Life as we know it!

New Treasure

2010-06-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

I think we can learn so much from our children. Watching them take such pleasure in simple things, like a new sippy. Or being completely captivated by something like a wallet. It warms my heart watching my daughter discover things, it makes me laugh and smile when she walks around proud of whatever she has done or has, and it reminds me to enjoy the small things!

I have been eyeing the Safesippy for a couple months now, particularly the safe sippy 2 because it is a straw version of the sippy, and we have sort of moved past sippy's....only because I read that a straw is a habit you can take to adulthood, but a sippy is a habit hard to break. Blah, whatever, we are not ready for cups for all beverages quite yet...so whatever works and is free of toxins I am game for. I feel much better about her drinking from a stainless steel bottle. I use one, she likes my bottle too, and her current one is Oggi (similar to Kleen Kanteen) and it leaks in my bag when it falls over....not cool! And the paint is chipping off of it, so when she decides to smash her cup on her tray, little bits of paint go on or near her food...ick.
Anyhoo back to my point ;) we were at a store that had the safe sippy for 14.99, so I decided to get it and Skyla was in love with it, still in the package. She kept trying to drink from it, even though she could not get to the spout. She whined the whole car ride home, because I took it away...she was gnawing on the cardboard. Then she pulled at my leg while I washed it.

My favorite thing about this sippy, besides being free from icky stuff; the comedians who work for the company. I loved the slightly sassy caution points. Such as the warning to not use with carbonated beverages with the added touch of "the ones with sugar can also turn your 2 year old into a screaming banshee" lmao. A good sense of humor will get you far in life ;) and really the standard cautions are so ridiculous but needed for those 1 in a million idiots. Our bouncy seat has a warning on it "do not use as a carseat" wtf...really...why the...how are people who would try that allowed to have children, first off how did they even figure out how to do the deed, secondly you should have to pass a test, like a drivers exam. So making me laugh while I scan through the warnings, makes me really adore the clever minds behind the product!

So I got it all washed up, filled it with water and handed it to Skyla. She walked around for a good hour taking big gulps out of it, followed by "ahhhh" I love that she does that after a sip. Actually while I was washing it, she gave up pulling at my pant leg and went to help her Aunty "pack" and decided to carry around my sisters shot glass necklace (empty of course) and when I showed her the sippy she couldn't find a spot fast enough to put the shot glass down. She was trying to give it back to aunty, but she was not paying attention, and then trying to get it on her dresser...so she could have two hands to hold onto the new sippy handles and take a swig. Bliss!

Another plus, totally dishwasher friendly. I tend to handwash her sippies, at least the plastic ones, because I'm a weirdo and don't like crazy heat on plastic. One less thing for me to hand wash, is awesome! I am looking forward to the straw adapter being available in Canada (soon I hope!) and the "dust cap"

You can find out more about the Safe Sippy on their website

http://www.kid-basix.com/thesafesippy.php

and no I don't work for them, I did not get one for free (I paid 14.99 remember) so far I just really like the product and don't mind giving them a little blip of free advertising.

MIA

2010-05-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been posting much lately. I am contemplating getting rid of this blog and starting a new one. I feel like I want a fresh start at a blog.

It will still focus on our life as a family, and probably give monthly (bi monthly) updates on the monkey, so our far away family and friends can know what shenanigans she has got into. However I really feel like some sort of change...just not 100% what change that will be yet.

Anyhoo I have had a few friends emailing me "why haven't you updated in so long" So I thought I owed the explanation.

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!!

Thanks and stay tuned, I will be sure to share the new blog link (will still be under the same username, as I don't want to start up another email)

Ciao!

Monkey See Monkey Do

2010-04-06T22:58:00.001-07:00

It's the little things that she does that make me really drop my jaw, and realize how much I need to smarten up because she is in such a discovery and imitation stage.

A couple months ago she started combing her hair, and playing mom to her baby, and pushing her sock at her foot (with no success).

The past 2 weeks have been, an obsession with her shoes, and she is successful at getting ONE croc shoe on (as of today) My oven mitts, and watching the food in the oven..while trying to lick it through the glass, thankfully no burns yet. And getting cranky at the dinner table when she doesn't have some cutlery, to stab away at her tray but miss the food hahaa. It makes it seem like it will be no time before she is picking out her own outfits, pushing a chair over to help me bake/cook, and twirling spaghetti on a fork (okay that one is probably really far away ha)

A few photo's of our lovely little girl being her lovely little self.

This was today :)
Rocking her cute slipper boots and big girl housecoat
Sharing my apple, she will have a fit if I don't share my food, it's quite the challenge prepping dinner lately.
A few weeks old, but super cute...she is trying to put her diaper on her baby. She will also sit on her own diaper and pull at it, but has no clue how to button it up ha.

Hmmm mat leave vs nursing room?

2010-04-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

My adorable husband just sent me this link
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590408,00.html

I fully...fully support breastfeeding, I think every women should give it a try and really try if it's hard for you. I'm very frugal, so I can't imagine spending money on formula, when my body is designed to make the perfect food for my baby, so maybe that is why I really support it hehee. I also bow down to those women that pump exclusively for their child, whether it be because baby would not latch or you just didn't want to have a baby attached to the boob, I am so proud of those women for choosing to pump and supply their child with mommy's milk. But I got slightly irritated at the part of the article that pretty much says they want workplaces to provide somewhere for women to pump to continue supplying their child with breast milk. How about, United States of America, you give what every mother deserves....a full year off. There is NOTHING convenient about time consuming pumping at work...especially after the 6 month mark. Trying to get comfortable in an office building with a pump attached to you for 20 minutes a couple times in your work day....yeah really convenient and oh so easy to get enough to replenish what baby is consuming at daycare. It's no wonder so many moms call it quits before the 6 month mark....because they have to go back to work. I count my lucky stars that I am a Canadian and I am entitled to a full year of leave with pay. And I count my blessings even more that I am still at home with Skyla and it hasn't been a huge financial burden. I mean don't get me wrong, all work places should have somewhere for mothers to pump in comfort....I'm thinking big comfy chairs with foot baths and someone to give you a pedi, a big screen TV with episodes of Sex and the City, and pizza delivered in, because....nursing/pumping makes you hungry...oh and lots of water, cause it makes you thirsty too. But really I think the better choice would be a year of leave...it would also keep the young child away from a ton of other sick kids in a daycare. I get being exposed to germs, we don't live in a purell bubble, in fact I am semi anti antibacterial hand sani, it's good when needed, but soap and water is better, and we need SOME germs! Swimming in a pool of snotty kids in a stuffy room with LOT's of people traffic ie lots of different germs vs being at home with mommy and your usual playdate friends, being exposed to people in stores with a little less contact. Nursing your child vs pumping at work. I think we all know where my vote is.

I am still breastfeeding my 13 month old, and she got her first cold this week, whether than be a coincidence or not, I don't know. But she has been around plenty of sick people and babies and exchange spit with sick babies in her first year of life and not one cold, every time I thought she was getting sick, I popped her on the breast constantly and the symptoms were gone within 12 hours. Whether it's linked or not, I don't know, and I know there are tons of breastfed babies that are constantly sick, so it's not always the cure for every baby. But I take pride in my child's chubby thighs, and her immunity of steel, that my milk has played a huge part in that. I have no plans to stop nursing her anytime soon, and I thank god it has been an easy relationship for us. As I said she is sick right now, and she mostly just wants her comfort food....mommy's milk, instead of table food, and that's fine by me. She is the happiest sick baby I know, so something has to be right.

I make milk, what's your super power ;)

Meatless Meals

2010-03-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

For a few years now, I have tried to make at least 1 or 2 meatless meals a week. It's really not as hard as most would think. I now try to do 3-4 a week, and we, well definitely I, don't miss the meat in these meals.

By no means are we planning to become vegans or vegetarians, and we were never a crazy meat consuming family/couple. But it feels really good to make a super satisfying and feeling hearty meatless meal. I don't use Tofu, I have tried it once in a meal and I am not a huge fan, I will try it again someday and maybe incorporate it once in a blue moon. I use beans a lot, and recently have started to use quinoa.

Last week we made vegetable fried quinoa (with some added black beans for extra protien) rather than rice, and it was DELICIOUS. James was very hesitant to jump on the quinoa bandwagon, he was expecting a cous cous like taste and texture, which he strongly dislikes, I LOVE cous cous. He is also the cook in the house for fried rice, he makes a mean fried rice dish hehee pretty much the only thing he knows how to cook other than plain potato/rice, steak, and boiled veggie ;) so he was the first to make a quinoa dish for the family., and we all devoured it.

This weeks meatless meals are:
-Crockpot Minestrone type of soup (beans, chickpeas, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, italian seasoning, canned tomatoes and broth, though I admit I used chicken broth, I really dislike the flavor of commercial veggie broth) with homemade crescent rolls.
-Black Bean Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries
-Baked Beans, Scallop Potato, and some sort of veggie probably green.

I like to do meatless mexican with beans yummy, pasta with lots of veggies and sometimes I throw in some beans as well, meatless stirfrys, meatless soups. Not every time I make a pasta or soup etc is meatless, but really it's so easy to skip the meat a couple times a week, I think EVERYONE should do it!

I watched a documentary a couple years ago on how much meat North America consumes, it was disgusting, and how meat is such a high demand and how damaging it is to our environment. Not that raising animals, and using them for consumption is completely damaging but the rate at which we do it is what is damaging, and how much animals are needed to meet the demands is environmentally damaging. I cannot for the life of me remember the name, but I know you can find it on the internet. I found it incredibly informative and eye opening, it was definitely what lead me to my quest for cutting out meat in every meal every day.

I'll be sure to share some recipes of meals we try and we all love....those that have recipes. James veggie fried quinoa does not have a recipe, nor does my minestrone soup, it's always changing slightly ;)

Ciao

You know your a mom when!!!

2010-03-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Obviously I knew I was a mom the minute her little, well uhm big body, pushed it's way through my va-jay-jay, and I held her in my arms. But every so often I have these moments, sort of like a light bulb BING you're a mom....or I guess you're a mom to a TODDLER.

Some recent ones:

-when you go to put your boots on, are grossed out by something in it (my first thought, it was a giant bug) and you cautiously investigate to find LITTLE PEOPLE

-you have a miniature person stuck to your legs, hugging you with all her strength while plowing her head into your crotch or bum while you....blowdry your hair, saute dinner, make breakfast etc. And you look down, she looks up with love, and at that moment you know what true love feels like. Hmm yet again true love is putting pressure on my crotch, just like she did for 9 months ;)

-you see your LO pull off her socks, you get frustrated that she is ripping them off, AGAIN, but then she uses them to "wash" the glass kitchen doors....I guess she see's me constantly wiping up her kiss and booger marks. Hmm guess I need to be doing more housework infront her to get some extra help.

-you get excited over poops in the toilet!

-you go to bed singing abby's flying fairy school theme song, and wake up with it in your head....even though your daughter pays NO attention to the show, it's forever burned in your memory...oh damn now I'm singing it again!

-when at a restaurant with the nugget I order something, that she can share...while daddy constantly get's away with non Skyla friendly meals...hmm something needs to be done about that ;)

-when she insists sitting on YOUR lap for a story, while also insisting on a new book every 4 seconds hehee, and stops half way through, twists her head and reaches up for a kiss.

-when you watch her imitate being a mom to her babies!

She is ONE!!!

2010-03-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

We were out of town with very limited internet access, so I wasn't able to post her birthday stuff on the big day, March 3rd. But better late then never right!?

We were visiting Mount Washington area with my inlaws, spent a couple days in their condo up there, went snowshoeing and cross-country skiing (I stuck to the snowshoes) on the big day...she fell asleep in her pull sled, about 2 minutes into the trek, I don't even think we were on the trail yet ha. Skyla slept probably 75% of the adventure heheee...she woke up when we (just daddy, mommy and Emi our dog) went off to snowshoe on dog friendly trails (not very x-country ski friendly ones) and had fun laughing at the crazy dog running around loving the snow and chasing snowballs :P

Grandpa Tom made fagita's for dinner, which did not go over well, I guess it was to spicy...she screamed bloody murder when she got the chicken in her mouth, but she loved the peanut butter picnic cake I made her. And she was really into unwrapping her gifts....very slow but into it. She would tear off a small piece of paper and then hand it to me hehee.

A slide show of her first year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMx-ojImJo

Here are some pics from the day (more to come when I get pictures from the inlaws, my big camera was a pain to lug out while snowshoeing)

Waiting for everyone to get their gear!

Hanging out on the snow, what a poser hehee
Not so happy about the chicken fagita's
Cooling down with some peanut butter picnic cake
taking her time to unwrap her giftsWell she is one, a toddler and full of the toddler mischief, tantrums and independence...I swear a switch went off in her brain this week....lordy you are her enemy if you try to help her with something, but she also fa-reaks when something is not going her way....examples of such things that happened today
Example 1:
She put something into her highchair that was too big to pull through the leg hole, she screamed like she was being tortured because she couldn't figure out to pull it back the way she originally got it in there.

Example 2:
She was trying to put her shirt on, clearly she is not that clever yet..but she does know it goes over her. She kept putting it ON her head and would smile so proud, Daddy offered to help and she would yell at him rip the shirt out his hands, and throw it around and put it back on her head. When he did get it over her head she would curl away from him, CRY, like the works, tears pouring down and yank at the shirt and as soon as she got it off her head, she would stop and smile, so proud she did it on her own....what a little freak. But I love her ;)

Highlight of today:
She was in the same diaper ALL DAY, she held a pee for our half hour walk with Emi this morning, and then also woke up after a 2.5 hour nap DRY, and peed and pooped on the toilet when I brought her to the bathroom after waking....the evening was not as successful, I guess I got lazy and busy making dinner and dealing with a whiny pants (teething) and missed her pee cues, so that diaper got pee in it by bath time...but oh well, I'm happy with the success we had!

My Funny Valentine!

2010-02-14T20:32:00.001-08:00

Skyla has been giving kisses for a couple months now, and they are much more regular now. I would say 80% of the time I ask for a kiss she gives me one (she is even starting to close her mouth...less slobber yay) of course 79% of that is when it's just us so I look like a liar when I tell people she gives kisses and she refuses to in public haha.

The funniest ones are after nursing, she almost always comes up to kiss me, and out pops a burp....thanks monkey!

But today was the most special valentines present from my baby girl. She was done nursing and just being a cling on, so I unlatched her and she laid her head on my chest blinking off her sleepy's and kept looking up at me so calm and beautifully. I stood up to say good night, I love you and give her hugs...she kept her rested on my chest and then looked up at me and reached up for kiss. Placed her head back on my chest and then repeated 4 times while I held back from sobbing. It was the first time she initiated such a sweet sincere kiss with so much effort.

God she is beautiful, I can't wait when that goodnight kiss is followed by "I wuv you, mama, nigh nigh"

1 month left

2010-02-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

before toddler-dom.....dum dum dum!

Let's start with pictures this time :D

Getting into mischief in the bathroom, she loves the drain (gross) and 2nd best is her bottle of body/hair wash
Got to love the outfit eh ;) At least her cloth diaper matches her sweater, the headbands and leggings, well they don't match anything here ha (and her cat, her lovey in the background, I guess this was after a nap, she ALWAYS pulls her cat through the crib bars after changing her diaper after sleep)

I'm only keeping this headband on, because this soap taste so good and I'm to preoccupied to rip this silly thing off my head...don't worry in 5 minutes it will be gone!
Health Baby

Last week, James was VIOLENTLY ill all through the night. I woke up with cramps and feeling like if I moved I would hurl everywhere...and thought it must just be "womenly things" (I was waiting for my second post partum period, so I was expecting cramps) however I to had to run to the bathroom. And we both were in and out of the bathroom for most of the early-early morning. I was not nearly half, heck not even a third as sick as James (poor guy...I do joke that men are complete wimps when it comes to being sick, but he did have it bad) I kept praying that Skyla would not wake up sick, that we had food poisoning from questionable bacon that we had at dinner, that Skyla did NOT eat. But at 3:30 she woke up crying and I knew something was up.

Sure enough she had been sick in her crib, so I changed the sheets cleaned her head (she got it nowhere but the sheets and her hair hehee) and we went and played in the living room while daddy and I moaned on the couches. I couldn't believe how happy she was...she played till about 4:30 when I nursed her and put her back to bed. I was so scared I would be dealing with a very sick baby and what do you do when they are that sick. James actually said "Callista we need to go to the hospital I can't take care of her" haha...men, wimps, wimpy men (this is why we give birth, we nurse, we deal with periods and growing boobs, and burning highlights, and tight pantyhose and the list goes one, women are awesome!) Anyhoo the rest of the day she was her normally happy self and not sick, she had a couple of weird poops but nothing like what I was expecting and no more puking. She didn't seem hungry for "big girl foods" but she nursed lots.

I don't know if it's good genes (jeans hehee) or if she falls into the "healthy breastfed baby" statistic...but I can't help but be proud that she has not been sick this winter. Whenever I thought she might be getting a cold the symptoms magically disappeared within 12 hours. Proud that maybe I am the reason behind it...whether it's my genes, my boob juice, or my great cooking I don't know. But I do know I feel very proud that she hasn't yet been sick, and when we her mommy and daddy were very ill she rocked it out happily being her awesome self.

Speaking of healthy home cooked meals, she suddenly has a big love for steamed broccoli..she used to be meh to broc but loved cauliflower ha. She can chow down on a "tree" of broccoli like noones business. S even had some cold/room temp for lunch the other day and devoured it. Her and her one little tooth, taking on a whole piece of broccoli...go girl. Today's dinner was asparagus, cauliflower and brussel sprouts, steak and mash potato's. She was not as into the steak as last time...funny how one day she loves something and the next it's of no interest. I guess that's the joys of being a mom, just when you think you understand your child they change ;)

Party Tricks

2010-01-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

Every day Skyla comes up with something to new to blow my socks off...almost literally for her new party trick.

Last night I was putting away her laundry and she pulled out a pair of bundled socks from the basket (hers) and sat on the floor with them motioning to her own foot, as though she was trying to put it on. I thought it was just a weird coincidence, a fluke or what have you. However this morning she did it again to her bundled socks as I was getting her dressed. I mentioned it my sister and she said she saw Skyla do it a couple days ago with one of her babylegs (leg warmers).

I can't quite grasp my head around it that my (almost) 11 month old knew that her BUNDLED socks go on her foot...especially since she is a notorious sock puller offer. I mean I think she is very smart (naturally) and she is very good with her hand coordination, but she wants nothing to do with socks normally, and she won't imitate a wave or clapping but she will imitate getting dressed. Hmmmm!

