Owen + Eliot

Today was supposed to be the kick off event for the moms group that I started in my area.

Supposed is the operative word there. One of the moms (and her kiddo, C) is sick, and the other three that RSVP'd were no shows. Pretty disappointing, however I'm not without hope and have already posted two other events at the libraries in town - one for storytime with our kiddos, and another for Grandparent Storytime so the moms can get together and go Christmas shopping sans kids. Should be fun!

Anyhow, today turned into a playdate with Owen's friend Eliot (and his awesome momma, P)

Here's a little photo recap of their afternoon together

O and E playing on the floor

P entertaining the boys

The best of friends!

SO cute!

Owen holding his head up and looking over his shoulder at his favourite girl, mom!

It's Tuesday?

Right until midnight, as my Dad would say.

This week is already flying by, and I could have sworn that it was Monday today. But, no no...it's Tuesday, and that means getting my booty over to the gym to get it kicked by my trainer.

Today's routine consisted of...

5 minute cardio warm up

3 sets of:
- 40ft. (20 there...20 back) walking lunges
- 5 sprints up (and back down) a set of stairs
- 10 burpies

break

3 sets of:
- 10 ump squats
- 20 lying leg lifts
- 20 plank knee taps

End with 20 minutes of cardio

Wow...CRAZY! The legs are definitely a little like jell-o right now!

We had some really nice visits with Grandma Dale this week, and she got a good snuggle in today while I ran out to get some groceries and Owen wanted to nap for a while. Perfect timing! He was asleep when I left, and asleep when I got home!

Tomorrow is seeming to be more and more daunting. It's my first event for the moms group that I created in my area, and while it's an informal meet&greet, I still want it to go well. I've got the cupcakes, brownies, truffles and punch all done, and my friend P is bringing some ridiculously yummy cookies that taste like mint Girl Guide cookies, and a spinach dip that I have heard nothing but good things about.

The signs been painted, the survey sheets printed and the sticky name tags organized with markers to boot.

Fingers crossed it goes well!!

I'm Supermom

That's right...call me Supermom

This weekend was a crazy one, and this week is going to be insane as well.

Saturday, C was golfing in a tournament while I was at home vacuuming, dusting and trying to deal with a problem in the bedroom.

Seriously...bed bugs are a real thing! And, they're disgusting at that!! I haven't been able to shake the creepy-crawley feeling for the past 24 hours, and even slept in the spare room last night. Thankfully, it's not a fullblown infestation. I only found 3 dead ones, and 1 that used to be alive. The 4am inspection resulted in no bugs found, during their prime feeding time, so it looks like we caught it early enough, and it doesn't look like we're going to have to get a new bed (thank God, we have a king...so that's definitely an expense we can't afford! An exterminator though...that's going to have to find it's way into the budget somewhere, STAT!)

Everything's sanitized and vacuumed, no eggs or nests found...so that's a plus.

And, while I was busy cleaning, I was also in the process of making truffles and brownies for a little scrapbooking party that I hosted today.

An old highschool friend asked how I have time for all of this.

Today, it's called the Bumbo (yesterday was the swing) and we LOVE it since getting it yesterday off of a co-worker.

First time in the Bumbo!

Helping in the kitchen, keeping occupied with lots of toys!

and....he's out.

That, friends, is how I achieve Supermomdom.

What's in store for this week? Grandma Dale is coming to visit tomorrow and Tuesday, then I have my first event for the moms group that I started in my area on Wednesday. I'm really excited about it, but nervous all at the same time!

Thursday...hopefully Owen will nap a fair amount so I can relax a little and maybe get some of his scrapbook done.

Friday...Sue the child development lady from the Health Unit is here in the morning, which is alot of fun. We get down on the floor and play with Owen, go through his development phases, talk about challenges in parenting and selfcare associated with the postpartum depression.

BUSY week ahead, and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it!

Y3W

I know it's not Friday...not yet anyway, however C's working from home tomorrow morning and more than likely will commandeer the computer for a few hours (and *fingers crossed* take care of Owen so I can bake brownies and cupcakes and make truffles!)

So here's this weeks Your Three Words

Napping on mom (and yes... he really is that long! Pushing 28" right now)

Snuggled up for a nap...

