Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Well I'm not sure if they'll be glad we're coming or not but regardless, here we come!! Back to Newfoundland that is. Yay!

Yes, we have big news and I haven't been keeping anyone posted on my blog due to the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day and I seem to require many more than that lately.

Here's the story:
I've always said that I'd like to move back to Newfoundland given the right opportunity. I wasn't sure that moving HOME (as in Bonne Bay) was exactly in the plan but that's the way it's happened. A while back we heard the community convenience store may be going up for sale. This is the same convenience store where, as children, we bought potato chips for 45 cents, made the old man grumpy when we asked him to count out 100 of those 1 cent sour candies, where I ran to get odds and ends for Aunt Thelma to earn a meager 25 cents commission. It's the place my dad has always said he wanted to own one day. And with the combined effort of my dad wanting to own a business and me wanting to move our family back, we've purchased "Roy Young's Ltd."

We are keeping the original name of the store. Roy Young moved to Bonne Bay after WWII where, I'm told, he fought on the front battle lines. He decided to build this store and did so practically with his own 2 hands, as was the case in those days. Because of the history of the original owner and the building I feel that it is best for our community to maintain the name as "Roy Young Ltd" and I plan to make sure visitors to the store will see a photo of Mr. Young and read his story. I'm very excited about maintaining this piece of history! I will keep you posted as I find out more about this particular part of my upcoming business venture.

I have to say I'm very nervous about the move. I grew up in this small town of only about 1000 people but after living in Ontario for 11 years I realize it's going to be a big adjustment for us. It's an adjustment I'm looking forward to, however, and recognize that there are trade-offs. There is good and bad no matter where you are.

Trade-offs:
Everyone in a small town may know your business but they also know your name and smile and wave when they see you.

There may not be a lot of extra-curricular activities for Sarah in terms of dance classes and soccer but she will now have the freedom to run outside and play and learn about nature in a way that city dwellers could never imagine.

We are leaving some family behind here in Ontario (most sadly for me, my sister and her 3 girls)but we are joining family back home, most importantly Sarah's grandparents on both mine and Jamie's side. I grew up close to my grandparents, I wish the same for Sarah.

We will not have access to conveniences like fast food (Tim's is about 45 minutes away and McD's over an hour) but Sarah will learn, as I did, about growing her own veggie garden, picking her own berries, and baking her own sweet treats in grandma's kitchen.

We will have a much shorter summer but we will now have access to a full range of winter snowy sports...oh, how I miss snowmobiling! And we don't have to drive an hour in the country to get to trails, we park our skidoos in the front yard and drive off to trails in our back yards! And our short summers are beautiful and fresh and full of hustle and bustle in a community with a WORLD HERITAGE SITE on our doorstep to attract lots of tourists from all around.

And let's not forget my absolute #1 reason for missing home so much - the ocean!! There is nothing even close here in Ontario (the area I'm in at least) that can compare to breathing that air. I look forward to waking up and seeing the ocean every morning and pray to never take it for granted again!

Weight off My Shoulders
It's all happening so fast! Sarah and I leave to fly out next Monday, Oct 22nd. I have so much to do, so much to pack, so much to organize before I leave. I have a HUGE list of To-Do's and I'm not sure where I'm going to find the time to accomplish everything. But at least we've sold the house. We put it on the market last Tuesday and had sold it by Sunday. What a relief! We close on December 14th which works out perfectly for Jamie. His last day of work is Dec 20th (I think?) and he'll drive home just in time for Christmas. He'll also be driving the SUV down in November for me to have a vehicle and also to bring more of our things that I won't have room to bring on the plane.

Missing Daddy
In the meantime, it's going to be very hard not having Jamie with Sarah and I. I get all choked up just thinking about him not seeing her and how much she's going to grow in the next 2 months. He's even going to miss her 1st Halloween! I honestly can't even imagine not seeing Sarah for nearly 2 months. Maybe it's a little different for mommies but my daily world would feel empty now without her. And so the thought of Jamie being here and us being in Nfld is difficult for me. I'll be bombarding him with pictures for sure!