We have 3 other birthdays to attend to this coming month, her 3 buddies, and I was going through our pictures from playdates throughout the year, and was getting quite blubbery. I'm going to be a mess on March 3rd. Thank god we have 3 birthdays to practice my calm cool collected demeanor.

A toddler a real life toddler, granted she really is already there with her eating, walking, one nap a day, and tantrums when something is not HER way...but ONE. According to James she is zero not 11 months, so when she is 15 months she will just ONE to him ha. Having a one year old feels like a whole new world of responsibilities, no longer a baby and "easy". Oh boy!

Oh and she is really getting close to saying Mom, I am pretty sure what she is saying sounds more like muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum is directed at me, but I think it might be for Mmmmmilk lol, not just for ME ha. All day today she has been saying different variations of muuuuuuuuum and other M sounds, I was quite giddy. Even if it is just a "mom I need milk" sound, it's communication, since she has no interest in using her hands for sign language (or clapping or waving) vocal communication would be good :D

Just remembered another "party trick" she is doing lately...another imitation. Stomping her feet to music when we are sitting down and singing, hasn't grasped doing it while standing, but she will do it while sitting, so we stomp to music instead of clapping hehee. Sharon Lois and Bram is our favorite right.

Nighty Night!

Pure Awesomeness

2010-01-15T23:23:00.000-08:00

Pure Awesomeness

For dinner tonight (on a whim, and craving) we had a family favorite...something we haven't had in awhile. Tacos, with my homemade shells (well mom's recipe, I can't take full credit)

As most know we have been following "Baby Led Weaning" as our philospophy with feeding Skyla. So she eats what we eat, if we eat out somewhere that I don't feel she should have (yet) like MacDonalds ;) I bring a healthier meal for her. That being said, she did get a MacDonald's pancake for breakfast today (along with 2 kiwi's)

The last time she had taco's, I just plopped the fillings on her tray and a soft shell beside it, she could pick and choose what she wanted to taste and play with. Tonight Skyla was getting a bit impatient with the making of dinner, so I got her into her highchair, gave her half a homemade taco shell with some refried beans in it, folded it in half to make a "bean quesadilla", I turned around to check on the shell I was cooking, looked back at her and she had managed to roll it into an actual taco/burrito shape (guess it was from how she grabbed it) that was probably the cutest thing I had ever seen. My 10 month old was eating a taco, rolled up like a stogey and chowing down (with her one half tooth) AWESOME. So for her second serving. I took the other half of the soft shell, slapped in some beans, guacomole, seasoned chicken and cheese, and rolled it up into a taco shape. Put the taco on her tray, and again, no problems no falling apart, she picked it up and went to town, eating it just the way you or I would.

I was so impressed I couldn't take my eyes off her...which meant I ate most of my tacos on the colder side hehee.

Skyla you just amaze me, with your walking and following me from room to room, your sarcastic laugh...that always seems so perfectly time to a bad joke (she laughs before anyone else, and with us ha) your eating skills. I feel like you are so grown up a tiny little body (with hardly any hair on your head) like a teenager stuck inside a small body hahaa.

Taco #1 Open Wide

Taco #1 Nom Nom Nom
Taco #2 Going in for bite
Taco #2 DelishAnd I got to say, it was not messy, there was no need for immediate plunking into a tub (and she ate NAKED, we are without a washing machine right now, and she is very low on her cloth diapers and I refuse to pay for disposables they aren't cheap! So she sat naked in her highchair on a "burp cloth" pretty sure they are actually flatfold style diapers) there were no bits of food where they should be ;) ha

Stick to it!

2010-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

I don't always make such grand resolutions, because I am so bad at sticking to a plan. But this year I have a major dire need to stick to it, and LOT'S of amibition/reason.

Care to hear my new years resolutions? Yes plural!

1 - stop swearing so much
Skyla has really taken to imitating familar phrases...such as peek-a-boo, good girl, and thank you. No one would understand her when she repeats me or Gramma, but it's always the same "word" for each phrase so she is definitely trying....uhm hello kid, don't you know MOMMY, is suppose to be one of your first words ;) hehee. She only says "muuuum" when whining ha. This rule applies to James and my sister as well, since they are around her every freaking day :P

2 - Eat healthy lunches
Or a lunch in general. I tend to skip it, and snack through out the day, grabbing a handful of this or that, and not usually "healthy options" not super bad either, just not well rounded. And then come dinner I eat enough for 3 people.

3 - Loose 10-15 lbs.
I'm sure I will get flagged for this from friends and family. But I stepped on the scale the other day and I am 5 lbs heavier than I was a few months ago...and I still had 10 pregnancy lbs to loose. So that makes 15 lbs heavier then pre-preg. I'm very giggly, and rolly on the tummy, and my thighs...yikes. I want to feel good about my body and be proud of it. Plus I will soon have a toddler to chase after...I need my cardio in check ;) and I DO NOT want to get pregnant again before I feel better about my shape, but I want to expand our family. So that is a huge motivation there :D

4 - Be nicer to James
I tend to loose my patience with him at the end of the day. In my defense (a bit) he does purposely push on my buttons sometimes, or do things to purposely bug me (and he knows that and is working on it as his resolution) I'm exhausted by the time he drags his butt home from work, and have very few patience left. I know it's not an excuse, which is why I want to be nicer, less sarcastic and enjoy those evening kisses a little longer :) I love him so much and do NOT want to become a couple with "an elephant in the room"

5 - Walk Emi EVERY DAY, my poor dog has been deprived since Skyla came, and mat leave started. She used to get three 30-60 minute walks a day. And she used to get much more socializing, by coming on some of my dog walks for work, and neighborhood dogs, shiba meetups and dog playdates. We have moved away from our neighborhood and dog park she once knew, her friends have moved, a baby entered our pack and a tired mom has struggled with those morning walks. Emi, I promise you more walks, and at least one playdate a month!

Well duty calls in the form of cleaning!

Happy New Year!!! I hope you are excited for 2010 as I am.

xo Merry Kiss-Much xo

2009-12-25T22:32:00.001-08:00

My mother in law, always says this, and I think it's pretty cute...so I have started.

When I was pregnant I would try to write at least once a month, to baby Ziggy, to I guess remember what had happened that month. I thought Baby Ziggy (Skyla) would like to read it one day down the road. Now that she is here, I use this "Baby Time, a fast, fun keepsake album" journal
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Time-Fast-Keepsake-Album/dp/0811842819
My girlfriend gave it to me as a Christmas present last year (ironic that I am talking about it now) and I LOVE it, I am always wanting to find another copy (or 4) to keep tucked away for future children, and for baby shower gifts. It's fantastic, the pages are just super organized and easy to write in. The first 20+ pages are for writing facts about the month or whatever. And then the back half is more for pictures, foods (reactions, dates tried etc) dates of walking/crawling etc, first words, teeth (with pictures where you fill in which tooth and the date - super cute! Anyhoo, highly recommend it, and if you click the link click on "look inside book" to see sample pages.

However I do try to remember to occassionally do a full on journal entry addressed to Skyla, like my last post. And I like the idea of doing them here as well...in case something happens to the file on the computer. So my early new years resolution is to try and write her more entries, and get rid of this gut I have going on.

Back to Christmas!

What a wonderful day, Skyla was to interested in ripping the paper off her presents, even when helping her or letting things/noises peek out. Except for when he had 2, yep 2, babies being unwrapped, she was banging on the boxes wanting to get the babies out. She loves her dolls (a sign she wants us to have a baby? Hahaa A girl can dream) She loves her present from Santa, the fisher price laugh and learn farm...in fact I really want to pick up the living room second hand so one can hang out in the kitchen while I cook, totally has her entertained. And I feel like it's a toy that has news, lights and made of plastic that she may actually learn from...not just noise, and junk KWIM?

She only had ONE nap today, I am really hoping she is ready to be on a one nap schedule, just hoping it will be a LONG one. It was for 1.5 hours, so not to bad, but could have been longer ;) howevre she was not grumpy come bed time so maybe that nap was perfect! Skyla at all her meals (3 today) like a champ, loved dinner until she got ahold of her sippy. She is obsessed with water and could drink her water all day, which I don't like since she is just filling up on NOTHING, and probably the reason she has not been sleeping as well the past couple nights and needing to nurse (I'm E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D...again) so once I took the water away she had a bit of tantrum....lord help me when she is a tantrum-ing toddler hehee. She was happy as always, and for the first time in a loooooong time, she fell asleep while nursing, and stayed asleep. I love those moments and I don't want to unlatch her, it's like newborn days all over again and just fills me with this love or maybe emotion of....hmmm satisfaction, peace, comfort, ahhhhh/sigh :D and she STAYED asleep to be transferred to Gramma's arms, and seeing her asleep in her gramma's arms, boy let me tell you....that was beautiful! She is just SO.BUSY.SO.SO.SO.BUSY! I guess turkey, presents, jolly jumper exercise time, good company, and love tuckered her right out. Now here's hoping she stays dead asleep till 8 am (as I said, she has not been sleeping well, and I have been up late because of company here hehee)

My parents were here, my inlaws were here yesterday, so it all made Christmas that much more perfect being around our family. I'm so grateful that the my parents were able to make the trip out here, from Ontario. I love you so much Mom and Dad, and it means the world to me that you are here....even though I have been a bit cranktastic the past couple days (I blame the wonky sleep) I love having you guys here, and having our "family dinner" again :D

Last little thoughts on Christmas.

Christmas eve, Skyla took her first steps, 3 steps two times, between Nikita and I...YAY, but none today ha. That dang tooth didn't pop, I was really hoping her tooth would pop for Christmas, just to be corny (the song) and it hit me and almost made me cry, while we were doing finishing "touches" last night before bed....I'm a mom and now doing the things for Skyla that MY mom does/did for me, that I now have the "boots to fill" certain jobs to do, and traditions to make. DANG it, that reminds me we forgot to read twas the night before Christmas grrrr.

Okay I must take my turkey filled self, and get to bed, mama bear needs her sleep incase the bear cub wakes up early.

Lot's of love to all our friends and family. I hope everyone's day was as wonderful as ours.

The monkeys UnBirthday

2009-12-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

I think I was overdue here he

Around 6 weeks old, my beautiful family
1 or 2 months - lounging at the beach on a sunny day

5 Months - cutest thing ever!8 Months old, trying homemade avocado rolls

I missed my shout out to the monster on December 16th. She was 41 weeks and 1 day, out of me for as long as she was in.

She is amazing.

Life before her seems so meaningless, and unfulfilled. I love my husband, without him I wouldn't be who I am today, and have what I have. He balances me, supports me, loves me unconditionally, he completed me until I had a child ;) our life before her was perfect, but we both agree that now it's magical.

The light of my life, apple of my eye, piece to my puzzle, all those cliche sayings!

Skyla it has been a ride, a dream, a bit of blur.
Thank you for,
not making me have crazy morning sickness
for allowing me to have a healthy safe pregnancy and waddle at 8 months pregnant walking dogs over ice and snow ;)
kicking my ribs, and punching my crotch
crowning for 3 hours, without me really feeling it
being a healthy perfect baby safely born at home
being relaxed, calm and content as a newborn, and sleepy relatively well
nursing like a champ and not causing pain or bumps in the road
good morning smiles, that make my tired eyes wake up, and grumpy mood lift
sleeping so well and not having a problem with cutting the soother out cold turkey
travelling easily and enjoying daily errands and lack of routine
dancing when I sing, even though I know it's not in tune and awful sounding ha
making me miss you only moments after laying you to sleep.

Thank you for being here, for picking us as your family ;) and for being the perfect cheeky little monkey that you are!

I love you so much, I'm so excited to see you grow into a toddler, run around the school yard, ask me for help with your homework, and boy advice when you are a teen, hold your hand and fight back tears when you leave for college, and can't wait to hear you gush about your own bundle of joy...because I get it, I understand that undeniable unconditional love for a little human.

Me likes December!

2009-12-05T13:38:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the beautiful weather that December has brought us (out with the rain in with the clear skies and crisp air!) Skyla, Emi, Daddy and Mommy bundled up and headed to North Vancouver to hike the canyon. Hoping for snow up there, so we could rent some snowshoes, but no luck! The last time we went to Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, Emi was about 12 weeks old, there was about 6 feet of snow, and Emers was so light and wee that she walked ONTOP of the snow while we had to hike through the snow. The clear trail ended about 1/4 of the way, and then we were lifting our legs up high and trying to step into other peoples shoe prints/leg holes. And about 1/2 way the trail pretty much ended and we could go no further. Needless to say we couldn't make it to Norvan Falls :(. Since there was no snow, we figured it would be a breeze to finally get to the falls.

However the daylight had other plans, so we had to turn around about half way (or more) so that we would have enough light left to make it out of the trails. We hiked for about 2 hours, probably 8 kms. Next time we will head there earlier, so that we have time to get to the falls, and actually to my surprise, I wasn't tired and ready to turn around! Shocking, I know! And yay for me, I'm not sore today ***HAPPY DANCE*** Emi is exhausted though, which makes me a very proud mama, I feel so guilty that she does not get a daily walk in these days, but I have faith that we will be back to 2-3 daily walks again VERY SOON! I promise Emi. My other daughter, Skyla was a trooper, she didn't complain about being bundled up, or mama spreading vaseline over her face to attempt to protect it from wind, and she was pretty happy on daddy's back till the last 15 minutes. She even fell asleep for about 40 minutes, fresh air does the body good.

2 weeks ago I decided, that we HAD to go for a hike every week on one of James' days off, for the sake of Emi and my arse. Also because I don't want to be that family that coops themself up all winter, I want Skyla to be outside and appreciate the beauty and nature, and I want to be active together, and play together. My family always did the sledding and skating thing, actually my dad used to take care of our local outdoor rink, so there were plenty days that I would spend the entire day frozen skating around that rink with my dad perfecting it. But I myself want to be more active with hikes, snowshoeing (maybe cross country skiing and regular skiing when she gets a bit older) and keep at it all year round, teach my kids to be active and enjoy everything mother nature has to offer. Okay okay I'm coming down out of my hippy tree house! Anyhoo lastweek we were in Victoria, with no Emi, so hiking was a bust, but this week we got back from Victoria early, so the hike got squeezed in, and was enjoyed so much that we plan to hike on 2 of his days off (he is off wed-fri) Buns of steel here I come! I'm very pumped about this plan. If anyone can suggest some great hikes in the lower mainland, please feel free to leave a comment. It does not have to be stroller accessible, since we prefer to carry Skyla, it has to be dog friendly, but ON LEASH, is fine, as she cannot go offleash anyways, I just prefer it to not be 8 hours and intense terrain...eventually when I can handle that, I will attempt it ;) anyhoo I don't know of many places besides the Endowment Lands, Lighthouse Park, and Lynn Canyon, so suggestions are very welcome! And I would love places that are snowshoe friendly, but FREE...cause free is always better :D

I can't wait for a bit for a bit of snow (yeah I know I'm a weirdo) but I love being outdoors in the snow, when you are prepared...not when you are hiking across the mall parking lot in non waterproof shoes. Plus Emi adores the snow, she would play outside in it all day if she could, so she gets pretty deprived of that since it rarely snows in Vancouver city (last year being a fluke)

without further ado Drrrrrrrrrrrumroll.....pictures from James' camera of our hike
Me and my Emi, the river was so clear, just amazing!

James and Skyla, ignore his goofy double hat combo...he wouldn't listen to me when I suggested he not look like an idiot, until he saw it on the camera preview screen, pretty sure his words "why didn't you tell me I looked like an idiot?" Men! Skyla was super smiley and cute though!And she's starting to dose off.

Out cold...please don't flame this picture, it was about 10 seconds after the last and purely for photo op, I "tied" her head down so she wouldn't break her neck. We were using a loaner carrier and this one is not as high and does not have a "nap hood" so we had to improvise.
Ice Queen

Family Photo, well you can only see a wee bit of SAnd here you can see our improvising, with a blanket I packed, with this exact purpose in mind actually hahaa. It looks a bit demented, but it kept her neck a safe and her face warm, and yes she could breathe! Skyla woke up...time for another family shot...good on James for finding sturdy tree's to set the camera on and racing back to me before the timer went off.
Grumpy baby during the last 15 minutes...trying to keep her entertained and playing peek-a-boo!

8 months down!

2009-11-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, where has the last 8 months gone. It is very hard to believe that I will have a toddler soon! I mean some days it feels like she is already a toddler or a teenager ;) but wow, a walking sort of talking, climbing the crib, tantrum throwing, toilet training, toddler. Yikes!!! There are good things that come with toddler days too right? Right???

In all seriousness, I am excited for those days, every day she changes and grows and I can't wait to see who she will be, what type of personality she will, how she will deal with situations and play, and what her favorite color will be. I suppose all of that will change each year, month, second, but I think all parents feel this desire and excitement of getting to know their child.

James can't wait for her to talk and say silly things on the phone like "hi daddy, I pooped in the toilet, okay have to get in tub, bye daddy love you"...or the like. A few weeks ago he was out of town for work with his boss, who has a daughter that is just over 2, he was giddy with how the daughter would talk on the phone to daddy.

Speaking of the phone, I don't know if it's just the flashy light and the novelty of "moms cellphone" but she lights up when she hears Gramma Diane say "Hi Skyla Raine" on speaker phone, her smile is huge and it just makes me all warm inside. Of course when I try to show Mom on webcam the little stinker does smile or do her silly face.

Speaking of the phone I have started to use it as my weapon during diaper changes, lay baby down on clean diaper, hand her phone while Gramma or Daddy chats away, snap up as quickly as possible. Sometimes it's not enough of a distraction though and a foot is needed to hold her in place ;) I get wanting to be naked, Heck I would probably go pantless all day if my butt was as cute as hers and it was not such an eye sore and the mail man would not turn red a beet when I answered the door hanging all out....but why oh why is diaper change such a fight. Or clothes in general, as soon as you get the shirt over her head she starts to whine. What a bugger, my a cute lovable bugger she is!

Little Miss Skyla is 8 months today. Her accomplishments:
-mastered crawling and standing (way long ago in August, what a smart gal)
-mastered furniture cruising about a month ago
-babbles a bit, mostly baaa baaaaaa bleeeeee blaaa sounds but not into imitation yet
-knows how to french kiss the dog
-definitely knows her name, and what each tone means :P
-understands "milk" and the sign for it....which looks like a open closed fist wave hello, so at music class when we sing goodbye and everyone is waving...she burrows into my chest. So bye bye is waving side to side for us hahaa. But she won't sign it back.
-I think she understands "eat" and the sign now
-this week James and I have both witnessed her standing unassisted for about 3 seconds, very random and crazy...I don't think she realizes she is doing it.
-she is eating really well right now, loves blueberries, grabs handfuls of them ha. And she devoured her cinnamon waffle for breakfast, baby led weaning has been my best friend with introducing solids to Skyla.
-and I have only changed one poopy diaper in about 2 weeks, she has been pooping on the toilet...it's easy to know when she has to poop, and it only happens once every other day, and we are home a lot....so it has been easy for us.