Right down to his toes...

LOVE him like this...

And wouldn't you know...the minute I put him in his swing for the rest of his nap, he woke up! There must be something about snuggling with mom!

Happy Birthday!

To me!!

I had the absolute best first birthday as a mom, yesterday. We started the day off with lots of smiles and giggles from Owen, an episode of the Backyardigans while I ran around the house tidying and washing bottles, and then we were off to Chapters for a music class!

It was so much fun! I was a little hesitant because I'm not really into all of that dorky "sing to your kid in public" stuff, and admittedly I get really self conscious because I actually can sing fairly well and get nervous in front of others. Well!! It was amazing! I totally didn't know the songs, but they were really easy to follow and my early bloomer gave all of the kiddos a run for their rattles and drums.

Owen was shaking a rattle during shake-time, banging a tambourine while it was "make music together" time, and was imitating the instructor marching...without any prompting at all. She was amazed and asked how old he was, then quickly was shocked when I said "3 months!"

Then it was off shopping for books at Chapters, a little Starbucks courtesy of mommaT, and then we drove around our neighbourhood while Owen was napping in the back so I could post flyers for the moms group I've created in my city (I'm such a go-getter!)

Once we were home, Owen was still wanting to nap, so he slept most of the afternoon while I farted around on facebook, watched some TV and then got ready for the gym.

Yeah, you read that right. Even though it was my birthday, I still went to the gym! Todd definitely did not go easy on me, either!

Afterward, I joined Nana, Papi, Grandma Dale, C and Owen back at Nana's house for a bbq dinner. It was so nice to just relax with family...really it's all I had wanted.

Getting a #1 mom badge from my little boy wasn't so bad either :)

Snuggles for mom on her birthday!

He was a little infatuated with the candles on the cake...

Angel food cake with no frosting...diet friendly and my favourite!

Owen the Model

A couple of weeks ago, a girl that I went to high school with contacted me about Owen modelling for her. How cool is that?!

She's branching out and starting a photography business, so we were happy to make the trek to her farm to help her develop her portfolio.

Gorgeous venue, and amazing pictures!!

Happy Monday!

Our beautiful boy...

LOVE this picture...and his dark locks

Happy 3months, baby boy!

Graduating

Now that Owen's hit the 3month mark, we're starting to look at things around the house and consider all of the things that we're going to need relatively soon. And by soon, I mean practically now! First on the list, an infant/child carseat!

He's a big kiddo....14lbs+ at this point, and 26" as of last week. The restrictions on our carseat are 22lbs and 29"...He's going to be out of that by Christmas!

So right now, we're looking at the next phase in carseats. I'm really not sure even where to begin. I'd like an infant/child carseat so that once we hit the rear-facing maximum, we can turn it around to the forward facing seat.

These are the ones that I'm considering...

The First Years True Fit Convertible Carseat - Urban Life $149

Cheap and cheerful, and the safety ratings are great. Thankfully in Canada, all carseats have to meet a certain Transport Canada standard to even be in the stores. The reviews are also really great...It's also apparently good for smaller cars, which is awesome for our Elantra. The only con, really, is that it's on backorder right now so I'm not even sure when it would be instock.

Rear facing to 30lbs, forward facing to 65lbs.

The First Years True Fit Rebound Carseat - Retro Geo $249

Again, a great carseat with great reviews. The price is a little much to swallow, if you ask me, and it's definitely bigger in size so I'm not even sure that it would fit in our car. I do like that it has an attachable headrest and kickboard, which certainly would come in handy with our little drummer boy!

Rear facing to 35lbs., forward to 65lbs.

Britax marathon Convertible Carseat - Onyx $299

I have heard nothing but amazing reviews for everything that Britax makes. It's super pricey though, so I'm not sure it's the route that we'll go...but I thought I'd throw it in there for comparison.

Rear facing to 30lbs., forward to 65lbs.

What are you using as your next carseat? Given the options above, which would you choose? Or...would you choose something different all together?

Your Three Words

This morning I was waiting for the homecare visitor from our health unit, Sue (long story short, we had the times mixed up. I had 9:30, she had 1:30....so the visit didn't happen) so I plunked Owen in his bouncy chair in front of the TV for a little bit to see if he'd even watch it while I folded laudnry, moved ethernet cables and cords, and cleaned up toys.