Business Matters
Right now what we're working on is adding a bakery to the store. Mom and Dad have been working their butts off trying to get everything into place. It's hard not being there to help them out and I know it's going to be very busy when I arrive home. We have to finalize permits, renovate, purchase equipment, the list goes on and on. Hopefully it'll all come together soon although I anticipate lots of snags and issues we haven't necessarily thought of because let's face it, we haven't done this before and don't really know exactly what to expect. So wish us luck!!

Maternity Leave
I just wish to clarify, I am NOT putting in my notice at work. I will be staying on maternity leave and taking this time as an opportunity to go home, staying behind the scenes, and making sure things work out before making it permanent. I know I'm talking and sounding very permanent. That's because I'm excited and confident this will work out for us. But I also have to be cautious so I'm not taking any chances at disrupting my maternity pay or destroying my backup plan to go back to my current job if need be. I have until March, I'll let ya know before I'm due back.

Miss Sarah
On a non-business note, I took the baby girl to the doctor yesterday because she was having lots of sniffles and a bad cough. It wasn't persistent but it was enough to worry me a little bit. Doc thinks she has, in his words, "a bit of croup". It's not serious and apparantly it's quite common for babies to get but it's still making me very concerned, especially now that we're leaving to go home next week. But my doctor did give me lots of meds knowing about our trip to Nfld, meds which Sarah hates taking and which make me nostalgic about my own childhood sniffles and taking penicillin that actually tasted good. Sarah's super dopey today but hopefully she'll be feeling better very soon.

Name?
I'd like to leave you with a little project -- anyone have any suggestions for bakery names?

Silly Girl

Here are some of the latest pics of Sarah...

Hey, you can't keep me in here forever!




















I can sit up on my own now!



















Pretty blue eyes














Emjoying a sunny day outside with the kitty














In the last couple of weeks Sarah has developed this crazy smile that's so adorable. She scrunches up her nose and nearly closes her eyes when she's really excited.





















My very 1st Piggytails!




















Thanks for looking,
Myrna

6 Month Old

Well baby Sarah is 6 months old now....Wow! How did that happen? I was telling Jamie today that it seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital awaiting her arrival and now I'm half way through my maternity leave already! This is craziness!

I have been terrible with updating my blog lately as I've been totally obsessed with facebook (isn't everyone?).

Here's a little update:

We got back from our 3 week vacation to Nfld on Aug 22nd. It was SO great to be home. It had been 3-1/2 years since I was there, much too long! I really don't want it to be that long before I go again. I usually don't struggle with coming back to Ontario but this time I wanted to stay. Sarah finally got to meet Poppa Goosney which was wonderful and we had her christened while we were home as well. The dress she wore has been in the family since my sister was christened in 1973. We've all worn it and my sisters children have all worn it too. It's really beautiful.

Only thing was that our trip completely threw off her schedule. Before leaving to go on vacation Sarah was sleeping through the nights...it was WONDERFUL!! But while we were there, she was up about every 2 hours! That was really tough on mommy, I found the lack of sleep even worse than when she was first born. Now that we're back she's doing better and has slept through the night a couple of times but has still been waking up at least once on most nights. Please cross your fingers for me that she'll start going back to restful nights soon, I am so not good at sleep deprivation, makes me quite grumpy (as I'm sure daddy can attest to). Perhaps, I suppose, I should have thought of that before having a baby. lol :)

Otherwise, the baby is doing great and has been trying some new foods. We started on cereal about a month ago, she loves that stuff! (to me it looks like cement when it's mixed up...eww!). Shortly after that I started giving her some veggies too. So far she loves everything she's tried with the exception of carrots. I was hoping she wouldn't enjoy peas because she smell and look absolutely YUC-KY but she loves those too.

And with the addition of new foods has come some more growth and weight gain. Today at our appointment with Dr. Abdulhussein, Sarah was 27-3/4 inches long and 18lbs 8ozs. Big girl! And she barely even cried for her needles. Just a little with the initial poke but she got over it very quickly and went back to being Miss Happy Girl.

And now that Miss Happy Girl is snoozing, I'm off to try and catch up on some zzzz's too. Will try to update more often.

