowed to play in it.

Besides not potty training Hailey, we have been working on teaching her how to smile for the camera. This is the best we could get:

I may be biased...but that's pretty cute.

So, last week was just gorgeous up here...for March that is. It wasn't summer weather (well depending on what kind of summer day we're talking about); but it was 'melt all the snow and splash in puddles' kind of weather. So we took a little trip to the park. Hailey wasn't too sure about me pushing her on the swing at first.

But once I let go, she LOVED it!

We also so lots of 'a-payz' (Airplanes) in the sky. Did you know that airplanes say Choo-choo? I didn't, but Hailey's pretty sure of it.

But mostly we spent the entire afternoon splashing in every single puddle in sight. Trust me, we didn't miss a single one.

And finally, is this not the face of a Guilty child?? A child who found the Cake Mom made and just started mowing down on it?? It is. That's my sneaky child. Gotta love her!

Oh right...I can't forget to add this picture of me from last week - before my eventful fall down the stairs (which I'm still recovering from ...but doing better). Anyway, I think I'm about 23 weeks in this picture. Like the cheesy smile??

So that's it. Nothing - I repeat nothing exciting has happened in my home in the last week. I've done a LOT of standing because the sitting thing just hasn't gone over that well. I've done a lot of sleeping and eating. So the weight's packin' on that's for sure. Hailey's been cute as ever. So although my home is boring, there's been lots of excitement in the family! My brother and is wife had a beautiful little girl this week. Oh she is going to be spoiled! She's an absolute doll!

Wipe out...

So last week when we got our new carpet in our basement, I was bragging about how soft and luxurious it was...which obviously led to my mom warning me that I needed to be careful on the stairs. Her reasoning is that the carpet is soooo soft that I may not notice the edge of the step and slip - and of course because of my ever expanding belly, I can't see the stairs any more and my balance is off. Well...like all good daughters do, I immediately dismissed my moms warning and filed it away with other crazy warning she's given - like don't put your head outside the car window because it might get chopped off...or a pencil will stab you in the eye or something crazy. And then like all good daughters eventually do, I learned that my mom was right (not about the pencil in the eye thing - at least not yet).

BUT....I wiped out big time on the stairs on Friday -resulting in a good hour of crying, a sleepless night and a wonderful little invalid ring to sit on. LOVELY. So the good things first - I landed on my tail bone and nothing else - so things are going to be ok. It's just a useless bunch of pain. Another good thing - it happened on Friday, meaning that Ben was home all weekend to help with Hailey. And my parents were able to come out and help on Saturday too!

The bad things?? I crushed my tailbone 13 years ago in a little skiing mishap...which means I had to have some very special luck to hurt whatever tiny fragment of it is left. And boy does it hurt! Another bad thing?? Combine a broken/bruised tailbone with 'Diastasis symphysis pubis' and you're in serious pain! I just got diagnosed with premature separation of my pubic bone last week - which basically means I can't sit, or laydown or walk without pain. And now because of my tailbone, I really can't sit, or laydown or walk without pain.

So it's all pretty funny though - what are the odds? I guess when you consider who I am and the 'special' luck I've had all my life, I should have known that something dumb like this would happen. I'm really not complaining though - I'm just laughing at myself. Because what's not to laugh about when you picture me sliding down the stairs?? I can guarantee it was funny to see!

Anyway, I just had to share, because most likely I'm going to take a bit of a break from this little blog because sitting for more then....well any amount of time hurts too much. So I've got to limit my down time to when I really really need it, like at night when I should be asleep! So I'll be back...soon.

I'm so loving these...

Have you seen this site yet??

http://www.youtube.com/MormonMessages

It's the LDS channel on YouTube: Mormon Messages

Ben and I spent our Sunday Evening watching these and just loving this Church! They're all great, but I especially Love Dieter F Uchtdorf's message "Create" and President Hinckley's "Lesson's I learned as a Boy". I highly recommend taking a few minutes out of your day to watch these to videos! I'm now anxiously waiting for the new message for this week. LOVE IT!