WOW! He was amused for sure! He sat and watched a few short programs, kicekd and giggled through Thomas and Friends, and then fell asleep for a little while as well.

Happy Friday!!

Mornings with Owen

This is what we wake up to in the morning's now...no more sleeping in for us!

I Hate Halloween

As I sit here listening to my Monster snoring up a storm...I'm thinking about Halloween and the holidays that are right on our doorstep.

Now, I titled this "A Sad Post..." because I'm going to get heavy here in a minute and explain why I have such mixed emotions about Halloween.

Halloween is such a fun time of year...actually, GodMomma's favourite time of year. Everyone is asking us what we're dressing Owen up as this year, and to be quite honest...he's going to be a baby. I have a little long sleeved onesie that he'll wear with jeans, that says Mommy's Little Pumpkin but...we're not dressing him up as anything.

Next year...all bets are off! I'd like to dress him up as a duck (Bonnie Toggs has a super cute costumer and I'm tempted to buy it now), or perhaps Batman, C's favourite superhero. Either way, he'll be cute as a button and able to walk up to people's houses to knock on the door and say "Trick of treat!"

Here's the heavy part...I hate Halloween, and I think I have a very good reason to. (Turn back now if you can't handle heavy emotion, I'm going to be bawling writing this, so I'm sure you'll shed a few tears too)

My Dad passed away October 29, 2005. GodMomma, her then-bf, C and I were in Waterloo at his big costume ball. I had made C and my costumes (Barney and Betty Rubble....corny, but super cute) and had just gone across the stage for "best couple" for people to vote for us.

I remember the TV Personality saying my name and asking me to go to the front lobby. My heart fell. I went through the list of options in my head...did our Jeep get broken into? Our apartment?

We all went into the lobby, and saw the police officers standing there. I took one look at them and thought "Dad's at hockey...it's not very well lit out there" and immediately assumed that my Dad had been in a car accident and that we were about to be taken to the hospital back home.

The officers asked to take us to somewhere more private and started leading us down a hall way to talk behind closed doors. GodMomma and her bf stayed behind, and I kept asking the officers to stop and tell me what the eff was going on. I remember stopping once we got to a particular hallway by the bathrooms and refusing to continue until they told me what had happened.

I remember screaming when they said the dreaded words that my Dad had had a massive heart attack at the arena, and looking back toward GodMomma (who's really more of a sister than my best friend) and starting to bawl. I remember C trying to hold me up, and I remember saying "no" over...and over...and over.

I remember talking to my Mom briefly on the phone, and to my brother briefly as well, before listening to my minister say that there was nothing I could do, so to get back to town when I could, but it wasn't important that I get back that night.

I remember riding in a police car with C back to our apartment, and GodMomma packing a bag while I sat on the floor. I remember sitting on the front step in C's sweatpants and shirt, waiting for her parents to come and pick us up. I remember her Dad giving me the biggest hug I've probably gotten in my entire life, and I remember crying the entire way home, and getting to my parents house where things would never feel the same again.

I hate Halloween. I hate it with a very very large passion and it hurts my heart to think that it's going to impact how I interact with Owen at what should be a really fun time of the year.

I feel so lost, but I can't help but hate Halloween.

I Went a Walkin....

As you all know, I participated in the Winners Walk of Hope this past sunday. I'll start this post with the positives...

I did it! I raised more than my fundraising goal of $500, and I walked 6km...

IN 45 MINUTES!

I had set a goal of 5km in 48minutes as per what the monitor on the treadmill tells me at the gym, and was so happy to have squashed that time....with an additional km, and two bathroom breaks!

Now to the negative...

The event was most definitely the worst organized event that I've ever participated in. Here's the rundown of the inefficiencies...

- Registration was to begin at 9:00am, the walk at 10:00am. I showed up at about 9:20am to register, at a table with no signage, no organization and was given no information as to how the event was going to work (starting line, finish line, route markers etc.)

- Tshirts for the mini-walks were in limited supply, so if you wanted one (which I did...) you had to come early. There was no mention of tshirts at registration, and while I was walking I noticed a plethora of dogs and small children (like I'm talking under the age of 5) with adult Winners Walk of Hope tshirts on...