Quotes by Isabella

So we're back from Newfoundland and I have about a million pictures to post of our vacation. Looking through some of those pictures reminds me of silly Isabella and her 3-year old way of expressing herself, slight speech impediments and all:

1. Dad decided to take the girls fishing. Erykah was busy casting and trying to reel in trout but Isabella was more interested in playing with the worms. She sat at the picnic table near the brook and stretched and twisted and pulled the worms, she dropped them on the ground, picked them up, poked and prodded. She finally put one squiggly worm down and when it no longer moved she said, "Ah poor little worm, e's sleeping" (Yes I'm sure that's exactly what is was?, didn't have the heart to tell her she had probably just tortured the poor creature to death).

2. Again with the worms: Isabella held out the worm to grandma and asked, "Do you wanna hold him?" Grandma responded with a quick, "No, yuck!" to which Isabella stated, "But he's so beautiful and cute!"

3. Isabella for some reason has been completely obsessed with talking about her "boobies". Perhaps it's because she was seeing me breastfeeding, I don't really know. But anyways, at the dinner table mom is telling her that she has to eat so she can grow up big and strong. Isabella stated, "I'm gonna grow BIG like Auntie Myrna and have BIG boobies.....(slight delay)...and a big bum". Hmmm...glad you noticed, Isabella! Thanks! lol :)

4. Mom was drawing Isabella's attention to baby sarah at one point and asking her, "She's so cute, isn't she?" Isabella answered, "Yup, are you gonna eat her gwandma?"
(I think she's heard the phrase "I'm gonna eat you up" one too many times and doesn't quite get that it's not literal).

5. Isabella loved a book grandma had kept belonged to us called, "Monsters Don't Scare Me!". She had been read it so many times she could "read" it back to herself within a few days. There's a phrase in it that says, "I think I can do it, I hope I can do it, I KNOW I can do it!". One day Isabella was trying to convince Poppa to do something (I'm not even sure what it was but I think the girls were wanting him to pick them up and swing them around and turn them upside down and all that stuff that Grandpa's usually do with kids). Well dad has had a bad hip and knee and must have told them "No, not right now". And then I hear Isabella repeating that famous line, "Ah Poppa, I think you can do it, I hope you can do it, I KNOW you can do it!!" and who can say no to such conviction?!

....and I'm sure there are many many more, I should have been writing them all down!

Surprise!!

Happy Wedding Day to Christa and Kristen!!!

Yup, they decided to get hitched...about time. Unfortunately when the decision was made I had already booked my plane ticket to Nfld and then couldn't change it without paying a fortune. So I did get to SEE her on her wedding day but had to fly out before the ceremony actually started.

To our awesome friends, Christa and Kristen, I wish you every happiness in the world together and many healthy years. And may I add once again how I look forward to babies soon (pretty please)...lol :)

P.S. No, she's not pregnant, they just decided to get married like this for fun...simple, no fuss, surprising FUN!

Can't wait to see pictures!

Off to Nfld in T-2.5 Hours

Well I'm off on vacation until Aug 22nd and may not have access to email or internet. I think I must have lost my mind to book a flight leaving at 6:20am with a small baby and two other kiddies in tow...lol :) Should be fun!

Baby Sarah is now 16.8 lbs and here are some pics from my facebook account. Click on the link or copy and paste the address:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40859&l=e5119&id=645395598

See ya soon :)

Take it From Me

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to spend a little time on the internet as I usually do at some point during the day. And as usual I placed Sarah down on the bed in the spare room to "play". She had just started to grab for things, reaching out her little arms to get a hold of whatever she could. I turned my back to the computer and within only a couple of seconds I heard her little legs kicking and kicking. I looked back at her...Oh My Goodness, a moment of panic, she had grabbed the edge of the duvet cover over her face and was kicking frantically to get it off. She obviously couldn't breathe and I moved so quick and grabbed her up out of there, completely embarrassed and upset that I hadn't done a better job of watching her. I apologized to her and felt so guilty! All I could think was, "What if the phone had rung and I went to the next room to answer it?" or, "What if I went downstairs to put in a load of laundry?" ...in both of these normal daily scenarios I would have thought, "Well I don't hear anything through the monitor, maybe she dozed off, she's okay." Both these scenarios would have taken just a few moments but in just that amount of time my life would have changed forever had I not been in the room. I am absolutely convinced she would not have been able to lift off the heavy duvet and would have smothered. As I told Jamie what had happened later that day I started to cry. As I write this now, just the very thought of it breaks my heart into pieces.