My Life...

Even though nothing really exciting happens around these parts...I really just LOVE my life. I've got a great husband and wonderfully entertaining daughter - with another on the way. Things are good...and I'm grateful for that. We live in a tiny, but beautiful home (which just grew by 50% this last weekend - due to some much anticipated carpet in the basement), Ben has a decent job, and we all have our health - for the most part. I may disagree on that last part when I'm trying to roll over in bed at 3am. But really, such discomforts are a sign that I'm blessed with the ability to have another child - for which I will always be grateful. Anyway, I was just thinking about this blog these last few days and how I often just poke fun at myself or my family - or at least that's what I intend to do. We really are a funny bunch...but sometimes I feel like I need to just express my gratitude for what I have. Especially since I write this Blog with the intention to keep it as a record (of some sort) of this time in my life. So I want to be able to look back and remember the fun times...the crazy times...but also the grateful times. And today I'm grateful just because I am.

Anyway, enough sappiness from me. Here are some recent pictures:

So last weekend was Valentines day/our 6 year anniversary. We contemplated celebrating...but ended up just working. We spent the Saturday laying tile in our basement bathroom. Then our anniversary (the Sunday) was spent going to church and then to a family dinner. So not the typical way to celebrate our anniversary or Valentines - but it could have been worse. Our gift to each other this year was the basement. Because let's be honest - it is NOT cheap to develop a basement. So although the weekend was pretty uneventful, we still found time to have a special little Valentines breakfast... little heart shaped French toasts. Cute hey?

Now for the random pictures - I just have to share this one:

This is Hailey's 'special' time after a bath. She gets to bundle into our bed and watch TV while I race to get a diaper before she pees all over. She takes her TV so seriously though, which is what cracks me up about this pic.

She also takes her reading pretty seriously:

And I wouldn't dare break the news to her that the book is upside down...because like I said, she's busy doing important work - and that's serious!

Speaking of taking things seriously:

She obviously takes her fairy duties very seriously. And in case you're wondering - that is the basement carpet she's walking on. Oh how sweet to have a basement!

And finally...since I know everyone is wondering what a typical day in my house is like - wonder no more:

A usual day/evening around here is spent just like the picture above. Ben's always working on one project or another, and Hailey's always right on his heels...in her tutu. And I'm usually laying on the couch watching...and sometimes taking pictures. The amazing thing about this picture is that Ben's actually reading the instructions. AMAZING!

And that's it. That's our life. Just the way I like it.

p.s I promise I'll post some Belly pics soon - I just haven't taken any in a while. But maybe today will be the day!

Hailey's First Hair cut

I decided it was time for the mullet to go. I was kind of hoping it would just grow out and things would look good. But it was getting more and more obvious that things were just not working out.


So last night I pulled out the scissors and got started. Ben was totally opposed to the idea - he still has nightmares from the one and only time I tried to cut his hair. But I told him that it was a right of passage that every mom must go through. Plus if I really butchered it, we could always get it fixed professionally - besides, Hailey wouldn't care either way.


So here are some befores:

From behind

The embarrassed Hailey - who did NOT want her picture taken without her hair done

Afters...the next morning after I trimmed things and fixed it all up:

behind

And the side - the best shot she would let me get.

Cute hey??

It actually turned out ok, but I think that next time I'll leave it to the professionals - It was way too stressful.

Sometimes I'm so boring

So we've been busy! It's amazing how busy life gets. We're still madly trying to get the basement done - Ben's hanging doors right now and trying to tile the bathroom before the carpet guy comes next week. He's also working very very hard on his theatre system down there. What-ev. I'm excited for the toys to be out of my way! And I'll admit, it will be fun to watch movies down there...maybe we'll have to have a party. But it's still not my #1 priority. Carpet? yes...tv? no.