She is in love with her baby Ziggy, crawls around while holding onto her
Skyla and her friend Lila, jamming
Halloween playdate, jungle kingdom!

I'll post a picture of her 8 month shot later!
Ciao

Tiny Little Person

2009-10-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

First I will start with some pictures, since I have neglected adding pictures in awhile, these are from 2 weeks ago.

Being a cheeky monkey and pulling out all the DVD's...the day after we decided mounting the stand to the wall would be wise. Ironic timing?
Playdate with her best friends
Stealing toys!When I had Skyla and kept hearing about solids and when to start and how to serve it I was getting extremely overwhelmed and so stressed over what was the right way to do it. Before I had her I knew I wanted to make my own baby food, but I had no idea that their were so many "rules to follow" and they all seem so confusing and so many ways contradict the other. I stumbled across a forum talking about Baby Led Weaning and clicked to see what it meant...I clicked because I knew I was not going to set a date for weaning Skyla and that I would/will let her decide when she is done with nursing. So I thought this forum was support for it, until I started reading and quickly learned it was a way of introducing solids to your baby.

No spoon feeding, no measuring, no rules really....I immediately felt such relief. There was no criticism and no guilt. It seemed like a lot of stress would be avoided. The one stress upon starting this "baby eats what we eat" style of feeding was choking, gagging and appropriate sizes (no teeny tiny finger foods to start, but big whole pieces) and of course making sure I am making healthy meal choices, no frozen dinners (not that I do much of that anyways)

Anyways it has been going really well, she has gagged on a few things that made her throw up a bit (toast and brocolli) but she goes back for more and I have avoided gray hair! But I think maybe she just was not quite ready. She still mostly plays and makes a big mess of herself, not much of a mess on the walls and floor (yet) but it really amazes me to watch her handle the food, get it to her mouth...and the fascinating part MOVING it around inside her mouth, I can her tongue move pieces of food from side to side, and see her chew it with gums. I have started to add small pieces into the mix to help her pincer grip develop, and that took no time, she can pick up her Nutrios, blueberries, pieces of spaghetti, and small cubes of cheese no problem. She is like a tiny little adult, well maybe not quite so delicate or coordinated, but you know what I mean? Right?

Our other huge big girl success:

Pooping in the toilet. It's quite obvious now when she has to poop, she does a tippy toe dance and a few grunts. The first time I plopped her on the loo, was because she was in the tub, and I did not want to deal with floater! The next day, tippy toe dance after a nap, ripped the pants off, and success...and no clean up, no poopy diaper to deal with! I am not completely gung ho into Elimination Communication (EC) I don't plan to offer her the toilet or potty every 40 minutes or whatever to pee. A couple times a day, and definitely whenever I notice her having to poop.

Yesterday morning, after nursing her I figured why not see if she will pee, I sign potty and make a pssssssssssssss sound, sure enough she peed after a minute, and lo and behold she squeezed out 2 rather large turds (TMI, whatever!) Yay!

This morning we have already had 3 successful pee's in the toilet and one pee in her diaper, she has been naked lots (also to air out a slight diaper rash she has) and no accidents. I want to pick up a potty to have her "bathroom area" in the living room in hopes that she will learn to crawl there when she has to go and I will help her. ECing is not suppose to be "early toilet training" but learning to communicate with your baby and understand her cues, so it fits right into the way I want to raise her anyways listening to her and following her lead, nurse on demand, naps when she is cuing not on a schedule and letting her what she wants on her dinner tray. I am also trying to remember to sign things like milk, drink, eat, more, play, and all done, hoping she will pick up and we can communicate more.

Anyhoo it's time to get a diaper on her butt and into bed she is getting whiny and rubbing the eyes. Lights out ;)

Girls Night!

2009-09-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

It has been far to long since a "girls night"...the last time Skyla was only a few weeks old and I went out with my best friend and my sister, as my friend was moving back to Ontario. I left right around bedtime for Skyla and was home in a couple hours, so I hardly call that a night off duty...she was asleep the whole time I was gone.

Tomorrow I am headed out for dinner and a bellini or two (or perhaps a margarita, since we are going for mexican...mmmmm salt, lime, tequila, maybe I should take James up on his offer to drive me) with 2 of my mommy friends. We don't get away from our mommy duties often enough, well at least not me. So we have vowed to make it a monthly thing, maybe we will be more brave after tomorrow night, and making it a bi-weekly event.

James is all by himself tomorrow and I am not at all nervous, actually I secretly (well not so secretly anymore) hope she has a meltdown...even though I know he won't admit to it, or text me in a panic...the way I do haha. However I am sure it will go super smoothly with her just a bit cranky when she is saying "okay daddy it's time for bed!" but she will chug her bottle, crash and probably sleep through the night. And I will get the "it was so easy" speech. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, he is beyond wonderful at being a daddy and the most patient person I know. He appreciates me being home with Skyla, and he knows it is not always easy, even with an "easy baby" But I just want for him to experience for one day (or a week) what it is like to be a mommy, a food machine, a maid, a laundry mat attendant, a dog walker, a cook, a poop picker upper, a poopy bum wiper and cloth diaper toilet dunker, a wife, friend, sister, daughter, grocery shopper, meal planner, clothing shopper....an organizing stacking planning food producing shopping cleaning maniac hahaa. I guess I feel like no matter how many thanks I get, he will never quite understand. On the plus side, he has started to pick up after Skyla when she is down for the night (cleaning up her toys, so the living room is adult friendly) so I guess constant asking and reminding that x y z needs to get done to keep me sane, works. Some might call it nagging, but I call it marriage, working together and helping out. Next plan of attack, after a dinner I cook, you clean...and that does not mean putting away leftovers and stacking the counter neatly so I have dishes to do in the morning ;) it also means when you clear the table it needs to get wiped down too hehee. Men are funny creatures.

Onto Skyla business....she is sitting up so well now, she has been sitting for a couple weeks now, but finally she is sitting up STRAIGHT, like her friends do. I was thinking she was doomed for bad posture like her mama, but she is perky now YAY! No walking yet, thank god. I might invest in some leaded clothing to weigh her down, since she has been standing since the day she started crawling (woe is me!) She gets food every couple days now too, whole food, we are not going the pureed food and cereal route. She mostly just plays with it, and finger paints the table with the pieces she mushes around. But that is what food should be about right now, playing with, figuring it out exploring taste, feel, texture, smell, and how to hold things and aim for your mouth (not that I have anything against purees, this is just super easy and laidback with no pressure, right up my alley!) Tonight she had chicken, brocolli and some garlic mash potatoes. I don't think she ate anything, well maybe a few tiny pieces of chicken, she managed to bite off a GIANT chunk with her gums (super tender chicken I guess) and just smiled at me blowing spit bubbles with her mouth so full of chicken!

She has also tried:
hummus, pita, babaganoush, cucumber, carrot, sweet potato, avocado, celery, toast with applesauce, shredded cheese, navy and black beans, pear, rice, a few spoonfuls of soup, and banana.

She is also totally in love with her sippy cup and prefers cold water.

Here she is sporting a new outfit from a friend, she looks so grown up, I can't believe she is big enough to be wearing "little girl outfits" and not just yoga pants and a onesie, or romper type of outfits. So cute :)

And making out with the cup! seriously she chugs it back like this all the time!
Well that's all folks,
Callista

Boob Juice

2009-09-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

I recently read a very interesting article, and it really related to a few things I have been pondering over and dealing with since my lovely bundle of joy entered the world. All about breastfeeding, the public norm, appropriate ages, and the bottle.

And I thought I would share my 2 cents or feelings, sorry if it's rambly, but I intend this to be more like a journal entry of things that have arose and feelings I have.

When I got pregnant I never for a moment, thought I would be mixing up bottles of formula, I knew I would definitely try to nurse Skyla. I was a bit scared and worried, as I did the big mistake of "reading on the web" and hearing horror stories of women in pain, bleeding nipples, cranky babies etc etc. But I thought "how can something our body is suppose to do be so hard?" but I guess I could say that about labour...throw tomatoes if you like, but I found labour and delivery much easier than most women describe it. Yes I was exhausted and there was a time when I was so bone tired (lack of sleep leading up to it, and your water breaking after a long week of walking around miles and miles in hope to bring labour on, breaking just as you lay into bed will make you tired haha) a time that I thought to myself "I can't do this, I am to tired" tired, not in pain, not scared, just tired. Actually right after I wanted to go and do it again, but this time with sleep, to see if it would change at all. Yes I'm crazy, we know that!

Feel free to throw more virtual tomatoes....just as easy as I found labour and delivery of my baby (not the placenta, it was not hard, just did not happen, so that SUCKED!) I found breastfeeding a breeze. Skyla was a hungry little piglet, she latched on well, she slept pretty good, she was happy, no supply issues (still to this day I have to much milk actually) no nipple damage, she nursed quickly - no hour long nursing sessions every hour, so I was a happy mommy, and able to get out and enjoy life as a mom in public and not feel trapped at home nursing around the clock.

I consider myself VERY lucky, and I know a lot of women that have had troubles, some who found the strength to keep up the battle with the breast, and others who decided breast is only best if everyone is happy, and a happy mom is important. Stressing about nursing does not make you happy, so formula can be a saviour. I have no judgement towards mom, and my mom friends who use formula, I know the majority of them feel very defeated and guilty. DON'T!!! And I really try not to be "braggy" because it feels like everyone I know has had bumps and hurdles and a hard path to get to where they are now.

As easy and natural (for me) as breastfeeding has been we did have a few bumps along the way, when she was a few weeks old she would scream at the breast, because my letdown was/is so active and she wanted to comfort nurse. I would have had no problems in her comforting herself there, but she clearly did not want a meal...so we introduced the soother. Around 2-3 months she also was fighting at the boob, and I have no clue why, I thought my supply was diminishing, but I think it was more of an evening out thing and she was being super impatient since she did NOT have to work for milk for the past 2 months. That was a stressful time, the milk was there and ready for her, but she was so impatient and would get upset after only sucking 2-3 times (what a diva ha) she figured it out eventually though that 5 sucks and it would come pouring out. Now our "issue" (I hate using that word) is her distraction, she has always been a quick nurser, but now she just wants to be playing and crawling and avoiding food, until bed time. It makes for quite the scene when trying to feed her in public, since she likes to pull off just as a letdown is happening. I want to cry at the milk that gets wasted since she decides "look at this leaf, screw milk, I want to crawl" but it's a never ending supply....so as the saying goes "don't cry over spilled milk" right?

Anyhoo that's a bit of history I'll try to get back on track.

Where was my train of thought going....breastfeeding, nursing, that article....

Hmm well firstly I don't get what people's obsession is with breastfeeding, every feels the need to ask "are you breastfeeding?" and then it is usually followed by "how long do to plan to do it"

I admit, before I was a mom, before I was pregnant, I was very much in the "if they can ask for it" or "once there is teeth, no more!" camp. But once I had this little lady growing inside me and I knew I wanted to breastfeed, those timelines completely vanished. I get quite annoyed actually when people ask, for one it's none of their business, and for two I honestly feel like it's not my right or decision to just make a deadline and cut her off of amazing nutrition that cannot be found in any wonder food, avocado, flax, salmon, the wonder goji and acai berries, ain't got nothing on the milk that comes from a mother. Did you know that breastmilk also works wonders for skin ailments, like rashes, body and bum, eye infections, cuts and scrapes. I am pretty tempted to concoct a breastmilk mask for these stubborn hormonal pimples I have. Usually when I say "well I plan to let her wean herself, I will let her nurse till she decides she is done with it" and almost every has some sort of reply to it along the lines of "but not past 1 years old" and "if you don't set a limit" or "it just gets wrong at a certain age".....why are others so concerned, and why is it wrong to nurse a child past the age of 6 months, 1 year 2 years (depends on the crowd). Like I said I was of the other camp before I was pregnant, however I never thought someone else doing it was wrong, it was just a personal preference at the time...or maybe what I was used to with family friends. Why do we live in a society that is so set on timelines, rules and charts? If they sleep in your bed, you will never get them out...if you nurse her to sleep, she will never learn to get to sleep on her own. You have to start cereal at this age, she needs more than breastmilk....blah blah blah. But I suppose that is a whole other blog about guidelines and rules ROLLING MY EYES!!!!

So world, family, friends, and strangers to answer you question...
Skyla will nurse until she is done with it, I will not force her to stop, I will wean her on her terms, that being said I also will not force her to nurse, it goes both ways. However most people seem to think that just because a mom is not weaning her child, she is making her child nurse. Not the case...cause any parent knows it's a hard task to get a child to do something they are not interested, why would anyone TRY to force feed their child...purees, finger food or milk.

My other thought on nursing, bottle feeding and formula is:
Why? Why do some families decide to formula feed from the start without even giving breastfeeding a try? I don't understand why one would not try to do it. But I also don't understand women who are dead set on having drugs involved in labour. I am very much a give the natural way a shot, follow babies lead, and do whatever it takes to make them happy, even if it means doing something you were so dead set against (like co-sleeping, we did it, she has not needed it for a few months now, but if she needed it she would be back in our bed no questions, I miss the ease for night nursing. At first I couldn't imagine having a child in bed every night, now I understand families that do, and I understand some babies need it, some toddlers need it.) I'm all for the path of least resistance ;) If Skyla is happy I am VERY happy. So yes formula is sometimes the path of least resistance, when you have tried and tried to nurse. But to not try at all? To make a choice to not give your newborn the health benefits that formula definitely cannot, if anything even for a week or two to get the really rich colostrum. Why???? Is it because you think breasts are meant for pleasure only? Is it gross to you? I'm honestly curious. Is it convenience? Cause personally I find a bottle a PITA, my milk is always available and at the perfect temperature and travels where I go without the need of extra weight of bottles (well maybe a little extra weight since they are slightly bigger than pre-baby) This is not at all meant to say formula feeding is wrong (I was formula fed, whatever! My mom did try to BF with me, and I appreciate that and I love her regardless, and would love her just the same had she decided to not try bf'ing) and I love my mom friends and their babies that use formula. I just want to know why some make that decision without giving breastfeeding a try?

I am sick of feeling bad or frustrated about Skyla nursing herself to sleep. It does not happen every nap or bed time. There was a point, where I felt like she would only go to sleep at the breast, and that I was never going to be able to leave her with someone else, and that I could not have a night off, that she would always need me (what's so bad about being needed?) and I was breaking down and dealing with "try this and that" and dealing with feeling like she should not do it, and that I had to train her to put herself to sleep. But I honestly think this breaking point that happens for a lot of us nursing moms, is also at the same time when babies sleep becomes very disrupted and all the lack of sleep we as moms (and some dads) catches up to us. So we have an overtired, emotional mom, and a sleep protesting baby. Truthfully I don't think we ever catch up on the sleep, and it seems like every 2 months is another "sleep regression stage" or another milestone that fucks up the 2 days of pretty good sleep and routine you had going on (teething, crawling, sitting, standing-yeah my child decided to do all that in one week, the teeth not exactly so the first 2 weeks of her crawling and standing is a foggy blur gahh, and then walking, talking, climbing yadda yadda) so at the first breaking point, we start to feel a pressure that baby will never not nurse to sleep. Well I am pretty sure there are not many 13 year olds that need their bedtime nursing session. And for us, we got past that, and now I really enjoy bedtime, and nursing her before bed, I find it very relaxing to me, we pop in a lullaby cd, she smiles at me, and plays with my face when she is done, or taking a break, one the nights she does not fall asleep (which yay is more often than nights she nurses to sleep) we have a cute little routine where I sit her up and we put our foreheads together and she smiles and giggles at me while looking me in the eye, I think she thinks I look funny, cause I know she looks funny from that angle. She gives me a kiss and then it's bed time. Sometimes she is not done eating and will want more 15 minutes later, and I'm 100% OKAY with that. Oh and those couple nights a week when she dog tired, and cranky, and relaxes once we nurse and falls asleep, my heart grows 3 more sizes filled with even more love, she snuggles in and sometimes I just sit there with her head on my should asleep for a few minutes, enjoying the love and snuggles. I think any mom of a crawling, active and fidgety baby would understand where I am coming from. Those days of snuggles are long gone, so when she falls asleep at the breast and snuggles, I soak it and hold onto the memory and feeling for as long as I can, because I already feel like I forget how she was as a snuggly sluggish newborn and fear I will forget these moments as she becomes more and more independent and "not needing mama"

So to all the breast feeding moms out there, who are in that place of feeling like you will have to nurse your little one forever, and feeling guilt that you want to make them figure it out with you (I know I felt guilt, which is why I trucked through) and sick of hearing it from whomever in your life is haggling you about nursing them to sleep, follow your heart, and do what you feel is right for you and your baby! It will be get better and easier eventually. And for all the other people opposed to nursing them to sleep because "it's wrong" take a hike. I bet you have a nightime thing too, even something as silly as putting on lipchap before bed, try not doing that and see how well you sleep and how much you toss and turn before you cave and grab that tube of lip chap...yes I need lipchap before bed, and a glass of water, and I have to be able to see what time it is, if I can't see what time it is at all hours when I wake up, I wake up constantly fretting about the time, so we have a clock that projects the time onto the ceiling ;), we all have our quirks. A baby dependent on mom and dad for safety, love and food should not be expected to kick a bedtime bottle or breast for our convenience.