But it did make me decide on one thing...
When Sarah was only a few weeks old, I went to her room one morning and noticed she had scooted herself into a new position. I immediately removed the bumper pad around her crib just in case. I was contemplating putting it back on because she had started rolling and kept getting her little feet stuck in the rungs (sp?) of the crib. I thought rolling meant she'd be able to get herself away from the padding if she worked her way into it. But not so, sometimes babies just don't realize in the situation that they can roll, sometimes when they are asleep their brains don't even register that they can't breathe anymore, and even when they can roll one way into danger doesn't mean they can roll themselves out of it. So I'm holding off on adding back the bumper pad until Sarah is a year old or so. I figure a bruised ankle can be fixed, her being smothered is forever.

And why am I telling you all this? I feel like maybe there's someone out there reading who may need to know how a split second of thinking, "Oh it's fine" can change your life forever. There are so many stories in the news of moms leaving their kids in the car just for TWO seconds to run into the house to grab something they forgot, of parents who leave the bathtub for TWO seconds to answer a call, the list goes on and on. And I NEVER thought I would do anything like that, I feel I am so careful to think every moment through. But I like so many others had a momentary lapse and thank GOD I stayed in the room and Sarah was fine.

So please take it from me...take nothing for granted. Your baby is growing and changing so quickly, you may be busy doing your regular house stuff, you may feel like turning your back for just a moment but it's not worth the potential end result...be careful!

Major Overhaul

I decided to take the plunge a couple of weeks ago and attempt to clean out my closet(s) of all the clothing I've accumulated. What a mess! I had some serious packing/purging to do. First of all, sadly, I have A LOT of stuff that's too small for me right now. There are things that I bought in the summer of 2005 (when we got married) that are still really awesome and practically brand new that I haven't worn since. It's very depressing. Here are all the bins I have packed (not sure where to put the bins yet but that's for another day):

Bin #1. Dress pants/skirts that I want to keep but are too small (most are) or I don't wear right because I'm ultra-casual nowadays.
Bin #2. Clothes that I refuse to get rid of even tho' I may never wear them. I.e Homemade newfie knit sweaters (one of my own, an old one of my dads and one of my uncles), Oldschool leather jackets that also belonged to my dad and uncle, my grandfathers suit, that kinda stuff that's too sentimental for me to part with.
Bin #3. Full and overflowing with clothes that are perfectly great but I don't want anymore. I'd like to bring them home to Nfld if I could fit it in my luggage for my aunties but if not, goodwill bound!
Bin #4. Maternity clothes

And then there's baby stuff:
Bin #5. 18 - 24 month clothes
and then I ran out of bins...
Box #6. Toys
Box #7. Baby Shoes (Yes, there's enough of them to fill a box thanks to the sisters!)
Box #8. 12 month clothes
Box #9. Winter baby clothes

And a box of my own shoes on top of that to make #10!

Maybe I should open my own thrift shop...any buyers? lol :)

I'd just rather get it all cleared out now that I'm going on vacation soon! Yay! We're heading to Newfoundland on August 1st and we can't wait!! Sarah and I will be staying for 3 weeks until the 22nd of August - figured why rush to get back? Jamie's staying for 10 days. Our plans include Jamie's grandmothers 80th bday/60th year in Nfld (she's a war-bride from England)/Family Reunion. We're also having Sarah christened while home. AND, we get to see Jamie's sisters new house for the first time. AND, actually Jamie will be seeing my parents house for the first time now that I think of it. Seems rather weird that my husband has never seen where my parents live. Oh the joys of living away from "home".

Also, I'm very excited to say that Tracey's two oldest kiddies are travelling with me to Newfoundland as well. First it was just Erykah who was coming along but then Isabella wouldn't stop talking about going too so we collectively decided she could come on vacation as well to see Grandma and Poppa. Erykah has gone to Nfld before with me (no mommy or daddy) but Isabella hasn't. Hopefully she'll be fine as I'm sure she will, probably won't even notice with all the fun she'll be having with her new-found freedom to run around outside and play without the confines of an apartment building. Mostly I know this is going to be a much deserved break for my exhausted and stressed sister. She'll still have the baby at home but that's nothing compared to chasing after 3 boistrous girls! I'm very much looking forward to this trip! It's been much too long since I was home...3 and a half years! Please pray the rock gives us some nice warm weather. I can almost smell the salt water...ahhhh!!

