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