Yet another irritating question, well statement "she is sleeping through the night?" I don't even sleep through the night, I wake up to pee, get some water, and stretch or change positions. And when I say well she wakes up 1-2 times, I get this look of horror...there are nights when she wakes up 4-5 times, those are the hard nights ha, but again thankfully my babe goes back to sleep after getting her soother of nursing if hungry so I can go back to bed in about 2-15 minutes. I used to just fall asleep with her laying beside me, even though her crib was in our room, it was comfy in our bed and I would pass out. She is now in her room, so it's a bit more convenient to stay in her room on the chair to nurse...I still doze off for a minute here and there though. For the most part she sleeps from 8/8:30 - 1ish sometimes to nurse sometimes just for a soother, then back to sleep till 5ish to nurse or soother but sometimes she sleeps right till 7:30, she is not a routine girl. I personally don't mind 2 wakeups. I prefer when she does a 3am wake up so I can sleep from 11-3, but whatever. Anyways if your baby is over 6 months old they *should be sleeping through the night* and weaned of night feedings. Uhmm okay?! That's not to say it's easy, it's tough and tiring and especially for mom's whose babies wake up screaming, 4+ times and take an hour to get back down. I appreciate that she prefers to comfort nurse the soother than me...it's the active letdown, she knows better than initiate a volcano when she is not hungry. But I still have to get up and comfort nurse her with the soother, since she refuses to figure out how to find one of the 6 in her crib on her own, and sometimes I think she just needs and likes the help, she gets to smell and feel one of us. How is that selfish, she is a baby. But so many experts make it out to be that our baby is selfish and manipulative. phssssssssshhhhss to that. Also on the co-sleeping note, I fully support it to whatever age your child needs it! I actually enjoy when James has a morning off and he wakes up with her and brings her into bed for a morning snuggle, sometimes we all get to fall back asleep and sleep in, who doesn't love to sleep in! But sometimes she just wants to crawl on, say good morning, and poke our eyeballs. I do miss having her in our room, even when she was in the crib in our room and not in our bed for the whole night. I am grateful that she decided on her own at a young age that her crib is not so bad, and that she did not rebel against going to her own room.

If you are interested in the article that helped me here is the link
http://mothering.com/taking-down-almighty-bottle

...helped me realize I am right. Not that you are wrong if you are doing differently, just that sometimes we get a little wound up with right and wrong and really it comes down to what you are comfortable with that is what is right, and for me this is my comfortable life, so it is right. I enjoy reads like this, since so often I feel put down or judge or in the wrong (about many other parenting choices not just breastfeeding) because we (both James and I) feel no need to put a boundary or limit on our child right now, we don't follow rules and guidelines, we don't stress on schedules and routines, and we very much believing in following our instinct.

Anyhoo, my thoughts for the day...well clearly enough thoughts for the year!
Skyla is awake from a long afternoon nap (WOW!) so I am going to go and nurse my milk loving booby monkey.
Ciao

My not so little nugget...

2009-08-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

My nugget is very quickly becoming a Big Mac, or at least a quarter pounder. On monday I witnessed her ACTUALLY crawl, like real style, knees forward, hands reaching out...toward to the dog. She is only 5.5 months, I was not expecting this for at least 2 more months!

Tuesday, she was showing off at a picnic with other babies around her age, crawling (at turtle speed) around the blankets and ontop of the other babies hehee. Since then, it has been crazy at our house, I cannot leave the room for more than 1/2 a second, cause she is across the room, eating the cat scratching post, or dog bed....yummy hair! Pulling things down ie the laptop and camera (cords/strap hanging = bad mommy) and on tuesday when she mastered the crawl, she also decided to be a BIG girl and pull herself to as standing. I swear I almost cried, not because I was proud, but because it means, my life as I knew it and the wee bit of freedom I had left once she figured out the roll, is gone. Heck, she might as well be walking.

So now she is crawling and pulling herself to a stand, on the couches, ottomans, and her crib, so her mattress had to be lowered and I am terrifed she is going to go crashing and squish herself into a corner of the crib.

On a sidenote, I bought a second hand freestanding Jolly Jumper off craigslist for a whole $25 best thing ever. She has been a bit irritated with her jumperoo lately, to many colors and lights and music maybe? One can hope she has a simple easy to please child that boo's the bright flashy toys of today's society. Anyhoo the Jolly Jumper is straight up AWESOME. It is my sanity saver, my go to when she gets grumpy, and my 15 minute tea/blog/facebook break hahaa. Skyla just loves jumping in it, I think she enjoys the freedom she might feel confined in her jumperoo, and probably feels like she is actually standing, and it has much better bounce then the other one.

Another part of her big girl days, since we had to lower the crib we decided to take it apart and move it to her room. Well the past 2 nights she has spent the majority of the night in bed with us, whether or not it's because she has to I don't know. Mostly I think it's just me being lazy and falling asleep with her in my room while nursing, rather than nursing her in her room. Ha!

I don't think Daddy James feels like she is old enough yet though, and I don't think he is totally ready for it either (which surprised me!). I had no problems with her sleeping in our room in her crib, it was easy and convenient. The only downside really was when I had laundry that needed to be put away, I never had time to do it, until she was napping and would not risk waking her, so laundry was always getting shoved into a messy pile in the closet. So we will see if it sticks :P

I can't believe how quickly she is growing up, how fast she changes, and how eager she is to learn something new. I love my little Skyla, and love that she is now a little person, with a personality, who smiles at her mommy and daddy, webcams with her grandparents, talks to the animals. She hugs me and needs me for than just boob juice, she has started reaching out for me which just melts my heart...and has even started to understand "kisses" ...at least I think so. Can you tell it's a mushy day hehee.

Dear Hubby...

2009-08-11T11:07:00.001-07:00

Since I am a practical kind-a-gal, and really do not need random stuff, and am in dire need of ME stuff, but can't justify splurging on myself these days, I thought I would give you a headsup/hint at some things you could get me for my birthday (around the corner...the 24th...remember?! hehee) or even for Happy September you are an awesome mom day. Halloween? Our Anniversary, Merry Early Christmas, and It's real christmas presents....yes the list is "that" long.

I do not expect them all, and really don't want you spending money on me either (right now) but incase you happen to stumble across this (I may or may not leave it open for you to accidentally see ;) hehee) and are stumped as to what to get me...any one of these items would be heaven on earth.

Lush
-Rehab Shampoo
-Hybrid Shampoo Bar
-Veganese Conditioner
our daughter has taken quite the toll on my lovely locks, and my hair is in need of repair from my favorite hair products!

My face is also ungodly right now hahaa.
Lush
-Fresh Farmacy face cleanser
-Sweet Japanese Girl - which is being discontinued :( I will be stocking up for sure!
-A face cream either imperialis, ultralight, or Enzymion
-Mask of Magniminty

I love all Lush stuff, so you know I would be happy with anything from there :D

I would also adore a 2nd Mommy Necklace
I have been drooling over these 2 collections
http://www.mommynecklaces.com/nursingnecklace-seasand.html
http://www.mommynecklaces.com/nursingnecklace-serene.html

and I think I prefer the mod flat rock, because of the 24 inch length. I like locked donut as well, but I am not sure if it will be a bit short...but either style or color would be greatly appreciated.

A date night would also be fab-tab-u-lous, but with Nikita being away, I suppose that can wait till Septembers "you're the most amazing mom and wife" holiday, hehee.

Did I mention how much I love you...ALOT, like alot, alot. More than a fat kid loves cakes, more than bee's like steak on the BBQ, more than flies adored shiza.

Don't worry I won't forget about, "you are the most wonderful husband and caring father I know" day :D

Love you!
xxoo

Birthday Shout Out

2009-08-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday Dear, Sweet, super awesome and wonderful Heather!

Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu!

Great big smiles (with a tongue sticking out) and kisses, hugs and giggles from Skyla, she misses Grandma Heather.

I hope you have a relaxing birthday, and Tom cooks you up a special birthday dinner :D

Love you and miss you!

Callista

Beach Baby

2009-07-23T12:54:00.001-07:00

*** I TRIED TO ADD MORE VIDEOS, THAT I PROMISED, BUT THEY AREN'T LOADING FOR SOME REASON :(*******

During my wedding planning days, I spent ALOT of time on a wedding forum, mostly in the destination wedding section. I eventually moved onto miscellaneous and hung out there where the topics were mostly random and fun, and sometimes off the wall hahaa.

Once we got pregnant, I made my way south in the forum down to their baby section (I had not even lurked in there - pre pregnancy, maybe I was scared of jinxing myself) anyhoo when I originally plugged my "LMP" into an online calculator it gave me a due date of Feb 19, we went with the 23rd as my cycles were a bit longer then 28 (as are most women off the pill) anyways. I joined a February Mommies group, and hung out there most of the my pregnancy, I was not overly stressed about other things going on, so I mostly lurked into other topics...and just stocked/stalked (?) my feb mama's hahaa ;) and babbled away getting to know some really lovely women. It was awesome to be experiencing everything right along with them, and know they understood me and vice versa, even if our symptoms or cravings were different. And I still hang out with the Feb mommies, in the new mom section now (can't believe their is a feb mommies group in the pregnancy section) I may be a march mama...but I feel at home with those mama's so it's where I hangout in the .com world ;)

At Christmas, I had the pleasure of meeting 3 of my "toronto/gta Feb Mama's" and I met up with them again to meet their babies, plus 2 other gta feb mama's and their babies when I was home in June.

One of the GTA mommies, came out to Vancouver a few weeks back and inspired the Vancouver area Feb mama's to finally get our butts together and meet and start a regular thing.

Phewww this is long winded to get out....every 2 weeks I now try to get together with 3 other mama's and their babies, who were all due in Feb.HAHA! Not only is it great to hang out with other mama's its great to be around other babies in the same age area as my monkey. Anyhoo this past tuesday was a beach and cupcake playdate (cupcakes for the mama's) however 2 of the mama's could not make it. So Tara, Lila, Skyla and myself met in White Rock for a couple hours of sandy salty wet fun :D

I have never been to white rock, but I quite like it. Very nice beach, good cupcakes what's not to like! I will be back again...likely next week, when James has a few days off.

Skyla and Lila laid on some blankets, ate some sand and before you know they got to experience the cold shock of salt water WAHOO! They both did not mind it that much, and even enjoyed laying out naked for awhile till the tide started coming in, and was getting the blankets soaked (no the tide was not actually ON the blankets, but seeping in UNDER the sand, if you know what I mean?) but it did come in might quickly. So in true Diva form Skyla started to get all woe is me, I taste like salt, I have sand stuck in my rolls and now I'm wet and let out the most ridiculous cry*

*she was also tired from not having a long nap that morning, so I'm not complaining just making fun*

and she convinced Lila to join in on her pity parade, so we had two diva's crying and the tide coming in mighty quick almost taking away our bags, sandals and ACK my camera....save the camera, forget about Skyla she will likely float ;) JUST KIDDING! So we called it a day, but will try it out again soon :)

Here are a few shots of the "little" ladies:

Her clothese got pretty wet, next time, maybe we will bring your cute bathing suit...but naked time is also fun ha!

Lila with a sandy face heheeHer 2nd dip to try and get some sand off.

Can you believe how big she is getting, she comfortably fits into some 12 month clothing, she is so dang tall!!!

Holy Canoly

2009-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

It has been quite the whirlwind and I am kicking my ass now for not updating more frequently. I wanted to use this to look back and remember Skyla's first year, thankfully I have a memory book that is easy to jot it all down in.

So Skyla and I went to ontario in June to visit my parents, Tom and Heather (my inlaws) were also visiting Toronto area, so they stole Skyla and I a few times to show off their granddaughter to a few friends and family :D My little girl did really well with all the travel, she was a superstar on the plane, and did so well with long days of trekking around. Then the Presnail's joined us in Vancouver and spent a couple weeks in BC...so it's been a busy couple weeks with family. I loved every minute of it, and miss our family so much :(

I think I already mentioned that she learned to roll early June, she is no rolling towards both sides, took her about a month to figure out to roll to her right as well haha. She is also now rolling back to her, pivoting around and inch worm crawling. She is NEVER where I last left her (in her crib or on her blanket on the floor, she moves so much its crazy. Actually she is crazy strong, I think she has been sneaking spinach behind my back...either that or my breast milk is crazy iron rich ;) hahahaa. Yoga is her fortay, she can hold herself in a modified cat position (sort of frogged leg and chest off the ground on her elbows, she has also shown me the downward facing down, and can do the plank position no problem.

Emi is her best friend, she follows her as much as her head and body will allow...I am sure that Emi is the reason Skyla is "commando crawling" she will be chasing her in no time hehee. Today Skyla was full on laughing at Emi god it was hilarious. I have a couple videos to share instead of pictures!

And we also went camping this week with the little Miss, and she did awesome, it was not much different camping with her than last year without her.

Well I am sure I am missing a ton of things, but on to the fun stuff...videos of my chunky monkey!

This is in ontario playing peek-a-boo with Gramma

She was having a cranky morning, but Gramma cheered her up with some Bob Marley...every time this song played she would "sing along"

What a busy week...lot's of excitement

2009-06-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a busy month with 2 trips to the island in May, and then the first week of June was filled with lots of FIRST's for Skyla. Nick Dale came to Vancouver for a visit, it was not long enough and you need to come back soon, Skyla took a liking to Nick right away and gave him tons of smiles, and fell asleep in his arms on his last night here when we were out for dinner. He was staying at a friends condo, and there was a pool in the building....so we took Skyla for her first swim, and she really seemed to enjoy the pool. Was not crazy happy and smiling, just very relaxed and content :) James was even brave enough to dunk her a few times and she was such a brave girl not one tear or upset peep about it (or the other 2 afterwards hehee)

She let out a couple of super cute giggles as well, which we managed to get on camera...I'm still waiting (patiently) for the continous giggles. But she seems to think its funny when I tell her "I love you" and talk in weird voices.

We also took her to the Vancouver Aquarium, and she enjoyed the tank with the sharks and giant sea turtle. She really is an amazing little person, so full of character and so laid back. We love going out with her cause she is almost always in a perfect mood, and when she fusses a bit its over within a few minutes (for the most part ;)!)

All week she has been lifting her legs and pivoting herself around the floor and her crib, and at night rolling onto her right side and sleeping on her side. Last night she was on her play mat and managed to roll herself over from back to front, and get her arm out...not so happy once on her belly (she likes tummy time sometimes, and other times hates it ha)....

So this morning I laid her down on the floor to see if she would do it again, but mostly she just wanted to hang out on her side, till she got really excited and kept rolling over, fuss that she was on her belly, flip her back to her back, and she would roll almost right away, fuss....you get the picture, it was quite the up and down morning for me hahaa. Took me awhile to get these pictures and posts up (she is now sound asleep for a nap) She did roll from belly to back...by I think accident on May 29th - has not done it since

Anyways I thought I would post a ton of pictures and videos, since I have been so busy and unable to stay on top of this blog. We head out to Ontario on monday, just Skyla and myself to visit my parents (Gramma D and Grampie D - we have two sets of grandparent P's, so since my parents are D-ale and D-iane it works as D's..I also call my mom, Mama Dee) anyhoo I am not sure if I will be bringing my laptop to update pictures while we are in ontario...but if not hopefully I will get online to type a bit.

I think she will be hitting lots of mini milestones this month. She was even trying to rambo crawl while on her belly today....not saying she will start crawling since most babies don't seem to until 7+months but who knows ;).

The light of our life!

2009-06-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

Daddy and his girl Skyla Me and my angel

I love her so much :D

Our little family

Out for dinner with Aunt Megan

Feeding is a tiring task ;)

Skyla with Aunty Kita

And here with Uncle Nicky

Vancouver Aquarium

2009-06-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the Beluga show Uncle Nicky, my mama and me...it was HOT HOT day!

Inside trying to cool off...Aunty Kita is behind the camera

Ooooh a shark

Giant Sea turtle...he came right over to me and hung out for quite awhile

Jelly Fish

Dolphins, so pretty mama loved seeing them!

Daddy took some great shots

Uncle Nick thinking about cute I am :)

My silly Aunty, I love her

Time for lunch

Sea otter, I wanted to swim with him!

It was a great day, and I was on my best behaviour...now they are talking about taking me to the zoo! Mama really hates caged animals but me to learn about them :)

Little Fishy - my first swim

2009-06-06T09:42:00.001-07:00

Here I am admiring my giant bath tub!That's not so bad Dad, I love you...hold me tight please!Being a pool bum with my Uncle NickyDaddy is getting ready to dunk me here Where did you go?I can't see is that you Daddy?Okay that wasn't so bad, let's try it again :DPool Babies

Totally conked out after her swim...she slept a good 3 hours WAHOOO!

Mini Milestones

2009-05-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Wow its been a month since I last posted. So sorry!

Skyla is doing amazing, she is the apple of my eye and everyday I learn something new about her and she just surprises me with her ability and character that is developing.

She has been smiling for a couple weeks now, and I can't get enough of the grins, when she wakes up in the morning and I go to see her and then she smiles at her mama, it just melts my heart.

She loves to stand (while we hold her) and is really enjoying her jumperoo. Strong little girl she is. Skyla has also started to use her abs, and seems to want to try and sit up, but is not there yet...I'm sure it will be awhile. I am trying to make her do lots of tummy time in hopes that she will learn to roll over soon.

And today she let out a small little old man haha, type of laugh...not a cute full on baby giggle, but damn cute anyways.

She was weighed today and is 13lbs 5oz and 24inches tall. So 5lbs heavier than birth and 2.25 inches taller.

Anyways a few pictures of the munchkin...they aren't really that recent, I promise to add more tomorrow, I need to clean house ;)

These are some of the babies from her prenatal class, from oldest to youngest.

Sitting pretty in her Bumbo Chair

Smiling for her mama :)Skyla "say whaaaaaaaaaat?" our ferry ride over to Nanaimo.

Her impression of the Gerber Baby...but way cuter ;)

Mama look what I can!

2009-04-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Cuddling together I CAN SUCK MY HANDS
Discovering her hands...she likes to suck on her thumb and pointer finger, which usually results in her gagging herself ha!

I CAN HOLD MY HEAD UP

Since she was just a few days old she has had a very strong neck and holds it up while on our chest. Skyla doing tummy time - which she likes sometimes and hates other times - getting stronger every day.

I CAN POSE LIKE A MODEL

I CAN SIT LIKE A LADY

Lights Camera Action

2009-04-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Most of these pictures are from when she was about 4 weeks old... Can't believe she will be 7 weeks tomorrow!

She now weighs 11lbs 5 oz (3lbs heavier than birth)

Is 23.75 inches tall (2 inches from birth)

And her head is also 2 inches bigger....someone commented to me that she was a BIG 6 week old the other day, and asked how much she was at birth, and then said "wow she was a small horse" listen lady you didn't carry her around, or push her out...and she's perfect! I know her comments were totally in a silly joke way, but it stung a little.........am I being oversensitived??

Kelly came out for a visit a couple weeks ago, it was so nice to have her company and help, and just comforting to have an old friend around. She thinks I am a great mom and that I have not turned into a crazy mom (yet) that I'm still me, just with a kid attached to......my boob ;) hahaa. So I love her even more (if possible) now that she complimented me that way hehee.

Here is Aunty Kelly (that's AUNT not ANT people) with Skyla, look like a boy in her blue sweatsuit lol.

Skyla looks a little stunned here. I love her precious face and innocent expression!
Immitating her Daddy, I wonder if she will stick out her tongue while writing, golfing, concentrating as well? Ha!