Facebook is Taking up TOO MUCH of my Internet Time

Steph has just recently come back from a LONG vacation in Newfoundland so Sarah and I decided to go visit her and Tristan. Tristan's cruising right along now, Wow! What a difference...before he left he was just starting to get the hang of crawling backwards mostly...lol...and now he's goin' "full-tilt" and pulling himself up on furniture and all that. Anyways, when we first got there Sarah was all freaked out and started to cry. I decided to undo her little denim dress cause she seemed to be uncomfortable and then when she realized "Hey this is another baby!" she went totally crazy and started flailing her arms all over the place and trying to give Tristan open-mouthed "kisses". (My theory: ya know how babies put everything in their mouth? well, Tristan was like a new cool toy and Sarah wanted to try him out...lol). And then you see Tristan's just kinda sitting there and in true male fashion starts to pull down her jumper...in all fairness, it's already half off anyways. I just think the video is so super cute...have a look!!

Playing Catch Up

So many things to tell you about...


First off I have to say a Happy Belated Canada Day to all of you!! Don't we just live in the best country ever?!

The last couple of weeks have brought a few things to tell you about. Forgive me while I back-track:

#1. We were visited by a pair of bluebirds in our backyard. Some of you are probably thinking, "Uh yeah, big deal!". To me this is HUGE. I love birds, was so excited when Christa and Kristen had birds last year when we didn't have any. Now all of a sudden we have a pair of bluebirds and I'm thrilled. They're so pretty, the blue of their wings just seems to light up in the sunlight and I really enjoy listening to them sing. Music to my ears. I'll have to thank my grandmother for this love of mine.

















#2. This probably should have been #1 because it seems the bluebirds arrived almost as soon as we finished putting up our fence in the backyard. Jamie spent a lot of time doing our own and helping the neighbour. I even helped him out a bit. I really enjoy doing "handyman" kinda stuff but I didn't get much time with the baby and all. It's great having a fence now with some privacy. We have only to put on the gate and it's complete! Next year I hope we have enough money to put in a deck. My favourite thing to add would be a POOL!!! I would die to have a pool, that would be fantastic!!















#3. We also completed some landscaping in our front yard. Richard (the bro-in-law) helped us lay out the brick work since he's done landscape work before. And then Jamie and I visited a garden center and with a lot of help from the lady who owns the place, since we didn't really have a clue, we got some nice plants - a hydrangea, a japanese yew, a dwarf alberta spruce, a couple of those globe-shaped little bush thingies (name?), and some geraniums and baby's breath to fill in. We also bought some solar lights to add to it - Looks nice when they light up at night. Still more to go but it's a start!


#4. I planted some veggies. I wasn't planning to do any this year because I got behind and thought it was probably too late. BUT, we went to Canadian Tire and they had their little seedlings on sale for $.25...who can beat that? So, since I love veggie gardens, always had one as a kid, I thought "What the heck?"...for 25 cents, doesn't matter much if it's too late in the season and they don't grow. With Ontario summers tho' we should be in alright shape. I have green peppers, cucumber, and red onion. Would be awesome if I got a little harvest out of it.


#5. Got to see Tara, Jacques and Noah on Sunday. They are visiting from New Brunswick and here to see Tara's family in Guelph and also to go to a wedding in Jacques family. Noah is getting so tall and Tara finally got to meet our wee one. Funny story - you know how I loathe "crocs" (per previous post a while back). Tara, knowing this, found BABY-SIZED CROCS! I just about died when I opened her gift and saw them. We all laughed so much at it since she totally did it on purpose...lol...but I have to say the eensy-weensy ones are pretty darn cute!! Thanks Tara for that and the other gifts as well, really appreciate that! Awesome to see ya again!!


And the most wonderful thing!!...because I'm a total sucker for animals AND babies...