Besides that I've been busy teaching piano, trying to keep a somewhat clean(ish) house, playing with Hailey, going to doctors appointments and ultrasounds, and cooking without an oven. Yep that's right.

Three weeks ago our oven just shut down. Ben was pretty proud of himself when he discovered that the circuit board was fried. So we ordered a new one - $260 and 2 weeks later we installed it in the oven only to find out it still wouldn't work. Hmmm....so Ben took more of the oven apart and realized that the element had blown up. Literally. So after $50 this time and a very nice delivery service called 'grandma' we installed it and we now have a working oven - finally. But $300?? Seriously, what a rip off! We're so annoyed because the only reason the element blew was because it wasn't even screwed into the oven like it should have been - so totally a manufacturing error, but still not covered by warranty. Anyway, I'm glad I have a somewhat handy husband, it saved us a LOT of money. I couldn't imagine paying labour on TOP of the cost of parts. So we've spent a few weeks trying to come up with yummy meals that don't require the oven...here's a Yummy example, remember This post from a while back? Well here's the Ratatouille. All I can say is Y-U-M-M-Y.

Anyway, that's probably the MOST boring of all boring stories...so on to bigger and better things.
We have been having some really beautiful sunsets around here lately. It's making me LOVE where I live...the end of the 'minus 20 freeze everything on you' stuff has helped too. But really, this is beautiful! And this picture is totally unedited - so those colours are 100% real. Gotta love it.

Hailey turned 16 last week...I kid you not.

I decided to grow a bit of a Belly - and obviously decided NOT to wear maternity shirts yet. I probably should think about that again. This is me at 19 weeks.

Hailey found a new friend in the mirror - we LOVE friends around here.

We finally decided to venture out into the "outside world" as Hailey and I both call it. The poor girl doesn't have snowpants that fit her. It's just something I forgot to buy this year. So, what does she get to wear?? Her snowsuit from last year - let's just say she had some serious diaper wedgie. Poor kid.

She really loved the snow though - enough so that I almost got a smile out of her.

And onto the story of the week. Hailey did NOT have a fun Super Bowl Sunday. We spent the afternoon with Chris and Lauren and everything was going fine - until Hailey decided to take a closer look at the fire in the fireplace. All I can really say is that it was one of the hardest things to see. My poor baby girl placed her hands directly on the burning hot glass of the Fireplace. And the hours of tears that followed were enough to break anyone. I was doing all I could to hold it together - but I honestly think my heart broke into a million pieces as I watched her cry and knew that there was almost nothing I could do. Cold water and Ice just made her more hysterical - but we had to force it on her. It definitely paid off big time. We took her into urgent care, and got her all wrapped up. They said the burns were so much better then they could have been and partly because we made her ice it so quickly. She just got her last little 'glove' off today, and besides a few blisters, her hand looks pretty good. The doctors' pretty sure there'll be no scarring - and are amazed at how well it healed. So we're really grateful things turned out as well as they did.

Anyway, here she is the day of the 'event' - what a little trooper.

And then the next day - wearing her glove...I'll admit, it is pretty cute!

And finally, I had another ultrasound today. Baby was still a little squirmer - but at leat we were able to get the missing shots from last time. I also asked for another guess on gender; and once again the tech guessed girl. But it was a really really iffy guess she said. Not a 100%, or 90% or even 75% sure guess. So I don't know, I'll just assume we're having another girl. Which will be all sorts of fun and crazy! And if it ends up being a boy - which I'm sure it won't (in case you're counting all the way back to 2006, we don't know how to make boys) he'll come home wearing pink - and will eventually make his way into some blue clothes. But I'm 95% sure it's another girl - what else would the baby be??

Ultrasound...

We had the BIG ultrasound yesterday. The one where we find out whether I'm cooking a boy or a girl. And as it turns out, there was no real conclusion made. The baby was too squirmy for them to catch any pictures. In fact I have to go back next week for a follow up to get the rest of the pictures.

