nursery,packing plans, and sand

I'm sitting here eating a slice of lemon poppy seed loaf with a fork. While the recipe tastes delicious, and the bread is super soft...it crumbles into a million tiny crumbs when any amount of stress is placed on it. This one won't be a re-do....

The past week was a challenging one. Jesse was throwing fits left right and center, and didn't seem to snap out of it until the weekend while I was at work. Daddy always seems to get Jesse during his happier days, and gets the 3 hour naps from him, etc. So unfair. But, truthfully, I am glad for that. Dave has enough stress and attitude thrown at him during the week teaching the teenies, he doesn't need ANY more.

Yesterday, we decided to try Jesse in the nursery at church instead of in the service with us. One of us usually ends up having to leave with him after the music ends, cause he is SO loud. There is a parents room with video feed of service, toys, exersaucers and a nursing corner we've been using. But, we decided we wanted to both enjoy the service together each week. So... we filled out the paper work and dropped him off. We received a pager, and they said they would page us if he had any issues. I felt a little bit sad for a few minutes. Then felt an extreme surge of freedom and happiness with our decision. We picked him up an hour and a half later at the end of the 10:50, and the nursery volunteers said he did just fantastic, and got a long well with everyone. That was good to hear.

This week I'm starting on my to-do list for our upcoming move. I have reserved our u haul, and plan to pack a few boxes this week. Dave is away with his grade 12 world issues class in Toronto at the Model United Nations conference for most of the week, so I plan to eat frozen food, and spend my cooking time doing some purging and packing. I'm actually kind of excited about it. For one, I like projects to work away at. However, I like going through old boxes and all the "stuff" that gets accumulated and throwing things away. It feels refreshing somehow...AND Dave won't be here to tell me to keep stuff! ma ha ha.. (that was supposed to be evil laughter)

I have a plum and almond coffee cake in the oven, and I'm feeling a little weirded out by the smell and look of it. Jesse Bear is getting in a nap, and I think this afternoon we'll go to the park. I took him on Sunday, and let him play in the sand, and he was so curious about it at first. Picking it up and letting it run through his fingers, squishing it in his toes. Then, he decided he didn't want the sand touching him and kept trying to kick it away with his feet, only to discover more and more sand. Eventually he just lifted his arms up and looked at me with this pout that said "rescue me." So cute. Alright. enough blog jabbering. Or blogabbering...or jablogerring...On my way. Thanks for reading. I'm out.

Home and Dresses

Our trip home from the grand NB was super. We had to stop every few hours for Jesse to stretch and get some fresh air...but after 15 minutes of being outta the car, he was good to hit the road again. We really enjoyed our visit back home. I thought 4 days wouldn't feel like enough time, but it was just enough time to see everybody, as well as get some relaxing in.

One positive thing about my new momma figure...A little wider everywhere...is that my mom and I are now just about the same size. So...I can steal her clothes when I go home. Actually...over the past year she has been giving me clothes every time I visit. This time, I really hit the jack pot. Mom's newest job is at Fabricville as a manager. Part of the dealio, working there, is that you get big discounts, but also an allowance to sew things to display throughout the store. The bonus, is that you get to take them home after a few months. So...mom has been sewing us stuff like crazy, and 5 of the dresses and 3 shirts were done being on display, so I got to take them home with me. Last night, Dave and I had a little fashion shoot, so I could put up some pictures...Silly us.

This is my FAVOURTIE piece she made.. I Plan on wearing it to my little brother, Jacob, and his lovely fiance Katrina's, wedding.

These are a few more casual summer dresses she did for me... I love the bow wrap thing on the yellow one!

And here are a few of the tops... I forgot to include them in the fashion shoot, but happened to have worn them during the week, so have my bases covered. I love the color of the orange jacket, and the cinched(sp??) waist on the beige..

So...thank you Mama Smith. She continues to sew...and next time I'm home, there will be a whole nother set of her creations off display for me to take home. Yay!

I really don't have too much news about the past week. The weekend was nice, with a morning breakfast with some friends (the kids in the above picture) before church, and some time with Dave. We missed him while we were gone. Jesse has been over the top miserable with his 2 top teeth coming through since Monday, and Dave has been swamped with school work.... so it hasn't been the best week of my life.... I've been trying to distract myself from everyones misery with cooking and baking. I love it. I've done a few more recipes in my book. A spiced apple crumble and some fig-quinoa breakfast bars. Both were good.