#6. We rescued a baby RACCOON!!! Here's the story: last friday night we were on our way home from Brampton where Jamie has his usual softball game. When we got just outside of this little town called Glen Williams we suddenly saw a little creature in the middle of the road (nothing strange). Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop or swerve before we saw it. Jamie ran over it but luckily didn't hit it. I couldn't understand why it was just standing there in the middle of the road and not attempting to run. I said, "Jamie, that was a little raccoon and it was ALIVE, you have to turn back!". So we did and I got out and there was this little baby just sitting there in the middle of the road, perfectly alive, but obviously in a state of trauma. I could see it was holding up one little paw. So I took one of the baby blankets and scooped it up in my arms and brought it to the truck. Jamie's like totally looking at me like I'm a nut-job and says, "What are you going to do with that?" to which I stated very matter-of-factly, "Taking it home. I can't just leave it there for someone to run over!" Duh! So I brought it home and we put it in one of our big recycling bins with a towel, some cat food and water, and then went online to find out what to do. First thing the websites tell you is "DO NOT FEED!" lol...oops!! I guess some people try to feed the wrong thing or can give the baby food when it's not weened from it's mother yet. (found out later from the vet that I was okay because our cat food was a decent brand and the baby was old enough this time of year to be weened or it wouldn't have been out of the den yet...phew!) Then it said to make sure the animal was truly hurt and not just temporarily abandoned. If the baby is NOT INJURED here's what to do. When I went to check on the baby before bedtime, I noticed it also had a scrape on its head and its eye was yucky and infected. Next thing to do was to find a wildlife rehab center. I immediately called my cousin Wendy who works for the humane society. They are not able to take wildlife but she did give me a number to call. That location couldn't take it either but forwarded me once more to a vet in our area who does rehabilitation for wildlife. I called and YAY!! They were able to take the baby. I went into the vet and they told me the eye could be treated, the paws now seemed fine, and Mr. Raccoon would be fine to rehabilitate and set back into the wild. I was so happy - my next option would have to have been to "put it down". I'm just thrilled that I got the opportunity to save one of God's creature - usually my efforts end up with the animal dying (as some of you know if you've read my blog in the past). Here's the little one...isn't "he" just adorable??!!



Here are some websites you can visit if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. Lots of pointers on what to do, what NOT to do, and who to call for help.

http://www.ontariospca.ca/4-wildlife-howtohelp-4.shtml

http://www.wildlifeontario.ca/

http://www.torontowildlifecentre.com/

Bye for now,

Myrna

WARNING!!!

This is a very serious warning for you chocoholics out there...

DO NOT BUY the MnM Meatshops "Chocolate Rush" ice cream.

It is a rich creamy chocolate with a fudge ripple and loads of brownie pieces and chocolate chunks and it is absolutely the most sinfully delicious ice cream you will ever put in your mouth. Every spoonful that is supposed to be the last leads into the next and the next and the next and before you know it the half-cup serving (who the heck can only eat 1/2 cup of ice cream anyways?!...bah!!) has turned into nearly the entire 1.5 litres.

Yup, devoured my 1.5 litres in about 3 sittings. And thus another warning: DO NOT sit down with the whole container and a spoon, actually try and go by the 1/2 cup serving taken out in a small bowl.

And then after all that you will be left feeling so guilty that the only thing to make you feel better is to treat yourself to another 1.5 litre container of Chocolate Rush ice cream. And so the evil cycle continues.

Don't say I didn't warn ya....

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Another milestone for baby Sarah...

On Father's Day I was talking to Dad on the phone. I had put the baby down on the living room floor and went into the kitchen. Dad says, "How's Sarah doing?" so I peaked around the corner to look at her and I'm like, "Oh my Goodness! She rolled over!"

So yeah...I totally missed the event when it happened for the first time but she's now been doing it ever since. Every time I put her down she's over on her belly and then gets upset cause she can't roll back over onto her back again. so cute...before I know it, she'll be crawling...eeek! It's all happening so fast!!

Going.....

Going....









Going...

Gone!!!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy 1st to my WONDERFUL HUBBY!!! and to my AWESOME DAD!!!

and to the rest of the great fathers out there. Hope you're all having a fantastic day!

Summer Splashing

Yup, we finally got a pool! Not exactly the one I want but a pool just the same. And oh what fun we had on Wednesday!