It's definitely had me thinking...Hailey is a busy kid - a VERY busy kid. Busy to the point that strangers sort of shake their heads and laugh in pity when they see me chasing her everywhere. She's a kid who doesn't know how to just walk - she has to ALWAYS run. Now, I remember her very clearly when she was just a tummy baby. She was definitely a mover and a shaker. She kicked ALL the time, and rolled and flipped and jumped around in there constantly. But when it came to the BIG ultrasound, she cooperated quite nicely. She moved just enough that they were able to get all the measurements in without a problem...but stayed still at all the right times (i.e. when we wanted to see whether she was going to be a She or a He.)

So I'm wondering, if that's what a busy baby was like...what is the current tummy baby going to be like? Am I really in store for a child more wild then my Hailey?? I'm really terrified!

All I know is that when I go in for the next ultrasound I'm going to forgo the 'something sweet' they recommended I eat before hand - because as it turns out, my children do not need anything to get them moving. They are busy all by themselves.

Speaking of wild, I just got the CD of the pictures Ben's sister took of Hailey for her one year photo shoot (well more like 15 month shoot). Doesn't that look like that face of someone who's just waiting to go and terrorize the world??

There were some really cute pictures from the session...but I just had to share this one right now. It so perfectly captures the child I'm trying to describe.

Oh and here's one of the family - I may be biased...but I think we all look pretty good!

This has me really (really really) excited!

So, I'm a stroller obsessed Mom! I LOVE strollers and although I only have one, I spent hours/weeks/months researching and falling in love with every cool stroller out there. I like my strollers to be unique and special. Which is exactly why I'm soooo in LOVE with all things Bumbleride. Seriously, I LOVE this stroller brand. It's hip, it's modern, but it's practical and classic. In fact my #1 choice in stroller for Hailey was this Beauty. I loved it at the time - and I still sort of wish I could have bought. However, now that I'm expecting baby number two, and will have two kids under the age of two...it seems I should be thinking a little more about the Indie-twin stroller by Bumbleride. Wouldn't this be a dream???

I love everything there is to love about it. I LOVE that it's only 29.5 inches wide. That's just over two feet...and also just three inches wider then my current single stroller. So I'd have no problems navigating through the malls in this thing. I also love that it has an adjustable handel...perfect for the height impared like me - and the not so height impared like Ben. Just perfect!!

Anyway, here's what has me soooo excited. My friend Angie just posted about this giveaway on her BLOG. So I had to share...and of course enter myself. Sorry Angie, I have really really good luck, so your odds of winning just went down significantly. I hope we can still talk after this. Just kidding. Anyway, check out this giveaway:

http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-25-bumbleride-indie-stroller/

Aren't you in love?? I am. This contest is open until the 30th...so check it out!!

18 Months...

Yep that's right, the sweet little baby who graced our family with her presence back in July 2007 is now a toddler...who you wouldn't dare mess with.


Right?? This is the face of a girl who knows what she wants and how to get it (and whose mommy obviously doesn't keep her clean).

But really, she is still a sweet little angel - mixed in with lots and lots of fun. For example, Could you guess what her three favourite toys from Christmas are??

First - her new baby.

She actually got lots of new baby's for Christmas...but this is the first one she opened and so far her favourite. Although all of her dolls are greeted by Hailey each and every morning with a very darling "cuuuuuuute". Picture it, it's pretty much the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Her next favourite?
Yep, that's exactly what you think it is...a whoopee cushion. It's actually now in hiding because blowing that thing up makes me want to puke. And she could go for hours with it. Nothing entertains her more then a little fake flatulence.

And her third favourite gift??This little chair from G-ma and G-pa.
It's not a girly toy that's for sure. There were plenty of princess chairs to choose from, but the grandparents were wise and knew that this little child would prefer a "lightning McQueen" chair over any Princess. And she does. She LOVES it. I fact it's now turned into the ultimate rocking chair (i.e. she throws herself backwards on it full force until it falls back onto the floor...and then she giggles and does it all over again. Wild child.)