Sound asleep...what an angel

I swear this is how she was sleeping, she was in our bed and I woke up to this beside me, and my camera was handy :D
Chillin' with her best friend, Mr Colby...he LOOOOOVES SkylaWell duty calls, the little Miss is up and crying, probably hungry...as am I!

Callista

Choosing a Carrier

2009-04-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

I was on the search for a carrier that could cover all the bases, hikes, walks with Emi, doing housework and she NEEDS to be with me not in her crib, running errands etc., but I have come to the decision that one really needs more than one carrier...just like shoes, you need a different pair for different occassions. However I did find one, actually make that two that are PRETTY AWESOME. But I had to make the super tough decision of which one I wanted, as James did not want to get both ;) hahaa. I found a great company in Ottawa (Kanata) called Chiquita Baby that offers a loaner program for their carriers, and the owner was willing to let me test them out.

The top contenders were The Beco Butterfly II and The Pikkolo by Catbird Baby. Very similar but some major differences, if that makes any sense hahaha. I wish I could take the two and mish mash them together.

Well without further ado here is my review:

Shoulder straps
PIKKOLO - Memory foam, nice and sleek, comfortable, and I LOVE how you can adjust in 2 directions (one way sort of pulls the baby in closer to your chest, the other directions tightens the carrier to your shoulders/shortens them, lifts the carrier). For front carrier its most popular to do a criss crossed back, which feels very secure on the body, but you can do "back pack style" by using the chest strap across your shoulders to secure the straps onto your shoulders
BECO - Cushy and comfortable, I thought they would feel like they would slip off, but they felt like they were secure and in place...and I did not even notice the shoulder strap across the back (I do have a bit of trouble getting this done up, so I do it up first and then slip the carrier over my head with Skyla in it -she and the beco are on the bed) - I have now figured out how to get it done up the "normal" way.

Waistband
PIKKOLO - I really like how it sits higher up (natural waist) instead of on your hips, makes it very easy to go to the bathroom ha! Also prevents the carrier from digging into your thighs as you sit down, or pushing your pants down. Sometimes I found it dug into the top of my right hip bone as I am little "off center" - scoliosis. There is an add on waistbelt to purchase that is padded, for giving you more support with a bigger/heavier baby when doing back carry - can be used on any meitai as well.
BECO - Sometimes I felt like I was standing sway back, because the weight is on the hips, but I think the weight being on the hips is much better for your back over the long run. I wish the waistband was a little shorter/narrower...just being a small frame. It also took a bit of adjusting and playing around to get Skyla's legs not between my stomach and the waistband (she is tall, but young so its a little tough to get her to spread her legs instead of being in froggy position) so this carrier has been a bit more adjusting to get the right fit, which is sort of tricky when you have 2 people using it. But there is almost like a bodysuit built into the carrier, so its very easy to unstrap the carrier without taking baby out and handing the carrier with baby still in it to another holder, so that is great for shopping if I want to try on something hand her over to my sister or James or long hikes, if I want a break from carrying.

Cinching/Infant Insert
PIKKOLO - The cinch feature is neat, not easy to do once on/baby in, so you want to adjust this prior to loading your little on one. This allowed her to seat with her legs spread instead of froggy style. This also allows baby to face out and see the world, which I hear babies LOOOOVE to do, and I am sure Skyla would love it as she enjoys observing people, but pretty much as soon as she is in the carrier she falls asleep, or enjoys staring at me :) I have also heard from other moms that front facing out carry is hard to do once the hit 15-20lbs, throws off your balance and is hard on your back. So at first a front facing option was VERY appealing, but not so much anymore, and we have a wrap that allows this.
BECO - At first I thought Skyla was to big for the infant insert, but still a bit too small for the regular "bodysuit" but with some adjusting we figured it out. However it is a bit much having two bodysuits to maneouver her in when trying to get her into the carrier when it already strapped to me - it is recommened to use a couch or bed to lay baby into carrier, and then put them on. However that seems a bit unrealistic to me, as I plan to use my carrier when we are out/getting out of the car. But as I said I have figured out how to make it work for me :D

Getting Baby In
PIKKOLO - So easy for me, hubs had a bit more "trouble" in that he thought he would drop her (even though he has no probs with the moby), very easy to just strap across your waist, then it hangs like an apron...and then you hold babe and pull the straps up and over to opposite waist and attach tighten and go. Makes this very easy to do without the help of someone to adjust a strap, and no need to lay baby on a bed or couch. I wish Skyla was bigger to test out the back carry. As I have read the back carry takes a bit of practice and that alot of people are a bit uncomfortable with it, unless familar with babywearing.
BECO - As I mentioned before I thought it would be a pain since it suggests to lay baby down in it, then strap on...but I had no problem wearing it (even wore it driving - not with babe in it hehee) pulling Skyla out of the carseat and dunking her into the carrier, I just left one shoulder strap undone, and kept both of them on the loose side. I am not sure it will be that easy though once she is bigger. But my girlfriend uses her out and about, and her babe is older so she has figure out how to do it without assistance :D

Folding up
PIKKOLO - I found it a bit thick to fold up, maybe because of the memory foam and heavier fabric
BECO - Folded very easily. But neither was very small for putting in a diaper bag for "always having on hand"

OVERALL
Both are quite comfortable and nice looking, I found the weight was carried on your shoulders with the Pikkolo and more on your hips with the Beco (so this would be a wiser choice for much longer carries - but I did carry Skyla for 2+ hours in the Pikkolo, and only started to get a bit sore towards the end, but I am pretty sure I did not have the Pikkolo on totally right this was the first day testing it out.) I am very short and petite, so at first I much prefered the Pikkolo in looks and comfort on me... as it is worn higher on your waist and is much smaller looking with the thinner shoulder padding, and no waist padding. To me it did not look so overwhelming, but I am now really liking the look of the Beco on myself as well, ha...so lookswise they are both very attractive IMO (nicer prints with the Beco, and the fabric is softer, but the Pikkolo is suppose to soften more with wear and wash, and will probably hold up better over time being a heavier fabric) Now that I have figured out how to adjust the Beco properly and get Skyla in I find it much more comfortable then the first day. For some reason the Pikkolo was very natural to me for figuring it out, whereas some reviewers seem to think its a bit tricky. I was very torn, and kept flip flopping back and forth as to which one I wanted. But I ended up going with the Beco, and still plan to get a 3rd...yes a 3rd carrier, I want a plain jane Mei Tai (the pikkolo is like a combo of a mei tai and the beco) as I think this will be great one to always have in the diaper bag.

So far I am very happy with the Beco, it takes me a little longer to get it on and Skyla in it, then the Pikkolo...maybe even longer than the Moby (how thats possible I don't know) I have worn it lots the past week, I wore her today for about 2.5 hours, she slept the whole time, woke up at the end of our walk hungry, and I was able to feed her in it WHILE walking, no problem so that is INCREDIBLY AWESOME, in my books. James has worn it a few times, as has Nik and they are both loving it too (they loved the pikkolo as well, so it was a tough decision for the whole house ha)

I know this probably does not help anyone who is trying to decide, but I figured I would share my thoughts anyways. I highly recommend testing them out though, and if you can't borrow them from a store, go in to one and wear your babe for at least 20 minutes, walk around the store with it on and do some other shopping while there ;) if anything it will allow to have free hands, and get into tight aisles where your stroller would not go ha.

Now the fun stuff....pictures of me sporting the two lovely carriers

Front of Beco

Side of Beco Back of BecoFront of PikkoloSide of PikkoloBack of Pikkolo

3rd times a charm, bad things come in 3...

2009-04-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hmmm well do good things come in 3 as well? I realize that by posting this I may have just jinxed myself and will be kicking my own arse tomorrow morning, but...

Lastnight was the 3rd night in a row that Skyla "slept through the night" She was down between 10:30 and 11:30 (which is our bedtime, she naps a bit in the evenings in the living room with us, but goes to bed officially when we do) and the only reason she "woke up" is because James' alarm goes off around 5:30 which wakes me...and I realize I am swimming in a sea of milk...we are exclusively breastfeeding, so when my body goes that many hours without feeding her it needs to relieves itself...unfortunately my pajama's and bedding get the meal haha. So each night/morning I scoop her up to "dreamfeed" as she really still does not wake up, James changes her, I try to feed her some more and then back in bed by about 6, and she will sleep for another 2.5 hours.

I am not letting myself get used to this sleep, as I know its only a phase and one that will likely end soon...but I am just beyond...confused, shocked, and a bit giddy, that she is sleeping so well and for so long at such a young age! She has always been a pretty good night sleeper since day one, and has not (yet) been a baby to wake up screaming to be fed, she just gets a little grunty which wakes me up to feed her, and she usually goes 3-4 hours, and then goes back to bed :) ....

again I'm probably cursing myself by bragging about what has been her norm.

Our other exciting news, the news of the night.........SHE POOPED! She has not pooped since wednesday the 1st (guess she wanted to do a week of april fools) I was not worried about her lack of poop as I have read of breastfed babies going 21 days without a poop. On tuesday we had chiro, and Skyla had her "check" we let the doc know she hadn't pooped in awhile so he did an adjustment on her to help move things along and warned that it would be a BIG poop when it finally came out.

So tonight she has been pretty cranky and I figured it must be that she is finally needing to poop, so I laid her down and started doing bicycle legs on her and bending her hips up to help push something out, she was letting out some gas that sounded pretty heavy...so I decided to check things out...............................holy dinah it was huge and smelled rotten (yes I realize poop does not smell heavenly, but usually breastmilk poop is bearable and sort of sweet smelling...this was SICK) I was literally gagging and laughing so hard because I always laugh at men who gag and think what wimps they are hahaha! It was so messy that there was no way I could wipe it up, I had to carry her by the arms to the bath, and get Nikita to hose down her butt. We could not stop laughing and the look on her face was PURE BLISS.

And man let me tell you, she was hungry after that explosion! Ha!

I swear my life has revolved around poop for the past couple years, first it was my own animals and wanting/needing to know if the poop, and watching it (we feed raw, so poop lets us know if they are getting to much bone or to little bone) then with dogwalking for work and letting owners know if the dog pooped, and now its waiting for my kid to poop, opening every diaper hoping for a little golden surprise, making a mental note of how big or small it is. Hahaaaaa

Oyyyyyy poop the meaning of life!
Callista

Happy 1 month birthday!

2009-04-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Skyla turned 1 month! I can't believe it has been a month already, I mean it honestly feels like she has been a part of our lives forever...it has just been pretty natural and normal feeling...but at the same time it does not seem like a month ago I was going into labour and pushing her out. I have pictures to post and update you all, but our laptop has a cold and is being fixed (as far as I know everything can be recovered and its just a ram problem THANK FREAKIN GOD!) please send us the good vibes/prayers that it is fixable, as I will be completely devastated to lose my babies newborn pictures.

Skyla is still a pretty happy and laidback baby...I was sick as a dog on thursday and she was an angel no fussing at all, napped with me and just hung out while I felt like I was near death, she knew her mama was weak and sick I guess so she was on her very best behaviour hehee. She is becoming so much more focused with her eyes, like staring at me in the eyes now..not as blankly as before ha. Following sound, and making cute little baby sounds...still tons of grunting which always makes us laugh, and strangers get a kick out of it too haha.

Around 3 weeks old she was close to 10lbs, so I'm sure she has passed that now. Our next appointment with our midwife is not till she turns 6 weeks...so I will give a better growth update then. Anyways I just wanted to share that she is A MONTH ahhhh crazy! And I promise to post a better update with pictures soon
Callista

Skyla - week one

2009-03-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

Labouring in the pool

Cheerleading squadAlways time to kiss the love of my lifeIn a tranceMama supporting me, so James can get a nice look at his daughter slowly making her way into the world. He looks a little excited and eager to meet her ha.

Emi was watching as well.Daddy with his daughter, while mama tried to get that stubborn placenta out.

First moment together after she was born, cord still attached.

Me almost passed out, on James who is almost passed out - we were very tired!
Up close of these sweet little lips
Gramma Prosser with her first grandbaby

At the hospital with my piglet Daddy James snuggling SkylaYay, finally we can go home...she is ready :)Her first bath with mama, sorry if anyone finds this risque or offensive, but I think its beautiful and its one of my favorite pictures.Daddy James bathing Skyla for the first time - she ended up pooping in the water ha

Skyla and Daddy - love at first sightColby loves her cause she smells like milk

Welcome to the World

2009-03-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is rather lengthy...but I wanted to type it out to remember one of the greatest days of our lives, and so that she could read all about how she joined the world. It is true how they say, it becomes quite a blur and you forget about time as it's happening, and you forget about the pain a few moments later. Personally I did not find it all that painful - I was just incredibly exhausted - but a huge part of me would do it all again next week so it could not have been that bad. I was also pretty quiet as well until the end, when I just needed to let out some moans and groans to help push her out. Without further ado her story:

Skyla Raine
8lbs 5 oz
21.75 inches
Born March 3rd, 2009 @ 10:55 am at home
Due around Feb 23rd

Our team:
We had agreed to let 3 student midwives come to the birth, so we had a full house -one of them a Senior Student Midwife, and 2 (I guess Jr) student midwifes, and Julia one of my midwives I saw throughout the pregnancy. Each of them so different in technique and personality, and all amazing beautiful women, they complimented each others ways so well…I am so grateful of them! My mom, sister (Aunty Nikita) and Dianna (unofficial Aunty) were also there getting just as much of a workout through the contractions…I think they had labour pains, as I was in such a trance. They cheered me on through the final pushes and helped keep the pool warm and lend a hand when needed.

Around 11 pm Monday March 2, 2009 I got up from about 40 minutes of sleep to a bit of cramps (thought it was the Mexican I had for dinner) when I stood up I had a bit of leaking, but thought it might just be a pee, as I really had to go ha. Went to the bathroom and to see a bit of a pink on the tissue…YAYYYYY it’s finally happening.

I put on a pad went to the living room to see my sister and told her my water might have broken, I decided to head back to bed incase it was the real deal I needed sleep…I had been up since about 6:30 AM with no nap. I barely made it back to the bathroom when my water really broke, soaked through the pad…thankfully I had made it to tiled flooring ha.

My mom, (your grandma) was up and curious to know if it was the real deal, she suggested I call the midwives but I said my contractions weren’t consistent and barely there and that I was going to nap. I told Daddy what was going on, and that he would be meeting his little girl soon…he also suggested calling the midwives. I had been walking around 4 cm dilated for about 1.5 weeks, so we had a feeling things would go quite quickly. After an hour of trying to sleep (about 1:30 am) I decided it would be good to call them and see what they thought, the contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and lasting 40-70 seconds…so they weren’t totally consistent, hence my hesitation. After talking to the clinic (through at least 3 contractions – which were so mild, or at least NOTHING like what I expected) they decided to send part of the team out and would be there by 3 am to check things out.

Daddy and I decided to take a short walk around the “block” while Grandma and Nik got the birthing pool ready. I called Dianna to let her know what was happening (she lived an hour away). At 3 am my midwife and the Sr Student were there, and checked me out…6 cm dilated, but easily stretched to 8cm, so things were going pretty quickly and perfectly. You were happy as a hippo in my belly the whole time and your heart rate stayed consistent, no signs of stress and you weren’t to eager to get out. I hopped in the pool to labour there and from then on it was pretty much a blur, it was so relaxing that I fell asleep a few times, and woke myself up by snoring. Even your daddy fell asleep from the outside of the pool, while coaching and supporting me. Your Dad was incredible…the team kept joking he should become a mid-husband or a doula, he was so supportive and there for me through everything…he hardly left my side, held in his pee for long periods of time ha. I did not think it was possible to love him more, but I fell more in love with him every second of that night and know I am the luckiest women in the world.

The long part of your arrival…the pushing stage. You were just as stubborn as I was to join the world, 3 hours of pushing (Grandma went thru the same with me) I don’t think it was all you though, apparently Mama has one strong muscle down there (perineum) that did not really want to budge by stretching or ripping (thankfully) and I was just so exhausted from no sleep and being in such a trance in the pool, that I really was not giving it my all with the pushes. We decided to get out of the pool and get down to business on the bed and squatting on the floor. You were right there and with each contraction, I needed to just give a 4th push but was having a hard time finding the energy and believing everyone. Your daddy, Aunty Nik and Di, Grandma and the midwives were cheering me on and telling me how close you were, I wish I could have seen as a visual would have made me believe them haha. Someone did get a graphic picture on my camera and when I saw it after you came out, I said “She really was that close for so long, man I should have listened! This could have been shorter!” The senior student midwife (who was sort of the leader/in charge that night) started to say she was going to have to cut mama if I did not push a little harder, as it was reaching 3 hours of pushing and no one needs to push that long! I really wanted to avoid a cut, and a tear…but remember thinking can’t you just pull her out, and then I remembered, “you can do this Callista, your body is designed to handle it!” I had been pushing in the bed, and decided I had to squat so we slid off, Daddy stayed behind me supporting my weight, and a midwife on each side and one in front. Everyone still cheering me on your grandma teary eyed, Daddy was getting emotional as well and then I found a voice… the shy student midwife, she lightly touched my thigh and calmly counted for me, and I found that extra strength I needed and you joined us in the world at 10:55 am. Daddy fell back on the bed, and nearly passed out right there (he was exhausted) I crawled back to the bed laid on Dad, and you were put on my belly/chest area. Your eyes were so big and dark, I couldn’t believe how alert, beautiful and clean you were…it was love at first sight.

The midwife had to pull your cord up to daddy to have him cut it; he was just too tired to sit up hahaa. Then what was suppose to be the easiest part of labour…delivering the placenta, proved to be the toughest, well weirdest. I was not having contractions and felt no need to push it out…but gave it my all. But nothing, the midwives felt around and could feel that it was still attached to my uterus, I got a 2nd shot of oxytocin and we tried breastfeeding to help the placenta make its exit. We tried squatting again since it worked so well to delivery you, but that only made a gush of blood come out (onto the carpet – yuck – and a midwife – oopsy) so we decided that it would be best to head to the hospital for removal of the placenta. The team could have done it at home, but the risk of infection would be higher, and since I lost some blood already we did not want to take that chance of infection…plus it would have been quite painful since they do not carry the pain meds/blockers. I had what is called retained placenta – we are still waiting to hear the lab results about it. But basically it means the placenta is adhered to the uterus wall.

We called an ambulance and got things together, you got bundled up and barely fit your Newborn diapers…we were not expecting a “big” baby. Mommy was feeling pretty good considering how tired she was, and what was going on, everything was fine with my vitals and I was alert and just wanting to crawl into bed with you and Dad for a snuggle. Daddy was getting a bit nervous and worried, but I kept telling him everything was fine and to just hold and hug you for me.

