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.

Jesse Bear at 9 months of life

AH. It's a great day. It started by getting to sleep in until 8:00 this morning. Jesse and I babysat the kids I used to nanny for yesterday, and we had a very busy day. He doesn't sleep very well outside of his crib, and wouldn't take his afternoon nap, so he lost that extra hour of sleep he usually gets. We met up with a friend, earlier this week, at a little coffee/kid play place, and I was amazed at what her little 10 month old cutie could sleep through. He was asleep in his car seat when we arrived, and he slept through her picking him up and moving him into a stroller, through the bright sunlight, into the shop, through ordering coffees, and then he slept while Jesse squealed and babbled very loudly right beside him. Amazing. I can't even open the door to Jesse's room silently without him stirring.

Since the time change, Jesse's sleep schedule has switched to one I favour much more. He does 7pm to 7am with a 15 minute feed around 4 am. I like him going to bed at 7, as opposed to his former 6:00 hour, because things don't feel as rushed in the evening. When Dave gets home, it used to be like... get everyone fed, and the boy washed up and into Jams and in bed in an hour... and I much prefer having a more relaxed time getting that done. It's nice for all of us to be able to have a bit of evening play time, or go for a walk together, too. When I go back to work in the fall, I'll really probably savour those few hours together. Also, Jesse's afternoon nap has also moved until much later in the day, allowing us to get out after lunch for a few hours. I like being home anyways, for 3 or so, to get supper on the go, and get some down time while the boy naps before Daver gets home.

So, this is Jesse at 9 months old now, and I feel like he has picked up and mastered so much new stuff this week. Here are a few highlights:

-Jesse is now putting things BACK into the box once in a while
-He hands people toys or food. Half the time when you reach out to take it, he pulls it back to eat or play with it, but the other half of the time, he actually shares.
-He has a really eczema ridden finger that he chews on all the time, so we try and keep it covered during the day with a bandaid. He has mastered taking the bandaid off. I think he likes the challenge, and I'm tempted to bandaid them ALL up one of these days, and see how long he'd work away at undoing them.
-He reaches both of his arms up when he wants out of his swing, high chair, or car seat.
-He gives me kisses if I ask for them. They are a little scary these days. He grabs the sides of my face and sometimes chomps a bit during the kiss.
- He VOLUNTARILY is going from sitting onto his stomach without flipping out. And while his legs have grasped the concept of crawling, his arms haven't yet. So, he's moving around quite a bit on the floor by sliding on his stomach and doing some pivoting.
-If he is on his back and you ask him to roll onto his stomach, he will.
-If you say "buckeroo," he will throw himself backwards... a little scary, indeed.
- He cries when I leave the room
-He gets the idea of playing catch with Cooper, and throws the ball for him.
-He likes to swat at Coopers face, and put his hands in Coopers mouth. This gets Cooper all riled up, and playful, and when he barks in Jesse's face, Jesse cracks up laughing.
-He knows when it's nap time, and cries when we walk down the hall and into his room, then throws a MAJOR 5 minute tantrum everytime I put him in his crib for a nap. I like when Dave is home and does this, so I don't ALWAYS feel like the meanie.
-He sways forward and back in his swing if it's not swinging to get it moving. And thinks it's hilarious for some reason.
-He pulls himself into a stand up position when he is sitting on my lap using my shoulders, then tries to climb up my body and over my shoulder. He does this on the armrests of the couch too.
-He does NOT sit still unless he has some little gadget to try and figure out.
-His mouth never stops moving
-He is VERY cute.

Well, it's Friday, and I need to get some laundry done before work tonight, and the house tidied up a bit. Dave has a group of guys over, quite often, on Friday nights, and they usually end up cleaning the messy kitchen and doing dishes. Which is nice, but I think I'll try and be on top of it this week. Happy Weekend! Thanks for reading. I'm off.

March Break Bliss and the misadventures of David

It's a dreary Sunday afternoon in Ottawa, and the boys are chillin' on the couch playing some Mario. Cooper is curled up on his pillow on the floor, sleeping the day away. I just downed one enormous mug of coffee, and am enjoying this lazy feeling day.