Ok...I just can't resist. I HAVE to share this picture, because it's sooooo sweet. She LOOOOOVES her babies. Loves them so much that she actually shares with them (imagine that? Hailey willingly sharing?). She also wraps them in blankets, blows their noses for them (which usually ends up with a quick trip to Kleenex box to wipe her nose which she accidentally blew as well), and gives them diapers to wear and so on. And in this picture, she's giving them a little concert on her beloved piano. So adorable.

Ok, and I have to share this picture of the Kid because I can't get enough of her when she's in a 'grumpy-sit on the stairs' kind of mood. Seriously, there is no guessing what kind of mood this child is in. She's very very open about everything. All the cooing and giggling when she's happy are so worth it because we definitely know when she's not. She'll be a fun teenager.

And then one last picture from Christmas...classic kid. Just playing in the boxes.

Which reminds me I have to share this picture too:This is Hailey shaking her head at Ben. I think she said something like "oh Dad, you've done it again. You've bought something waaaay too expensive and now we'll have to actually use it". Which I'm ok with. Really once the carpet's laid in the basement, this bad boy will be nicely positioned on the wall and we can watch all the tv we want! Anything beats what we had before (i.e. a 27inch tube tv)


So that's it for pictures. Now for a little update. I'm 17 ish weeks pregnant...which would means I'm due sometime at the end of June. Originally it was June 30th, but it's looking to be June 23 according to our last ultrasound. Speaking of which, according to the last ultrasound, it looks like we may be having another girl. BUT...nothings positive yet. I was only 14 weeks. So lots could happen still. So we'll see. Either will be fine.

Oh...we're working on our basement like C-R-A-Z-Y!! We are waiting on carpet...and carpet only! Once that's in, we'll be down there watching TV...or playing with all Hailey's toys. Well of course there will be trim work left to do, but that's soooo not important. What's really important is that we're a matter of weeks away from hiding all Hailey's toys. Best news ever!!

Anyway, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get around to updating more often.

I'm Back...

So I decided I'd venture back into the blogging world. Life's been crazy lately and things will start to really calm down once Christmas is done with. But I think I'm ready to BLOG again. So first, here's the story on what's been going on in my life over the last few months (and the reasons behind why I needed a BLOG break).


To start off I got one of these back in October:

(for the uninformed...that's a positive pregnancy test)

Which means I became very well acquainted with one of these:

Seriously, I've been sooooo sick. It was pretty much unbearable, but the morning sickness seems to have passed and I'm feeling a bit better. Tired, rundown, frumpy and frazzled...but better!

But before the morning sickness hit (which, FYI, was less then a week after the exciting news - blech) I was able to make Hailey this cute little shirt.

It took me HOURS! I'm not going to lie. Those angel wings on the back there were a labour of LOVE. I designed, cut out and ironed each little piece on...one by one. Hours of work - and it's not even perfect. But it was pretty cute, Ben loved it, the family love it, and Hailey will never be allowed to wear it again. That's the problem with spending too much time on something, I'm too worried it will be destroyed by my little toddlers shenanigans, and I can't risk losing something that cost so much of my time. So it was sort of a one time thing.

Then a few days later we celebrated the much anticipated HALLOWEEN! Am I late on this post or what? Anyway, our darling little Hailey was an elephant...with a pink bow. I think she was pretty cute...and I'm not biased at all.

She wasn't too sure of the whole thing at first...

But when she saw that there were treats involved, she changed her mind pretty quickly...

And was happy enough to let me pose with her for one shot.
Then right around this time Sarah (my baby sister) got engaged. And a few days later picked a date...6 weeks later. So the whole family went into a mad wedding planning frenzy. All at the same time Becc (my older sister) had a baby. My mom is still somewhat sane after all this...and I'm not sure how.