Well, once again, the little tyke is calling. He has finished his breakfast, and you should see his face! Kiwi and cereal and cheese all through his eyebrows. How he does it, I do not know. ha ha ha. Gotta run, thanks for reading! I'm off.

Traveling at 10 months

It's a sunny and cool day here in Fredericton, and I'm at my parents place doing some relaxing, yup. Jesse was totally over the top miserable this morning, so I am treating myself to a glutenous lunch while he naps. Yummm...real bread with real slices of hot roast beef and gravy loaded on it. I am such an emotional eater. So bad.

Our car trip down was pretty good. Jesse slept until we hit Montreal. I had bought screen things for all the windows to make sure the sun wouldn't bother him, and even rigged up some diapers on the small triangle windows once we got going and I noticed the sun was creeping in through those. On top of this, I purchased a cheapo little mirror to attach to his head rest so I could see him from my rear view mirror. It's nice to be able to see him and what he is up to. But mostly, when he cries I like to be able to see what the reason is. Well... Didn't we get stuck in bad traffic in Montreal, and the one little sliver of light that squeaked through my fortress of diapers and screens happened to fall right across his eyes. He was not so happy about that. Once we got out of the city, he calmed down a bit, and I figured we'd stop in Drummondville for supper and a stretch in about half an hour. He started getting ancy and was full out screaming and bawling and just about choking by the time we arrived. I was a little flustered, and in my constant rearview checking to make sure he was still breathing in between the wails, I forgot my exit. Arg. It took me 10 extra minutes to get another exit and turned around and back to Drummondville. I was so edgy. But, once we got some fresh air, and some yummy chicken salad from Subway, Jesse was feeling much better. I got the boy into some PJ's and we had a good old play in the back seat until his bedtime, and took off around 7. He drifted to sleep and we continued from there until we hit Riviere de Loup. The kiddo woke up, and after some milk and another stretch and fresh air, he was out again until we arrived in Fredericton at 3:30AM. I can see why my parents used to drive us places through the night. It's much nicer travelling with a sleeping baby for sure! I was quite happy with myself for making it through on only a few sips of a coffee. I got tired the last few hours, and so to stay awake, I went through every year of my life and thought about the highlights and events of the year, who my friends were, what my family was up to, what our provincial cheerleading routine was like for that year. It was quite entertaining, and kept me from falling asleep. I also ate WAY too much trail mix. I got one with craisins and dried banana and pineapple, and a million nuts. soooooo delish.

People tell me that I'm brave to travel with a little one by myself. I've made this trip with Jesse at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and now 10. But really, I find it easier being just the 2 of us. I don't have to worry about if anyone else is bothered by his crying, I can stop when I want to, and just do my own thing. The one challenge is using the washroom. Trying to get your pants unbuckled and down while holding a squirmy baby who is trying to eat the toilet paper and climb your shoulder can be quite hilarious. Good times, really.

So, we arrived safely and are now spending some quality time with the fam. It's awesome to have both sets of Parents- Dave's and mine- in the the same city. I love a change of pace, and these road trips are good for that :) I'll write more about my adventure later as I hear baby Boo starting to wake. Thanks for reading. I'm off.

Ears, doctors and packing up

It's raining and overcast, and my mood is matching the weather today. The baby is down for a nap, and I really should be having one, too. But, once I get all cozy and drift off, he'll wake up, and then I'll feel more tired than I do, now. Jesse hasn't been sleeping or napping well since the weekend. He's been waking up 4 and 5 times a night SCREAMING since Friday. I thought maybe it was just a separation phase or something, but then I noticed the ear grabbing. By Tuesday, he had a full blown cold and a cough and hasn't been interested in eating, which is NOT at all like my little Jesse. We saw the doc yesterday, and sure enough, the little monkey had a nasty ear infection.