- By about 9:30am, I was wondering what the heck was going on and wandered over to the registration table to ask. Apparently...people were already out on the course, and were almost finished! You're supposed to register and just start walking..."Go left and then left at the balloons, and then right at the Pool..." Uhm...thanks?

- There were no balloons! There were no route markers, no defined start and finish line with a banner, no volunteers out of the course...no nothing!

- At around 9:35, I received a bbm from C saying that a cheque presentation had just occurred...$4, 000 was raised in total online. I raised about $600 of that, and certainly would have liked to have seen the cheque presentation

- While I was out on the course, I noticed teams that were walking for someone that they lost, walking with a survivor and others like me, who were just walking for the cause as a whole. My heart fell heavy when I saw the teams...knowing that they missed the cheque presentation, and that they received no recognition for their own personal reasons for being there. A moment of silence before everyone went out walking would have been nice...

- After the first loop, I met up with C and Owen, who came out for the second loop. It was a disheartening sight when I came back in...the volunteers had cleared up the registration table...and were leaving! There were still two teams out on the course, and about 20 individual walkers who'd yet to finish, and some who had just started!

Needless to say, it was incredibly poorly run. I felt horrible for those who were walking for someone they lost, or with a survivor who beat this disease.

Given how poorly it was run, I'm hesitant to do the walk next year...which really sucks considering the amazing cause that I was walking for, and I'm be shocked if I wasn't the only one who was reconsidering their involvement. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be making my disappointment known...I don't want the cause to suffer in the future because of poor organization!

Owen waiting for Mommy to finish her walk

Finishing the first loop...then we went out as a family

Happy Anniversary!

Today is going to be a picture post of sorts...celebrating 2 years of marriage, and 6 total years with the (first) love of my life, C.

Happy Anniversary babe!

Dating - in NYC, September 2007

Engaged - October 2007

Married - September 13, 2008

Expecting - September 2009-June2010

Parents - June 16, 2010 (photo taken when Owen was 3weeks old)

September 2009 vs. September 2010

Sarah's comment got me thinking...and looking for pre-pregnancy pictures to see what exactly the changes have been.

This time last year, C and I were in New York for a little...pre-babymoon. A chance to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, relax in the whole stressful babymaking process, and really to spend time together before what we knew was going to be the craziest time of our lives.

Wow. I knew that I've changed, but it really hit me this morning just how much. Here are a few of our New York pictures, and then a few pictures from after Owen was born (and yesterday)

After picking out my birthday present!

By the lake in Cooperstown

After breakfast at H&H Bagels


Anniversary dinner at Del Frisco's (this is the picture that really hit me)

7 days post-delivery

2 months post-delivery

3 months post-delivery

Holy moly...it's even more emotional and overwhelming to see the difference right there in front of me!

Progress Report!

Today I was going to blog this ridiculously cute video that I took yesterday morning while Owen and I were playing peek-a-boo, but...it seems that something wonky is going on with my camera's memory card. I'll hopefully get that fixed and show off my Monster soon :)

In other news, I had training session #3 last night...and did it ALL! I was incredibly proud of myself because Todd doesn't really like the word "no"...therefore I just keep saying "yes!" when he asks if I can do it, or have anymore in me.

Our routine last night:

5 minute treadmill warmup, 15incline, 3 speed (4.6 yesterday almost made me fall off!)

4 sets of:

- 10 squats with 12.5lbs weights in each hand
- 10 burpies
- 2 minutes on the rowing machine, keeping the speed above 30

20 minutes on the treadmill for cardio at the end

First and foremost, let me just say that burpies are the single hardest exercise I've ever done in my life. The up and down really messes with your balance and blood pressure, and it took me a while to get through them (my resting bp is 90/50 and I have vasovagal syncope...so Todd and I had to have a little chat last night...)

Secondly...I almost burst out in tears last night from sheer exhaustion. I know that this routine and going to the trainer is worth it...but damn am I tired!

However, at the end of it all he rewarded me with a high-five (about the 6th one for the day...he's all about the high-five) and...a weigh in!