Once we got to the hospital the staff was quite shocked at how alert I was, they kept asking me the same questions and I was getting annoyed with them hahaa. They wheeled me into OR, gave me a spinal block of some sort (mama does not know the drugs – since I wanted to avoid them all, but I know it was not an epi, and no local freezing) I was told I would not feel the pain, just the pressure. So I could feel them going to town at removing the placenta just not in a painful way, I also had to have a catheter put in due to crazy swelling and needed a few teeny tiny stitches, that would have healed on their own but they figured since they were down there…why not. I ended up with a fever after the “operation” so I had to definitely stay at the hospital for the night (I was not happy about that!) The staff there were wonderful though and took great care of the 3 of us, and not once asked your Grandma or Aunty to leave when they were there during “non visiting hours” They kept trying to figure out what caused the fever (tests, and questions after questions) but nothing clear…and again they were shocked at your mama’s spirit, consciousness and the fact that I was not dizzy and up walking fine. I lost quite a bit more blood once at the hospital – so they had tons of concern even though I felt perfectly fine. I guess I’m one strong cookie ha, even though your daddy thinks I’m a wimp on most occassions he was so proud of me and kept saying how amazing I was and that he could not believe I created you. The next day I was told my iron was very low but the fever was gone, and that they wanted me to stay a 2nd night…both dad and I kept insisting I could go home with the catheter in (the IV was coming out soon) – we just wanted to be comfy in our own surroundings. But we listened to their concerns and stayed a 2nd night, the next morning I saw the funniest thing – your dad CLEANING folding up blankets and getting ready to go. We were ready to bust out of there, but still had to wait around so we walked the small hallway with you for part of the afternoon till finally we got to bring you back home. You were a little fussy at night when in the hospital, but barely…and you have been an angel ever since we got home (knock on wood) you are eating well, have passed your birthweight already, sleep pretty well and you are just a happy and content baby.

I am so happy I got to have you home, it was an amazing experience…it stinks that we did not get to stay at home because of a silly stubborn placenta, but I would not change a thing, as I have an healthy beautiful daughter and a caring supportive husband, who is so in love with his little girl. Watching your dad with you the past couple days has been so beautiful. At the hospital when I was in the OR, Daddy had to care for you all by himself…he learnt to change a poopy diaper and had to feed you some donor milk as your glucose level came back a little low, and since I was not there to feed you he jumped in there.

We love you so much and love getting to know you!

As promised

2009-03-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

Cleaning out the bowl of cheese sauce...yeah I would be doing pregnant or not, so darn good!

One day overdue, and Enzo is very happy the baby is still in the belly :)
1 Week overdue, looking large and a little haggard hahaa.

Like father like daughter

2009-03-02T13:20:00.000-08:00

Or should I say like GRAND father like GRAND daughter. It seems that this little one (who is pretty content inside me ha) is already following in her grandpa Prosser's footstep...being late! She is a week "overdue" now and making it very obvious that we are on HER TIME...a motto my father lives by. Hahahaa!!

For a man of the military, he is always making us late, he likes to blame the woman of the house , but he is always the LAST one out of the bathroom, and the last one to the car when we are all trying to get somewhere...even though he insists on being up at 0-500 hours! Oh I love you pops!!!

And you know the saying "you marry a man like your dad" well more and more each day I see that for more reasons than punctuality. So yeah like my dad, when James and I need to get out of the house by a certain time, he is the last one ready! And like all men put the blame on the women of the house. So I get the blame for us being late, because while yes I take longer to get ready, its very rare that he is ready once I finally am ready (which is almost always at the time I planned to get out the door)

I know that won't be for much longer now though, I will be on babies schedule and late for everything, or making plans around her nap and feeding times.

James thinks tomorrow is a good day to have the baby 3rd day of the 3rd month and 3x3=9 and it is 2009. So everyone who reads this, send us some labour vibes!! :)

Love Callista
PS - I have some pictures to add...but my computer is being weird right now, so I'll be back :)

Eviction Notice!

2009-02-25T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yep....I'm still pregnant, not really a surprise. Most first timers go 1-2 weeks overdue with no complications, and only 4% actually give birth on their due dates. I really think they should make due dates illegal though, as its just a false hope and then it gives people a reason to harrass you....have you popped? Are you still pregnant? Hurry up I'm impatient to see the baby!

First off people, whether you are family, best friends, strangers, or people I hardly know (those ones are the most annoying!) I'm pretty sure you have NO RIGHT to be impatient until you have carried the slug around for 9 months...except the daddy (or 2nd mommy) to be...since you likely have been to all the appointments, waited around for test results, rubbed every aching body part with no complaints, see the beauty in your partner when they look and feel their worst, and know when to say NOTHING, and when to say the right things. Asking if I have popped yet or if I'm still pregnant just adds to the "why aren't you coming out?" feeling I have right now, it's an unneccessary stress. No one is more excited about meeting this baby then the mama and dad!

Trust me, we are NOT going to go and give birth in secret and then not share with the world our excitement and new bundle of joy in our life. I promise pretty much as soon as this monkey pops out of me, you will find out! So don't remind me that I'm still pregnant, I have a giant belly doing that :P and squirming kid inside that I swear feels like a toddler at times!

Lastly, I know how to use google, and have read all the tips tricks and must do's. I don't need you to suggest "how to get this baby out" I have tried it all (except castor oil - gross) they really don't work and are just a way to pass time. You were right a few weeks ago when I was getting anxious and you said "just wait she will come when she is ready" - now you are impatient though hahaa....and yeah I said "you were right" not words I say often.

I may sound harsh and grouchy...and frankly I am grouchy right now...and I think I have every right to be, so not a peep! I understand that so many people are excited, anxious and just trying to be supportive and I love you dearly, and adore that we a bringing a little one into a world filled with so much love and excitement...but please understand that reminding me I'm still pregnant, huge and saying hurry up....is beyond irritating, slightly depressing and just unneccessary.

And one final tip for those non pregnant people (whether you have been pregnant or not) remember that a pregnant women is still a person, a beautiful women that happens to be growing a life....it gets old asking how the baby is or the belly...I can barely remember the last time someone asked how I am doing....and it is NEVER okay to tell someone how huge they are. I love my baby bump but it's not very friendly to let me know I'm huge.

This is not aimed at anyone in specific, for the most part I just hope strangers come across this post...as most of the "annoying people" have been people I hardly know that are suddenly interested in my life. My family has actually been surprisingly patient and AMAZING, as have my closest friends... so don't feel like I am writing this aimed at you, it is just how I am feeling right now and something I feel everyone can benefit from "seeing thru the eyes of a preggo overdue mama to be"

In case you have noticed...yes I'm still pregnant ;) hahaa
Lots of love,
Callista

The sun is shining

2009-02-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

and I think we may see a light at the end of the tunnel ;) My midwife appointment was hopeful yesterday, I won't get into all the gory details hahaa. But there is some progress down there...it does not guarantee that we will see a baby soon, but its hope heehee.

Nikita took some really lovely shots yesterday, we have not edited any of them yet, but I could not resist sharing a few. Hoping to get some with James tomorrow, but also hoping baby decides to come tonight hahaa. Maybe the show will get started after Nikita takes a few pics of us tomorrow morning, hopefully the sun is out again!

And no I did not swallow a watermelon hahaa! But I did gain 2 lbs in a week, hopefully thats me and not baby haha.

39 weeks

2009-02-16T20:38:00.000-08:00

1 week till she expires, and I start pulling all the silly tricks to try and get her out...spicy food, long walks, hot baths, castor oil (barf...I will never be that desperate ha)

As promised a new belly shot, I swear there is only one in there, and hopefully much smaller than it looks :D

The torpedo

And with Colby Cat

Visitors :)

2009-02-15T15:57:00.001-08:00

DIANNA - I AM NOT IN LABOUR! Don't worry I will message you right away, mid contractions I will get an email, text, facebook message something to you, if baby decides to not wait till you are back!

Just had to clear the air for her ;) although I am sure she is far to busy in Australia to be checking my wee little blog often, but she has demanded that I wait till she gets home and for about a month or more she has been "omg she's in labour" everytime I send her a text or a message....crazy much haha. I love you Di!

Mama and Nikita fly in tonight, we are so excited to have them visit (and really wish Dad was joining them, James keeps saying "I bet he is coming, maybe they will surprise us!") I woke up to him NOT saying "good morning I love you" but instead "no more sleeps, they come today" LMAO Sometimes I think he loves my family more than he loves me, or he married me just to be related to them, but I guess he could say the same thing about me towards his family (we start counting down the days for the Presnail's arrival March 1)

This is a pretty pointless and photoless post, I will add a picture tonight/tomorrow morning when James is around to take a belly shot of me now 39 weeks. 1 week till expiration...when I can officially start complaining.

Right now my complaining is that everything seems way to normal and easy...a week ago I was super crampy and achey and miserable and thought "wahoooo the end is near, I can see a light" and now normal- sleep still sucks and my back aches while in bed, but thats normal in my world....so I feel sort of like I backtracked what is up with that...give me sign please!

Oh and my brillant husband asked me last night "Can't you just push to help get her down further, help show her the way out?" The look I gave him was are you kidding? But apparently he was serious hehee silly boy...NO I cannot push her out yet! He insisted I at least try, and I thought if I try I might pee right here on this couch, so I am not going there!

Also a Big HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to my amazing Mama, thanks for flying out on your special day....we will celebrate all week...I won't even make you cook tomorrow ;)

Only about 7 more hours till we pick up the relatives yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Lots of love
Callista

Quite the comparison

2009-02-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Same shirt...10 weeks later hehee.

We had our 37 week midwife appointment today, with Julia who is super awesome, so laid back and calming...we both just love her. Baby Ziggy's heartrate was around 160, her head is quite a bit lower from last week...basically she is getting locked and loaded haha, but of course Julia said it could still be another month almost (lord I hope not!) Most first times mom go past their due date. My GBS test came back negative, wahoo! Now I just need to go get my iron levels checked again (I have been on this nasty liquid iron for 2 weeks now, and feeling way less tired so it was definitly needed) but everything is looking super awesome and healthy :)

Just a mini update today...I know I usually write novels ha!
Callista

Can you believe....

2009-02-04T09:53:00.001-08:00

It's february already?

It feels like it was just July/August and I was preparing to say good by to Tom and Heather (my wonderful other parents - inlaws who are now in Singapore) was thinking of when we could get a few more camping trips in, and trying to absorb the very short summer we had weather wise. Back then February felt so far away, but man the fall and winter has just zipped by. And now I am back to thinking about camping and summer ;) hehee well it's true partially...baby does not consume all areas, although the camping and summer thoughts involve baby friendly adventures!

Back to more realistic and "present" affairs...I'm done work - as of yesterday :) it was sort of bittersweet, I love my job and my boss and *most of the dogs I see, but I knew my body and mind needs this time to just reflect and rest. However never did I think I would find myself thinking "what should I do today" and sort of feel antsy about just laying low alone and relaxing (because I am a huge fan of vegging!)...so of course in between browsing the internet and drooling over the cooking channel, I had to find something to occupy my time and feel like I got something checked off the ever growing to do list!

I cleaned out and re-organized our storage room, now not so frightening like a bomb went off in there. I tidied up James' messy office, and cleaned out the spare room and semi set it up with stuff for when Nikita arrives...I felt like I was taking it easy and not overdoing, but my cervix had another idea and decided to throw at me a crapload of braxton hicks contractions, or fake not sure if they are the same or what the heck. But I know it was not the real deal...no need to worry there is no baby here yet!

I have been obsessed with sort of "unique" portraits and couple shots...not your typical posed smile for the camera stuff....more special and personal like boudoir, happy lovey couple ones, and of course maternity. Stuff that captures a special time in your life. Anyhoo I would love to get some maternity pictures done, before this baby shows herself ha...but it's just not doable finacially this time around. So I made James take a couple shots lastnight and played around on photoshop since obviously the originals were far from "pretty"...and I realized how long its been since I have used photoshop and have forgotten EVERYTHING I knew about photo editing (yikes that SUCKS!) So needless to say the end results were not super awesome, but it was fun anyways. I will only post one as I'm sure they are a wee risque looking for some viewers hahaa.

And here is a more official belly shot, at 37 weeks and 2 days. It's taking over!!!

Love always,

Callista

Tick Tock

2009-02-01T08:07:00.001-08:00

I'm now considered full term (37 weeks) which means...if baby comes anytime now she will perfectly healthy, but it's also likely I will go overdue being a first pregnancy. Here's hoping I have my mom's genes and baby comes on her expiry date (I was born on my due date, and I believe my sister was 2 days early)

The belly is just ballooning out more and more everyday I swear, mama and Nik you two will be so shocked when you see me in.....14 days! Even James now says "your belly is so big!" he does not usually notice a difference since he see's it everyday ha. Yesterday my body was extremely achey, lower back and LOT'S of cramping and pressure in the lady bits area...pretty sure it was a small preview of what's to come *false contractions. But I have no clue, I'm one of those people that does not realize what's going on with their body until it's happening in 10 fold...everytime I read a description of fasle labour, or braxton hicks contractions, vs real labour I think "how the hell do you know" and then I read about plenty of women who don't think they are in real labour and are suddenly 5 cms dialted. Not that I'm complaining...I think that would actually be beneficial (half way there and you did not realize it...sign me up!) Hahaa.

James and I have been getting together all the neccessities we need to have on hand for a homebirth (the midwife brings all the medical stuff of course) and are now checking out some stuff for a waterbirth (our tub is not that big) there is also a store in town you can order from for a GREAT price (cheaper then renting if you can believe it) he is very into the water birth...actually he is very into the whole birth, labour, delivery and doing it at home in general...he is NOT into watching whats happening down there haha and has been scarred by some of the videos I have made him witness LMAO! But I really think he is going to be an amazing coach through this experience.

No new belly picture yet, its to early for that. But I got this super cute gift from a very good friend of mine Jennifer (we have known each other since we were 7, and have not seen each other since we were 12 and have managed to keep in touch for that long) she is the sweetest girl I know and was in Barbados for christmas when she found out I was having a girl and could not resist picking up something with a little pink in it. Thank you so much for the gift we love it :)

Busy Bees...starting to nest!

2009-01-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Oh man it has been a busy couple weeks since we got back from Ontario, last week we were both just exhausted. I worked as my boss was in quite a jam, the weather was awful I got my work car stuck and was having to shovel my way out. My body was in so much pain by the end of the week....I have really learnt to take the words "take it easy" to heart. I bit off more than I could chew that's for sure. We were also house and dog sitting for friends of ours. James has been very busy with his new job, his hours are decent though, however he is very much a man who brings his work home with him...always trying to improve something (I admire it!) and he is full into getting his busy up and running, so evenings have been spent working on that....busy bee's we are.

We got to pick up Emi from the airport on Monday and are so happy to have our little munchkin back, its true what they say you realize how much something means to you when its gone, and not having her around for 12 days was lonely and quiet in a weird way. I know she misses her gramma and grandpa though, so now you guys HAVE to visit both your granddaughters!

I'm still "working" this week and next but only a couple hours a day, as my boss is still training my replacement and still needs to find a 2nd replacement. It's good to be active and walking, but my ladybits can definitly feel the weight of Ziggy after 30 minutes of walking, and I find it so hard to just walk slowly and take my time, I like to just go and get the dogs out for a good brisk walk hahaa.

The plus side to being so busy, we did get around to picking up a few essentials this weekend for baby, birth and now my nesting mode is kicking in full force. I finally got around to emptying our spare room which has been a landmine for jackets, bags and clthes that do not fit me (literally I throw stuff in there and close the door...since we moved in November 15th) I reorganized almost all our cupboards in the kitchen, and drawers so now James has NO CLUE where anything is...but I feel better with where stuff is at hahaa. Hoping to get some baby clothes washed up this weekend, and..........the showercurtain on my bed, not that my water should be breaking this early, but its a brand new mattress. So a shower curtain was the best idea, and also on my list of stuff to get for a homebirth, might as well put it on ahead of time. Anyhoo a few pictures that are now almost 2 weeks old...oopsy. All dressed up to go to the Shaughnessy Christmas Party (James' old work) January 4th, 2009- I'm 33 weeks along here.

I mentioned James has a new job, he accepted the position over the holidays and is now the Golf Operations Manager at Fraserview Golf Course, pretty much the wing man to the Head Pro/Manager/Owner of the Pro-Shop, Tom...who seems like a super awesome boss so far! Him and Tom have been busy revamping the proshop (it was closed due to the snow) Tom took over ownership of it a few weeks ago, and the place was in dire need of a makeover. They both share similar visions for this public course and have done some great work with the place the past 2 weeks. I think tomorrow is the first day it will be open (still lots of snow on the course, but the range will be open) Great work boys and Good Luck!

Surprise Surprise!

2009-01-02T10:09:00.001-08:00

Not quite a surprise anymore to everyone, but still worth sharing ;)

For our anniversary present to each other we decided to find out what the sex of Baby Ziggy is. During our 3D ultrasound we had the tech investigate, while we closed our eyes...cut our parents viewing session short (they were watching a live broadcast) The tech finished up the DVD to end showing the baby bits, and also wrote it down and sealed it in an envelope. He was pretty excited about us waiting for a few more days till our anniversary to open the envelope and watch the movie, we were given strict instructions to stop the DVD around 25 minutes if we wanted to watch it before November 27 (so not to ruin the surprise) and no holding the envelope up to light...he was the cutest ultrasound tech ever!

Anyways it was a perfect anniversary celebration and we decided to keep it a secret for a little longer and surprise the grand-parents-to-be at christmas. Since we could not be with Tom and Heather in Singapore, we sent them the DVD and a picture frame with a note on the inside, sharing the reveal...however they didn't quite understand or follow directions...which ended up being to our benefit (well mine) as they called quite confused and I got to hear their reaction over the phone! They could not make out what they were seeing in the dvd and asked if this was revealing the sex of Ziggy, and said they needed subtitles hahaa. I told them to open up the picture frame and read the note (they had kept the frame in the box ha...hence the confused phone call) and then were just overjoyed to read the note!

For my parents and sister we had them watch the dvd while we got a present ready that was "too big to wrap" They were getting quite ancy towards the last few minutes of the video...wanting to go to the bathroom or get a drink but I kept insisting they watch. At the very end they had no clue what they were looking at (bum, legs and baby bits) but they started to clue in and say is that showing us the sex? And then the video ended, I had a huge smirk on my face and my mom jumped out of her chair at the speed of light to grab the remote and replay the last couple minutes. Then the debate started, is it a girl or boy? Finally I lifted up my shirt to reveal this….