Richard graciously agreed to help Jamie and I start some landscaping in our front yard (he used to do landscaping and we really didn't have a clue where to start) so Tracey brought the 3 girls and a kiddie pool for some backyard swimming to cool off from the summer heat.

Jamie set up the pool, it was a bit chilly at first, but the girls didn't seem to mind too much. Then we set up our sprinkler. Oops! We put it towards the back fence but I didn't realize it would stretch so far and the next thing I knew Tracey was yelling, "It's gonna get the baby!!". Poor little Sarah was chillin' out in her little chair and got quite the shower of water before I had a chance to rescue her. She started to cry but calmed down very quickly and then even seemed to enjoy getting her legs splashed with water afterwards.

Pro Photographer in the Making

An old friend from back home, Michael Blanchard, has a website for his photography that I'd love y'all to check out.

Michael has always been an amazing artist (we took art classes together back in the day...I was learning, he already knew what he was doing...lol), did visual arts in University, now works as the creative director for Eclipse (clothing store), and really into photography. So far, I'm loving his work, I think he has a great eye.

Here's his (temporary) website:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8526919@N08/

The HDRs are gorgeous, aren't they? Leave comments for him on his site, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

Pool Time

A little late with this post since the weekend is almost here again but for some reason blogger wouldn't let me add the pics before...anyways, here's my post from Monday...

Well it was another nice weekend. Weather was great, watched a movie ("Because I Said So" ...really liked it!), we spent some time with family at Erykah's birthday party, met our new neighbours, and we had Christa and Kristen over for dinner on Sunday night. Just the kind of weekend I like with a little bit of everything all mixed in.

Sarah had a first on the weekend ...it was her very first time "swimming" in a pool at Erykah's party.



Sarah and I swimming with the birthday girl

















Erykah opening her presents...isn't she getting so big?

Seven

Happy Birthday to Erykah!! She turns 7 today...wow! Seems like only yesterday I was watching her come into the world. And now she's a big girl with friends and thoughts and dreams and personality and attitude all her own!

And after years of enjoying the most wonderful nieces in the whole world, here I am with my own little girl. And here are some of my little girl's latest pics.

Sarah in her Winnie the Pooh bathrobe - so super soft!

Pretty in Pink

That hair on your face is really prickly Daddy!

Also pretty in Orange

Sarah playing - although she doesn't really "play" yet, more like lays there looking at everything :)


Mommy and Sarah get a visit from Auntie Joann and Uncle Chris (we're so proud of Uncle Chris who is now DR. Uncle Chris!)

Sarah's Winnie the Pooh hat

Sarah and Auntie Tracey at Bella's Birthday Party


Bye for now!
Myrna

It's 3am I Must be Lonely

It's not actually 3am but close enough...it 4:37am actually and time is kinda all blurred together at this ungodly hour. Figure I may as well write a blog entry while waiting for baby Sarah to settle. She woke up at 2:55am for a feeding, did that, changed her, fed her again, tried to put her down, she fussed, changed her again, fed again, tried to put her down, she fussed, got her new soother to try, nope, took her to the spare room to lay down with her to see if she would settle, nope, tried aspirating her clogged nose, put her back in her crib with her old soother, she took that for a little while but spit it out again and fussed some more, took her up and tried rocking her, walked with her, shhhh'd her, tried feeding her again, etc. etc. etc. So then I decided..."Ok, she's fed, changed, burped, sang to, rocked, soothed, what else?" And then I put her into her crib and said "Goodnight baby girl, it's okay to go to sleep now." I walked away and closed the door and am now in the spareroom next door listening. She fussed for a bit and then I heard her sucking on her fingers which she often does. And then she fussed a little bit more but no crying at all so I left her alone. And NOW, woohoo! Just checked on her and she has drifted off all on her own....Good girl! And now mommy can return to peaceful slumber...at least for a little while. Night Night!

Exploding Microwave

It's been a while since I posted a funny story about my sister, Tracey's, crazy kids.

Tracey called me earlier today. Here's how this true story goes:

Tracey's in the bedroom (probably tending to Olivia) when she hears a loud "Pop!". Isabella, who just recently turned 3 years old, runs in the hallway yelling, "Mommy that bright light scared me!". Tracey said Isabella's face was white as a ghost and she went out to the kitchen to investigate. The microwave was still going and was now making a "grr...grr...grr" sound. She opened the microwave door to find a Kool-aid Jammer inside. Kool-aid Jammer packages are made of tin/foil and therefore spark and explode inside the microwave.