I know that health care is a touchy issue, but I have nothing but the best of things to say about my health care provider, and her office. I called yesterday at 10am, and we were given an appointment for 11:30am. We only waited 5 minutes to see the doctor once we arrived, and the care was awesome, as usual. When I first had Jesse, we probably saw the doctor 8 times within the first month for a variety of issues. The office has a number of doctors, and if yours isn't working that day, or filled up, the walk-in doctor or an associate doc. will see you. You don't have to walk in and wait though, they just book you in. I have never waited more than 15 minutes, and the one time I did, the doctor apologized profusely. The doctors are also fantastic people. The 2 we see the most are moms, and so they give advice, based not only on their medical expertise, but their own experience. It's nice to know that they aren't just throwing text book answers at you. At about a month into Jesse's birth, I came down with mastitis. I felt miserable, and when the doc asked how I was feeling and doing, I just BROKE DOWN.... like sobbing about how everything kept going wrong, and I was so tired, and felt so awful using up so much of their time with issues. My doctor told me everything was going to be ok, and that they were there to help. No matter how many times. That was good and all, but what really sold me on her amazingness, was that she called my house the next day to see how I was feeling emotionally and physically. She is also great because she offers practical and natural ways to deal with things, as well as the information and options regarding drugs, etc. It's nice to hear both sides, and not feel pressured....just informed. Dr. Musca is the best. She is actually on Mat. Leave right now with her third child, and the replacement Doctor has been very good, too. Wow. That was a rant.

So...back to the present, Today I'm staying close to home to try and give Jesse lots of opportunity to sleep and rest. He's only napping for 40 minutes at a time, so I'm just gonna try putting him down every few hours during the day. Cooper has been a touch under the weather, too. He's been pooping out bright colored tinfoil: pink, green, blue, since our egg hunt on Monday. The little crazy got into the basket of tinfoil wrapped chocolate, and it appears he couldn't figure out how to open them- so just ate them tinfoil and all. I know chocolate is fatal to dogs. But, our little Cooper is special. He ate a full toblerone bar once, as well as a good amount of hot chocolate mix, and is still with us.

I am also, working on packing up a suitcase for my road trip. Jesse and I are leaving this Saturday after my work shift for Fredericton for a few days to visit the fam. This will be our 4th road trip together, and I'm hoping that he's feeling better by Saturday. I did end up going with the antibiotics for his ears, and last night he was up coughing like crazy, but not screaming. So, I'm hoping for quick improvement. I also have some GF gingerbread flax bars to try out for the new recipe of the day. I tried some ricebran and raisin muffins a few days ago. They were good. A touch dry, and in gluten-free fashion best right out of the oven smothered with butter. They didn't keep very nicely past the first day, though. Oh gluten-freedom! How you distress me sometimes! Ok. I'm done with the drama. They were a nice substitute for cereal or eggs for breakfasts the past few days. I also broiled some spring steak kebabs for supper the other night as a new recipe. Dave loved them. I wasn't the hugest fan.

Alright, well I'm not sure when my next blog update will be. I have work tomorrow and Saturday, then we're off to the great and wonderful East Coast. Wish me luck. Thanks for reading. I'm off.

Rage, Breakfast, and Easter Weekend

It's an overcast morning, and Jesse is playing on the floor while the dog sleeps the day away on a pillow nearby. We had a fantastic Easter weekend, that started with a relaxing family day down by the water in 28 degree weather, and a drive around Ottawa with the sunroof open and windows down.

On Saturday after my work shift, my brother Josh and his wife Kari-Leigh came by for dinner and a movie. They live in Toronto, but KariLeigh grew up In Ottawa, so they make their way down here to visit her family on several occasions. Jesse has officially entered the fear of strangers phase...and while he is FINE and happy being around anybody, he FREAKS out when anyone he doesn't recognize HOLDS him. As you will be able to see from the next pictures I'll post on facebook.

He continued with this trend on Sunday at church, and Sunday night when we went to visit Darrin/Leah and fam for a amazing meal. We not only had chicken wrapped pork, but roast beef too! Jesse did well with Leah, who he has spent time with on several occasions, but there were some other guests he wasn't familiar with, and he threw a total fit when passed onto them. We took Cooper with us to play with their Puppy, Boo. Boo is not even a year and part Poodle/Shitzhu. She is about twice the size of Cooper, and has boundless energy and spunk. Cooper mostly cowered when she came bounding over to play...but as soon as Boo would come near Jesse, Cooper would growl(which is very rare for him) and bark his head off. At one point, I was sitting on the floor with Jesse on my lap. Boo jumped over and started kissing Jesse's face and jumping on him. Cooper jumped into the way and was circling us "defending and protecting" us, as poor Little Boo was trying to check out Jesse. It was pretty amazing how loyal these dogs can be.

Aside from a brief outing, and egg hunt, Monday was a bit of a work day for us. Dave with school, and me with the other unendings, such as dishes and floors. Since we are moving, we had a preliminary walk through of our apartment by the management to determine it's "showing quality." They will be showing it for the next little bit and said they will call before hand the day of. It's suppose to be neat and tidy for the viewings, so I'm all paranoid about this now, and have been forced into a neat freakish way of life, that is no fun, really.