It took them a few seconds before turning around to see hahaa, but they were so excited and happy for us. My mom's reaction was "I knew it was a girl!" :P

Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Years! I wish everyone nothing but the best for 2009, the year of the baby (for us)

Callista

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Belly at 31 weeks

After dinner with Brian and Annette

Lunch at Tyn, Jasmine and Sean's.

Emi trying to snuggle with Winnie

Big yawn from my little girl

I really wish I had a good zoom lense this would have been hilarious! James was running with Emi (in snowshoes) and totally wiped out, the expression on Emi's face was just priceless.Emi making her way through the snow on our christmas eve walk - I think she might need a pair of Muttlucks heheeShowing how high the snowbanks are! Mama's Pumpkin (from scratch) I don't eat pumpkin pie (the consistency - yuck) but the flavor was delish!

Me attempting to snowshoe - I only fell twice, and not hard ha.Winnie enjoying some treats from his stocking!Emi's turn to open her stocking...Winnie was a little jealous.James a little excited about his new tool kit!!The family after opening Santa Presents (note Santa should have been played by ME - whoa nelly I look WIDE ha)...this is before our family breakfast, so no mess of wrapping paper yet ha.

Well I have a ton more pictures to add, but Baby Ziggy is kicking my ribs like crazy so I am signing off...there is also TONS more pictures from our holiday on my facebook photo albums.

At the homestead...

2008-12-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well sort of ;) we got in to Ontario on saturday...and I have to say it might have been the best flight of my life. For starters James was able to fly stand by with me (very lucky!) people were pretty accommadating to letting us sit together (not overly, but it happened) and then the movie we watched was 3 hours so that made the flight go by so quickly....but the best part I DID NOT COMPLAIN ONCE...James was quite impressed (pretty sure he HATES flying with me) I usually get very restless and are we there yet, how much longer...like a kid muahaahaaa. However I don't know if it was the happy pregnancy hormones, the excitement of seeing my parents, the curiosity of seeing Emi and how she would react to all the snow (she loved the little bits we got last winter) just having my wonderful husband beside or what...but it was a very easy and quick flight wahooo. Here's hoping its just as lovely when we come back!

So far it has been a great trip, feels like home thats for sure hahaa (its been 2 years since we have been back to my parents place) Emi is LOVING all the snow and just pooped out from galloping around the yard and playing snow wars with her papa and grampie. She is being SPOILED with table scraps and we have all suffered from her horrendous gas...thankgod most of yesterday was spent outside...but I tell you, being downwind of her was not a treat!

The family made the trek out to the tree farm to pick the perfect (meaning crooked and wonky) Prosser Christmas Tree, freeze our tushies and fill up on french fries afterwards. The weather was actually quite nice and it was not overy cold, but I still layered up in snow pants, longjohns and the whole kabang.

I need to make this a relatively short post as I have a wee bit of heartburn, cramps and am beyond tired right now, so here are a few pictures from yesterday. Hopefully I can post more tomorrow along with the lovely gifts we got from Singapore from Heather, Tom and their incredibly thoughtful friend Ylva.

The family with the tree, and James holding a saw...scary!
I might not have that beautiful pregnancy glow, but James got a lovely (in my opinion) picture of me infront of our glowing (half decorated) christmas tree lastnight. This is me 30 weeks along, can you believe there are only 10 to go (yikes!)

Baby goes boom!

2008-12-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Those were James' words to describe the action coming from my belly lastnight. Our wifey Dianna came over to celebrate early christmas, and make us a delicious dinner (I just finished off the leftovers!). We are now the old married couple, and proud owners of a CLAP IT, much better than a typical one year wedding anniversary "paper" gift THANK YOU! I am notorious for getting into after James' does, now with some clapping practice I can turn the light off when I hop into bed hehee. I indulge in a scrumpticious bowl of Hagen Daaz Dulce de Leche icecream lastnight (at least it was half the fat...still very unhealthy though oopsy) and baby Zigs went CRAZY. We have a tiny dancer in there, busting out some Michael Jackson moves, making mama go ooooh and owwwww! James demanded that Dianna come sit with us on the couch and "watch the belly it's crazy!" Sure enough Ziggy stopped once they both concentrated on the belly hahaa...so I poked around a bit and got baby moving again...saying "helloooooo" in the Jerry Seinfeild Koolaid Man voice seemed to get the monkey happy! Anyhoo Baby Ziggy rolled or punched me real good causing quite the protrusion from my stomach and making both James and Dianna squeel..."Omigod ahhhh!" It was super cute and funny.

There is some insane movements coming from inside tonight, its very freaky and making me feel like my insides are being twisted and pulled apart :S GROSS! Dianna I thnk the baby must LOVE your lemon chicken and potatoes, cause after I finished up the leftovers was when it went into olympic overdrive! Hopefully we can try to get it on video soon to share with those far away.
Love
Callista

Another one bites the dust...

2008-12-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Finally we made a decision in the world of strollers...we had pretty much decided on the Bob Revolution, sort of like the SUV of strollers. But we started thinking maybe it was just a bit big for us and our car. The one we decided on has been on my list of top 5 for the longest time, but we could never get out to see since only one retailer in lower mainland carries it....however we lucked out this weekend when went to Victoria and stopped by another retailer who carries it. So ladies and gentleman without further ado I will introduce the Bumbleride Indie - we got it in Ruby (a big seller for me, the Bob does not come in red, so I was going to settle on Brown and Blue) it has everything we are looking for and more.

Offroading, light jogging, 3 airfilled tires, GIANT sunshade, but rather than being an SUV it's like a compact car or a....Suburu Outback LOL! Much smaller in the frame than the typical all terrain joggers, but space for baby is not compromised. Anyways I'm sure I'm boring you all...but the stroller was more important to me than the crib or carseat, so as you can tell I'm VERY excited about this. For those interested here is their site

http://www.bumbleride.com/collection2008/indie.php#

and a great review on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcH7Kfla6jU

It should be here by January and then crazy lady me will start taking it for a stroll EMPTY to get Emi used to walking with a stroller.

Speaking of Emi, she has been quite the snuggle muffin lately...getting a little to spoiled, and is now also WHINY at night when its bed time...not sure whats going on with that, but I keep saying "it's practice for the months to come!"

And here is THE BELLY at 29 weeks, only 11 to go ahhhhh! I am avoiding FRONT shots as I feel extremely wide these days. James' likes to throw in the wide load comments and I swear if I was not so achey I would sit on him and squish his arse for being a butthead! Please excuse the messy hair and PJ's it was late!

Well another major purchase out of the way only a bagillion more items to go ha. Oooh super exciting I have started to get a grasp on our cloth diaper stash, and now have 24 Motherease Sandy's and 4 of the covers (I bought them used from a local mama for an amazing deal!) I can't stop looking at these cute little dipeys...funny thing they probably won't even fit the little stinker right away (they are for size 8lbs-20lbs) so not quite your average newborn size....here's hoping Baby P takes after my side of the family!

Well I need to hit the hay early tonight folks, so I'm off!

Callista

Daddy's Boy or Daddy's Girl?

2008-11-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well you'll have to wait and find out...but I do think someone looks alot like their daddy...in both pictures hehee. Same little smirk!

And me as baby (with my daddy) not exactly a clear faceshot..but cute ha!

Ziggy in 3D

2008-11-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

On saturday we went to UC Baby to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done, we thought it would be a great way to involve our parents, as they include live broadcasting with their package deals. It was such an great experience, our tech was beyond cute with his phillipino accent...I could hardly understand him...but his excitement for each movement, smile, blink kept the HUGEST smile on my face (of course seeing our baby made me smile...but this guy is perfect for his job!) We got to see Baby Zigs yawning, swallowing fluids, SMILING, stretching, I felt and saw him/her kick me at the same time that was crazy haha. Baby was even blinking, which means I am on track as baby starts opening their eyes between 27 and 28 weeks. Heartbeat was a good 143/bpm and measuring 9 inches from crown to rump...speaking of crown, we saw some hair as well...no clue what color it will be, but hopefully the hair stays ;)
It really was so amazing to just watch Baby Ziggy moving around, being dramatic and posing with the hands up around the face, VOGUE style lol. I kept thinking there is no way this baby is inside me, looks so much bigger then I imagined...they are sooo developed at such a small size, like little dolls. But my belly is really starting to shoot out...so I guess there really is a small human in there...it felt like a torpedo this morning. I still have not gained that much (must be from the active job I have) but I am sure I will put it all on when I am home for 2.5 weeks at christmas, eating lots of chocolate, homecooking, chocolate, baked goods, chocolate, not being as active...I will have to tell James that it's mandatory we walk Emi LOT's while there ha!
Well ladies and gents without further ado, here is our Baby 'Ziggy', 6 months into the pregnancy...trimester 3 is here (where does the time go?)
Yawning...
Stretching...

Nose Picking (just like daddy!)

Smiling :) LOVE this picture!

And a short clip of blinking and stretching...kind of creepy, but its amazing to me anyways!

Time for a bath, my back is KILLING me today :( the first time I wish I had a microwave for my beany bags (but I really dislike microwaves)

Love you all,
Callista

Free Willy!

2008-11-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well last night I was feeling rather Shamu like, it seems this belly is now starting to get in the way of the simplest things, like COOKING...especially taste tasting it now catches what falls off the spoon, rather then hitting the floor...good thing we now have our own laundry machines, see stains are much more frequent on my shirts hahaa. I think I will beg James to paint my toes this weekend, as Dianna was making fun of the leftover pink I still have on from the summer...but I really don't think I can bend and contort that way to paint them myself.

I got Jim to snap up some belly shots for this week (26 weeks) and WOW, quite the difference from a few weeks ago. Mama, I think I am carrying like you (I can't remember now if it was with me or Nik...I have a picture in my head!) but I'm carrying HIGH, LOW, and now FROM THE SIDES...basically everywhere. Thank goodness I'm not carrying in my bum and thighs (to much)

And to compare this is from 22 weeks.

New House to Start Nesting!!

2008-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well not quite a house, but almost as big as in square feet as a good starter home ;) I am amazed with how much space we actually have. James got to visit the apartment a 2nd time and took pictures, and when I looked thru them...I thought hmmm its not as big as it sounds. But yesterday I ate my words.

Ladies and Gents here is what we living in

-open concept living room, kitchen and dining room, which I LOVE as the kitchen does not have much counter or cupboards so this makes it appear bigger and more airy.

-Our VERY OWN front loading laundry (it used to be a bathroom) so there is still a standup shower there, if we really needed to use it.

-The bathroom has double sinks (no fighting for mirror space, that James just looks at himself all day I can never touch up my makeup heheee) a toilet (thankfully!) a bidet (doubt that will be used) a nice deep TUB (I refused to look at a place that did not have a tub) with a shower, as well as another stand up shower (yes 3 showers ha who needs that many?)

-Then we have the den, open/no doors with a window that gets great sun, this will be an office, it is big enough to be a small bedroom (think dorm room)

-Spare Bedroom (aka Dianna's when she visits until Nik moves out)

-Master Bedroom which is quite long and spacious, and has a little nook area that will be babies room.

-There is also a storage room/workshop for all our camping and seasonal junk, and chest freezer.

-Outside storage for bikes, garbage, etc

-And our patio area is covered which will be soooo nice as it rains ALOT in Vancouver.

I'll post pics once we are somewhat set up.

ooooh and we have a wood burning fireplace in the house, James attempted to light er up lastnight, I think the chimney needs a cleaning hahaa...he nearly smoked me out of home....needless to say our apartment now smells like campground. I'm sure in about 2 days when I am sick of camp smell I will be febreezing the heck out of EVERYTHING lol.

Well more important things: I realized today that I have 98 days till D-DAY (yes I know its a guestitmate) I can't believe there is less than 100 days left now....so crazy. I really cannot wait to meet our little 'Ziggy', I just want to squeeze, hug and kiss the poop right out of him/her.

S0 I am constantly harassed by a few people (cough mom cough kelly)to update belly shots. I try to do them every 2 weeks, on the even weeks. This is not an "official" 26 week belly shot, I will get Jimbo to do those tonight, but this was taken on friday before going to a friends for din din. The shirt I was wearing made me look HUGE, which is why I am sort of holding down the tent. But really the changes are not THAT drastic to do them every couple days ladies, so you have to wait 2 weeks for more growth hahaa.

And this just makes me laugh, this is BEFORE dinner, but exactly how I was feeling after dinner. I really have a hard time eating real sized meals, I am so used to having smaller "appy" sized meals every couple hours, I guess you could say snacking. It just helped to ward off nausea in Trimester one, and helps my energy stay up...and now that my stomach is starting to squashed its almost painful to eat a "normal" meal. Basically my theory of being pregnant and eating is...your always hungry...but you feel tight inside, imagine having just eaten all you can eat chinese, or turkey dinner. That feeling, but you know you have to eat and your hungry, so you have a meal ontop of that feeling....are you in pain yet??? Cause I swear thats how I feel, and I know I'm not alone ;)! NO amount of undone buttons or lycra makes you comfortable, not even your birthday suit. Hahaa

Anyhoo I'm to excited and scattered as you can tell from this post, so I should run and try to unpack a bit....bending and what not really gets baby moving which is super weird feeling to have someone moving inside when you are moving! Not used to that, usually he/she is active when I'm resting...so its neat, but also makes me stop production to enjoy the gentle movements (since the days will be here in no time that they are NOT so gentle)

Love you and miss you all!

Callista

Congratulations!

2008-11-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Kelly and Mark...he popped THE big question the other day. I am so happy for the two of you, and cannot wait to actually meet you Mark. From what I hear though you already have best friend approval ;)...but I warn ya treat her well or I will sit my now fat pregnant arse ontop of you! Heheee

And congrats to us we made a decision, we committed to a crib....phew I knew we were starting to cut it close, but I was just worried about going back on the decision after ordering it. The crib of my dreams was just looking to bulky for an apartment, and wee bit expensive. But I do LOVE this, and James really liked it so his interest in it sold me! It was on sale at sears for $20 off, and it was also scratch and save days, so we saved another $40 on it wahoooooo. It won't be here till January 27th...can you believe that, seems a bit ridiculous, but it's a popular model, and christmas season is around the corner. Yes this is boring post hahaa, but it's exciting to me hahaa, the crib also converts into a toddler day bed, and then a double bed for after toddler years. I laughed at the fact that my child now has a HEADBOARD and FOOTBOARD, when his/her parents do NOT hahaa. I wish it came in queen size ;)

Here is our lovely crib

Now to just get the rest of the big purchases done, before it's to late :S

The Journey of a Mother

2008-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Journey of a Mother
The young mother set her foot on the path of life. 'Is this the long way?' she asked. And the guide said 'Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning.' But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their homework and brush their teeth. The sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, 'Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.' Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her arms, and the children said, 'Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come.' And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, 'A little patience and we are there.' So the children climbed, and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world. Year after year, she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all...unconditional love. And when they reached the top they said, 'Mother, we would not have done it without you.' The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she became little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said, 'This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children.' And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers. One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said: 'I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them. And the children said, 'You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.' And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: 'We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence.' Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows every emotion ...happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow... and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life. She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space...not even death!

We have a visual!

2008-11-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Eeeeeeeeeeee!!
I just had to share, I can see movements from the outside, omigosh...it just looks like a stomach twitch or spasm, no crazy alien movements yet haha. I have been sitting on the couch catching up on the hills via online/my laptop and the baby has been moving sooooo much the whole time, apparently Baby P either is a fan or hates the show (I guess thats me to a t, both feelings for the show) anyways I was on my side and Emi was snuggling me and Zigs kept kicking Emi, and I thought I wonder if she can feel it, I rolled over to my back and thought Holy Hannah did I just see Baby P move through the blankets, called James over and lifted up my shirt and right away WHAM, followed by a "ooooh" from James and his big kid OMIGOSH eyes, so he put his hand on my belly to feel the kicks. Baby kept going like every 3 seconds....until I stopped the hills to write this hahaa. James was so cute and excited about the movements (melts my heart)
He said "definitly going to be a golfer" so apparently Ziggy is not kicking he/she is practicing her/his swing
Ciao
Callista

Happy Birthday Emi

2008-11-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

It's my little girls first birthday today, I can't believe how much she has grown and how fast the time has gone by (it will be one year since we had her on Jan 1)

Here she is a puppy, with her daddy first day at home, and today celebrating with her friends after a hike in the woods. Happy Birthday BIG girl :D

Howl-o-ween

2008-11-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had our monthly Shiba meetup and I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures! Our little family had a bit of a theme going on. Emi's nickname was the inpiration, shark puppy...so she was dressed up as her alias (and James made the costume-so crafty!) I was a tacky tourist looking to spot the notorious Shark Puppy, and Jim was the lifeguard, patroller person ha.

Daddy's Little Guppy!

2008-10-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yayyyyy! James finally felt little Ziggy kicking tonight! I called him over to see if he could feel some of the kicks, and he sat on the floor with the most concentrated look on his...determined much...so concentrated that he forgot to stick his tongue out hahaa, those who know him well know this is one of his "traits" while deep in thought. He was telling me to stop BREATHING, and laughing cause I kept giggling, I said it will just sort of feel like a fish fin when the fish is out of water (yeah weird description...but true to me!) The first kick/punch he was convinced it was me, but I assured him I may be superwomen, but I cannot make my insides jolt like that, the second one Ziggy/Baby P made sure to make it more clear "It's me in here Daddy!" and his hand jumped off my belly and his eyes went huge and lit up, like a little kid it was priceless...almost like a 6 year old witnessing the coolest of magic tricks. I wish I had it on film, I just started laughing and was quickly hushed so he could try and feel more...but Ziggy decided to rest.

This is a similar expression that James had when he felt his little Monkey!

Our babies nicknames so far in case you can't keep up hahaa are :

Monkey

Baby P

and recently Ziggy, when I suggested it as a girls name (we have very few girls names picked out that we are sold on) he pretty much veto'd it right away...but then started calling Baby P Ziggy as a nickname (go figure ha) its good and gender neutral and more namelike than peanut or baby P so I LIKE IT! hehee

Well off to bed, hopefully the critter rests cause it's moving around lots this evening!

Love ya, Callista

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-10-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my Dad's 48th birthday, so I wanted to send a big shout out since I did not send a card or gift (oops...but hey you get a grandbaby soon, that has to be the best gift out there hehee) Hope you have a fantastic day, and Mama makes you a delish meal, she told me about the cake...and I said she better make me one for my "birthday" in December when I am home hahaa. Love you and miss you so much Dad!