Lbs lost: 7
Inches gone: 10.5

Who knew I would actually be excited for a weigh in!? That means I have lost 7lbs in one week. ONE! Craziness! And I was kind of shocked when he did the measurements. I've lost 3" on both my abdomen and waist (individually, not combined!), 2.5" from my hips/booty, .5" from each thigh, and .5" from each bicep...all the while building lean muscle.

Today, I've walked 10km and am not in near as much pain as I was last week at this time. Well...until I went to bend to pick something up. Oi! I pulled something back by my booty and hamstring...it does not feel good.

Me...12wks post-delivery

The Belly Crawl

For the past few weeks, Owen has been making some great strides...well, squirms...with his motor skills. He's getting ridiculously strong, and within a week of his first roll-over, he was trying to scoot his way across his playmat to get to Mom or Dad on the other side.

Last night was amazing. We were over at Nana and Papi's for dinner, and after we were all done, I put Owen on the floor on a blanket (about the size of a crib quilt), on his tummy. Really, I was hoping that he would just roll over and show up his amazing head-holding-up skills.

What happened was really amazing. He started about 3/4 of the way down the blanket, and would pull his knees up under his chest, inch forward, lie on his belly then look up at me. His arms sort of stayed where they were under his chest, but he'd work them out and slide them forward ever so slightly then move his knees up under his chest again. He was belly crawling his way over to me!

I really wish I had the video camera there to catch it. He started trying to crawl and pulling his knees up under his chest last week, and we sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that we have an early developer on our hands...but I really didn't anticipate that it meant within a week he would be figuring out how to crawl. We were placing bets on if he'd be full out crawling by Halloween, and I think it's safe to say...YES!

Training Session #2 and Baby Development #1

Last night marked training session #2 with Todd, and I went in with a little hesitation. I totally bailed on him last thursday when I couldn't even lift Owen to feed him (thank goodness Nan is only 3 minutes away and took care of Owen for me for the afternoon so I could soak my weary body and rest for a while)...and I definitely thought he was going to kick my booty for bailing on him.

Well...he did, but it felt awesome! Our routine last night consisted of:

- 5 minute warm up on the treadmill, 15 incline, 4.6 speed

4 sets of:
- 20 squats/stepups (squat, stepup onto a 2.5ft bench, step down, repeat)
- 10 pushups
- 20 lunges

rest for 2 minutes

4 sets of:
- 10 pullups (like a reverse pushup)
- 10 chinups
- 2, 30sec. planks

End with 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, 9 incline 4.6 speed until my legs felt like jello and I went down to 3 speed and 4 incline so I didn't fall on the floor.

Yes, he kicked my booty and that is the exact spot in my body that I'm feeling the burn today.

But it's good! I took preventative measures last night - epsom salt soak for about 30minutes or so, RubA535 on my quads, traps and butt, and 2 advil. It definitely helped as I can move and lift Owen today with no problem...even though my legs are a little bit stiff.

We had our first visit today with Sue, the home care visitor who travels around our city to show new parents how to stimulate their kiddos and understand brain development at the different stages of the first 6 months of their lives. She'll bring DVD's with her for Owen, we'll get on the floor and play with his toys and figure out what works best for him in terms of stimulation and brain development. She said that it looks like we've got all the right toys and gear, and that she'll also focus on keeping our house safe (cords, outlets etc.) for when he starts really moving and shaking.

It was kind of nice, and she'll be coming once a week on fridays at 9:30am for the next 8 weeks. Then, she and Gaetane (my health nurse/lactation consultant) will be coming for the 9th week to debrief and get my feedback about the program.

Oh! and he was weighed today!! Chunker, I think not!

13lbs13oz

Lean, mean, pooping machine!

My Kid is NOT a "Chunker"

Time for a little rant and rave.

Last week, Owen and I met C, Nana and Papi out at the Club after their round of golf for a little dinner. As always, there seemed to be a never ending flow of well wishers and baby watchers coming our way, most of whom were awesome and fell in love with our little Monster pretty immediately.

Well...then there was a lady, we'll call her Mrs. Too-Outspoken for our purposes (plus I don't even know her name), who came over all excited to see the new Szem. I kid you not, her words were...

Oh my! He's a real chunker!

Excuse me? Did you just call my kiddo fat?! He's 2 1/2 months old, about 26"-30" at this point, and probably about 15lbs. He's a big kid, but by no means is he a chunker.