Tracey has no idea what possessed Isabella to put the Kool-aid inside the microwave. But then again, we don't really know what possesses Isabella to do anything besides the fact that she is 3 and loves to explore and must try things out for herself rather than taking your word for it that it could be dangerous.

Luckily, no one was injured and no fire started (although this could have easily happened...scary!!!)

Morals:
a) Kool-Aid Jammers should be enjoyed cold from the fridge and not nuked
OR
b) Don't teach your 3-year old to use the microwave (of course, they're so smart they generally learn on their own anyways)

The microwave is now caput!

On the bright side:
A similar incident of "exploring" happened with the apartment elevator and Isabella no longer will go inside one without an adult very close at hand.

Hearing Test

Not sure how many of you knew this but Sarah failed her infant screening test when she was first born.

I honestly wasn't really worried (well, maybe a bit) because she seemed to be reacting and responding to sound very well...turn her head towards our voices and the cat meowing, open her eyes wide when we turned on her mobile, get a fright at loud noises.

But you just never know so...
Today we went for our secondary testing...and she passed in both ears. YAY!!!

And we're doing really good in all other areas too. Nanny and Poppy Hynes were here last week to visit and got to see the baby for the first time so that was pretty exciting for all of us. You should see all of the clothes they brought - some new stuff and LOTS of hand-me-downs from cousin Chloe. I had to buy a closet organizer to fit it all and still have to pack away some bigger items in bins. Seems like we won't have to buy clothes for this kid til she's like 2 years old between all of sisters!!

AND we have a big box FULL of the cutest shoes!! he he --- Baby is starting out on the right track. That's my girl!!

Lost my Mind

I just came home from the baby shower the ladies at my church had for me. Thanks Ladies! (even tho' none of them read this blog but anyways...) Got some great stuff, baby was sleeping in the car on the way home, pretty normal, right?

And then...

The ultimate "baby brain" thing happened:

I was standing at my front door, arms loaded down, and there I was holding the automatic TRUCK key/door opener thingy and pointing and clicking and pointing and hitting the button again at the HOUSE door for it to unlock. It was just for a second but still...OMG!

lol...thought you might enjoy your daily giggle at my expense.

Seriously tho'...so when does this brain mush thing end? Ever?

Happy Mothers Day!

To my wonderful mother and to you all you other fabulous moms out there, hope your day is filled with all the great things you deserve for having the toughest job on earth!

With a new appreciation, here are some of the latest and greatest pics of my little reason for enjoying this day!

It's Official

Facebook has been taking up too much of my internet time and I haven't been blogging...not good.

So here's an update on Baby Sarah:

At her last doctors appointment on Tuesday, May1st, she was a whopping 15lbs 4oz and 23 inches long!! Yup, quite the little porker apparantly. Obviously no problems here with adequate milk production. he he.

She also had her first vaccinations - that did not go over so well. When the doctor put the needle in her leg, she stopped suddenly, got this really confused look on her face, and then let out a shrill "Waaaaaaa!!" And then she kept staring at the doctor - he said she was making sure to remember his face for next time. Poor little girl had quite the fussy day yesterday. And it seems when she's really fussy the best thing to soothe her and put her to sleep is the vacuum cleaner - go figure!

Sarah also has eczema on her arms, legs, and tummy as well as continuing with a bit of cradle cap on her head. It's not too bad I guess but it makes her skin quite dry and I have to keep cream the doctor prescribed on her all the time intermingled with a good lathering of olive oil. So at any given time of the day my baby either smells like the pharmacy or the kitchen. Whatever happened to smelling just like a baby? Oh well...

Here's a few recent pics...

Chillin in the bouncy chair.


With ducky in my crib

Snoozing in mom and dad's bed

Enjoying a sunny day outside with mommy (mommy really needs to get some sun!)
Mommy put me down for a nap...on a camping chair! (don't worry...mommy was keeping a very close eye on me)
Not very happy about the reason for those bandaids on my legs.
See y'all on facebook. Bye for now,Myrna