Baby P has been moving up a storm the past few days, I feel like there is a little alien inside me...its not very dramatic moves, still sort of like a goldish is swimming around, well something a bit bigger than a goldfish, maybe a guppy ha!

This picture is from last sunday, but for those who missed out on my facebook update this is the belly as of 22 weeks (23 weeks along now) not much growth in a week :)

We had a shiba howl-o-ween party on saturday, Emi went as her alias that she has come to be known as at the meetups "Shark Puppy" I will post some shiba party pics once I upload them.

And Mom season 3 of Prison Break is CRAZYYYY I just want the show to end, I want answers hahaaa.

Oooh and a shout out to my very good friends Chad and Kristin, the new Mr and Mrs Mueller, who were married the past saturday. Congrats guys we can't wait to see you in December, hope you are having an amazing honeymoon, looking forward to seeing the pics!

Love and Miss you

Callista

Yayyy ultrasound pictures

2008-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wahoo I was able to change the format of our ultrasound picture to post it here!

In the first pic(top left) you can see Baby P's face, eyes, nose and mouth, looks a little ghoulish heheee. And then the typical side profile shots of our little Angel. Heather my mother in law thinks Baby P shares the same head as me, I really hope my head is not that out of proportion hahaa.

This is from September 30, I was just over 19 weeks, so the baby is 17 weeks old here.

I am trying to figure out a fun cute halloween costume, any ideas.

Here are some of the ideas I have come across, if you want to vote for your favorite leave a comment (those who do not have a blog account can probably leave a comment as a guest) and feel free to leave a suggestion...

Halloween

1 - Cat, with my belly painted like fish bowl

2 - Pea pod, green outfit with a slit at the belly to be the "pea"

3 - Treasure Troll, nude colored outfit with a jewel at the navel teased and colored hair

4 - Black outfit with skeleton bones painted on, and a baby skeleton on the belly

5 - Juno and her boyfriend (from the movie, if I can convince James to wear SHORT basketball shorts hahaa)

6 - James as a milkman, and me as a 50's housewife, and a milk mustache "the milk mans baby!" I might have to stuff since my belly is not that obvious yet

Sooooo??? Any thoughts?

Half way there!

2008-10-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I have made it to the half way mark (20 weeks) already. Time flies by way to quickly, before I know we will be celebrating this little munchkins 2nd birthday hehee. Speaking of birthdays, Emi is turning one on November 2...again time is just zipping by, we brought her home January 1st, it can't have been 9 months already (ironic that its 9 months...something about 9 months seems to speedy) Well I would be posting an ultrasound picture from last week, however James scanned it at work and saved it as a TIFF, which means no where recognizes it, not facebook not photobucket, not my blog...honestly who says images as TIFF's! Geessh

Here are some new belly shots, I have been feeling Baby P wiggle around lots, it still just sort of feels like tummy grumbles or something, but I know my stomach has been shoved up higher and felt real tummy grumbles the other day so I can definitly tell the difference now :D

Last week I was feeling like my belly had shrunk hehee, but this picture just shows me its THERE! I'm in desperate need of new shirts, but am trying to hold out shopping until the end of the month when Dianna and I go over to the border to do some serious shopping wahoooo!

And we did not find out the sex of baby at the ultrasound, I think its become a new standard/law in BC that they will not tell you unless you are at least 20 weeks, and I was only 19, so she did not even ask us if we wanted to know. But the guessing game is fun, last week I kept having boy vibes, but this week its been girl vibes, my mother intuition obviously is not that great yet ha! Oh and I guess I should also mention that my midwife called and said that everything is looking good and healthy!

Love and miss you all,

Callista

To find out or not to find out

2008-09-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

So I have been getting a lot of people asking if we know the sex yet, and when I say no they ask are we planning to find out.

In the beginning I was very much a committed TEAM GREEN member. But so many women in my February Mommies online group have started revealing the genders and so far the tally is 9 girls and 3 or 4 boys, and over 20 team greens. Not all of us are regular posters though...and there are quite a few still waiting to find out, seems to be the norm now a days to find out, everyone women says its the planner in them hehee.

For me, I love surprises and love the idea of calling friends and family to say It's a ____ his/her name is ____ she/he weighs_____. I like the idea of all the idea of after labouring FOREVER and carrying this little one for 9 months to hear those fabulous words It's a ___ come out of our midwives mouth.

However (there's always a BUT) I think finding out if we have a hamburger or hotdog growing instead will just bring me, us that much more connected to the little ghaki no more calling him/her it or baby or whatever. And as much as I love yellow and green, I know I will be super sick of seeing those colors once we bring the LO home and yes I know we can do the fun clothes shopping after baby gets here...BUT I really love little girly stuff and little man stuff and it would be nice to have some before "the real exhaustation" sets in ;) ha

I'm not really asking for advice or opinions, just super confused and James does not seem to really mind whether we find out or not so he is not a pressure on either side of the fence (no help!)...and our ultrasound is in less than a week...my goodness I cannot believe that September is almost over. I swear to god I am going to blink for to long and it will be February!

Love to you all!

James, Callista (&baby) and Emi in Kelowna Sept 18, 2008 (Happy Birthday Nik)

The most amazing sound...

2008-09-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

We got to hear our little monkey's heartbeat at our 12 week appointment with our midwife, but did not think to record it...this time I was ready phone in hand...thought it would be a nice little treat for the soon-to-be grandparents since you are all so far away :( Ghaki's heartbeat was 160 bpm the first round, today about 154 bpm and moving around like a gymnast the static bursts of sound is the baby flipping around, practising the breast stroke hahaa. So babies active, and I have been feeling the movements every few days, nothing crazy yet...just feels like bubbles, or popcorn popping, healthy and I'm measuring good :D But my bloodpressure was a little higher than last time, so I am going to try out accupuncture to be pro-active.
Ughhhh having a bit of difficulties with uploading the soundclip, hopefully figure it out by tomorrow! Otherwise I will just have to email it to those who want to hear it.

James has been referring to baby as she, her, how are my girls...until today at the midwife clinic he kept saying him, he's strong, I can't wait to feel him kick...so who knows maybe his spidey senses are saying something ;) heheee.

I have only gained about 5 maybe 6 lbs now, it's hard to count since my weight fluxuated so much before, and I was holding so much water in the beginning that I was heavier than normal. So in celebration of "I need to gain more weight" we went out for Vera's Burgers and POUTINE sooooo delish, now maybe I will top it off with a bowl of icecream hahahaa. I was told that I should aim for a minimum 20 lbs being a lighweight, the "little parasite" is just feeding off me hahahaa.

And of course more BELLY PICS! Only a weeks difference from the last pic. These were taken today...18 weeks 1 day.

17 weeks now

2008-09-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today I'm 17 weeks along (well by our guesstimate)...can't wait for my ultrasound on the 30th to see how good our guess is of due date, and what not.

The bloat has kind of gone down, and now I mostly feel chubby and am looking forward to having a noticeable bump and be asked, when I am due hahaa. Emi and I did the BC SPCA Paws for a Cause walkathon today, and it was great lots of fun and our Shiba Team raised enough money to be within the top 10 groups! Yay!!

Mama these are what one pair of my mat pants look like hahaa...sooo sexy!

And my official 17 week baby picture from Sunday September 14, 2008

Future Goals

2008-09-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

So James and I have been discussing lots (nearly every day) for the past couple months where we want to "settle", or I guess I should say start our roots, our foundation, family, and what not. We have our family started with our furbabies, and little monkey now on the way. But the hardest part about it all has been living so far from my parents and sister, with my dad being in the military we were always away from family, and became a very close small family...at least in my eyes. The 3 of them are my support, my back bone, and now James has joined them (my 4 favorite people ;)

Anyhoo...I want more than anything for my children to know how amazing their grandparents are and Aunty, and grow up building a friendship with them. James is very much on board with this, he is the one always suggesting to move closer to them, or to buy a big home here to accommadate them hehee...he loves you guys just as much (who wouldn't!) After our trek out to New Brunswick this past May, we have really started to fall in love with the idea of moving to the east coast, so long as I have an ocean I'm happy....anyways nothing is set yet and it won't be for a couple years, but we are hoping to move to some part of the East Coast.

The main part of this post is to share my personal goal...I have been trying to figure out some sort of business I can do from home, to be with my kids (fur and flesh) to be working with animals and people. I originally wanted to start an in home boarding service for dogs and cats. Now I am more focused on cats and wanting to not only have a cat hotel...but take it further and start my own no kill shelter, it breaks my heart whenever I see the homeless kitties at the SPCA, the older ones hardly ever get homes, and the superstition rules there and the black cats are always the last color picked! Personally my fav are the orange, black, greys, the calicos....oh heck all of them ;) I came across this video which is incredibly inspiring and heart warming and just wanted to share it...I am the crazy cat lady...thank god James is as equally the crazy cat man hahaaa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwM6f0liHpo

Hope you enjoy! Lots of love to you all xoxo

Overdue...

2008-09-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Not me, not quite yet ha as pretty much all of you know now We are EXPECTING. Just overdue in updating this blog...huge apologies to not posting in so long. I have been crazy busy the past 2 months, with summer, work, dog sitting on the side, and trying to do some baby research.

Our estimated due date as of now is Feb 23, 2009 (we will get a better idea at our ultrasound in a few weeks), so that makes 15 weeks and 1 day along. I am planning to take a belly picture every other week, hopefully it will pop to to a cute round belly soon, mostly right now I just feel like I hit the buffet one to many times...so to anyone who does not know I am expectng they probably think I just had lots of icecream this summer hahahaa.

Dianna gaves us our first baby gift, and it's absolutely adorable and perfect, just love it! If anyone wants to get us something wink wink, I love silly onsie like this, and we are likely not finding out the sex so gender neutral is perfect.

And here is the growing baby belly, and Enzo with his perfect timing..."I'm the baby mama!"

Ambleside Beach

2008-07-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

On sunday I met with my friend Jen and her sheebs Koshi, and Alissa and her family with Pan Pan. We went to Ambleside dog beach in West Vancouver, Emi had a great 3.5 hours of running and chasing anyone who was willing to join her :D

Emi loves to play with big dogs, the bigger the better, she was trying to get in on the fun with this leonberger and yellow lab
One of these things is not like the other...Cotton, Koshi and Pan Pan
The 3 amigo's Koshi, Panny and Emi
Doing what shibas do best....digging, at least its here and not my backyard...this is why she is supervised outside ha!Koshi.....Emi is that you in Giant size??? I though Shiba's hated water....apparently only bath water :D

More of Monday

2008-07-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

These are more pictures from Spanish Banks!

Emi yet again, eating Cotton! Ha Bugs View!

Fred Flinstone...twinkle toes of frisbee Sun tastes good, after a long day of work!
My husbands words not mine....You know in the rice fields the hats they wear. cutey clueless cotton.

Ball of Fire!

2008-07-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hanging out at Kits Dog Beach last night The 3 pups we had in tow, Emi, Farley and Cotton
Man the views on the west coast are just amazing! I love when the mountains look like a painting sort of water colored or shadows like below (this is at Spanish Banks)
Sun setting on the ocean
Emi eating Cotton's arm....she says it tastes like chicken!

It seems that summer has finally shown her beautiful face in Vancouver BC, June was ugly and cold, and making me contemplate whether I should move back to Ontario for the summer ha. I spent Saturday afternoon, to early evening at the beach with my awesome landlords, and another couple (I was the fifth wheel...pretty sure they only invited me for my bocce ball set and coleman grill just kidding) Either way who cares, I HAVE A TAN!!! James is horrified with my tanlines, and does not seem to remember me having any in past summers, or when were in Dominican! Sunday I packed Cotton Emi and some snacks into the car, picked up James from work, and we spent the afternoon at Spanish Banks, a dog friendly beach, with gorgeous views and lots of grassy areas, the downside the bathrooms are so far away in the non friendly/offleash area...why do dog owners get the crap end of the stick! Hehee Last night was another beautiful evening so we ate an early dinner and headed to Kits Dog Beach, brought a 3rd dog, Farley with us, and let the beasts have fun before we headed over to Spanish banks to meet our friend Trevor, to play bocce ball, when we realized we had forgotten Bocce at home ha. So they improvised with a game of cruddy frisbee (very cheap beat up dog frisbee) and I enjoyed the amazing sunset and snapped away some pictures. It has been a very long time since I have used an SLR, well at least the manual option, so I am slowly trying to relearn techniques I think I need to pick up an idiots guide to Digital Photography. It's so hard to not post 100 pictures since I can never pick which are the best and feel they all are part of story. I need to find an online photo storing program so I can share our albums that way...I know there are lots out there, but I am trying to find which one I prefer.

Puppy Sitting

2008-06-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Dogs dogs every where. James and I have been housing Cotton, our friends pug for a few weeks now. I spent thursday night and friday day at the General Manager of James' golf courses, watching his 2 dogs (we have housesat for them before) it's always a nice little vacation to go to Steveston, and his dogs are both sweet and Emi loves the play buddies. People look at a little funny when they see us walking 3-4 very different dogs (1 yellow lab, a black lab border collie cross, a pug and a shiba)

And as of July 16th we will be housing James' parents dog Murphy (a 9year old Yorkie) for possibly up to 3 months. They are moving back to Singapore and Murph has to go into 1 month quarintine, but the facility is booked up for about 3 months. Should be interesting, we told his parents she will come to Singapore a changed dog hahaa. She is quite spoiled and terrified of everything that is not on mom's lap, and barks at everything when on mom's lap. She lived with Enzo for a year and they got to the point of chasing of each other in a friendly-ish way...so fingers crossed we are all a big happy family soon.

Ooooh very exciting news James bought me the Canon Rebel DSLR, I have not had a chance to go clicker crazy....but I am majorly in love with the sport function for taking action shots, the only downside is I can take pictures so fast that I have a ton from his baseball game the other night and can't decide which ones are the ones worth keep, its also been great for getting SHIBA ACTION shots, and tons of pictures where Emi looks like a killer attacking another dog, but its all in fun...she is quite mouthy but never mean. She has changed so much in how she plays with other dogs, she still does the annoying bark while chasing a dog that is more interested in playing fetch with their owner, than playing with her...she can't fathom why in the world they do not want to play!? Heheeheee But I noticed at our shiba meetup a few weekends ago, that when another dog is being grumpy towards her she will bark back telling them to "shut the heck up who are you barking at!" but she will back away while doing it, sort of saying "I;ll let it slide this time, but trust me you don't want to mess with me" hahahaa. Whereas a few months ago she would be way more feisty and bark back but go forward, ready for the fight that dog is asking for. I am probably making her sound super mean, but she is a very sweet dog, and likes to play with all dogs, she just prefers to be the one in charge of the situation....SHE IS A FEMALE, and let's face it guys...we rule!

Well she is ringing her bell, which means pee time and I need to get out and walk them before it gets to hot, we are finally having real summer weather wahooo.

Here are a few pictures from this week.

Enzo looking cute as ever!

Colby's new favorite spot to hang out, and lay on....weirdo this does not look comfortable!

She was using Cotton as a step-stool, but just as I went to take the picture she moved her front paws to the windowJames up to batRunning from third base, and yes those are his golf shoes....his reasoning "they have grip!"

I will post more later of the furkids :) and our weekend fun!

A BIG Hello!

2008-06-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to create this blog in hopes it will keep friends and family who live so far away more in touch or updated. My inspiration is my grandparents who I am always forgetting to email (I am so sorry!) and my inlaws who are moving back to Singapore in less than a month...I am sure we will talk to them often, but hopefully this will be a fun way to post silly things that have happened during the day or week. I have no clue how often I will post, I would love to post everyday....but let's be honest our life is not that exciting haha!

For those who are slightly out of the loop...
James and I are owned by 2 handsome cats and 1 beautiful Shiba Inu pup, she is almost 8 months old now and has been such a great puppy I would love to have more :D
For those who have not kept in touch in a very long time or have a hard time following us around with our moving
...we moved off the island to Vancouver last August. James has been working at Shaughnessy Golf Course for over a year now, and after completing his PGA players test (and getting his card wahoo) he is now able to teach which he is really enjoying. This summer he has his hands full with Jr camps, which are group teachings of young golfers (I believe age 5-10) he calls it daycare and loves hanging out with the kids. He also teaches a darling 3.5 year old girl, along with adults as well...but I think he adores the kids!

So what exactly do I do??? Dogwalker what?
I have been working with a pet service company since January. My days are spent walking dogs, driving to clients homes, and visiting a few cats whose owners are on holidays...so basically my days consist of poop and scooping, and talking to customers who do not talk back hahaha. I love my job and could not imagine doing anything. You will probably find lots of dog/animal postings as my life has literally become, dog walking, poop patrol, dog parks, animal friendly places, and obedience training.

This is James holding Colby and me holding Enzo after getting home from a New Years Eve party, our pre-Emi family photo as we picked her up New Years Day

And this was taken back in April on Mount Doug in Victoria, us with our little girl Emi!

Life as we know it!

New Treasure

MIA

Monkey See Monkey Do

Hmmm mat leave vs nursing room?

Meatless Meals

You know your a mom when!!!

She is ONE!!!

My Funny Valentine!

1 month left

Party Tricks

**Pure Awesomeness**

Stick to it!

xo Merry Kiss-Much xo

The monkeys UnBirthday

Me likes December!

8 months down!

Tiny Little Person

Girls Night!

Boob Juice

My not so little nugget...

Dear Hubby...

Birthday Shout Out

Beach Baby

Holy Canoly

What a busy week...lot's of excitement

The light of our life!

Vancouver Aquarium

Little Fishy - my first swim

Mini Milestones

Mama look what I can!

Lights Camera Action

Choosing a Carrier

3rd times a charm, bad things come in 3...

Happy 1 month birthday!

Skyla - week one

Welcome to the World

As promised

Like father like daughter

Eviction Notice!

The sun is shining

39 weeks

Visitors :)

Quite the comparison

Can you believe....

Tick Tock

Busy Bees...starting to nest!

Surprise Surprise!

Merry Christmas!!

At the homestead...

Baby goes boom!

Another one bites the dust...

Daddy's Boy or Daddy's Girl?

Ziggy in 3D

Free Willy!

New House to Start Nesting!!

Congratulations!

The Journey of a Mother

We have a visual!

**Happy Birthday Emi**

Howl-o-ween

Daddy's Little Guppy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yayyy ultrasound pictures

Half way there!

To find out or not to find out

The most amazing sound...

17 weeks now

Future Goals

Overdue...

Ambleside Beach

More of Monday

Ball of Fire!

Puppy Sitting

A BIG Hello!

Pure Awesomeness

Happy Birthday Emi