I've gotten through a few more recipes in my book over the weekend. We had a really gross breakfast of an apple/almond/raisin with toasted oat muesli with plain yogurt, banana and drizzled honey on Sunday. It sounds good...but it was just TOO much taste and texture going on for one little bowl. Even Dave rated it a 2/10. The next recipe we tried on Monday made up for it. I made rice flour crepes, and stuffed them with bananas and chocolate hazelnut filling. They were UNREAL! Unfortunately, my recipe book received it's first war wound from this one, but it was sooo worth it. After blending all the ingredients together, I went to pour the batter into a bowl, and the mixture was so light, that as it hit the bottom of the bowl it splashed OUT and ALL over the counter and my book. Ugh. I was SO livid. Half of the crepe batter GONE. Sweet Dave came in and cleaned up my mess for me, while I fumed and resumed. (he he...that rhymed) Most people don't realize the TEMPER I have, and while I also have a good deal of patience, I snap when it comes to silly things like spilling stuff or stubbing my toes. Sometimes I surprise myself with the amount of anger than boils out of me. My mom, who I adore and love to pieces, has a wicked temper, and I think I have inherited some of it. She told me that she didn't realize she had a temper until she was married and her and my dad had friends over for supper. She was cooking some rice and it burned, and she was so angry, she took the plate and broke it over her head! We both can usually laugh after the fact at our ridiculous actions, but in the moment, the RAGE is intense. It's a good thing I married collected, David. He keeps me balanced.

I feel tired today from the past few nights sleep. I'm not sure if it's a stage or teeth, but Jesse has been waking up 2 or 3 times within the first few hours of the night, SCREAMING his head off. He's also been flipping out when I put him to bed, and I've not really had too much of a problem with that before, aside from 10 minutes of tired crying. But this is like INTENSE rage and tears. I'm kind of hoping it's just teeth, and not separation issues.

Well,,, I've nannered on enough for the morning. I have things to do, and people to see. And some rice bran and raisin muffins to try out for the new recipe today. SO, I best get at 'er. Thanks for reading. I'm off.

Cuddles, food and Good Friday

I just put Jesse down for his nap, after rocking him for 10 minutes while he was totally out. I usually put Jesse in bed, wide awake, because he doesn't fall asleep any other way. However, he passed out while I was feeding him, and I just savored cuddling with him fast asleep. We've had a busy week with a handful of play dates, dinner dates with friends, a messy house to clean, lots of banking and errands, and I'm on another cooking spree and have been going to town with trying new recipes.

I went through all my Chatelaine and Canadian Living magazines from the past year, and tore out any recipes I thought looked good, and were gluten free. I put them all in little plastic sheets in a binder, and that is my new "go-to" for supper. I am SO nerdy, I know. I love organizing things. However, upon completing this project, I noticed that I tend to pick out similar type recipes as I am drawn to certain things, like pasta, lemon, garlic, and chicken. So....what I've decided to do to spice up my life, in the Spirit of "Julie and Julia," is go through an entire recipe book that I have. Now... I'm not going to blog about it- or put any time limit on it. But, I have this GF cook book I was given for Christmas, and most of the recipes call for things I'm not familiar with, or don't have around the house. So... I've decided to work through that whole one from page 1. This morning, the first recipe we came to was brown-rice flour and yogurt pancakes. They were DELICIOUS! The texture was perfect, and they were SO easy to make. We let Jesse try out one, and he mostly thought it was a floppy toy. Cooper ended up with most of it, lucky dog.

We have lots on the go for this weekend, too, but are taking today to rest and relax as a family, and reflect a bit on Good Friday. We're also trying to decide how much or little of an Easter tradition we want to take up with the kids as far as "The Easter Bunny and Egg Hunts" go. I want our kids to know and appreciate the actual reason for the season, and don't want it overpowered by chocolate! But do want to do some fun and yummy stuff, too. Hmmm......thoughts?

The weather is suppose to hit 26 today, so I think we'll probably go for a good walk down by the water. Dave and I have this special little spot along the river we would frequent while I was pregnant with Jesse, and we'd talk about how we'd bring him there when he was born. And we haven't yet. Today will be the day. I hope all of you have a great long weekend. Thanks for reading. I'm out.