Everyone at our table chuckled and made it seem like no big deal. I tried very hard to bite my tongue, but I'm getting really tired of everyone saying how big he is, insinuating that he's fat.

She didn't stop there, though. Somehow the topic of sleeping through the night came up, and we said that he's not quite there yet, he usually wakes up at about 3am. We did not in any way insinuate that he wakes up for a bottle.

That's because he's a chunker and he's used to his food!

Okay...enough lady.

a) my kid is NOT a chunker, and I said as much when she was going back to her own table
b) he wakes up out of habit, not to be fed necessarily as he only drinks 3oz. at most in the middle of the night
c) you're a jerk

A Tribute to My Dad

As most of you know, my Dad passed away 5 years ago this coming October. Halloween to be exact...such mixed emotions about that "holiday" but I'll get into that in another post this month.

I don't write alot about my Dad. It's hard.

He was the singlemost important person in my life...until C and Owen came along, and while I know that he's watching down on us, and firmly believe that he's already met Owen and taught him a tonne of things that I could never even fathom...I grieve in in a totally different way now. I grieve the relationship he would have had with my son, and how I would have been able to witness the joy that he would have gotten out of making him giggle, teaching him how to play hockey and the drums, and even just snuggling with him for some quiet time.

This past weekend, C and I took Owen to my hometown for a tribute that the Pipe Band was having for members that had passed away over the past 5 years. In lieu of flowers, my Mom wanted donations to the Pipe Band or Heart&Stroke Foundation (my Dad had a massive heart attack at the age of 52). Well...we got to see what they put those donations toward.

They planted a tree in 2009 in honour of my Dad, and had it blessed by our minister yesterday in a beautiful celebration at their 100th anniversary. There were four trees that were being dedicated yesterday, and family members cut ribbons tied to those trees. There is also a stone cairn that was blessed as well.

It was misty throughout the celebration, then started to rain fairly hard while a single piper played Amazing Grace. It really took my back to my Dad's funeral, where we had the entire pipe band into the sanctuary of my church to play Amazing Grace. I snuggled Owen up tight and had a good cry while he nuzzled in and tried to stay warm.


Before it all began




Mom about to do the ribbon cutting






Owen and I under Dad's tree



The memorial stone








Owen and I listening and watching the pipers and drummers...




The sky on our way home...I think someone was watching from Heaven...

I miss you more than ever, Dad.

Backgrounds and Personal Training

Ugh...

As you've probably noticed, the background for this blog is ever changing. I have a fabulous new header from Blondie over at Transatlantic Blonde, and I have yet to post my fancy new button, but finding a background that I like to tie everything together is becoming quite a challenge!


My issue is colour coorindation. I'm a wee bit anal about things matching. I guess it's the artist in me, but everything must be coordinated....beit complimentary, split-complimentary or primary colours. And I want to play off the Momma, Daddy and Baby ducks on the header, and not get too stripey (is that even a word??)


If you know of any places to go to for blog backgrounds, feel free to drop them and your suggestions in the comments section. Right now I'm flitting back and forth between Hot Bliggity Blog and The Cutest Blog on the Block (which just the name of makes me want to puke a little...so cutesy)



In other news, I started with my personal trainer on Tuesday night. My little routine consisted of:

- 5 minute warmup on the treadmill, 15 incline, 4.6 speed

- 10 squats with a 2kg medicine ball (it was on the floor, I had to squat, pick it up, squat up, raise it over my head, squat down and put it back on the floor, then back to starting position. 10 times...)

- 10 pushups

- 4, 15sec. planks

- 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill (which my left leg gave out afterward, and I had to giggle at myself on the floor of the gym, making it look like I was bending to get my keys)


When I was there, I felt amazing and slightly like Wonder Woman. I could totally do this, twice a week, for the next four months.


Two days and a daytrip to Niagara-on-the-Lake later...I can barely move. My traps and quads are screaming from the inside out and I have never been in this amount of pain in my entire life. Lifting Owen and playing Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes or Old MacDonald is out of the question today. Going up and down the stairs with a little boy in my arms is also out of the question.


Child birth has nothing on a training session with Todd!

How in the world am I going to do this, twice a week, for four months?!