In the beginning of December we all took a break from planning the upcoming nuptials and went to Alisa's (Hailey's cousin) Birthday Party. Hailey had a blast!

Although I did see a lot of this face.

But overall she had so much fun!

Pretty much the rest of the month (and all of November) was spent at home...on my couch...watching my baby grow up and do silly things.

She did a lot of individual playing...and watched lots of tv...and I did lots of moaning and groaning and puking and sleeping. Good times.

So then later in the month (i.e. this last weekend) Sarah Got married...to Nick! They make a beautiful couple!

So here's the scoop on their wedding...they got married this last weekend. And if any of you have been here in Alberta, you know the weather was in the minus 20 range. Brrrrrr. So they ended up cancelling their photographer and decided to come back in a few weeks and take picture then...when it's warmer. But you can't just NOT have wedding pictures of your wedding day, so I was lucky enough to snap a few. THey turned out pretty good...and if I knew anything about editing pictures they would be a LOT better, but over all I'm impressed...mostly that Sarah was out there in her short sleeved dress. Brrrr.

But...because this is my BLOG I'm allowed to say this. My absolute favourite part of it all (besides Sarah finding her eternal companion and all) is that Hailey got the cutest dress out of the deal. Cute hey?

Ok, there are better pictures of her dress...like this one with her dream parents...seriously I think she loves Nate and Tan more then Ben and I:

Oh and then of course, this kid loves her Candy.

And finally, another one of the happy couple because they are just too cute together.

And that's it. That's what I've been up to lately. I'm looking forward to Christmas and all the fun it will bring. And then I'm really looking forward to the break we get after Christmas. Ahhh, I'm sooooo excited!

Time for a little BLOG break....

Things have been a little crazy around here lately, and I'm just generally feeling overwhelmed. So, I think I'm going to take a little break from this Blog. It's honestly the last thing on my mind these days and I come to it with nothing but dread and frustration. So out of fairness to my...uh... ONE reader (hi MOM!) I'm just going to announce a little hiatus. This way you don't have to waste your time checking to see if I've updated. I'll be back soon I promise...like in a month or something close to that.





See ya! And Until then, enjoy this little taste of paradise. This is where I wish I were (was?...I'm not sure on the proper grammar here - oh well.)

Bookworm Tag..and I'm it!

So my Lovely sister in law Tan just tagged me for this little game. I believe I followed the instructions right. Pick up the nearest book (not favourite or most intellectual), turn to page 56, and copy out the 5th sentence...and the following two. So here it is:





And so once more to circular Quay in Sidney, where Governor Phillip and his straggly, salt encrusted band stepped ashore two centuries ago. I was back in Australia after a trip home to fulfill some other work commitments and to prepare for my real trip - my present trip - and now I was back and feeling, I have to say, pretty perky.



I obviously only wrote two sentences, because the real first sentence was part of an entirely different paragraph and didn't make any sense. Not that the above quote made any sense either...but it's better then what I should have written:


"Look what he left behind."


Would it have made sense to you?? Didn't think so.



So, this little excerpt is from a book by Bill Bryson and it's called "in a Sunburned Country".


It's an amazingly funny little book about Bill's travels through Australia. We read it last month in book club and I foolishly didn't finish in time. So I've been working on it for the last few days. I'm almost done...and I highly recommend. However, I'll have to warn you, it's pretty meaty - which means it's definitely not a quick or easy read. But it's a fun read...and can be read in little spurts. 5 minutes here 5 minutes there. I enjoyed it....for the most part. I'm still a fan of books that I can read in one day. I like to skim books and was so frustrated when I had to go back and thoroughly read through entire sentences and paragraphs. Who does that? Not me that's for sure. I think I would like a Reader's Digest condensed version of this book...something that highlights all the funny stories but lets me finish in a day. But then again, I'm not sure that's even possible with this book, because it's all good. Oh well.


So that's it. I choose not to tag anyone specifically because I don't have enough blog readers to tag. So if you read my blog...please do this!