The past week has been absolutely wonderful, with Dave being on March Break. He had to spend about 3 full days doing school prep and marking- but otherwise spent the remainder with Jesse and I. We've been going to the park, taking lots of walks, watching a ton of LOST episodes, and eating WAY too much Brie cheese. I feel like we really needed some time as a couple and family to regroup and connect, and it's been a great week for that. We were also lucky to have a week full of sunny days in 15 degree range, and that added to the March Break Bliss.

Jesse is such a little boy these days, and has decided his favourite activity this week is throwing things. We fill up this basket full of all his little toys- blocks, rattles, balls, teething rings, etc- and sit him on the floor with it. He pulls one thing out at a time and shakes it to death, then whips it across the room. Now... I'm wondering if I should be discouraging this sort of behavior? Thoughts, anyone? But, he has so much fun with it, and it entertains him by himself for a while, so I've just been letting him go at it. He also initiates peek-a-boo, which is the cutest thing ever. No progress on crawling...still. But, I'm ok with that. I know that he will be into EVERYTHING when he gets moving, so am enjoying not having to chase him, yet.

Dave has been a super wonderful help all week, and I just love him. Yesterday, while I was at work, Dave decided to take Jesse on an adventure. He's been wanting a more manly baby carrier that he could tote Jesse around on his back. Apparently, he doesn't feel very manly using my slings?? :) Anyways, he decided he would take Jesse on the half hour bus trip to babiesRus to pick one out. I told him he was very brave, and should take the stroller... so he didn't have to carry Jesse the whole time. He didn't want to take the stroller, and said he'd be fine just carrying him. I guess the bus ride on the way there was great... Jesse was smiling at everyone, and as happy as good be. But when Dave got to the store, there were a TON of couples looking at carriers in the exact same section, and trying them all on. He sort of just watched everyone, and picked one out that most people ended up going with.

Now, when Dave gets a new Toy or a new anything, he has to use it RIGHT AWAY. A few days ago at the mall, he bought new socks at Sears, and put them on right after he bought them before continuing to any other stores at the mall. I thought that was so funny. So, as with the socks, he decided he needed to try out the carrier right away. Outside of the store, he proceeded to TRY and open the box, figure out all the straps, get Jesse into the carrier, and onto his back. All of this with Jesse in his arms, as there was nowhere to put him. Not even a bench anywhere! He couldn't figure things out, and upon reading the instructions discovered you need 2 people to get the baby onto your back in a safe manner. Now, if that was me.. I would have just been on my merry way with my purchase in hand to try at a later date. But, not Dave. He found some sort of box to sit Jesse on, and try and get him into the carrier, and onto his back... I guess Jesse started crying and fussing, and all these other couples with their babies were looking at him strangely. Dave said he felt awful. Like... everyone was thinking he was this horrible father. Anyhoo... I guess some guy passed by and said one of Jesse's feet was stuck, and helped him out. Dave proceeded to catch the bus back home. However, in all his dismay went the wrong direction on a crowded bus, and couldn't get OFF for 15 minutes. Finally, he got off and turned around, and Jesse started fussing again the whole ride home. When he arrived at the bus stop near our place, Jesse was miserable in the carrier, and Dave went to try and take it off, but the clips were jammed and he couldn't get the thing off his back. He ended up lifting it over his head with Jesse in it, and asked some girl looking at him with concern to make sure Jesse didn't fall out while doing all of this. Anyways, I guess it was a bit of a nightmare. We returned the complicated carrier, and got a much better one today. Oh Dave. Tsk. Tsk. Should have listened to mama. The stress he would have saved himself if he would have just taken the stupid stroller. I must say, though, life is never dull with Daver.

THE MANLY and BETTER CARRIER!

Well, it's my turn to watch Baby Boo, so Dave can have some down time. THanks for reading. I'm out.

A fantastic week gone by...

Well, it's been over a week since I've posted anything, cause my mom in law, Sharon, was visiting for the week from Fredericton. Dave's parents, moved to Fredericton from PEI on March 1st after Rob was offered a position with an engineering company in New Brunswick. I'm sure it would have been nice to get settled before flying over to Ontario to visit, but Sharon had booked the flight before they knew they were moving, and so stuck with the plan.

I've just gotten back from dropping her off at the airport, and the apartment certainly feels kinda sad and quiet without her. We had a great week, and it was just really nice to have her around to chat with, and enjoy Jesse with. I also took advantage of several free babysitting offers, and got out by myself for a few afternoons. It felt very freeing to be able to get out by myself without a baby attached, and no plans or errands to get done. I actually spent one of the afternoons at a few different malls spending some gift cards I'd received for Christmas, but hadn't the chance to spend yet. It was JUST what I needed. A little retail therapy sans bebe. Dave and I also got out for a date night, and that was really good for us. Last night, Sharon and I got out to see the movie Valentine's Day. I loved it! It had such a long list of my favorite actor/tresses, and was just a feel good movie, ya know?? Dave and I feel so very lucky to get along fabulously with each others family, and we're already counting the days until our Summer vacation in Fredericton...where they both now currently reside.

Jesse was a VERY happy and good baby all week, aside from Sunday where he was MISERABLE from teething. He's just so full of life and smiles, and is getting so much more fun to play with. He likes to wiggle his whole upper body like a fish out of water, and when I smile and say "Wiggle," He breaks into the biggest grin, and goes nuts whipping himself around. He's also getting better at pulling himself back to a sitting position when he wobbles or topples, and I'm sure in a few weeks, he'll be a pro. Still NO progress on anything that resembles crawling, as he despises his stomach and rolls onto his back as soon as you put him on it... But I'm not too worried about it. He'll get there eventually.

I have about 6 loads of laundry I've let build up now... and think I should likely go tackle that while the babe naps. Jesse and I are going to go to the park after he wakes up. The weather has been so nice all week...... sunny and breezy... 8 degreesish.....and there isn't much snow left. So, I'm very excited about that. Spring is on it's way. Yay! Thanks for reading. I'm off :)

Back to it

So Tuesday has arrived, and things are back to normal here at the palace. Praise The Lord. The past few days have been less than ideal with trying to recuperate from the stomach flu, and dealing with a teething ANGRY baby and a sick husband who picked up whatever I had. Dave is back to work today after taking a sick day on Monday, and despite puking last night around 3:30am, headed off to work around 6 this morning to try and get himself back on top of things. The evidence on the counter indicates he skipped breakfast and downed 2 cans of gingerale instead. Poor guy.

I must say, being stuck at home for 4 days with a sick little family, was NOT fun, and I was going a little crazy by the end of it. Facebook kept me in the loop about the outside world, and for that I'm thankful for. I find that facebook is a super helpful for a stay at home mom. Having a very demanding and busy little boy, I don't have much solid uninterrupted time during the day. Naps are about it, and this is the time when I do things that I can't when Jesse is up...like shower, haul laundry down to the basement, update my blog, or make necessary phone calls. When Jesse is up, I only have a few minutes here and there when he is content doing his own thing. Jesse wants to move and be be EVERYWHERE all the time, and since he can't walk or crawl yet, he is in this perma-frustrated state lately.

I find that taking a few minutes a few times a day to check Facebook helps me feel connected, especially with other moms who do the same thing during the day. I never thought I would be one to be interested in things like teething and napping, but it's life now..and knowing that other people are dealing with the same things helps me get through some of the rougher days. It's also nice to be able to see pictures and get status updates from our family and friends back in the Maratimes. It's no substitute for calling them, or seeing them, but when you only have a few minutes, it's the next best thing. Facebook also keeps me in the loop about things.... like the gold medal game....which we weren't able to watch, unfortunately. On the same note, it lets me know what I'm apparently out of touch with. This morning, everyone was chatting about the Bachelor? Even my brother was irate about his choice. Too funny. As much as I appreciate FB now, I'm glad it wasn't around when I was in High School. I see the potential for how it could suck all your time away, and perpetuate the drama and jealousy issues that are bad enough in the day to day lives of teenies without the computer as an extra contribution. At A Gym Tale, I hear hear 7 year olds complaining about how they aren't allowed a Facebook account. Dave says our kids won't be having it until they're married :)


Well...those are my few thoughts for the day. Baby is napping away, and I need to cut Coopers hair, get some laundry in, and have a shower. I'm never fully with it until I have my shower in the morning. I hope everyone is enjoying the week so far, and for those of you who aren't. Just imagine your current week, then add on a 2 ended stomach flu, a screaming crying baby with a groaning emotional hubby in the background, and maybe you'll feel better :) Or...just remember that there is a season for everything and "this too shall pass" That got me through a lot of rough times. Thanks for reading. I'm out.